Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Solomon’s Song of Songs.
She
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
    for your love is more delightful than wine.
Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;
    your name is like perfume poured out.
    No wonder the young women love you!
Take me away with you—let us hurry!
    Let the king bring me into his chambers.
Friends
We rejoice and delight in you;
    we will praise your love more than wine.
She
How right they are to adore you!
Dark am I, yet lovely,
    daughters of Jerusalem,
dark like the tents of Kedar,
    like the tent curtains of Solomon.
Do not stare at me because I am dark,
    because I am darkened by the sun.
My mother’s sons were angry with me
    and made me take care of the vineyards;
    my own vineyard I had to neglect.
Tell me, you whom I love,
    where you graze your flock
    and where you rest your sheep at midday.
Why should I be like a veiled woman
    beside the flocks of your friends?
Friends
If you do not know, most beautiful of women,
    follow the tracks of the sheep
and graze your young goats
    by the tents of the shepherds.
He
I liken you, my darling, to a mare
    among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.
Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,
    your neck with strings of jewels.
We will make you earrings of gold,
    studded with silver.
She
While the king was at his table,
    my perfume spread its fragrance.
My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh
    resting between my breasts.
My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
    from the vineyards of En Gedi.
He
How beautiful you are, my darling!
    Oh, how beautiful!
    Your eyes are doves.
She
How handsome you are, my beloved!
    Oh, how charming!
    And our bed is verdant.
He
The beams of our house are cedars;
    our rafters are firs.

• Song of Songs 1:1-17

She
I am a rose of Sharon,
    a lily of the valleys.
He
Like a lily among thorns
    is my darling among the young women.
She
Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest
    is my beloved among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
    and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
Let him lead me to the banquet hall,
    and let his banner over me be love.
Strengthen me with raisins,
    refresh me with apples,
    for I am faint with love.
His left arm is under my head,
    and his right arm embraces me.
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.
Listen! My beloved!
    Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
    bounding over the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
    Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
    peering through the lattice.
My beloved spoke and said to me,
    “Arise, my darling,
    my beautiful one, come with me.
See! The winter is past;
    the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth;
    the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
    is heard in our land.
The fig tree forms its early fruit;
    the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
    my beautiful one, come with me.”
He
My dove in the clefts of the rock,
    in the hiding places on the mountainside,
show me your face,
    let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
    and your face is lovely.
Catch for us the foxes,
    the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards,
    our vineyards that are in bloom.
She
My beloved is mine and I am his;
    he browses among the lilies.
Until the day breaks
    and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved,
    and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
    on the rugged hills.

• Song of Songs 2:1-17

All night long on my bed
    I looked for the one my heart loves;
    I looked for him but did not find him.
I will get up now and go about the city,
    through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
    So I looked for him but did not find him.
The watchmen found me
    as they made their rounds in the city.
    “Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
Scarcely had I passed them
    when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go
    till I had brought him to my mother’s house,
    to the room of the one who conceived me.
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.

• Song of Songs 3:1-5

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

NOTE from the author:  I am using as one resource a book by Sharon Jaynes, Lovestruck.  She is a writer and for many years a radio cohost of Proverbs 31 Ministries.  She writes from a literal perspective of the love between Solomon and the Shulammite woman.  (She adds an extra “m” in Shulammite and I did not correct that spelling, quoting it as her book states it.)  She writes from a female perspective, so that males could learn by reversing the gender in what she says.  It may be jarring to contrast her approach to that of Rev. Spurgeon who speaks of the male lover being Jesus, and the female lover being each of us as we love Jesus with every fiber of our body, mind, and soul.  Taking the text literally as Ms. Jaynes has done can make the interpretation rather steamy at times, but it is a good lesson for us in keeping the romance going with our spouse.

