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Day 70: A Package Deal (SoS 1:14a)

 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blooms In the vineyards of En Gedi.

Song of Songs 1:14

The Bride's second statement describing who her Beloved is to her compares him to a cluster of henna blooms. Like spikenard and myrrh, henna too is a very fragrant plant. This second statement is however much deeper than just the grape-like cluster of fragrant henna flowers.

The word translated henna here is only used in the Song of Songs but that's not the awesome thing about it. It is that it means not just the henna plant, it means pitch or tar for covering/coating, a village (as in a covered village) and figuratively it means a price for life/redemption, ransom, or bribe. It's not surprising since the henna plant is mostly used around the world for its reddish-brown dye.

The word from which it is derived however means to cover, purge, make an atonement/reconciliation, cover with pitch, appease, reconcile, etc. It was used for the first time in Genesis 6 when the Lord asked Noah to coat the ark with pitch. Its most frequent use however is in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. You can already guess why.

I believe in interpreting the Song of Songs as a relationship between Christ the Bridegroom King and His Bride (the church and individual Christians), the cluster of henna flowers here signifies much more than how Christ is beautiful and fragrant (pleasant) to us. It alludes to Him as being the price for our redemption just like the blood of bulls and goats were used to atone for sins in Israel. The High Priest could not go into the Lord's presence without it. Hebrews 9:12 in the Amplified version says:

"He went once for all into the [Holy of] Holies [of heaven], not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves [by which to make reconciliation between God and man], but His own blood, having found and secured a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us)."

The blood of animals were used not just to atone for sins in Israel, they were used to also cleanse and sanctify the altar, sanctuary, items for use in the temple, and even people. Concerning that, Hebrews 9:13-14 says:

"For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

As the henna flower comes in clusters, the redemption we obtained through Christ came with many benefits that cover every single aspect of our lives. We are not just reconciled to God and purged from sin, we became examples of God's righteousness according to 2 Corinthians 5:21 (Amplified version). We are clothed and covered by Christ's righteousness as Isaiah 61:10 says. Paul says in Ephesians 1:3 that we are blessed with all spiritual blessings because of this redemption.

In our redemption is healing, divine health, provision, prosperity, wisdom, strength... everything we will ever need. It was not just our soul that was saved from eternal damnation, everything that concerns us was saved by our redemption in Christ. Redemption is a package deal that covers every area of our lives, everything we will ever need till we take our last breath was made available the moment we accepted Christ's sacrifice for us. To know the sacrifice of the cross and its preciousness is to know the benefits of our redemption.

PRAY WITH ME:
My Beloved Jesus, thank you for offering your blood as atonement for my sins. Thank you for every benefit I have through redemption. Open the eyes of my understanding to receive a revelation of its benefits so that I may enjoy all you have provided for me. Amen.

REFLECT AND ACT:
  • Do you know the benefits of your redemption?
  • There are scriptures termed the identity scriptures (mostly found in the epistles of Paul). Scriptures that contain the words; in Him, in Christ, through whom... etc. They reveal to us all the benefits of our redemption and who we now are in Christ. Read, study, meditate on, and confess these scriptures till they become real to you.

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