Many who study a strange, unlikely book in the Bible, the Song of Solomon, are discovering, for one thing, that it's quoted extensively in the New Testament, especially by Jesus! This removes the lingering doubts that maybe its sexual content slipped into the Bible by mistake. Yes, the book is to be read reverently!
Its alluring glimpses of a Paradise of sexual love are not bad to imagine because the message gets across unmistakably that it's Jesus Himself who is the Lover yearning to become fully one with His Bride in a "consummation."
Paul cites the Song of Solomon when he speaks of Christ's goal for the church that it be "without spot" (Eph. 5:27; S. S. 4:7; we have a ways to go!).
Jesus quotes the Greek version (the Septuagint) in His message to the leadership of the last of the seven churches when He tells of knocking, knocking, "at the door" (Rev. 3:20). But the source in the Song of Solomon turns out to be a sad vignette. It describes the young woman who is loved so dearly as selfishly snuggling warm in bed on a cold rainy night while her poor Lover is barred at her door, forced to keep knocking while He remains outside, lonely, cold, hungry, wet, and obviously the One whose disappointment is beyond description (S. S. 5:2-6).
But Christ's most delightful quote is in John 7:37, 38 where He frankly identifies the Song of Solomon as "THE Scripture" and clarifies forever what true "evangelism" means according to His view. "Evangelism" is the accepted name for doing what Jesus commanded when He said "Go ye to all the world and proclaim the gospel." It's interesting to see what the Song of Solomon says about that (4:15). More tomorrow.
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 16, 2006.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
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