My Beloved, Chief Among Ten Thousand

The times ahead will require a deep love and true devotion to Jesus unlike at any time in our history. Those who think they 'stand' need to know that their love will be tested in these last hours before the Lord comes. The apostasy of the age has always sought to substitute true love for Jesus for new age philosophy and humanism. Nothing can be exchanged for a burning heart for Jesus. He is truly 'my beloved, chief among ten thousand.' In Song of Solomon, the bride gives one of the most powerful descriptions of Jesus. It is a magnificent, poetic unveiling of the splendor of Christ Jesus and an outstanding statement of true intimate biblical love for Jesus. It is the restoration of the first commandment which will be the catalyst for true revival in these last days.

By Chris McDonald

TEXT: Song 5:10-16  - My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. [11] His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. [12] His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set. [13] His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. [14] His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. [15] His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. [16] His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
 

        It's been said that true passionate love will make you spiritually violent for the kingdom of God - violent enough to endure persecution and even martyrdom. Lovesick, captured people live differently for sure without a doubt. The holy lovesick are serious about God and have a focus and devotion that those with lukewarm hearts just do not have. I can tell you today as I write this journal that it is my own personal cry to become just as this bride did in Song of Solomon. I am not there yet. In fact I am far from it but I pray today as I write this that you the reader will catch a glimpse of the yearning that I have for not only my own heart but for the hearts of all who seek to find that place of total devotion to Christ in these last days.

    The implications of lovesick people create a massive disruption wherever the lovesick bride goes. Love sick people always drives them into activities that will enrage others. They are not driven by a political spirit, a religious spirit or a racist spirit; they are driven by only one thing and that is they love Jesus with ALL their hearts and souls and NOTHING can be taken from them because in they have nothing to lose that is not worth losing. Lovesick people have no price tags. You cannot control people who have no fear! In fact, you could offer them their pick of all the political positions in society and the church world, and they would remain unmoved. They would turn you down to be frank. NOTHING is more attractive to a fallen, sinful world than a heart on fire for the Son of God - Jesus Christ. Unsaved multitudes will only come to a saving knowledge of Jesus when they see the ones representing His name become love sick for the one they say they serve. The people to be harvested will at first look at the church and say "We want something to die for!" This journal is about these issues - harvest, love and the drama of the end times as it relates to the church's love for Christ.

        As I write this, the atmosphere on Planet Earth continues to rise in anger against those who truly love Jesus. The anger against those who are Christians is not against the apostate church which doesn't really preach a gospel that demands true love for Christ and repentance, it's an anger against those who as I have just stated are "holy lovesick." Many around the world are confused and are starting controversies. Many will name the name of Jesus. They will do anything they can do to undermine the holy passion that is sweeping the church and the world in certain places right now. Sadly, most of the controversy against Christianity is coming from within America, the most free nation on Earth where our freedom to serve God is unparalleled to any other country on the Planet. Yet it seems the more freedoms we enjoy, the more that the enemy seeks to destroy those freedoms through corrupt politicians, a humanistic mindset that declares man is god and a backslidden church that has allowed such to go on because to be frank, that same mindset fits right in with most of what modern Christendom is preaching today.

        The fight is also within the church. Those who are not lovesick for Jesus always find a theology or doctrine to put down and silence those who are truly on fire for Christ. You become what you behold neighbor and if all you do is seek to find error in someone else - you literally take on that error! Remember that. Judge NOT, lest YOU be judged with the very same judgment. It's a fine line between judging righteous judgment and judging because we just don't agree with someone's view. And to be sure, we had better always walk in HUMILITY towards our brother knowing that WE are not experts ourselves on any matter but are always seeking the Spirit's help in discerning the truth.

John 16:7-17  - Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. [8] And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: [9] Of sin, because they believe not on me; [10] Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; [11] Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. [12] I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. [13] Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. [14] He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. 

        The lovesick of the Body of Christ will make others so enraged that they will kill believers. Martyrdom will be increasing issue as we draw closer to the end. The nations will be enraged by this fiery love for the Bridegroom. This is going to cause trouble. Glory and trouble are both coming. Jesus warned us in Matthew 24 that persecutions would increase as the end neared. We're in that time right now! The days ahead will require a love that is so strong as to be violent. This love must be developed NOW so that you will never quit or give up. We must become a lovesick bride and become an individual such as John who rested his head upon the heart of God.

