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The Song of Songs (or the Song of Solomon as it is also called) has been the subject of much debate over many centuries. Despite this it has remained firmly accepted as an important part of divine revelation not only for Christians, but also in Hebrew tradition.
A number of views are held as to both its content and its intent, which are by no means mutually exclusive.
There is no doubt that, as has been suggested, it was originally written simply as a love poem celebrating the intimate union of husband and wife. In this sense it was similar in style to much oriental literature of that time and region.
Some Jewish religious scholars have argued that this book depicts the relationship between Jehovah and Israel from its foundations through its tribulations and triumphs to its ultimate glory.1
However, as the eternal purpose of God finds its ultimate and sole focus in Jesus Christ and our relationship with him, we find in this book another layer of meaning and revelation which does not necessarily exclude, but transcends all others. For here we find the highest revelation of the divine purpose in the unfolding and flowering of a love relationship between Christ and an individual believer.2 3
This book is describing a journey into the deepest of deep relationships with God. It has little or nothing to say about our relationship to the world around us or to other people, these matters being fully dealt with elsewhere in the Bible. Here the focus is entirely upon the growing relationship of mutual understanding, communication and response and the resolution of strains which are placed upon the union between the Lover (Christ) and the beloved (the child of God). Virtually everything else is shut out of the picture as it is from the depth and reality of this union that all else flows.
The personal nature of this relationship is evident throughout the Song as the divine Lover is obviously talking to his beloved as if she is the only one or the "favourite." But this is the way he relates to all those that belong to him because the kind of relationship he desires with each is that of a Lover to his only beloved not of one to many.
The fact that not all of God’s children follow him down this pathway is a cause for deep sorrow and regret. But the way is open to all of those redeemed by the blood of Christ to walk with him along this road of discovery and to find in that journey the fulfilment of their greatest aspirations and of his great eternal purpose.
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." (Rev. 3:20)
It is important to understand that what is being described here is a growing and developing relationship. It starts from a place of spiritual immaturity on the part of the beloved and moves in well defined stages to a state of awe-inspiring maturity.4
This progressive development is shown graphically by three of the beloved’s utterances.
My lover is mine and I am his; (Song 2:16)
Here she sees the Lord in basically self-centred terms. Her first thought is that the lover is hers. In this she is greatly blessed, being filled with the joy of her new-found love relationship with the Lord. Still not very strongly in view is the fact that "I am his." In other words she has not yet fully grasped the fact that this relationship brings with it responsibilities towards the other party.
I am my lover’s and my lover is mine;... (Song 6:3)
Now her first thought is for the joy and satisfaction that her lover is drawing from this union. Secondary to her now is the joy she is deriving from her fellowship with the Lord.
I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me. (Song 7:10)
At this point we find her no longer conscious of her own need. Her only concern is for her Lord. Long since has been resolved any fear or doubt about his provision and care for her. It has now fully dawned upon her consciousness that "his desire is for me" and she is devoted to satisfying that desire.
Thus we see depicted a spiritual journey from immaturity to full maturity. We see the life of this beloved one gradually, and sometimes painfully, changing as she begins to realise the new challenges, opportunities and responsibilities that face her as she commits herself to this relationship.
During this narrative we see her, at times, hesitate, falter, fall and even, at one stage, almost give up. Yet throughout the whole book the great divine Lover does not utter one word of scolding or rebuke. There is not even a hint of impatience as the beloved picks herself up, dusts herself down, and walks forward to more stable ground. There is nothing but love, encouragement and gentle urging.
However, when the beloved fails to respond as she should, the Lord deals with the situation not by rebuke or scolding, but by withdrawing from her the sense of his presence. It is important to note that during these times the Lord never leaves her or ceases to care for and protect her. But missing is the emotional response she felt to his presence, the joy and the certainty that usually filled her heart. Instead was darkness and uncertainty which remained as a cloud over her soul until she had risen to the challenge of faith and joined her Lord on the journey again.
This happens on two distinct occasions.
