Song of Solomon - A Picture of Jesus and His Church

(But perhaps not like you’ve always heard it)

 

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  1. A Look at the Book

    1. Author — generally viewed to be Solomon (1:1; 1 Kings 4:32), although the text would allow for this to be a song about Solomon written by someone else.

    2. Date — Solomon assumed the throne @ 974 B.C., so it would be reasonable to date the book in the early years of his reign (6:8 - "only" 60 queens & 80 concubines vs 1 Ki 11:3) @ 960 B.C.

    3. Principle characters — a king, a Shulamite woman, and her shepherd lover.

    4. Theme — "the beauty, happiness, and power of faithful love" (Dunn, p. 227).

    5. Canonicity — it is alleged by some scholars that the book does not even belong in the Bible (Rom 3:2, see Coffman p 153).

  2. Breakdown of the Book

    1. 1:1 — introduction

    2. 1:2-4a — the Shulamite calls for her love to rescue her

    3. 1:4b — the upright women of the chamber praise the Shulamite

    4. 1:5-7 — the Shulamite pleads for mercy among the unrighteous

    5. 1:8 — the contempt of the unrighteous among the harem

    6. 1:9-11 — the king woos the Shulamite with flattery

    7. 1:12-14 — the Shulamite does not respond

    8. 1:15-2:2 — Solomon continues with flattery & self-glorification

    9. 2:3-6 — the Shulamite contrasts her true love with Solomon

    10. 2:8-17 — the shepherd rescues his bride and takes her away

    11. 3:1-5 — the Shulamite’s dream (possibly misplaced in the text)

    12. 3:6-11 — Solomon pursues the Shulamite to Lebanon

    13. 4:1-15 — Solomon again flatters the Shulamite

    14. 4:16 - 5:1 — the Shulamite calls for her lover, he responds

    15. 5:2 - 6:3 — the Shulamite’s second dream (also could be an exchange b/w the Shulamite and the harem belonging earlier in the narrative)

    16. 6:4 - 7:9 — the king continues his flattery while admitting defeat

    17. 7:10-13 — the Shulamite’s final rejection of the king

    18. 8:1-14 — final statements of love exchanged between the Shulamite and her shepherd lover.

  3. Application for today

      1. Beauty of faithful love - 2 Timothy 4:7-8; Revelation 2:10

      2. Encouragement not to be enticed and drawn away by the lures of the world - 1 John 2:15-17

      3. Waiting patiently for the return of the bridegroom:

        1. Matthew 9:14-15 the bridegroom taken away

        2. Matthew 25:1-13 the bridegroom returns

        3. Heb 12:1-3 run w/ patience the race looking to Jesus

      4. Final consummation of the union between Jesus and His church - Ephesians 5:25-27

 

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