The Song of Songs (SOS) is very intense, and seems at least a bit
racy, if not almost pornographic in some ways. But that’s only if you do not
look beneath the surface.
I have read many commentaries about SOS that treat it like a
treatise on love and marriage here on earth. I’ll tell you this, if you need
such a treatise, there is none better.
When I was a young man, my cousin and I used to work those 1,000
piece puzzles. We had a self-imposed rule that if you touched a piece of the
puzzle without knowing where it fit, you were charged one point. When the
puzzle was finished, the one with the most points lost. We both learned to
solve puzzles.
If I were to present you with a math problem like this:
3 y
+ x AND +2 AND the total of both equals 14,
7 z
7 z
would you be able to find the missing numbers? The answers would
be 4; 5; and 7 respectively. That’s the only combination that would work. If
you don’t like that solution or try to insert some other values, the equation
just won’t add up.
The same is true with any part of the Bible, including the SOS.
The answer is always Jesus. Any other answer and the “equation” won’t add up.
What happens to the Song of Solomon if you plug in Jesus and His
relation to His Bride, the church? It becomes not a discourse on boy/girl
relationships, and far more than an earthly love story, but a revelation of the way Christ loves His
church.
I can hear the theologians from all over the globe gasping in
disgust as they read this re-hash of an old idea. That’s OK. They’ve been wrong
before, and they’re wrong about SOS.
Do it like this and see what happens. Let “Beloved” equal the
church, let “Lover” equal Christ and let “Friends” equal the heavenly hosts.
When you do that, the book becomes much more than an ancient love song. It
becomes much more than a portrayal of God’s perspective on the romantic and
sexual love between a man and woman. It springs to life like no other love
story in all of history!
As Solomon saw his bride as beautiful, so Christ sees His Bride
(the church) as beautiful. As Solomon sees his bride as irresistible, so Christ
sees His Bride as irresistible. As Solomon saw his bride as worthy of his love,
so Christ sees His Bride as worthy of His love because of his grace.
As Solomon compares his bride with the beauty of womanhood, the
unbridled power of Pharaoh’s horses, the rarity of precious gems, the strength
of cedars, the fragrance of perfumes and flowers, the grandeur of mountains and
the sweetness of the vineyards, so is Christ’s Bride to Him.
The response of Solomon’s bride to him is analogous to Christ’s
Bride’s reaction to Him.
In my mind, the whole book of the Song of Solomon speaks of God’s
love for His creation and His preparation of the Bride of Christ for the
unparalleled wedding feast that is to come.
Every time I read it, I am more breathlessly waiting for that day.
If you know Christ, you're His Bride and the feast will
include you!
Now,
let’s study the book. This week we’ll look at chapters 1-4. Next week we’ll
look at chapters 5-8.
Song of Songs – The Bible
Study
1. Some
think The Song of Songs sets forth
the glory of wedded love; It sets forth the heart of a satisfied husband and a
devoted wife.
2. Others
say it sets forth the love of Jehovah for Israel. The prophets spoke of Israel
as the wife of Jehovah.
3. I
believe it is a picture of Christ and the church. The church is the bride of
Christ, a familiar figure of Scripture (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:27;
Revelation 21).
4. I
also think it depicts the communion of Christ and the individual believer. The
soul’s communion with Christ is here set forth.
No matter the
interpretation, The Song of Solomon tests the spiritual capacity of the reader.
Chapters 1 – 4
Chapter 1
Verses 2-6 – The bride (church) reviews in her
mind the meeting with the shepherd (Messiah). As a church we should constantly
anticipate being with our Lord. Verse 5: She was sunburned, that is, the church
must be found working outside of the confines of its brick and mortar. Verse.6:
She was forced by her brothers to keep the vineyard. The world seeks to control
the church. Her “own vineyard” was her
own beauty. The world is our vineyard and we need to be working in it.
Verse 7: The shepherd
she met did not seem to have any sheep. From the beginning, Christ was
anticipating His church They are His sheep. Verses 9-17: The church is to be in
love with her shepherd, Jesus, the Christ (Messiah).
Chapter 2
Verses 1-7 – Here is a
“vision” of the palace (heaven) that will be ours when we go to live with our
shepherd. Verse 1: The church is like the flowers of the land. Verse 2: The
bridegroom (Christ) points out the
difference between His church and the world. Verse 3-7: The bride speaks of her
love for the bridegroom. Any relationship of the believer to Christ must rest
upon His love for the believer and the believer’s love for Him.
Verses 8-17 – The return
of the bridegroom after a trip abroad. That is the time of the rapture, when
Christ returns for His bride. The bride’s happy anticipation of his return
should be the attitude of the believer toward the return of Christ.
This is the highest
spiritual expression of any relationship with Christ. It is the high note of
the Rapture, the catching up of the believer to be with Christ (1 Thessalonians
4:13-18). This section puts into the lovely language of poetry the meaning of
the Rapture.
Chapter
3
The bride dreams of the bridegroom while he is
away. She seeks him at night and is found by the watchman. Is this not what we
should be doing as the Bride of Christ? At last, she finds the bridegroom.
Christ, in all of his glory, is pictured entering Jerusalem with his bride.
WHAT A PICTURE!!
Chapter 4
Here we have the love song of the bridegroom. This is the expression of deep desire and strong
passion. Compare verse 7 with Ephesians 5:25-27. It is impossible for the
believer to know (verses 9, 10) how much Christ loves him (Revelation 2:4).
Verse 16: The response of the bride (the church) should remind us of Isaiah
53:11.
Does this approximate your feelings for Christ? Is He your
beloved? Are you intimate with Him as Solomon was with his beloved? When we
call ourselves “the bride of Christ,” are we aware of all that entails? Does it
motivate us to be totally immersed in His will for us?
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