Chapter 1:3
“Your oils have a pleasing fragrance, your name is purified oil, therefore the maidens love you.”
“Your oils,” spoken to the Bridegroom, speak of the manifestations of Holy Spirit. In the natural world, an oil is an inner substance of a plant which can give off a fragrance. The oil could be likened to the very inward nature of a thing, pleasing or displeasing to the senses. Purified oil, of course, would be oil without any impurities mixed in. A person’s “name” in scripture, often speaks of their character and nature.
This verse is saying that God manifests his nature in the work of Holy Spirit, that it is pleasing and that his nature is totally pure, drawing mankind to love him as it is revealed. (“The maidens,” also called “the daughters of Jerusalem,” are spoken of separately from the bride in SOS. They represent the larger part of mankind who hasn’t yet come into the place of more intimate relationship that the bride has.)
So what does the “pleasing fragrance” of Holy Spirit’s oil look like? You can see it most clearly in Jesus Christ, in his ministry of unconditional love and healing, forgiveness for the worst and life for the hopeless and the dead, and you can especially see it in the work of the cross, where he suffered in our place to redeem us and deliver us while we were yet his enemies who put him there. God is love. He is not just someone who loves but also gets in a different mood and does something else sometimes, (as we are often told) but he is always love and does everything completely out of love and does nothing ever contradictory to love. He proved it when he became a man and went to the cross for the sake of all sinners who were against him. This is the nature of God, the pleasing fragrance which causes mankind to love him. These are all important things to take time to meditate on and soak ourselves in. Meditating on this will build the faith to draw on his nature and promises so that we can experience him and his miraculous works and revelations in our lives today.
If you are one who knows the miraculous and experiences of communion with him, you can also see this pleasing fragrance in everything that Holy Spirit does in our lives.
You can look at the “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control,” and see the nature of God, his fragrant oil, revealed. You can look at 1Corinthians 13 to see his nature, his fragrant oil, as well. It may help to replace the word “love” with “God,” to see things better. It then reads “God is patient, God is kind and is not jealous, God does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly, does not seek his own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, God never fails.” We may have a hard time seeing God this way, we may see him as easily provoked and jealously taking into account every wrong suffered for instance, but his image has been twisted by religion and his scriptures have been interpreted in a light of meanness which doesn’t really reflect him. He truly does line up with his own words about love. When he is jealous, when he is provoked, when he watches over wrongs committed, that is in a different way than we thought, a way that is for us, not a way that is against us. We interpret those truths in the light of the most clear truth of Jesus going to the cross while we were his enemies who put him there. He is the Word made flesh, fully God revealed as a man, the clearest revelation of God in history.
He has been presented differently than that by organized religion. He has been made out to be someone who is performance oriented and looking for faults to condemn us with, who brandishes a hot cattle prod to make us try harder to please him, someone who wants us to feel that we are totally depraved and unworthy of any love. That is ridiculous. He is not that at all. Jesus showed us differently. He really is love.
He is often presented as someone who demands that we submit ourselves to a system of domineering people who will keep us from going too far in trying to have a direct relationship with Him or expressing Him without their permission, especially if it isn’t serving their personal and business agendas. It is said that he will burn down your house or something if you don’t give those people a certain amount of money. What ever happened to Hebrews 8:10-12, which tells us that in the new covenant, we won’t merely teach one another or say to one another, “know the Lord,” but all will know him directly? What ever happened to Jesus’ command not to call anyone on earth our father or leader, but that we only have one Father and one Leader, God himself? These scriptures, as well as the basic meaning of the gospel and the resulting royal priesthood of every believer, don’t leave any room for a mandatory hierarchy of human command, control, and codependency in “the church.” We are not obligated to get under the thumb of that for Jesus, nor to ever question it. That just isn't his fruit, it isn't his nature.
He is often said to be someone who predestines most of his children that he made in his image to a little speck of a life on earth and then an eternity burning in hell with no parole. That guy makes Hitler look compassionate. He is given legal credit for all natural disasters as “acts of God,” but believed to have better things to do than to calm a storm or stop an earthquake or heal a cancer patient or any such redemptive thing. This is not the God revealed in Jesus Christ or the work of Holy Spirit, and this is not the Bridegroom of Song of Solomon or the God of the rest of the bible, OT or NT. (Men have only taught the bible in such a way to make it look like it is, or we have read it from a place of condemnation, afraid of the light and twisting the words, as the children of Israel twisted their interpretation of God’s words when they pulled back from him in fear at Mt. Sinai. Moses, in the same situation, had a different kind of fear and view of God’s heart, which caused him to draw nearer into that fire.)
