‘Let us go out early to the vineyards……………There I will give you my love’ (Song of Songs 7:12).
This book of the Old Testament, Song of Songs is glorified as the ‘Song of all the songs’. It is also known as The Song of Solomon. Romantic in nature as one could discover reading through the chapters, interestingly, and ironically, it won’t be wrong to discern that it is also a lamentation of a lover who was apparently the greatest, wisest and richest of all the Kings living on earth, none other than King Solomon (2 Chronicles 9:22; 1 Kings 4:30).
As mentioned above, this poetic book is a lamentation (we may also discern it as self-realisation) of King Solomon, who is the anti-hero in this book. Though Solomon was great with his fame spread to all nations (1 Kings 4:31), he felt so bogged down being a failure to win the heart of a poor peasant girl, a Shulamite, and heroine of this poetry. He used his entire machinery to woo and win the heart and love of the Shulamite girl only to realise that ‘….if one offered for love all the wealth of one’s house, it would be utterly scorned’ (Songs 8:7). This is a lesson for many of us too who are in pursuit of the riches, glories, fame and name of this world which has nothing to do with our eternal life in heaven. In fact Jesus has cautioned us- ‘for what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life’ (Matthew 16:26). Though Solomon had at his feet all what he wanted including women, this seems to be his first true love as such, as he wrote ardently in Proverbs 5:18 about the love of one’s youth. This regret happen after his fall from God Almighty, when Solomon’s foreign wives dragged him off to idol worship (see 1 Kings 11).
It is perhaps very interesting to note that the hero of this real life story is not as loud as Solomon the anti-hero is. Apparently, there is no comparison either between the hero and anti-hero, for the latter is at the apex of ‘this worldly’ delights whereas the hero is just a shepherd (Songs 2:16; 6:2). The hero is not rich, nor handsome as Solomon is- no army, nor anything else to match Solomon’s fame and glory. Yet, and interestingly, he commands love that no wealth and power could conquer.
Songs of songs being incorporated as a book in the Bible points to its spiritual importance than looking at it as a carnal entertainment. Origen (184-254) was the first of the Church fathers who interpreted The Songs as a unique scripture in which the nuptial relationship between Christ as the bridegroom and Church as the bride is present. Accordingly, this book embeds a spiritual romance encompassing a love triangle with Jesus Christ, the shepherd boy as the hero; the Church, the Shulamite girl as the heroine, and Satan disguised as King Solomon as the villain.
Further zooming into the context, we get a better clarity that this is a struggle of the heroine to re-discover and live eternally with her first love, and her hero, the shepherd boy. More clearly, this book is a narration of the living experience of the bride, in terms of her memories of love, the beauty of the bridegroom, the distractions in her journey, her realisation of the fall and eventually going out in search of her lost bride groom, and her final discovery when she has a special gift to share with him on the dawn of New Year. I term this ‘New Year’ so as to link this with the beginning of 2016, and more importantly to highlight the fact that when we as the Church re-discover our Lord Jesus Christ, it is the beginning of a New Year for us. St Paul said, ‘so if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation’ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
This blog is an attempt to analyse the journey of the bride in search of her true love, the bride groom. This write up aims to help reawaken and rejuvenate the Church, the bride of Jesus Christ. In order to achieve this objective, I have divided the journey of the bride into three parts:
- First encounter and the budding of romance
- Fall back and temporary distraction
- Re-discovery of true love, and re-union with the first love
1. First encounter and the budding of romance
The first appearance of the hero as a vibrant young person happens at river Jordan when John the Baptist exclaimed ‘Look here is the lamb of God’ (John 1:36). His appearance was so dashing that Andrew, brother of Simon Peter and another disciple left everything and followed Jesus (John 1:40). The same glittering appearance is witnessed in Matthew 17:2 and Luke 9:29 when our Lord Jesus Christ was in his full glory; and the disciples did not want to leave Him or the place.
Isiah prophesied the beauty of the bridegroom- ‘How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger……’ (Isaiah 52:7). (This prophesy of Isaiah was fulfilled by Jesus Christ through his sermon on the mountain, as detailed in Matthew 5-7). The bridegroom is so handsome that the Psalmist (27:4) just wants to behold His beauty.
