Wednesday
Evening Bible Study
December 21, 2004
Introduction
The story behind the song.
The woman was an Ammonitess. Her brothers treated her roughly and cruely.
They forced her into labor, into keeping the vineyard. She was so busy keeping
the vineyard that she didn’t have the time or opportunity to take care of
herself. She had become very tan (dark).
One day what seems to be a “shepherd” meets her. It seems to be love at
first sight. After he leaves, she dreams about him. Later when the King of
Israel came, Solomon himself called her. She found out that he was the shepherd
she had fallen in love with.
Outline
1:1 – 3:5 The Courtship
3:6 – 5:1 The Wedding
5:2 – 8:14 The Marriage matures
Song of Solomon 5
According to our outline, the two lovers have been married.
Solomon:
:1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh
with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine
with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.
Shulamite:
:2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that
knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my
head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
While she’s sleeping, she hears a knock at the door.
Makes me think of Rev. 3:20, where Jesus says to the church:
(Rev 3:20
KJV) Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open
the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
:3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet;
how shall I defile them?
She was already settled down for the night. She didn’t want to be bothered
to get up.
:4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were
moved for him.
hole of the door – Apparently this is a reference to some sort of
ancient door lock system.
bowels – her feelings have been stirred up.
:5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my
fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
She finally gets up to open the door.
Myrrh – a perfume.
He had left some myrrh on the doorknob to remind her of him. When she opens
the door, she gets some of the myrrh on her hands.
:6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was
gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I
called him, but he gave me no answer.
She had gotten up too late. He had left.
Lesson
Respond to your spouse
We are supposed to respond to the needs of our spouse.
(1 Cor 7:1-5 NLT) Now
about the questions you asked in your letter. Yes, it is good to live a
celibate life. {2} But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man
should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. {3} The
husband should not deprive his wife of sexual intimacy, which is her right as a
married woman, nor should the wife deprive her husband. {4} The wife gives
authority over her body to her husband, and the husband also gives authority
over his body to his wife. {5} So do not deprive each other of sexual
relations. The only exception to this rule would be the agreement of both
husband and wife to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time, so they
can give themselves more completely to prayer. Afterward they should come
together again so that Satan won't be able to tempt them because of their lack
of self-control.
The one time you say “no” is not when you have a headache
or you’re already taken off your coat and washed your feet. The one time you
say “no” is when you both agree to spend more time in prayer.
It’s easy when you’re “in the mood”, but when you’re not,
you are still responsible to meet your spouse’s needs. In a sense, when you get married, you give your
spouse the keys to your car. And
vice-versa.
Responding to Jesus when He knocks.
I think that we need to also think about responding to the promptings of
Jesus, our “groom”.
When He knocks on the door of your heart, respond.
:7 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they
wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
The city police found her and wounded her, thinking she was some sort of
criminal.
:8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.
She’s “lovesick”, not “sick of love”.
Chorus (Daughters of Jerusalem):
:9 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among
women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge
us?
Why should we bother to help you out? Why is your lover so special?
Shulamite:
We’ve seen some of Solomon’s lovey-dovey language, now we get to hear some
of hers.
:10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
:11 His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a
raven.
gold – he has a regal way of holding himself.
What color is Solomon’s hair? Black.
:12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with
milk, and fitly set.
:13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like
lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
:14 His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright
ivory overlaid with sapphires.
:15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his
countenance is as Lebanon,
excellent as the cedars.
:16 His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my
beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Lesson
Friends and lovers
“This is my beloved, and this is my friend”
I think that God’s ideal is for your spouse to be your best friend.
What are the kinds of things that “best friends” do together?
For those that are single – make it your aim to be best friends.
Lesson
Describe your spouse
What kinds of words do you usually use to describe your spouse?
“Old Lady”? “Ball and chain”?
(1 Cor 13:5 NLT) love … keeps no record of when it has been
wronged.
I remember one time in a counseling session where I asked a husband and
wife to tell each other five things that they appreciated about each
other. Big mistake. She had all kinds of things. He couldn’t think of a single thing.
Illustration
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu.
Yep, that’s one word. It’s the name of a hill on New
Zealand’s North
Island. The word is Maori for “the
place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees who slid, climbed and swallowed
mountains, known as land-eater, played his flute to his loved one.”
How romantic.
Lesson
Describe Jesus
He is altogether lovely.
