The Song of Solomon Program No SPEAKER: JOHN BRADSHAW

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1 It Is Written Script: 1266 The Song of Solomon Page 1 The Song of Solomon Program No SPEAKER: JOHN BRADSHAW As a newly-minted high school student, just 12 years old, I was fortunate enough to have a good English teacher named Mr. Braithwaite. Now, he might have been good, but the truth is, I don t remember too much about the actual class the odd writing assignment maybe although I do remember poetry. Somehow, poetry made a bit of an impression on me. And I vividly remember learning this poem by the British poet Rupert Brooke: If I should die, think only this of me: That there s some corner of a foreign field That is forever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware... And so on. The poem was called, The Soldier, and Brooke was a soldier in World War I. I m not really sure why we young high-schoolers had to study that particular piece of verse, but I ve never forgotten it, so there must be something about the way it s written. Good poetry endures. Sometimes poetry that isn t any good endures too. And down through the annals of time, there have been many great poets and many memorable poems. I was always slightly amused by this one: I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the sweet earth s flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray... That s from Trees by Joyce Kilmer, who was from New Jersey. T.S. Eliot was slightly more gritty:

2 It Is Written Script: 1266 The Song of Solomon Page 2 Because I do not hope to turn again Because I do not hope Because I do not hope to turn Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope I no longer strive to strive towards such things (Why should the aged eagle stretch its wings?) Why should I mourn The vanished power of the usual reign? And so forth Which is from the poem, Ash Wednesday. In the 1800s, Elizabeth Browning Barrett wrote, How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace... And you can t really discuss poetry without mentioning William Shakespeare. All the world s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. There you go. It s from Shakespeare s work, As You Like It. I ve got a brother who used to be a bit of a poet I mean, an amateur poet. His wife tells the story about how she first became attracted to him by the poetry he wrote. Evidently, he had a way with words back then, and thereby won her heart. (Just as well, as he certainly didn t get her with his looks...) The Bible contains a lot of poetry. Of the 66 books in the Bible, five of them are books of poetry. The book of Job is a book of poetry. The book of Psalms is a collection of 150 psalms songs, mainly which are essentially poems. Proverbs is another of the poetic books of the Bible: 31 chapters of wisdom if you like, a chapter every day for a month if you like to read that way and it s fairly straightforward reading. Ecclesiastes is poetry Solomon s reflections on the ultimate meaning of life. And then there s one more book of poetry in the Bible a book that has caused a lot of people to scratch their heads and wonder. I d say it s one of the least-read books of the Old Testament. It s The Song of Solomon. What s THAT about?

3 It Is Written Script: 1266 The Song of Solomon Page 3 There are only 117 verses in the eight chapters of the Song of Solomon. Yet it s a book of the Bible not very many people have read. It s a love story, and the language can get a bit intense at times... I would venture to suggest that a lot of people haven t figured out how the Song of Solomon can play a role in their devotional lives. So let s consider the Song of Solomon (Song of Solomon 7:1): How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O prince s daughter! The curves of your thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a skillful workman. What s that all about? We ll find out more about the Song of Solomon in just a moment. EVERY WORD DEVOTIONAL The privilege of a believer in Jesus isn t simply to believe right or to be forgiven. What God wants to do in our lives goes much deeper. It s important we let God do a complete work in our lives. This is Luke 11:24-26: When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Faith in Jesus isn t simply the denying of what it wrong, but it s being filled up with the One who is right. Let Jesus fill you up today. RETURN TO PROGRAM The book of Genesis. Well, you know what that s about. It s the book of beginnings the creation story, the fall, the flood, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph...that s Genesis. Then there s Exodus: the Israelites exit Egypt and they begin their journey to the Promised Land. What s Proverbs about? Well that s the book of wisdom. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John the stories of Jesus life and ministry. Easy. But the Song of Solomon? If you ve spent much time reading the Bible or going to church, you ll likely recognize some of the verses in the Song of Solomon. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. (Song of Solomon 2:4)

4 It Is Written Script: 1266 The Song of Solomon Page 4 That phrase The little foxes that spoil the vines comes from Song of Solomon 2:15. This is my beloved, and this is my friend. (Song of Solomon 5:16) That s popular at weddings. As is: Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised. (Song of Solomon 8:7) But the content of the Song of Solomon is generally rather different from any other book in the Bible. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine. (Song of Solomon 1:2) Your lips are like a strand of scarlet, and your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like a piece of pomegranate. (Song of Solomon 4:3) Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, which feed among the lilies. (Song of Solomon 4:5) Now that s an interesting book. Why the...language? Well, the Song of Solomon is an allegory, using the love and affection expressed between Solomon and his wife or at least, one of his wives to express the love and tender care of God toward the church. It s certainly a love story, no doubt about it, and in this story is expressed the love between Solomon and his wife. But God uses it to represent the greater love the love of God for His church, and the love of God s people for Him. The key character in the Song of Solomon is Jesus and some people find it curious that God would express His love for His people, and Christ s commitment and devotion to sinful human beings, in this way. But perhaps the Song of Solomon helps us to see how the relationship between a man and a woman who love each other is designed by God to be representative of the love of God for His people. The imagery isn t entirely unique to the Song of Solomon. In Isaiah 54:5, God says: Your Maker is your husband. And Paul told the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 11:2): For I have betrothed you to one husband. In the Bible especially in Bible prophecy a woman is used as a symbol to represent a church. You find that in Jeremiah 6:2, where God says:

