Song Of Solomon Can true love win over worldly temptations? Story of two lovers or a love triangle? What does the book teach us?

Controversial Outside the book of Revelation Song of Solomon is probably the most controversial book of the bible. Some try to turn it into an erotic story when clearly it is not. It is one of the greatest love stories ever told.

Facts 1. One of the shortest books of the bible. a. 8 chapters b. 117 verses One of two books in the bible that does not mention God at all. Esther is the other.

Why is it Controversial? 1. The speakers and speeches are not identified by name in the song, and that leads to many different interpretations. 2. It takes a lot of study to identify who is speaking when. This creates a lot of controversy.

Quotes about Song of Solomon “Song of Solomon has no charm in it for the unspiritual ears” Charles Spurgeon “The truth is, this book requires a sober and pious, not a lascivious and foolish reader” Matthew Poole

Quotes about Song of Solomon “This is no soap opera. It is not a cheap play in which the hero is a neurotic, the heroine is erotic, and the plot is tommyrotic. Rather, it is a beautiful song of marital love” J. Vernon McGee

Quotes about Song of Solomon “Nowhere in Scripture does the unspiritual mind tread upon ground so mysterious and incomprehensible as in this book, while the saintliest men and women of the ages have found it a source of pure and exquisite delight” Scofield

Quotes about Song of Solomon “We see our Saviour’s face in almost every page of the Bible, but here we see His heart and feel His love to us…We cannot appreciate the spirituality of this book unless God’s Spirit shall help us” Charles Spurgeon

Quotes about Song of Solomon “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable, and hence no part is, or can be, neglected without loss. Few portions of the Word will help the devout student more in the pursuit of this all-important knowledge of God than the much-neglected Song of Solomon” Hudson Taylor (English Missionary to China)

Historical Background Who is the author? Solomon 1:1 “The song of songs, which is Solomon's.”

Historical Background Solomon wrote 1,005 songs 1 Kings 4:32 “And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.” 1:1 “The song of songs, which is Solomon's.” This means that Solomon was saying this was his greatest song.

Historical Background When was it written? 970-930 B.C. Probably between 965-960 B.C. The peaceful settings in the royal court and throughout the countryside, suggests it was during the “golden age” before the division of the kingdom after Solomon’s reign in 931 B.C.

Theme What is the theme or purpose of the book? To show us the greatness of pure marital love. 2. Like every book of the bible, it presents a picture of Jesus Christ.

Types of Interpretation Anthology of Love Songs a. Not a continuous story, but is a collection of shorter songs. b. Doesn’t really have any meaning.

Types of Interpretation 2. Allegory a. Not a literal story. b. Characters are fictitious. c. Everything is just symbolic. This is the incorrect way of interpreting scripture.

Types of Interpretation Hermeneutics a. Historical, Grammatical, Literal b. Unless the text says otherwise, you have to interpret the text literally. That it is a real historical story.

Types of Interpretation 3. Typical a. It is a literal story. b. Characters are real people. c. Find the picture of Christ in the text. This is the correct way of interpreting Scripture.

Quotes about Typical Interpretation “The typical interpretation recognizes that the book is factual, but sees the spiritual meaning behind the story. “A type is an Old Testament institution, event, person, object, or ceremony which has reality and purpose in Biblical history, but which also by divine design foreshadows something yet to be revealed” Donald K. Campbell

An example of the Typical Interpretation For example, our Lord said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” (John 3:14). The serpent of brass was a type of Christ lifted up on the cross, but this does not alter the historical details (Numbers 21:5-9).

Main Characters Who are the main characters? Shulamite maiden (representing the church) & King Solomon (representing Christ) Shulamite maiden (representing the church), her Shepherd lover (representing Christ) and King Solomon (being the Shepherd’s adversary and representing the world)

How could Solomon be our example of pure marital love & an example of Christ? 1. Solomon was a polygamist who married for political gain. 1 Kings 11:3 “And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.”

