Friends: “Come back, come back, O Shulamite; Come back, come back that we may gaze upon you!”  

Bridegroom: “Why should you gaze at the Shulamite, as at the dance of the two companies?”

 

The little girl grasped the microphone tightly with both hands and asked in a sincere voice, “Why doesn’t God just kill the devil now?” In our conference amidst a host of adults whose queries were much more subjective and academic than this one, a little child asked the strategic question. Grown-ups complicate things. It seems the more information we have the less clear our vision of the heart becomes. Things remain simple in the heart of a child. Does God sleep while evil works? The question of whether God is involved in the affairs of men when evil appears to triumph has been posed in every generation. The dance of the two camps referred to by the Bridegroom in Solomon’s song is Mahanaim, a place of visitation. This refuge city in Gilead belonged to the Levites. It lies east of the Jordan River and is under Jordanian control today. Mahanaim, the dance of the two camps, was named by Jacob as he brought his family home to the land he had been given. Why does the returning Shulamite bring Mahanaim to God’s mind? Imagine her for a moment. The Shulamite refers to her appearance in this way: “Though I am black with sin, I am comely with virtue, O nations who are destined to ascend to Jerusalem; though black as the tents of Kedar, I will be immaculate as the draperies of Him to Whom peace belongs.” (Shir Hashirim, the Song of Songs Jewish translation).

Kedar was Ishmael’s son, a grandson of Abraham. Kedar is the name of Bedouin Arabs who dwelt in northwest Arabia. Their black goats’ hair tents, like those made by Paul the apostle to the Gentiles, sprawled in encampments following flocks in the desert. Isaiah speaks of Kedar's ‘glory and her gifted archers.’ Ezekiel associates Arabia with all of the princes of Kedar, suggesting a confederation under their leadership. The sons of Kedar were the main military power of the sons of Ishmael. To “dwell in the tents of Kedar” was to be cut off from the worship of the true God (Ps. 120:5). Yet we see the Shulamite associating herself with Kedar. The Shulamite says, “Do not view me with contempt despite my swarthiness, for it is but the sun which has glared upon me. The alien children of my mother were incensed with me and made me a keeper of the vineyards of idols, but the vineyard of my own true God I did not keep.” The Kedarites suffered alongside Israel when Nebuchadnezzar conquered the kingdom.

When Abraham interceded for Ishmael to be the chosen son prior to the birth of Isaac God said no. But listen to God’s answer to Abraham’s request as Sarah demands Hagar and Ishmael be exiled: “And Sarah, saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, which she had born to Abraham, mocking. Thus she said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, Isaac. And the thing grieved Abraham because of his son Ishmael. And God said to Abraham, ‘Do not let this grieve you because of the lad, and because of Hagar, your bondwoman; in all that Sarah says to you, hearken to her voice; for in Isaac shall your seed be called. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is your seed.” Genesis 21. As Isaac took the place ordained by God for him all of Abraham’s sons, including the first born whose birthright was given to his younger brother, would find blessing. Speaking to her Bridegroom the Shulamite asks: “Tell me, You Whom my soul loves: Where will You graze Your flock? Where will You rest them under the fiercest sun of harshest exile? Why shall I be like one veiled in mourning among the flocks of Your fellow shepherds?” He answers, “If you know not where to graze, O fairest of nations, follow the footsteps of the sheep - your forefathers who traced a straight, unswerving path after My Torah. Then you can graze your tender kids even among the dwellings of foreign shepherds.”

The Shulamite is a woman figurative of God’s wife. The many children He has desired will be born through her. She is the community of a remnant of returning Israel together with people from every tribe, nation, language, and tongue: Jew and Gentile reconciled to God in one body through the blood of the covenant in His chosen Son. She tells the world looking on, “then I became in His eyes as one who finds peace.” We see the Shulamite dance in triumph together with angels in John’s visions of the end of the age. The church must fulfill its prophetic destiny of intercession and evangelism in the power of the Spirit on the earth. While we wrestle, not flesh and blood, we are in hand to hand combat with angelic forces of wickedness influencing the hearts of men before our very eyes. This conflict has drawn whole nations, their armies and world governments into the fray of violence. With powerful spiritual weapons the church must take its place and stand as an effective memorial to God in this generation. There remains One upon whom the government of the world rests. Christ, having “broken down the middle wall of partition” has “taken away the enmity of the written ordinances that were against us.” As the Shulamite said, He is our peace. The Prince of Peace has triumphed over the kingdoms of this world.

Paul, the Jewish apostle to the Gentiles, said: “Therefore remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our Peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall by abolishing in His flesh the enmity…that He himself might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity…So then you are no longer strangers and aliens but you are fellow-citizens, and are of God’s household, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the Cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord.” God wants a family. All who make peace with Him become salt and light bringing the rest of His desired sons and daughters to the table.