The Shulamite girl when asked about the importance of her lover over all other lovers becomes so eloquent that she does not misses a single feature in her detailed description about him (Songs 5:10-16). By doing so, the bride is witnessing her Lord with gratitude, an opportunity well utilised; and an eye opener for every follower of Christ. This reminds me of the young Polish Priest, Father Stephan Kowalski, in Dominique Lapierre’s novel ‘City of Joy’. Stephan chose to live, starve and die with the slum dwellers of Kolkata. One day when he was praying in front of the picture of Jesus, a slum dweller came and asked who the person was on the frame. Stephan well made use of this opportunity to witness His beloved Lord, as did the Shulamite girl.
Psalms 116:12 says, ‘What shall I return to the Lord for all His bounty to me’. Hence witnessing our Lord ought to be with gratitude because Jesus utilised his charm, radiance, words and deeds not for self but for us. The feature wise description of her lover by the Shulamite girl exhibits not only her physical attraction towards the bridegroom but also weaves in her personal experience with each of those features. Let me explain this a bit further:
Songs 5: 10 –‘My beloved is all radiant and ruddy’- I have already mentioned about the radiance of Jesus Christ, as witnessed by Peter, James and John during transfiguration. On the mountain, it was not a mere performance by Jesus but was meant to help the core pillars of the Church to be firmly rooted in the Son of God. Moreover, this beauty was fully spent on his bride, the Church. Jesus did not care for scorching sun or for any adverse weather conditions but worked tirelessly for His bride, the Church. Hence in this verse, the beloved is termed ‘ruddy’ as well.
Songs 5:11- ‘His head is the finest gold’- This is an acknowledgement of the bride that her groom is ‘the best’. St Paul said, ‘For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church’ (Ephesians 5:23). Being termed as ‘the finest gold’ the bride expresses her gratitude for being well taken care of with the best, and nothing inferior.
Songs 5:12- ‘His eyes are like doves’- The power of the eyes of Jesus is seen in the Bible as being used to bring human beings to forsake everything else and follow Him. For instance, Jesus’ look helped to identify the weakness in an otherwise perfect man (Matthew 10:21); Jesus looked at the tax collector who was looked upon by the society with contempt, and asked him, ‘follow me’ (Mathew 9:9); Jesus’s piercing look at Peter immediately made him to repent and get transformed (Matthew 19:26).
Songs 5:13-‘His cheeks are like beds of spices yielding fragrance’- Jesus’ cheeks were given to us when He silently accepted slap on your face (John 18:22), not for His fault but to entrench us in His teaching ‘if someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also’ (Luke 6:29).
Songs 5:14-15 ‘His arms are rounded gold….His legs are alabaster columns….’- There are several instances to quote from the gospel where Jesus used His hands and legs. For instance, Mark 1:31; Mark 9:27 identifies the work of His hands; and (Matthew 14:25) mentions about His legs used to convince the disciples that He was there when waters were formed.
Songs 5:16- ‘His speech is most sweet’ (His lips are lilies, distilling liquid myrrh- vs. 13)- The gospel says that the people around Jesus were very much attracted to His words, as reported in Matthew 7:28; Matthew 22:33; Mark 11:18; Mark 12:37. Jesus credit this speaking style to His Father (John 12:49), further humbling the self. Every word Jesus spoke has later become fountains of spring and honey for His bride, the Church to live on.
Songs 5:14 also describes the beauty of the groom’s body. I left this part above, so as to highlight the extreme importance of it in a separate paragraph. If every other feature led to the budding and flowering of a holy romance, Jesus’ body and the blood that flew from His body is the final moment when the nuptial note is tied. By the body and blood of Jesus we are fully united with Him, into an eternal relationship. Thus we are one body in Christ (Romans 12:5), and also one in spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17). This unique and perfect wedlock is unbreakable and hence the Shulamite bride says ‘I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine’ (Songs 6:3). Similarly, the Church wedded to Christ is expected to commit to a holy and devout relationship.
The above analysis helps us to understand why witnessing ought to be with gratitude, for it is a lived experience of the bride with her groom. The witness by John the evangelist parallels the witness of the Shulamite girl in his statement, ‘we declare to you….what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands…..’ (1 John 1:1).
