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Marital Bliss

Song of Solomon 1-8

The Song of Solomon is also known as the “Song of Songs” or more completely “The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s”.  I’m sure that when first written the reader needed to sit with a bucket of water ready to put out any smoldering fires that this hot marital love song might ignite!  Today some of the imagery is lost on us.  I suggest you be very careful if you ever try to quote the Song of Solomon to your wife as a gesture of your love.  It doesn’t always translate well.  The last phrase of chapter 4 verse 1 is a case in point.

Song of Solomon 4:1

“…Your hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead.”

I don’t know about your wife but mine would not respond favorably to that particular “compliment”.  Some men might actually get a frying pan upside the head if they made such a statement today.  The point here is that God made man and woman to be “one flesh” in marriage.  Your marriage is a blessing.  Sex is a blessing given to those who unite in holy matrimony.  It is not only okay to enjoy sexual relations with your wife it is advisable.  More than that, your wife is the only legitimate outlet for your sexual fulfillment.  I don’t know what challenges you might face in your marriage but, after your relationship with Christ, there is no other relationship more important.  If you don’t have that relationship going well, everything else is going to be out of whack.

Enjoy your wife my friend.  Give her the priority in your life that God intends.  Don’t view her as an object for your own gratification but as a wonderful gift and blessing from God.  Treat her like that and things will go well for you; of that I have no doubt!

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Hope For America

Song of Solomon 5 – Isaiah 1

Well, we have gone through the Song of Solomon in two days and I have got to tell you that to make sense of this book I think we would need two months!  I’ve been reading the commentaries and even if we just look at this book as a story about Godly marital love there is still a lot of explaining to do.  I cannot do this book justice in this format.  So, of necessity, not wishing to slight the Song of Solomon in the least, but unable to do it justice, I will move on to Isaiah.

Isaiah is the first of 17 prophetic books, not because it was written first but because it is the most comprehensive in content.  Isaiah lived around 700 B.C. and prophesied to the Southern Kingdom of Judah.  The Northern Kingdom had fallen to the Assyrian Empire in 722 B.C. and things weren’t looking to good for Judah as well.  Juda was in political and spiritual decline and it was in this atmosphere that Isaiah rose to urge God’s people to return to Him, trust in Him, and obey Him.  He urged them to look to God for salvation.

Below are a few comments and an outline from:

Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

“Some have suggested that the book has two themes, one for chapters 1-39 and another for chapters 40-66. Judgment seems to be the emphasis in the first part, and salvation and comfort are prominent in the second. Since Isaiah followed the theology of Deuteronomy (punishment must come for failure to live according to the Mosaic Covenant before a time of blessing can come), the two parts of Isaiah can be reconciled. Chapters 1-39 point out the nation’s problem of sin which must be rectified before a proper relationship with the covenant God can be restored. Judgment, emphasized in chapters 1-39, is the purifying force that leads to the forgiveness and pardoning of sins emphasized in chapters 40-66 (cf. 27:9). Ultimately redemption for Israel must come from the “ideal Servant,” the Messiah, who will accomplish what the servant-nation cannot do. This accounts for the so-called “Servant Songs” in the second major division of Isaiah (42:1-9; 49:1-13; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12).

But chapters 40-66 emphasize more than redemption from sin. Those chapters go beyond that to speak of a change in the cosmos, of the Lord’s restoration of His created order. In chapters 1-39 judgment on sin is stressed; in chapters 40-66 atonement for that sin and the resulting change in people and the world system are discussed. Judgment, then, must come before blessing can follow.”