Jacob’s prayer as he went out in exile was for his own survival and personal well-being. He had no capacity to comprehend anything beyond his personal destiny. He did not realize he was a part of something much greater. Fleeing for his life Jacob encountered God at Bethel. That revelation gave him direction but it did not transform his heart. Only the ensuing years of life, difficulty, persecution, love and the fathering of a family could put Jacob in a position to receive the change of heart necessary to possess the birthright awaiting him. But God had something even greater in mind than blessing for Jacob alone; a blessing that would ultimately reconcile the very brother sworn to kill him. God intended there be a family reunion wherein His promise to Abraham, “I will bless you and make you a blessing and through you all the families of the earth will be blessed,” might be fulfilled. Hosea instructs Jacob’s descendants saying “he wept, and made supplication unto Him: he found Him at Bethel, and there He spoke with us; even the Lord God of Hosts, the Lord is his memorial. Therefore return to your God. Keep mercy and judgment and wait on Him continually.” Hosea 12:5-6. The same exhortation came through Micah: “He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: do justice, and love kindness and walk humbly with your God.” So we see the Bridegroom likening His betrothed to the dance of the two camps. Jacob’s sojourn is a picture of Israel’s exile and return. In a wider sense Jacob reflects the entire human race that has gone away from its Maker. Jacob left with nothing but a birthright. He returned as the door of blessing for all. But we see Jacob on the eve of impossibility of reconciliation in search of God and in fear for his life.

The rejoining of two brothers into one family was not the result of negotiations. Their reconciliation was the result of visitation from heaven. Many years later Hosea told troubled Israel, as a wife estranged from God long after Jacob’s death, that Mahanaim still spoke giving compass in her return. The miracle of reconciliation between Jacob and Esau broke the lifelong vendetta and made the two become one family again. Jacob’s weeping intercession was made in the face of certain death as he came to claim his birthright. But it was a different prayer than the one made at Bethel. Jacob had come full circle on his journey with God and his encounter at the end of his journey was the turning point of destiny. This time he prayed not for wealth and success. Like Jacob, our burden and our struggle must be broader than our own personal blessing or dreams. We are a generation destined to live out our lives in the context of spiritual conflict made manifest in natural war. How will we answer this call? At Mahanaim Jacob prayed not just for himself but for the family God had given and he prayed for his estranged brother. During the night watch wrestling with the Angel, Jacob’s heart and name were changed. Jacob refused to let go of heaven until the promise came down to earth. In the morning he found that his struggle and his refusal to let God go until he possessed the blessing had moved both paradigms. His prayer and his struggle connected to the glory and God changed hearts in both camps! The blood feud between them was broken allowing the whole family to dwell in peace together in the land. Descendants of Ishmael and Isaac were reconciled in one. As Jacob and Esau, the sons of Isaac, fell upon one another’s necks and wept, their wives, the daughters of Laban and Ishmael were united in one family. Rachel and Leah were from modern day Syria and Iraq, the homelands of some of Israel’s greatest enemies, and sanctuaries to some of the greatest enemies of world peace today. The war between Islamofacism and Judeo-Christian worldview confirms the prophecies of scripture concerning the end of the age. It validates the relevance of the gospel for our generation and places fresh call to preach upon all those who know their God. Men need a personal encounter with the God who makes covenant and from whom every family under heaven is named.

In the manner of Jacob, the nation of Israel was driven out of her birthright by persecutors in 70 A.D. She wandered in foreign lands, increasing her family through many difficulties, until 1948. Since her return, a blood feud between the descendants of Abraham’s two sons rages. In fulfillment of prophecy in scripture from Genesis to Revelation all the families of the earth are caught up in the conflict. But likewise a blessing for every family has been provided in Abraham through Christ. Reconciliation is the word on the lips of world leaders who are at last admitting the religious nature of the war on terror threatening the world. Two camps: east and west; two powers: armies of men and angels; two spiritual kingdoms: light and darkness clash. We are living in an hour wherein man and angels wrestle for possession of the earth. Given to us is the ministry of reconciling men to God. And so the little child’s question sits on the brink of my own heart every time I watch the evening news. The day she asked I heard myself answer her, “Because God wants His family back.”

This year we led a pilgrimage to the land promised to Jacob. In surely the first such convocation in the history of the Holy City we congregated before the triple arches that served as the southern entrance to the Temple Mount in Jesus’ day. Watchmen from the West joined brothers in the East to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. With holy wonder and expectation we ascended those ancient steps. Sulfur colored lights intensified the golden hue of the city wall. Resting against the tower across from us a lone soldier kept watch, his eyes searching the West Bank valley below. A dog barked somewhere in the darkness as men and women, old and young, lifted hands and hearts to heaven and prayed. A young Egyptian made intercession in Arabic and a song arose in the night: “Let Your glory fall in this place…let it go forth from here to the nations.” On the border of the West bank, between east and west Jerusalem, beneath the windows of Al-Aqsa mosque and just steps from Hebrew prayers ascending from the Western Wall, the Shulamite danced the dance of the two camps. That night on the southern steps of the ancient Temple something unusual happened. As we wrestled in prayer for the miracle of reconciliation to come in our generation, watchmen felt the stones in the wall move! Like waves of the sea, the foundations trembled as God met us there. We know the foundations of many generations must be shaken before Peace comes. He has said, “I will shake the heavens and the earth…I will shake all nations and will fill this temple with My Glory!” And so we continue, like Jacob on the banks of the Jabbok, in the presence of His angels we keep watch by night and wage the spiritual war in prayer. We expect to see Him, the Sun of Righteousness rising with healing in His wings, as the jeweled fingers of His coming begin to creep over earth’s horizon. As we look out over the tents of armies presently arrayed in battle we can see the first rays of His light and so we sing, “Let Your Glory fall in this place!”

Join us again as we journey to the Holy Land and pray for the peace of Jerusalem in March 2007.

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©2003 by Mahesh Chavda Ministries

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