How could Solomon be our example of pure marital love & an example of Christ? 2. In none of his other writings (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Psalm 127) does King Solomon appear as a picture and type of Christ.

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved Solomon was not a shepherd. 1:7 “Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved The ladies of the court (probably Solomon’s other wives) cannot understand why she would choose a lowly shepherd over the King. 1:8 “If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 3. Solomon tries to woo the Shulamite maiden by offering her jewelry. 1:9-11 “I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 4. While Solomon is trying to win her affection, she remembers her shepherd lover. 1:12-14 “While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En–gedi.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 5. The Shulamite always uses rural terminology to describe her beloved. 1:15-17 “Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes. Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green. The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 5. The Shulamite always uses rural terminology to describe her beloved. 2:8-9 “The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart:”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved “Most references to Solomon have the city and palace as background whereas references to the shepherd picture him appropriately in a rural setting. This sharp contrast between the city and the country reinforces the idea that there are two male characters in the drama, not just one” William MacDonald

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 6. The Shulamite searches for her beloved. 3:1-3 “By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? ”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 7. The Shulamite finds her beloved. 3:4 “It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 8. Solomon comes to take her back in all his pomp and worldly power. 3:6-9 “Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant? Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel. They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 9. Solomon’s carriage was made for “the daughters of Jerusalem” and not the Shulamite 3:10 “He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 10. The other women are referred to as “daughters of Zion” which a lot of times is a negative description. 3:11 “Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 11. The Shulamite dreams that her beloved comes to her but Solomon’s men found her and beat her, and take her back. 5:2-4 “I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 5:5-7 “I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 12. The daughters of Jerusalem (Solomon’s harem) do not know who her beloved is. 5:8-9 “I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.” “What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 13. The daughters of Jerusalem (Solomon’s harem) ask where her beloved is. 6:1-3 “Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.” “My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 14. Solomon tries one more time to woo her. 6:8-9 “There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number. My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 15. Finally Solomon relents and lets the Shulamite go to her beloved. 6:13 “Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 16. The Shulamite and the Shepherd return home to get their families approval. 7:10-11 “I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 17. The Shulamite tells the Shepherd that she has saved herself for him. 7:12-13 “Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 18. Her brothers suspect that she has succumbed to the advances of Solomon. 8:8-9 “We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 19. She assures them that she has been faithful to her beloved Shepherd. 8:10-12 “I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour. Solomon had a vineyard at Baal–hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.”

Why Solomon is not the Shepherd, the Shulamite’s beloved 20. She gets the approval from her family and wants to make haste to marry her beloved. 8:13-14 “Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it. Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.”

Song of Solomon Summary A young beautiful Shulamite girl is betrothed to her young sweet-heart who is a shepherd. One day King Solomon travels by, sees this beautiful young maiden and desires to have her. He orders her to be taken and placed into his harem of wives and concubines.

Song of Solomon Summary As she sits in the King’s home she longs for her “beloved” shepherd. King Solomon tries to woo her with offers of riches, power and fame. She rejects all of his advances. She does not want the wealth, power and fame. She is desperate to remain pure for her “beloved” shepherd.

Song of Solomon Summary Finally after a long period of time, possibly years, she is allowed to return to her home to be with her “beloved”. She is met by her brothers who question if she has remained faithful to her betrothed. She assures them that despite the King’s advances and alluring worldly offers, she has remained pure and has kept her covenant with her “beloved”.

Song of Solomon Summary The Shulamite and the “beloved” Shepherd are finally married. So, as we study out and break down all the evidence, this story makes the most sense, and makes this book so much easier to understand.

Finding Christ in Song of Solomon “We see our Saviour’s face in almost every page of the Bible, but here we see His heart and feel His love to us…We cannot appreciate the spirituality of this book unless God’s Spirit shall help us” Charles Spurgeon

Christ mentioned as a Shepherd 1. In Hebrews 13:20 Jesus is called “the great shepherd of the sheep” 2. In I Peter 2:25, Jesus is called “the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.” 3. In I Peter 5:4 Jesus is called “the chief Shepherd.” 4. In John 10:14, Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd” 5. “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). 6. “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young” (Isaiah 40:11).