Illustration
My King
The Bible says my King is a seven weight King. He’s the King of the Jews,
that’s a racial King. He’s the King of Israel, that’s a national King. He’s the
King of Righteousness. He’s the King of the Ages. He’s the King of Heaven. He’s
the King of Glory. He’s the King of kings, and He’s the Lord of lords. That’s
my king. WELL!!.....I wonder do ya know Him? David said the heavens declare the
glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork. My King is a sovereign
King. No means of measure can define His limitless love. No far—seeing
telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoulder’s supplies.
No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing. He’s enduringly
strong. He’s entirely sincere. He’s eternally steadfast. He’s immortally
graceful. He’s empirically powerful. He’s impartially merciful. Do ya know Him?
He’s the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this
world. He’s God’s Son. He’s a sinner’s Savior. He’s the centerpiece of
civilization. He stands in the solitude of Himself. He’s august, and He’s
unique. He’s unparalleled. He’s unprecedented. He’s the loftiest idea in
literature. He’s the highest personality in philosophy. He is the supreme
problem in higher criticism. He’s the fundamental doctrine of true theology. He
is the core and the necessity for spiritual religion. He’s the miracle of the
age. He is, yes He is, He is the superlative of everything good that you choose
to call Him. He’s the only one qualified to be an All-sufficient Savior. I
wonder if you know Him today?
He supplies strength for the weak. He’s available for the tempted and the
tried. He sympathizes and He saves. He strengthens and sustains. He guards and
He guides. He heals the sick. He cleansed the lepers. He forgives sinners. He
discharges debtors. He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble. He blesses
the young. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the
diligent, and He beautifies the meek. I wonder if you know Him?
WELL....(chuckles)
My King, He is the key, He is the key to knowledge. He’s the wellspring of
wisdom. He’s the doorway of deliverance. He the pathway of peace. He’s the
roadway of righteousness. He’s the highway of holiness. He’s the gateway of glory.
Do ya’ know Him? WELL....
His office is manifold. His promise is sure. His life is matchless. His
goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His
Word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. And His yoke
is easy and His burden is light. I wish I could describe Him to ya’! He’s
inde...WELL....yeahhhh!!!
He’s indescribable. Yes He is. He’s,
He’s indescribable. Yes, He’s indescribable. He is incomprehensible.
He’s invincible. He’s irresistible. Well, you can’t get Him out of your mind.
You can’t get Him off of your hands. You can’t outlive Him, and you can’t live
without Him! Well, the pharisees couldn’t stand Him, but they found out they
couldn’t stop Him. Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him. The witnesses
couldn’t get their testimonies to agree. Herod couldn’t kill Him. Death
couldn’t handle Him. And the grave couldn’t hold Him. YEAHHHHH!!!! That’s my
KING!! That’s my KING!!!
And Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever, and ever, and
ever, and ever...how long is that?....and ever, and ever! And when you get
through with all of the forevers, then AMEN! AMEN!!!
Song of Solomon 6
Chorus - Daughters of Jerusalem:
:1 Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy
beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.
Shulamite:
:2 My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed
in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
:3 I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.
Solomon:
:4 Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem,
terrible as an army with banners.
Tirzah – “pleasantness”, a city known for its great beauty. After
the kingdom would split under Rehoboam, the first capital city of the northern
kingdom would be Tirzah.
terrible – “awesome”
(Song 6:4 NLT) …You are as majestic as an army with banners!
:5 Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as
a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.
Flowing hair – like a “shag” cut.
:6 Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof
every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them.
She has a full set of teeth.
:7 As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks.
Pomegranate – red
These are the same compliments he paid her back in chapter 4.
It’s okay when you’ve got a good line to use it over and over again!
Illustration
Albert Einstein had a wonderful way with words when wooing women. Check out
these love lines from Mr. E=MC2 to the gal he would eventually marry, Mileva
Maric:
“If only you were with me! We understand so well each other’s souls, and
also drinking coffee and eating sausages, etc.”
:8 There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins
without number.
She stands out among all of Solomon’s women (so far at 60 wives and 80
concubines). This was apparently written
early in Solomon’s reign since he eventually had 300 wives and 700 concubines. It’s possible that the other women were
political marriages.
:9 My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she
is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her;
yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.
She was the envy of all the other women.
:10 Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear
as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?
Shulamite:
:11 I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley,
and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded.
garden of nuts – I think that’s where I live. I’m one of the nuts. J
:12 Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.
(Song 6:12 NASB) "Before I was aware, my soul
set me Over the chariots of my noble people."
(Song 6:12 ICB) My desire for you makes me feel like
a prince in a chariot.
