Introduction to Song of Songs: Session 1

                          I.            Some General Information About Song of Songs.

A.              Many people tend to avoid the book of Song of Songs, and some wonder why this book even made it into the Bible.  It is one of only two books in the Bible where God is not mentioned even once (Esther is the other). There is no mention of anything obviously spiritual in it, and its graphic description of human sexuality has made it one of the most avoided books of the Bible in the western Church. You would be hard pressed to find this book being taught in Sunday school in a church somewhere![1]

B.               Hebrew writing does not include any adjectives, so phrases like "fantastic song" or "the greatest song ever written" are not possible. Therefore, instead of  "the greatest song", the expression "Song of Songs" is used, just as "the Highest King" is known as "King of Kings" and "the Greatest Lord" is called "Lord of Lords".[2]

C.              Besides the fact that this is THE Song of all songs, why is it in the Bible? In 1 Kings we learn that Solomon wrote 1,005 songs, six of which made it into scripture (Psalms 72 and 127 for example).  David Pawson states:

"My theory is that Solomon wrote a song for each of his 700 wives and 300 concubines, but of all these 1,000 women, only one was God's choice for him, and so the song that he wrote for her was the only love song that was published as part of the Bible. The Song of Songs tells us that by the time he wrote the song he already had 60 wives."[3]

D.        Solomon wrote 3 books of the Bible; Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. What is interesting is how the Jewish Rabbis viewed and treated these 3 books. They paralleled them to Solomon's temple.

1.      Proverbs was related to the outer courts

2.      Ecclesiastes was related to the inner courts

3.      Song of Songs was related to the Holy of Holies

E.        The Jewish Rabbis treated the Song of Songs as a very Holy book, they even        called it the "Holy of Holies", and would remove their shoes when reading it! As a side note; no Jewish man was allowed to read it until the age of 40 because of its graphic content. Our English translation is nowhere near as graphic as the original Hebrew writings.

                       II.            Literal,  Allegory, or Analogy?

A.              The literal, or natural interpretation: This view emphasizes biblical principles that honor the beauty of marital love. The natural interpretation has grown in popularity in the last 100 years and has many good commentaries. There are two views to the original story line.

1.                 The first tells of the Shulamite maiden falling in love with a young shepherd whom she knows nothing about. They fall deeply in love, yet she still knows nothing about him, she doesn't even know where he takes his flock to graze. Finally he tells her that he has to return home, but he will return for her. When he does return she finds out that the young shepherd is also the king! He takes her away from the life of a peasant and into the life of royalty.

2.                 The second tells the story of a godly Shulamite maiden who is in love with a young shepherd boy and the evil king Solomon tries to woo her away from her first love . However, she remains faithful to the young shepherd.

B.              Allegorical interpretation: An allegory, as we all know, is a fictional story with hidden truth. The truth is hidden within the characters, events, and overall story line. Books such as Pilgrims Progress, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Lord of the Rings fall into this category. Therefore, it would be incorrect of us to approach this book in that manner, for we know this is not a fictional story.  There are some commentaries out there that approach this book as an allegory and give meaning to things in the story with no scriptural background whatsoever. This is dangerous! There are no hidden meanings in the Song of Songs that will try to up root New Testament doctrine.

C.              An analogy: This would be the more correct way to describe the method of application we are going to use during our discussion of this book. I myself am guilty of referring to the analogy or "spiritual" interpretation as the allegorical application. If you hear me say this, know that I mean the spiritual interpretation.

                    III.            Why is the spiritual interpretation a correct way to approach the Song of Songs?

A.              The spiritual interpretation has been used in different ways through history. Paul's treatment of the Hagar - Sarah story is described by Paul as "symbolic" in the NKJV, as "figurative" in the NIV, and as an "allegory" in the NAS (considering the definition of allegory, it is an odd choice of words for the translator to use).

"which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar" Gal. 4:24 (NKJV)

"These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar." (NIV)

"This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar." (NAS)

B.               Paul's use of the Sarah - Hagar story in Gal. 4:21-31 is more "figurative" (typology) instead of "allegory". Paul's use of  allegory differed greatly from first-century Alexandrian philosopher Philo as well as third-century philosopher Origin.

