June 28, 2005

Reading through the Bible in one Year: 1 Chronicles 25:8-27:15; John 20:19-21:14

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters,

Song of Solomon 8:1-3 (NASB95)
¹ “Oh that you were like a brother to me Who nursed at my mother’s breasts. If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you; No one would despise me, either. ² “I would lead you and bring you Into the house of my mother, who used to instruct me; I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranates. ³ “Let his left hand be under my head And his right hand embrace me.” ^[1]

The text is a little difficult because it does not translate into English well.  In the text it sounds like that the bride is wishing that he were like a brother, and wishing that they were experiencing intimate sexual relations.  In the hebrew it is much more specific, the idea behind it is "I will", so the statement is not a wish, but a statement of fact.

Another difficult thing about these verses is that the customs of the time did not allow public kissing.  Therefore she desired to get him into the private places of her house so that she could spent the time in intimacy away from prying eyes.

Song of Solomon 8:4 (NASB95)
⁴ “I want you to swear, O daughters of Jerusalem, Do not arouse or awaken my love Until she pleases.” ^[2]

The groom appeals to the women again to bide their time, and not to push the love that is developing between them.  He desires that the love that is established grows upon its own.  In 2:6-7 the idea was not to push her into the relationship before it was time.  Now it is that she has already joined the relationship, but he wants her to grow in that relationship at her own pace.

Song of Solomon 8:5-14 (NASB95)
⁵ “Who is this coming up from the wilderness Leaning on her beloved?” Beneath the apple tree I awakened you; There your mother was in labor with you, There she was in labor and gave you birth. ⁶ “Put me like a seal over your heart, Like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, Jealousy is as severe as Sheol; Its flashes are flashes of fire, The very flame of the Lord. ⁷ “Many waters cannot quench love, Nor will rivers overflow it; If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, It would be utterly despised.” ⁸ “We have a little sister, And she has no breasts; What shall we do for our sister On the day when she is spoken for? ⁹ “If she is a wall, We will build on her a battlement of silver; But if she is a door, We will barricade her with planks of cedar.” ¹⁰ “I was a wall, and my breasts were like towers; Then I became in his eyes as one who finds peace. ¹¹ “Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; He entrusted the vineyard to caretakers. Each one was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit. ¹² “My very own vineyard is at my disposal; The thousand shekels are for you, Solomon, And two hundred are for those who take care of its fruit.” ¹³ “O you who sit in the gardens, My companions are listening for your voice— Let me hear it!” ¹⁴ “^,Hurry, my beloved, And be like a gazelle or a young stag On the mountains of spices.”^[3]

These verses close out the book.  They are like a final act that introduces the players and shows their position in the play.  The women announce that the time is over for their song, and that the purpose was accomplished, they ask the question in verse 5, "who is coming?"  The idea showing that the bride fell in love with her groom.

Verses 5b-7 The bride responds to the women in verse 5a.  She is telling them that she has been bonded to her groom, with a bond that is inseparable; nothing can divide them or separate them. The picture is of a banker’s seal which was used to stamp legal documents. Notice one important thing though; she has a godly jealousy toward her husband.  It burns in an everlasting flame that causes her to be willing to endure any amount of heartache to spend  the rest of her life with her husband.  Marital love is God ordained.

An allusion to the Greek god Cupid is made in reference to this passage.  This describes a similar idea to Cupid.  The god of war was also called the "lord of the arrow", which pierced the woman and instilled in her a burning desire to love her husband.  It is interesting that the devil will take a God ordained love and pervert it by creating a false god that people can worship.

Verses 8-9 may be referring to the new love that the bride has entered into.  It is like a young girl, but the end of it is not determined.  There isn't a "they lived happily ever after" section to this song.  The women dedicated that they would support the woman's decision and that they would cut off any avenue of retreat that she might feel. 

Verses 10-12 are interpreted in several ways, the way that I see them is that in reference to the abuse that the woman described in the first chapter, she was like a wall shutting out any possibility of a husband in her life.  She was committed to living her life single.  Yet Solomon made every effort to get inside her wall, and to take part in her secret garden where she really lived at.  He was successful not only in getting in her heart, but to experience her garden with her.  This was contrary to the way you might think of Solomon who actually had about 1,000 wives total.  How could he have so many wives and commit so intently to this one wife?  She is claiming to be an exclusive wife, different from the others.  The other side of this coin is that it is thought that Solomon may have been used as a figure in this entire book of power, and of an example that everyone knew about.

Another way of looking at these verses is that in verses 8-9 her brothers are talking and they are stating that she is a young girl, not old enough or mature enough to be married.  She counters that statement in verse 10 with the statement that she was mature, and fully grown.  Then backed it up with the statement regarding Solomon's trust in her.

Verse 13 the bridegroom speaks one last time appealing to the woman to share the love with him that she has shared with the others around her.  He is also possessed with a jealous love that desires all of her love.

Verse 14 is the beautiful picture of the bride welcoming the groom to forever experience her spices.

As we wrap up this book, I would like to point out a few things.  The relationship that they had was not a good one from the start.  It was tainted with something, we really don't know what it was, only that it destroyed the self esteem of the woman.  Solomon or the lover made every possible effort to work with and to romance his bride by building her up as a person.  When he finally succeeded in drawing her into the marriage and everything looked good, again the relationship hit a time of trial with the post wedding nightmare.  The rest of the book was not returning to sex, or emphasizing sexual love, but rather was a mixture of intensely building up the bride so that her self esteem was repaired.  The sexual connotations came after he exhorted her in her womanhood.

We have a responsibility toward our marriage partners, toward our families and toward the world to make the best of our marriages.  The love that we have toward our spouses is God-ordained and perfectly designed to glorify Him.  Our greatest form of worship in our lives is to build a romantic relationship with our spouses.  The tremendous picture of Christ and the Church gives each one of us a real picture of what it means to let Christ live through our bodies.  When we understand and determine in our hearts that only death will separate us from our spouses, then the devil will be defeated.  At that time our families will experience spiritual victory like never before. 

To emphasize the point, no matter what is in the background of your marriage, no matter what hurts or wrongs have gone under the bridge, it is time to work out your problems.  It is time to return to God and to glorify Him in your marriage.  Remember, it is not about us, it is about God, and our greatest act of worship to Him is to love the spouse that He has brought into our lives.  You might say that you were drunk, living in sin, and eloped to Vegas for a quick an dirty marriage.  I don't care how it happened, once you were married, God placed His stamp of approval on it.  Now quit beating around the bush and get on with correcting this area of your life.  Look for ways to return your marriage to the love state where you began. The Song of Solomon was not a book written about a textbook marriage, they had a lot of trouble, and a lot of interference from others.  If you take a careful look, the lovers were committed to turning the love back toward each other when it was challenged by others.

I am going to close here, all comments are welcomed.

Father, as we consider Your word, build into each one of us a determination that our marriages are going to stand no matter what battle comes in our faces.

In Him,

Joe Turner.