(Song 6:12 NLT) Before I realized it, I found myself
in my princely bed with my beloved one."
Chorus/Daughters of Jerusalem:
:13a Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon
thee.
Solomon:
:13b What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two
armies.
(Song 6:13 NLT) "Why do you gaze so intently at
this young woman of Shulam, as she moves so gracefully between two lines of
dancers?"
Solomon says that these daughters of Jerusalem
like to watch the Shulamite as much as they like to watch dancers at a
festival.
Song of Solomon 7
7:1 - 8:4 The Marriage Deepens
Solomon:
:1 How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter! the joints
of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.
:2 Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is
like an heap of wheat set about with lilies.
Her body is intoxicating.
:3 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.
:4 Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in
Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower
of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.
Heshbon – a city known for it’s abundant water supply.
She’s got a big nose.
:5 Thine head upon thee is like Carmel,
and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.
Carmel – a beautiful
mountain in the north.
held in the galleries – captivated by her hair
:6 How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!
:7 This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of
grapes.
:8 I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs
thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell
of thy nose like apples;
:9 And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth
down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak.
Martin Luther had a way with words.
Here’s what he said:
“There’s a lot to get used to in the first year of marriage. One wakes up
in the morning and finds a pair of pigtails on the pillow that were not there
before.”
-- Martin Luther. "Martin
Luther--The Later Years and Legacy," Christian History, Issue 39.
How romantic!
Shulamite:
:10 I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.
For us, as the Bride of Christ – His desire is toward us.
(Eph 3:14-19 KJV) For this
cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, {15} Of whom the
whole family in heaven and earth is named, {16} That he would grant you,
according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his
Spirit in the inner man; {17} That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;
that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, {18} May be able to comprehend with
all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; {19} And to
know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with
all the fulness of God.
God has a great love toward us:
(John 3:16 KJV)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
(Eph 1:3-6 NLT) How we
praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ. {4} Long
ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be
holy and without fault in his eyes. {5} His unchanging plan has always been to
adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.
And this gave him great pleasure. {6} So we praise God for the wonderful
kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son.
(Eph 1:6 KJV) To the praise
of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
:11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the
villages.
She initiates the lovemaking.
:12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish,
whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I
give thee my loves.
:13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant
fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.
Song of Solomon 8
Shulamite:
:1 O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother!
when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be
despised.
In that culture it was not inappropriate for a brother and sister to show
each other affection in public, but it was not proper for a husband and wife to
show affection in public.
:2 I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house, who would
instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my
pomegranate.
:3 His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace
me.
:4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.
Chorus/Daughters of Jerusalem:
:5a Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her
beloved?
Shulamite:
:5b I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee
forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee.
:6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is
strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of
fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
seal – like a precious possession. She wants to be her husband’s
most precious possession.
Did you know that you were Jesus’ most precious possession?
(Mat 13:44-46 KJV) Again, the
kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man
hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath,
and buyeth that field. {45} Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a
merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: {46} Who, when he had found one pearl of
great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
:7a Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it:
Illustration
In his book Secrets to Inner Beauty,
Joe Aldrich humorously describes the realities of married life. It doesn’t take
long for the newlyweds to discover that “everything in one person nobody’s
got.” They soon learn that a marriage license is just a learner’s permit, and
ask with agony, “Is there life after marriage?” An old Arab proverb states that
marriage begins with a prince kissing an angel and ends with a bald-headed man
looking across the table at a fat lady. Socrates told his students, “By all
means marry. If you get a good wife, twice blessed you will be. If you get a
bad wife, you’ll become a philosopher.” Count Herman Keyserling said it well
when he stated that “The essential difficulties of life do not end, but rather
begin with marriage.”
-- Joseph C. Aldrich, Secrets to
Inner Beauty (Santa Ana, CA: Vision House, 1977), p. 87-88.
We can laugh at stuff like that, but don’t give up on love.
Lesson
True Love can’t be quenched.
Illustration
I stand by the bed where a young woman lies, her face postoperative, her
mouth twisted in palsy, clownish. A tiny twig of the facial nerve, the one to
the muscles of her mouth, has been severed. The surgeon had followed with
religious fervor the curve of her flesh; I promise you that. Nevertheless, to
remove the tumor in her cheek, I had cut the little nerve.
Her young husband is in the room. He stands on the opposite side of the
bed, and together they seem to dwell in the evening lamplight, isolated from
me, private. Who are they, I ask myself, he and this wrymouth I have made, who
gaze at and touch each other so generously, greedily? The young woman speaks.
