Chapter Five: Blessing
We are getting closer now. Our scavenger hunt through time, space, and scripture is leading to a glorious crescendo.
After all the instruments of creation were in place, the rhythms of its elements and forces flowing into one, the Creator breathed a much more personal “word” into this ensemble of energy and dust. What emerged was the choral climax of life—beings made from the elements that originated in the stars surrounding them. What followed this crowning exhale from God was the release of a “blessing” given to these newly born little ones.
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply…”
(Genesis 1:28a NKJV)
The book of Genesis does not share the actual words of this blessing, either in this part or when the blessing gets repeated in the 9th chapter of Genesis. There we find a famous flood covering the surface of earth. A dove hovers over the waters, the sign of the creation story being re-sung like the reprise of a chorus. Then, a small band of people emerges from the waters, Noah and his surviving family, to whom God releases the same blessing again.
Many think this blessing was to be “fruitful and multiply.” But that was really a command that flowed out of it. The words of the actual blessing are concealed in the Old Testament. Much like the reality of God’s triune nature, this is something that gets revealed in the New.
Let us continue then in our royal pursuit of revelation. We have almost reached the secret chord that will unlock the storehouse we seek.
The Original Blessing
Though it is not the first book in the New Testament, most scholars believe Mark was the first account of Jesus’s life to be penned. In its opening chapter we find the Father pouring out incredible words over his Son. In a hidden way, Genesis 1 plays itself out once more. It is another reprise.
To reiterate what we’ve been saying: The “chorus” of creation is mankind, the younger brothers and sisters of the eternal Son of God. In the Bible, this chorus began with the creation of Adam. It played a second time with Noah, then resurfaced in the life of Jacob, David, and others. But now it was coming back with more gusto and bravado. Now we find the full measure of the song, and the true nature of its theme.
In this scene, the Spirit is once again hovering over water, for we find a dove hovering over the Jordan River where Jesus of Nazareth comes to be baptized. Here we have the Father, Son, and Spirit together once more, and the following words are released like a timeless solo from the Composer himself:
Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
(Mark 1:11 NKJV)
Here is the same verse from the Passion Translation:
At the same time, a voice spoke from heaven, saying: “You are my Son, my cherished one, and my greatest delight is in you!”
(Mark 1:11 TPT)
I’m also a fan of the Hawaiian Creole English version:
An wow! Get one voice from da sky tell, “You my boy! I really get love an aloha fo you, an I stay good inside cuz a you!”
(Mark 1:11 HPB)
Through the life of Jesus, we finally discover what was in that heavenly blessing. Though he is completely divine, Jesus is 100% human, born from the same dust spun out of creation’s songbook. Because of his humanity, Jesus reveals the truth that had been spoken over his brothers and sisters at the beginning. This was the blessing released upon Adam and Eve.
As humanity opened the eyes of their consciousness for the first time, they would have immediately seen the sparkling eyes of a Father delighting over them. It would have also been the eyes of a Mother dancing with gratitude over her creation.
In our creation, humanity was simply told these words:
I love you.
You delight me so much.
You make me feel good inside.
You’re mine!
For a moment, think of the implications here. When Adam was created, he did not receive a to-do list. Nor was he told to grovel on the ground before his Maker. He was just born into love and acceptance. And then he was told to beautify and enjoy the world from this foundation of adoration.
I remember the same things swelling through my own heart as I held each of my daughters when they came forth from the darkness of the womb. In those precious moments, I did not want anything from them. There was nothing for them to do to earn my love. Love simply sprung from my chest as though something deep in my DNA was wired to feel this way. I just adored them. And smiled. And tears streamed down my face, like gentle doves descending on my cheeks.
This blessing is pictured in the Adam and Eve story, reprised many times in the Old Testament, but then fully revealed and sung out by the Father and Spirit over the Son, Jesus. It turns out these are the words being sung over each and every one of us.
