It is true. Every Christian has a spiritual nose and we are about to look into a verse of Holy Scripture which shows that the bigger our spiritual nose the better it will be for us. Our examination into this important matter will take us to a poetical book of the Holy Bible, the Song of Solomon also called Canticles or Canticle of Canticles in some versions. For the sake of brevity in this article I will refer to the book as The Song.
The Song is a poetical expression of the relationship between King Solomon and one of his wives,
a Shulamite. Most born again Christians realize that this book describes the relationship between Christ and His Church, and it can also speak of the relationship between Christ and each individual Christian.Our text regarding our spiritual nose is found in chapter 7 and for our purposes we will present the first six verses. I would like to briefly comment on those verses, then concentrate on the sentence that speaks of the mighty big nose every true Christian should have. Here are the first six verses of chapter 7 of The Song in the English Standard Version where King Solomon tells his wife how beautiful she is.
How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O noble daughter! Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of a master hand. 2 Your navel is a rounded bowl that never lacks mixed wine. Your belly is a heap of wheat, encircled with lilies. 3 Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. 4 Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon, which looks toward Damascus. 5 Your head crowns you like Carmel, and your flowing locks are like purple; a king is held captive in the tresses. 6 How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights!
Solomon refers to his wife as a noble daughter or, as indicated by other reliable translations, nobleman’s or princes daughter. Either way this speaks of the royalty of each person in the Church which is made possible only by the complete and finished work of Christ. It is certainly a blessed thing to be removed from the dung heap of the world and be made royalty by the mercy of God. However, the main focus of the sentence is the beauty of her feet in sandals. This speaks to the true Christian that we have a royal mission to proclaim the Gospel of Christ to all. The sentence corresponds to Ephesians 6:15 (AV), “and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace." Each Christian ought to be evangelistic.
Her beautiful thighs may speak of faithfulness in the light of the opposite as mentioned in Numbers 5:14 to 31. Those who truly belong to Christ are faithful to Him. They are faithful because they have permitted Christ to work gloriously in their lives and He, indeed, is the skilful workman. It is written in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."
Naval may allude to the soul, mixed wine the blessings of salvation, and the rounded goblet speaks of universality. Hence, the desire of the true Christian should be to bring salvation to all people. But, not only are we to bring salvation to all people, we are to help feed those coming to Christ with the Bread of Life and together we are to exude the fragrance of Christ. Hence, “Your belly is a heap of wheat, encircled with lilies."
Much can be said about, “Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.” Immediately one must think that all true Christians should desire the pure milk of the Word (1 Peter 2:2). One always enjoys the vibrancy and strength derived from the Word of God coupled with the Holy Spirit (see verse 8). The thought of purity continues with, “Your neck is like an ivory tower," ivory usually being white which speaks of purity. Neck may speak of direction. Christians should be led by the pureness of the Holy Spirit.
“Your eyes are pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. “ Heshbon means {1} ”stronghold” and Bath Rabbim ”daughter of multitudes”. The Church should be God’s stronghold for those that enter the Kingdom, and each Christian should be a place of refuge and, again, evangelism is seen here. The last sentence of this verse is the topic of this message which will be discussed below.
“Your head crowns you like Carmel” would remind us that the Christian should put on the helmet of salvation (Ephesians 6:17), and “your flowing locks are like purple” again draws our attention to royalty. Adding “a king is held captive in the tresses” says we are to have the mind of Christ and Christ should always be in our thoughts. Our thoughts of His salvation should always be in our mind and we should realize we are a child of royalty. In all, because each true Christian has Christ dwelling within the Father looks at us and says, “How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights!”
Now it is time to focus upon the sentence that makes up the text of my message: “Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon, which looks toward Damascus.” What we will learn will be very beneficial to our spiritual survival. We shall see the following things from this sentence found in a passage that is often overlooked or shied away from due to its sensual content.