My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice. (Song 2:9)
Here we see an apparent separation between the Lord and his beloved. Up to this time she had been almost deliriously happy in the joy of his presence, and it was suddenly gone. But the Lord was calling her on to higher things.
Later on and in different circumstances a similar event takes place.
I opened for my lover, but my lover had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure.
I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer. (Song 5:6)
In both cases the Lord had called his beloved on, and she had not responded in the appropriate manner. In the first case it was through her ignorance of his intentions and she would have remained immobile but for the Lord’s dealings with her.
In the second case, she knew exactly what the Lord was calling her to, but fleetingly hesitated as this next step upwards confronted her.
Here we see the Lord dealing differently with his loved one at different stages of her spiritual development. So it is that God deals with us each as unique and precious loved ones according to the state of our spiritual maturity.
A word of warning is in order before we proceed further.
The Christian life may be described as a "journey" which means it consists of a process of continual spiritual growth and change. As a consequence of this, we find that each of us is at a different point along this journey, that is, we have all been dealt with in different ways and have reached varying levels of maturity.
However, the Word of God is there to speak to all of us wherever we are. Therefore, while all of the Bible is the Word of God, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, by no means all of it is directed towards us as individuals at a particular time. We can do ourselves harm by trying to apply immediately to our lives everything we read and hear from the Word.
This can happen to us in two ways. Firstly, by reaching back to that which no longer applies to our state of spiritual maturity we can bring ourselves under condemnation. Secondly, by attempting to reach forward to appropriate spiritual truth which is, as yet, beyond our grasp, we will lead ourselves into disappointment, frustration and disillusionment or perhaps, in extreme cases, into self-delusion.
There has been a strong tradition of preaching in the church, perhaps more prevalent fifty to one hundred years ago, but still in evidence today, where the more severe and judgmental Scriptures are taken, spiritualised, and made to apply to all who hear.
Thus we would have some of the powerful prophetic utterances which were delivered to Israel at the height of their apostasy and rebellion against their covenant God thus delivered to earnest and trusting children of God waiting to be fed the living Word of God. Instead of this they are made to feel that somehow, they don’t quite know how, they share in the guilt exposed by these cataclysmic judgements.
While not as dramatic as this, there has been a strong tradition amongst Christians in many places in which it is considered fashionable to look at many of the negatives in the Bible and "own up" to being guilty of them. This has given us the satisfaction of feeling "humble," but has had the tragic result of inhibiting our spiritual growth.
It is also true that a more modern tradition of teaching and preaching is to take all the positive statements of Scripture and exhort everyone to enter in and enjoy them. Thus we are told to recognise "what we are in Christ," to "take our stand as a child of God," to "act on the Word," to "realise our potential in God," and so on.
The reality is that many of those hearing such exhortations, even when the calls are valid, are not yet ready to make an appropriate response. This is further along in the journey for them.
Therefore, in their failure to experience what they have been told is theirs, they become frustrated and disappointed. Ultimately, many feel a sense of guilt thinking that there must be something wrong with them if they cannot enter into what God has provided for them. The result is, frequently, that they fail to enter in to posses the land at all.
So, what is the answer to this quandary?
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19)
The birth of Jesus was welcomed by a company of angels, shepherds and wise men who exalted the baby and prophesied about his life and death. During her pregnancy and at the time of Jesus’ circumcision (Luke 2:29-30), Mary heard prophetic utterances about the child she was carrying and indeed prophesied herself (Luke 1:46-55).
However, it is clear that she did not comprehend the full significance of what she heard. When Jesus started his ministry she did not understand what was taking place.
When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."
...Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." (Mark 3:21,31)
At the crucifixion there is nothing to suggest that she had any more understanding of what was taking place than anyone else. In fact it had been prophesied to her that "a sword will pierce your own soul too" (Luke 2:35). This was doubtless referring to the deep pain and distress she would feel on seeing her first born son crucified as a common criminal.
We can safely assume that she started to become fully aware of the significance of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus with the other disciples after the Holy Spirit was given to them and to the church on the day of Pentecost.
