Nothing hidden in this Song of Songs

You can have a lot of fun reading many of history’s top theologians eloquently explain away the Song of Solomon, not understanding what it’s really about.

Charles Spurgeon, for one, preached numerous times from the 22^nd book of the Bible and yet look what he writes:

“The Song, from the first verse to the last, will be clear to those who have received an unction from the holy One, and know all things. (1 John 2:20.) You are aware, dear friends, that there are very few commentaries upon the Epistles of John. Where we find fifty commentaries upon any book of St. Paul, you will hardly find one upon John. Why is that? Is the book too difficult?

“The words are very simple; there is hardly a word of four syllables anywhere in John’s Epistles. Ah! but they are so saturated through and through with the spirit of love, which also perfumes this Book of Solomon, that those who are not taught in the school of communion, cry out, ‘We cannot read it, for it is sealed.’

“The Song is a golden casket, of which love is the key rather than learning. Those who have not attained unto heights of affection, those who have not been educated by familiar intercourse with Jesus, cannot come near to this mine of treasure, ‘seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of heaven.’

“ O for the soaring eagle wing of John, and the far-seeing dove’s eyes of Solomon; but the most of us are blind and cannot see afar off. May God be pleased to make us grow in grace, and give us so much of the Holy Spirit, that with feet like hind’s feet we may stand upon the high places of Scripture, and this morning have some near and dear intercourse with Christ Jesus.”

*****

In the last part of his life, King Solomon literally became a type of the Antichrist and it's for that point the Song of Solomon's written. The book functions as a type of the apostate religious system in Israel existing during the Tribulation. The apostate nation will seek to corrupt and woo away the ‘little flock’ from chastity and faithfulness to their Messiah.

“What this song demonstrates is how this Shulamite woman, who is a picture of the 'believing remnant' in Israel, remains faithful to her absent Beloved one and resists the seduction of Solomon,” explains Preacher Richard Jordan. “Her Beloved has gone away, but she knows He’s going to return; she knows He’s coming back. It goes right along with what we’ve been studying in Hebrews through Jude about the seduction policy, where the nation is trying to deceive Believers into apostasy. This lady is a tremendous illustration of that.

“Now, I understand that 9 out of 10, if not 99 out of 100, commentaries on the Song of Solomon don’t teach it the way I just described it to you. They teach that Solomon is a type of Christ and she’s loving him and so forth, but when you study Solomon’s life you begin to see it’s really not that.

“When you see him function in this book, you see him function, not in the way Christ would function, but as a seducer. The Lord Jesus Christ is not a seducer; that’s the Adversary coming and trying to take away what really belongs to another.

*****

“The book begins, [1] The song of songs, which is Solomon's.
[2] Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
[3] Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

“She’s describing her love for her Beloved one and she’s longing for Him, desiring Him to be there even though He isn’t; He’s gone. Verse 7 says, [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?

“She says, ‘Come and show me where you are. Don’t leave me as one who doesn’t know where her betrothed is. Don’t leave me that way.’

“The problem is verse 4: 'Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.'

“The king is Solomon and he's brought her into his chambers. It’s talking literally about his living quarters. It’s like in the White House, you have the West Wing and the Oval Office and then you have the residence where the president lives.

“You’ll see, as we go on in the book, he actually takes her into his bedroom. He’s trying to wow her with all the wealth, the blessing, the position, the title, the glory—all that she could have if she would just come and be his lover; be a part of his harem.

“Now, the dude’s got 700 wives and 300 concubines so you know you wouldn’t be very special, but he’s making it out that way.

*****

“You've got to remember that with the little flock, the seduction in the last days is an attempt to draw them in with the promise of delightful things. That’s what seduction is. You don’t seduce people with a stick; you seduce them with a carrot.

“The seduction that’s going to be laid against Israel in the ‘last days’ is where wealth and power and fame and everything you’ve ever been looking for you can have; ‘Just come trust me to give it to you.’

“That’s literally what Solomon does to her and she does, right here at the beginning of the song, the one thing that the little flock is going to have to do to get through the Tribulation, through the day of the Lord into the Kingdom, without being seduced away.

“She says to her Beloved, ‘I don’t care where he takes me, what he shows me, I’m just thinking about you. I’ve got my mind filled with you and who you are.’

“In fact, you’ll see as she goes on here, when she talks, she talks about Him, and when she sings, she sings about Him. You’ll see that even when she’s dreaming, she’s dreaming about her Beloved one. This is what sustains her against all the enticements put before her.

*****

“Come to Isaiah 26 and you’ll see why that’s so important for Israel. The chapter starts, [1] In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
[2] Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
[3] Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
[4] Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
[5] For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.