1.                Philo: used philosophical allegory to attempt to fuse and harmonize Greek philosophy with Hebrew scriptures (OT). His method followed the practices of both Jewish exegesis and Stoic philosophy.[4] He believed that literal interpretations of the Hebrew Bible would suppress mankind's view and perception of a God too complex and marvelous to be understood in literal human terms.[5]

2.                Origin: assimilated Greek philosophy to the Christian writings (NT). Origin's significance derives not so much from the novelty of his thought but in the way in which he applied and integrated platonic methods of epistemology (the way we know things) to spiritual matters and his appropriation of biblical terms to fundamentally Hellenistic concepts (or the other way around in some cases). For he was not someone who merely claimed to be a Christian but was influenced by his culture, he was a man who had the express purpose of merging Hellenistic thought with revelation of scripture. Origin adhered to a specific brand of philosophical tradition called Middle-Platonism, believing that it agreed with and provided the framework necessary for interpreting the Bible.

"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." Colossians 2:8 (NKJV).

C.              Another analogy in scripture would be in 1 Corinthians 9:9-10, Paul gave a spiritual interpretation of the "muzzled ox" (Deut. 25:4) to apply to the full-time workers in the gospel receiving finances.

D.              Our primary interpretation of Scripture must be the historical grammatical that takes the Scripture at face value. We approach the Scripture this way unless the Scripture indicates otherwise.[6] We will remain within these guidelines as we study Song of songs and use scripture to interpret scripture.

                     IV.            Why should we read Song of songs?

A.              At the heart of Christianity is a very personal relationship. Being a Christian is not going to church, reading the Bible or supporting missionaries; being a Christian is being in love with Jesus Christ our Bridegroom! The only point of singing worship songs is that we are expressing our love for Him through song! If we miss this, we have missed everything![7]

B.               As I've stated before; contrast the story of Mary of Bethany and Ephesus, Mary pours out a love offering and she gets a memorial in heaven! While Ephesus in all their works falls from their first love therefore lose their influence in their region!

C.              Is it any wonder that at the heart of the Bible is a very intimate, loving relationship between a King and His bride! Are not all of the Old Testament prophets a reflection of this?

D.              Look at Jeremiah and his message, how many times did God say through Him, "Turn back! I remember you! Turn your heart to me again!" Or through the life and message of Hosea!  And does not the Bible crescendo into a wedding and the bride crying out to her Bridegroom "Come!".

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[1] Pawson, David: Unlocking the Bible, A Unique overview of the Whole Bible, (Harper Collins Publishers 1999-2001).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid. SoS 6:8.

[4] Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early 3rd century BC. The Stoics taught that destructive emotions resulted from errors in judgment, and that a sage, or person of "moral and intellectual perfection," would not suffer such emotions. (A. A. Long and D. N. Sedley, The Hellenistic Philosophers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.).

[5] In other words this "god" is too complex to be known, we cannot know how to please him or who he is. When the exact opposite is true, while God is too marvelous for us to fully comprehend, He still makes Himself known for He desires us to know Him.

[6] Gal. 4:24; Jhn 15:1-6; Rev. 11:8; Isa. 5:1-7; Hos. 2:1-14; Ezek. 16; Dan. 7:2-8, 16.

[7] Pawson, David: Unlocking the Bible, A Unique overview of the Whole Bible, (Harper Collins Publishers 1999-2001).

Don't Waste the Wilderness!

Many of us know what it means to go through the wilderness, spiritually speaking of course; it’s that time when our spiritual walk before the Lord seems to hit a dry, rough, and even seemingly lonely period. The Word seems dead when we read it, our prayers feel as though they never even made it past the ceiling and God seems altogether silent. John of the Cross referred to this as the “Dark Night of the Soul” And let’s be honest; many of us will eventually give up and just try to coast it out. Believing and hoping that one day the season will change and we’ll experience God’s presence again.

However, have you ever wondered what the purpose of the wilderness is? Why at one moment we are in a fruitful place in God and then the next it’s as dry as…..well….a wilderness? It’s almost like God teased us with His love, presence and joy and then pulled the rug out from under us.

Or…..is there more to it? Maybe there’s something we’re missing; could it be that God is actually wooing us to Himself and not just teasing us? He gives us a taste of who He is and then pulls away and says, “Come on! Chase Me!”

