Song of Songs Introduction and Chapter 1a -- John Karmelich
1.
Let me start by saying, of all the books in the Bible,
this one is for adults only.
a)
A Jewish tradition, picked up by the early Christian
writers is that the book,
Song of Songs should not even be studied until one is thirty years old.
b)
It is very sexual in its overtones and its description.
c)
It is about romance, love making and the love between a
bride and a groom.
2.
Now that I’ve gotten your attention, welcome to my study
of Song of Songs. ☺
a)
If you would like to have a better relationship with
your spouse, read on.
b)
If you are single, and want some good marital advice,
read on.
c)
If you want to comprehend God’s love, and its comparison
to a strong, healthy marriage, read on.
d)
On the surface, it is a wonderful, literal story of King
Solomon and his love for his bride.
Much of the text is from the perspective of the bride and her love for
Solomon.
i)
It reads like a musical play. The writing style is that of Hebrew Poetry.
ii)
There is an interesting comment about Solomon’s life in
1st Kings:
a)
“He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered
a thousand and five.” (1st
Kings 4:32, NIV)
b)
We know Solomon wrote a lot of proverbs as most of the
Book of Proverbs is written by Solomon.
The Book of Ecclesiastes is also written by Solomon and there are many
proverbs in that book.
c)
Yet the number of proverbs in those two books is roughly
estimated at 400 to 500. In 1st
Kings it says Solomon wrote over 3,000!
d)
That verse in 1st Kings also said Solomon
write over 1,005 songs.
e)
Yet only one song is saved throughout history.
(1)
Only one song is considered inspired by God.
(2)
It is so great, it is well translated “Song of
Songs”.
(3)
The title is taken from the first verse of Chapter 1:
(a)
“Solomon’s Song of Songs” (NIV)
iii)
“Song” in Hebrew, is a different concept than the
American idea of song.
a)
“Song of Songs” is not a catchy little ditty one can
sing in the shower. ☺
b)
We don’t even know the original musical score that goes
with it.
c)
Hebrew poetry doesn’t have rhymes or commonly repeated
phrases like American songs and poetry.
d)
It is about joining thoughts together or combining ideas
together.
(1)
It is different concepts, joined by a common connecting
theme.
3.
About a year ago, I came up with the bright idea of
teaching at least one book of the Bible from each of the different writing
styles. Thus, I am now tackling Song of
Songs.
a)
Books of the Bible can be divided into
i)
1) Narrative style of writing; “narrative” style is a story with a start and an end.
ii)
2) Prophetic;
The primary purpose of this type of book is to foretell future events.
iii)
3) Instructional;
The primary purpose is a set of instructions to follow.
iv)
4) Poetic; There
is no story per se, but the style is in Hebrew poetry.
b)
Well, I’m now tackling a poetic book, because I haven’t
done one yet. ☺
c)
God laid it on my heart to teach Song of Songs.
d)
In many ways, this is my greatest challenge as a
teacher.
i)
Being your typical male, writing about emotional love
does not come easy. ☺
4.
In preparation for this study, I have read introductory
chapters to many commentaries on the Song of Songs. Here is the one statement they almost all have in common.
a)
“It is a difficult book to understand.”
i)
And I kept thinking, “Gee, that will make my job
easy!” J
ii)
There are many unique words found in Song of Songs that
are difficult to translate. About 10%
of the Hebrew words in Song of Songs are not found anywhere else in the Bible
as a cross-reference.
iii)
Good scholars disagree on some of the finer
interpretations in the text.
iv)
The first time you read through Song of Songs, you can’t
help but wonder
“Why is this book included in the Bible anyway?”
a)
There is no mention of God whatsoever.
b)
There is no mention of prayer, salvation, redemption, or
any of the other common topics one finds in a book of the Bible.
c)
There is no quotation from Song of Songs anywhere in the
New Testament.
