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Background
1 Kings 4:32--Solomon wrote 1,005 songs and 3,000 proverbs; he’s the man with the most wisdom… of all the songs he wrote, this is the ONE he considers to be THE SONG, the most amazing of all.
May our hearts deeply ponder why this is.
One possible answer is given by Rabbi Akiva who says all of Scripture is holy but the Song of Songs is the holy of holies. He says this because the most intimate relationship with God is found in love; this is what the Song illustrates. For this reason, the Song of Songs is read during Passover to celebrate God’s love of His people.
Many throughout history have held to the interpretation of this book as being the love story between God and His people. I hold to this way of reading the Song of Songs based on overarching theme of the marriage covenant between God and His people throughout all of Scripture (see Isaiah 54:5, Isaiah 62:4-5, Jeremiah 31:31-33, Hosea, Ezekiel 16, Matthew 25:1-13, Ephesians 5:21-33, Revelation 19:7-9, Revelation 21:2).
Lest we divide the sacred and secular, this Song can speak deeply into our marriages as well. Marriage is created to reflect the marriage of Christ and the Church! Marriage is a gift from God and there is deep, deep unity between our marriage with Christ and our human marriages (see Ephesians 5:21-33). Just as Paul writes back and forth overlapping marriage with each other and marriage with Christ, while keeping marriage with Christ as primary, the Song of Songs reveals the relationship of God with His Bride, while reflecting marriage between man and woman.
The Song of Songs is written as a parable/allegory: this is how Jesus taught! It’s a parable about your life with the bridegroom. You can find the entirety of your story with God in this book. We see the bride go from an immature love based on her strength to a bride fully content and confident in His love for her. Let us be like the disciples who were not content to walk away without understanding, but sought out the truth in order to know Him greater in intimacy (Mark 4:9-10).
A note on culture: Greco-Roman culture impacts our western mindset very deeply… It is a lawyer’s culture. It sets up our relationship with Jesus like a court case: are you guilty (do not believe in Jesus) or not guilty (forgiven through belief in Jesus). While this is true, we are forgiven by Jesus, there is much more to the biblical understanding of relationship with God. Seen simply through the lens of guilt, forgiveness means believers were in the bad and are now in the good. This is to miss out on understanding the great honor bestowed by Christ to His bride, namely His very presence. A fuller picture, then, is to see both the justified also as one invited into the very presence of the King as a beloved bride adorned with Jesus’ blood and Spirit. Her shame is conquered and honor is bestowed through the same means justification came! We will dive into this truth throughout the studies because the Song is deeply rooted in the honor of being Jesus’ bride.
4 characters:
Themes:
Major: the transforming power of the love of Christ. The book starts out with a dried up shepherd girl working in her flesh. She lost her own garden, but mustered up the courage to cry out for love because she knows His love to some extent already. This begins the journey of Him speaking to her of her identity, of her beauty, and of His love for her. He unwaveringly repeats how He sees her until she begins to look like how He sees her. He honors her and speaks love to her until she grows up into it, demonstrating the transforming power of His pursuing love. As you read, receive what He says is true about you and it will heal and transform your soul. More than anything, receiving Christ’s love will make you a beautiful, mature bride pleasing to Him. He desires to be satisfied with the fruit from the garden of our soul.
-Minor: victory in Christ. She is at the bottom of a valley and He is working to get her to the top of a mountain (from wilderness wandering to reigning with him in full intimacy, identity and authority). He takes her through the dark places of her heart to give her greater intimacy with Him. What are the dark places of your heart? I’ll go there with you, He says.
May our hearts deeply ponder why this is.
One possible answer is given by Rabbi Akiva who says all of Scripture is holy but the Song of Songs is the holy of holies. He says this because the most intimate relationship with God is found in love; this is what the Song illustrates. For this reason, the Song of Songs is read during Passover to celebrate God’s love of His people.
Many throughout history have held to the interpretation of this book as being the love story between God and His people. I hold to this way of reading the Song of Songs based on overarching theme of the marriage covenant between God and His people throughout all of Scripture (see Isaiah 54:5, Isaiah 62:4-5, Jeremiah 31:31-33, Hosea, Ezekiel 16, Matthew 25:1-13, Ephesians 5:21-33, Revelation 19:7-9, Revelation 21:2).
Lest we divide the sacred and secular, this Song can speak deeply into our marriages as well. Marriage is created to reflect the marriage of Christ and the Church! Marriage is a gift from God and there is deep, deep unity between our marriage with Christ and our human marriages (see Ephesians 5:21-33). Just as Paul writes back and forth overlapping marriage with each other and marriage with Christ, while keeping marriage with Christ as primary, the Song of Songs reveals the relationship of God with His Bride, while reflecting marriage between man and woman.
The Song of Songs is written as a parable/allegory: this is how Jesus taught! It’s a parable about your life with the bridegroom. You can find the entirety of your story with God in this book. We see the bride go from an immature love based on her strength to a bride fully content and confident in His love for her. Let us be like the disciples who were not content to walk away without understanding, but sought out the truth in order to know Him greater in intimacy (Mark 4:9-10).
A note on culture: Greco-Roman culture impacts our western mindset very deeply… It is a lawyer’s culture. It sets up our relationship with Jesus like a court case: are you guilty (do not believe in Jesus) or not guilty (forgiven through belief in Jesus). While this is true, we are forgiven by Jesus, there is much more to the biblical understanding of relationship with God. Seen simply through the lens of guilt, forgiveness means believers were in the bad and are now in the good. This is to miss out on understanding the great honor bestowed by Christ to His bride, namely His very presence. A fuller picture, then, is to see both the justified also as one invited into the very presence of the King as a beloved bride adorned with Jesus’ blood and Spirit. Her shame is conquered and honor is bestowed through the same means justification came! We will dive into this truth throughout the studies because the Song is deeply rooted in the honor of being Jesus’ bride.
4 characters:
- Shulamite (some think this is a feminized name of Solomon in Hebrew...she is the look-a-like of Him, the perfect match designed perfect for the Beloved); her name can mean peaceable one, perfect one. She represents the bride of Christ; she particularly represents an individual member of the bride of Christ because this book is about an intimate one to one relationship.
- King--Jesus
- Young women--brides to be/people watching your journey who end up being captivated by your love relationship with Jesus and choose to follow Him too
- The watchmen/guards of the city-- Christians who oversee your life; elders who oversee the Church, the City of God
Themes:
Major: the transforming power of the love of Christ. The book starts out with a dried up shepherd girl working in her flesh. She lost her own garden, but mustered up the courage to cry out for love because she knows His love to some extent already. This begins the journey of Him speaking to her of her identity, of her beauty, and of His love for her. He unwaveringly repeats how He sees her until she begins to look like how He sees her. He honors her and speaks love to her until she grows up into it, demonstrating the transforming power of His pursuing love. As you read, receive what He says is true about you and it will heal and transform your soul. More than anything, receiving Christ’s love will make you a beautiful, mature bride pleasing to Him. He desires to be satisfied with the fruit from the garden of our soul.
-Minor: victory in Christ. She is at the bottom of a valley and He is working to get her to the top of a mountain (from wilderness wandering to reigning with him in full intimacy, identity and authority). He takes her through the dark places of her heart to give her greater intimacy with Him. What are the dark places of your heart? I’ll go there with you, He says.