Featured Image: Marc Chagall, Song of Songs III, 1960

Summaries and reflections on Song of Solomon 4-6

Where the third chapter of Song of Solomon ends with the Bride gaining revelation of the cross and resurrection of Christ, the fourth chapter begins with the Bride’s identity in Christ and the sixth chapter ends in her victory through His victory. The Lord defines and gives identity to the Bride, represented by the Shulamite woman, by calling forth her budding virtues. She is told that she is beautiful, having “dove’s eyes”; that is, having undistracted devotion. In symbolism, she is told that she is richly grounded in the Word, that she is able to nourish others, that her speech is seasoned with grace, that she is spotless, that she is victorious, and that she is the delight of the Lord. The Lord reveals the delight He has in her and in verse twelve calls her “a garden enclosed”, which speaks of the human heart and soul that is solely reserved as God’s inheritance; no human can take or touch or live in another’s soul, but the Holy Spirit if we allow Him to. We must take this chapter and believe what God says about us, and not look for our identity in our failures, weaknesses, or what others say or think of us. Though this is difficult, it is grounded and proved by the previous chapter, the price that Christ paid for us on the cross. Meaning, Christ has gone to the greatest length to prove what He says about us, and the cross was purely out of His own desire and love. We are each that “garden enclosed”; none other than God can fulfill our desires or forever inherit our hearts. If we don’t allow God in, the survival of our hearts is at stake, for no human, no philosophy, no pleasure, can fulfill us in the way we were designed to receive. We were made for eternal communion with the Holy. Earthly marriage is a physical representation of the total union of Spirit gained in the resurrection when we live forever with God. From this communion, she is able to trust the leadership of the Lord to bring her into both seasons of testing and blessing (SOS 4:16).

In order to enter into these truths, a war must be waged against all the vices that seek to take our eyes off of the cross and our value (as Ephesians would further drive home) “in Him” (NKJV, Eph. 1). When we allow these truths to penetrate our hearts we are able to walk straight in the law of the Lord, for condemnation and shame are crippling, but grace and acceptance enable. We are able to from that place see the truth in other’s; through  the revelation of our true selves we are able to reveal the true selves of others.  

In this full communion the Bride enters into, surrendering her life fully, Christ has His inheritance. In the first verse of chapter five, He refers to her in nine metaphors, saying “my” each time. This is similar to how in a new marriage each spouse looks for every opportunity to say “my wife” or “my husband” simply for the sweetness of having the possession of the other’s heart. From this divine marriage, others are enriched just as an earthly marriage should enrich society (SOS 5:5d) From this completely surrendered union with God, the Bride receives her two fold test: in verses two through eight the Lord pulls away His presence even while she is in trial and the leadership of the Church wound her and take away her ministry role (v. 7). Yet, in this test she excels by opening her heart and seeking Him, though He is not readily found (v. 6). In reaction, the immature believers ask her why she longs for Him so much (SOS 5:9). The whole situation works to produce highest praise in the Bride, for the Shulamite woman answers back in exultation of the truth and beauty of her Christ. She describes Him in the symbolism of poetry as devoted, strong, sovereign, having perfect leadership, unwavering in His devotion to her, full of words of grace and truth, having the power in His resurrection glory and victory, and altogether lovely (v. 10ff). 

This chapter gives us confidence in the Lord’s leadership over us as He works to bring us to full union with Him in maturity, even through the most painful testing. Though the Lord allows tests, trials, and persecution in the midst of His seeming distance, He does so to bring forth a mature Bride who declares the truth of who He is. It is through fire that gold is refined, just as it is through the Lord’s testing that the faith of the believer is proved (1 Pt. 1:7). This ought to give us confidence through difficult seasons that there is purpose and a greater glory being worked in us through Christ’s watchful hand and eye. We may connect deeply to these truths in these in the dark nights of our faith by pulling into Him even in the midst of pain and trials, by declaring the truth of His perfect leadership, and by declaring the right knowledge of God in Jesus Christ who first carried His cross so that we may carry ours. 

In chapter six, the Bride’s declaration of Jesus’ beauty and truth in the midst of her greatest trials causes the immature believers to be drawn to the Lord, provoked by her faith (v. 1) She continues through her trial with grace understanding that He is leading her with purpose and that He belongs to her. Her identity is not shaken and she declaring once again, though in a radically different setting, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” (v. 2 with 2:16). The Lord once again draws near to her after this and vindicates her after persecution, declaring her victory and her beauty. In this, we see the inheritance Jesus has in the saints who choose Him through trials and persecution, in the midst of a world who rejects Him. In light of chapter six, one must ask if there has been a better commentary written on Song of Solomon than by Saint John of the Cross who was imprisoned and tortured by fellow Christians of his same order as he wrote. Furthermore, in symbolic poetry, Jesus describes the Bride as an awesome and victorious army with banners of victory through her trial. The beauty of the Bride, in fact, overwhelms Jesus. The Church too delights in her once again and sees in her “the dance of the two camps”, which is to say the interaction that seems to always exist between the polar opposite sides of the Body of Christ (those who pursue Christ wholeheartedly and those who do not) as well as the interaction of spiritual warfare both angelic and demonic, as well as the believer’s struggle with the flesh that fights back even as s/he continues in victory after victory. The life of the believer is truly an ongoing war, inwardly and outwardly, in these aspects.

Just as we read in Ephesians four, the Church is a work in progress until the final day that she comes to the “fullness of Christ” (SOS 4:13) This being so, we ought not to persecute the Church in her weakness and failures, or to believe a church that struggles is not sincere. On the other hand, just as believers are individually sanctified progressively, so is the Church. These conflicts that occur individually and corporately bear great lessons that aim to bring the Church to true repentance and a right knowledge of God. This passage should be one of the believer’s greatest references when s/he is mistreated by the Church or is even slightly disappointed. Individually, we ought to look to Christ for our vindication and the purification of those who wound us. We ought to turn to these verses to declare the truth of God’s love not only over us but over the Body of Christ. In this, we should be assured that we are going from glory to glory individually and corporately.