So today, we finally have reached the end of the Old Testament wisdom literature, which means there's only one section of the Old Testament left, which is the prophets. And then we are into the New Testament starting, I think, sometime in April, the last I checked. But today, as we conclude our study of wisdom literature, we are looking at the Song of Solomon, or the Song of Songs, as some older translators rendered it. This past Friday, I was at the Men's Lunch Bible Study that meets in the Fellowship Hall on Fridays at noon. I was teaching a series through Obadiah, and one of the men mentioned Dr. Phillips' recent Q&A session that he had a couple weeks ago on a Wednesday night while we were in here. He was answering questions from the congregation, which I highly recommend going back to check out in your abundant free time between school and work and family responsibilities and all those things, should you find the time. It's very fun. We found out that dogs are in heaven and cats are not. But he was talking about this and he said the next time he plans to ask this question, he says, I have been in the church, this man said, since 1977. That's 10 years longer than I have been alive. And I have never, ever heard a single lesson on the Song of Solomon. When are we going to hear the Song of Solomon? Well, after today, you will never be able to say that you've been in the church 45 years and never heard a lesson from the Song of Solomon. This is a book that probably, I don't have any statistics to back this up, I'm just estimating, probably 90% of Christians have never heard a message from this book. Many older Jewish rabbis have said that a person should not read this book until he's 30 years old. Origen, who was an early church father, said, I advise and counsel anyone who is not yet rid of the vexations of the flesh and blood and has not ceased to feel the passions of the bodily nature to refrain from reading this book. Now what's our response to that? Simply put, This book is in the Word of God. And the Scripture teaches us that we're not to live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. That the Word of God is living and active, that it's sharper than any two-edged sword, that every word of Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, that the man of God may be fully equipped for every good work. Now, it's true, the subject matter of this book deals with marriage and intimacy, and things that a lot of people find uncomfortable to talk about publicly. But the way I look at it, all these matters are important, and if you don't get grounded in how to think about them from scripture, the world will happily disciple and corrupt your thinking on it. There is a way to talk about these things honestly, without being graphic or crude, and that is what we'll aim to do today. This is only awkward if we let it be awkward. So I'm not going to do that. and I'm going to treat y'all with the honor and respect that you're mature enough not to do that either. So that said, we're going to do two things as we do an overview of this book. We're going to talk through the contents of the book divided by section, as we've done all the way through this series and this overview of the Bible, and I'll give you that outline in a moment. And secondly, at the end of the lesson, we're going to say, How does this relate to Christ? Where is Christ in the Song of Solomon? Because that is a matter of really a lot of dispute, even amongst good, solid Bible-believing Christians. A lot of good men, even professors in the same seminary, on the same page, will differ specifically on that point of this book. So there's a lot of debate, and I'm going to give you all my view, which, full disclosure, I'm stealing from Opal McRobertson because he's the man. All right. Before we get to that, Miles Van Pelt, who is an Old Testament and Hebrew professor at RTS Jackson wrote this, the fact that God created man and woman as very good beings and sexual beings is that this reality was to be expressed in the covenant of marriage and that by analogy this covenantal relationship became the dominant way by which God would relate to his people has caused difficulty for those who have labored to interpret the Song of Songs. In fact, no other book in the Old Testament has suffered at the hands of interpreters throughout history like the Song of Songs. Interpretations range from carnal erotic love poetry to sublime, otherworldly descriptions of the divine human relationship, and almost everything in between. The swing of the pendulum from allegorical to natural interpretations in our modern context has resulted in what he calls the functional decanonization of the Song of Songs. What do you think he means by decanonization? Yeah? It's in your Bible, but we never deal with it. Functionally, in practice with how it's handled, it's not treated that way. And so we're gonna look at this at the text first, on the surface level, make some observations, and then we'll connect it to Christ. And here's the basic outline of the book, and I've made this from my Old Testament professor, Dr. Richard Belcher, Jr. He outlines the book this way. Chapter one to chapter two, verse seven, is affirmation. 