Who is this coming up from the wilderness
Like pillars of smoke,
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all the merchant’s fragrant powders?
— Song of Songs 3:6

In the Old Testament, the wilderness is a place of wandering; we see this in the journey of the Children of Israel, who, between leaving Egypt and entering into the Good Land the Lord had called them into, wandered in the wilderness for forty years (Num. 14:33-34).

So, in the Song of Songs, when it speaks of the Seeker as one who is “coming up from the wilderness,” it means she is now leaving her wandering behind to live only for her beloved.

Of course, the Song of Songs as a whole depicts, in the form of a love poem, how we as the individual believers in Christ grow in our relationship with the Lord, and in our love for Him. And so this coming up from the wilderness is a picture which shows that, today, in our following of Christ, we must eventually reach the point where we truly forsake the world, and our “wandering” in it, to live for Him alone.

Brother Titus Chu highlights this in the excerpt below from his study on the Song of Songs.

— Titus Chu —

“Coming Up
From the
Wilderness”

The wilderness is a place of wandering. To say that we are coming up from the wilderness means that we are one who has experienced leaving Egypt, signifying the world and its attractions. We have also passed through a period of wanderings, and are now entering into the Good Land….

A Christian who comes up from the wilderness has a clear purpose: to journey on with the goal of entering into the Good Land. His aim is to gain all the riches of the Lord. Because he is so purposeful, he will continue on this journey regardless of any suffering, tears, or opposition he may face. This world no longer holds anything to attract such a seeker of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, this should be true of us. To come up from the wilderness may seem to be an experience that is too high for us to attain, but it is actually very normal. Once we are separated from the world and seek only the Lord Himself, we also will experience laying aside our future and no longer have any plans for ourselves; we will bear the mark of one who is coming up from the wilderness.

If we are healthy before the Lord we will sense that we have been separated from the world, for the Spirit is continuously working within us to sanctify us unto God, and this working enables us to live a life that testifies of our separation from the world. When others see us they will also testify that we are those who are coming up from the wilderness, whose living is simply to walk in this heavenly pathway and who will not allow anything to distract us.

The Song of Songs:
A Divine Romance
Chapter 3,
“Up from the Wilderness,”
pages 134-135

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— 11 June 2025 —