The Song of Solomon 1
IN Ecclesiastes we had man, trying to be happy without the knowledge of the only true God, and finding no satisfaction here, and at the end of life death (unwelcome visitor!) and the promise of judgment after death. The book we now enter upon has a far happier theme. Written as a song or poem, it has Christ for its subject, and Himself in connection with the redeemed of the Jews in the day now at hand, when the heavenly saints shall be gone away to glory, and great events are happening and about to happen in the ancient homeland of Israel.
The Song of Solomon will be to the “remnant,” as Scripture terms the repentant Jews, assurance that the Lord Jesus their once rejected and crucified Messiah, loves them and in Him they will find joy forever. While the place of these Jewish believers will not be equal to the Christian’s portion, there is much in the song that finds a response in the heart that loves Him in our own day.
Verse 2 is the language of a soul who already knows Christ, and seeks to know Him better. Is this the state of our own hearts? It is well for us if it is so, “That I may know Him” is the longing wish of Paul the pattern saint in Philippians 3, who desires to “win” Christ, though he knew Him, we make bold to say, more deeply than any of the children of God today. Truly the love of Christ is better than wine, the token or symbol of earthly joy.
Verse 3 speaks about the fragrance of His person. “Thine ointments savor sweetly; Thy name is an ointment poured forth” (N. T.).
Oil, when used as a symbol in Scripture, refers to the Holy Spirit; and ointment, fragrant oil (Exodus 30:22-33) tells of the worth, the moral glory, of the Son as Man sealed with the Holy Spirit, in all His wondrous journey from the manger at Bethlehem to the cross of Calvary.
What delight the Father must have had in His Son as He saw Him at Samaria’s well (John 4); by the grave of Lazarus (John 11); meeting the leper (Mark 1)—and all along His course! We who having believed, have tasted of the love of Christ, do not we find our delight in Him, as we meditate upon His perfect ways? “Ointment poured forth,” too, so that all, even the feeblest and most neglectful of the saints, may enjoy the fragrance! O, search the Word, learn more of Him. (2 Corinthians 3:18).
“Draw me, we will run after Thee,” (verse 4). Be this the language of all our hearts. There is an answer: “The King hath brought me into His chambers.” “King,” He will be, for Israel; King of Kings and Lord of Lords in the millennial day (Revelation 19:16), but the heavenly bride knows Him as the Lord, our Lord Jesus (Luke 22:31, 33; John 20:13, 18; John 21:7; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3, etc.).
In verses 5 and 6 the earthly bride speaks of herself. She is black, scorched with heat, for she will then have passed through the judgments which are to fall upon the Jews in the last days (Matthew 24; see Lamentations 4:8; also Job 30:30). And she has been hated by her mother’s children—the apostate Jews of whom the Psalms so often speak (see Psalms 31, 32, 35 and others), for the believing Jews will be cast out of Jerusalem, and made to hide for their lives because of the hatred of the unbelievers of their race. She has been made to toil for the Gentiles as foretold in Genesis 49:14, 15, but her own vineyard, the Land of Israel, has she not kept. Yet she is comely to the Bridegroom, her King; black as the tents of Kedar; beautiful as the curtains of Solomon; whiter than snow in Christ.
Verses 7 and 8 in question and answer, tell of the desire of the bride to know the bridegroom as Shepherd (Psalm 23, and see Ezekiel 34:11-15), and Of His love for her and care for even the little ones (end of verse 8).
But where is the flock of God (John 10) today? Scattered and divided by the wolf as foretold in Acts 20:28-30. Yet still, we are persuaded, there is a place or ground of gathering according to the mind of the Great Shepherd, where He feeds His flock, and makes it to rest (Matthew 18:20).
Verses 9-11 are still the voice of the Bridegroom, and verses 12-14 the bride’s language. We can only refer to these passages very briefly. The Bridegroom not only loves His earthly bride, but He will ornament her with gifts from Himself. See the mention of the gifts to Rebekah in Genesis 24, also read Ezekiel 16:10-13.
Mary in John 12:1-3 answers to verse 12. And does not communion of heart with the Lord give the key to the figure of verse 13? Is He embalmed in our breasts, in our hearts, as He should be? (John 14:21, 23).
Myrrh (verse 13) carried in a bundle is hidden from the eye, but the cluster of camphire (henna flowers) is carried openly (verse 14). Myrrh, we are told, is the juice of a tree, which flows through broken parts of the bark, and the camphire tree flowers grow in dense clusters, beautiful as well as fragrant. The vineyards of Engedi were celebrated for their rich fruits and costly spices.
Verse 15 is the Bridegroom’s voice again, and in verses 16, 17 it is the bride speaking to Him who has won her heart. She has nothing now to say of herself; faith goes on and says “our bed,” “our house,” “our rafters,” linking Him with herself, looking on to His visible presence on earth as the Husband of redeemed Israel (Isaiah 54:5). The first verse of chapter 2 belongs to this utterance of the bride. She is the rose, or narcissus of Sharon. Sharon is the fertile region of western Palestine, between Caesarea and Joppa.
ML 01/22/1933