5 It Is Written Script: 1266 The Song of Solomon Page 5 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a lovely and delicate woman. Hosea uses the same symbol (find that in Hosea 1:2, in fact, it s in the whole book of Hosea) and God uses the symbol of a woman to represent a church in the book of Revelation, especially in Revelation 12 and 13. So for God to use this story, the Song of Solomon, to represent his love for his church, isn t a stretch at all. It seems that in the Song of Solomon, Solomon had just become King. In his early 20s, he was rich, powerful and very likely very handsome and up until that time, a very eligible bachelor. You can imagine Solomon thinking about his future and thinking about his world, and then wondering where he was going to find a wife. At first blush, you might think that every girl in the land would marry him if only he would ask. But Solomon had to walk that minefield of finding out whether a woman loved him for himself or simply because he was the king. A modern royal love story is that of Prince William and Kate Middleton now the Duchess of Cambridge. It seems to be a story of two young people drawn together by mutual love. In apparent contrast, the prince s father s experience with finding true love was rather more anguished. Prince Charles marriage to Princess Diana was fraught with difficulty and ended in discord. And later there was tragedy. So how would Solomon find a wife who truly loved him? Well, he hatched a plan. He disguised himself as a shepherd and started to travel throughout his kingdom looking for Miss Right. How long did that take him? Well, some time I think, because by the end of his search, he found himself at the farthest end of his kingdom in the land of Shulam and it was there that he met the woman of his dreams. They fell in love the girl from a farming family and Solomon the king disguised as a shepherd. We can probably imagine how Solomon felt. He s headover-heels in love, walking on air, because he s found the woman who truly fulfills him. Now the girl though obviously beautiful had a low opinion of herself. She said, Do not look upon me, because I am dark, because the sun has tanned me. My mother s sons were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept. (Song of Solomon 1:6) This young maiden worked on her family farm. And the rest of the Song of Solomon goes through their love story, hers and Solomon s. It seems Solomon lived with the family for some time as this relationship developed and then he disappeared. Out of sight. Never to be found again it seemed. Just...gone. How would a woman in love feel, having that experience thrust upon her? Now it does happen, you know. Do you remember back in 2005, a woman in Duluth, Georgia, disappeared four days before her wedding day?

6 It Is Written Script: 1266 The Song of Solomon Page 6 There was a huge search, with more than 200 people taking part in the search for her. A 32-year-old simply left her fiancé with absolutely no idea of where she was. She called him a couple of days later the day before they were scheduled to be married and she claimed that she d been abducted. Now, thankfully, it was all a hoax and the woman hadn t been harmed. The poor girl simply had cold feet and skipped town, and at the time the story was unfolding, there was an outpouring of sympathy for a young man whose wife-to-be had simply vanished. The woman in Song of Solomon expresses her sorrow like this (Song of Solomon 3:1-3): By night on my bed I sought the one I love; I sought him, but I did not find him. I will rise now, I said, And go about the city; in the streets and in the squares I will seek the one I love. I sought him, but I did not find him. She must have felt as though her world was coming to an end. Put yourself in that position: she likely had trouble focusing on work and probably didn t get much sleep. But while we don t know how long this separation went on for, it can t have been very long, because in chapter 3 it says this (Song of Solomon 3:6-10): Who is this coming out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the merchant s fragrant powders? Behold, it is Solomon s couch, with sixty valiant men around it, of the valiant of Israel. They all hold swords, being expert in war. Every man has his sword on his thigh because of fear in the night. Of the wood of Lebanon Solomon the King made himself a palanquin [chariot]: he made its pillars of silver, its support of gold, its seat of purple, its interior paved with love by the daughters of Jerusalem. The cry must have gone through the land, Solomon is coming! Lets go out to meet him. Her heart would have raced: Where is he going? Is he coming to see me? Well we know the answer. He was traveling to the furthest reaches of his kingdom to the land of Shulam to find his true love. Can you imagine what it was like when Solomon and his entourage stood at her door? And you can you imagine how she felt when she realized it was Solomon...the one she loved so much? Chapter 3 verse 4 says that when she found Him, I held him and would not let him go, until I had brought him to the house of my mother, and into the chamber of her who conceived me. Isn t that a wonderful story? Now, how does this tell us about Jesus? How does the Song of Solomon reveal the love that God has for his people?

