Song of Songs Part One Dive

THIS NEEDS A ‘CENSORED’ SIGN! … OR DOES IT?

When you begin to read the Song of Songs, if you dare to venture into it at all, you may feel shocked and begin to question, how is this in the Bible? Is this allowed to be discussed in the Bible? Aren’t we the ‘love’ police? Aren’t we the ones telling people to control themselves, control their desires – keep it clean people!

You can imagine how many censored signs would be over this if it was a Christian movie, I mean check out Chapter 7:8, ‘I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of the fruit’. Innocent enough, but when the author has just described the palm tree as her body and the fruit her breasts – time to get me that censored sign! … or is it? Why do we do that to this incredible book? Is it easier to digest in our Christianity? I bet you were even nervous to read this Dive on Song of Songs, just in case I got too ‘naughty’ – am I right?!

So, we limit this to an allegory – this is about God and Israel and Christ and the Church. Although an absolutely beautiful and valid way of interpreting Song of Songs, and probably the safest and most polite way of interpreting such an erotic text. It brings alive the beautiful verses such as:

SOS 2:16 My beloved is mine and I am his; he broses among the lilies.

And the heartbreaking moment where you miss the promptings of God to go and be with him in prayer…

SOS 5:6 I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had left; he was gone.

And what about the declaration of love over us:

SOS 2:4 Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love.

Now if you are single, I think this is the safest way to study the Song of Songs for now, because Song of Songs comes with a warning:

SOS 2:7/3:5 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until is so desires.

Love is a powerful desire, a powerful emotion that has been given to us by God. Used in the right way, within the beautiful bond of marriage, it is a gift from Heaven to us. But if you are not married and this gift is used outside the boundaries He specifies (1 Cor 7:2, Hebrews 13:4, Gal 5:19-21), it can become harmful to you.

So take the warning if you are single, don’t awaken love before you are allowed. It is more powerful than you know and is very hard to quieten down again! But within the safety of marriage, why have we relegated Song of Songs to the sexually immoral box? This love poem is in the Bible for a reason!

If you are married, please don’t limit this text to just one facet of your life: your beautiful relationship with Jesus! Don’t be so ‘holy’ or so ‘pure’ that you can’t see that God has given you a gift of love, desire, affection and intimacy with your husband or wife to be celebrated and felt.

You can take this beautiful poem as what it was originally intended: a love poem, expressing the desires, emotions and intimate moments of love and passion between two lovers: She and He.

Will we ever understand the fullness of this incredible book? Probably not! We will never know why the friends are involved in such an intimate love affair – let’s be honest, it’s a little weird! We may never know the fullness of the emotion and passion found in this text or even who wrote it. We will never know if Solomon wrote this, or how did he would have felt this way about one woman when he had over 300 concubines and 700 wives. So many questions that we can ask when we get to Heaven!

God has put this book in the Bible for a reason, to celebrate love and the depths that it can take us. As you read Song of Songs today, get lost in the imagery and let it enhance your understanding of the depth of love between God and Israel, between Christ and His bride, the Church, or the depth of love that Christ has for you personally. Just don’t limit it there – if you are married, celebrate today the passion and intimacy that God has given you in your marriage, the love and desire you have for your spouse. As Christians, let us be free to express that love and desire as a gift from God to be enjoyed. We are not love police, too holy for that interpretation. Song of Songs is in the Bible to celebrate love and the beautiful marriages that God has given us.

I hope you fall in love with Jesus as you read this incredible poem, fall in love with His Church, see the new depths of God’s love for you and fall in love with your spouse all over again!

Song of Songs Part One Dive

THIS NEEDS A ‘CENSORED’ SIGN! … OR DOES IT?

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