I. Basic Essential Discernment (your spiritual nose)
To understand what our spiritual nose does it will be good to talk about our natural physical nose, which serves us in many ways. It will tell us what something basically is, e.g. onion or orange, gasoline or diesel, fish or turkey. It will identify whether something is pleasing or not, e.g. perfume or burning sulfur, flowers or mold. With that, it can let us know whether or not we have something before us we might prefer: e.g. banana or pineapple, pizza or steak, fried onions or boiled brussel sprouts. And it is a known fact that our sense of smell affects our sense of taste.
The importance of our nose is underscored when we use it to discern . . .
- whether something is good or bad: e.g. fresh milk or sour milk, edible meat or spoiled.
- if something is wrong health-wise or basic bodily care is needed (e.g. vomit, blood, sickly breath)
- when there is trouble or danger (e.g. burning wire insulation, smoke, certain drugs, gun smoke)
Now, when we honestly think of it, whether it is about something non-threatening or a harbinger of danger, when we decide upon any of the issues above we are making a judgment. I bring out that point because one of the best known Holy Scriptures by the unsaved and the spiritually weak, naive, or ignorant of the Word are the words of Christ when He said “Judge not, lest you be judged” (Matthew 7:1). Given the fact that He soon said after that about some people being swine, dogs, and false prophets (Matthew 7:6 and 15), it is clear He was not forbidding necessary judgment calls, especially when it comes to spiritual protection.
While the human writer was certainly admiring the beauty of the Shulamite, the Holy Spirit desired us to devotionally consider that upon our salvation a spiritual defensive warning system was placed within us. 1 John 2:26-28 points out, “These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. 27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. 28 Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.”
As you see, every true Christian has a measure of discernment. But, just as when so directed by the Holy Spirit every Christian can be used by God to bring His healing to others, perform great exploits of faith, be His vessel to bring forth the miraculous (including raising the dead), and more, but not every Christian has the gift of miracles, faith, and so on, it is the same with discernment. Not every Christian has the gift of discerning of spirits though every true Christian has a level of such discernment.
This spiritual defensive blessing acts like a spiritual nose, helping us to determine what is best for our spiritual growth and for others in the Body of Christ. While it is activated when we receive Christ as Savior and Lord, it is programmed by the written Word, trained by His spoken Word, and sharpened by our acceptance of His instructions and obedience to His commands. In regard to His spoken Word I primarily mean the Holy Spirit speaking to a person {2}.
We ought to be listening to God’s voice, not another person and not a crowd or any group of people. We are to be like Jesus in that He only trusted His Father (John 2:24).Our spiritual nose detects basically how each person is spiritually. Remember, Christ did speak of swine, dogs, and false prophets. When I came to Christ I knew I needed to start attending a church but I was not sure which one. To be brief, I responded to an invitation of a Valentines Day party at a church. When I went I met the pastor and sensed he would be just right for my spiritual growth. Amongst the young people there was a variety, of course, ranging from those truly in touch with God to some who had both feet still in the world, and all of this was revealed to me by the Holy Spirit. It was revealed to me not because I am super good, for I am not. But it was revealed to me because God saved me through Christ and made me spiritually alive by His precious Spirit.
Our spiritual nose will help us determine whether something is pleasing to God, or whether something is good or bad in His eyes. Now certainly many people still have some common sense so they would know about many things whether they be good or bad. But what matters for all eternity is what God says is good or bad. Even in the natural realm something might look good but it is really bad. For example a young boy might pick up a stone and find baby copperheads and think they are hefty worms for fishing. However, an older person with more knowledge and experience would know they are lethal.
There are things that are spiritually “neutral”, and our measure of discernment will let us know, especially if we are close to God. Our spiritual nose will aid us to know what is spiritually good, better, or best, an also what is bad or worse. It will also warn if something is wrong spiritually health-wise and what basic care is needed, whether it pertains to us or someone else.