(1)
Yet, some of the word-pictures “painted” in the Song of
Songs is similar to those found throughout the Bible.
d)
Yet it is one of the most loved books by many of the
great Christian writers of the past few centuries. I have heard (second hand) that Dwight Moody and Charles Spurgeon
both consider it their favorite book in the Bible.
b)
The Book “Song of Songs”, also nicknamed “Song of
Solomon” and often abbreviated “Songs” in different Bibles, is a musical drama
between a man and a women.
i)
It is a love story with sexual overtones.
ii)
The characters in this “short musical” are usually
considered the bride and groom, the girl’s family and the “daughters of
Jerusalem”.
a)
Most of your study Bibles will insert who is speaking
before each section.
(1)
For example, if the bride is speaking, the New King
James Study Bible® will
insert “The Shulamite”. That is her
title.
(2)
The Living Bible® will
insert “The Girl”.
(3)
In the original text, those titles are not there.
(4)
The writers of those study bibles put them there for our
reference.
(a)
In fact, not all of your study Bibles agree upon who is
speaking on any one given point.
(b)
Those Bible writers look at the grammar, and make
assumptions about who is speaking.
(c)
All you should remember is in the original text those
names above the text are not there.
5.
Let’s start with what we know for sure about the
Song of Songs:
a)
It was written by Solomon. The same Solomon who was king of Israel after David.
i)
Verse 1 of Chapter 1 says, “Solomon’s Song of Songs” (Songs 1:1, NIV)
ii)
His name is mentioned seven times in the book.
b)
This woman is called, “The Shulamite”
i)
Here is the reference:, “Return, return, O Shulamite;
(Songs 6:13, NKJV)
ii)
The word is spelled with 2 “m’s” (Shulammite) in
the NASB and the NIV.:
a)
One Messianic Jewish commentator pointed out that in the
Hebrew, the root word for the Shulamite is very similar to the word for
“Solomon”.
An acceptable paraphrase of this title could be “Mrs. Solomon”.
(Source: Arnold Fruchtenbaum)
b)
The similarity is often compared in the love they have
for each other. The similarity of the
Hebrew names of Solomon and “Mrs. Solomon” (i.e., the Shulamite). It is as if they are becoming “one in name”.
c)
The only other characters in this play is a female
chorus. Most study Bibles call them
“The Daughters of Jerusalem. We’ll talk
more about these girls later.
i)
There are a few verses that some commentators believe
are friends of Solomon, but at this point, we are getting trivial.
d)
To summarize, the whole play is a dialogue between
Solomon and his bride, with a handful of verses given to a choir, usually
labeled as “The Daughters of Jerusalem”.
6.
Let’s talk a little bit about Solomon himself and this
bride.
a)
We do know that this woman is the only woman Solomon
loved.
i)
Solomon made a lot of mistakes in his life. One of them was having hundreds of
wives. Most, if not all, were
politically arranged marriages with princesses of other countries so to arrange
peace with that country.
b)
It appears that this woman in Song of Songs is the only
woman that Solomon truly loved.
i)
Notice what Moses told the children of Israel about
multiple wives:
a)
Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his
heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for
himself. (Deut. 17:17 NIV)
ii)
Now notice what Solomon did, hundreds of years later:
a)
And he (Solomon) had seven hundred wives, princesses,
and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it was
so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; (1st Kings 11:3-4a, NKJV).
(1)
Speaking as a married man, one wife is difficult enough
to please,
I can’t imagine seven hundred! ☺
(2)
Anniversary dinners must have really been tough. J
b)
Yet, despite all of these women, listen to what Solomon
said about this girl in the Song of Songs:
(1)
“There are sixty queens
And eighty concubines,
And virgins without number.
My dove, my perfect one,
Is the only one, (Songs 6:8-9a,
NKJV)
(2)
Throughout the book, Solomon refers to this true love as
“his dove”. We’ll discuss that
reference when we get there.
