Wow. How to summarize the whole book in one post...
I decided to post a series of quotes from a chapter in the book A Woman of Moderation by Dee Brestin. I think this, more than anything else I've read, has given me a better understanding and appreciation for this book.
...in generations past, great Christians saw a deeper level [beyond a guide for marriage] in this book as well. As wonderful as married love is, it is actually just a shadow of the ultimate love, described in Ephesians 5:31-32. The ultimate love that will never pass away, the love that is "better than wine," "sweeter than honey," is the love of our heavenly Bridegroom.
Isn't it interesting that those in ages past saw the allegorical level in the Song of Songs, but today many are repulsed by that idea? One pastor said, "It is just too sexual -- it cannot be allegorical." But God created the sexual union and tells us that it is a mystery that represents Christ and the Church. I believe that because our world has SO polluted the sexual relationship many believers fail to see the true beauty and deeper meaning of the marriage bed.
Max Lucado says, "It may seem odd to think of God as an enthralled lover... as a suitor intoxicated on love," yet that is how He paints himself, again and again, throughout Scripture. (pp. 74-75)
Godly marriages are supposed to reflect the relationship Christ has with the Church, which is where this whole authority/submission or leader/responder idea comes in. Just as Christ submits to the will of His Father, the Church submits to Christ. A wife VOLUNTARILY, out of love for her Savior and her husband, submits to her husband's God-ordained authority in order to display Jesus' character to the world. (nowhere in the Bible does it say that the husband is to MAKE his wife submit ~ the call is for wives to CHOOSE this) The husband, in turn, submits to God and in doing so, accepts the responsibility for his family's spiritual health and their overall provision and protection.
God wants a bride who longs for intimacy. He doesn't want a dutiful bride who approaches His Word with a sense of "I HAVE to read my Bible because I'm a Christian." Instead, He longs for a bride who is hungering for His kisses, who approaches His Word with a yearning for the fire that comes from a kiss on the mouth. (p. 78)
I love that word-picture! Again, we see the picture of submitting to God and desiring to do certain things ~ like reading through our Bibles ~ but here we see the that it's because we LOVE Him and desperately want to know Him better. He wants this interaction because He wants us to desire intimacy with Him. Not because we feel like we have to in order to appear as "good little Christians."
Unless we understand our sin, we will have no desire for the Savior. Unless we understand our depravity, our bent toward unfaithfulness, selfishness, and gracelessness, we will not walk in daily repentance. Our pride will keep us from intimacy with the Lord. The closer you get to the One who is completely pure and completely light, the more you will see your flaws and your impurities. As soon as the bride emerges from the chamber of her bridegroom, from intimacy, she is more acutely aware of her "darkness."
Yet on the other hand it is vital to understand that though we are, indeed, depraved -- we are also forgiven. And living in us is the Holy spirit, who is continually cleansing us, redeeming us, conforming us to the image of the One who is altogether lovely. (pp. 81-82)
This is in reference to the "dark am I" statement the Shulammite woman makes in 1:5-6. She's ashamed of her colour (seemingly in comparison with Solomon's other wives), but her lover reassures her that because of his great love for her, he sees her as beautiful and incredibly desirable. Just like God sees us perfect, as white as snow, through the application of Christ's atoning blood.
** side note: One thing I noticed in reading this time that I'm not sure I've taken note of before is 6:8-9. Did anyone else notice the reference to 60 other queens, 80 concubines, and countless virgins, but that the Shulammite was more beautiful than all of them? Solomon calls her "unique." She must have been quite a woman to stand out among what already seems to be a rather large harem!! I can't help but wonder how long she felt this desired and passionate about her romance with the king given that he collected roughly another 640 wives and 220 concubines after her. (at least if these numbers are indeed a representation of Solomon's household) But maybe that's just the cynic in me rearing its ugly head. **
I think Song of Solomon is uncomfortable to read sometimes, but when we read it from this perspective ~ the all-consuming love of the Savior for us and His fiercely passionate desire for an intimate relationship with us ~ it becomes a beautiful picture of Christ's love and our fitting response.
Tomorrow's passages: 1 Kings 11:1-43, 2 Chronicles 9:29-31, and Ecclesiastes 1:1-11.
4 comments:
I think it's great that you have that book and that you got today's passage "assignment"!
I've always felt it a bit odd, almost offended even, that Solomon is the one that wrote this book. With his myriad of wives and concubines he certainly doesn't seem to know what true love and marriage really is. But he was the wisest man ever, so maybe he knew but just didn't live out.
It's so true though, we are to have that PASSION for God, for getting to know Him better, more intimately.
This time reading it through, I think my knowledge of Solomon's weakness for women kind of overshadowed everything. I couldn't help but feel sorrier and sorrier for this poor Shulammite woman as I read. She's so in love here and he's so completely consumed with desire for her, but you gotta wonder how long those feelings lasted, considering how incredibly many women he "loved" and married.
Because so many of them were daughters of foreign kings and queens, I'm willing to bet a large percentage of Solomon's wives were more a peace treaty or political strategy than an actual love affair, but still. How valuable can each of them really have felt for very long?
I don't know if I've ever read all of Song of Solomon before. It was interesting to read. They certainly had a different idea back then about how to pay someone a compliment... doves and fawns, etc?
Anyway, I'm glad for your post today, Tammi. I think we often forget or don't know how to wrap our minds around how our relationships with God translate into the church being the bride of Christ. We know He loves us, we know He wants a personal relationship with us, but we tend to think of it more as a father/child relationship and forget or can't understand the deeper desire and longing for the fulfillment of the relationship in its completeness. I know I don't often think beyond my own personal struggles to spend time with Him.
I once heard someone describe how we should want to spend time with God as similar to an adolescent crush. Remember when you were, like, 14 or so? You thought about that person all the time, whenever you were in the same place you want to stand next to or sit next to that person. He or she was your last thought before you went to sleep and the first when you woke up. I know I've been terrible at following that advice, but it's always stuck with me.
Nicole sent me a link to this message (there's a series actually on Song of Songs) that might provide another perspective. I haven't listened to it myself yet, but I hope to get around to it soon.
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/the-peasant-princess/his-garden
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