The Lord your God in your midst,
(Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV)
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet youwith His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.
Upon the moment of every conception is the approving smile of a Father who knits us together with twirling threads of finely tuned DNA. Over the womb of every woman bearing life, the Trinity sings words of pure delight and blessing.
It is this blessing . . . this “word” . . . this song of bliss . . . that brings forth the power to be fruitful and multiply. In other words, it is the unconditional love of the Father that empowers us to fulfill our destinies and make way for the other parts of this unfolding song of creation. We are all destined to be fruitful just like our Creator. We are all called to multiply love and grace into the world through the unique instrument of our lives.
This speaks to both our identity and destiny. Our inherent nature and our divine purpose are two vines wrapped around the same tree of life-giving love. The core of our nature and the furthest reaches of our purpose come together in this original blessing of love. This is our origin. And this is where we recover everything that has been lost.
Chapter Six: Lightning
Let’s get our bearings. We have found that beyond the veil of time, space, and scripture, deep in the happy home of the Trinity’s heart, there was a celebratory dance. Within this dance was a burning desire, a desire to share their life with others.
To have children.
And so, God released the seed of his Word. He spoke and his Spirit moved like rain upon that seed. Humanity came forth from a universe that was carefully bent and crafted like the wood and strings of a masterful violin.
It was into these little beings that the Trinity released a personal blast of life. Like a musician breathing into the mouth of a flute, God gave to us the very force of life within himself. This breath came with a blessing of complete adoration and acceptance.
Another way to say all of this is that humanity was kissed into life. The Maker released their blessing by leaning into Adam’s dusty frame and giving the personal touch of a kiss.
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
(Genesis 2:7)
As we scour the map of scripture, there is a poem buried like treasure within its pages that opens with a similar theme. It goes like this:
1 The most amazing song of all, by King Solomon.
2 Let him smother me with kisses—his Spirit-kiss divine…
(Song of Songs 1:1-2a TPT)
A Collector of Divine Light
We talked about telescopes earlier. Let’s discuss lightning rods for a moment.
Did you know a single bolt of lightning is five times hotter than the surface of the sun? It’s an uncanny burst of power. Humankind has learned to redirect and even harness this power is by erecting certain metals that attract the force of lightning and divert it into a safe place within the dust of the earth. Such rods are usually at the top of buildings which connect to metalwork that carries the power down to the building’s foundations.
Over the millennia, there have been conduits of God that have collected the musical lightning swirling all around us. Such conduits have been designed to bring this power into the dust and foundation of our being. Solomon’s pen was one such instrument. His greatest work—the Song of Songs—was the result.
Solomon begins his work by giving it an incredible designation. He proclaims that this is “the song of all songs.” The assertion is that this is the most amazing, the most wonderful, the most remarkable song ever written, in heaven or on earth (which would include the untold angelic ballads existing out there in the heavenly realms).
I believe every good song taps into the original one that birthed creation. It is an inner echo of that first ballad that makes all good music truly good. Even sad songs, with their minor chords, contribute to the ache and yearning for the greater song’s “major” completion.
That said, I want to build the case that Solomon’s Song, more than any others, taps into the fullness of that original music, giving us its most crisp and richest volume. This includes not only the glorious chorus of humanity we’ve been discussing, but a breathtaking finale as well. For that reason, the Song will give us great illumination into the DNA within us. Because of this, we will find how that unlocks our truest potential. It is a place where life, creation, and scripture collide, leading us to the treasure of life-changing revelation.
The Greatest Song Ever
One of the great teachers of Israel, Rabbi Akiva, often referred to as “the chief of the sages,” said once that the entire universe is unworthy of the day the Song of Songs was given to Israel. He called it the “holy of holies” of scripture.
Solomon’s Song is the sound of heaven distilled into eight chapters of ancient poetry. As its light gets channeled through the pen of a wise king, its uncanny power is kept safely hidden behind the sometimes-awkward wrapping paper of romantic poetry.