(a)
To give you a hint, doves-as-a-bird, mate for life!
(3)
When Song of Songs was written, Solomon had “only” 60
wives.
(a)
1st Kings said he added others after this
true love.
(b)
This could warrant a discussion on the topic of “long
term love vs. living in the emotional moment.”
c)
The commentaries are full of theories on who this woman
is.
i)
Many of those theories are interesting, but none are
provable.
ii)
None of those theories have any good application to our
lives, so I’ll move on.
7.
When you hear sermons or read commentaries on Song of
Songs, there are multiple levels on which you can read this.
a)
Most of them are either literal interpretations
or allegorical (figurative) interpretations.
b)
Let’s start with the literal interpretations.
i)
One can not ignore the reality of the sexual literalness
of Song of Songs.
ii)
A common misconception is the Bible is “anti-sex” for
the purpose of pleasure. There is no
mention in any of this love making that the intended purpose of the interlude
is to make babies. It is about the love
this couple has for each other and expressing it physically.
iii)
God designed marriage to glorify that pleasure He
designed for us.
c)
Next comes the allegorical (figurative) interpretations.
i)
Jewish commentators, naturally, compare Solomon and his
bride with God’s love for the Jewish people.
ii)
Christian commentators, naturally, compare Solomon and
his bride with God’s love for the Christian church.
a)
Since I happen to believe Jesus is God, I’ll talk about
this one throughout the study. ☺ It is natural
and I believe Scriptural to give this interpretation.
b)
Since Song of Songs was written long before Jesus came
the first time, one can respect the Jewish arguments for their interpretation.
iii)
What is important to see, is that our love for our
husband or our wife stems from God love. Like all the other gifts God gives us, we can draw upon God’s
strength and God’s love to have the ability to love our spouses, physically,
emotionally, and the giving of our time and our ourselves.
a)
I’ve often heard the perfect marriage is where two
people spend their lives trying to “outdo each other” in pleasing each other.
b)
That type of love stems from the type of love God has
for his people.
c)
That source and strength can be drawn upon to have a
healthy and happy martial relationship.
(1)
By the way, I’m speaking of the ideal here. Like all other humans,
I have my faults and my shortcomings.
(2)
I would love to have a better marriage. As a couple, my wife and
I have our problems like all other couples.
(3)
What I have found is, is the times I have drawn upon
God’s strength through prayer, that my marriage shines the best. The happiest and greatest times in my
marriage have come from when
I sought God first for a better marriage.
d)
That is why so many commentators compare the verses of
Song of Songs to our relationship with God.
(1)
Is Song of Songs about physical love between a man and a
woman? Yes, of course.
(2)
The reason Song of Songs is “biblical”, despite its lack
of any good Godly terms like “prayer” and “salvation” is that this book is
about the love relationship God desires of all of his children. A ideal bond between a man and his wife is
what God desires as a relationship between God and you (and me!)
(3)
That doesn’t mean God wants to physically make love with
you. Physical lovemaking is just a way
of expressing our deep desire to be with another person. It is a way of saying how much I want to
make the other person happy.
(a)
God loves us with an eternal perfect love. God wants great things for you and wants us
to be happy, through the good and bad times of life. That happiness stems from having a relationship with God.
(b)
The Song of Songs is just an example of how to show some
of God’s love through our marriage.
8.
It may interest you to know, that in Hebrew, there is no
word for “bachelor”.
a)
Through most of history, through most cultures,
marriages were arranged by the parents.