Divine Worship And Worldly Pleasures

        When we experience and discover the ways of superior pleasures, we redefine reward, success and pleasure. We live as people from another world because that's precisely what we are. The world has the WRONG answer for how to experience pleasure. Its answer is inferior; worldly pleasures cannot and will not EVER satisfy us! The pleasures of this world leave us painfully craving for more. History and religion have taught the church that it is wrong to experience any kind of pleasure. They tell the church to grit her teeth, try harder and endure. But when the church complies, she only becomes molded into religious self-determination. The true gospel brings people into the ROMANCE of God. The story of the cross of Christ is a story of reconciliation between God and man. Man fell, became sinful and was alienated from God.

        God loves man so much He sent His only begotten Son to woo man back to God through HIS precious blood. When this blood is applied to our hearts the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts BY the HOLY GHOST!

Romans 5:5
And hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
 

        This generation will receive greater revelation than any other in this area - not because we are "set apart" from other generations, but because the dynamics of this time are unlike any other in the need for a deeper love for Jesus. This generation may very well be the generation on earth when Jesus comes. That is why the stakes are higher than any other. This is the harvest generation; but it is also the generation that will experience the greatest trouble and tribulation as well! That is why the gospel we preach must root and ground is in a love and abandonment to Jesus and no other!

        The apostate church will preach a gospel that takes man into a love for himself instead of a love for God. TRUE gospel preaching leads us to Jesus and no one else. No other lover will do. No other name will do! It is time for the church to receive her vision for the holy romance and to pursue it with all abandonment.

        No other book in scripture sets forth the fullness of love between the Savior and the believer as does Song of Solomon. The entire economy of salvation aims at restoring the world the lost spirit of love. God is love and JESUS is the embodiment of the love of God. This is the book of "holy love," as we have spoke of already.  The image of a bride, a bridegroom, a marriage, represents this union between fallen man and the Son of God. The spiritual union was the original fact in the mind of God, of which marriage is the transcript:

• Isaiah 54:5  - For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

• Isaiah 62:5  - For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

• Jeremiah 3:1  - They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord.

• Matthew 9:15  - And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bride chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

• Matthew 22:2  - The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,

• Matthew 25:1  - Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

• John 3:29  - He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

• 2 Cor. 11:2  - For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

• Eph. 5:23-32 - For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. [24] Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. [25] Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; [26] That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, [27] That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. [28] So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves himself. [29] For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church: [30] For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. [31] For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. [32] This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

        Love to Christ is the strongest, as it is the purest of all human passions. Solomon may not have known it but he was writing prophetically to this generation to show us the beauty of our bridegroom. And in this description we see the beauty of Jesus that we must behold and embrace in these last days.  With her heart spilling over with supernatural tenderness, the bride of Christ gazes upon the holy majesty of her heavenly Bridegroom. From the intimacy of the secret chambers of her heart, out of the depths of love and magnificent devotion, an exalted, heavenly song flows forth. The Song of Solomon is a description of the Bridegroom through the eyes of what we need to be - a lovesick bride! To understand the heart of this lovesick bride in these passages is to grasp the type of love it will take to endure the end times friend.
 

He Is Radiant

        The text of the scripture is painting a picture of a bride who is tested. Yet through her testings she gives one of the most powerful descriptions of Jesus ever stated in the word of God.

Song 5:6-7
I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. [7] The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.

        The bride describes Jesus by using the imagery of the temple, combining it with imagery of the human body. The Holy Spirit is depicting with majestic of Jesus Christ in the language of the temple with gold, precious stones, ivory and the cedar of Lebanon. These are descriptions of the Lord's personality and to show that Jesus is "above all over beloved!"

        The bride tells those around her that if they find her bridegroom -tell HIM I'm LOVESICK FOR HIM!

Song 5:8
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.

       

Song 5:9  - What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?

