A WILL OF SUBMISSION
Now we come to chapter four, which is a continuation of chapter three. When the question was first asked about the seeking one coming out of the wilderness, the answer did not come from the Lord Himself, but from someone else. Then in chapter four, the Lord gives His answer. “Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead” (4:1). The Lord speaks of her beauty as still being in her eyes, but now something is added. Her doves’ eyes are within her locks. I believe that we all know what locks are. It is hair that is curled and put together in a row. Her hair is not left in a loose way. Her beauty is not only in her eyes, but in her eyes within the locks. If our hair is loose, there is no way to have locks. The hair must be dealt with in a certain way in order to have the locks.
In this verse, I really appreciate the punctuation of the King James Version. After locks, there is a colon, which means “as follows.” So the following part of the verse explains what her hair is like. It is like a flock of goats that appears from mount Gilead. We must realize that this is poetry. It is easy to understand if you have ever seen a flock of goats on a mountain. I saw such a sight both in Scotland and in New Zealand. It does not say that the goats are scattered over the mountain, but that they are flocked together. This is the poetic picture of the hair of the seeking one after becoming the crown. Her hair has been dealt with to become locks, which appear like a flock of goats on a mountain.
We have already seen that the eyes signify spiritual insight; this was the first change in the seeking one. What then does the hair signify? Hair in the Bible always indicates something of the will. All her scattered wills have been gathered together into rows to appear as a flock of goats on a mountain. A flock of goats standing on a mountain presents a picture of submission. Some of the goats are standing on a lower part of the mountain, and some are standing on a higher part. If they were standing on a flat plain, there would be no impression of submission, but for them to be standing on a mountain presents a picture of submission.
The goats are not scattered, but gathered; they are not on the plain, but on the mountainside, giving a picture of submission. This means that by the improvement from a horse to a palanquin, all the wills of the seeking one have been dealt with. They have been subdued and gathered together to be made into rows full of submission.
Chapter four is a continuation of chapter three. It tells us the secret of how the seeking one made such an improvement: her will was subdued and dealt with. By the time she was the moving vessel of Christ, all her wills had been dealt with and gathered together to present a picture of submission.
THE SUBDUING OF THE WILL
Now we understand what the Lord means when He says, “Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.” Her beauty is now not only in her insight, but in the insight within her locks. Her beauty is seen in her changed concepts within her subdued will. There is not only the renewing of her mind, but also the subduing of her will. This is exceedingly fair and comely to the Lord. Formerly, she had only the beauty of the renewing of her mind, but now she also has the beauty of the subduing of her will.
Many times in the past forty years I have come back to the Song of Songs. I have had many experiences in this book, and I have come to realize that it speaks not only of love, but also of the subduing of the will. To have complete, adequate, and thorough transformation, there must be the subduing of the will. The more our will is subdued, the more we will be transformed.
Many of us love the Lord, but we still hold on to our will. Our concept has been changed, and our mind has been renewed, but our will needs subduing. Many of us are so stubborn—not only the brothers, but also the sisters. The problem is not with our hearts. We do love the Lord. I believe that in the past few months, the Lord has heard many voices saying, “Lord Jesus, I love You!” But in answer to these voices, I believe the Lord would say, “Yes, I know that you love Me, but what about your will?” To have our concept changed is not enough. We must go on to have our will subdued.
As we have already mentioned, the discrepancy between the seeking one and the Lord in chapter two was due entirely to her strong will. The Lord asked her to rise up and come away with Him, but she said that she was not ready. In other words, she was telling the Lord that it was not a matter of His will, but her will. Her will was so strong that she would allow the Lord to go away only if He came back when she needed Him. She was even giving orders to the Lord by her strong will. Therefore, the Lord spent a long time dealing with her in the wilderness of the stubborn will. When our will is not subdued, it simply becomes a wilderness to us. The real entering into the good land is a full subduing of our will.
(Life and Building as Portrayed in the Song of Songs, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee)
