Shabbat shalom and welcome back to the first sabbath after the spring festivals that ended at sunrise this morning when old days end and new days begin in Yahweh's calendar. The world follows its own times and seasons with Babylon beginning and ending at sunset and Rome at midnight. We start our days with the brightness of the Sun of Righteousness (Mal.4:2)!

I promised yesterday after another gargantuan talk that I would be brief today, Nevertheless I am obliged to share what Yahweh has served up to me to present to you. And first of all I would like to take you on a short excursion to that little book sandwiched between Ecclesiastess and Isaiah, to a scripture that a lot of Christians don't know what to do with or are embarrassed by. I speak of that piece of sensuous Hebrew love poetry known as either the Song of Solomon, the Song of Songs, or Canticles. As you may know, there was a big debate at the Council of Jamnia as to whether it should be in the Tanakh (Old Testament) canon at all. Though there was unanimity about all the rest (minus Esther), the Song of Songs was questioned. Thanks to its passionate and eloquent defence by a solitary rabbi in that Council, this jewel has been saved for us. And, yes, it does contain deep spiritual truth about Yahweh our Heavenly Father and His intense relationship with the Sevenfold Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) too, and vice versa. The point being this: we are made in His image and therefore our loves, on a human level, are similar to His...and Hers, for the Ruach (Spirit), as you know, is female. Greece and Rome are, for sure, guilty of many things, but one of their greatest disservices has been creating gender dysphoria in the Elohimhead (Godhead), making the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) out to be an impersonal neuter and a male, respectively. Well She's not. She's our Mother and was involved in the imaging of our first parents at the Creation - like Father, like son (Adam); like Mother, like daughter (Eve) (Gen.1:26).

This piece of love poetry came over the centuries to be viewed as an allegory of the either the love between Christ and the Messianic Community (Church), or the love between Christ and the individual soul. Both are valid. However you choose to view it, there is no doubt that there is a divine tavnith or pattern secreted in this book and some of those more difficlt theological questions that cannot be answered by the mind alone need teasing out by the heart but in an orderly way, for the heart left to itself is soon up to mischief. So, yes, certainly you can read the Song of Songs as merely a collection of love songs if you want to, and it's probably the nearest thing to an intimate lovers' manual you'll find in Scripture, but it is so much more than that. Or you can look for spiritual parallels according to divine tavnith or pattern which I want to do in respect of one passage today.

Last night when I asked Yahweh what message He wanted me to share with you this was it, and specifically - and, I think importantly at this time - one short passage at the end of the book. You'll see why presently. So if you'd like to turn with me to chapter 8, and verses 6 and 7, we'll take it from there, where the Shunamite woman in this drama makes this plea to her male suitor, in the story of King Solomon:

"Place me like a seal over your heart, or like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, and its jealousy is as enduring as the grave, love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame. Many waters cannot quench love; neither can rivers drown it. If a man tried to buy love with everything he owned, his offer would be utterly despised" (Song 8:6-7, NLT).

The whole of the Song of Songs, but I think these two verses in particular, paint a lovely picture of both married love and the quality of devotion Yahweh desires from His people. Those who are true Israelites - Messianic Israelies - possess this quality of love in abundance, to overflowing. In a world where marriage vows are routinely broken and hearts are scarred by infidelity, commitment through covenant that we are prepared to defend with our lives, serves as that adequate and necessary seal on our hearts that is never to be broken. Faithfulness to Yahweh is everything, a reason He repeatedly compares His relationship to His people Israel to a marriage commitment, which at the very least is until death, or until-death-to-us-part, and at its most intense and precious, is forever.

The kind of commitment Yahweh demands of Himself, which He unreservedly gives, and which husbands and wives should give to one another, is described by the Shunamite lover as being like a seal on our hearts. And whilst the survival of no marriage is guaranteed because it requires constant work, so too is our salvation. There is no such thing as 'once saved, always saved' anymore than there is such a species as 'once married, always married' even if the covenants are binding in the eyes of Yahweh. And yet, that ought to be the overriding goal; the only way, Yahweh says, that can be maintained - both in our human marriages and in our allegorical marriage to Elohim (God) - is by means of, and through, COVENANT or VOW-TAKING. We are supposed to be distinguished by the fact that we are covenant-keepers or promise-keepers.

