Song of Songs Chapter 4 -- John Karmelich

 

 

 

1.                  There is a very old joke about a husband who was asked, “Do you love your wife?”

a)                  He responded, “Of course I do”.  The next question was, “Do you tell her?”

b)                  He then responded, “I told her 30 years ago.  If I change my mind, I’ll let her know”.

i)                    Let me open by saying that philosophy is not biblical.

c)                  God calls on us to constantly express our love to our spouse, as well as to God often and regularly.  It keeps that love in the forefront of our minds.

2.                  Chapter 4 is the wedding night.  It is very sexual in its description.

a)                  The primary purpose is to show Solomon’s love for his bride.

b)                  It is a model, particularly for men, as to how women should be treated.

c)                  Underlying in the text, it is also a model of how much God loves us.

3.                  Every verse in this chapter, except the last one, is spoken by Solomon.

a)                  The chapter is a description of Solomon’s love for his bride.

b)                  The focus is on sexual romance.

c)                  He spends the chapter describing her beauty and his love for her.

d)                 Guys, this is a great chapter to take notes.  J

e)                  Girls, this is good chapter to elbow your husband to read the notes.

f)                   There are lessons on patience, beauty, and learning how to please your wife.

g)                  Just like all the lessons on Song of Songs, the primary purpose of this book is to show how God wants us to express our love through marriage.

i)                    It also has applications on how much God loves us and ways we can express that love back to God.

4.                  If I was asked what is the single most important lesson the bible teaches on marriage it would be this:  (Since nobody actually asked, me I’ll tell you anyway.  J)

a)                  “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”  (Ephesians 5:25, NIV)

i)                    How much should a husband love his wife?  As much as Jesus loves us!

b)                  A lesson for all single women out there is to find a man who loves God more than he loves you.  Through that love for God, your man can then have that ability to love you.

i)                    The Greek word for love is the one that means to totally give of oneself for the one he or she loves.

c)                  Which leads us back to Song of Songs, Chapter 4.

i)                    If you have a perfect love for someone, expressing that love should come naturally and easily.  You may not use the exact cliché’s that Solomon used, but it should naturally flow out of your heart to verbally and physically express that love toward your partner as well as toward God.

ii)                  That is what we are seeing here in Chapter 4.

iii)                It is Solomon’s love flowing out of his heart and expressed verbally and physically.

iv)                The underlying theme of Song of Songs is to also compare this to God’s love for us and our desire to express that love back to God.

a)                  Christian commentators compare the bride to us, as the New Testament describes believers as the “bride of Jesus” (See Revelation Chapter 19:7)

b)                  Solomon, in this book, is a word-picture of God expressing his love for us.

c)                  This is not to take away the book of Song of Songs as a marriage manual.

(1)               It is that, first and foremost.

(2)               It is the underlying theme to also see Song of Songs as a glorious model, in poetic verses of the expression of God’s love.

d)                 On that happy note, let’s take on Verse 1:

5.                  Verse 1:  How beautiful you are, my darling!  Oh, how beautiful!  Your eyes behind your veil are doves.  Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead.

a)                  Remember that this is Solomon speaking to his bride.

b)                  Some translations use the word “fair” instead of beautiful.

i)                    The word “fair” has changed its meaning through the centuries.

ii)                  The NIV word “beautiful” here is a better description.

c)                  For all of you number fanatics out there, know that Hebrew Poetry loves to work with numbers in its style.  In this passage of Solomon complimenting the bride, that covers verses 1-7, Solomon pays her seven compliments.  If you want to count, add up every time the word “your” is used, as in “your eyes” or “your hair”.

i)                    The number “seven” in Hebrew is associated with completeness.

a)                  This is because God created the world in seven days.

b)                  It is associated with perfection.

c)                  For Solomon to pay her “seven specific compliments” is a Hebrew poetry of saying how completely beautiful she is.  (Isn’t that neat! J)

d)                 Solomon opens verse one by saying two times how beautiful she is.

i)                    If you remember from earlier chapters, the bride sees herself is a simple farm girl and unworthy to be compared to the women of the royal court.

a)                  Solomon rebukes that attitude by complimenting her beauty.

ii)                  Guys get out your note pad here.  J

a)                  Solomon opens this speech by saying twice how beautiful she is.