The message of the gospel even gets mixed up! We are told about Jesus dying in our place to save us, but then that gets added to and twisted. We are told by preachers that Jesus took the wrath of the Father on the cross in our place. Supposedly the psycho rageholic Father needed to take his anger out on someone, so he took it out on his innocent son, instead of us, but really; what might he do to you some day if he did that to Jesus for no good reason, out of such great wrath and bloodlust? No, Father was not angry with Jesus when he obeyed and went to the cross. That’s ridiculous. We are told by preachers that Jesus was forsaken by the Father on the cross even though they are the same person. Did the trinity cease to be a trinity for three days? Did God forsake himself when Jesus yelled out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Was Jesus having a crisis of faith? No, Jesus was referencing psalm 22 for the crowd, to show that his death was a fulfillment of that prophecy. The psalms are poetic, it doesn’t mean the Father actually forsook the Son who he is one person with, but the psalm was written to show that it seemed that way from a human perspective. The Father was not angry at Jesus, but Jesus was rescuing us from sin by legally putting it to death in his own body. That’s what it was about. Scripture declares that, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself,” not, “God was wrathful against Christ, abandoning Christ, and torturing Christ because he needed to take his wrath out on SOMEBODY, so now he’s satisfied… for the time being…” Even the message of God revealed in Jesus dying for us on the cross got turned into a message that God is a raging psycho and you never know who he might just randomly get mad at and murder next, it could even be his son Jesus! Somebody needed a rageholic god to use to control people. That’s what we see happening here.
1John 1:9 tells us that “God is light and in him is no darkness.” He is not the monster that has been portrayed through the centuries by organized religion. He is passionate and unconditional love. He is Jesus dying on a cross for our sins against him while we were at our worst, and the sins of all people at theirs. His name is purified oil, spotless from any kind of corruption or evil motive, and when we see his nature, we simply fall in love. Jesus is truly “the desire of all nations,” yet he has been presented as something else. Space does not permit to address so many errors of common teaching against the goodness of God, especially not thoroughly.
I think that God has mainly been represented as such a sick monster by organized religion due to the fact that throughout much of history, even though Father was still active in his people, religion was usually being used by kings and emperors as a way to maintain control. Religion was very much under the control of the state and they had a need for a sick monster to scare the people into line. A liberating lover God was a threat to the system. You couldn’t be in the tyranny business while preaching grace and freedom and a redemptive, good God who each person is to know and be led by directly. The people needed to be kept guilty, afraid to question authority, under a formal chain of command in an institutional “church,” insecure in their direct relationship with God and so easy to manipulate and to herd around by the tyrants. It is truly a miracle that we have as much truth preserved as we do today.
The place of God’s judgment:
So, what about his judgment? We are definitely not left with a choice of believing that God is a sicko or believing that half of the bible is wrong.
The stories of severe justice in the Old Testament, and the warnings of the same throughout the New Testament, have been taught on by men and made to sound like they mean God might love us on a good day, but on a bad day is out to abuse us for our faults rather than save us. On the contrary, the cross shows us that mercy triumphs over judgment, that although all came under condemnation in Adam, all are brought into justification of life in Christ (Romans 5:18) and that His judgment is redemptive, not ultimately destructive.
I’m not one who throws out the half of scripture or so which talks about judgment, the fear of the Lord, just consequences for disobedience etc, these were all things emphasized by every apostle who wrote the New Testament, and the Lord himself. I’m one who interprets that in the light of what Jesus revealed clearly about the heart of God when he went to the cross for our sins. One does not contradict the other. I’m one who believes that God’s judgment has been grossly misrepresented by religion. His justice against evil is love for us, just like it is loving and right to have some kind of justice system in any society instead of letting violent criminals run around free doing whatever they want with no consequences and no protection for the public.
The difference is that earthly justice systems are flawed and impure, while God has perfect justice which brings consequences but ultimately leads to greater blessing for even those who are judged. That is not traditional teaching, but I can’t conclude anything else in light of the truth I’ve seen, both in scripture and personal, spiritual experience.
You can’t go and lock some guy up in your basement because you think he deserves it, but it is good to have a justice system in a government where a criminal can go through due process and be sentenced to prison if found guilty. It is likewise just and good for God to judge evil in ways that he doesn’t allow us to get away with in judging one another, because we aren’t him. God’s judgment is shown to be from a different nature than man’s judgment, and also from a much higher place of understanding and wisdom, and the ability to turn it all for each person’s benefit in the end.
David, in the psalms, cries out, “Judge me o Lord! Find out any wicked way in me!” not because he had a sadomasochistic relationship with God and wanted to be abused, but because he knew God’s heart and he knew that judgment, though not always pleasant right away, was a blessing for him. He cried out for it over and over throughout the psalms because he knew it was redemptive, to purify him and to bring him to a place of greater blessing and personal knowledge of God and of his likeness. His judgment is actually an expression of his mercy. He judges evil to deliver us from it, as he did for Israel to deliver them from their slavery in Egypt, in answer to their cry for help. Even his severe discipline is always for our benefit and care. It is a great source of peace to understand that there is justice in the universe and in our lives, even if we don't fully understand it because it hasn't fully played out yet, and to understand that the judge is love himself, not a hateful tyrant.