Christ mentioned as a Bridegroom John the Baptist refers to Christ as the bridegroom in John 3:29 Paul refers to the Church as the bride of Christ in II Corinthians 11:2 In Revelations 19:7-9 refers to Christ and his bride, the church.

Character Representations The Shepherd is clearly Christ. King Solomon is Satan, or Worldy temptations. The Shulamite is the Church or the Individual Christian.

Why would Solomon write this unflattering story about himself? All scripture is given by inspiration of God. (II Timothy 3:16) Solomon may have come to appreciate this true love of this couple that he did not have.

Lessons for us in Song of Solomon For most of the story the Shepherd is absent but has made a promise to come back and marry his bride. Just as Christ has promised to come back and fulfill his promise to redeem his bride (the church).

Lessons for us in Song of Solomon While preparing for her wedding day, the Shulamite had been laying up all kinds of pleasant fruits, that she had saved for her “beloved” shepherd. We should be bearing fruit and laying it up for our redemption day with our Shepherd.

Lessons for us in Song of Solomon Every time Solomon would flatter her and offer her temptations, she would speak of her “beloved” shepherd. Whenever Satan tempts us to sin, we should speak to him of our “beloved” shepherd Jesus Christ.

Lessons for us in Song of Solomon 4. 1:2 “Thy love is better than wine” Sin is only pleasurable for a season, but the love of Christ lasts forever. We do not need wine or worldly pleasures to be filled.

Lessons for us in Song of Solomon 5. “I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine” Her Shepherd had made a promise to her and she to him. She was not worried about losing him. Our Shepherd has made a promise to us and we should not worry about losing him. He will never leave us or forsake us.

Lessons for us in Song of Solomon 6. The daughters of Jerusalem were at first mocking the Shulamite for talking about her “beloved” shepherd and ignoring the King. Just as the world mocks us for talking about our shepherd Jesus Christ and rejecting the worldly pleasures.

Lessons for us in Song of Solomon 7. Later in the story the daughters of Jerusalem ask more about her “beloved” shepherd and want to help her find him. We should continue to testify of our beloved shepherd to the people of the world, and if we do this, some will begin asking us about who he is.

Lessons for us in Song of Solomon 8. While trapped in Solomon’s chambers the Shulamite calls out for her “beloved”. He does not come immediately, but eventually he comes. Sometimes when we call out to our Shepherd for help, we have to be patient, but we can be assured he eventually will come.

Lessons for us in Song of Solomon Solomon wanted the Shulamite to marry him, because of his wealth, power and fame, even though she did not love him. He wanted to give her jewelry to make her “more beautiful”. Do not marry for wealth, power or fame. God takes us “Just as I am”.

Lessons for us in Song of Solomon “I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled” “I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?”

Lessons for us in Song of Solomon “My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.”

Lessons for us in Song of Solomon This is the same, that many of us do today. Our Shepherd comes calling and knocking at our door, and we make excuses. When we finally get up, he is no longer there. We may miss out on blessings if we don’t answer our Lord when he calls.

Lessons for us in Song of Solomon 11. 8:6 “Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm:” The Shulamite wanted a seal as assurance that the shepherd’s love was permanent. Our shepherd gives us the Holy Spirit as the seal on our heart that promises his love is permanent and eternal.

Lessons for us in Song of Solomon 12. The bride is tempted by Worldly riches, power and fame, but she rejects them and remains pure for her shepherd. So we should do the same and remain pure for our coming shepherd, Jesus Christ. Satan Tempted Christ in Matt 4:9 Our Lord did not yield to the temptations, neither did the Shulamite, and neither should we.

Conclusion My opinion and understanding of Song of Solomon changed dramatically doing this study. It is full of so many teachings that I never knew before. I learned so much doing this study and I hope you did as well.