(1)               It is repeated for emphasis.

b)                  It rebukes my opening joke about the importance of telling the one you love regularly and often of your love for her.

c)                  We need to tell and show our spouses regularly of our love for them.

d)                 The same way we read the Bible regularly to remind ourselves of God’s love for us, and we pray regularly to express that love back to God.

e)                  This scene takes place at the wedding night. The bride is wearing a veil.  Notice the veil has not been removed yet.

i)                    The veil is shear enough where Solomon can see her eyes behind the veil.

ii)                  In the New Testament, a veil is also a word-picture of something that blurs the vision between us and God.  Paul says that Jews today have their hearts “veiled” so that corporately they cannot see the prophecies of Jesus in the Old Testament.  (There are individual exceptions.  This is why I underline corporately).

a)                  “But their (Jew’s) minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.”  (2nd Corinthians 3:14, NKJV)

b)                  Notice what Paul says in the next 2 verses (15-16) of 2nd Corinthians, Chapter 3:

(1)               “But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”

iii)                Which leads us back to Song of Songs:

a)                  Here is Solomon seeing the beauty of his bride through the veil.

b)                  Solomon is describing the beauty of her face even with the veil on.

(1)               While her face is a bit “fuzzy” to Solomon, he knows what she looks like based on previous knowledge and expresses that to her verbally.

(2)               This is a word-picture of our relationship with God.

(a)               We don’t fully comprehend God, but He sees our beauty.

(b)               God loves us with such a perfect love, he sees right through the veil, and describes our beauty.

(c)                “In the same way, we can see and understand only a little about God now, as if we were peering at his reflection in a poor mirror; but someday we are going to see him in his completeness, face-to-face. Now all that I know is hazy and blurred, but then I will see everything clearly, just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now.”  (1st Corinthians 13:12-13, The Living Bible).

f)                   Let’s get back to the husband and wife comparison.

i)                    Guys, notice the patience of Solomon in this verse.

ii)                  He doesn’t rip off the veil and the dress and go for the good stuff. J

iii)                Solomon is patient.  He starts by describing her beauty just as she is.

a)                  He may not physically see her eyes that clearly through the veil, but by his memory and through his love for her, he can describe those eyes.

g)                  The actual description of the eyes is like “dove’s eyes”.  What does he mean by that?

i)                    Solomon first used that expression back in Chapter 1, Verse 15.

ii)                  There is no definitive explanation, but there are some logical possibilities based on what we do know about Solomon and about that culture.

iii)                Remember that Solomon spent a lot of time studying animals. (Ref.: 1st Kings 4:33)

a)                  Doves are known for mating for life.

(1)               When a dove loses its partner, it does not take another.

b)                  Doves in the Old Testament are associated with peace and with purity.

c)                  When a person wanted to make an animal sacrifice for their sins, and they couldn’t afford a more-expensive animal, doves were permitted as a sacrifice.  (Example:  Leviticus 5:7)

(1)               With both Solomon and the bride being Jewish, they both understand that doves are a “God-acceptable” bird for sacrifice.

(2)               They are associated with peace and purity as God accepted these birds as a sacrifice for our sins in the Old Testament.

d)                 Doves are also associated with peace.  When the Spirit of God “rested” upon Jesus at his baptism, it was described as being “like a dove”.

(1)               It is mentioned in all 4 gospels (Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22 and John 1:32).

iv)                I believe when Solomon is complimenting her eyes, he is describing the “peace” and “purity” he sees in those eyes.  It brings peace to Solomon’s heart to see the beauty of her eyes.

a)                  God looks at us the same way.  He doesn’t focus on our faults, but sees our beauty.  The peaceful and pure relationship we have with God the Father was provided for us by the Cross.

v)                  Gee, what do you say we move on to the 2nd sentence of Verse 1?  J

h)                 Solomon said, “Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead.”

i)                    Well, in our vocabulary, this doesn’t sound like much of a compliment.

a)                  “Honey, your hair looks like a flock of goats.”  That doesn’t work today. J

ii)                  The key to understanding the historical reference to this compliment is to notice there is no comma between goats and the reference to Mount Gilead.

iii)                Remember that the girl had an agricultural background.

a)                  Solomon was paying her compliments in language she can relate to.