This included the religious Jewish culture.
i)
Therefore, many parents, figuring that they are smarter
than their children, took it upon themselves to arrange for a husband or a wife
for their children.
ii)
Yet one of the privileges of being a king was to choose
one’s bride.
b)
It does not mean that everyone should be married or that
divorce is a sin.
i)
Divorce is never listed in the Bible as a sin.
a)
I would say divorce is frowned upon, but never included
in any of the
“sin lists” found throughout the New Testament.
ii)
What you can find in the story of Adam and Eve and in
the 10 commandments (“honor your mother and father”) is that God desires
marriage.
iii)
Paul himself taught in 1st Corinthians,
Chapter 7 (to paraphrase) that marriage is not for everyone. He recommends in that same chapter that if
your heart is to marry someone, to go do so.
a)
In Paul’s first letter to Timothy, Paul even counsels
young widows to re-marry. (See 1st
Timothy 5:14).
b)
Paul’s theme in 1st Corinthians Chapter 7 is
that we are “all” married to Christ.
Yet some can also express that love through marriage, and others who are
single dedicate themselves more fully to serving Christ.
iv)
The reason God instituted marriage is that it gives us:
a)
A model for how God wants to have a relationship with
us.
b)
Through God’s love we can have a healthy
relationship.
v)
On a related topic, as of the date of this writing, I
have a young daughter.
a)
Every night my wife & I pray for my daughter’s
future huband.
I specifically pray that God will give her “a man after His own heart”. Further, I pray that God will give all us
(me, wife, daughter) discernment to recognize who that man will eventually be.
(1)
My counsel to my daughter will be to find a man who
loves God more than he loves her.
That way, he can draw on God’s strength to love her as God
desires.
9.
Well, enough introduction J, let’s take on Verse
1: Solomon's Song of Songs.
a)
The title is in the Hebrew.
b)
It states the author, and among the 1,005 songs Solomon
wrote (again, see 1st Kings 4:32), this is the Song of Songs.
10.
Verse 2: Let him
kiss me with the kisses of his mouth--for your love is more delightful than
wine.
a)
Now the dialogue is started.
b)
We can logically assume in the first few verses that
this is the “bride” speaking.
i)
We know this because it says “Let him” kiss me.”
c)
Let’s get back to the speaker, who is the bride. Again, most of your study bibles will have
titles above the verses. Those are not
in the original text, so it is the writers of that study bible making
assumptions about the speaker.
d)
The Book opens with the desire of the girl to be
kissed by Solomon.
i)
Reading the verse in context of the rest of the chapter,
it appears the physical lovemaking has not begun yet.
ii)
The bride’s love for Solomon desires the kiss of
Solomon.
iii)
Throughout history, kissing is a sign of affection
between a husband and wife.
iv)
There is a principal here about letting the guy lead.
a)
You may think I’m making too much out of that, but I
believe most women, romantically, want men to lead.
v)
It is also a word picture of our relationship with
God. It starts with God choosing
us, and never the other way around.
a)
But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved
by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved
through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the
truth. (2nd Thessalonians
2:13, NIV)
e)
Next, the verse says “for your love is more delightful
than wine”.
i)
We will discover in a few verses that this girl works in
a vineyard.
a)
That means grape growing and winemaking are her life.
b)
Yet, she is saying “I love you more than my work, more
than my occupation (listening guys? J).
ii)
Wine is biblically associated with joy. It is usually mentioned in joyous occasions
in the Bible. Jesus at the wedding
feast in Cana turned the water into wine (Gospel of John, Chapter 2). The chapter describes this as a feast and
celebration. The “best man” of the
wedding commended the wine that Jesus changed from water. Again, the point is simply that wine is
associated with joy.
a)
Here, the bride says your love is more delightful
than wine.
f)
Throughout this study, I’m going to go back and forth
comparing these verses to God’s desire in our martial relationship and with our
relationship with God himself.
i)
In both cases, God desires our love for our spouse and
our love for him to be greater than the joy from wine, to be greater than our
occupational calling.
a)
It should be the greatest desire of our heart.
ii)
I should also talk here about my view on Christians and
drinking.
a)
Christians have debated for centuries over the
appropriateness of alcohol.
b)
The Bible strongly condemns being drunk. Paul says in 1st Corinthians 6:10
that drunkards will not be admitted into heaven.