This treasure is hidden within a larger collection of writings that have become known as the Old Testament, and now it is the glory of God’s rising kings to uncover its depths. In this Song of all Songs, we capture the greater song’s intrinsic storyline. In it we also see that creation is going somewhere and that we are co-musicians in the symphony.
Keep in mind, the larger “song” of creation—the “One Song” of our universe—carries lyrics with a very specific theme. The sheet music of creation was only a rhythmic backdrop for the emergence of Image Bearers. But even that was just the beginning of something far grander than we can imagine. The revelation is beyond our ability to bear. A thousand lightning strikes upon the human body would fall short of describing the weight of its lyrics. But thankfully, the poetry of Solomon provides a type of instrumentation that can safely carry it into your dusty frame and re-invigorate you with eternal life.
Indeed, the metal and wire in which divine song is wrapped around is comprised of romantic metaphors that Solomon, the son of David, chose to utilize. There are countless theologians and spiritual leaders over the centuries who would take the outer wrappings of this Song and turn it into some text on human marriage and relationships. There is truth to this, but it misses the main point.
There are many who are uncomfortable with the book’s themes. This is especially true of those who deny the romantic nature of God’s heart, their minds buried in super-spiritual clouds. They miss the romance and beauty infused within creation itself. A cosmic Judge with a long white beard and a stoic face did not create sunsets and wine. It was the hand of a divine Lover and Friend. Creation is the overflow of a romantic heart, a God who is passionately in love with the ones for whom this music was made.
And speaking of judges, there are many who prefer to describe the “Gospel of Jesus Christ” as a courtroom drama rather than a beautiful epic. But the Gospel—the good news—is the Story and Song of the Trinity’s heart. It is not about a courtroom, but a captivated Bridegroom who would stop at nothing to have his Beloved enter into the fullness of the music around her. That is the journey we ourselves will enter as we tune our ears to this Song.
Chapter Seven: Kiss
I remember kissing my wife for the first time. The rush of fluttering in the heart. The weakening of the knees. And of course, the growing awakening of certain energies, a reason for which I tell young people to be careful about who you lay your lips on before marriage. There’s a magic in that connection as two puzzle pieces hardwired with a chemical cocktail intersect. Romantic kissing very quickly leads to other things because it’s designed to be an initiating force into life—as in “reproduction.” Indeed, a kiss is a key that can unlock the life-force of our being.
Now, we’re obviously talking about the chemistry of our bodies, but there’s a deeper chemistry in the soul that we’re going to uncover here. Our soul was made to be kissed as well. There is a divine kiss that awakens us to the real meaning and beauty of life, and it causes us to be “fruitful” in the deepest sense of the word.
But this kiss can only come from one true Source. One true Lover.
The Song of Songs begins with a cry for this divine kiss. It is spoken by a woman whom King Solomon fell for. Solomon was a real king in a real nation, some 3,000 years ago, who was most likely smitten by a young shepherdess in a region of his kingdom called Shulam. This Shulamite lady took his breath away and he responded by writing poetry (a good outlet when the logical part of the brain can’t do justice in expressing what’s happening in the soul).
But let’s be clear. This historical context (which may not even be completely accurate) is only thin wrapping paper covering the treasure within. And it’s actually somewhat crude wrapping paper when you consider Solomon’s natural life, particularly his polygamy. Nonetheless, God has a way of redeeming man’s broken pursuits and hiding glory even in the most unseeming places.
What we’ll find is that this woman represents each one of us. Solomon then represents the One who would fall to earth to pursue and rescue our hearts.
After the Song gives its opening title and proclamation, the next verse goes like this:
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth
For your love is better than wine.
(Songs 1:2)
Within these words—the kisses of his mouth—is that same hidden picture of the Trinity we discussed earlier in Genesis 1. Look at it again with three words underlined:
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth
For your love is better than wine.
