Song 4:12-15 | KingComments | STEP | The groom now compares his bride to “a garden locked” and “a rock garden locked’ or, better, “a source locked”, and “a spring sealed up”. That is to say, he sees her as exclusively for himself, as someone who is only open to him. She does not allow anyone else to approach her. Thus is she a refreshment for his heart. How much he appreciates this is reflected in the way he addresses her again: “My sister, [my] bride” ( ; ). This again gives a picture of how the Lord Jesus sees His own. He sees them as only for Him. Whoever loves Him wants to share his love with Him alone, and shuts himself off from other objects of love. This is also important in marriage. In it, husband and wife must be a closed garden, which means that they do not allow anyone else in their life to share their love. When a married man or woman falls in love with someone else, they are no longer a closed garden and a closed and sealed source or fountain. One cause for this ‘opening up’ may be, for example, that the woman does not receive attention from her own husband and does receive that attention from another man. It may then happen that she ‘opens her garden’ to that other person and breaks the ‘seal of the fountain’. The man is guilty of it, but the woman has no excuse either. There is never an apology for opening up the ‘garden’. In the book of Proverbs Solomon also speaks to his son about the wife as a source of joy for her husband ( ). In a different approach, but with the same tenor, he warns his son not to go to another source, but to always be enraptured by her love ( ). He tells him to be satisfied with his own wife. In his own house he has a source that can quench his thirst. By this he means his own wife. Thus, he will held “marriage in honor …, and the [marriage] bed undefiled” ( ). Solomon asks him the question, the answer to which is contained in the question: “Should your springs be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets?” ( ). When the man leaves his house and his wife to go to a strange woman, he leaves his ‘closed garden’ and goes ‘outside’ to ‘the water streams on the squares’. The sources that are outside, i.e. the woman who seduces him, are available to everyone. But the source of refreshment should only be his own wife. It should not be an option for his love to go out to a strange woman. The spiritual application, as here in the Song of Songs, is that the Lord Jesus and He alone is sufficient for us. He loves us unconditionally and exclusively and also counts on our unconditional, exclusive love ( ). True satisfaction of every desire only can be found in Christ’s love. As we grow older, our love for our wife will not diminish, but rather increase, just like our love for Christ. If it’s good, the life of the believer is like a garden in which the Lord Jesus wants to have fellowship with him. The closed fountain in the garden is a picture of the Word of God being pondered under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The believer who is like a closed garden is one in whom the word of Christ, the word of the Beloved, dwells richly ( ). We may well ask ourselves whether we are such a closed garden for the Lord Jesus. Is our life, is my life, all alone for Him? We will have to admit that it is not always the case, but is it our deepest desire that He experiences joy from our lives? The believer is also like “a spring sealed up”. What is sealed belongs to the one to whom the seal belongs. The believer is “sealed … with the Holy Spirit of promise” ( ; ) and belongs to the Lord Jesus. Through the Spirit he is firmly connected to Christ and will discover more and more of the glory of Christ. After all, the Spirit came to earth to bear witness to Christ ( ). From the sealed spring, living water flows through the teaching of the Spirit from the inside of the believer to refreshment of the Lord Jesus and his surroundings ( ). We can also be closed in the wrong way. This is the case when our life and the Christian community of which we are part are not governed by God’s Word and God’s Spirit, but by human traditions, by dead orthodoxy. We maintain rules for our own life and for others which do not come from Scripture itself, but from explanations of Scripture, which are by definition human work. Then we will no longer be open to the activity of the Holy Spirit. The appearance then becomes the yardstick by which spiritual life is measured. The inner life, the relationship with the Lord Jesus and the love for God’s Word, is of no importance. In Scripture, a court or garden is a place where God wants to have fellowship with man. We already see that in paradise ( ). It is a garden made entirely by Him as a pleasure garden for Himself. In it are united the highest blessings of creation. Man may enjoy in it and of it together with Him. He comes to him for this “in the cool of the day” ( ). Because of the fall into sin, nothing of the enjoyment of the garden remained for God. Man has not kept the garden closed, and has given up his fellowship with God. He has disobeyed his task to work and maintain the garden as a garden of lust for God ( ). He did not refuse the devil access, but allowed him to enter and talk to him ( ). At next ‘gardens’ we see the same picture. For example with Israel that God has made a vineyard for Himself ( ). In it have come men who have cast Him out to own the vineyard themselves ( ). Yet today there is, and there will be in the future, a group of people who form for Him the garden that is exclusively for Him. We may be that as believers. That we are, if we open our lives to the working of God’s Word and God’s Spirit. The result is that our hearts and minds are turned to Christ. It is about Him in God’s Word, and about Him it is with the work of the Spirit. Israel will be such a garden for Him in the future ( ).