(1)
The question is whether “drinking” is permitted.
c)
So where does one draw the line?
(1)
Personally, I would rather err on the safe side. J
(2)
I believe Christians should drink as much wine as they
want.
(3)
The question then becomes, “how much wine do you
want?
(4)
If you have the joy of the Lord, the answer should be
little to none.
(a)
A common theme of the Bible is the joy of our
relationship with God, the joy brought by love is much greater than anything
alcohol or any other pleasure in life can give us.
d)
That leads us back to this verse in Song of Songs, “for
your love is more delightful than wine”.
(1)
That means we shouldn’t be drunk because Christians are
not supposed to be drinking. That is
doing it for the wrong motivation. Our
motivation should be out of the love for God and the desire of love in our
martial relationship the love of anything else should be an very inferior
comparison.
(2)
To paraphrase, “why would I want wine when I have your
love?”
11.
Verse 3:
Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume
poured out.
No wonder the maidens love you!
a)
The sense of smell can be one of the most powerful
sensations one can have.
b)
Let me put this into an illustration that men can
relate to.
i)
To a man, there is few scents as wonderful as a steak
cooking on a barbeque.
a)
Or the smell of bacon cooking, or popcorn cooking.
ii)
That aroma attracts us, and makes us hungry for that
item.
c)
Women feel the same way about a man’s smell.
i)
Most men don’t use cologne. A few use too much. ☺
ii)
I would suspect most single men use it far more than
married men do.
iii)
Married men figure, “why should I use this stuff, I have
already got a wife?” ☺
a)
Let me start by saying, “wrong attitude”.
d)
One of the points I drive home is that couples should
want to do things to please their partner.
Not because they have to, but because they want to.
i)
That should be the same idea with our relationship with
God. We shouldn’t be obedient to God
because we have to, but because we want to.
We are so grateful for God, that out of the desire of our heart we want
to please Him.
ii)
The same is for our marriage. Men, we need to express our love to our spouse.
iii)
I remember a survey that was completed some years back
where they asked divorced women, “what do you want in your next husband”. The overwhelming answer was something to the
effect of, “someone who will listen to me”.
iv)
The biggest mistake married men make (myself included)
is taking your wife for granted.
a)
We can make that same mistake with God.
(1)
We often take his salvation, his redemption, his love
for us for granted and not give any time for God in our lives.
e)
Which leads us of course, back to Verse 3: “Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;
your name is like perfume poured out.
No wonder the maidens love you!
i)
The woman compares the smell of a sweet fragrance to the
name of Solomon.
a)
The name refers to his reputation.
b)
Biblically, a person’s name is also associated with
their reputation.
c)
Remember that this women is in the wine business. Smell is important!
ii)
She goes on in this verse to say “No wonder the maidens
love you”.
a)
My personal view is that this is an assumption on her
part; the view that other maidens also
love Solomon.
b)
Whether or not other maidens love Solomon is irrelevant
to my point.
(1)
I believe the point is that this girl is so in love with
Solomon, she assumes that all other people feel the same way about him.
c)
To paraphrase, “he is so handsome, so wonderful, every
girl must feel that way about him.”
d)
There should be a natural tendency in all our martial
relationships to feel that way about our partner. “My husband or wife is so wonderful, I can’t see how anybody
would not love that person.
(1)
Those who have been married awhile can’t help but
chuckle here. We all have that “puppy
love” prior to marriage where we see our partner as perfect. Then reality sets in. J
(2)
A good marriage is often described so “one should go in
with their eyes wide open, and then after marriage, keep their eyes half-shut”.
(3)
In order to keep our marriage strong, one needs to
“rekindle the flame” every now and then.
(4)
We “kindle the flame” with God by spending time with
Him.
(5)
The same goes for our marriage. Personally, I love my wife far more now than
when I first got married. That comes
from spending time together.
(a)
Like most men, my failure comes from letting the emotion
fade. I get more emotional over other
things than I do over her, and that is a fault that most married men need to
fix.