However, despite her lack of full comprehension, Mary’s reaction was to take in and "treasure" all the things she had heard, and to think about them deeply.
This is a good illustration of how we best appropriate the Word of God. It is something to be treasured and loved and thought about deeply. However, only the Holy Spirit can bring us full understanding and cause the living Word to become an integral part of our lives.
We can completely rely upon him to use the Word that has been sown in our hearts to produce a bountiful harvest of "fruit." But he will do this in his way, at his appointed time and according to his sovereign will. We cannot hasten this process nor can we determine its direction.
The only effect we can have is to slow it down either by resisting the Holy Spirit or by trying to do the job ourselves. With absolute confidence, we can submit to his will.
Another word of advice before we go further into the study of this part of the Word of God.
The Song of Songs is first and foremost a book of the heart and the spirit. In other words, it deals almost exclusively with our inward subjective relationship with God. It contains nothing that could be called doctrine and does not directly deal with our external behaviour. There is nothing in it from which we can construct a set of rules or even lay down a pattern of behaviour that will ensure spiritual growth. There are no "spiritual formulae" here.
Indirectly, of course, the truths revealed here profoundly affect both our inward spiritual state and our outward behaviour. This book, however, is concerned with the health of our inner-most relationship with God from which all else flows.
There has often been contention between those who consider themselves to be "practical" Christians and those who are considered to be "spiritual." This is, to some extent, a conflict between what may be said to be objective and subjective Christian experience.
The first say that "to be too heavenly minded is to be no earthly good." The second say that our primary goal is our relationship with God and that, in order to maintain that relationship, we should be careful to avoid unnecessary contact with the world.
Both concepts have, at times, been taken to ridiculous extremes to the edification of no-one. In fact, when seen in their proper context, both are right.
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. (Prov. 4:23)
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:26)
Without a fruitful and properly aligned inward relationship with God all our works will be nothing more than "beating the air," that is, powerless, ineffectual and ultimately unprofitable. On the other hand, a relationship with God that does not profoundly influence our behaviour and produce appropriate "deeds" is a pretence. The Scripture clearly teaches both of these principles.
The problem remains as to how we can bring them into a proper balance in our lives. The simple answer is that we cannot. It is something that must be left completely to the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit does this by drawing us, at times, into periods of introspection and inward reflection. These times are essential to our spiritual growth, because it is here that we meet with God and gain an understanding of his dealings within our lives. It is here also that we have to face up to ourselves and come to terms with the good and bad that lie at the very foundation of our own nature. This can be, at times, very painful, but we must learn to allow the Holy Spirit to bring these things to the surface, one by one, so that they may be expunged from our inner life. As long as they remain buried beneath our consciousness they will continue to produce distortions in our relationship with God and with our fellow man.
At other times, however, we find ourselves in the midst of activity, fully absorbed in matters of "practical Christianity" in the everyday affairs of life. It is here that our relationship with God is put to the test and where we can know the reality of our subjective experience.
We can rely upon him utterly to bring this proper balance to our lives.
Therefore, as we start our study of the Song of Songs it is well to remember that it is a book of the heart, concerned with our inner-most subjective relationship with God, and it should be understood in that light.
Finally, as we begin to explore this relationship between the divine Lover and his beloved in this book, let us beware of the danger of idealising the life and character of this beloved. This is very easy to do, because the words that are addressed to her, are used to describe her or, indeed, to express her own thoughts and feelings, are couched in some of the most beautiful and expressive poetic language.
However, we should never lose sight of the fact that this beloved is very much an ordinary human being with faults and failings with which we are all familiar. Particularly in the early part of the narrative, she is seen to be full of unresolved fears and feelings of guilt, her feelings and emotions at the joy of new-found fellowship with the Lord being essentially self-centred. In all things she is intended to be representative of us all.
There is no doubt, however, that she grows in spiritual stature as the journey proceeds and ultimately reaches awe-inspiring heights in the strength and intimacy of her relationship with God. But, then, this is God’s desire and purpose for each and every one of us without exception.
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18)
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