Song of Songs 1:1 ‘A warning about the book? – a rating perhaps’: “We believe that this song, also known as Canticles, sets forth the mutual love of Christ and his believing people. It is a book of deep mystery, not to be understood except by the initiated. This book stands like the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and no one will ever be able to pluck its fruit and eat of it until he has been brought by Christ past the sword of the cherubim and led to rejoice in the love that has delivered him from death. The Song of Solomon is only to be comprehended by those standing within the veil. The outer-court worshipers and even those who only enter the court of the priests think the book a strange one. But those who have learned a life of sacred fellowship with Jesus will bear witness that when they desire to express what they feel, they are compelled to borrow expressions from this matchless song. It stands in the middle of the Bible. It is the holy of holies—the central point of all. Thus he speaks—the glorious ‘greater than Solomon.’ “

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Song of Songs 1:2-3:5 ‘the first encounter’: “In this first of three major sections to the Song, thirty-two out of thirty-nine verses are spoken by the Shulamite, with brief interludes by her beloved and the daughters of Jerusalem. This portion most likely represents her remembrances of past events combined with the desires of her heart to marry the king, as she anticipates his arrival to take her to Jerusalem for the wedding in 3:6ff.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Song of Songs 1:2 ‘the focus of her affection unnamed’: “The person here alluded to is not named. This omission is very common and usual to all-absorbing love. The spouse is thinking so much of Christ Jesus her Lord that it is not necessary for her to name him. She cannot make a mistake, and she is so oblivious of all else that she does not think of them, nor of those who would ask, ‘Who is this of whom you speak?’ The communion is so close between herself and her Lord that his name is left out. By the kiss is to be understood that strange and blessed manifestation of love that Christ gives to his children. Inasmuch as the word, ‘kisses,’ is in the plural, the spouse asks that she may have the favor multiplied. And inasmuch as she mentions the ‘mouth’ of her bridegroom, it is because she wishes to receive the kisses fresh and warm from his sacred person. ‘For your caresses are more delightful than wine.’ They are better, for they are more costly. Did they not flow out in streams of blood from a better winepress than earth’s best wine has ever known? It is better, too, in its effects—more exhilarating, more strengthening—and it leaves no ill results.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Song of Songs 1:2-4 ‘will the romance ever end?’: “The Song of Solomon begins with a bang. Fireworks, to say the least! The Shulammite makes no bones about it: she wants her man and she wants him now. Right from the beginning, we meet a woman who is passionately in love and attracted to this man who has captured her—heart, mind, body, and soul. The story of this love song begins not at the moment the Shulammite caught Solomon’s eye but at the time she was already head over heels in love. …
“One of the keys to lifelong intimacy is never letting the romancing end. When we stop flirting, the passion starts floundering. Marriage can subconsciously slide into the monotonous ho-hum of the mundane, leaving us wondering what happened to the love we felt in the early years. There’s a lot of verbal foreplay and blatant flirting going on in the first two chapters of the Song. And here’s what we’ll see: the intentional teasing and enticing tempting don’t stop. The unmarried Solomon and the Shulammite flirt with each other just as much in the beginning of their romance as they do at the end.
“So let’s see what the couple did, and most likely what we did, in the wooing stage so that we will still be wowing our men when we’re old and gray.”

• Sharon Jaynes, Lovestruck

Song of Songs 1:3 ‘Jesus – like sweet perfume’: “The spouse surveys all the attributes of Christ and compares them to precious perfume. Christ is anointed as Prophet, Priest and King, and in each of these anointings he is a source of sweetness and fragrance to his people. But as if jealous for having talked of the ‘perfume’ when she should have spoken of him, she seems to say, ‘Your very name is as an alabaster box when it is opened, and the odor of the precious spikenard fills the room.’ As Bernard of Clairvaux wrote, ‘Jesus, the very thought of Thee, with sweetness fills the breast.’ ”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Song of Songs 1:8 ‘finding Christ’: “There are two ways of finding Christ. First, we may follow after true believers—follow their footsteps and so find our God. Or else we may go to the shepherds‘ tents—wait on the ministry of the Word—the Lord is often pleased to manifest himself to his people when they are willing to hear what messages he sends through his ambassadors.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Song of Songs 1:9-11 ‘You are as pretty as a horse’: “I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be too thrilled if my husband told me I looked like a horse. In Solomon’s culture, however, it was quite a compliment. The king only used the most beautiful horses to pull his chariots, mostly white Arabian horses. In ancient artwork these horses were often depicted with bejeweled bridles and headgear. They would certainly stand out in a crowd of the typical brown-and-black variety. It was as if Solomon were saying, ‘You stand out in the crowd. I can spot you from a mile away. You’re eye—catchingly beautiful and breathtakingly magnificent.’
“After the second millennium the royals only used stallions because the female mares were too distracting. And, believe me, this man was distracted. Solomon poured out positive affirmation about the Shulammite’s appearance and washed away her insecurities.”