Once again, we are reprising truths that were originally sung out in Genesis. The subject here is God. The Shulamite is calling out to the One who created and birthed her, the One who knows the way back to true life—God the Father. But she is specifically calling out for the “kisses” of his mouth, which points us to his breath—God the Spirit. This is the same breath that turned Adam into a life-giving soul and now knits together all his children in their mothers’ wombs.
She goes on to compare this kiss to wine, further establishing a connection to the Holy Spirit. Throughout the treasure map of scripture, wine is a clear symbol for the Spirit. Take for instance when Jesus’s church was birthed at Pentecost. His apostles were accused of being drunk on new wine when in fact they were experiencing the overflow of the Spirit in their hearts. In another book of the Bible, a different apostle contrasts natural wine with the wine of the Spirit. There are other connections, but we’ll leave it there.
So, we have here a hidden reference to both the Father and the Spirit. But where is the Son?
He is found in the word mouth.
The mouth is the vessel through which a “word” comes forth. Jesus is the Word who releases the kiss of the Spirit, all of which comes from the heart of our Father. Thus, these first few verses of the Song are re-singing the first few verses of Genesis 1. Father, Son, and Spirit are found re-creating humanity once again.
The Yearning of the Soul
To some degree, this young woman from Shulam knows that this kiss is where she truly comes from. She knows something about how it birthed life itself when it pressed into earthen clay and transformed the dust into a living being. She wants to experience this kiss that birthed an advanced civilization on a rocky sphere and ignited an advancing church in the book of Acts. She desires this kiss above all else—which is why she represents all humanity.
People everywhere are hungering for love’s true kiss. This spark of desire gets misdirected all the time into broken relationships, addictions, affairs, pornography, and much more. But no kiss will ever satisfy the deeper yearning in the soul.
The loving breath of God upon our inner being is what produces true life. Everything else is called “religion” and “philosophy.” Such things carry great ideas that can titillate the mind and inspire different degrees of devotion, but they can do nothing to awaken the hidden fires of the soul. Because of this, the Shulamite speaks to everyone who is on a collision course with destiny, including every person who is not content to stay in dead, dry religion.
Our brief scavenger hunt has brought us to this revelation. When God released their blessing, it came upon the heels of divine breath. Our “original blessing” was a divine kiss. And thus, this kiss of God received in the heart is what produces true fruitfulness and multiplication of life. In fact, there is no life apart from this divine “Spirit-kiss.”
This is the secret chord that opens up the power of creation’s music and unlocks the depths of our own being. It awakens what is hidden in the larger song of life, the cosmos, and even in the words of what is called “the holy Bible.”
And so, everything from life, creation, and scripture has coincided with this prayer of the Shulamite. We have found the X on the treasure map. Now, we’ll start digging into the life-changing revelation that follows this prayer. For the King of the story will come and answer her desire. He does this for her and for anyone else longing for the same thing.
The entire book of Solomon’s Song is about the Shulamite learning to receive this kiss. As a result, the poem depicts the fullness of her being getting consumed by the transforming breath of God. You’ll see this very clearly as we go on. You’ll also see the resistance that so quickly comes against its life-giving flow.
You, beloved reader, are now invited into a songful journey of being kissed by our Abba Father and by his Son, our true Bridegroom and King. When this happens, the chaotic waters of your soul are quieted and come together. Land forms. Strength rises. Shape and substance come into your life. At the end of it all, like the progression of Genesis 1, you enter into the truth of who you are as the glorious Image Bearer of the Trinity.
Yes, the famous “creation story” from Genesis 1 is really a prophetic parable of our destiny… The Spirit hovering over the earth, the ever-increasing glory of matter and form, mankind coming forth in the full image of God, the declaration, “This is very good!” All of it speaks to our identity and destiny.
But before we go further, let’s take a brief pause. Let’s take a moment to utilize a special word that was used often by the poet’s father… King David.