He is love, not just someone who loves but sometimes does something else when he’s in a different mood. At the same time, Jesus is revealed in messianic prophecy as the Savior/Judge, a warrior violently defeating evil and righting injustice in the world, not just the passive flower child son of the passive hippy father in the sky.
Father didn’t have a midlife crisis when his son died, neuter himself and become the big passive hippy in the sky, no, but he is also not a sadistic monster. He is an intensely loving, heroic redeemer of his children from all evil, bringing them all into maturity in his own likeness. He is severely, perfectly just, with judgment always leading towards redemption and the maturity of his children. These are not contradicting sides of God, he only has one nature, but it is that prophets have only seen and declared a portion at any one time. It is when we put the revelations of the prophets together into context by the clearest revelation of God, the one who went to the cross for our sin, and likewise into the context of the clear scripture "God is love," that we see how judgment and wrath can only be for our benefit, not for our endless doom. He made us to be his bride, not his torture victims.
Paul wrote that we are the fragrance of Christ, a fragrance of life to those who are being saved (“sozoed;” saved, healed, delivered) and we are a fragrance of death to those who are perishing. (the rebellious/the self-reliant) The fragrance of his oils is truly pleasing, but we see that people aren’t always pleased. Part of his ministry is in offending our pride and strongholds to bring us more fully to the cross and more deeply into his embrace and his likeness. Sometimes our growth process doesn't seem pleasant for the moment, but we can be sure that it will all become more than worth it.
There isn’t space to address all the crazy and commonly accepted teachings that make Father out to be a monster, and his discipline and training out to be abuse, especially not in depth, although some have been referred to already. I do want to go after one a little more. One that seems to be most deeply rooted and powerful in twisting our view of Father, one which seems to get defended the most adamantly, angrily, and without real basis: the belief that God is going to send most (or any) of humanity to an eternity of torture without end or escape, for no purpose other than to satisfy his great anger at them. (just step back and take a look at that belief for a second, and it’s implications... very wacko.)
On beliefs about hell:
The truth is that scripture simply never teaches that. Scripture teaches clearly that there is judgment for sin in this life and in the next, it clearly teaches that there is a hell and that people will go there because of their sin and that this is nothing to be taken lightly. Scripture does not give us a lot of clear detail about what hell consists of, how long people will be there, etc. The glimpses we do have are very brief, use poetic forms of language, and require interpretation, although they are very serious warnings.
The few scriptures (in Revelation) which are translated into English in such a way to make it look like people will be tormented “forever and ever,” just do not say that in the original text. It just isn’t there or anywhere in the New Testament. A word or combination of words are used which mean a period of time, not, “forever,” or, “forever and ever.” You can research that for yourself. There is much material freely available to the public out there going over every nuance, and Holy Spirit is given to lead you into all truth as well. There are scriptures speaking of eternal judgment and eternal life, but biblical scholars will tell you that the word for eternal actually means more of a quality, not a quantity of time. It speaks of where that life or judgment comes from, it does not speak of duration necessarily. Physicists will tell you that time is a function of the physical universe only, relative to physical space. Time, by definition, is not a function of eternity. Eternity is a place outside of time, where time was created from. He is said in scripture to be the one who “inhabits eternity.” Also, if there is a promised “last day,” what happens to time after the last day? We are repeatedly said in scripture to already have access to eternal life in the here and now in Christ. This is Life from eternity brought into time and space. There will be a day when his judgment and his life are fully manifested in his fully revealed kingdom, but until then the gospel is still “the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” and “the kingdom of heaven has come near to you.” Those things are revealed now in part and are increasing as believers move forward. Another subject you can research for yourself in the word.
All sin has been judged already in Christ’s death on the cross. Nobody needs to come under judgment for sin unless we choose to remain under it. It isn’t really God’s heart to judge anyone for their sin, but to let Jesus have the reward he paid for when he was fully judged for all sin: past, present, and future. That reward is redemption and life for all. This was always Father's intention, to forgive and redeem all, even before they ever fell. Jesus is the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world, we are not dealing with a good cop and a bad cop here, or someone who has lost a grip on things.
