Song of Solomon Part 7 (1)

Last time we covered the first fifteen verses of chapter 4. We finished with the shepherd talking about the Shulamite’s person, her position, her passion, her protection, and her perfection. And just before the shepherd ended their tryst, he whispered to her a few words about the greatest and brightest hope of all—the promised rapture of the Shulamite.

Picking up the story in the last verse of chapter 4, we hear the Shulamite’s plea:

4:16 “Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread everywhere.”

Here, the Shulamite talks about the north and south winds. A north wind is chilly; it is more adversarial than anything, chilling us to the bone. A south wind is more pleasant, like a balmy spring breeze.

She’s saying that, no matter the circumstances, she was determined to be a blessing to her beloved. Whether it was a north or a south wind, the “spices of her garden” would flow out in a blessing to the shepherd.

And she’s also anticipating the final consummation of their relationship, that moment when he finally comes to rescue her from Solomon’s pavilion and makes her his own.

4:16b “Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.”

This cry of the Shulamite echoes the longing of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. “He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon!’ Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev.22:20) And Paul writes to the Philippians, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ…” (Phil.3:20)

Just as the Shulamite wanted deliverance from Solomon’s courts, the church longs for the Rapture and our deliverance from this present evil world.

Now, unfortunately the translators, when dividing up the chapters, ended chapter four with verse sixteen instead of including verse one of chapter five. We see in 5:1 that the shepherd was just as excited with the prospect of rapture as was the Shulamite:

5:1 “I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk.”

The shepherd had an expectation of marital bliss. Notice he speaks of her here as his bride. He longs to consummate the betrothal when the proper time arrives.

The great truth here is the Rapture of the church. The Lord is coming for His church. He does indeed intend to catch it up in His arms and take it forever to be with Himself. In John 14:2-3 Jesus says, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself…”

The next section of the poem is AN HOUR OF TESTIMONY. The shepherd had come and gone. The soul of the Shulamite is ablaze with song. And she wants to share her joy with others. She says to the court women:

5:1b “Eat, friends, and drink; drink your fill of love.”

In other words, partake with me of the joy I have with my beloved. Let me tell you of his love! Essentially, she’s witnessing to them about the shepherd. They listen, amazed at such love.

In 5:9 the court women want to know what’s so great about her beloved. How is your beloved better than others, most beautiful of women? How is your beloved better than others, that you so charge us?”

This gives her the opportunity to witness of the shepherd. And this is exactly what happens with us after having spent quality time with our Great Shepherd as she just has. We want to tell the world how wonderful He is!

She begins by describing the dream she had which we covered in chapter three, of the shepherd approaching her at night. She describes the shepherd knocking:

5:2 “I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My beloved is knocking: ‘Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one.’”

This perfectly describes how our Shepherd first comes to us. “Behold, I stand at the door and I knock…” (Rev.3:20)

But next we see that she never opened the door to let him in. She allowed him to stand outside a barred and bolted door in the wet and cold night. She tells us of her silly reasons for turning him away:

5:3 “I have taken off my robe—must I put it on again? I have washed my feet—must I soil them again?” Excuses, excuses. Jesus spoke of such excuses also. “I have married a wife, I cannot come.” And, “I have bought me a cow, I cannot come” (Luke 14).

So often it is our refusal to “get out of our comfort zone” that causes us to miss God. Or, we don’t want to “get our feet dirty” in the ministry of the Lord. So the Shulamite at this time missed her chance.

Next, she tells of her sad reward for turning him away:

5:4 “My beloved thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him.”

One commentator puts it, “My beloved thrust in his hand at the window.” The margin of The Companion Bible suggests the reading, “Then my beloved withdrew his hand.” I think that is closest to the fact. The shepherd, having been turned away, withdrew his hand.

If we will not open to the Lord Jesus when he knocks, He will leave us to ourselves. Many who don’t respond to his knocking never realize that He withdrew way back along the way.

Suddenly it dawned on the Shulamite what she had just done. She confesses, “My heart began to pound for him.” She is covered with shame. Fully aware of the enormity of her offense, she jumps out of bed and throws the door open:

5:5-6 “I arose to open for my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh, on the handles of the bolt. 6 I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure.”

Now what to do? He is gone! She decided to give chase:

5:6b “I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer.”

The Shulamite went out into the night, throughout the darkened streets of the city in a frantic search for the shepherd she had turned away. And despite her desperate calling out, he did not answer.