Selah
This is a musical term that shows up many times in the Book of the Psalms. Its original meaning is not known though it is typically associated with a kind of pause or a moment for recollection. It is most likely an interlude of sorts, a time to come away from the logical ideas in the song or prayer, and just be.
Some believe this term was placed within these ancient songs because musicians of the time would often need to re-tune their strings in the midst of playing. The ancient lyres and harps that supported much of David’s music would easily get out of tune and a selah would give a moment to get the instruments back to the right sound—literally, to a proper and pleasing vibration, which is what “notes” are.
And that is quite a fitting way to describe our journey, for all of us have broken communion with the right sound of grace, those pleasing notes that come by hearing our Father speak out our true and original blessing—I am so pleased with you!
The strings that make up creation find their highest order in human beings. But we have lost their correct tuning, which has left us with a discord that we’ll unpack as we begin following the footsteps of this one called the Shulamite.
This journey is ultimately about a return to harmony. The entire Song is a divine selah and a holy pause. It is a “sabbath” for your DNA, a kind of reset that brings you back in tune with the music and kiss of your Father.
So, take a moment now, and breath.
Inhale. Imagine as you do this that you are taking in his very breath swirling all around you. Take it in and see it coursing through your blood, remaining within you even as you breath out…
Exhale. Release the kiss of your breath back to him. As you do, ask for more revelation. Ask for love’s true kiss to overtake your heart.
Then, allow him to speak.
Listen.
Do this often as you progress through this journey into the Song of the Ages…
Movement Two: Discord
Chapter Eight: Broken Identity
Any true artist, whether they know God or not, has an antenna tapping into the spiritual realm. This antenna picks up on realities that go on to infuse their art. The pen in particular can capture something of eternal truth and transcribe it into a parable form so that its real message remains hidden. This happens all the time with television shows, movies, and popular literature. As God’s royal children, we have the ability to search out hidden glory even in these realms.
J.R.R. Tolkien, someone who did indeed know God, is one example of a writer who tapped into something bigger than he perhaps intended. In his book The Silmarillion, a prelude to the larger story of The Lord of the Rings, we find a Creator named Eru Ilúvatar who makes the universe with the assistance of mighty beings who bear a resemblance to biblical angels. Together, they use music to paint the cosmos and even to write the overarching stories that will unfold within it.
One of the more powerful beings at the side of Eru is named Malkor who, through pride and jealousy, becomes an adversary, creating his own dark melody in an effort to taint Eru’s symphony. A battle unfolds and eventually the Creator takes what Malkor composed and turns it into something even more glorious than what was originally imagined.
This fictional origin story, penned well after the Song of Songs (though slightly before the development of string theory), parallels many aspects of our world, both in its physical and spiritual dimensions. It showcases the stark reality that we are experiencing a distortion in the original music. To use Solomon’s imagery, there has been a false kiss—a deceptive word—polluting creation and bringing discord into the symphony God intended.
But herein lies the story of redemption. The true Creator is redeeming the music and making it even better than it was at the beginning. In the Song of Songs, we see something of a similar battle unfolding between the true sound and the false. The false will come in very strong and leave devastating effects, but this will only make way for a greater release of harmony.
This parallels the very essence of what we find in all good music, especially jazz. A good jazz song is built with a tension that eventually gives way to release. The human ear is designed to synchronize with this wrestling match between tension and release. And beyond music, the journey of life itself is bound within this same dynamic.
Stealing the Birthright
The tension we find in Solomon’s Song is between separation and union. One is true and the other false, but the false is a seemingly real experience that needs to be worked through. An adventure must commence in order to come back to the original music and live in its fullness.
We were made to live from the music of our original blessing. To put it more directly—we were designed to live, breath, and move within the love of our Creator and the truth of our oneness with him as his perfect reflection. This truth was meant to be a life-giving tree producing the consistent fruit of love, joy, and peace. But this truth, this original “sound,” was stolen by a serpent, a liar who came and whispered a demonic lullaby into our ears.