“Will my mouth always be like this?” she asks.
“Yes,” I say, “it will. It is because the nerve was cut.”
She nods, and is silent. But the young man smiles.
“I like it,” he says. “It is kind of cute.”
All at once I know who he is. I understand, and I lower my gaze. One is not
bold in an encounter with a god. Unmindful, he bends to kiss her crooked mouth,
and I am so close I can see how he twists his own lips to accommodate to hers,
to show her that their kiss still works.
-- Richard Selzer, Mortal Lessons
Illustration
Sam Levison once said, “Love at first sight is nothing special. It’s when
two people have been looking at each other for years that it becomes a
miracle.”
-- Paul Harvey, 11/5/91
Illustration
Mary Francis Meyers died today, a great woman in our church. Her husband
Ken died two or three years ago. I’ll never forget being in the fireside room
when they celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. I said, “Ken, fifty
years is a long time.”
He immediately responded, “Not nearly as long as it would have been without
her.”
-- Robert L. Russell, "God's
Design for Marriage," Preaching Today, Tape No. 166.
Illustration
C.S. Lewis observed that many people have the mistaken idea that, if you
have married the right person you may expect to go on “being in love” forever.
As a result, when they find they are not, they think this proves they have made
a mistake and are entitled to a change, not realizing that, when they have
changed, the glamour will presently go out of the new love just as it went out
of the old one.
In this department of life, as in every other, thrills come at the
beginning and do not last. Let the thrill go. Let it die away. Go on through
that period of death into the quieter interest and happiness that follow and
you will find you are living in a world of new thrills all the time.
-- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New
York: Macmillan, 1952), p. 84-86.
Lesson
First Love
The relationship with husband and wife is so parallel with Jesus and the
church.
The church in Ephesus had a lot
of good things going for them:
(Rev 2:2-3 KJV) I know thy
works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which
are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not,
and hast found them liars: {3} And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my
name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
But they had a problem too:
(Rev 2:4 KJV) Nevertheless I
have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Jesus gave them the answer to the problem:
(Rev 2:5 KJV) Remember
therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or
else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his
place, except thou repent.
Think back to when things were good.
Repent – turn away from things that take you away from
your spouse.
Do the things you used to do when you were first in love.
Illustration
Years ago, in the Midwest, a farmer
and his wife were lying in bed during a storm when the funnel of a tornado
suddenly lifted the roof right off the house and sucked their bed away with
them still in it. The wife began to cry, and the farmer called to her that it
was no time to cry. She called back that she was so happy, she could not help
it—it was the first time they had been out together in 20 years!
-- R. Kent Hughes in
Disciplines of a Godly Man.
Men of Integrity, Vol. 2, no. 3.
Don’t let 20 years go by without going out on a date!
Illustration
Dinner and a movie. Such a simple thing, yet it reminds us
of who we are and why we are married. I think of something Popie says about
God: How you can worry that your relationship with him has gone cold, that
you’ve lost your spiritual edge. You can think it will take a lot of time, a
month or so of spiritual discipline to get going again with him. Then you sit
down and discover, in just minutes, that you don’t have to do a thing—except
take some time. Be alone with him. In what feels like no time you are caught up
again in your love.
-- Tim Stafford,
Marriage Partnership, Vol. 5, no. 1.
:7b if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would
utterly be contemned.
True love can’t be bought – if you try to buy love, it becomes despised.
Brothers of Shulamite:
:8 We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for
our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?
It is thought that this is what the Shulamite remembers her brothers saying
about her when she was younger.
:9 If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she
be a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
(Song 8:9 NLT) If she is chaste, we will strengthen and encourage
her. But if she is promiscuous, we will shut her off from men."
It’s a good thing to have older brothers like this.
Shulamite:
:10 I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one
that found favour.
She has kept herself from immorality and she has matured.
:11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; he let out the vineyard unto
keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of
silver.
:12 My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a
thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.
(Song 8:11-12 NLT) "Solomon has a vineyard at Baal-hamon,
which he rents to some farmers there. Each of them pays one thousand pieces of
silver for its use. {12} But as for my own vineyard, O Solomon, you can take my
thousand pieces of silver. And I will give two hundred pieces of silver to
those who care for its vines."
Solomon:
:13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice:
cause me to hear it.
He wishes he could be like those that get to hear her voice all the time.
Shulamite:
:14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart
upon the mountains of spices.