June 2: Song of Solomon

June 2, Song of Solomon 

This is titled the Song of Songs - meaning the best of the best songs written by Solomon. There are plenty of debates over this book! Is it erotic love imagery between the betrothed couple? I had a professor that believed it was a love story to God, as does some other famous theologians. I believe that it is a love story between a couple that have very strong desires for each other and want to stay pure before God, until the right time to be married. God commands sexual purity, and within marriage, sexual intimacy is blessed and encouraged. A couple of Historic notes: In Historic Hebrew times, they wrote different stories than we do. They used write Beginning, Middle, Beginning. Whereas, we write Beginning, Middle, End. That should make more sense once you read to the end. Also, young Jewish boys were not allowed to read this book of the Bible until they were of age, in a way for the parents to protect them… Oh yeah, don’t worry, this post will not be NC-17 or anything of the matter, because I do not want to stir up or awaken love before its time…:)

Song of Solomon 1-2 We start out with a confession of love between the woman and the man. Right away, we learn about their desires for each other. She refers to herself as lovely, but is insecure about her tan. She had to work out in the fields instead of more ‘refined’ women, who were pale and did not need to work, revealing her insecurities. She comes from humble beginnings and the culture of her time, would have looked down on her. He however, does not, as we will learn. She also was more concerned with her duties than her looks, this should be noted by us. 

Solomon compliments her and doesn't compare her with other women, but confesses that she is all together beautiful. He delights in her! His view of her is higher than her view of herself. As men, we are called to be a ‘One Woman Man’ and faithful to her and she is the only one for you. 

They are holding each other in an intimate embrace but we are warned “that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.” This is paramount to purity and to pleasing God. 

There will be obstacles in marriage and we are to love our spouses in the face of obstacles and overcome them together. 

Springtime is often known as a time for lovers and the imagery here is that it is springtime and their love is blossoming.

In addition to obstacles, we must watch out for ‘foxes’ in our marriage - imagery for pests that come in and destroy or wreak havoc in our relationships. Find the foxes that want to spoil and be rid of them. 

Song of Solomon 3-8 Starts out with her dream at night. She was seeking her lover but could not find him. So, she goes and looks for him. She dreamt of sleeping with him in a secure place. She recognized that she is lowly and he is a man of power and influence, and her desires for him are not affected by that. The crown that he wore was given to him by his Mother, Bathsheba, at the wedding with one of his other wives (Solomon had multiple wives and concubines that we will learn about later).

He is now commenting on her beauty, and he starts with the beauty of her eyes and moves downward on her body… and gives details on what he admires about her body. As you can tell from the descriptions, she is not sporting an absolutely perfect body (like society would say) and yet he calls her altogether beautiful. She is his standard of beauty (this is not my concept, but we learned it from Margo Maine) and this is paramount to our understanding. God has also called us as men to treat our wives and to protect them like they were our sisters. Look out for them, provide, and take care of them. She is his best friend. She is also a virgin, as she is not stirring love before its time. Continuing on in her dream, he comes to her door and knocks as she is ready for bed. She hesitates and by the time she gets to the door he is gone. She goes and looks for him and has a nightmare that she is attacked by men. My wife told me that sometimes bad dreams arise from our fears of not being protected, she is onto something. 

She goes on now to describe him and his beauty - she is verbalizing it to him (big surprise haha - just kidding). They are loyal to each other. 

The dream is over in 6:3 and they are delighting in each other. That is not just a young love thing. When spouses serve and love each other, this love only increases. He is overwhelmed with her love and her body. And he is affirming her individual looks of a long neck, big nose, blue eyes, and dark hair. He gets very specific in chapter 7 & 8, and my only comment is that this is probably why young Jewish boys couldn't read this book! The consummation of marriage occurs and it is described in somewhat detail. For those married, this reading should not be considered dirty, but beautiful in the context of a godly marriage. For those not married, this reading is a good description of the sanctity of the marriage bed and that is where this remains. Outside of the marriage bed, it is sin. 

Remember in the introduction I talked about Beginning, Middle, Beginning. We go back to her beginning. She was protected by her family and her virginity was protected. We are to build a wall around our daughters and girls - protect them. 

To sum it all up:

• “Do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.”
• What are the foxes in your marriage? Porn? Close friends of the same sex? Financial stress? Identify what they are and kill the pest before it kills your marriage!
• Standard of Beauty. Our spouses should be our standard of beauty. If your spouse is short, tall skinny, curved, blonde, brunette, big nose, long neck… you get the point. Whatever your spouse is, that is to be your standard of beauty. Not what Victoria’s Secret or GQ says is pretty, but what your spouse is and how the Lord has made them. Oh yeah, and when you aged and your spouse’s body changes (which it will), that will become your new standard of beauty (I learned some of this from Mark Driscoll years ago in his sermon series on Song of Solomon). If your spouse is not your standard of beauty, foxes will be creeping in to wreak havoc.
• Enjoying sexual pleasure is a gift from God for those married. For those not married, it brings guilt and regret (at a certain point it will, even if not now).
• Wait to find the one your soul loves (3:4). God will show you.