Song of Solomon 8:6-7 “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.”

This is one of the pieces I made for my final project in my Song of Solomon class.  The Song of Solomon is an allegory, a symbolic narrative to tell a greater truth, of how the Lord relates to the Church, but also the individual believer.  I’ll share with you some of my thoughts as I meditated on these verses as well:

 

Song of Solomon 8:6-7 “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.”

            At various times, I’ve thought both the Lover and alternatively the Beloved were speaking this verse, declaring their determination to continue in love.  Joshua made a similar statement in his closing address to the nation of Israel; “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15.  She has decided now, even before the cold winds of testing come, she’s set her heart to remain in love.  I think it’s interesting that “jealousy” could be referring to the Lover’s dedication to her, but the Lord also identifies Himself as embodied jealousy several times throughout the scriptures: Exodus 20:4-6, Exodus 34:14, Deuteronomy 4:24, Hebrews 12:29, and Psalm 27:4 because He is not emotionally distant from those He loves.  I also see this reality as similar to an iceberg, the majority of it exists under the water, where it is hidden from view.   When tests and trials come in life, and our “yes” feels so weak, those are the times when deeper foundations are being laid in love.  Even when we are not fully convinced of our love for the Lord, He sees it perfectly and celebrates it extravagantly.

Song of Solomon 4:16 “Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow.”

This is one of the pieces I made for my final project in my Song of Solomon class.  The Song of Solomon is an allegory, a symbolic narrative to tell a greater truth, of how the Lord relates to the Church, but also the individual believer.  I’ll share with you some of my thoughts as I meditated on these verses as well:

Song of Solomon 4:16 “Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow.”

            This verse is similar to the desire to catch all of the little foxes, it’s the desire of “Whatever it takes, just let me love you more.”  She has become less concerned with her own identity, and more interested in pursuing her Lover/Jesus.  In this we must die to ourselves and live for Him.  The fragrant incense from the garden of her heart rises up, obscuring her old identity as she finds her new identity in Christ. Paul was having the same revelation when he wrote Philippians 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” and also Galatians 2:19-20 “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” The north winds describes times of trial and testing.  By now, the Beloved truly trusts her lover's leadership, just as we can the Lord's leadership in ours.  She is able to acknowledge that even when it's uncomfortable, His leadership will produce more love in her heart.  The south winds refer to times of ease and refreshing.  It's the food-good warm fuzzies we feel when we are enjoying the Lord enjoying us.

Song of Solomon 2:15 “Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”

This is one of the pieces I made for my final project in my Song of Solomon class.  The Song of Solomon is an allegory, a symbolic narrative to tell a greater truth, of how the Lord relates to the Church, but also the individual believer.  I’ll share with you some of my thoughts as I meditated on these verses as well:

 

Song of Solomon 2:15 “Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”

            This verse comes when the Beloved is in a season of resting in the Lover’s presence and being fed by him, then he invites her to come away with him to the mountaintops.  She is appealing to his strength to catch the foxes, which represent compromises that prevent her from receiving and enjoying the full possibility of the results of her relationship with the Lover.  Foxes are little, clever animals that are difficult to catch.  The way this applies to the life of a believer is when we ask for the Lord’s leadership and help in overcoming these areas of compromise and sin.  The need to remove even these small compromises is the same message as Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, …”  We cannot afford to be passive about resisting sin, as Matthew 11:12 tells us “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. Just like everything in the life of a believer, it’s not something we can do on our own.  The Beloved is asking for help, and we must as the Lord for help too to partner with Him in sanctification.

Song of Solomon 2:2 “As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women.”

This is one of the pieces I made for my final project in my Song of Solomon class.  The Song of Solomon is an allegory, a symbolic narrative to tell a greater truth, of how the Lord relates to the Church, but also the individual believer.  I’ll share with you some of my thoughts as I meditated on these verses as well:

Song of Solomon 2:2 “As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women.”

In this verse the Lover is extolling the virtues of the Beloved because of her uniqueness of her love for him.  Jesus views us this way because in a world where many are in rebellion to His leadership, there are few who are trying, even in our weakness, to follow His leadership and love Him well.  Lilies represent purity and obedience in the song, further emphasizing the virtues He was proclaiming earlier in the song.  The contrast between lilies and thorns is that it was Adam’s disobedience that resulted in the fall, and thorns are part of the curse resulting from the fall of man.  Amidst a world of rebellion and sin, there is one (in the song) who is trying to remain faithful.  This could be related to 2 Chronicles 16:9 “ For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him.”  and King David’s desire to build a dwelling place for the Lord.  A lily amidst a sea of brambles would be somewhat of a resting place tactilely, but also visually, a small bit of beauty amidst so much chaos.

At Jesus’ crucifixion, He was mockingly given a crown of thorns.  ( Matt 27:29, Mark 15:17, John 19:2) In our partnership with the Satan, the pinnacle of our rebellion was here at the cross, killing the One who came to save us from sin and death all for the sake of love.  But what the enemy intended for evil, the Lord intended for good.  Though the enemy thought he had defeated the precious Seed that was promised to defeat him in the garden, the cross was also the crowning achievement of God’s mercy to defeat the power of sin and death.  We, in partnership with the devil, tried to put Him under our rebellion and our own leadership, but He received the crown as a trophy of His victory.

Song of Solomon 1:15 “Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves.”

This is one of the pieces I made for my final project in my Song of Solomon class.  The Song of Solomon is an allegory, a symbolic narrative to tell a greater truth, of how the Lord relates to the Church, but also the individual believer.  I’ll share with you some of my thoughts as I meditated on these verses as well:

Song of Solomon 1:15 “Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves.”

            This verse is early in the song.  I would imagine that the Beloved still sees herself in the tension of her confession of verse 5, that she is dark, but lovely to her Lover.  The Lover begins with praising her beauty and emotions and the “budding virtues” even though he knows that her dedication is weak.  Doves are a perfect natural reference to her eyes because their eyes cannot see to the left or the right; they are only fixed on what is before them.  Doves also mate for life, they will not find another mate if tragedy takes their mate from them.  Doves are also a symbol of purity in the Old Testament because of their use as a purifying sacrifice in Leviticus 12.  I think it’s interesting that the Lord prescribes doves as the sacrifice for those who cannot afford to sacrifice a lamb.  Perhaps this is because the Lord wanted to make a way for anyone to be able to worship Him, that anyone can be pleasing to Him, even when their strength (of faith, experience, or even finances) are weak.  Doves are also able to fly which I think even speaks to the same concept presented in 2Corinthians 4:17-18 “ For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” and also 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 “So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” And Hebrews 12:2 “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfected of our faith…” It’s also interesting to note that when Holy Spirit descended on Jesus at His Baptism, He was seen “like a dove”.  (Firstly, I have fun imagining, how much like a dove did He appear like.  Would we recognize Him as something special, or did He take the form of some bizzaro-doveish thing?  It’s fun to think about.) It’s interesting to consider how even as believers, we need Holy Spirit’s help to fix the eyes of our faith on Jesus and as described Philippians 2:13 “for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” The Lord as portrayed as the Lover in Song of Solomon is literally praising her for His work in her. By comparing her eyes to doves, the Lover is describing their natural abilities and dedication, to her internal reality and dedication to Him.