OUTLINE

I.        The Retribution of God (chaps. 1-39)

A.       The Lord’s indictment of the nation (chaps. 1-6)

1.       The heading for the book (1:1)

2.       The Lord’s lawsuit against the nation (1:2-31)

3.       An affirmation of restoration (2:1-5)

4.       The present condition and future consequences (2:6-4:1)

5.       The holy survivors (4:2-6)

6.       The worthless vineyard (5:1-7)

7.       An indictment on sin (5:8-30)

8.       Isaiah’s commission (chap. 6)

B.       Prophecies of deliverance (chaps. 7-12)

1.       The birth of Immanuel (chap. 7)

2.       The coming Deliverer (8:1-9:7)

3.       Exile for the Northern Kingdom (9:8-10:4)

4.       Assyria’s fall and the great  kingdom’s rise (10:5-12:6)

C.       Judgment on the nations (chaps. 13-23)

1.       Babylon (13:1-14:27)

2.       Philistia (14:28-32)

3.       Moab (chaps. 15-16)

4.       Damascus (17:1-11)

5.       The land of whirring wings (17:12-18:7)

6.       Egypt (chaps. 19-20)

7.       The desert (21:1-10)

8.       Edom (21:11-12)

9.       Arabia (21:13-17)

10.     Jerusalem (chap. 22)

11.     Tyre (chap. 23)

D.       Punishment and kingdom blessing (chaps. 24-27)

1.       A time of judgment (chap. 24)

2.       A time of blessing in the kingdom (chaps. 25-27)

E.       The woes (chaps. 28-33)

1.       Woe to Ephraim and Judah (chap. 28)

2.       Woe to Jerusalem (chap. 29)

3.       Woe to the obstinate children (chap. 30)

4.       Woe to the Egyptian alliance (chaps. 31-32)

5.       Woe to the destroyers (chap. 33)

F.       Vengeance and blessing (chaps. 34-35)

1.       The Lord’s day of vengeance (chap. 34)

2.       The Lord’s day of blessing (chap. 35)

G.       Historical interlude: Judah to be in captivity (chaps. 36-39)

1.       God’s superiority to Assyria (chaps. 36-37)

2.       Judah’s captivity in Babylon (chaps. 38-39)

II.       The Restoration by God (chaps. 40-66)

A.       Deliverance of God’s People (chaps. 40-48)

1.       The majesty of God (chap. 40)

2.       A challenge to the nations (chap. 41)

3.       The individual Servant contrasted with the servant nation (chap. 42)

4.       A promise to regather the unworthy servant (43:1-44:5)

5.       The Lord’s uniqueness as the only God (44:6-45:25)

6.       The Lord’s superiority over Babylon (chaps. 46-47)

7.       An exhortation for Israel (chap. 48)

B.       Restoration by the Suffering Servant (chaps. 49-57)

1.       The Servant to be rejected (chaps. 49-50)

2.       The remnant to be exalted (51:1-52:12)

3.       The Servant to be exalted (52:13-53:12)

4.       Salvation to come from the Servant (chaps. 54-57)

C.       Restoration realized and completed (chaps. 58-66)

1.       The restoration to come by God’s initiative (chaps. 58-60)

2.       The coming of the Messiah and the coming of the Father (61:1-63:6)

3.       The nation’s prayer and the Lord’s response (63:7-65:25)

4.       The Lord’s fulfillment of His promises (chap. 66)”

As I read this first chapter of Isaiah I felt I was reading the entire case stating our need for a savior.  I also found myself thinking of our nation.   Billy Graham once said “If God doesn’t punish America He will owe Sodom and Gomorrah an apology.”

Isaiah 1:21-236

“How the faithful city
has become a whore,
she who was full of justice!
Righteousness lodged in her,
but now murderers.
Your silver has become dross,
your best wine mixed with water.
Your princes are rebels
and companions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe
and runs after gifts.
They do not bring justice to the fatherless,
and the widow’s cause does not come to them.”

I’m afraid I see my country that way; once faithful, now full of greed.  Our “princes”, or politicians, are rebels and companions of thieves.  God speaks of judgment for sinful ways.  He also speaks of the fact that He will wash our sins away if we are willing and obedient.