• Sharon Jaynes, Lovestruck

Song of Songs 1:12-14 ‘a dream of a perfume’s aroma releasing’: “The ESV translates verse 12 closer to its literal meaning: ‘The king was on his couch, my nard gave forth its fragrance’” (emphasis added). Solomon and the Shulammite weren’t lying on his couch together, but she was certainly dreaming about it. She imagined her perfume releasing its scent as her skin warmed to his touch.
“In Solomon’s day women who could afford it wore a small leather pouch filled with perfume such as myrrh around their necks. Myrrh is a resin from a thorny, ragged-looking balsam tree, something like an acacia, which grows in Arabia, Ethiopia, and India. It was commonly used as an alluring female perfume. It was also used to perfume royal nuptial robes, perhaps preparing the couple for what came after the “I dos” (Psalm 45:8). Sometimes women would sleep with the perfume box tucked between their breasts. Then, in the morning, they would carry the scent with them throughout the day. The Shulammite dreamed about the day when Solomon would be like that sachet of myrrh, resting between her breasts.
“This is going to be important a little later in the Song, when-spoiler alert!-—that dream becomes a reality.”

• Sharon Jaynes, Lovestruck

Song of Songs 1:13 ‘our pulse comes from the Lord’: “Christ, as a bundle of myrrh, will always be near our hearts, so that every life-pulse will come from him.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Song of Songs 2:1-3 ‘compliments’: “At first glance we might think she was comparing herself to a beautiful flower, but it was far from it. The actual plants referred to as the ‘rose of Sharon’ and ‘lily of the valleys’ are bulb-type plants, lotus flowers, or common field flowers. We might think of it as her saying, ‘I’m just a dandelion in a field of weeds.’ In other words, ‘I’m so ordinary.’
“What woman hasn’t felt that way? We look in the mirror and think, Humph. I’m just a plain old girl, getting older by the day. Nothing special here. …
“ ‘You’re no ordinary flower at all!’ he replied. ‘As a matter of fact, every other woman looks like a bramble bush of thorns compared with you!’
“Solomon gave her the gift every woman longs for—the gift of being preferred. He complimented her in the one area in which she felt most insecure. I imagine her heart opened like a morning glory in the warmth of his words. Once again Solomon was saying to his Shulammite, ‘Let me be your mirror.’ …
“In other words, ‘If I’m no ordinary flower, then you’re no ordinary tree. You’re a fruit tree among all the other ordinary fruitless trees in the forest.’ Apple trees, or as some commentators translate the original word, apricot trees, were very rare in the Near East. So she let him know that he was rare among men—that he gave nourishment for her soul, shade from the scorching heat, and protection from the elements. His kisses were sweet, and his love was shade and security itself. She felt completely safe with him. He was everything she could have ever dreamed of. Paul wrote that a husband should nourish, protect, and cherish his wife (Ephesians 5:29 AMP). That is exactly what the Shulammite found in her man—and she let him know it.
“In a growing relationship it’s so important that a woman not only receive compliments but also give them. That’s true when we’re dating as well as when we’re married.”

• Sharon Jaynes, Lovestruck

Song of Songs 2:3 ‘Nothing can equal Jesus Christ’: “To him there is -none like her—to her there is none like him. Jesus values his people. He paid his heart’s blood for their redemption, and to those who believe, he is precious. No mention is made of coral or of rubies in comparison with him. Nothing can equal him. There are other trees in the woods, but he is the only one bearing fruit, whose apricots are delicious to our taste. Let us come up and pluck from his loaded branches!”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Song of Songs 2:4 ‘a banner of love’: “[ED of the Spurgeon Study Bible: An alternative translation of the second clause is ‘his banner over me is love.’] We know what this means. How delightful it is to feel that it is not now the banner of war, but the banner of love that waves above our heads, for all is peace between us and our God! And now we are not brought to the prison or to the place of labor, but to the banqueting house. We must act worthily of the position we occupy. If we are in a banqueting house, we should feast.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Song of Songs 2:7 ‘excess baggage’: “This was a splash of water on the Shulammite’s steamy imaginings. She was reminding her friends (and herself) about the importance of timing, and we’ll see the same reminder come up two other times later in the Song (5:8; 8:4). Many men and women bring sexual baggage into a marriage–suitcases of regret that open up in the heat of passion and litter the marriage bed with images time can’t erase. The Shulammite resolved not to pack that bag but to wait until the time was right. I think she was also reminding herself.”

