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TH1139: On-Line
Teaching Notes
Please open your Bibles up to Song of Solomon chapter 6, as we continue our study through the Word of God. If you remember from our last study, the marriage feast is over, and now some time has passed by. And Solomon once again calls for his bride to come with him on a trip. But once again comfort got the better of her, it was late, she was already in bed, and she did not want to get up.
Now as she laid there in bed, she decided that she wanted to go with her husband, and as she opened the door, looking for him, he was already gone. So she hits the streets, trying to find, trying to locate Solomon, and the watchmen of the city beat her up, abuse her. And in all of that, she still is not any closer to finding him.
The next group of people she encounters are the daughters of Jerusalem, the young virgins. And she tells them to help her find her beloved, she is lovesick without him. And as she pleads with these young virgins, they say to her, "What is your beloved More than another beloved, O fairest among women? What is your beloved More than another beloved, That you so charge us?" Song of Solomon 5:9.
In other words, "What is so special about Him?" "Why is he so different than any other man?" "Why should we go looking for him?" And from verses 10-16 of chapter 5, she tells these young virgins why Solomon is so special and why they should look for him. She witnessed to them of his great love and concludes by saying, "...Yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, And this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem!" Song of Solomon 5:16.
That is where we left off last week, and now we will pick up our story in chapter 6, beginning in verse 1 of Song of Solomon, as the daughters of Jerusalem, these young virgins, respond to her witness of her beloved.
SONG OF SOLOMON 6
VERSE 1
1. She just got done answering their question regarding why they should go searching for Solomon, what made him so special, so great. And as she completed her witness of him, what was their response? They wanted to find him. They desired to have what she had.
2. In our walk with the Lord, does it cause people to desire what we have, Jesus? It should! Through our witness of him, not only by what we say, but what we do, people should be drawn to the Lord. Jon Courson said that he "...Talked with a lady today who, claiming to be an agnostic, said, 'The interesting thing is, I enjoy coming to the fellowship. I love seeing people who love the Lord. The worship and the genuine fellowship blow by mind." You see, when people worship and praise the Lord with their whole heart, not just going through the motions, people will want to seek Him, will desire to have what we have, will want to go with us!
VERSES 2-3
1. Not only is our praise and worship of God a witness to others, but as we do, God reveals Himself to us. She was looking for Him and as she spoke of him, He revealed himself to her. As Jesus said in John 4:23-34, "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
VERSE 4
1. Now Solomon speaks of her beauty once again. Tirzah was a beautiful city in the north and was the capitol of the Northern Kingdom of Israel for a time. (During the reign of Baasha, I Kings 15:21, 33. Elah, I Kings 16:8. Zimri, I Kings 16:15. Omri, I Kings 16:23.). Jerusalem also spoke of her beauty. In Lamentations 2:15 we are told that Jerusalem is "...The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth..." Also, her beauty was displayed for all to see like the banners of a parade.
VERSES 5-7
1. Again just using poetic language to speak of the beauty of his beloved. Her eyes were captivating. Her hair was beautiful. Her teeth were perfect.
VERSE 8
1. At this point in their marriage, and we are not sure how far down the road they are, Solomon has 60 wives, 80 concubines that were already his, and many other virgins that would soon become his. Now how in the world can this be a picture of Christ? Here is one possible way to look at it. We are not the only church in town that loves the Lord, nor is Calvary Chapel the only true church. There is a body of believers that love the Lord within Calvary Chapel and the many other churches in Manitowoc and throughout the world. The important factor that links us together is not what church we belong to, but are we one of His, saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ. Some would be shocked to find out that there are no church denominations or non-denominations in heaven, only those that have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb, that is what really matters.
VERSES 9-10
1. Solomon is just expressing his love for her, how he loves her more than anyone else. Now I just got done saying in the previous verses that we, the multitudes of believers are united into one body, and now we can say of this illustration, that there is a united body of believers and a signal bride! And, as the church of God, His bride, we should reflect His glory, pure in His sight and go forth as an awesome army of God proudly displaying our love for Him and the Gospel message.
VERSES 11-12
1. She went down to the garden of nuts to see the fertility of the valley. This could be speaking of how their love had grown and it climaxed with her bridegroom coming for her to take her to himself. And as she reflects of this time, she can still hear the daughters of Jerusalem say to her...