I’ve been meditating on Psalm 84:5-7 for about a month now, and the Lord opened my eyes to how much I am wasting the wilderness when I should be using it to my advantage. Let me explain…..

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka (Weeping), they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.”  Psalm 84:5-7

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage…”

This passage in its context is speaking of Israelites who begin their “pilgrimage” to Jerusalem to offer their sacrifices and burnt offerings to the Lord. That area of the Middle East is a mountainous region, and so in order to see Jerusalem you must be standing on a mountain top. They then orient their path in the direction of Jerusalem and then begin to descend the mountain in to the valley, they purpose in their hearts to make the long journey no matter the coast.

We have our “mountain top” experience while we are encountering God and can see Him moving in the lives of others as well as our own. Every time we open the Word we see Him leaping off the pages. We then put our strength and trust in Him more and more, and we purpose in our hearts to pursue Him! We’re on fire for Him! We have oriented our lives to His direction and began our “pilgrimage”.

But then we begin to descend from the “mountain top” experience, and into the “valley of weeping”, a.k.a. the wilderness.   

“…As they pass through the Valley of Baka (Weeping), they make it a place of springs…”

But notice that the verse says, “They make it a place of springs”. As we go through the wilderness we need to be refreshed, so some digging is required. At some points we may only have to dig a foot or two and others we may have to go 15 or 20 feet deeper just to find water.

We dig through the dryness of His Word, we press in to over come our whiney and fickle flesh through prayer and maybe even go without food (fasting) until we find the Living Water; that little trickle that gives us just enough to continue on and create a longing for more.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled…” Matt.5:6.

As we continue on we look back and see that we now have a valley full of wells. All different in width and depth but all are areas of refreshing; and each one has its own story in God. Some required many tears, others many days of fasting, and others required tears, fasting, groaning, and countless hours sacrificed just to find the hem of His garment; each one its own journey and history in God. Every single one of them is precious to us, but even more so, precious to Him.

 “…the autumn rains also cover it with pools.”

He now changes the season on us, and the once dry and arid land now becomes a deluge of His presence! Every single one of those wells, every single one of those springs have now become pools of His love for us! His overwhelming, all consuming love for us! He has been waiting to ambush us, waiting for us to increase our capacity for Him so that He could fill us to over flowing! Eagerly He waits and Gladly He pours out, for He has wooed us into increasing our capacity for Him so that He could give us more of Himself! Taking us from grasping for His hem to gazing upon His face! Oh that we would comprehend what is the width and length and depth and height of His great Love! 

“They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.”

We once again find ourselves on the mountain top able to see the New Jerusalem; our strength has been renewed as if we have mounted up with wings like eagles. We find ourselves recommitting, or reorienting our lives with the Kingdom, God’s throne, and continuing our pilgrimage going from strength to strength.

Let us no longer waste the wilderness but rather, take advantage of it to increase our capacity for Him! It is the desire of His heart! For when He was faced with the cross He asked the Father for only one desire to be fulfilled, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory,…… that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:24-26

Holding on to the Rock and the Beloved

I know it’s been a while since I blogged but between life and school I haven’t had time.  I’ve wanted to share this one for a while.  This is something that hit me while I was in the prayer room a few weeks ago.  Just a little bit of a back-story, one of the things that I like to do when I read Scriptures is….  I try to find images of Jesus.  For example, every time the right hand of God is mentioned its giving us a characteristic of Jesus.  Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father and Psalm 16:11 tells us that “at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  Or like Psalm 145:18, “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.”  Jesus said of Himself, “I am the way, THE TRUTH, and the life.”  One of the reasons that I like to do this is because Psalm 27:4, talks about gazing upon His beauty.  Because so many of us fall into the trap of navel gazing, we look at our lives and we see how off it is from the Scriptures.  And constantly trying to make our lives match what we read.  But our gaze never leaves ourselves.  And this is what Jesus meant when He rebuked the Pharisees.  When He said in John 5:39-40, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”  And so since these words testify of Him, we must pray and ask the Holy Spirit where He is in the Scriptures.  This is known as the beholding/becoming principle.  We behold Him in Scripture to therefore become like Him in life.  But if we navel gaze then we are beholding ourselves and therefore continue to become more like ourselves rather than Christ. 

Okay, enough of that!  Moving on….

