CHAPTER 1
Love at first sight/ The weakness of God
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Corinthians 1:25 KJV
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalm 51:5 KJV
Someone once said that in order for a writer to be effective he or she must first write from their heart. After that they need to go back and rewrite it from their heads. In other words our heart tells us what we want to say and our head makes sense of it all.
As a writer as well as a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ my life is about the message. It's not just a matter of what I say it is equally as important how I say it.
The Song of Solomon is not simply about a Bridegroom and His Bride preparing for a wedding. It is, in actuality, the story of redemption from beginning to end, through Jesus Christ.
Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Revelation 19:6-8 NASB
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 KJV
The story of redemption is about the lostness of men and the incredibly amazing and well beyond reasonable love of God through Jesus Christ.
The Song of Solomon gives it to us as a picture; a "type" (which is an Old Testament picture of a New Testament truth).
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6 KJV
It isn't hard to understand God's simple plan of salvation. We see it everywhere throughout the Song of Solomon. It is simply this: Jesus wasn't lost, I was. The wonderful truth about this is that He was looking for me. Not long ago I heard a preacher explain that it was just a matter of position, as though Jesus was saying, "I'll leave My place"; "I'll come to your place"; "I'll take your place"; "So you can come to My place."
Like the Shunamite girl who is nameless throughout the story, "I am black ..." (Song of Solomon 1:5,6).
Isaiah describes it for us:
6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. Isaiah 64:6 NASB
23 for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23 Jing James Version
And so it begins.
We are told that this is the greatest of all of the songs Solomon ever wrote, and there were many. It's beauty is beyond compare. The intimate secrets and the depth of the love expressed are enough to make even the most mature among us blush and say, "Wow!" It may even bring tears to the eyes.
This girl has something that caught Solomon's eye. What that something is he leaves to our imagination since the Song begins with a relationship that has already established.
We know Solomon. He is the son of David and Bathsheba, but who is this girl? From what we read in this story she is probably not nobility and for that reason she is not what would be called a courtier. Whoever she is, she is someone that Solomon, just like the Good Shepherd, Jesus, was willing to leave the ninety nine [sheep of his flock] to go after.
What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? Matthew 18:12 NASB
This is, however, far more than just a song of redemption. It's a love story about two souls entangled in the twists and turns of an ever growing love relationship.
It is also about the chains of hope that captivate those souls and unite them in bonds [in every sense off the word] to the God Who proves His love to us with every breath we take. He does that in ways well beyond what our hearts can receive or conceive.
Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope; even today do I declare that I will render double unto thee. Zechariah 9:12 KJV
If you want to see a real love story rather than a "Dollar Store Novel," you will see it in the Song of Solomon.
If you want to know how a man ought to treat a woman you will find it in the Song of Solomon.
If you want to know how a woman ought to honor a man [can I say that in the 21 century?] you will discover it in the Song of Solomon.
BRIDE Verse 2 - Let your eyes be wide open to the passion expressed. This is only the second verse. Hofmann's Free Translation makes this passion clear.
Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth!
Everyone understands what a kiss is, but right here, at the outset you can tell that this isn't just any kiss. It's not just a peck on the cheek. This is passion to the point of obsession. It comes from a Hebrew word meaning, "to catch fire; to burn."
This is a really neat thought because it goes hand in hand with the Hebrew word for love and lover used throughout the Song of Solomon which literally means "to boil."
This isn't a "Hi! How are you? It's been a long time," kiss.
It's not a "Happy Birthday!" kiss.
This is not an "I fell and hurt myself. Please kiss it and make it better," kiss.
This is passion!
This is hot!
This is fire!
This is absolutely not a shared kiss. It is intended for only one person; for him and for no one else. In a very real way it's like the engagement ring.
This kiss says, "I'm yours and yours alone."
Unfortunately, people don't think like that anymore.
"Your love is better than the finest wine."
Some believers today will have difficulty with the thought expressed here. The word "wine" when it is used in the Greek New Testament can refer to anything from grape juice to grape jelly to fermented wine. In Hebrew the word wine has only one use and that is to the intoxicating effects of fermented wine. For example:
Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to him whose life is bitter. Let him drink and forget his poverty And remember his trouble no more. Proverbs 31:6,7 NASB
Obviously this is not grape juice or jelly.