12.
OK, I’ve wandered off topic. Sorry about that. ☺ Verse
4: Take me away with you—let us hurry!
Let the king bring me into his chambers.
We rejoice and delight in you,
Let the king bring me into his chambers. We rejoice and delight in you
we will praise your love more than wine. How right they are to adore you!
a)
In this verse, it jumps back in forth between the bride
talking and “we” doing the talking.
b)
The first and last part of Verse 4 uses the word “we”,
so it is no longer the bride talking.
c)
I gave the statement earlier that these set of verses
are leading up to the wedding night.
They are talking about anticipation.
d)
The first part of the verse says, “Take me away with you
– let us hurry!” Let the king (that is
Solomon) bring me into his chambers.
i)
You can see the sense of urgency in this verse. It is the bride crying out in love for her
husband. It is almost as if she is
saying “forget the wedding ceremony, let’s get on to the wedding night!”
ii)
By the way, the word for “love” in these verses is
sexual in its meaning.
iii)
The application for you and I should be to keep that
same sense of desire alive in us, both for our spouse and for our relationship
with God.
iv)
We need to “keep the flames hot” via the Holy Spirit in
our desire for God and for our spouse.
13.
Verse 4, Part 2:
We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than
wine. How right they are to adore you!
a)
This verse uses “we”.
For example, The New King James Study Bible® will insert
“The Daughters Of Jerusalem” as a title above this half of the verse.
b)
In preparation for this study, I spent some time just
reading all the verses in Song of Songs that were spoken of other than by the
bride and groom. Most of them fell in
the category of “The Daughters Of Jerusalem”.
i)
They are 1:4, 1:11, 2:15 (maybe); 5:9, 6:1, 6:13, 8:5
(maybe); and 8:8-9.
ii)
The interesting thing is that you can read them as a
group and usually see a good word-picture of the purpose and function of the
Holy Spirit.
a)
Other commentators see the Daughters of Jerusalem as a
“meddlesome” group into the love between Solomon and his bride.
b)
A function of the Holy Spirit is to guide us in our walk
with God.
c)
Romans Chapter 8 mentions the Holy Spirit 14 times. Most of them discuss His function between us
and God the Father. Here is an example:
(1)
“In the same way, the (Holy) Spirit helps us in our
weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself
intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express”.
(Romans 8:16, NIV)
d)
My point is that one can read the verses in Song of
Songs that are not spoken by either the bride or Solomon and see a “type” of
the Holy Spirit working in the background.
iii)
Which leads us of course, back to the text of Verse 4;
a)
“We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love
more than wine. How right they are to
adore you!”
b)
In the literal view, this view is other maidens
congratulating and praising the maiden prior to the wedding night.
c)
If the desire of our heart is to worship God, it is the
Holy Spirit working in us to lead us in that worship. One can read Verse 4 from the viewpoint of
the Holy Spirit here.
(1)
One can see the similarity of the bride saying she loves
her man more than wine, and here is this “group” saying we will praise you more
than wine.
iv)
The last phrase “How right they are to adore you!” is
the bride peaking again.
a)
It is the bride joining the choir of praise at Solomon
saying in effect “They’re right Solomon, you are one great guy! J
14.
Verse 5: Dark am
I, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the
tent curtains of Solomon. 6Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am
darkened by the sun.
a)
Almost all the commentators discuss the fact that in
those days, “the tan look” was out for girls.
Here in California, being tan is a positive statement. In that culture, “tan” meant you were part
of the working class. The princess
stayed in the palace and had fair skin.
b)
Remember that the bride is a working girl out in the
vineyards.
i)
She is also well aware that Solomon had lots of wives,
all from politically arranged marriages.
ii)
The story here has a “Cinderella-like” them of a poor
country girl competing for the prince against all the women of the royal court.
iii)
The “tents of Kedar” was historically known for being
black.
iv)
The “tent curtains of Solomon” probably refer to the
tabernacle that was still in use during the early years of Solomon. (Reference:
2nd Chronicles 1:6).