Our oath, our covenant, our troth, is our honour, something that the tribe of East Manasseh understands well, whose example we should follow in this matter. Meine Ehre heißt Treue in German - literally, 'My honour is called loyalty'. Given to the wrong person, of course, this can be disasterous, as we know from history, which is why we must carefully choose whom we are going to give it to. First to Yahweh, then to our marriage companions, and thence to such as those who are genuine brothers and sisters in the New Covenant of Messiah. Speaking personally, I have to say I value this virtue above all others. It is a particular trait of the true House of Joseph, and of the seed of Rachel but one which all the tribes are called to encapsulate in their living. We are loyal people - loyal spouses, loyal children, loyal brethren, loyal workers, loyal servants. It is not a virtue easily found these days, making it all the more rare and therefore valuable.

In biblical language, and specifically the language of the Song of Solomon which comes from a time after the Exile, probably not earlier than the 4th century BC, this, the very latest strain of Hebrew that we have in the Tanakh (Old Testament), describes loyalty as being like a 'seal over the heart' and a 'seal on your arm'. I don't think any of us has any problem understanding what a heart-seal is, but what is a seal-on-the-arm? A word or two of explanation.

I am holding in my hand here an actual seal. It's Chinese and belonged to my mother and was probably made in the late 1940's in Hong Kong. In ancient times, and in a few isolated places still in the world today, seals were extremely precious to their owners. They were as personal as their names. Back in those days the seal would have consisted of a small cylinder of the type used to 'sign' clay documents by rolling them over the clay. The owner wore it around his neck on a cord threated through a hole drilled lengthwise through it.

You'll find that seals could be used as a "pledge" or guarantee in Scripture, and you may remember that Judah possessed one and gave his, along with his staff, to Tamar whom he thought was a prostitute, whom he slept with as we read in Genesis 38. The pledge or seal is mentioned in verse 18. This action alone goes to show how casually he viewed what, as I said, was the equivalent to a shem tov or 'good name', and what a dishonourable man he could be at times. Anyway, Tamar got his pledge which he only got back upon paying her a young goat in payment for her 'services'. At least he had the decency to marry her aftwerwards.

Lords and kings in mediaeval Europe used to wear their seals as rings on their fingers and you'll find reference to those in the Bible too. A friend of mine who was an aristocrat used to wear one. I am old enough to still remember a few people who used brass seals that they stamped on moulten wax to 'seal' letters. The point, in my sharing all of this, being as follows: our word, our promise, our covenant should be as sacred and important as those seals were anciently. When I was young I was taught that 'an Englishman's word is his bond' which I have always tried to live by, and so it was once, but no longer. Today we live in a world where chronic lying and disloyalty is the norm. There is precious little authentic honour left anywhere in the world. Not so Yahweh's people. Absolutely not so the Remnant! And utterly impossible for the true Bride of Christ. There are no dishonourable, faithless people in the first resurrection.

The seal is to be on the heart which in Hebrew parlance was a matter of both mental and emotional integrity, for the heart or lev described both in that culture. The Greeks divided them into two separate entities. And, yes, they are two entities but, in a whole person - an integrated person - they are to be viewed and treated as echad or one. Our minds and hearts are to be perfectly aligned in Christ.

So what does the "arm" mean here? What does it mean to wear our seal there? Well, as the heart bespeaks our mental and emotional or feeling life, so the arm represents our action life - the things we do, our deeds, and is a poetic synonom for 'hand'. That is why prophetic marks are placed on the human forehead (where his thoughts are, which give birth to his feelings - e.g. Rev.14:9; 17:5) and his right hand (the hand of honour - Rev.13:16; 14:9) and therefore speaks of honourable deeds. The left hand is symbolic of dishonourable deeds.

This love, this loyalty, this faithfulness, this honour, this highly esteemed or valued covenant-taking is then described as "enduring" or "unyielding as the grave". As the grave will not surrender its dead, so love jealously will not surrender the loved one, but hold on tightly. This spiritual passion is like a "mighty flame" or "the brightest kind of flame". Indeed, the picture here is of such an intense flame that it could only have been kindled by Yahweh Himself and indeed one manuscript version of this passage actually reads, "like the very flame of Yahweh". If your heart burns with this kind of divine love, this ahavah, this chesed or merciful love, this agapé or utterly selfless love, it is the very heart of the Creator Himself that has found residence in your soul. And if you have this, guard it with everything you have because it is, without comparison, your most prized possession and the defining quality of your character! These are the kinds of people we are looking for. These are the souls we seek to gather to the Remnant.