Isaiah 1:18-19

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;”

This is the hope we have in Jesus Christ.  I believe this hope is available for our nation as well.  A nation is made up of people.  The deplorable moral state of our nation exists because of the lostness of our countrymen.  How do you change a nation?  You change it one heart at a time.  I found this verse particularly apropos.

Isaiah 1:9

“If the Lord of hosts
had not left us a few survivors,
we should have been like Sodom,
and become like Gomorrah.”

The Lord of hosts has left America a few survivors; a remnant, you and me.  America does not have to be like Sodom and Gomorrah.  If a few good men will stand in the gap, if they will share their faith with the lost, if they will be faithful and obedient to the will of God, then this nation will be changed.  What an awesome responsibility God has given us.  By sharing our faith we can be part of God’s saving grace.  We can be part of changing hearts and changing this nation.  The solution to the problems of this nation will not be found in political parties and programs but in Jesus Christ.

I’m looking forward to reading through this book as it has a lot to tell us about the Messiah and His saving grace!

May you have a day that offers you the chance to share Jesus with others!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Sex, Love, and Marriage

Ecclesiastes 11 – Song of Solomon 4

Well guys, we’ve arrived at the Song of Solomon.  I thought Ecclesiastes was challenging but the Song of Solomon has given me fits.  There are a lot of theories about why this book is in the Bible and what it means.  There are a lot of scholars who see this book as some kind of allegory for God and Israel, or for Christ and the believer or church.  Some think it is some kind of play with two or three actors.  I’m going to share with you some of what “The Bible Knowledge Commentary” has to say about the Song of Solomon.

Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

“The Song of Songs (called the Song of Solomon in some Bible versions, e.g., kjv, nasb) is perhaps the most difficult and mysterious book in the entire Bible. A cursory glance at the Song’s history of interpretation reveals a diversity of opinion unequaled in the study of any other biblical work. The Song has been interpreted as: (a) an allegory, (b) an extended type, (c) a drama involving either two or three main characters, (d) a collection of Syrian wedding songs (a view held by E. Renan, J. Wetzstein, Umberto Cassuto, and others) in which the groom played the role of a king and the bride played the role of a queen, (e) a collection of pagan fertility cult liturgies (held by Theophile Meek), and (f) an anthology of disconnected songs extolling human love (held by Robert Gordis).

Viewed as an allegory, the details of the book are intended to convey hidden spiritual meanings, with little or no importance attached to the normal meanings of words. Jewish tradition (the Mishnah, the Talmud, and the Targum) viewed the book as an allegorical picture of the love of God for Israel. Church leaders, including Hyppolytus, Origen, Jerome, Athanasius, Augustine, and Bernard of Clairvaux, have viewed the book as an allegory of Christ’s love for His bride, the church. Origen, for example, wrote that the beloved’s reference to her being dark (Song 1:5-6) means the church is ugly with sin, but that her loveliness (1:5) refers to spiritual beauty after conversion. Others said the cooing of the doves (2:12) speaks of the preaching of the apostles, and some have suggested that 5:1 refers to the Lord’s Supper. These examples show that the allegorical approach is subjective with no way to verify that any of the interpretations are correct. The Song of Songs nowhere gives an interpreter the suggestion that it should be understood as an allegory.”

I think that last sentence is important.  “The Song of Songs nowhere gives an interpreter the suggestion that it should be understood as an allegory.”  The Bible is full of allegory but I think it tends to be fairly clear when allegory is being used.  Perhaps I am wrong about that but I find it hard to believe that an entire book of the Bible is some kind of allegory with no way for us to know for sure.  While I believe the Bible can be understood on many different levels, we should never ignore the most obvious and basic meaning of the text.  The Song of Solomon is about the beauty of marital love.