I was reading through the Book of Acts and in chapter 2, Peter is preaching to the multitude about Jesus.  He is showing them how the Scriptures have testified about Christ.  In verse 25, Peter quotes Psalm 16:8, “I foresaw the Lord always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.”  Now this jumped out at me, the fact that the right hand was mentioned.  I prayed and asked the Holy Spirit why that was being highlighted because this was not God’s right hand, its David’s right hand being mentioned.  I didn’t get an answer.  So I just highlighted it and moved on.  I continued reading all the way through Chapter 3.  In this chapter, the first story is about Peter and John going to pray and there was a lame man sitting at the temple gates.  Then verse 7 jumped out at me, it says, “And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.”  Now here the right hand again jumped out at me and I asked the question, "Why did Luke make it a point to tell me that Peter grabbed him by the right hand?"  He could have just as easily said, that he grabbed him by the hand to paint the same picture but instead he draws our attention to the right hand.  So again, I asked the Holy Spirit, What’s the point?  What’s the purpose?  Then I was reminded of Acts 2 where Peter quotes Psalm 16:8b, “For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.”  When Peter grabbed the lame man by the right hand and pulled him up, verse 7 tells us that “immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.”  He now has a firm foundation to stand on.  He will not be shaken.  

Now of course, the man is rejoicing, leaping, running and then verse 11 caught my attention.  It says, “Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John…”  This bothered me because then the question comes to mind, if he is healed then why is he holding on to Peter and John?  Then the Lord reminds me of Psalm 63:8, “My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.”  Now this struck me and more of the verse was unpacked.  So for this I have to back up again to reiterate.  Going back to Act 3:4-5, “Peter said, “Look at us.”  So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.”  Then Psalm 16:8, “I foresaw the Lord always before my face.”  And then Peter takes him by the right hand and immediately his feet and ankles are strengthened.  Psalm 16:8 “For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.” 

(Side Note: Just in case that you’re not convinced that this is pointing to Jesus.  The book of Acts shows us how Jesus was moving through the body of Christ or the “Church”.  And to add to this, think of what Jesus called Peter, “The Rock” Deut.32:4 says, “He is the Rock”)

The Rock, Jesus, was at his right hand and because the man was holding onto the Rock, he is no longer shaken, he has a firm foundation.  Then in verse 11, where the man is holding onto Peter and John.  John was also known as the Beloved disciple.  So here this man, is holding onto the Rock and the Beloved.  Which bring us to Psalm 63:8, “My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.”  Jesus upholds us in intercession (Hebrews 7:25, Luke 22:32). 

 

So the next question would be what does it look like to hold onto the Rock and the Beloved so that we are not shaken?  To hold on to the Rock is to read God’s Word and take hold of His promises.  “For all of God’s promises are Yes and Amen!”  ( 2 Cor. 1:20)  And we need to ask God to give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, so that we could see how much we lack belief in this.  For example, so many of us pray and ask God to be with us throughout the day or on a journey.  However, this is a prayer that really can’t be answered.  Because He has already promised us that He would never leave us nor forsake us.  So, if God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us, what kind of answer are we expecting of Him?  This prayer is sort of counterproductive in a way.  Psalm 145:13b, “The LORD is faithful to all His promises.”  So instead of asking Him to be with us, let us quote the Scripture to remind ourselves and pray it back to Him, thanking Him that He has promised to never leave us, nor forsake us, regardless of the feelings because we do not walk by our feelings.  I myself have been guilty of asking Him to be with me, however I am thankful despite of my lack of understanding that He is faithful and just as 2 Tim. 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.”  

The next question would be, What does it mean to hold onto the Beloved?  Well, when you’re in love with someone you long to be with that person and you talk for long hours.  We do this with Christ through prayer.  You long to gaze upon your beloved.  We do this through meditation of the Word.  Then Jesus tells us in Matthew 9:15, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”  Jesus here connects longing with fasting.  Fasting is a natural heart response because of your desire to be with Him.  It is not something done out of duty but out of love because He is our Bridegroom.  As we do these two things holding onto His promises and fostering that life of prayer, fasting and meditation of the Word, The Lord begins to build a strong foundation within us.  It is like a rod of iron dropped within our spine.  And nothing will shake us because He is at our right hand and as we cling to him He will uphold us with His right hand because He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.