7 It Is Written Script: 1266 The Song of Solomon Page 7 RETURN FROM BREAK Thanks for joining me today on It Is Written. I m John Bradshaw. Do you think that God is busy? Now, by human terms, I d say that God probably is. The Bible tells us that He created all things, and that includes this vast universe. Then about 6,000 years ago, Adam and Eve turned their back on God. They allowed sin into their lives and into the world. The Bible is clear that sin is the transgression of the law, and the wages of sin is death. Let me ask you this: In his busyness, did God turn his back on Adam and Eve? Well, no, of course He didn t. In fact, ahead of time, God had devised a plan where if Adam and Eve were to turn from Him, God would restore them. Jesus like Solomon in the Song of Solomon would go out in search of the lost. Jesus left Heaven and traveled to the farthest reaches of His kingdom. And where did He end up? He came to us. He came to this sinful world and He still calls to our hearts just as He called to Adam in the Garden of Eden after they fell. God went in pursuit of Adam and Eve, and you ll read in the Book of Genesis that God came to them saying, Adam, where are you? The Song of Solomon discusses the love between a Creator God and His children here on the Earth: a Savior who loves us so much that He crossed the universe to find us and save us for His kingdom. And the Song of Solomon doesn t stop there. It tells us just what type of relationship Jesus wants to have with us. What happened when Solomon met his girl? Sparks began to fly! They got married. And in chapter 8:5, we see Solomon and his bride. Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? This is a picture of two people in love. It describes Mrs. Solomon as leaning on her beloved. It is not just a picture of two people holding hands. It is more than that. They are in love and she is described as leaning her full weight on Solomon. Solomon is supporting her. If he d pulled away right then, Mrs. Solomon would have fallen over. She trusted him completely. And isn t that the same type of relationship Jesus wants us to have with Him? I remember reading about some Bible translators somewhere in the South Pacific trying to find a way to translate the word faith into the local language, as the word didn t exist in that language. They finally decided to use the idea of leaning one s whole weight upon something to portray what faith was: To lean your whole weight upon. To have faith in. God wants us to lean our whole weight upon Him to cast all our cares upon Him. Verse 7 of the Song of Solomon chapter 8 says (Song of Solomon 8:7):

8 It Is Written Script: 1266 The Song of Solomon Page 8 Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised. Pure love is something that cannot be destroyed. It isn t something that can be bought. And this is the kind of love that God offers to us...for free. God comes to us at a time when we most need Him, and He sweeps us off our feet. He says (Jeremiah 31:3): I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. I got to know a lady once, a single mom with a lovely daughter about 10 to 12 years old. She d had some unfortunate relationships that had caused some real trouble in her life in the past. She said to me one day, John, I ve finally met a man that I can love! I was happy for her, so I asked the obvious question. Who? She smiled, she paused, and then she said, simply, Jesus. She said, He ll never leave me, He loves me for who I am and He ll never let me down. How right she was. And perhaps this is one of the most encouraging verses in the book (Song of Solomon 6:10): Who is she who looks forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, awesome as an army with banners? You see, God looks with admiration upon His church a church that will one day be ready to meet Him. What a day that s going to be! And the thing that s going to get us from here to there is the love of God and our love for Him. When we understand that God loves His people passionately using one of the greatest love stories in the Bible to describe that love something wonderful is going to happen. You can trust Someone whom you know loves you completely. You can feel safe with Somebody whom you know loves you completely. And you can love Somebody whom you know loves you with no strings attached, which is why the Bible says (1 John 4:19): We love Him, because He first loved us. And if you ve ever wondered if God has a plan for this troubled world, the Song of Solomon assures you He definitely does. Jesus left this Earth 2,000 years ago, but not so He d be gone forever. Like Solomon in the story, He ll be back soon to get His bride.

9 It Is Written Script: 1266 The Song of Solomon Page 9 If you ll learn to lean on your beloved, one day soon you ll see Jesus return. The wait will be worth it. We ll be reunited with Jesus and we ll be with Him forever. You can be ready. You don t need to think that your Beloved has forgotten you, or that when He comes back, He won t be coming back for you, if you can choose to have faith in this great God whom the Bible says is Love. It doesn t just say that God loves; it says in 1 John 4 that God IS love. If you can learn to accept that love, you ll experience a complete transformation in your life and you will find that loving God is the easiest thing in the world. Perhaps we should pray now and ask that God, the One who loves us so much, will keep us, preserve us and come soon to get us and take us home. Let s pray. PRAYER: Our Father in Heaven, I thank you that you love us passionately. I thank you that you are crazy about this world. I thank you that you long to come soon and gather up your people and take them home. Let that day come soon and let us be ready by exercising simple faith in this great God who is love. Lord, we choose you today. Thank you for loving us. Give us the grace to love you back and to grow in you as we trust you and lean on you. We thank you today and we pray in Jesus name, Amen. It Is Written Box O Thousand Oaks, CA USA Tel: (805) Fax: (805)