VERSE 13a
1. As she prepares to leave her family, friends, the daughters of Jerusalem, they compel her to dance for them one more time. The phrase "Return, return" means to "turn around" or dance and show us your joy so we may remember your love before you go.
VERSE 13b
1. Again, she is just speaking of a special dance they would do, weaving between each other, and it was a dance of joy.
2. The next 5 verses in chapter 7 are attributed to Solomon, but it seems to be the daughters of Jerusalem speaking, and I will show you why I feel this way.
SONG OF SOLOMON 7
VERSES 1-5
1. As they speak of her beauty, they also note that the king, Solomon, is in love with her. They could be expressing this as she is dancing for them.
2. Now Solomon is going to speak.
VERSES 6-9a
1. He speaks of his love for her. Interestingly enough, when God looks at us He sees us as being beautiful. Paul said of our condition in Romans 5:12, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned." When we were lost in our sins, we were dead, spiritually speaking. But when we ask Jesus to be Lord and Savior of our life, it changes everything. We are made alive in Christ, spiritually speaking. And God does not see us as we are, but what we will be. In Christ, on a practical level, we still sin, but on a positional level we are seen as perfect as the blood of Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness. As Solomon said, "He has made everything beautiful in its time..." Ecclesiastes 3:11.
VERSES 9b-10
1. There has been tremendous growth in this relationship on her part. In Song of Solomon 2:16 she says, "My beloved is mine, and I am his..." Then in Song of Solomon 6:3 she says, "I am my beloved's, And my beloved is mine..." Now, in Song of Solomon 7:10 she says, "I am my beloved's..." PERIOD! She no longer is trying to earn his love, but is freely giving her life to him, the main joy of her life. The most important thing in your life is to know Jesus Christ, to give your life to Him, for He already loves you and His desire is that you love Him!
VERSES 11-13
1. When they first met they were in love with each other and that love grew to the point of marriage and consummating the marriage. Now some time has passed and maybe things have cooled off a little. That passion they once had for each other was gone. To re-kindle that fire, she wants him to go to the place they first met, they first fell in love, and they will share each others love there. The mandrakes were similar in size and color to apples and were considered to be an aphrodisiac.
2. As Christians we may need to re-kindle that fire that we once had with the Lord. Jesus told the church in Ephesus who had left their first love, Jesus, to "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works..." Revelation 2:5. Remember the story of Jacob. As he was on the run from his brother Esau, he had an encounter with God at Bethel. From there he went to his uncle Laban's house and spent 20 years away from God, until once again he was on the move, heading home. And after he makes peace with his brother Esau, "Then God said to Jacob, 'Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.'" Genesis 35:1. God was calling Jacob to get back to Bethel, which means "house of God". To re-establish that relationship that he once had with God. And the first thing he does is he puts away all the foreign gods, he wants to return to his first love, and he recognizes what needs to be done, and does it. May we also return to Bethel, the house of God!
3. Also, God wants to give us fruit in our lives. We were created for good works. The old fruit is the dried fruit while the new fruit was the fresh, and both are important in our lives. The old love is precious, it has been built up over the years and it is strong and deep. But there also needs to be fresh love, it keeps the relationship alive, romantic. In our walk with the Lord our love has been built upon our cry to be saved and from that point on it grows, and becomes stronger. We must also keep our walk fresh with the Lord, not let it become dry or stale. You need to spend time with Him!
SONG OF SOLOMON 8
VERSES 1-2
1. She is not desiring for Solomon to be her literal brother. In that culture to kiss anyone in public besides your brother or sister was frowned upon. And yet she wanted to display her love, she enjoyed kissing her husband and did not want to be restricted in showing her love toward him. I think that is important in a marriage relationship. Not only for the couple that are married, but that their children can plainly see how much they love each other and that the foundation for their love is Christ.
2. It seems today that we have many Christians that are secret agents. That is they hide their faith so no one will know. They don't desire to show the love they have for Christ. Or they are so obnoxious with their faith that they are repulsive to others. Display your love for God in a way that would bring Him honor, that would bring Him glory.
VERSE 3
1. Allow God to hold you close, draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. Allow God to embrace you, comfort you, love you as He desires. If you do, He will lift up your down cast soul, He will give you rest, He will encourage you and direct you.
