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by Samuel E. Ward
Song of Songs 7:10
Introduction
There are various ways that the Song of Songs has been interpreted. Some of them include:
1. An allegorical approach describing the love that exists between Israel and Jehovah or the church and Jesus Christ as well as many others.
2. A natural approach describing the love between two lovers developing from courtship to marriage. The relationships between Jehovah and Israel and Christ and the church might be illustrated by the Song of Songs but is not its divine purpose.
3. A dramatic approach sees the Song as a play performed as a love story.
4. A cultic approach sees only a collection of love poems that were written according to the type of that which was found in early Near Eastern cultures that were sometimes meant to describe the relationship of a particular pagan god worshipped by a particular people.
The view that creates the least interpretive problems is the second. Jews and Christians have historically experienced difficulty with the natural interpretation because of the intimate and sexually descriptive nature of the dialogue. If the natural interpretation is allowed then what we have in the Song of Songs is permission by God to express a healthy sexual intimacy within the boundaries of His Word free of much of anxiety that has resulted in the church which has for many centuries made the discussion of sexual matters a taboo subject.
This is not the purpose of this study. In a previous study of the Song, I have said that though the book is not intended to explain the nature of the love and commitment that should exist between Christ and the church, it can be used to illustrate certain, though not all, aspects of that relationship. I have chosen Song of Songs 7:10 to illustrate a proper use of this book when one wants to use it in this way.
"I am my Beloved's, and His desire is toward me." (Song 7:10)
Understand that this study is not the primary meaning of the passage but is nonetheless quite informative of the kind of love that should exist between Christ and the church.
I. The Love of God Towards Us Evident by What He Keeps and Gives
A. He Keeps for Us What We Have Entrusted to Him, 2 Tim 1:12.
(2 Tim 1:8-12 NIV) So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, {9} who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, {10} but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. {11} And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. {12} That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
What was this deposit? As Lock says, "He does not define or limit; it will include his teaching ... his apostolic work, his converts ... his life which has been already in God's keeping and which will remain safe there even through death."[1]
And so it is with us. What we do for the sake of God's glory is a deposit toward rewards and treasures to be granted in heaven. What we teach to others that affects the kingdom God, our witness to others by life and word to bring them closer to Christ, indeed, everything done for the glory of
B. He Gives to Us What Cannot Be Taken Away—His Love, Rom 8:38-39.
1. There is nothing powerful enough to separate us from His love.
(Rom 8:38-39 NIV) For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, {39} neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
2. There is nothing that can satisfy the thirst of its desire, nothing that can overwhelm it and wash it away in a flood, nothing more valuable for which it could be traded.
(Song 8:7 NIV) Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.
C. He Keeps Us from Becoming Lost. John 17:10-12; 10:27-29.
1. This was true of the original disciples except one, John 17:10-12.
(John 17:10-12 NIV) All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. {11} I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one. {12} While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
2. This is true of all true disciples to follow, John 10:27-29.
(John 10:27-29 NIV) My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. {28} I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. {29} My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
II. The Desire of God Towards Us Is Evident by His Gracious Watch and Care
A. The Objects of His Desire Have Something to Sing About, Psa 149:1-5.
(Psa 149:1-5 NIV) Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints. {2} Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. {3} Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. {4} For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. {5} Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds.
B. The Objects of His Desire Are Rescued from Their Enemies, (Psa 18:17-19).
(Psa 18:17-19 NIV) He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. {18} They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support. {19} He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.
C. The Objects of His Desire Are Led, (Psa 37:23-24).
(Psa 37:23-24 NIV) If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; {24} though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
III. The Love of God Towards Us Is Unequaled
A. His Great Love Is Unequaled by in Its Grace, Eph. 2:4-9.
(Eph 2:4-9 NIV) But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, {5} made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. {6} And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, {7} in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. {8} For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- {9} not by works, so that no one can boast.
From this passage we note:
1. Gracious mercy
2. Gracious salvation.
3. Gracious position.
4. Gracious inheritance.
5. Gracious kindness.
6. Gracious gift.
B. His Great Love Is Unequaled by His Sacrifice, John 15:12-14.
(John 15:12-14 NIV) My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. {13} Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. {14} You are my friends if you do what I command.
C. His Great Love Is Unequaled in Its Cost, 1 Cor 6:19-20.
(1 Cor 6:19-20 NIV) Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; {20} you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Conclusion
Some scholars have chosen Song of Songs 8:6 as the verse that best encapsulates the theme of the book.
(Song 8:6 NIV) Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.
This certainly describes the depth of the love and commitment of the lovers in the book and also that which portrays the same for Christ and the members of His church.
(Rom 14:8-9 NIV) If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. {9} For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
Whereas death dissolves the marital relationship between a man and a woman this side of heaven, not so with our relationship with Jesus Christ will endures throughout eternity. Nonetheless, the love of a marital relationship even this side of heaven is strong enough evoke feelings and commitments that rival any caused by death. Dennis Kinlaw has written in a commentary on Song of Songs 8:6:
An engraved stone or metal seal was a mark of ownership in the ancient world. Possession of another's seal indicated mutual access and possession. Her love is so total and so strong that she wants their mutual possession of each other to be as lasting as life. It is a strongly poetic demand for "until death do us part." Better to die than to experience the failure of love that produces jealousy. Love's demands are all consuming. External forces cannot quench or drown it. Its value is greater than all the possessions one might ever possess. In all of human literature there are few passages on the power of love compared with this unit.[2]
