Study Guide: Song of Solomon

Why is the book of Song of Solomon in the Bible? I know I’m not the only Christian who has ever wondered that. One day a single insight from someone else (I believe it was the second key below) piqued my interest and sent me on perhaps the most rewarding Bible study I have ever done. I lived in the book all day for several days and emerged with an understanding of why this book is called “the Song of Songs” (1:1).

There are three keys to unlocking the mystery of this odd little book. First, it tells a story – a love story about Solomon and one of his brides. It follows the ups and downs of their relationship, including her arrival at the palace, their courtship, wedding, honeymoon, and maturing love. If you don’t see the story line, the content seems random, repetitive, and purposeless.

Second, the story is given in form of conversation. The speaker shifts throughout the book as Solomon and his bride take turns speaking to (and about) each other. There are occasional statements made by others (often referred to as the daughters of Jerusalem), but basically the book is a dialogue between two lovers. If you don’t understand the switch in speakers, the book is very confusing.

Third, the story has a pretty obvious figurative meaning; the relationship between Solomon and his bride pictures the relationship between Christ and the Christian. God designed marriage as His best illustration of what He wants the believer’s relationship with Him to look like. (See Eph. 5:22-32.) Taking the time to state the story line in one’s own words will very quickly illuminate clear applications about the Christian’s relationship with God.  And, if perchance, none of the marriages you know inspire you regarding your relationship with God, the Bible provides a divinely-inspired picture of what marriage can and should be – an honest examination of the challenges combined with an uplifting display of the sweetness. If you don’t understand this deeper level of meaning, the book appears to be (at best) an example for marriage and (at worst) inappropriate.

While the book certainly contains insights about marriage that can be profitable for married couples, the primary message is deeper than that. The theme of the book is the journey toward intimacy between Christ and the believer. Stated more fully – fulfilling intimacy is achieved when the Christian recognizes Christ’s incredible love for him and yields himself in complete openness and surrender to Him.

The synopsis below is designed to aid in understanding the content of the book. The chapter summaries reveal the progression of the story line. The notes following each summary identify the changes in speakers by verse number (h=he, s=she, o=others). These deal primarily with the first and second keys above.

Chapter 1: Introduction and Betrothal - s: 2-7; h: 8-11; s: 12-14; h: 15; s: 16; h: 17

Chapter 2: Courtship - s: 1; h: 2; s: 3-6; h: 7; s: 8-13; h: 14-15; s: 16-17
Chapter 3: Readiness for Marriage and the Wedding - s: 1-4; h: 5; o: 6-11
Chapter 4: Wedding Night and Next Morning - h: 1-15; s: 16
Chapter 5: Bride Shuns Then Seeks Her Husband - h: 1; s: 2-8; o: 9; s: 10-16
Chapter 6: Restoration of the Relationship - o: 1; s: 2-3; h: 4-9; o: 10-13
Chapter 7: Increased Intimacy - h: 1-9; s: 10-13
Chapter 8: Mature and Lifelong Intimacy - s: 1-3; h: 4; o: 5; h: 6-7; s: 8-14

Once you understand the story line, it is fairly easy to see the parallels to the Christian’s walk with God, the third of the keys to understanding the book. The following questions and statements are designed to enhance that appreciation. These paragraphs are written in terms of the bride and groom, but remember that they are really about the believer and Christ. Consider them in that context.

Notice the intense love of the groom. Where in the book do you see his love faltering or failing? Was she worthy of such love when she came to him? Look for displays of his patience and tenderness. Notice how he waits for her to be ready for each deeper step rather than forcing her. Look at the things he did for her out of his love, and think of New Testament parallels.

Notice the tremendous change in her from the beginning (1:5-6) to the end (6:10-13 and 8:5). How did the change come about?

Notice the strong emphasis on fruitfulness. How important is fruitfulness to a woman? Is the groom’s desire for intimacy selfish or does he want blessing for his wife through it? Think about intimacy as having the purpose of fruitfulness. Consider the technical side; fruitfulness can only happen as he puts his seed into her, and that fruit will look like him because it comes from him.

From the beginning, his descriptions see her as what she will become rather than what is actually true and how she sees herself. What do his descriptions of her say about his estimation of her beauty? Most of them fit into the categories of jewels, objects of great beauty and admiration, spices and perfumes, fruitful plants and animals, and sweet things. Do his descriptions make sense, showing thoughtful consideration and careful examination of her parts? How well and how completely does he know her?

In light of the above paragraph, how completely does the bride need to yield and open herself to her husband? What can she hide and hold back from him? (You may find it insightful to look up the Hebrew meaning of the comparison in 7:1b.) Think about why this particular description receives some of his most outstanding praise. What is so special about it?