‏ Song of Solomon 4:12-15

A Garden Locked

The groom now compares his bride to “a garden locked” and “a rock garden locked’ or, better, “a source locked”, and “a spring sealed up”. That is to say, he sees her as exclusively for himself, as someone who is only open to him. She does not allow anyone else to approach her. Thus is she a refreshment for his heart. How much he appreciates this is reflected in the way he addresses her again: “My sister, [my] bride” (Song 4:12; Song 4:9).

This again gives a picture of how the Lord Jesus sees His own. He sees them as only for Him. Whoever loves Him wants to share his love with Him alone, and shuts himself off from other objects of love. This is also important in marriage. In it, husband and wife must be a closed garden, which means that they do not allow anyone else in their life to share their love.

When a married man or woman falls in love with someone else, they are no longer a closed garden and a closed and sealed source or fountain. One cause for this ‘opening up’ may be, for example, that the woman does not receive attention from her own husband and does receive that attention from another man. It may then happen that she ‘opens her garden’ to that other person and breaks the ‘seal of the fountain’. The man is guilty of it, but the woman has no excuse either. There is never an apology for opening up the ‘garden’.

In the book of Proverbs Solomon also speaks to his son about the wife as a source of joy for her husband (Pro 5:15-19). In a different approach, but with the same tenor, he warns his son not to go to another source, but to always be enraptured by her love (Pro 5:19). He tells him to be satisfied with his own wife. In his own house he has a source that can quench his thirst. By this he means his own wife. Thus, he will held “marriage in honor …, and the [marriage] bed undefiled” (Heb 13:4a).

Solomon asks him the question, the answer to which is contained in the question: “Should your springs be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets?” (Pro 5:16). When the man leaves his house and his wife to go to a strange woman, he leaves his ‘closed garden’ and goes ‘outside’ to ‘the water streams on the squares’. The sources that are outside, i.e. the woman who seduces him, are available to everyone. But the source of refreshment should only be his own wife. It should not be an option for his love to go out to a strange woman.

The spiritual application, as here in the Song of Songs, is that the Lord Jesus and He alone is sufficient for us. He loves us unconditionally and exclusively and also counts on our unconditional, exclusive love (2Cor 11:2). True satisfaction of every desire only can be found in Christ’s love. As we grow older, our love for our wife will not diminish, but rather increase, just like our love for Christ.

If it’s good, the life of the believer is like a garden in which the Lord Jesus wants to have fellowship with him. The closed fountain in the garden is a picture of the Word of God being pondered under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The believer who is like a closed garden is one in whom the word of Christ, the word of the Beloved, dwells richly (Col 3:16).

We may well ask ourselves whether we are such a closed garden for the Lord Jesus. Is our life, is my life, all alone for Him? We will have to admit that it is not always the case, but is it our deepest desire that He experiences joy from our lives?

The believer is also like “a spring sealed up”. What is sealed belongs to the one to whom the seal belongs. The believer is “sealed … with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph 1:13; 2Cor 1:21-22) and belongs to the Lord Jesus. Through the Spirit he is firmly connected to Christ and will discover more and more of the glory of Christ. After all, the Spirit came to earth to bear witness to Christ (Jn 16:13-14). From the sealed spring, living water flows through the teaching of the Spirit from the inside of the believer to refreshment of the Lord Jesus and his surroundings (Jn 7:37-39).

We can also be closed in the wrong way. This is the case when our life and the Christian community of which we are part are not governed by God’s Word and God’s Spirit, but by human traditions, by dead orthodoxy. We maintain rules for our own life and for others which do not come from Scripture itself, but from explanations of Scripture, which are by definition human work. Then we will no longer be open to the activity of the Holy Spirit. The appearance then becomes the yardstick by which spiritual life is measured. The inner life, the relationship with the Lord Jesus and the love for God’s Word, is of no importance.

In Scripture, a court or garden is a place where God wants to have fellowship with man. We already see that in paradise (Gen 2:8). It is a garden made entirely by Him as a pleasure garden for Himself. In it are united the highest blessings of creation. Man may enjoy in it and of it together with Him. He comes to him for this “in the cool of the day” (Gen 3:8a).

