Vineyard Days – Behind Your Veil

You are beautiful, my darling,
beautiful beyond words.
Your eyes are like doves
behind your veil.
Your hair falls in waves,
like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are as white as sheep,
recently shorn and freshly washed.
Your smile is flawless,
each tooth matched with its twin.
3 Your lips are like scarlet ribbon;
your mouth is inviting.Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates
behind your veil.
4 Your neck is as beautiful as the tower of David,
jeweled with the shields of a thousand heroes.
5 Your breasts are like two fawns,
twin fawns of a gazelle grazing
among the lilies.
– Song of Songs 4:1-5 (NLT)

Do you know, darling of the Bridegroom, how beautiful you are? Beautiful beyond words.
English words, so we’re going to take a peek at the original Hebrew. His words of love.

doves’ eyes – learning to focus on the Bridegroom to see only Him; single-eyed love
hair that falls in waves – to storm, dishevelling, tempestuous, to come and take away like a whirlwind
like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead – stout, impudent, harden, prevail, strengthen self, be strong; descending down the mount from the heap of testimony (Gilead)
teeth as white as sheep – teeth (figuratively a cliff); sharp, to pierce, to teach diligently, inculcate (instill, repeat, say over and over)
recently shorn and freshly washed – shorn, to clip, chop, cut down – and newly washed in the bathing place
your smile is flawless, each tooth matched with its twin – duplicate, architecturally jointed, coupled together; not a single one has miscarried, been robbed or bereaved of its children
your lips are like scarlet ribbon – lips as a boundary of speech, a crimson (dyed) measuring tape
your mouth is inviting – speak; speech in the desert wilderness as one at home; comely, suitable
your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates – cheeks (temples) like a slice of pomegranate, upright in its growth; to rise (SS 2:10), get oneself up, lift up, mount up; temples – thin, guarding on either side of head
behind your veil – apportion, a part of, because of, by reason of, from out of, from among; a musical chord parted into strings; gatherer; green plant with fruit
your neck is as beautiful as the tower of David – back of the neck on which burdens are bound; tower from size or height; a pyramidal bed of flowers, castle, flower, pulpit; David – loving, beloved, son of Jesse
jeweled with the shields of a thousand heroes – begin to build, builder, obtain children, make, repair, set up; for an arsenal, an armory of stones on which are suspended shields yoked together as a family or oxen; hedged and protected by the shields of the mighty men (Hebrew person) (warrior, valiant, mighty one, excel, champion, chief, strong one)
your breasts are like two fawns – twofold fawns (from the dusty color), a young roe or hart – of clay, dust
twin fawns of a gazelle – gazelle – conspicuous splendor, glorious, prominent female roe or roebuck; to amass and array an army against; fight, swell
grazing among the lilies – a beautiful reminder right here, Among the Lilies

Until when the day blows, and the shadows flee away,
I myself will go (alone) to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hills of frankincense.
You are all beautiful, My love. There is no blemish on you.
Song of Songs 4:6-7

The Bride is in a state of becoming. The Bridegroom, in every description listed above, leaves no element of her being unnoticed or unmentioned. At the first or one hundred reads of these descriptors in the Song, one’s mind can easily be drawn to the outward appearance and the external expression of a person’s life, including our own. To this tendency toward external adornment, the apostle Peter exhorted in I Peter 3:3 –

but let it be (adornment of) the hidden person of the heart,
with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

He knows everything the developing of a gentle and quiet spirit has or will cost you, beloved. He knows the price of its worth; this He knows full well even as does your own soul. For every sacrificial act and attitude; for each season of pruning and cleansing; for every yielding to His will that causes you to know and testify that His way is best – He bestows grace and glory on those who walk uprightly, like a pomegranate grows.

He is preparing not only a bride but an army of valiant ones who are in service to the King like warriors, and stay close to hear and know His heart like a lover. He will not have one without the other. We will not be one without the other.

It starts with becoming the bride in the hidden person of the heart, behind your veil. True and lasting transformation takes place in the internal eternals. This is where the cost is considered and the price is paid to be cultivated in the manner ordained by the Husbandman. Deep and great is the time of preparation because He will not send forth His own prematurely. First we come. Then He sends us forth in His time.

He knows the far greater things that lie before us; the place where each of His beautiful lively stones fit. He knows, beloved. And He sees you clearly behind your veil. You are not hidden from Him, just bidden to Him.

Let Him tell you, darling of the Bridegroom, how beautiful you are. Beautiful beyond words.

~  Gracefully Free

Photo credit: Bridal Veil Falls, Oregon by Hillary S., May 2013