• Sharon Jaynes, Lovestruck

Song of Songs 2:8-13 ‘mutual love declared’: “The writer begins the love story abruptly without details of what is about to happen or who is involved. The bride as the beloved country girl and the groom as the shepherd lover are engaged in conversation in the opening verses of the book. The bride asks her spouse where he takes the flock at noon to protect them from the heat. She does not want to look for her lover in some strange pasture. Her lover tells her to follow the tracks of the sheep. A day and a night or two may pass as they exchange platitudes of praise for each other, especially as the bride describes a visit of the groom, apparently in the spring of the year (2:8-13).”

• Eugene E. Carpenter, Asbury Bible Commentary

Song of Songs 2:8-9 ‘She has trouble waiting’: “Solomon was leaping across the mountains and bounding over the hills like a giddy schoolboy. But he was no boy. He was a hunky man—as muscular and virile as a young stag, frisky and excited.
“When Steve and I were dating, he had an old beige Volkswagen Beetle with no air conditioning, no seat belts, and no speedometer. Yes, it would be illegal today. One thing the old jalopy did have was a distinct sound to the engine—like a go-cart. Whenever I heard his Bug pull up to my apartment, my heart skipped a beat. That’s what we see with the Shulammite as her man came back after a time apart. She saw him coming, and she couldn’t wait!
“At the same time, it seems the Shulammite was still struggling with her insecurities, so she was hiding. ‘Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice,’ she said. There’s something a little scary about love during the dating days, don’t you think? ls he serious? …”

• Sharon Jaynes, Lovestruck

Song of Songs 2:14 ‘Where is the prophet?’: “Between the scribe who has read and the prophet who has seen there is a difference as wide as the sea. We are overrun today with orthodox scribes, but the prophets, where are they? The hard voice of the scribe sounds over evangelicalism, but the Church waits for the tender voice of the saint who has penetrated the veil and has gazed with inward eye upon the wonder that is God. And yet, thus to penetrate, to push in sensitive living experience into the holy Presence, is a privilege open to every child of God.
“With the veil removed by the rending of Jesus’ flesh, with nothing on God’s side to prevent us from entering, why do we tarry without? Why do we consent to abide all our days just outside the Holy of Holies and never enter at all to look upon God? We hear the Bridegroom say, ‘Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.’ We sense that the call is for us, but still we fail to draw near, and the years pass and we grow old and tired in the outer courts of the tabernacle. What hinders us?”

• A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

Song of Songs 2:16-17 ‘All that we are is Christ, but …’: “Every year of my life has had a winter as well as a summer, and every day its night. I have thus far seen bright days and heavy rains, and felt warm breezes and fierce winds. Speaking for the many of my brothers and sisters, I confess that though the substance is in us, as in the olive tree and the oak, yet we do lose our leaves, and the sap within us does not flow with equal vigor at all seasons. We have our downs as well as our ups, our valleys as well as our hills. We are not always rejoicing-we are sometimes in heaviness through many trials. Alas, we are grieved to confess that our fellowship with the beloved is not always that of rapturous delight, but we have at times to seek him and cry, ‘Oh, that l knew where I might find him!’ This appears to me to have been in a measure the condition of the spouse when she cried, ‘Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn around, my love.’ ”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Song of Songs 3:1-3 ‘the one my soul loves’: “Have you ever had one of those dreams that seemed to go on and on and on? Scientists say that dreams can last for a few seconds, or approximately twenty to thirty minutes}. I’ve dreamed entire miniseries. Sometimes I wake up during a disturbing dream, and when I fall back asleep, the story seems to pick back up where it left off. I think that’s what we see happening to our friend. She had been dreaming ‘all night long on [her] bed.’
“In the dream she frantically searched for the one her heart loved. You can almost feel the panic as she ran down the streets. ‘Have you seen him? Have you seen him?’ she asked everyone she encountered. She feared she’d lost him.
“The night watchmen were like city guards who patrolled the streets and city walls. She asked them if they had seen the one her heart loved, which was the way she referred to him not once, not twice, but four times in the first four verses of this chapter. It literally means ‘the one my soul loves.’ She loved him with her mind, will, and emotions—her entire soul. The fact that she didn’t actually say his name made it seem more dreamlike. In the dream sequence the watchmen didn’t give an answer, and she kept searching.”