Because of the fall into sin, nothing of the enjoyment of the garden remained for God. Man has not kept the garden closed, and has given up his fellowship with God. He has disobeyed his task to work and maintain the garden as a garden of lust for God (Gen 2:15). He did not refuse the devil access, but allowed him to enter and talk to him (Gen 3:1-6). At next ‘gardens’ we see the same picture. For example with Israel that God has made a vineyard for Himself (Isa 5:1-7). In it have come men who have cast Him out to own the vineyard themselves (Mt 21:33-39).

Yet today there is, and there will be in the future, a group of people who form for Him the garden that is exclusively for Him. We may be that as believers. That we are, if we open our lives to the working of God’s Word and God’s Spirit. The result is that our hearts and minds are turned to Christ. It is about Him in God’s Word, and about Him it is with the work of the Spirit. Israel will be such a garden for Him in the future (Isa 51:3).

The Decoration of the Garden

The garden has trees. The trees are not there for the wood, but to look at them. So are the flowers in the garden there to look at and enjoy the sight. So the bride is there for the groom. As a ‘closed garden’ (Song 4:12) the bride is fruitful to the groom. This is evident from the description he gives in these verses of her ‘garden’. He lists what grows in the garden. He has an eye for each tree and for the “choice fruits” that grow in it, for “henna with nard plants”, for “all the trees of frankincense” and for the “all the finest spices” that spread a pleasant aroma.

The groom starts by mentioning “your shoots” (Song 4:13). Shoots are the first visible signs of new life. He says that they are “an orchard” or “a paradise”. This reminds us of the beginning of the Bible, of the garden of Eden (Gen 2:9). That paradise has been lost by sin. It also points forward to the situation in the realm of peace, which will be like paradise (Eze 47:12; Rev 22:1-2).

But for the Lord Jesus there is now also a paradise on earth and that is the life of the believer who lives only for Him. From that life an abundance of fruit emerges. There is not only life, there is also the fruit of life. This fruit He Himself cultivates through His Spirit. “From Me comes your fruit” (Hos 14:8d).

The groom mentions nine trees and plants that the garden produces and adorns and give it fragrance. With that his enumeration of the pleasantness of the garden is not complete. By speaking twice about “all” he indicates that there is much more he enjoys. It speaks of an abundance in which every thought of lack is absent, but which also cannot be described in its fullness. This is the best description of its fullness (cf. 2Cor 8:9; Col 1:9-11).

In the spiritual application, the connection with the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit is obvious (Gal 5:22-23). What is pleasant in the garden of our life to Christ can only be worked by the Spirit within us if we are separated for the Lord. Then the water of the Word can produce fruit in us that makes us a pleasure garden, a paradise to Him.

The “pomegranate with choice fruits” recall the hems of the high priest’s upper garment on which pomegranates hang alternating with bells (Exo 28:33-34). The testimony of the Holy Spirit (the bells) is connected to the fruit of the Holy Spirit (the pomegranates). That fruit comes through the watering of the Word and that is the result of the work of the Lord Jesus as High Priest. Everything in our life that is fruit for Him has been worked through Him Himself.

All other fruits and spices speak of Him, of Whom He is and what He has done. God enjoys it to the full. As this is present with us, He also enjoys us, because it reminds Him of the Lord Jesus. We are taken into favor in the Beloved. The Lord Jesus also enjoys it, because He recognizes Himself in us as those who fit Him, in whom He finds His joy.

It is not easy to discover the spiritual meaning of the trees and plants mentioned here. The “henna” is only mentioned here. In Song of Songs 1 the bride says that for her the groom is like “a cluster of henna blossoms” (Song 1:14). Here we see the origin of the henna blossoms. They grow in the garden that is separated for the groom. We see here that the believer’s appreciation of the Lord Jesus is in fact His work in him.

Also the “nard” (Song 4:14), which comes from the “nard plants”, is mentioned in Song of Songs 1. For an explanation see Song of Songs 1:12.

“Saffron” is found in the Bible only here. ‘Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the ”saffron crocus”. The flowers possess a sweet, honey-like fragrance. [Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron, where more can be read about this spice.]