1 to 2, 7 is affirmation. 2, 8 to 3, 5 is lost and found. 2, 8 to 3, 5 is lost and found. 3, 6 to 5, 1 is consummation. 5, 2 to 8, 4 is lost and found again. And then, I'm sorry, 5, 2 to 8, 4 is lost and found again. And then 8-5 to the end of the book is maturation. So we've got affirmation, lost and found, consummation, lost and found, and maturation, maturity. That's another way to say that. And basically, the idea is that this is not just a random collection of poems, but there's a progress through as we trace the relationship of these two people. And it begins with this section of affirmation. In this opening section, this young couple express and exchange ideas of desire, of self-doubt, of encouragement, and so on. The very opening verses are an expression of the woman's longing for a man, but notice how she describes herself very early in the book. She says in chapter one, verse five, I am very dark, but lovely. Do not gaze at me, verse six, because I am dark, because the sun has looked down upon me. Evidently, culturally, a suntan was not a good thing back then like it is considered now. Nonetheless, the point is that she has this desire for a man, but she feels that she is not attractive enough, that she is not good enough to attract the man of her desire. Now men pay attention to how he addresses her in verse eight. Oh, most beautiful among women. See, he's affirming her. And he's not just saying that, but he actually elaborates in verse 9. He compares her to a mare among Pharaoh's chariots. Now, a lot of the descriptions and the analogies of this book are going to miss for us, because we're in a different cultural context. What's it mean to compare? I do not recommend comparing any young ladies that you're interested with to a horse. It's generally not thought positive to resemble a steed. But the point of this is that often in the ancient world, the pharaoh's chariots were led by male horses. And so when they were led into battle, one commonly used tactic to distract, to throw off the chariots, was to introduce a mare. And the male horses suddenly lost track of what was going on. And the idea is, he's saying, you are so beautiful, that I can't keep focused on what I'm supposed to be doing. You're so attractive to me, despite what you think of yourself, that I can't get you out of my mind. And then she responds in chapter one, verses 12 to 14, with a mini speech about how precious he is, but then she turns her attention back to herself and she says, I am a rose of Sharon, a lily in the valleys. No one knows exactly what a Rose of Sharon is, but from the context, especially the following line that says, a lily in the valleys, what we can infer is that she's like, okay, I am pretty, but it's common. Like I'm nothing special. I'm not special enough. It's nice, it's attractive, but it's not anything that stands out. That's how she perceives herself at this point. But then the man comes back and says, no, you are a lily among the brambles." In other words, she's saying, I'm beautiful but common, and he is saying, no, you are beautiful beyond compare. And now here's the true wisdom in this section of the book at the end of, or at this point in chapter two, because all of this is good stuff kept in the appropriate context. And the context of these two young peoples, they are, betrothed to be married. These two are getting ready for a lifelong covenantal union with one another. And here's the wisdom, is chapter two, verse seven says, I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. The point is, be careful with whom you form intimate attractions. Be careful with whom you form emotional attractions because relationships like that are difficult to manage. That's why she cautions other young ladies, do not stir, do not awaken love until it is the right time. You see, there's a good and beautiful time for this relationship to blossom, but it's not until marriage. And the risk that we run with close relationships looking for affirmation, looking for emotional support exclusively from one person, it's as if what you're doing is you're taking God's design, and you're planting the seed, and you're putting it in good light, and you're watering that seed, and then you're expecting the flower not to grow. That's ridiculous. This is why many of your parents place careful rules and boundaries around these kinds of relationships. Because left unguarded, they do blossom. This is why parents place careful boundaries around these, and you would be wise to heed them. Be careful not to stir up love before it pleases, before the appropriate time. And then we move on into the next section, which is titled Lost and Found, There's some kind of separation here. We're not sure exactly what it is, but this is essentially her speech, you know, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? She can't find him, she doesn't know where she is, and she's seeking for him. In verse 14, she says, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely. She's longing to hear from him, but evidently there's no response. Verse 15 tells us something has been ruined. The foxes spoiled the