Wine is another one of those types that symbolizes joy. But it is symbolic only, and at best this joy is only temporary.
Let it also be permanently inscribed in the readers brain that no one ever became an alcoholic without taking the first drink.
Let the fire of his kisses be mine! For the flame of your love is better than the finest wine. Song of Solomon 1:2 HFT
Bride Verse 3 - There is so much of everything in the Song of Solomon that it almost seems, at least at times, as though it belongs in the New Testament.
In only the third verse of the book this young bride to be is saying much more than, "Hey Solomon, you smell good!" The theology here is rich:
1. "Oil" speaks of the Holy Ghost in a type.
2. Oil is purified by pouring it from one container into another and into another after it has been beaten from the olive (Jeremiah 48:11); speaking of the process of sanctification [Sanctification is the Spirit of God creating within you the image of Jesus (Philippians 2:13; Romans 12:2) through trials and testings].
3. After the olives have been crushed the oil must have opportunity to settle in order for the sediment to separate and the oil to be gently poured off. Otherwise those particles of the olive begin to decay and the aroma and flavor of death permeate the oil.
4. Another truly deep thought presents itself and that is that our young Bride seems to be the only one who is close enough to notice that aroma.
Like the Lord Jesus the Holy Spirit is all about life. In Jesus' own words:
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10 NASB
Your name is even more satisfying than the oil.
It is my experience that the sense of smell affects us like none of the other senses do. It can trigger memories which have been dormant for decades.
For example, the smell of wet oak leaves and pine needles on a crisp autumn day always draws me back to a small weathered gray shingled ranch style house at Thanksgiving where my dad would prepare the meal while I was out playing football with my cousins. It never fails.
The smell of butter cookies, called "spritz," always seems to take me back to my grandmother's kitchen at Christmas.
For me those are wonderful memories.
Our young bride is saying, "Your name gives that kind of satisfaction."
There are people who now only live in our memories, who have that effect upon us. It is not because we have built them up; though in some cases that may be true; it's because their lives still speak to us of greater things. For that reason even the thought of their name brings a smile.
A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, Favor is better than silver and gold. Proverbs 22:1 NASB
He also said, "Blessed be the Lord, The God of Shem." Shem is Hebrew for "the name" Genesis 9:26 NASB
"Blessed be the LORD, the God of 'the name'. Genesis 9:26 HFT
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 NASB
The oil represented here is "beaten" from the olive for a few practical reasons. First, it is much too time consuming to "pit" each individual olive. Secondly, olives would have to be "pitted" for any press to be effective. Finally, there would be too much net loss in the "prep time".
Know this, it is not just oil, however, it is purified oil.
To purify oil takes time; it, again, tells us of the route we must take through trial and testing. It is reminiscent of our own Great High Priest:
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15 NASB.
Additionally, for the oil to be purified it must be "still." The idea is a simple one; relax!
"Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10 KJV
Movement, even the slightest movement, of the container means more time waiting for the oil to settle once again.
Bride Verse 4 - Your heart may not respond to God in King James English as mine does but I know that you can feel it even as I do.
My heart literally cries out just like our young bride, "Draw me!"
In a real sense it feels like the colossal yet tender hand of God's Spirit reaching into my chest cavity and cradling my heart.
Draw me!
When I lose my focus these words shout from the mountain top and echo like thunder through the valley. They declare in no uncertain terms, "I want to be where You are!"
I don't know what your heart or your spirit says to you when it speaks. My heart, on the other hand, sometimes says outrageous things, which, if I took the time to think about them would probably make me think twice. For example, I think of words like these:
"Ye have not because ye ask not." James 4:2 KJV
Strange as it may be it sounds a great deal like our young bride is saying, "Let's run away together to a place where no one will find us; where we can be alone, and I can have you all to myself." But, then again, why is that so strange?
"The king has brought me into his chambers." Song of Solomon 1:4 ("The king has brought me into his chambers [his apartment in the palace HFT]")
It is worth reminding the reader that the Song of Solomon is a picture of Christ and His church.