But the Shunamite's comparisons don't end there because she is trying to convey something of the infinite, which is why it falls under the purview of that which is le-olam-va-ed or eternal, lasting from one æon to the next for ever and ever. I don't know about you, but the only things that interest me are the 'forever' things. Temporary things pass away, like the grass on the field each autumn.

So what is the Shunamite's next comparison? "Many waters," she says, "cannot quench love; neither can rivers drown it" or "wash it away" (NIV). In the first instance, she's thinking of the ocean depths such as the psalmist refers to in Psalm 107:23, and though no one had ever been to the bottom of any ocean and returned to tell the tale in those days, they all knew that the ocean was frighteningly deep, unknown and mysterious. Well, that's what Yahweh's depths are like for us, and what ours ought to be like for one another.

But more than that, you need to realise that the ancients of the Near East believed in something known as the 'primal waters' which they regarded as a permanent threat to the world, perhaps, in part, because of the experience of Noah's Flood in the folk memory, which became a metaphor for death. Thus David would write:

"Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to You (Yahweh)
while You may be found;
surely when the mighty waters rise,
they will not reach him" (Ps.32:6, NIV).

The ancient pagan Greeks believed that the dead crossed a river known as the Styx, and that metaphor has stuck in the Anglophone world, because we often speak of the river of death too, though our source is also the Bible. In describing his rescue from death, David says:

"I will exalt You, O Yahweh,
for You lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me" (Ps.30:1, NIV).

For many people, deep water holds an especial terror. I remember as a boy in my pre-teens playing in the sea at Port Dixon, Malaysia, and my father took me out in a small storm so I could experience the exhilaration of being lifted high up by the waves before they crashed onto the beach. I remember the experience to this day, and feeling the fish tickling my legs as they swam rapidly past, excited by all the movement of the currents. But for a moment I also remember the feeling of fear in not being able to feel the sand on my feet when I was lifted high and when the wave carried me some distance back. For a while I could not feel the sea's bottom at all and I felt ever so insecure and frightened, sensing my complete helplessness. My father was there watching over me and brought me to the shore when I missed that particular wave. That's something of the sense that David is feeling. For many, their nightmare is falling overboard into the deep ocean at night and in a storm (to create the worst possible scenario), and having travelled the Indian and Atlantic Oceans many times, in stormy foul weather and fair, I can relate to the sense of awe and fear that deep water brings, and how it came to be associated with death. It's not, after all, our natural environment, and not unjustly is the sea considered to be cruel.

Finally, the Shunamite woman's fourth illustration, expressing the unsurpassed worth of love, for you cannot put a price tag on it. You may purchase the services of a prostitute, as Judah though he was doing (in fact, it was his own daughter-in-law who was a widow trying to get justice from him), but you cannot acquire love and loyalty like that. Unless both are freely given, they are of little value. "Many waters cannot quench love, no flood can sweep it away; if man were to offer for love the whole wealth of his house, it would be utterly scorned" (v.7, NEB).

A committed, loyal love does not give way when the storms of life cause the metaphorical floodwaters to rise. This kind of commitment is built carefully through effort, sacrifice and courage. It is more valuable than any material possession. Have you ever been tempted to give up on a commitment when things got tough? That seems to be the default response these days - how things have changed in the space of a couple of generations! As we now prepare for the summer moed or appointment with Yahweh at Shavu'ot (Weeks, Ekatost, 'Pentecost') at the end of July when we renew our baptismal (and Bar Mitzvah) or Yom haBikkurim covenants with Him and promise to be faithfully obedient to the Torah mitzvot (commandments) and to all that Yah'shua (Jesus) tells us to do as loyal allegorical wives, let us resolve now in our hearts, with the Master's example as our strength, to place a seal of commitment on our most important relationships, starting with Him and the brotherhood in Christ.

As an aid in better understanding that, let's consider how Yah'shua (Jesus) Himself responded to His commitments to His Heavenly Father, and ours, by turning to the 4th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew and reading the first 11 verses:

"Then Yah'shua (Jesus) was led by the Ruach (Spirit) into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, 'If you are the Son of Elohim (God), tell these stones to become bread.' Yah'shua (Jesus) answered, 'It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of Elohim (God).'' Then the devil took Him to the qadosh (holy, set-apart) city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 'If you are the Son of Elohim (God),' he said, 'throw yourself down. For it is written:

'He will command His malakim (angels) concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'

"Yah'shua (Jesus) answered him, 'It is also written: 'Do not put Yahweh your Elohim (God) to the test.'" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. 'All this I will give you,' he said, 'if you will bow down and worship Me.' "Yah'shua (Jesus) said to him, 'Away from Me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship Yahweh your Elohim (God), and serve Him only'' Then the devil left Him, and malakim (angels) came and attended Him" (Mt.4:1-11, NIV).