“This is what they’re going to be singing in the Kingdom. It’s fascinating that they sing songs. You know that today traditional hymns are considered ‘old’ and you’re ‘supposed’ to sing what they call ‘praise and worship’ songs. Those are songs you sing directly to the Lord where you address the Lord; you don’t sing about God. You don’t sing, ‘Years I spent in vanity and pride caring not my Lord was crucified . . . ’ That’s a song of testimony.

“No, today you’re to sing, ‘Oh Lord, I love you; Oh Lord, I praise you,’ and you address the Lord. Well, I don’t know about you, but when you’re talking to the Lord, there just isn’t a whole lot that you need to say to Him that He doesn’t already know.

“I was in a meeting out-of-state where they were reciting all these different Hebrew names of the Lord. I asked the song leader afterward, ‘Do you know the meaning of those names?’ Turned out he didn’t. I said, ‘Well, can you explain to me how that’s helpful?’ He said, ‘Well, the Lord knows them.’

“The Lord doesn’t just want words; He wants intelligent understanding on your part. He wants to see the information in you, working out through you. All that other stuff becomes real fleshy and it’s all this ‘He touched me’ business. It's senses-oriented, experience-oriented.

“Every time you see Israel singing a song in the Bible, it’s full of doctrine. That’s all the songs are. They are a rehearsal of their understanding of what God is doing or has done for them. When they address the Lord, they don’t just get into this gooey-ooey, ‘Oh, we adore thee,’ business. They say, ‘Lord, you did this, this and this and we praise you for it.’

*****

“Solomon tries to woo her starting in verse 8: [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.
[9] I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots.
[10] Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.
[11] We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.

“That passage helps you understand when this book was written, by the way. He knows who Pharaoh is, he has concourse with Pharaoh. At this time Solomon’s taken the daughters of Pharaoh to be a part of his harem and made alliances with Pharaoh. You can go back in I and II Kings and read about it.

“Solomon is saying to her, ‘You don’t know where your Beloved is; He’s left you. Look, come over here and I’ll take care of you and you can have all these things.’ 

“There's the verse in Hebrews about Moses not counting the riches of Egypt, willing to bear the reproach--well, here it is again; that wealth coming in.

*****

“In chapter 2 all the way down to the end of chapter 3, you see this Shulamite woman repel Solomon’s advances and she pushes him away. She begins to brag on the details of who her Lover is. She talks in verses 1-7 about how He loved her and how she loved Him.

“Chapter 2:1-7: [1] I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
[2] As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
[3] As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
[4] He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
[5] Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
[6] His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.
[7] I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

“Starting in verse 8, she begins to describe His coming and, in fact, this is a tremendous passage because there’s a lot of doctrinal aspects with regard to the Second Coming of Christ. It compares with the writing prophets Isaiah-Malachi and the things they talk about taking place when Christ comes.

“She says, ‘I love Him, He loves me, and one day He’s coming for me.’ She talks about her eager anticipation for His coming. Verses 16-17: [16] My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
[17] Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

“We even have a hymn, ‘Until the day break, and the shadows flee away,’ that’s talking about Christ’s coming.

*****

“You go down through the first 4-5 verses of chapter 3 and she’s talking about Him coming. Now Solomon picks up on that and because he sees her anxiety and anticipation for His coming, he comes along in chapter 3:6 and does something: [6] Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?

“Who is that? She’s just spent all of chapter 2 and the first part of 3 saying, ‘He’s coming, I’m looking for Him, and when He comes He’s going to come out of the wilderness and He’s going to do all these things for me.’

“So, here comes this guy out of the wilderness and he’s got pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, but it's Solomon.

“You take all these perfumes you read Solomon having and go back into Exodus and you’ll find they are repeatedly associated with the priesthood. What Solomon is doing is trying to present himself as the Messiah.

"She’s looking for the Messiah to come and Solomon tries to fool her into thinking he’s it. He pretends to be like her returning Beloved but she’s not fooled by it.

*****

“Verse 7: [7] Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.

“She says, ‘I see who it is, that’s not my Beloved; that’s Solomon! I’m not going to follow him and if you daughters of Jerusalem want to go up and make out like he’s your beloved, go ahead, but count me out! I’m not going.’

“Because she has her mind so fixed on who her Beloved is, she’s not seduced by the counterfeit. Let your eye run down through chapters 4 and 5 and you’ll see she’s absolutely captivated and occupied with what her Beloved had to say and she remembers His words.

“Chapter 4: [1] Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.
[2] Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them.
[3] Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.
[4] Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.
[5] Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.
[6] Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
[7] Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.

“She remembers what her Beloved said to her about His love and how He expressed their espousal and the fact that their marriage was at hand. She says in the last verse, ‘[16] Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.'

“She’s just longing for Him to come because she remembers what He says. Again, she’s focusing on His words to her. In chapter 5 it’s the same kind of thing.

“She says in verse 5:2: [2] 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.

“Even when she’s asleep she’s dreaming about Him. Absolute total occupation.”

(to be continued…)