“May he kiss me with the kisses of his
mouth!” (SS 1:1).
“Hurry, my beloved, and be like a
gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.” (SS 8:14).
The Song of Solomon begins with
passionate love, and it concludes with passionate love.
The imagery throughout the Song is
intimate and knowing.
“Let his left hand be under my head and
his right hand embrace me” (2:6).
“Let his left hand be under my head and
his right hand embrace me” (8:3).
This is a Song in which the Bride
rejoices in the Groom, and the Groom rejoices in the Bride. The Groom only has
eyes for the Bride and the Bride only has eyes for the Groom. It is sacred Song
with a sacred Love. In one sense the love is exclusive, in another sense others
are invited to bask in the love and to rejoice in the Bride and Groom.
In Revelation chapters 21 and 22 nations
walk by the light of the Bride and Groom (21:24) and the leaves of the Tree of
Life – which is now the union of the Bride and Groom - are for the healing of
the peoples (22:2).
A very rich man recently remarried. For
the wedding venue he rented a large section of an historical and culturally significant
city. He did not invite the world to his wedding.
When our Lord Jesus and His Bride
celebrate their wedding, when His glorious Bride descends from the unseen into
the seen, from the invisible into the visible – all the peoples of the earth
are invited to bask in the healing and light and glory that flows from the union
of the Bride and Groom.
The Bride and the Spirit issue an invitation
to all:
“The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.”
And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let
the one who wishes take the water of life without cost” (Rev. 22:17).
The Song of Songs is a duet of Bride and
Bridegroom. While others make an appearance on stage and provide background
music and singing, they are there only to highlight the passionate love of the
Groom and His Bride – of the Bride seeking the Groom and the Groom seeking His
Bride.
In the first verse the Bride sings of
her Beloved, and in the final verse the Bride sings of her Beloved. Between the
first and final verses is a Divine Duet of Love, Marriage, Consummation,
Enjoyment – a Divine Dance into eternity…indeed, a dance that never ceases; a
dance, I imagine, in which new steps and patterns unfold with Divine Life and
Movement and Energy.
As we read the Song, let’s note how its
core is the Bride focused on the Groom and the Groom focused on the Bride. Let’s
ponder their descriptions of one another – descriptions born of intimacy, of
love, of care, of tenderness, of giving – of union with one another.
“For this reason a man shall leave his
father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one
flesh” (Gen. 2:24).
“This mystery (Gen. 2:24) is great; but
I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church” (Eph. 5:32).
Jesus left His Father’s house to seek
His Bride; we are now bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh, members of His
Body (Eph. 5:30); holy and blameless before Him in love (Eph. 5:27; 1:4).
Ought we not to be wedded to Christ and
only to Christ? (2 Cor. 11:2 – 3).