VERSE 4
1. I think God is making a point in regards to this issue. This is the third time we see it in the Song of Solomon. And the basic idea is not to go looking for love, God will bring it to you just as He brought Eve to Adam. In His time, according to His plan, He will bring the person for you. Don't go looking for love, for you will be looking in all the wrong places. Fall in love with Jesus and He will give you the desire of your heart, because it will be His desire for your life!
VERSE 5a
1. Upon their return from the mountain get-away, they were in the mountains of Bether or separation, the people notice something different about her. Now she is leaning on her beloved. She learned to trust in him. She was unsure at first, but once she spent time with him, she learned to rest in him. That is what the Lord is doing with us. He is getting us to lean more and more upon Him and trust less and less in ourselves. But you must get alone with Him, to the mountains of Bether or separation. When people see you, do they see something different in your life? Do they see you leaning upon the Lord?
VERSE 5b
1. Maybe this is the place they met, under the apple tree, and where their love for each other began to grow.
VERSE 6a
1. God has given to us the Holy Spirit as His seal of love for us, showing that we are His and that He will return someday to take that which He has purchased with his life - the church, His bride! It is as Paul said in Ephesians 1:13-14, "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory."
VERSES 6b-7
1. Their love was strong, it was burning hot for each other. On the other hand, jealousy, which is not true love, is destructive. Think of relationships that jealousy has destroyed, which many times is an unfounded jealousy. And true love is freely given, there are no strings attached. If you can't give love freely, then don't give it at all. God wants us to love Him with no strings attached. Often people say to God, "I will trust in you if you do such and such for me." Wrong attitude. Jacob did this with the Lord when he said in Genesis 28:20-22, "...'If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.'" Jacob spent 20 years away from God before he returned to Bethel and this time there were no demands that he made to God before he would follow and serve Him.
VERSE 8
1. Her brothers or step brothers are speaking of a sister that is young, but one day she will grow up and be ready to marry. And they are just wondering how she will turn out, what they will do for her when she is older and ready to marry.
VERSE 9
1. In other words, if she lives a good life, a life of separation, they will build upon that. But if she is open to all kinds of things, living an immoral lifestyle, they will try to protect her, enclose her, so she won't continue down this destructive path.
2. As Christians we need to be a wall, to live a life that is separated unto God. Too often Christians are open to anything and everything, accepting all that comes their way. God has called us to be holy, set apart for His use, for His glory. In the church God has placed leaders "for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head; Christ; from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." Ephesians 4:12-16.
VERSE 10
1. She speaks of her life of separation and now her joy, her satisfaction, her rest in her beloved. True peace is found only in the Lord as we look to Him.
VERSE 11
1. Solomon owned a vineyard in the northern part of the country, in Baal Hamon. And her family owned one next to his. The difference is Solomon leased his land to others to grow their fruit, and he made a profit from it.
VERSE 12
1. She tells Solomon that he has leased his land, but he can have her freely. She desired to give her love to him, and God wants us to do the same. To freely give our love to Him.
VERSES 13-14
1. As you read through this song you see Solomon compelling her to go to the mountains with him. The first time she drags her feet and doesn't go. The second time she again is comfortable, and tucked into bed, and after a short while she does get up to find that he is already gone. Now, at the end of this song, no longer does he have to compel her to go, she is already on the way asking him to hurry up. As Jesus said in John 10:27, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."
One of the problems today is hearing the voice of God. If I were to tell you that in this room tonight are thousands of voices, music, news, and-so-on, you might think I was nuts. What if I also told you that there are even visual signals that are coming through the walls covering all kinds of events and shows. It is true. The problem is we can't pick these signals, these voices, these shows, unless we have a tuner to receive it. Just plug in a radio or television set and you will be able to receive all these programs.
The same is true with God. We need to tune into Him to hear His voice. Allow Him to speak to you through His Word. Put away all the other distractions, get alone with Him so He may speak to you and you may hear His voice.
2. As we close this book this evening, also understand that this is a love song and it is "the Old Testament's endorsement of monogamy in the face of the most glaring example of polygamy to be found in the Scriptures. It is a powerful plea to Israel of Solomon's day to return to the God-given ideal of love and marriage." Apply those lessons to your marriage, to your walk with the Lord, and watch both areas of your life grow and blossom!