Of utmost importance is that our spiritual nose will alert us to danger. Sure there are the big dangers like false prophets which abound today. The general meaning of a prophet is “one who speaks forth the will of God,” and such speaking forth comes in various ways. It does not have to be behind a pulpit. Most people are prophets in this sense whether they be on TV, the Internet, on the street, or having coffee with you.
There are also “the little dangers.” When I was younger spiritually I thought a lot of the talk I heard about demonic activity “messing things up” was hogwash. But the day came when a couple in a gesture of friendliness brought over a bag of clothes and had a meal with us. They belonged to a segment of the church we were pastoring at that time that felt we should not be their pastor. A day or so later one of our sons began to say some strange things, ask strange questions, and developed a fever. While he was taken by Dorcas to our family doctor about a hundred miles away I felt impressed by God to anoint our trailer. That is when his fever broke and he returned to normal. That is the brief account of how I became involved in spiritual warfare.
II. Build Your Spiritual Nose Like A Tower
Solomon speaks of his wife’s nose as a tower. In a tower one is above the ground. The true Christian is no longer part of this world but is spiritually placed by God above the world because we are risen with Christ (Ephesians 1:19-23). Logically, the higher a tower is the better, so the bigger our spiritual nose the better.
We are to make our spiritual nose big by . . .
- causing our discernment to be programmed by the written Word.
- being trained by His spoken Word.
- our acceptance of His instructions and obedience to His commands.
III. Keep Your Spiritual Nose Sensitive
Not only ought our spiritual nose be tall (or we could say big), but it needs to be a mighty one, one that is very sensitive to danger. Note well that our text says the Shulamite’s nose was like a tower of Lebanon that “looks toward Damascus.” In those days if Israel was going to be attacked they would most likely be attacked from the north.
Our text is teaching us that we need to be on the alert for spiritual danger whether that threat seems small or big, foreign or domestic. Domestic? Christ warned, as recorded in Matthew 10:34-36, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man's enemies will be the members of his household.”
Domestic would include our own fellowships, denominations, churches, and ministers. Be very wary when any minister uses a translation or version that is not literal {3}. Also be wary of Woodstock type church services. When it was written by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle (Romans 16:16) “greet each other with a holy kiss”, such exchanges were between those of the same sex. Today one can walk into churches and find women hugging on everyone, and men doing the same too. Additionally some of the songs sung during worship have little depth and are at times contrary to the written Word and Holy Bible teaching.
Finally, to have a strong level of discernment, once again it needs to be emphasized that one needs to know the voice of their Good Shepherd very well. We have already mentioned how we are to develop our spiritual nose by spiritual means. Every time we sense God saying something to us we must obey. My mind goes back to the time when as a very young boy I was Roman Catholic. We had gathered outside to crown a statue of Mary. When it came time to pray the Hail Mary I sensed God telling me to pray only to Him. So I prayed the Our Father instead. I often wonder where would I be today if I had disobeyed God.
God not only wants each Christian to be beautiful in Him, but also safe. Listen to what the Holy Spirit says to you. Know His written Word and obey it. We are not saved by our works, but by His works, and we need to let His works work through us.
Notes:
{1} From an electronic version of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong incorporated in the Online Bible program, and so throughout the article whenever the ancient language is referred to and no other authority is cited.
{2} Please read To Hear The Voice Of God at http://holybibletreasures.expertscolumn.com/article/hear-voice-god .
{3} Please read Holy Bibles Good And Bad http://thesureword.expertscolumn.com/article/holy-bibles-good-and-bad .
This article was written in the form of a sermon (message) outline with comments. God willing by February 22, 2017 (hopefully much sooner), you should be able to hear the actual message (sermon) by selecting a link at http://www.sapphirestreams.com/life/audioM.html#M437 .
Unless otherwise noted all Holy Scripture is from the New American Standard Bible changing LORD to YHVH as it rightly should be when the text so indicates. * = For other versions the spelling of some words is updated for our time in addition to changing LORD to YHVH as it rightly should be when the text so indicates.
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