When we read about the year of preparation that was necessary for a royal bride in Esther 2:12, those twelve months can seem rather excessive and indulgent. A whole year is a long time for what basically amounts to a bath or shower! But then again, not many of us have been born into royalty. We are no more used to the customs of Kings and Queens than Esther was. We need greater understanding.
As we have seen, the word for perfumes is the word bosem. There are three main groups that the Biblical references to bosem fall into: its use as an ingredient in holy anointing oil; its value as part of the royal treasury; and its significance in Song of Songs, where it is mentioned more frequently than anywhere else, and seems to reference the graces and attributes of the bride. We have read how closely these sweetly spiced perfumes reference the fruit of the Spirit, and we can see that they are fit for both the priesthood and royalty. They are among the richest of treasures, and truly divine. As we are called to be!
The great love story of the Song of Songs comes to an end with Songs 8:14 – “Hurry, my beloved and come quickly, like a gazelle or a young stag [taking me home] on the mountains of spices.”. Going home to “mountains of spices” is not just a poetic version of “and they all lived happily ever after” – though as we will see, that is valid in its way…
Their proper name is Mountains of Besamin, which might seem like it must just be a specific geographic mountain range known in that region. But the significance of the mountains of spices is highlighted when we compare it to the mountains referred to in Songs 2:17 near the start of the story when the Bridegroom had come to woo her but she had not yet gone with him. These first ones are the mountains of Bether, or mountains of separation: “Until the cool of the day when the shadows flee away, return quickly, my beloved, and be like a gazelle, or a young stag on the mountains of Bether [which separate us].”
The Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon) has been much mis-read and misunderstood over the years. But at its heart it is a beautiful allegory of the love between our royal Bridegroom King Jesus, and His entirely loved Bride (us – His called-out ones, the Church). In ancient Israel after a bridegroom had arranged the legally binding covenant of the betrothal, He would go home to his father’s house to prepare a home for his new bride (Jesus knew this when He spoke the words found in John 14:2-3). And then he would return after a time of separation, to claim His bride, who would have been preparing herself and looking out for him with her bridesmaids (Matt 25 – he would most often arrive at night, because Hebrew days start in the evening, and he did not want to wait). In Songs 2:17 the bride is expressing her longing for her betrothed who has gone away from her for a time – in Songs 8:14 she is looking for the day when He comes to take her home. As are we!
All this preparation – these days of fasting and symbolic anointing with myrrh and perfumes – are only a small symbolic expression of our life’s commitment to prepare ourselves for our Bridegroom. He is coming back to take us to our new home, in Heaven, where we will indeed live “happily ever after”. And in the allegory of the Book of Songs, Heaven is referred to as “mountains of spices”. The sweetly spiced oils and perfumes that we are preparing ourselves with are preparing us for our new environment. Myrrh purified us from the old sin-nature (remember Jesus’ blood cleansed and forgave us – Myrrh speaks of our conscious acceptance in the purification), and Bosem prepares us for our heavenly home. Every time we apply the sweetly-spiced perfume we are declaring that we belong elsewhere. We no longer belong to this world, but are aliens and strangers here (1 Pet 2:11)
As spices were gathered in the treasuries of the temple and the royal palaces, so our Bridegroom is longing for the day when He can gather us, His most valued treasure, and take us back to His eternal royal home. As we prepare ourselves with perfume today, let us remind ourselves that we no longer belong here. These perfumes – these royal graces and attributes – this fruit of the Spirit – it is all evidence of our new godly nature. We are being transformed into a divine Bride fit for a divine King, being prepared for the day when He comes to take us to our true home. Thank You, Jesus!
In the Secret Place 
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