        In this portion of discourse between the bride and bridegroom, the bride ha been severely tested. Such seasons of testing are COMMON to all who go deep in the Lord. I know there is a part of the body that teaches that testings are a sign of a lack of faith. That is stupidity and just plain to dumb to even say. To be frank, true faith brings MORE testings than false faith, which most so-called believers really exhibit. Most have faith in their own faith or in a preacher more than the finished work of Christ at the cross. The bridegroom shed His blood to purchase a bride but gave no promise the bride would not be without tribulation and peril. If you serve God and truly know HIM, you will suffer persecution. We will deal with this aspect more in future messages, but here are some verses concerning this:

2 Tim 3:12 - Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
 

Luke 11:49- Because of this, God in his wisdom said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute

Luke 21:12-13- "But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.

John 15:20- Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

Acts 14:22- Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God
 

        The less mature part of the body of Christ asks the bride a deep question seeking to learn the secret to her persevering love in the midst of deep trials. Her response must be our response today in the midst of our trials: "MY beloved is white (radiant) and ruddy."

Song 5:10  - My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
 

        The word "white," is phrased, "dazzling," in the NIV and "radiant," in the NAS. The original Hebrew means "radiant," "dazzling," "brilliant," "shining white." The idea is that Jesus is stunning and dazzling to His bride. He is "brilliant in His loveliness" and "radiant" in His splendor. He abounds in unapproachable light that dwells around His throne. She proclaims the glory of the Father AND the Son. The resurrected Christ is made up of all bright colors, shining lights, exotic fragrances, awesome power, heavenly sounds and beautiful music. The resurrected Christ possesses indescribable beauty and splendor. AND HE MUST BE MINE! He must be YOURS. He cannot be someone else's for you. He must be a PERSONAL saviour to each one reading this message today.

1 Tim. 6:16
Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.
 

        Revelation 4:3 describes the Father's throne as being like a sardius and a jasper stone.

Rev. 4:3  - And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
 

        The ancient jasper stone was like a transparent diamond-like gem, and a sardius is a deep red gem. An emerald rainbow also encircles the throne. The brilliantly fantastic colors associated with the person of God and Jesus' fragrances are real, not metaphors.

2 Cor. 2:15 - For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:

        The throne of God is drenched in His lovely fragrances, and these awesome fragrances fill the entire eternal city. The power of God's energy releases an invisible but discernible feeling of His manifest presence. God's discernible power flows from the Throne. The sounds around the throne of God are also majestic and wonderful. They include the sound of musical instruments and voices, as well as thunder, the sound of many waters, citywide applause with prophetic proclamations, choruses and mighty winds:

Rev. 4:5  - And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

        Thunder, lightning, voices and sounds come out of the throne of God. They are probably as terrifying as they are sweet and beautiful. Such descriptions are associated with the idea of Jesus being dazzling and stunning. We can experience the presence of God through powerful spiritual senses. When we are in the presence of our bridegroom, we feel that same energy! That is why this revelation is important. Its when we take the stance as the tested bride in this passage and say " That's MY BELOVED!" Mercy, I feel that. He's not some abstract force or some dead saint we pray to. He's a PERSONAL saviour that can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, yet HE IS RADIANT! HE IS RADIANT, yet He is merciful and able to feel every pain we feel and every disappointment. He sees every tear, witnesses every heartache and sees us at every single moment of every single day.

Hebrews 4:14-16  - Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. [15] For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. [16] Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

He Is Ruddy

Song 5:10  - My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand

        The bride says, "He is ruddy;" Ruddy suggests He had a red complexion. It's even said of King David that his appearance was ruddy, with reddish hair and a reddish complexion. His ruddiness caused him to stand out from all the other Jewish boys in Israel at that time who more typically had darker hair and a darker complexion. The symbolism of ruddy refers to Jesus' having a good and fresh complexion, for when one's complexion is ruddy, it's considered healthy. It speaks of maturity, beauty, health, youth and vigor. Altogether, His attributes are lovely. With adoring eyes of supernatural love, the bride beholds His perfection and cries, "He's altogether lovely, His is perfection. Nothing in Him is marred; He has no blemish. This is my Beloved - He is utter perfection."