As a result of her search for the shepherd, she was injured:

5:7 “The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. They beat me, they bruised me;”

And she was also insulted:

5:7b “…they took away my cloak, those watchmen of the walls!” Of course they did! They thought she was a woman of the night!

The same things that happened to her happen to the believer that gets out of touch with the Lord, who goes astray. They become prey to the hostile influences that stalk the night. The Lord’s hedge of protection is eventually lifted.

She ends her story with an exhortation to the court women:

5:8 “Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you—if you find my beloved, what will you tell him? Tell him I am faint with love.”

Having been freshly shaken with her recounting of the dream, she exhorts these women (who could have cared less) to tell the shepherd of her longing for him should they see him.

They respond with mockery:

5:9 “How is your beloved better than others, most beautiful of women? How is your beloved better than others, that you so charge us?”

Don’t expect the world to ever understand your love for the shepherd. They can’t. Paul wrote, “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (1 Cor.2:14).

The Shulamite now continues her discourse with the worldly court women by describing the shepherd, her beloved:

5:10 “My beloved is white and ruddy, Chief among ten thousand.” White is the symbol of purity and holiness. Ruddy speaks of glowing health.

5:11 “His head is like the finest gold; His locks are wavy, and black as a raven.” The “head like gold” speaks of sovereignty. The sovereignty of Christ is what the wise men had in mind when they brought gold, the royal gift, to Him.

His “black, wavy locks” symbolize virility and vital force. It suggests a person in the prime of life. Then, she mentions his eyes:

5:12 “His eyes are like doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.” As mentioned earlier in our study, “doves eyes” speak of the Holy Spirit. The shepherd’s eyes were filled with presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ eyes were just like that!

Next, she talks about her beloved’s sweetness:

5:13 “His cheeks are like a bed of spices, banks of scented herbs. His lips are lilies, dripping liquid myrrh.” Spices and herbs are all about fragrance, like perfume. To be near the shepherd was to be enfolded in such sweet fragrance as to take the breath away!

And his lips were like lilies, dripping myrrh. It was said of Jesus that “no man spake like this man” (John 7:46). Our Lord’s lips dripped with the myrrh of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.

Then she mentions his hands:

5:14 “His hands are rods of gold set with beryl. His body is carved ivory inlaid with sapphires.” Hands speak of skill. Think of Jesus’ hands. He touched the sick and they were healed. His hands broke the seven loaves and two fishes and they multiplied. His hands fearlessly touched the forbidden leper. All of this with consummate skill!

Next, the Shulamite mentions the shepherd’s legs and countenance:

5:15 “His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of fine gold. His countenance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.” In Scripture, the legs speak of stability and strength. We speak of someone “taking a stand” of courage and boldness. This was the shepherd, and it is our Savior! Set on bases of fine gold again speaks of his sovereignty.

His “countenance” speaks of his splendor, “as excellent as the cedars” of Lebanon. These Lebanese cedars were renowned for their majesty, stateliness, and their beauty.

Finally, the Shulamite speaks of the shepherd’s smile:

16 “His mouth is most sweet, yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem!”

The Lord Jesus was no remote, untouchable, cold and impassive person. His face said, “Come unto me…”

But the Shulamite’s testimony is not quite finished. She has talked about her dream, and has described the shepherd. Now she has a word about his departure.

The court women are stunned with the Shulamite’s description of the shepherd, so they ask her:

6:1 “Where has your beloved gone, O fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned aside, that we may seek him with you?”

Their request to go with her to find him is likely insincere. The Shulamite seems to discern this. She suddenly realizes she has been “casting her pearls before swine” as Jesus described in Matt.7:6. They weren’t really interested at all. So the Shulamite gives them a very vague answer:

6:2 “My beloved has gone to his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies.”

In other words, he is in a noble, good, and honorable place. And I know where to find him. And so do we! We know where our Great Shepherd can be found. He is in heaven at God’s right hand, leading His sheep.

The Shulamite ends on a sad note. It is with the realization that not every one that says they want to know our Shepherd is sincere. We can describe Him in all His glory, and can finally add what the Shulamite added:

6:3 “I am my beloved’s, and He is mine. He feeds his flock among the lilies.”

I know him, she says, and so can you!

NEXT TIME: An Hour of Testing

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