Any boy of 12 or 13, and maybe even younger these days, can tell you about sex.  Far too many grown men have no understanding of true, God-ordained, marital love.  Every living creature has sex.  If you believe the humanist, we are no better than animals.  I could not disagree more.  The union of man and wife is a spiritual matter; we are to become one flesh.  Marriage is of such a spiritual make-up that it is itself used in the Bible as an allegory for Christ and the church.  When we look at the opposite sex as simply a receptacle for our sexual desires, we are no better than animals; but that is not what God intended.  He did not create women to be your receptacle.  He created women to be a partner to man; one man, one woman to become one flesh.

Why are we to become one flesh?  Brothers, it is my contention that we are not complete without a wife.  I realize I’m going out on a limb with that statement and I stand ready to hear opposing views but here is why I believe that.  When God formed man out of the dust, in His own image, and breathed life into him (something He did not do with the other creatures He created, by the way) man was one complete being.  Let me repeat myself; this complete being was made in the image of God.  Realizing that it was not good for man to be alone, He brought various animals forward to be man’s companion.  None were suitable.

At this point God put this original man to sleep and divided him.  Woman was taken out of man.  The image of God was split.  A man is not complete, in terms of the image of God, without a woman.  When we view women as objects, we are not only demeaning them, we are demeaning ourselves.  We are also rejecting the sumptuous banquet that is marital love for the scrapes under the table that are animal sex.  Let me continue the commentary from “The Bible Knowledge Commentary”.

Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

“The purpose of the book is to extol human love and marriage. Though at first this seems strange, on reflection it is not surprising for God to have included in the biblical canon a book endorsing the beauty and purity of marital love. God created man and woman (Gen. 1:27; 2:20-23) and established and sanctioned marriage (Gen. 2:24). Since the world views sex so sordidly and perverts and exploits it so persistently and since so many marriages are crumbling because of lack of love, commitment, and devotion, it is advantageous to have a book in the Bible that gives God’s endorsement of marital love as wholesome and pure.”

OUTLINE

I.        The Superscription (1:1)

II.       The Courtship (1:2-3:5)

A.       Introduction: The expressions of longing, insecurity, and praise (1:2-11)

1.       The theme of longing (1:2-4)

2.       The theme of insecurity (1:5-8)

3.       The theme of praise (1:9-11)

B.       The growth of love and its intensity (1:12-3:5)

1.       Mutual praise (1:12-2:6)

2.       The refrain (2:7)

3.       A visit to the country (2:8-17)

4.       The beloved’s fear of losing her lover (3:1-4)

5.       The refrain (3:5)

III.      The Wedding (3:6-5:1)

A.       The wedding procession (3:6-11)

B.       The wedding night (4:1-5:1)

1.       The beauty of the beloved (4:1-7)

2.       The king’s request (4:8)

3.       The king’s praise of his bride’s love (4:9-11)

4.       The king’s praise of his bride’s purity (4:12-15)

5.       The consummation of the marriage (4:16-5:1)

IV.      The Maturation of the Marriage (5:2-8:4)

A.       Indifference and its resolution (5:2-6:13)

1.       The problem: The wife’s indifference and the husband’s absence (5:2-8)

2.       The attractiveness of the lover (5:9-16)

3.       The lover in his garden (6:1-3)

4.       The reconciliation: The lover’s praise of his beloved (6:4-13)

B.       Praise of the beloved and her love (7:1-10)

1.       The beloved’s charms (7:1-6)

2.       The lover’s desire (7:7-9)

3.       The refrain of mutual possession (7:10)

C.       An invitation from the beloved (7:11-13)

D.       The beloved’s desire for a greater intimacy (8:1-4)

V.       The Conclusion: The Nature and Power of Love (8:5-7)

A.       A picture of love (8:5)

B.       An explanation of love (8:6-7)

VI.      The Epilogue: How Love Began (8:8-14)

Brothers, as we consider this book let us consider our wives, our partners, our help-meets.  Let us put sex in its rightful place.  It is a glorious blessing from God when it is viewed and enjoyed as God intended.  It is sin when we do otherwise.  God has much to teach us.  I pray we will learn our lesson well!

May your thoughts today be on the blessing of your wife!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!