If you eat from this tree—this other “reality”—you will be like God…
In that moment, Eve, a daughter of the Trinity, lost sight of her true reflection. Fear swept in. With this came shame. Discordant notes. Minor keys. A step away from harmony, with more steps to come. The symphony changed. The music that was meant to produce a dance of joyful grace turned into a dirge of gloom. “Sin” entered the picture, which simply means the dance became awkward and jittery.
This all happened because we bit into a lie. We forgot that we were already like God. With this, we doubted God’s heart. Trust, the currency of relationship, was broken. Through it all, Eve lost sight of both her Father and herself.
In the Song of Songs, we see this narrative from the book of Genesis play anew through the character of the Shulamite. After the first verses subtly introduce the Trinity and their life-giving breath, we are then ushered into a series of discordant notes that come in to steal the music of God’s song:
5 I am dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem
Like the tents of Kedar,
Like the curtains of Solomon.
(Song 1:5)
There are two ways to read this verse. On one level, it speaks to a confusion over who she is. She describes herself as both dark and lovely. In other words, good and evil. The tents of Kedar she mentions were the cracked desert dwellings use by a nomadic tribe descended from Ishmael. Ishmael was a son of Abraham who, in the New Testament, comes to represent unbelief and sin (Galatians 4:21-31).
But then she equates herself to the curtains of Solomon, the linen hangings within the Holy Place of God’s temple. This is a stark and clear metaphor for beauty and holiness. She compares herself to the very objects enfolding the glory of Yahweh in Solomon’s temple.
Thus, we find a fractured self-image. A wild contradiction. She is looking no longer at the pure reflection of the Trinity but is rather staring into a distorted carnival mirror of some sort. She sees the good, but she identifies with darkness at the same time. As a result, her identity is twisted. She has eaten a false understanding, a gnosis of untrue melodies that begin playing the instrument of her soul.
The Shulamite has eaten from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
I am good. And I am evil.
I am lovely. And I am dark.
Yin and yang. Bad and good. Light and darkness.
Dualism.
Such are the seeds of deception that brought a flood of false mysticism and philosophy that consumed Eve’s children as they traveled east of Eden. These systems of thought left people with only a vague hope of finding “balance,” pushing them into an unending quest to clean up the mind and body in order to find the good again.
This great lie pervades the ancient religions of the East, and the West has taken it in other forms, infusing it even into society’s understanding of the Bible. To this day, many Christians embrace this dualistic identity. The root of it connects to something called Gnosticism, an age-old philosophy that looks at the flesh (as in the physical body) as bad, while the spirit is viewed as good.
There are a great many complexities and philosophical nuances to this issue, but all of it boils down to a broken self-perception that came with the loss of seeing (and hearing) our original blessing. In other words, we lost sight of our Creator’s kiss of truth.
Listen Closely…
But there’s another way to read this part of the text, one that requires us to tune our ears and listen closely for the sound of Another. For there is actually a hidden dialogue happening here.
Since the ancient manuscripts of the Song of Songs do not delineate between who was speaking and when, translators have to guess as to where to insert the speakers’ names. This is not a perfect science and therefore much is left to personal interpretation. In this case, the Shulamite could be seen as saying, “I am dark,” but then a reply comes from the other main character—the One she sees as her Shepherd and King. This One comes and responds with the opposite reality.
No. You are lovely.
She then says: I am like the cracked tents of Kedar.
And he speaks back: You are like the fine linen curtains surrounding the very glory of God in my temple.
Here, we see the Lord answering her cry for the word of truth. Yes, the kiss of his word is already coming upon her; however, something is blocking her from letting it penetrate and unlock what lies within. We’ll look now at how this blockage is humanity’s truest enemy, the main thing we are called to overcome.