Our commitments are always to be measured against the Scriptures and not against our lawless feelings. Take the Sabbath, for instance, which we are osberving today. Have you responded as an obedient allegorical wife? Yahweh commanded through His navi (prophet) Isaiah:

"Blessed is the man who...keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it...If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my qadosh (holy, set-apart) day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and Yahweh's qadosh (holy, set-apart) day honorable, and if you honour it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in Yahweh, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob. The mouth of Yahweh has spoken" (Is.56:2; 58:13-14, NIV).

Sabbath-compliance is one of those markers of the loyalty of the Bride that Yahweh has given us. It's actually one of the simplest self-tests of all. So important is this test that it is commanded for the whole of human family during the Millennium and beyond:

"'As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,' declares Yahweh, 'so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon (Rosh Chodesh) to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before Me, says Yahweh" (Is.66:22-23, NIV).

That's one of many commitments we make as a Torah-obedient Bride. And, yes, it has a context in the greater whole, as Yah'shua (Jesus) Himself reminded us, telling us not to neglect the weightier matters of the Torah (Law) in our obedience, like compassion, justice, faith and mercy (Mt.23:23). We're not to pick and choose betweent the mitzvot (commandments) and emphasise one or many of them at the expense of others as so many denominations do. Yet for some reason, Yahweh singles out the Sabbath as one of the more important tests of faith, probably because it consumes a seventh of our weekly time and requires some self-discipline to do properly. If faithful, then in an average 70-year lifespan, 10 of those years will be spent living the sabbath way! It's not a little thing!

You may regard it as a very 'outward' and a therefore very 'inferior' thing because to you it's the inward heart that matters, but that is self-deception, because your attitude toward it is precisely a reflection of your heart, your inward motivations and drives, and your faithfuless and obedience, or lack thereof. He says its His time, not ours. And I could name lots of other tests like tithing and not eating unclean food, for example, which though physical activities, nevertheless ultimately reflect back on our heart in respect of our attitude toward them.

If we can't even manage to give Yahweh His portion, how on earth are we ever going to manage giving Him all? We sometimes flippatly say to Him, 'I am totally Yours, Father' when in deed we prove the very opposite. These mitzvot (commandments) are given, in part, as self-measuring markers, remembering that inner and outer are all one or echad in the Kingdom of Elohim (God). He views us as whole beings - the seal on our arms or hands are every bit as important as the seals on our hearts, as the Shunamite testified. They are measures, ultimately, of our loyalty and commitment to Him, or lack of it, as well as being particular blessings too because we need rest, we need spiritual and good physical food, and we need to have our finances as servants and not masters. Ignoring or flouting them is simply hurting yourself and your family.

Chag haMatzah or the Feast of Unleavened Bread may be over but the daily removing of chametz or leaven of sin from our lives goes on every day. I need to remind you of that. But to be effective in doing that, requires self-discipline in daily Scripture study and prayer. We do tend to wander...all the time. It's seven days-long precisely because it's a lifetime's occupation. Just look at the leaven of sin as extra, unneeded and unwanted baggage that's slowing down your life. If Yahweh asks you for a tenth of your apple, don't hand Him the core or a pip and tell Him to go and plant another one! Give Hinm the finest cut just as He offered the finest unblemished Lamb at Pesach (Passover) for our salvation. Today is supposed to be the choicest of our time!

The summer is nearly upon us but remember this is a Sabbatical year in which no planting or harvesting is to be done until the autumn (fall), which you ought to have prepared for in the previous year. So you will have a lot of extra time on your hands to get other important things done. For us, one of these will be wood-cutting so that we can survive the coming winter and the crushing electricity bills. It's a new year, Yahweh is doing a new thing, the world is changing, and so must we, but not in the world's direction. We need to keep life simple too and remember what Yah'shua (Jesus) said to the flustered, busy Martha:

"Martha, my dear, you are worried and bothered about providing so many things. Only a few things are really needed, perhaps only one. Mary has chosen the best part and you must not tear it away from her" (Lk.10:41-41, Barclay).

Simplify and choose the best part, be a loyal, committed, devoted, loving, witnessing and Kingdom-building talmid (disciple) because life is short and eternity is a vital investment. Until we meet again, may the grace of our Master Yah'shua (Jesus) go with you and give you shalom (peace). Amen.