The outside curtain was goat’s hair which was also black in color.
c)
More importantly I see two word-pictures here to pick up
on.
i)
Like all people, this girl sees her faults as compared
to other people.
a)
Yet in a few verses, we will see Solomon compliment her
beauty.
b)
There is a good tip for all us guys out there. Don’t agree with your wives complaining
about their faults, compliment how we only see the beauty in her and no
one else.
d)
Back to the application of seeing Song of Songs as a
relationship between us and God.
i)
The color “black” in the Bible, is a symbol of sin.
a)
Just as white is a symbol of purity, black is the
opposite of white.
b)
When the Israelites built the tabernacle in Exodus the
outer covering was black goat hair (Exodus 26:7). One can only see the gold and beautiful tapestry from inside the
temple.
c)
The word-picture I’m painting here is like the bride, we
see our faults.
ii)
God, like Solomon here, only sees our beauty. Isn’t that a neat word picture?
15.
The bride continues her woe’s in the rest of Verse
6: My mother's sons were angry with
me and made me take care of the
vineyards; my own vineyard I have
neglected.
a)
Again, this sounds like a Cinderella story.
b)
Notice she does not refer to her brothers as her
brothers, but “my mother’s sons”.
i)
Some believe they might be step brothers, but we don’t
know.
c)
This verse reveals that she has to work in a
vineyard.
i)
Even the vineyard that got assigned to her is neglected
as her brothers force her to make their vineyards a priority.
a)
Some commentators take this less literally. They simply see this as her brothers make
her work hard to tend to the family business and she has no time to take care
of herself.
ii)
You can see the Cinderella like story of this poor girl
who then moves on to become the true love of Solomon.
a)
One can make analogies to our reward in heaven based on
this suffering.
b)
It reminds me of something Paul said in Romans, “I
consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory
that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18, NIV)
16.
Verse 7: Tell
me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock and where you rest your sheep
at midday. Why should I be like a
veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends?
a)
This verse ends the section of the bride speaking. The next verse is Solomon’s response.
b)
To paraphrase, she is saying “I just want to be with
you. Tell me the spot where you rest at
midday so I can be next to you. I don’t
just want to be part of your harem”.
i)
Women want to be cherished. They don’t want to be treated like someone special.
a)
They don’t want to be “#1 on a list of 12”
b)
Jesus desires the same for us. He doesn’t want to be “our number #1 “god” on a list of “lots of
gods”, he wants to be #1 on a list of 1!
ii)
For both men and women, lets look at this verse in our
relationship to God:
a)
Sometimes I believe, like a loving father, God just
wants us to talk to him. Sometimes it
can be formal, sometimes it can be intimate and informal.
b)
Have you every been around someone who made you feel
special? Someone who had the ability to
make everyone they talk to feel like for that moment, they are the most
important person in the world?
(1)
I believe Jesus had that ability.
(2)
John, who wrote the Gospel of John, refers to himself as
“the one Jesus loved” five times. I
believe all the disciples felt that way.
John is just the one who wrote it down.
(3)
Here is the girl stating her desire to be treated as
special. I think God desires that for
us. Living our lives to express our
love for him through our actions.
c)
Let’s get back to the verse. The bride compares Solomon to a shepherd when she says,
“where (do) you graze your flock?”
i)
There is no mention of any sheep and the historical
records of Solomon never record him as being a shepherd.
ii)
There is a minority opinion among the commentators that
there is some sort of love-triangle here, and the shepherd is not Solomon. I don’t share that view.
iii)
In Middle Eastern tradition, a king often has the title
of as a shepherd as “his people” represent the sheep. That is one possible explanation.
iv)
If you read verses 7 & 8, the verse mentions 1) the
shepherd (Solomon) and “the tracks of the sheep” but not the sheep
themselves. I believe that is the key.
a)
I take the view this is meant to be allegorical
(non-literal).
