SONG OF SOLOMON---SEEKING THE SHEPHERDESS

INTRODUCTION

1.    “Song of Songs” is the literal name of the book. (1:1)

A.   It is a Hebrew expression denoting excellence such as “king of kings”, “heaven of heavens”, or “holy of holies”.

B.   Solomon wrote 1005 songs. Therefore, the Song of Songs was considered the greatest of them all. (I Kings 4:32)

C.   Other titles given to the book:

1)    “A Song of Loves” - cf. Psalm 45 as its sequel.

2)    “The Book of Communion” - given by the Jews

3)    “Canticles”

2.    “Nowhere in Scripture does the unspiritual mind tread upon ground so mysterious and incomprehensible as in this book, whereas saintly men and women throughout the ages have found it a source of pure and exquisite delight.” --New Scofield Bible, p. 705; (Introduction)

3.    Inspiration of the book? Some have found nothing of spiritual value in the Song, and question whether it is really entitled to be considered as a part of the inspired Word of God.

A.   It is not left up to the church in our day to decide which books belong to the canon of Scripture.

B.   The Lord Jesus settled the question of its inspiration when He was here on earth.

1)   He had exactly the same Old Testament that we have.

2)    He declared the Hebrew Bible to be the Word of the Living God. (Matt. 5:17-18; John 10:35)

C.   There are many figures from this book in various parts of the New Testament.

1)    “The well of living water” - 4:15, cf. John 4:11, 14

2)    “The veiled woman” - 5:7, cf. I Cor. 11

3)    “The precious fruit” - cf. James 5:7

4)    “The unquenchable love” - I Cor. 13:8

5)    “The spotless bride” - Eph. 5:27

6)    “Love strong as death” - John 15:13

7)    “Ointment poured forth” - John 12:3

4.    The book may be read from four different standpoints:

A.   Literally - as a presentation of the glorification of wedded love.

1)    Many of the Jewish teachers thought of it simply as designed of God to give a right apprehension of conjugal love.

2)    Probably due largely to this theory, Jewish young men were not allowed to read the book until they had reached the age of 30!

B.   Dispensationally - we see the relationship between Jehovah and Israel. (Isa. 54:5; Jer. 31:32; Hosea 2:1-23)

C.   Typically - the wonderful relationship between Christ and the Church, His Bride. (Eph. 5: 27-33; Rev. 19:7-10; II Cor. 11:2; Rev. 22:17)

D.   Spiritually - we see it as a book of communion between an individual soul and the blessed, glorified, risen Lord.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND - There are two basic theories:

1.    Over 100 years ago, the German higher critic Ewald presented this idea: “In the hill country north of Jerusalem there was a family in charge of a vineyard belonging to King Solomon. The young shepherdess had been won by a shepherd who had drawn her heart to himself, and their troth had been plighted. But King Solomon, as he rode along the lane one day, saw this young shepherdess in the vineyard, and his heart went out to her. He determined to win her for himself and so tried by blandishment to stir up her affections. But she was true to her sylvan admirer. By-and-by the king actually had her kidnapped and taken to his palace, to the royal harem, and there again and again he pressed his suit and tried to alienate her from her shepherd lover in the hills. Sometimes she was almost tempted to yield, for her case seemed a hopeless one, but then she would remember him, her lover, and she would say, ‘No, I cannot turn from him. I am my beloved’s and his desire is toward me.’ Eventually King Solomon set her free and she went back to the one she loved.”

2.    “Up there in the north country, in the mountain district of Ephraim, King Solomon had a vineyard, and he let it out to keepers, to an Ephraimite family. Apparently the husband and father was dead, but there was a mother and at least two brothers, two sons. Her brothers did not appreciate the Shulamite, and foisted hard tasks upon her, denying her the privileges that a growing girl might have expected in a Hebrew home. One day as she was caring for her flock she looked up, and to her embarrassment there stood a tall and handsome stranger-shepherd, one she had never seen before, gazing intently upon her, and she exclaimed, ‘Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me.’ But he answers quietly without any offensive forwardness, ‘I was not thinking of you as swarthy and sunburnt and unpleasant to look upon. To my mind you are altogether lovely; behold, thou art fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.’ Little by little that friendship ripened into affection, and affection into love, and finally this shepherd won the heart of the shepherdess. Then he went away, but before he went, he said, ‘Someday I am coming for you, and I am going to make you my bride.’ He was gone a long time. Sometimes she dreamed of him and would exclaim, ‘The voice of my beloved’ only to find that he was not there, but still she trusted him. One day there was a great cloud of dust and the country people ran to see what it meant. There was the king himself, and he stopped just opposite the vineyard. To the amazement of the shepherdess, the royal outriders came to her with the announcement, ‘The king has sent us for you’. And in obedience she went, and when she looked into the face of the king, behold the king was the shepherd who had won her heart, and she said, ‘I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me’.”

                                                                         (Taken from Ironside; Song of Solomon, pp. 16-21)

A.   View #1 is the view of an unbeliever.

1.    He pictures Solomon as the villain, but Solomon is a type of Christ because of his office.

2.    The story of love would be completely insincere.

3.    It is very doubtful that a man such as Ewald, with no spiritual insight, could unlock the key to understanding a book which probes the very heights of spiritual communion and experience.

B.   View #2 seems a much more realistic, proper, and spiritual viewpoint put forth by an ardent servant of Christ who knew what it meant to have communion with the Lord.

THE CHARACTERS

1.    The Shulamite shepherdess - the Church, the Bride of Christ

2.    Solomon - a type of the Lord Jesus, the Bridegroom

3.    The Shulamite’s family and the Daughters of Jerusalem - both types of the world:

A.   The family - the world from which she came

B.   The Daughters - the world that stands in need of redemption

THE RELATIONSHIP (between Christ and the Church)

1.    The Church Won (1:2-5), salvation

2.    The Church Worshipping (1:12-17), adoration 

3.    The Church Wooed (4:8-16), adulation

4.    The Church Withholding (5:2-8), self-satisfaction

5.    The Church Witnessing (5:9-6:1), promulgation

6.    The Church Walking (6:2-8:14), consecration (7:10)

7.    The Church Waiting (2:17; 4:6), expectation

MESSAGE

1.    The union between Christ and His people is expressed to us under the figure of an ideal marriage union.

2.    Christ’s complete love for the church