(1)               Yes, that is another blatant clue for guys to pay attention!  J

b)                  Every day goats would work their way up the mountain in the morning hours and back down in the evening.  It is true to this day.

(1)               In the distance, as the sunsets on the mountain, one can look and see the beauty of the nature on the mountain.

(2)               When one is staring at a vista, one’s eyes are always attracted to any type of movement.

(3)               Here were the goats, black in color descending from the mountain.

(4)               The word picture is the comparison to the glistening of the hair as it shines in the light, shaking in its movement.

c)                  This whole sentence is a colorful description of saying how beautiful is the glistening of her hair in the light.

(1)               As we say today, she was having a “good hair day”.  J

(2)               The point is, he notices and compliments her hair.

iv)                Again, guys notice the pattern of the compliments.

a)                  We start with the eyes, even behind the veil.

b)                  Next we move to the hair.

c)                  Notice the patience and the simplicity of the compliments.

d)                 While your wife may not like a comparison of her hair to goats coming off a mountain J, I’m sure you can find a comparison in a love-language your wife can comprehend to share your love for her.  Ask God for inspiration.

6.                  Verse 2:  Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing.  Each has its twin; not one of them is alone.

a)                  If you think I had a tough time explaining how her hair looks like goats, imagine the difficulty of explaining how her teeth are like sheep.  J

b)                  If you have ever seen sheep, they are a grayish-white in color.  They pick up the dirt from their walking around and it darkens the sheep.

i)                    If you have ever seen a sheep right after a haircut (called a shearing) it is bright white.  Again, Solomon is using word-pictures that she would understand.

ii)                  Since the Bible often compares us to “sheep”, it is a good description of how we pick up “dirt” from the world.  God sees us in the “pure-white” color that the sheep have after the shearing.  It is a model of our purity.

c)                  You also have to remember that good dentistry (and orthodontics) didn’t exist then.

i)                    For a women to have a set of straight, beautiful teeth with none of them missing is a rare sight.

ii)                  The Hebrew is implying that are her teeth are straight and none are missing.

iii)                It occurred to me that this is a good verse for dental offices, to help people develop beauty to glorify God.  J

d)                 If Solomon is noticing her teeth, she must be smiling in her love for her.

i)                    A smile is a natural reaction to positive feeling.

ii)                  Here is Solomon complimenting her, and she is smiling back at him.

iii)                It is another example of taking the love God has for us and letting God see the love we have for him expressed back at Him.

7.                  Verse 3:  Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; your mouth is lovely.  Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.

a)                  Again, guys, notice the patience of Solomon.  He isn’t immediately complimenting the sexual organs, but focusing on her eyes, her hair, her smile and now her mouth and temple.

i)                    Take good notes.  Women love this stuff.  J

b)                  Notice the veil is still covering her face.

i)                    Solomon was describing her teeth, now her lips, and then her temples all with the veil covering it.

ii)                  He is either describing the details from memory or from what he can see through the veil.  Either way, he is so in love with her he just wants to spend time expressing his love for her verbally.

iii)                Back to the God-and-us comparison.  This is a big part of what the Bible is all about.  It is about God telling us how much He loves us.  It is rarely direct, but it is written indirectly on almost every page.  The whole message about dying for our sins is God telling us how much He loves us.

a)                  “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”  (1st John 3:1a, NIV)

c)                  Again, Solomon is giving her compliments that are based on that culture.

i)                    He compares her lips to a scarlet ribbon.

a)                  She would understand a scarlet ribbon, which is used for tying crops.

b)                  Remember that both Solomon and the bride are Jewish.

c)                  A famous early Bible story, from the book of Joshua, is that before the Israelites conquered the City of Jericho, a spy (a harlot) was loyal to Israel.  They showed that loyalty by placing a scarlet thread outside her window (Joshua 2:18, 2:21).

d)                 This means, in a Jewish mind, that a scarlet chord is a symbol of loyalty.

e)                  Solomon is comparing her lips to a scarlet thread.  It is a beautiful way (in Hebrew thought) of saying “your beautiful lips belong (loyal) to me”.