There are at least three things that I notice here:
1. This is not the throne room. In the throne room everyone [everyone!] comes to make their petitions known to the king.
2. This is not the Banquet Hall. The Banquet hall is a place of great joy and fellowship.
3. These are "His chambers", or his bedchambers. Even here there are some things worth noting:
• These rooms would have been exclusive to the point of being guarded.
• These are "His" chambers, rather than "our" chambers
• Solomon died with 1000 wives and concubines. This place was exclusively his rather than theirs.
We are barely into this story yet, and at this point if this was a modern television show we would just have run the opening credits and met the cast of characters. Since this is a song, Solomon introduces us to the background singers, the "Chorus".
This is where we hear from them for the first time. They give us a moment to breath, to refocus after something very deep.
There are those in denominational circles who might chafe at this but our young bride makes one of those purely "Pentecostal or charismatic" statements, which we want to translate in any way we can as long as it doesn't say: "I am so filled with excitement that I find myself dancing." HFT
If the Song of Solomon is an Old Testament picture of Christ and His bride, the church; the chorus, must, reasonably speaking, represent the angelic host who sing the praises of the Bridegroom.
Isaiah 6:1-3
Revelation 7:11
Curiosity drives me to ask the question: "What does a host of ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands sound like?"
The Psalmist would say, "Selah [pause for a moment and think about that]"
Revelation 5:11
Revelation 7:9
Revelation 19:6
Even the chorus is singing the praises of the Bridegroom.
"We will remember the fire of your love more than the joy that wine brings."
If you as the reader will permit me, perhaps the Apostle Paul's explanation of the truth of genuine love will help us to get a grip on the "fire" of the Hebrew definition. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Living Bible
A. "Love is very patient and kind." Patience and kindness are tough enough, but love is not just patient and kind, it is very patient and kind.
B. "Love is never jealous or envious", and the trouble with these is that they are absolute [in other words it's never okay to be even a little jealous or envious on occasion or under certain circumstances] love is never
C. "Love is never boastful or proud." - Never!
D. "Love is never selfish." - Never!
E. "Love is never rude." - Never!
F. "Love does not demand it's own way."
G. "Love is not irritable or touchy [I probably could have left that one out]."
H. "Love does not hold grudges." – Ever!"
I. "Love will hardly even notice when others do it wrong."
J. "Love is never glad about injustice." – Never!
K. "Love rejoices whenever truth wins out."
L. If you love someone you will
• Be loyal no matter the cost, (Always is the word that fits here, and it's absolute).
• "Always believe in him." – Always!
• "Always expect the best of him." - Always!
• "Always stand your ground defending him." – Always!
Lord, once again I feel Your Spirit tugging at my heart.
Our trouble, our difficulty, is that this is the twenty first century and this is absolutely not what people are seeing on their television screens; this is not "Ward and June". What people see today has "devolved" over the decades into something based upon a feeling, and feelings cannot be trusted.
Logically, if one can fall "into" love, they can fall "out" of it. For that reason, what we call love today is more lust than anything that our grandparents would have known.
Described for us in the Song of Solomon [and 1 Corinthians 13] is a choice. As such there are certainly feelings which follow along with it [I wouldn't give you two bits for something that I couldn't feel] but true love isn't built upon a feeling.
"For we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7 King James Version (It's interesting that this is also a choice.)
"Rightly do they love you." Song of Solomon 1:4
There is confusion from time to time in the dialogue of the Song of Solomon (while 3000 years removed, all confusion is unintentional). The CHORUS has probably finished its brief line with, "We will extol your love more than wine."
It is here that the BRIDE jumps in again.
I personally think that what she says seems unusual for a BRIDE to say. It's an exclamation, though it doesn't show up that way.
"How right it is that they should love you!" Song of Solomon 1:4
At least to my way of thinking, our young BRIDE ought to want this BRIDEGROOM all to herself. [and there is nothing that suggests that this is not the case]. Could it be that she is saying, "I understand why all of you maidens have a 'crush' on my 'BRIDEGROOM'"?