        Jesus lacks nothing! He is 100 percent of each of HIS attributes; He is 100% eternal, infinitely righteous and 100# eternally and infinitely merciful. It is not HIS unity of parts, but HIS sheer absence of parts. This speaks to us today of Him being our answer to ALL our needs. Why men seek to find answers in other things will be the eternal shame of this generation. JESUS is the only person who can set you free today. Law cannot do that. Riches cannot do that. Education cannot do that. Only what Jesus did at Calvary, the finished work of His redemptive life and the blood HE shed can destroy the powers of darkness in one's life. This is what Solomon was pointing to while he wrote this, not knowing that prophetically He was speaking of CHRIST. He is RUDDY and WHITE meaning He is divine and fully God, yet being 100% human, having  love in His heart and would one day shed the most precious part of His Humanity  - HIS BLOOD - on a cross.

        As a human high priest, He offered up His own blood, so He is fully God and fully man. His glory is so unique that is unites both attributes. He is the ONLY ONE in heaven or on earth who has, at the same time, the fullness of humanity and the fullness of deity. God the Father and the angels are not like that. CHRIST is completely unique in His own category. His unique beauty springs forth from the balance of two opposing elements.

        He is both the lion and the lamb at the exact same time, and He perfectly expresses both elements in His personality without contradiction. The lion roars with boldness and the lamb submits with a meekness. He is both, and He yields His love to His bride and yearns for His bride to do the same. He is interested in our hearts!

Chief Among Ten Thousand

Song 5:10  - My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand

       The bride calls her beloved "the chiefest among ten thousand." This refers to an incomparably great number. It speaks to us of Christ's preeminence above everybody and everything. The word "chief" literally means that "he is lifted up as a banner among a large number," or that "He would be distinguished as a banner among a multitude." He is the chief, which in Hebrew means "the banner that distinguishes Him among all the multitudes." That is the beauty of our bridegroom. He is altogether lovely. He is beautiful beyond comprehension.  Yet Isaiah declared that outwardly "there was no beauty that we should desire Him." That is the line between what is apostate and that which is spiritual and godly. The world and the apostate church seeks a Christ that is outwardly pretty and offers them something for their faith. The modern Christ we preach is not a Christ who is "chief among ten thousand" but a Christ that is on the same level as all other Christ's. That is a lie and rooted in the original lie Satan sold man that man himself was on the same level of God.

        When the Holy Spirit shows you what our Bridegroom did for us at the cross and the price He paid for our redemption - His beauty to us becomes eternal, not just temporal. We see the deepest depths of His heart and love for us and see His unique power in delivering man from his sin. Only the blood of Jesus can do that. Only the nail-scarred hands of the Christ can do that. Only the wounded side where blood and water flowed can heal the brokenhearted.

Isaiah 53:1-10
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? [2] For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. [3] He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  [4] Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. [5] But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. [6] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. [7] He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. [8] He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. [9] And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.  [10] Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

        Yet if we seek Christ on the merits of outward beauty we will miss Him. The Christ of Isaiah is not the Christ we are hearing preached today. It's a sad indictment but neighbor let me tell you this as I close this message. The days ahead will warrant a TRUE and DEEP rooted faith in the CHRIST of the Bible, the CHRIST OF THE CROSS! You must know CHRIST and HIM CRUCIFIED to be saved. You must put your faith in CHRIST and HIM CRUCIFIED to be delivered, to be sanctified, to be free and to walk in victory over sin, satan and the flesh. You must put your FAITH in CHRIST and HIM CRUCIFIED so that the HOLY SPIRIT will guide you into all truth and in these last hours truth will be at a premium. False doctrine always come to the church many times not from without, but from within. False doctrines always come with an element of truth attached to it showing "another Jesus," pushed by a "another spirit," pointing you to "another gospel."

2 Cor. 11:1-4
Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. [2] For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. [3] But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. [4] For if he that cometh preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
 

        We're in the last days. I care not to know what is the largest growing church growth scheme in America. I care not to know who has the greatest size church or the greatest size ministry. I care only as Paul said so long ago to know MY BELOVED, the CHIEF among ten thousand. There is no other name but Jesus. No other name I know. No other name is as beautiful to me. No other name, I know. I feel that today. As we get more into 2005, let me assure you that there will many who will come in the name of Christ literally saying, "I am HE." Do not listen to them. They are a false prophet, teacher and apostle hiding as an angel of light. The Christ we preach is a Christ not divided, but Christ crucified who shed His precious blood for the sins of the world and allowed the HOLY GHOST to come dwell in man and make man in full image of Christ.

        I pray you know this Bridegroom today. He yearns for you to know Him today. Praise God.