• Sharon Jaynes, Lovestruck

Song of Songs 3:4 ‘reasons to love Jesus’: “I can at this moment think of many reasons why I should love the Christ of Calvary, but I cannot think of one reason why I should not love him. If l turn to what I read about him in this blessed book, it all makes me love him. It I recall what l have experienced of his grace in my heart, it all makes me love him. When I think of what he is, what he did and what he is doing, and what he will yet do—it all makes me love him! I am inclined to say to my heart, ‘Never beat again if you do not beat true to him.’ It would be better for me that I had never been born than that I should not love one who is so inconceivably lovely—who is, indeed, perfection’s self.
“But what does it mean to bring Christ to ‘my mother’s house— to the chamber of the one who conceived me’? I do not believe in any reverence for mere material buildings, but I have great reverence for the true church of the living God. The church is the house of God and the mother of our souls. It was under the ministry of the Word that most of us were born to God. But how can we bring Christ to his church? Partly, we can bring him by our spirit. I know people of whom I can truly say that it is always pleasant to me to shake their hands and to have a look from their eyes. I know that they have been with Jesus, for there is the very air of saintliness about them. If we have really found Christ and bring him with us into the assembly, we will not be the ones who will criticize and find fault and quarrel with our neighbor because he does not give us enough room in the pew. But we will be considerate of others. It will also be a happy thing if we are able to talk about our Lord, for then we can bring him to the church with our words. Each one of us, as we are able, can talk to our brother and sister and say, ‘I have found him whom my soul loves.’ ”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

 

My Thoughts

My first problem was what to call this book.  Among the commentaries, there is Song of Songs, Song of Solomon, and Canticles.  Of the references that I used, there were more references to Song of Songs.  Even the first verse says, “Solomon’s Song of Songs.”  Why argue with the author, but then again, I grew up with Song of Solomon.

Next, the really big question.  How do we read this book?  Some read it literally.  Rev. Spurgeon starts off saying that this is a book for the spiritually mature audience and then he strictly reads it as a romantic way of expressing our love for Jesus.  Without the sexual innuendos, this book talks of a deep relationship that is all consuming, as we should be with Jesus.  The truth is, blending the scholarly quotes with those of Sharon Jaynes, I think it works both ways, but I agree with Rev. Spurgeon that this is for a mature Christian audience.

The thought of her lover as fine wine ties in with her tending the vineyards of her brothers.  She became dark-skinned due to spending so much time in labor outdoors.  When I was in Thailand in 1998, the ladies that I worked with would talk about their traditions.  It was considered honorable for a Thai woman to be fair-skinned.  This meant that her husband could afford to have her do no work at all or tending to the affairs of the home, inside.  I am sure other cultures have a similar tradition.  My wife said that in growing up in Indonesia, about the time of the revolution, having an overweight wife was an indicator that she did not have to perform manual labor, but then that was nearly 70 years ago and traditions slowly change.

Ms. Jaynes spoke of the woman compared to a fine mare.  Strange in today’s culture, but seeing the connection, the horses that drove the king’s chariot would have been the finest in the land.

The sachet of perfume is similar, for highly different reasons, with the pain relief balm that I use.  It is a solid that will melt and absorb into the skin.  At that point, the aroma is released.  And many people do not realize the effectiveness and importance of getting the right perfume, or men’s cologne.  It reacts with the body’s chemistry.  What smells wonderful on one person will not smell that way on another if their chemistries are in opposition.