Two of the components of the holy anointing oil, which consists of “the finest spices”, are “calamus and cinnamon”. In the description of the holy anointment are called “fragrant cinnamon” and “fragrant cane” (Exo 30:23). All the objects in the tabernacle are anointed with this holy anointing oil. The holy anointing oil represents the Holy Spirit, Who consecrates the believer and his whole life and service to God (1Jn 2:20 ; 27). ‘The finest spices’, including calamus and cinnamon, refer to the glories of Christ, which are a pleasant fragrance to God. Where the Holy Spirit works in the believer, it will spread a precious fragrance, which is also pleasing to God (cf. Psa 133:2).

The list is not exhaustive which is indicated by the groom by talking about “all the trees of frankincense”. These are trees that spread the scent of frankincense. In Song of Songs there is mention of “frankincense” (Song 3:6), the “hill of frankincense” (Song 4:6) and here of “trees of frankincense”. Frankincense is mentioned in connection with the sacrifices for the grain offering (Lev 2:1 ; 2 ; 15 ; 16; Neh 13:5; Jer 17:26 ; Jer 41:5). The grain offering speaks of the life of the Lord Jesus on earth. The added frankincense indicates how much His life has been a pleasant fragrance to God.

God recognizes this in the lives of those who live separated for Him. Christ works this out in their lives. He has glorified God in all aspects of His life. In His words, deeds and actions He has always shown God. This is present to a limited extent in the believers. But every time they say or do something that is to the glory of God, He smells the pleasant smell of the frankincense that is so characteristic of the life of His Son (Eph 5:1-2).

Something has already been said about the “myrrh” in the explanation of Song of Songs 1:12. “Aloe” is mentioned by Balaam in the blessing he pronounces on Israel. Under the guidance of God’s Spirit he sees the tents of Jacob and the dwellings of Israel “like aloes planted by the LORD” (Num 24:5-6). In his blessing Balaam does not speak about the practice of God’s people, but about the value that the people have for Him. We can apply this to God’s purpose with the life of each of His own on earth. We are, so to speak, planted by Him on earth to be a pleasant fragrance for Him.

These two spices are also used at the burying of the Lord Jesus. Nicodemus brings “a mixture of myrrh and aloes” (Jn 19:39). It is a tribute to Him after the accomplished work to glorify the Father. The myrrh looks back on His suffering, the aloe looks forward to His return to the earth. The world doesn’t see Him anymore, but He comes back. In connection with His return these spices are also called. Then His garments are fragrant with “myrrh and aloes [and] cassia” (Psa 45:8a).

Also the spices mentioned do not fully reflect what through the groom in the closed garden of the bride is present for him. It is a garden “with all the finest spices”. The glories of the Lord Jesus cannot be written down exhaustively. All that is present in Him, all His attributes and features, all of which are perfect in themselves, form a harmonious unity. The fragrances merge with each other and the total fragrance of it is incomparable.

In that total fragrance, every believer has his own scent, a certain quality of Christ that especially characterizes him. All believers together are needed to spread the full fragrance of Christ. This is what the Lord Jesus is working on in the ‘garden’ of each of His own. Let’s open our garden to that work. What a wonderful fragrance will then be enjoyed by Him in all those gardens.

My Garden, His Garden

The groom says to the bride full of delight: “[You are] a garden spring” (Song 4:15). He sees her as a spring that irrigates her own garden, but also passes on the water to other gardens. It is therefore “a well of fresh water” or “a well of living waters” (Darby translation). Living water flows, it moves on to other places to bring life. It is water “[flowing] from Lebanon”. Here we see its origins. The water comes from the mountains, from the height.

A spring is a repository of water, not stagnant water, but living or flowing water. A spring speaks of depth; living water speaks of powerful and constantly flowing water. In the kingdom of peace there flows through Jerusalem “a river of the water of life” (Rev 22:1). The renewed Jerusalem can, in the context of Song 4:12-15 here in Song of Songs, be called a ‘garden city’. The characteristic of a river is also that there is a constant flow of fresh water.

We recognize the description of the groom in the activity of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. The Lord Jesus speaks to a Samaritan woman about water He wants to give her (Jn 4:10-14). The water He gives not only delivers from restless searching for peace, but gives much more. That water is a spring of joy that someone gets within himself and that he never loses.

That source within is connected with eternal life. By this the Lord refers to the gift of the Holy Spirit Whom He gives in the believer to be in him a fresh spring of Divine joy (Jn 7:38-39). The Holy Spirit is the gift that God gives us through His Son and through Whom we are able to enjoy everything that has been given to us in the Son. The Spirit of God makes the life of the believer fruitful and also makes him a blessing for his surroundings.