vineyards. But by the time we get to chapter three, verse four, she has found him. She says, scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house, into the chamber of her who conceived me. The point is, by the time we get there, she's found him, she's not letting go again. That separation is not going to happen again, and that's where we lead into, really, the climax and the center of the book in what's called consummation. This is the marriage ceremony. It's at the center of the book. Remember, we talked about in Hebrew poetry, Hebrew wisdom literature, it tends to be that there's a mountain peak that builds up, and it gets to the top. That's the center point of the book. That's the real thing that's trying to be argued from, and then it slopes back down. We always think of storytelling as you build up to the big thing at the very end. And that's not the way they would have thought of it. So the marriage comes at the center of the book. King Solomon arrives in chapter 3, verse 9, in a carriage which he made with his bare hands, which is a pretty cool flex. And he speaks of the beauty that's behind the veil. He refers to her for the first time in chapter four, verse eight, as his bride. This is a clear sign that we're in the marriage ceremony. And the clearest sign is found in verse 16 of chapter four. Because we've been told up to this point twice that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. Chapter two, verse seven. Chapter three, verse five. Both reiterate that. But now in chapter 4, verse 16, it says, awake. And there's this description of communion there. He referred to as my garden and his garden. This is a one flesh relationship. And they lived happily ever after. Except they didn't. Because the very next section, as you'll remember from the outline, is again, going through that lost and found rhythm of things. Chapter 5, verse 2, she says, I slept, but my heart was awake. Anybody ever have that feeling? You're trying to sleep, but your mind is racing, your heart's distracted, and you can't rest. She's going through that here, and it's related to some manner of fight that they had. It's hard to tell exactly what's going on, but it seems that he's pursuing her in the time is not right. And so now she is pursuing him in verse six. It says, I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. My soul failed me when he spoke, I sought him, but found him not. I called him, but he gave no answer. Again, we're in some kind of separation after the marriage, after they've been united in, in the, in the, in the bonds of marriage, there is some kind of separation and she is distressed about it. That's a real thing that happens. And in chapter six, she finds him tending the garden. After searching long and high, near and far, she finds him doing exactly what it is that he always does. She's tending to the garden. My beloved has gone down to his garden, chapter six, verse two. to the beds of spices, to grays in the gardens, and together lilies. I am my beloved, and my beloved is mine." This is a statement of recognizing in her own mind, while she had wandered all over the place in her own concerns over their separation, a remembering that, no, this is a committed, exclusive relationship. I am his, and he is mine. It's distressing when there's separation, yet I find him doing faithfully what it is that he's supposed to be doing. and they make up in chapter seven. Now we're gonna get towards the end of the book here with the maturity section. You see there's progress that's being made throughout here. They're working through a storyline. In chapter eight, verses six and seven, in this maturity section, there is what's really a strong definition of the love that they share. She says, set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death. Jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despise. What's the point? The point is, love is certain. It cannot be quenched. It cannot be exhausted. It cannot be, you can't get too much of it from this particular person. But at the same time, it cannot be drowned. It cannot be stopped. It cannot be stamped out. True love has never really had enough of the object of that love, and it cannot be killed. What's more, it cannot be bought. That's the point of verse 7 at the end. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised. You can't buy love. You can't give things in exchange for it. It just is between these two. But then also in verses 11 and 12, we see that this love is exclusive. Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Haman. He led out the vineyard to keepers. Each one was to bring for its fruit 1,000 pieces of silver. My vineyard, my very own, is before me, you. O Solomon, may have the 1,000 and the keepers of the fruit 200." The point is this. Solomon is well known in the Old Testament for having many women. We're told in Kings and Chronicles that he had, I believe, 300 wives, and I want to say more than 2,500 concubines. Concubine is a woman that you have relationships with that's not your wife. He had a lot. And the point is, from the eyes of this Paul, All of that is nothing compared to the one, compared to the one that is truly to be prized. And there's debate in this poem. It's called Song of Solomon. There's debate whether this was written by Solomon maybe later in his life, like Ecclesiastes, as a sign of repentance for his excessive lifestyle. That's a theory. There's theories that it was written before his corruption. That's also a theory. I am generally persuaded that this was not written by Solomon, but rather written as a rebuke and as a corrective of Solomon. In other words, it's the Song of Solomon which he needs to hear. It's the Song of Solomon which was written as a rebuke to the king. Because the one is worth more than the endless supply that's available to, at this point, the most powerful man in the world. So that's the outline of the book. They're tracing the relationship of these two young people from their initial attraction and betrothal, to their marriage, to their life as an old married couple. And there's this progress that works through. Now the question is, where do we find Christ in the Song of Solomon? The most common interpretation in the Bible-believing world is, simply put, this is a book about marriage, And marriage is ultimately a picture of Christ and his church. And so this is a picture of the Lord's desire for us and how we are to think upon him. And I think that there's certainly a lot of legitimacy to that approach. There's a lot of accuracy to that. The problem is, while it's true, I'm not convinced that that's the point the book itself has in mind. So that makes sense that it's theologically true, but maybe not technically correct because there's nothing in this book about the Lord in Israel, about Christ and his church. There's nothing in the contents of the book that would point us to the Messiah, the son of David, all of this kind of thing. Rather, I think the point is actually found towards the end of the book in chapter eight, verse six. In this definition of love, it says, its flashes are the flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. The point is this, is this is a picture of what marriage looks like when it's between two who love the Lord above all. This is the redeemed picture of marriage. This is the type of marriage that a Christian ought to aspire to, and it is supported and upheld only by the power of God. That's what's able to allow them to overcome when they have their fight after the marriage. That's what's able to allow them to persevere when there's all this doubt and wrestling between the affirmation and the consummation. That's what allows them to persevere and be wise in the affirming part of the relationship before they get to the actual marriage ceremony. It's all upheld by the Lord. And as we wrap up our time, I'm just going to read to you guys Palmer Robertson's understanding and maybe that'll help flesh this out a little bit more. He says, the redemptive historical reading, which is what I just laid out for you, provides the best framework for the understanding of the Song of Songs. When this perspective is fully comprehended, no need to find Christ in the song in any other way other than as the redeemer and restorer of the original marriage relationship is needed. From this perspective, Christ is preached in the song, not by finding him allegorically or typologically. See, that's where, if you take it straight up as this is one-to-one, the man is Christ and the woman is the church through the song, you get into a lot of awkward spots. Because I did not read these, but there are physical descriptions of that union that are not analogous to our relationship with the Lord. From this perspective, again, Christ is preached in the song not by finding him allegorically or typologically. Instead, by considering the song in the broader context of redemptive history, the work of Christ in reconstituting the marriage relationship confirms him as the cosmic Christ. Indeed, this relationship may be comprehended more fully by recognizing that the reconstitution of marriage is possible only through the expression of the same kind of self-sacrificing love that Christ showed for his church. The purpose of the psalm is to focus on the love between redeemed man and woman in the context of Christ's recreative work. In other words, that's a really fancy way of saying, the book is about a man and a woman and their relationship. And where God is in the book is upholding and guiding and sustaining that relationship and allowing them to enjoy it to its fullness. Does that make sense? All right. Well, that takes me to the end of our lesson. I know we flew through that one, but that's where we land. Let me pray. God in heaven, thank you for your word. Thank you for the gift of marriage. And thank you for wisdom from your word that would guide us in these kinds of relationships. Lord, we ask that you would bless these young people, that you would Watch over them and protect them from the influence of our culture and world that is so quick to corrupt and destroy the beautiful pictures laid before us in this book. Help us to pursue Christ and pursue marriage as He created it and instituted it for our good and for His glory. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.