Thinking back to the working in the vineyard, the woman says that she is a common wild flower.  Unlike what Ms. Jaynes said about lilies of the valley, I kind of like them.  My sons both did pressed wild flower collections in high school biology.  Working with them to get one flower or another for their collection, taking road trips to get specific flowers, I gained an appreciation for them.  While common, and with dark skin for doing manual labor outside, the woman was indeed lovely, at least to her lover.

Song of Songs 2:7 and 3:5 both admonish the young lover to wait for the right time – specifically after marriage, but a flame that flashes too soon, even without the sexual element, can result in a flameout that does not result in a long-term relationship.

One of the things that the lover wants the woman to do is to catch the foxes that might ruin the vineyard.  Does this go back to that fact that she worked in her brother’s vineyards?

And taking this as the relationship between us and Jesus fits quite well.  Since this is all pre-marriage, there is no sexual encounter even though there were some steamy dreams.  We do not need the sexual encounter to have a long, meaningful relationship with Jesus.  Too many people think that once you use a word like intimate, it is sexual, but that is their problem.  I want to know all that is available about my Savior.  How else can I grow to be more like Him?  Yet, I can see a similar conversation in hopeful anticipation of being with Jesus.  Have you ever thought of a very simple thing about the first encounter with Jesus?  Something like, what does Jesus smell like?  I do not need a sexual attraction to think of such a thing.  I have known friends who were masters at using just the right amount of cologne, and they remained simply friends.

And I have known married couples who have gone for decades without having sex due to illness. As they care for one another’s physical needs, the intimacy gets extremely strong while a sexual encounter is totally off the table. The modern secular concept of intimate relationships is absurd.

How can we become very close to Jesus without wondering how that first encounter will be?

This first exchange was that first encounter for the Shulamite woman.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

“Song of Songs 1:1-2:7: 1.What image reflects the relationship you have to your partner: (a) King and queen? (b) Shepherd and peasant girl? (c) Hero and heroine? (d) Nurse and patient? (e) Father and daughter? (f) Cat and mouse? (g) Other: ? What elements of each image do you see in the roles you play with one another?
“2. (Women) Early on, how did your partner cater to your needs, deal with insecurity or boost a poor self-image? How do you keep fond memories of your man always before you? (With a sachet of perfume around your neck?) How can you as a woman deepen what you give to all your friendships, not only marriage?
“3. (Men) How can you be ‘king’ without making your woman subservient? How can you help her feel more secure in your royal love? When did you last give her unsolicited affirmation?
“4. (Both) What quality of the one you courted is still true today?
“5. The friends play a vital role in this courtship, as they do in all marriages that work. Are you a true friend to couples you know? How so?
“6. How are sexual desire and self-restraint (2:6-7) both healthy and beneficial to any couple growing in love toward marriage? What happens if love-making occurs too soon?
“7. If this lover’s song were an allegory, what image of God and Israel, or Christ and the church, do you see here? Are you camped under his banner of love (2:4)?
“Song of Songs 2:8-3:5: 1. What season of your love life are you in right now? (a) Where have all the flowers gone? (b) Everything is coming up roses? (c) You can’t even smell the flowers? (d) You are forcing open the buds? (e) Pulling up your budding romance by the roots?
“2. What do you need in your love life now: More space? More time? More sizzle? More mutuality? Fewer foxes?
“3. What ruinous ‘foxes’ must be caught before your love can grow: Pride? Unbridled desire? Unforgiving spirit?
“4. How can you help younger friends (and yourself) not to arouse or waken love until its time?
“5. What aspect of your courting days do you still carry forward? Why is it important to rekindle the fire of that first love? What new realities must set in to deepen that first love and keep it forever alive?
“6. Fiery passions are hard to maintain. Even our passion for Christ can dwindle over time. What does this passage suggest to you, allegorically, about rekindling that fellowship? Does absence from Christ make your heart grow fonder or colder? Why?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

There is two sets of questions for these two and a half chapters.

Note: These questions cover both literal and allegorical interpretations.  And some of the answers may be tough to say out loud in a small group unless you trust each other completely.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.