We really aren’t told in scripture that people will lose access to the option of allowing Christ’s redemption to take effect during the next life, although I don’t see clear, in depth explanation given on that subject in scripture in either direction. If the scripture, “it is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment,” was a hard and fast rule meaning that all judgment is finalized when you physically die, Jesus and his disciples wouldn’t have raised the dead, they would be breaking the rule of, “you die once and that’s it, no second chances.” I’m glad they broke that “rule,” and taught us to break it also. People through history have been raised from a glorious state, as well as from a tormented state. John G Lake, Sadhu Sundar Singh, Martin Luther, and many other well known believers, have been cited as well defending the possibility of one gaining faith and redemption in the next life. I wonder why so many react against it so vehemently? Is the idea of a forever, inescapable hell really something that they love so much that they will attack anyone who says people might get a way out?
We are only given a few glimpses in the word. We do know that people can choose rebellion, and that things are going to be very rough for those who persistently rebel. I’m not interested in spending one second in hell, let alone years, or “ages of the ages,” or however long people are there, but more than that, I’m looking for the truth about the one I love. He’s the only one who can keep me, and clarity on who he is and on his love so that I can love him in return, not just some excessive fear trip which makes him out to be a sicko.
There ARE various scriptures which seem to be saying that Christ’s redemptive work on the cross will be applied to all people. Not a lot of detail or discussion is given there, but just the statements. Many people have compiled long lists of those and posted them on the net. Even our faith is only a gift of grace. Do you think, at the end of it all, that he will have chosen to hold out on certain people despite that long list of scriptures indicating the contrary?
At the end of Revelation, death and hell are cast into “the lake of fire,” which is said there to be in the presence of the Almighty and of the Lamb. This lake of fire is different than hell, and it is in His presence. He is the consuming fire, Jesus came to baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire and to thoroughly purge his threshing floor. It is called a lake of fire and brimstone, and brimstone is mainly known as a purifying agent. So what is this lake of fire? Is it purifying, redemptive, or merely torture for the sake of torture’s sake forever? All I know is that the New Testament never says people will be punished or tortured forever, and the nature of God is so different from someone who would torture anybody forever. He is an agape love driven redeemer of sinners, not Hannibal Lecter. He has no need to satisfy his wrath by torturing someone forever.
Why would anyone believe that about him when he simply hasn’t told us that? If you made an assumption like that about me, without good evidence, saying that I like to lock kids up and burn them with acetylene torches for as long as I possibly can because I’m in charge of the house and I’m just mad because my kids are worthless and they deserve that, you would be accusing me of great evil. I would think you have a serious problem. Maybe we should stop assuming that about our Father God when he hasn’t said it, and the evidence of his character is so different? I’ll leave that subject for you to explore with Him.
Back to other issues…
We all face tragedy in this world and we are all tempted to think that the pains of our negative circumstances and experiences in life are a reflection of God’s meanness or indifference and his heart of performance orientation towards us. The truth is that he has given mankind a freedom to choose, and so there has to be some room to choose evil, or love wouldn’t be a real choice either. As a result, evil has a certain amount of room in the world, for a time. Jesus stepped into an evil world and conquered evil with good, and we are walking in that Way. He is waiting for us to take our place of surrender and authority in Christ and to change circumstances in the world for the better through co-laboring with Holy Spirit. Jesus modeled that and invited us into partnership with him. We are joint heirs with him, both of his way and of his ability. Evil is not his heart towards us, but he is raising us as his very sons and daughters, partakers of his nature, overcomers of evil like he showed himself to be when he walked it all out, facing evil against himself.
There are promises in Romans 5, for instance, saying that even as death reigned over all men through sin, MUCH MORE Life will reign through the gift of grace and justification to all people. I have to look at promises like that along with the longer list of confirming verses commonly cited. (often by so called “fringe” or “heretic” groups of course, often labelled with various "isms," but popular religious opinion means nothing concerning the truth) I have to look at the nature of God revealed on the cross, and I have to think that all the evil experienced in human history is going to be swallowed up and made insignificant by the “much more” heavenly glory of the free gift of grace, justification, and sonship eventually received and chosen by all. As the evil done to Jesus on the cross resulted in such greater good to make even that great evil serve the overwhelmingly better purpose, so all the evil we’ve experienced will be turned into redemption and goodness as Jesus brings “many sons unto glory.” Nothing else really makes any sense. Paul was accused of preaching "let us do evil that good may come," although he was not... and you could be accused of that also if you are sharing this truth. Ask God. Search it out for yourself. Look up the scriptures.
Yes, he really IS love. Who could not love him as he really is, but who could not resent and resist the abusive tyrant who has been presented in his place? Instead of looking at the things that have gone wrong in our lives and thinking that God is out to shame us and punish us with them, or looking at some of the sick teachings of organized religion, or the way we’ve been judged and treated by people in the ranks of religion, let’s look at his oils. Let’s look at the works and fruit of his Holy Spirit revealed in the life of Jesus, his work on the cross, and in his miraculous works in our lives, his goodness and his redemptive purposes, and we will see that his nature is truly pure, and we won’t be able to help but be drawn into love with him as a byproduct.