(1)
The bride, looked to Solomon as being her “shepherd” as
well as her love.
(2)
Men, take note of this.
Women want men to lead. They
want them to protect them. That is the
model of the family that God desires.
b)
Most of you by know, can also see where I’m going with
this. J
(1)
Jesus calls himself “The Good Shepherd”.
(a)
Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them,
and they follow me” (John 10:27, NIV).
(2)
Jesus also calls on us to be shepherds, to lead
others in Christ.
(a)
When the resurrected Peter faces Jesus again, Jesus gave
him 3 commands:
(i)
“Feed My lambs”
(John 21:15, NIV)
(ii)
“Take care of My sheep” (John 21:16, NIV)
(iii)
“Feed My sheep”
(John 21:17, NIV)
(3)
The point is that Jesus is our shepherd, and
further God calls on all of us to “shepherd” others in Christ.
(a)
With that thought let’s look at Verse 8.
17.
Verse 8: If you
do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the sheep and graze
your young goats by the tents of the shepherds.
a)
To finish the analogy of Jesus as the Good Shepherd,
notice the command given “follow the tracks of the sheep…”
i)
Many see this our marching orders to follow others who
are Jesus’ “sheep”.
ii)
The king (the shepherd) gives the command to the bride
to graze her sheep “
by the tents of the shepherds).
a)
The king is giving his orders for protection of the
young bride.
b)
His fellow, or subordinate “shepherds” are to take care
of her.
(1)
Which leads us back to our word-picture for us
Christians to further “shepherd” younger less-mature believers.
iii)
For those of you who like this type of word-picture
stuff, you can take the analogy further.
The “young goats” the bride is in charge of could be a picture of
leading others to Jesus. In the Old
Testament, “goats” are associated, biblically with sin.
a)
Not because they are bad animals, but whenever goats is
mentioned in Genesis, it is used either as a sin offering or as part of a sin
deception. (References: Genesis 15:9, 30:32-33, 37:31, 38:17-23).
b)
So her is the bride leading her “sinful goats” to the
“Good Shepherd”.
c)
It’s a neat word picture. If you think I’m stretching the story too much, that’s ok. J
b)
Let’s get back to Verse 8. Here is Solomon giving his response to the bride. He says,
“If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the sheep
and graze your young goats by the tents of the shepherds.”
c)
Notice he starts by saying “the most beautiful of
woman”.
i)
This is a king.
A man who could have anything he wants.
a)
He already had 60 wives as of this point.
ii)
The bride didn’t think she was beautiful. She saw her dark sin as making her inferior
to the other women. What was Solomon’s
response?
a)
“(You are) the most beautiful of woman.”
b)
Take good notes guys, this stuff works. J
d)
Remember that Verse 7 was a question by the bride. She asked, “Why should I be like a veiled
woman beside the flocks of your friends”
i)
That question is an expression of her embarrassment of
her skin color.
ii)
Again, Solomon’s response is ““the most beautiful of
woman”.
iii)
That is also how God sees us. God does not focus on our faults. Jesus paid the price for all of those, past present and
future. He sees us in our future state,
“spotless and “beautiful” being prepared as a bride for Jesus.
a)
Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him (God the Father)
glory, for the marriage of the Lamb (Jesus) has come, and His wife (the church)
has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
(Revelation 19:7-8, NKJV)
18.
Ending on that positive note, I’m going to stop here and
pick it up with the next lesson.
19.
Let’s pray:
Father we thank you so much for these wonderful lessons about our
relationship with you, with Jesus and our spouses. May you be glorified in all these relationships. A study of Song of Songs is a difficult
voyage with lots of possible interpretations and meanings. Help us to “rightly divide the Word of Truth[1]”
as we apply these principals to our lives.
For we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.