What does the bride do to prepare for their times together? How does that change throughout the book? Why does she do it? Think of the parallels between conditions conducive to intimacy in marriage and proper conditions for intimacy with God. Take note of the extreme pleasure he has in being intimate with her. Is there any doubt that he thoroughly enjoys these times?

Notice the bride’s increasing appreciation for intimacy. Does she initially appreciate his advances? Do her initial statements reflect passion/infatuation or true love? How many times does she put him off or shut him out? How does this change throughout the book? At the end of the book, who is doing the seeking (8:1 and 8:14)?

I think 4:16 is the key verse of the book. On the morning after their wedding night, he compares his time with her to a lovely garden full of wonderful things. In essence, he says, “Wow! That was incredible! I totally enjoyed it.” Then he kind of waits to see how she will respond. She answers with an open invitation: “If you enjoyed it that much, then I am yours. Partake of the garden as much as you want.”

After the sweetness of the passage above, you would think that nothing could ever come between them, so chapter 5 is somewhat shocking. Who is the one to allow the breach? If love exists, will the parties be content for the breach to continue? What is involved in pursuing a return to intimacy? She is asked two questions. Why is he so special (5:9)? Where would he have gone (6:1)? She knows the answer to both right away. This is a good place to mention 2:7, 3:5, and 8:4. You may have noticed I attributed these parallel statements to the groom, though some translations show them as from the bride. I believe this to be a mistranslation, as it is the feminine form of the word for lover. Throughout the book, who is likely to leave? The groom relishes their special time together; as long as she is willing to continue resting at his side, he will do everything possible to protect and elongate that time.

God uses the most intimate of human interactions to picture the communion He wants to have with His children. That special closeness will not happen every day, but it had better be happening on a regular basis. If it isn’t, do you see the threat to the relationship?

There’s much more in this book; my own study is nearly 50 typed pages. This is enough to get you started into this wonderful gem of a book. I’ve noticed something interesting about people who have studied and understood Song of Solomon. They don’t make mundane comments like, “I learned a lot” or “That was an interesting study.” No, after capturing the heart of Song of Solomon, people say things like, “Wow. What an incredible and special book!” Such a jaw-dropping, heart-quickening response won’t come in a mere reading of the book or a brief hour spent in its pages. It will come, however, with focused and extended study, because this book contains a phenomenal treasure for those bold enough to seek it.

“Awake, O north wind, and come, wind of the south; make my garden breathe out fragrance, let its spices be wafted abroad. May my beloved come into his garden and eat its choice fruits!” Song of Solomon 4:16 (NASB)

Is Love a Need?

We’ve probably all heard the common statement that there is a God shaped-hole in every person, an emptiness that can be filled only by God. I know there are some Christians who don’t really like that statement; I’m not sure I remember exactly what they don’t like about it, but I think it has to do with the statement’s potential for minimizing the necessity for God or trivializing the magnitude of salvation. I think we can all understand, however, what is intended by the statement. Man without God is constantly searching for something without knowing what it is he seeks; his quest will never be satisfied until he finds God, because God is the only answer to man’s greatest needs.

I would like to give my own variation of that statement. I believe there is a love-shaped hole in every person. The picture presented by my version isn’t quite right. Better wording might refer to man is a love-starved sponge. Without love, man is missing something essential. He is like a dried-up sponge with no vitality. When we think of the necessities of life, we think of food, clothing, and shelter – things that man cannot live without. I believe love needs to be added to that list. Love is a fundamental need.

I don’t think I’m making up any of the evidence to follow. Consider children who are behavior problems, whether mildly as class clowns or to the more extreme level of involvement in gangs and violence. Do we not find that these children are often crying out for someone to love them? Think of how many criminals you’ve heard about who describe a childhood without love. Why will young ladies go home with a guy they meet in a bar or marry someone they barely know after meeting him on the Internet or in a singles’ club? Why will they marry abusive men, men with criminal records, and so on? It is because they are looking for love and are settling for the best they can find; sadly, some of them are glad to have found something that resembles love better than anything in their previous experience. Why do single people (or those without significant others) have a shorter life expectancy than married people? Why does it seem a widow or widower often dies shortly after the death of the spouse? Why did hospitals start encouraging parents and nurses to hold preemies rather than the previous tendency to keep them in isolation? All of these evidence a conscious or unconscious display of the importance of love.

God made humans as social beings. He made us to give and receive love. Man, by his very nature, seeks love. He will seek it from friends, family, parents, spouses, and children. Some even seek it from a dog or other creature. Man will receive some love from any or all of those sources. That love (within proper boundaries) is good. That love, however, will never completely satisfy. Each of those relationships is both temporary and imperfect. People will eventually die or move away. People will change, sometimes becoming involved with new people or activities or even abandoning those who were previously important to them. Every human relationship will at times disappoint, and no relationship will completely satisfy.

