AWAKEN

“Do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases.” SS 2:7

Accepting the love of our Father

“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” Rom. 8:15
‘Abba’ is the Aramaic word for father. In Greek, Father is ‘pater’ and reflects the first person of the Trinity. Jehovah {LORD} is our Father, our Creator. Jesus cried out to this very same Abba, Father in the garden of Gethsemane {see Mark 14:36}.
Whatever our earthly father may have lacked, our Heavenly Father possesses. We must come to know God, Jehovah, our Father – and His eternal love for us as caring Daddy. Once we have come to know Him and accept His unconditional love for us, then the love for our Bridegroom can be awakened!

Awakening the love for our Bridegroom“

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
And it shall be in that day, says the LORD, that you will call me My Husband, and no longer call me My Master, for I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, and they shall be remembered by their name no more.
In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, with birds of the air, and with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth to make them lie down safely.
I will betroth you to Me forever; yes I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the LORD.” Hosea 2:14-20

1. God allures us.
2. He brings us into the wilderness.
3. He speaks comfort to us.
4. He gives us hope for trouble.
5. We call the LORD our Husband.
6. He makes a covenant with us.
7. He enters into an eternal engagement with us.
8. We then shall know the LORD.

“Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I awakened you under the apple tree, there your mother brought you forth; there she who bore you brought you forth. Set me as a seal upon your heart….many waters cannot quench love.” SS 7:5-7The counterfeit of awaken is to disturb or disrupt momentarily – but true awakening can remain dormant – like an iceberg, we see the surface, but the substance remains below water and untapped. It lies dormant, yet in the hand of the Father, it is developing, Praise God! It sleeps; our passion deep within has been asleep long enough. Today is the day of awakening! Some of us may require the iceberg be shattered into pieces to break up the strongholds in our lives. Others may be in need of a flame fanned into fire in order to melt the ice, so that water melts and blends into water, into water, into living water – that we would draw nigh unto Him and just blend into Him. The sweetness of the awakening is exquisite.

1. God allures us. {entice, flatter, persuade}
- He gets our attention; and God knows how to talk to us.

2. He brings us into the wilderness.
- He takes us where we need to be; a place of dependence upon Him.

3. He speaks comfort to us.
- He speaks directly to our heart.

4. He gives us hope for trouble. {hope = tiqvah: yearning, longing. It represents something we wait for; an expectation/are you expecting? It literally means ‘cord’ or attachment – like the umbilical cord of life! Thank You Jesus for this revelation of hope – it is indeed life-giving. The root word in Hebrew is qavah, which is to bind together. Rahab threw the cord of life to Israel and she gave life to the line of David.
-Our view changes from trouble to hope; valley to a door; oft times we feel trapped in a valley of life; God gives us a door to open and walk through!
-Joshua 7:26 – Sin of Achan and the consequence {death}
-Ezekiel 16:8 – Beautiful! God passes by us, for it is the time of love, He sees our nakedness (shame of sin), and “spreads His Wing upon us” covers us (see Ruth 3:9) and enters into covenant with us. He then washes away our blood, our sin, and anoints us with oil!
-We then sing and recall our day of deliverance!

5. We call the LORD our Husband.
-With Baal, it was about ownership; with the Lord, it is about relationship.

6. He makes a covenant with us.
-God enters into a contract or pledge with us; He literally “cut a covenant” with His people, as it involved sacrifices to ratify the contract. In the OT, it was animal sacrifices; with Jesus, the covenant is sealed by the blood. It is the blood that ratifies the contract.
-Ezek. 34:25 – It will be a covenant of peace.

7. He enters into an eternal engagement with us.
-Father betroths us to Him forever!
-It is a covenant of marriage; a relationship filled with:
o Righteousness – right standing
o Justice – verdicts of guilt or innocence, based on God’s laws, with God as our judge
o Lovingkindness – favor, unfailing love, grace
-Chesed – Hebrew for God’s Covenant Love
o Mercy – sensitive love from the depths; from the womb
o Faithfulness – firmness, steadfastness, steadiness
-Hab. 2:4 – “The just shall live by faith” -- the righteousness person by her faith shall LIVE! We shall live, be healed, flourish, and enjoy happiness!
-This is God’s Covenant Relationship of Faithfulness and love with us!
-Jer. 31:33 – “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
- Hosea 6:6 – “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”

8. We then shall know the LORD.
-God will reveal Himself to us as we enter into this eternal covenant relationship with Him – we will know, perceive, understand. We will be intimate with Him.