The streams come here from Lebanon. The Spirit comes from Him Who is on high, that is Christ. From the high He gave the Spirit (Jn 16:7). All spiritual refreshment and irrigation that flow into the life of the believer comes from the Spirit of life from the presence of the Lord Jesus for us with the Father in heaven.

Then the bride reacts to everything the groom has said of her as a garden in Song 4:12-15 (Song 4:16). The bride wants what the groom has given her to grow and develop further. She wants the fragrance of the spices of her garden to be wafted abroad, i.e. the abundance of fragrances can be smelled. This requires wind. She asks the north wind and the south wind to blow through her garden.

In both winds we see a picture of the working of the Spirit in the life of the believer. It is similar to the Spirit Who will blow through the valley of the very dry bones through which life comes (Eze 37:1-2 ; 9-10). Spiritually, the bride asks for the cold of the north wind on the one hand and the heat of the south wind on the other.

The bride knows that regardless of whether the conditions are favorable or unfavorable, whether they are in season or out of season, those conditions serve to make the fragrance of the spices all the more wafted. Paul also speaks of these winds when he says he knows what it is to be humbled and also to live in prosperity. He also speaks about this when he says that he has learned the secret of being filled and going hungry. He knows both abundance and suffering need (Phil 4:11-12). He is only concerned about the fragrance that comes from it, and that is the power of Christ through Whom he can do everything (Phil 4:13).

The cold that can enter our lives are the things we don’t like, the difficulties and worries of life. The bride asks for it. Do we ask for it? The question is whether we are ready to agree with what James says: “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials” (Jam 1:2). We’ll agree with what he says, but is it really so that we’re happy when we’re being tried?

We do not ask for problems, for a cold airflow in our lives. But do we really long that from our life more of fragrance is spread from and for Him? Then we ask Him to search and try us to see whether there is a hurtful way in us, something that hinders the spread of that fragrance, and whether He wants to lead us in the everlasting way (Psa 139:23-24).

There is a north wind in the life of the family in Bethany when Lazarus becomes ill and dies (Jn 11:1-3 ; 17). The cold of death has come. But the Lord Jesus comes with the south wind when He raises Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11:43). The Lord has already said that Lazarus’ sickness is not to death, “but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it” (Jn 11:4). The painful or sad things that happen to us aim to spread the fragrance of the glory of God and the glorification of the Son of God.

Disappointments are also like the north wind. The two disciples who went to Emmaus experienced the north wind in their disappointment in the Lord (Lk 24:13-21). The reason for this lies in false expectations. We can have them too. We have our wishes and imaginations about what happens. If things go differently, they are disappointments. Then we speak about it, and the Lord comes to us and makes our hearts burning by opening the Scriptures for us (Lk 24:27 ; 32). Then the south wind blows.

We can experience the cold north wind when we have a ‘bad news talk’ with the doctor. A friend and brother had such a talk. Investigation had shown that he might have colon cancer. Such a message puts the whole of life in a different light. It had driven him and his wife into the presence of the Lord. They live with Him, but that life with Him then took on a deeper meaning.

They shared their needs with the believers of the local church. It had led us all in the presence of the Lord and to intercession. This is the tremendous effect of the ‘north wind’ that blows through the life of a couple and a local church, enjoying the fragrance of fellowship with the Lord Jesus and with each other.

In his case, shortly thereafter, when the results of the examined piece of intestine were heard, the southern wind started to blow. No cancer cells were found. There was a large polyp that could be removed surgically. This message had made them and us as fellow believers very grateful to our God and Father. The fragrance of fellowship with one another and the glorification of God had blown through the church and beyond, to those who have no part in the faith in Christ, but to whom is testified of what God had done.

Do we wish to be a garden in which the Lord Jesus loves to come, because its fragrance is for Him? If we wish, we will say to Him: “May my beloved come into His garden and eat of its choice fruits!” It is striking that the bride in relation with the winds speaks of “my garden” and when she then invites her beloved to come to her, she speaks of “his garden”. It is both true.

We do not often think that our life is a garden for Him, where He would like to be to enjoy the fruit of it, fruit He Himself cultivates. Whether we are such a garden for Him is apparent from the things we fill our time with. Just consider, for example, how much time is spent posting and reading nonsensical messages on social media, consuming films and all sorts of entertaining programs. What can we offer Him of these as the “choice fruits” of His garden to eat?