Man is left then with a hunger for love. Ultimately, no human or combination of humans can meet the need for love. As hard as he seeks, and as many relationships as he pursues, man will not find completely satisfying love until he finds it in God. The fact that God answers the need for love only makes sense. After all, God defines Himself as being love. “God is love” (I John 3:8). Finding God is finding love. We might assert that man’s greatest need is salvation. In considering whether it is salvation or love that man needs, it is interesting to note that God’s gift of salvation is, in fact, the greatest expression of God’s love. “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love . . . that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I John 3:9-10). God’s love and salvation are so closely linked that they cannot be separated.

Salvation, however, is just the beginning of finding God’s love. We need to be always growing in knowing the love of God - always getting deeper into His boundless love. Sadly, we often don’t appreciate or crave God’s love like we should. Perhaps we are content with the partial satisfaction found in the love of others. Maybe we are too busy seeking it elsewhere. It is even possible that we simply have no idea of how great God’s love is, and therefore we are unaware that there is anything more to seek.

I recently listened to a series of lessons that Nancy Leigh DeMoss taught on the Song of Solomon. She titled the series How to Fall and Stay in Love with Jesus. I wouldn’t teach the book quite the same way she did, but she was definitely on target with the main idea. The relationship between Christ and the Christian should be incredibly sweet. The love God has for us is limitless and the potential for an intimate relationship with Him is profound. No other relationship and no other pursuit is more important than knowing God and His love. This pursuit is worthy of our time and effort. We need to grow both in knowing God’s love and in loving Him more. In spite of our greatest efforts, we will still fall short of loving God properly and understanding His love, but thankfully God will never fall short in loving us or in acting on that love. As humans, we need and seek love, and the love of God is sufficient to meet our deepest need.

“And that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17b-19 (NASB)

I Don't Get It - Part 3

We’ve considered why Christians sometimes have difficulty understanding the Bible on their own, and I didn’t want to end that examination without taking a look at the following verses.

Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Hebrews 5:11-14 (NASB)

This passage contains several insights about understanding Scripture.

 

First, there are some things in the Bible that are harder to understand than others. The author wanted to give additional teaching regarding Melchizedek, and he identifies the topic as one that is hard to explain.

Second, some Christians are not prepared to understand the more difficult concepts of the Bible. The writer implies that some Christians would be ready for this difficult teaching, but these Christians were not.

Third, there is not always a valid excuse for not being prepared to understand the difficult concepts. It’s logical for a baby (Christian) to need milk and not be ready for meat. These Christians, however, were no longer babies. They should have been ready not only to eat spiritual meat, but to teach it to others also. They had at the very least stagnated, but more likely regressed to the point of not being able to take in more than very basic teaching (and they needed reminders even of that).

Fourth, there was a reason for their stagnation or regression. They were dull of hearing. Many things are sharpened with use or are kept effective by care and regular use. These Christians had been so lax in their listening that they had lost their mental sharpness when it came to spiritual things. All they could manage now were the fundamental, foundational principles.

Fifth, there is a remedy for dullness of spiritual understanding. The dullness of these believers was because they were not accustomed to the Word. They weren’t used to it or familiar with it. They were not used to studying it and therefore didn’t have the skill to understand it. In order to eat the meat of the Word, they needed to be mature, and the verse tells how to arrive at maturity. It is by training the senses through practice. If they were weak because they weren’t used to studying the Word, the way to become strong was to train through practice. They needed to work and give effort. People don’t become mature overnight, but they will never become mature if they don’t start to exercise and start making attempts at a more solid diet.

This passage seems a bit negative in its approach. In fact, the writer was scolding the Christians for their dullness in understanding. We can view the passage, however, from a very positive standpoint. The passage reveals what to do to turn things around. Many of the reasons that we saw last in the previous post for why people have trouble understanding the Bible (and therefore many of the solutions to improve understanding) have to do with precisely what this passage is talking about – practice.

With practice comes improvement in the skills needed to enhance understanding. With practice the confusing wording becomes more familiar. With practice come increasing levels of success. With greater success, Christians start to expect more from their reading and therefore start to give greater effort. They have hope as they begin to understand that they can profit from the Word. All of these are issues addressed in the previous post. All of them, along with this passage from Hebrews, are tied to the final and most critical issue mentioned last time – the aspect of time spent in the Word. We can’t practice and build our spiritual senses without time. The more time we spend training, the better we will become at chewing solid food. We need to become accustomed to the Word and to spending time in it. If we spend the time seeking, God will help us to mature, and our understanding of the Word will increase.