f)                   On the other hand, it could just be a just a compliment of the beauty of her lips.  J

ii)                  The other compliment has to do with pomegranates.  This fruit is known for its sweetness and is a symbol of sweetness.

a)                  Pictures of pomegranates were used in decorations of both the robes of the high priest (Exodus 28:33) and in the design trim of the Temple (1st Kings 7:18).  Jews associate pomegranates with the “sweetness” of God.

b)                  This compliment to her is describing the beauty of her cheeks (in the shape of pomegranates) as well as hinting at her sweetness.

c)                  The lesson for us guys, is to find complimentary terms that our wives can understand and relate to.  What are her hobbies and interests?  What aspects of nature can we use in a compliment she can understand?

d)                 Remember that women want to feel connected to their men.  For a man to express his love to her in ways she can relate to, you are increasing her love for you and her respect for you as a husband.

(1)               Guys, take the lead!  J

e)                  Throughout the Bible, God uses simple and straightforward word-pictures to help us understand what God expects from us and to help deepen our relationship to him.

(1)               Further, he uses these word-pictures to express His love for us.

(2)               Use that as an application of how to express your love back to God and to your spouse in ways we can comprehend.  If you are single, and want to use this method in prayer, tell God of your love for him in ways and pictures that you yourself like to describe beauty.

(3)               The point is not to mimic Solomon’s vocabulary in an expression of love, but to use language that you, and your spouse can comprehend as a picture of that love.

8.                  Verse 4:  Your neck is like the tower of David, built with elegance; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.

a)                  OK, here’s another compliment that may not work in today’s vocabulary.

b)                  Most girls do not like their neck compared to military towers.  J

c)                  You can’t find any direct reference to the construction of this tower in the Bible.

i)                    Since Solomon is describing it here, and Solomon is the son of David, one can assume Solomon had first hand knowledge of this tower.

d)                 To understand, this compliment, we have to go back to a previous reference:

i)                    “We will make you (bride) earrings of gold, studded with silver. (Songs 1:11)

ii)                  I believe for her wedding night, the bride was “decked out” in jewelry.

a)                  When Solomon is complimenting the “warrior shields” on her neck, I believe it is a word-picture of long jewelry dangling from her ears and from her neck.

b)                  The “shields” described in this verse are not the big shields we think of when we picture a “knight in shining armor”, but those little shields that are used in gladiator hand to hand combat.

c)                  Therefore, when Solomon describes her neck as being similar to a tower covered in “lots of little shields”, it refers the beauty of the silver and gold jewelry dangling from her neck.

iii)                A modern comparison might be something like “Oh my darling, your face and hair are so beautiful.  Your neck that supports that striking jewelry is a tower of strength as it bears your beauty.”

a)                  That’s all you have to see her.  You don’t have to compare your wife’s neck to a medieval tower. J

9.                  Verse 5:  Your two breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies.

a)                  Again, notice the pattern as Solomon works his way downward.

b)                  He is telling of his love for her and describing her beauty.

c)                  Notice the beautiful love language that Solomon uses to describe her features.

i)                    The gazelle word picture is one of grace and beauty, as it gently grazes and walks its way among the flowers

ii)                  Solomon is using pictures of gentleness and beauty to describe his love for her.

d)                 Before I move on, I should stand-back and talk about a few of the bigger concepts:

i)                    Remember that this is about a wedding night.

a)                  It is not to be used during the courtship or dating portion.

b)                  A verse used over and over again in Song of Songs is the bride urging the daughters of Jerusalem “not to stir up love before its time”.

c)                  Well, here in these verses, this is the time.

d)                 There is a time and place for all things, and this is that time.

ii)                  The other concept is for a marriage to constantly stir up the passions God can design for marriage.

a)                  Marriages can grow cold simply because we don’t spend time complimenting and stirring up the love relationship that God intended for marriage.

(1)               It is not only verbal compliments as these passages imply, but it is also doing things for each other, trying to “out-give” each other.  God’s love for us can be expressed physically, but in the bigger picture, it is about the total giving of oneself for each other.

(2)               God the father totally gave of himself by giving his only son for us.  That type of love is what God intended for his church in service to one another, and that type of love is to be a model in our marriage.

10.              Verse 6:  Until the daybreaks and the shadows flee, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense.

a)