Sabbath: The Royal Love Song
Image © Pacific Press
Read for This Week’s Study: Song of Solomon 1:1-8:14; Gen. 2:7; 1 Cor. 7:3-5; John 17:3; 1 John 1:9; Rom. 1:24-27; Gal. 5:24.
Memory Text: “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death, jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame” (Song of Solomon 8:6, NKJV).
Among the seasons of life, one of the big ones is marriage. Again, not everyone marries, but for those who do, marriage brings special challenges, and special blessings, as well. Among those blessings is the wonderful gift of sexuality. What a powerful expression of love this gift, in the right time and the right place, can be. Contrary to popular opinion, the Bible is not against sex. It’s against the misuse of this wonderful gift from the Creator to human beings.
In fact, the Song of Solomon, one of the smallest and perhaps one of the least-read books of the Bible, describes the relationship between a young bride, Shulamite, and her beloved, who is believed to be King Solomon himself. The book unfolds the mysteries of human intimacy and the delights of conjugal love in marriage. Although the Song of Solomon has frequently been treated allegorically as a symbol of the relationship of God and God’s people or of Christ and the church, it is first of all a poem on the love found in the very real human relationship of a man and woman.
This week we will look at marriage as portrayed in this Old Testament book.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, May 11.
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My view of language has always been pragmatic. I’m a scientist and I use language to describe things and events or give instructions about how to do something. When it comes to romance, “I love you” is pretty much as romantic as I can get. Carmel reckons that scientists are only one rung above accountants when it comes to the use of romantic language. Don’t ask Carmel about my marriage proposal. As I have recounted elsewhere it happened on a train in the middle of the night in a sitting compartment, colloquially known as a “Dog-Box”, with at least 4 other people present. They were asleep or at least had their eyes shut. Most of our so-called proposal was working out the details of where and when we could get married.
That does not mean that I do not appreciate the fine literature of love and romance and it is my loss that I can only quote it and not create it myself. So, when it comes to the Song of Solomon, I come as a neophyte in romantic expression. I have much to learn. A casual glance at the lesson for this week indicates that there is going to be an emphasis on the morality of sexual relationships. While I appreciate the importance of that idea, I wonder if perhaps we need a change of perspective.
After all, a sexual act lasts on average about 6 minutes, but a loving relationship should last a lifetime. My experience has been that if we get the perspective right, the other things fall into their place more readily. Romantic love has something more to it than the chemistry of testosterone, oxytocin, prolactin, and endorphins, just as spiritual life is much more than going to church for a couple of hours each week.
Amen...really appreciated
So is our relationship with Christ if our prayer and meditation is 7 minutes three times a week, or worse yet once a week. How do we expect to garner a meaningful relationship with that little time. Isaiah tells us, God will put those of us in perfect peace whose mind dwells on Him. Isaiah 26:3. To me that means, a thoughtful hour, with our Bible, with meditation and prayer. A good barometer of our relationship with Christ is, “I would rather die than miss a day without devotion with Christ”. Having the privilege of being a private pilot I proposed to my wife in a Cessna 150. It had always been my dream. Lynne said yes, and then I had the scenes to apologize for not kneeling under the circumstances.
I do believe that Solomon wrote his books after he came back to God for the purpose of helping young people. You might say, he wrote the 1st Messages to Young People. There is still much to learn for us older folks though, yes from a different a point of view.
The book of Song of Solomon and its graphic representations often produce raised eyebrows. The other 65 books are read more frequently. Solomon seems to have a more than average interest in the opposite sex. Solomon was given what he asked God to give him. The request was for wisdom. Proverbs that we just finished reading and discussing, also a book written by Solomon, is interesting what has been chosen for this week study.
I think this lesson teaches us that relationships are important to life...we need to spend time with those we love .God is the perfect example
Samuel Gwatiringa
Thank you"love is as strong as death"what exactly is meant there?Can someone die because of divorcé?