I Don't Get It - Part 2

Many Christians make comments about not being able to understand the Bible on their own. We saw four reasons last time for why that should not be true - but sometimes it seems to be true. Why do people struggle to profit personally from the Bible?

There are a number of possible reasons, and not all of them apply in every situation. Looking at the reasons for difficulty in understanding should help to provide answers for how to change that.

First, some Christians struggle to understand the Bible because they are immature or worldly. I Cor. 3:1-3 “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it, for you are still fleshly.” Paul says these Christians struggled to understand the deeper concepts of the Bible due to their fleshly nature. They were still focused on themselves and their own pleasures rather than on God; this improper focus was evidenced by jealousy and strife. While there is nothing we can do about how long we have been saved, there is something we can do about the focus of our lives. As we turn away from our past worldly and selfish lifestyle and turn more to God, we will be better able to understand His Word.

Second, some Christians struggle with comprehending the Bible because they are convinced they can’t. This mindset may come from early frustration in reading the Word. It may be reinforced by others who make it sound like understanding the Bible is impossible. It is sometimes fostered by spoken or implied impressions that only pastors can understand the Bible and that’s why we go to church. When we are convinced that reading the Bible is pointless, we probably don’t even try, or if we do, our efforts are minimal. The previous post, however, clearly showed that we can understand the Bible.

Third, limited effort can lead to limited understanding. Low expectations or sometimes a lack of guidance can lead to a very casual approach to the Bible. A previous post examined the need to read the Bible with purpose. We ought to be looking to learn. If we have nothing to look for as we read, we will read very casually and will not profit much from our reading. We’re all familiar with students whose eyes pass over all the words in their history assignment, but they have no idea what they've read because they were not concentrating or seeking to learn.

Fourth, on the opposite side, sometimes our frustration in understanding the Bible is because we expect too much. Sometimes we expect complete understanding. Some passages in the Bible are harder to understand than others. Even in the “easier” passages, it is completely normal to gain additional understanding in subsequent readings. The fact that we don’t understand everything should not discourage us from learning what we can. The reality is that there are some things in the Bible that we will never understand (at least in this lifetime). Rather than giving up because we lack complete understanding, we should be grateful for each little step of progress. While we may not be scholars, we can learn enough to make our reading profitable.

Fifth, sometimes the wording of the Bible is challenging to understand. Among other things, there is unfamiliar vocabulary. We may lack insight into the customs or historical context. There are sentences that stretch for several verses at a time. Depending on the translation being used, these challenges may be noticed to greater or lesser extents. It is not my intent in this post to open a controversy about translations; I merely observe the reality that some translations are more difficult to read. Without literal comprehension of what the passage actually says at face value, it is impossible to have deeper levels of comprehension. The answer to this issue may be found in an easier translation, a dictionary, repeated readings of a passage, or stating the passage in one’s own words. The reader must work to achieve comprehension.

Sixth, Christians struggle to understand the Bible because they lack helpful skills. There are tools that can be used to help understanding. These may be things like a Bible dictionary or concordance, but I’m more focused on ways of thinking. There are too many things to be shared in this post, but future posts will address more of this topic. Many of these tips can be learned by listening to a good preacher. There are considerations like studying a paragraph rather than a single verse, recognizing that “for” often means “because,” learning to look back when seeing the words “therefore” or “wherefore,” reading within context, properly linking verses together, and recognizing lists. These are all things that should improve with practice. In many ways, it is similar to mastering a video game, computer program, or type of word puzzle. You start to recognize patterns and strategies so that progress comes more smoothly.

Seventh, and I believe most critical, Christians fail to understand the Word of God because they don’t spend enough time in it. The Bible is powerful, and the Holy Spirit is there to help. God will reward those who seek His truth. Time in the Word will bring learning. So the largest deterrent to understanding is a lack of time in the Word. Ten minutes a week is not enough to develop mastery of anything, Bible comprehension included. For illustration purposes, let’s assign one tidbit of learning for ten minutes in the Bible. At ten minutes per week, a Christian gains 52 tidbits per year. At an hour per day, however, the number of tidbits would be 2190. The difference is huge, and that difference is compounded over a period of five or ten years.

If we limit our understanding of the Bible to what others share with us, we limit our learning to time in church and available money to spend on books. There is nothing wrong with profiting from what others have learned. There is something precious, however, in digging out on one’s own the unlimited truth contained in the Bible. There is joy in that profitable time with God in which He is personally doing the teaching. It is exciting to see the Scriptures come alive and to realize that God has a message to share. It may take work, but the profit comes through the effort. God can give understanding if we will ask.

Open my eyes, that I may behold

Wonderful things from Your law. Psalm 119:18 (NASB)