2. Fall back and temporary distraction:
Being in this world, we are always prone to demonic distractions. Every moment of our marriage with Christ is a struggle as the anti-hero is hell-bent to break this holy relationship. Jesus knew of this, hence said, ‘you will face troubles but take courage for I have conquered the world’ (John 16:33). Every day, hundreds and thousands of marriages are in shambles in the absence of this empowering promise of the eternal bridegroom ’take courage, I have conquered the world.
The Shulamite girl, for once fell in the worldly glitters of King Solomon, a clever trap laid by Satan against a committed love. It is evident that the girl was not completely out of her past exposures when she served King David (1 Kings 1:4). This fall back contradicts the Church’s marriage with Christ, that if anyone is in Christ everything old has passed away (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The luxuries, and more badly the sexual spirit present in David’s court (remember David’s adultery with Bathsheba- 2 Samuel 11:4) seems to have entered into the Shulamite girl as she also fell for Solomon at one point which is portrayed as a (bad) dream in Songs 5:2f). But suddenly she is awakened in her spirit by the knock on the door, in the same way as the Lord calls each one of us (Revelations 3:20). However, it is sad to see that the groom walks away (Songs 5:6). What else could the man do when he discovers that his lover has another man in her room?
It is noteworthy to see here that the bride now leaves Solomon’s harem to chase her true love. However, there is one shortcoming here that she has not repented nor washed in her groom’s blood before setting after Him. As a result she gets beaten up and wounded (Songs 5:7). Jesus said, whoever wants to follow me must deny themselves and take up their cross…….. (Matthew 16:24). This self-emptying act is the washing away of sins and securing complete deliverance from evil spirits. Remember the incident when the sons of Sceva were beaten up and had to flee wounded and naked (Acts 19:14-16).
The Shulamite girl finds her groom only after she faint in love (Songs 5:8). Fainting in love could be discerned as a total commitment in love which is the pinnacle of perfection. This is when she is not afraid of openly witnessing her love as we read in the following verses of chapter 5. The Bible says, ‘there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear’ (1 John 4:18). It is not uncommon to hear so many excuses in terms of witnessing Christ. It is sad to see people concerned about physical dangers and social exclusions if stepped into the area of evangelisation. The above verse further states that ‘whoever fears has not reached perfection in love’. Fainting in love is an extreme emotional condition as seen in God’s love stated in John 3:16- ‘For God so loved the world……..’ In this heightened state of love there is no ‘self’ but only love for others, and hence involves sacrifice.
It would be incomplete if the role of Satan in this fall is not exposed here. Though the Lord God spoke directly to King Solomon and blessed him with all comfort and glory, he fell into the trap of Satan by entering into unholy alliances with pagan woman (1 Kings 11:1-3), thereby defying God’s commandment. He could also be considered as a person who destroyed the institution of marriage and its holiness by having around 1000 wives. A person united in spirit with God is seen falling to an abysmal level by uniting himself with demonic spirits through the pagan women who were idol worshipers. There is no question of secularism here for Holy Spirit cannot unite with evil spirit under any circumstance.
Satan tried to destroy all the features of the bride groom, Jesus Christ which the Church gloriously boasts of, as did the Shulamite girl boasted in Songs 5:10-16. For example, a crown of thorn was placed on His head (John 19:2) to destroy the bride’s claim that His head is the finest gold. Similarly, his cheek was destroyed, and face distorted beyond recognition, with slaps and pulling off the beard (see Isaiah 50:6). Moreover, His hands and legs were pierced; His body punctured and crushed into pieces as we read about the torture culminating in crucification. The extreme violence committed on the bridegroom is Satan’s all out act of destruction so as to abduct the bride from her faith as she has proclaimed openly to the daughters of Jerusalem.
But, the groom is quiet, as He is confident that the bride will return to His fold one day. ‘He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth….’ Isaiah 53:7). Even in this age, when Jesus’ bride, the Church which includes each one of us, falls away from Him, leading a non-committed, demon inspired, lazy, lascivious, and spiritually criminal life, remember, Jesus is waiting with utmost patience for us as did or even more than the father of the prodigal son waited for his return (see Luke 15:11-32). However, the power of the bridegroom’s silence is articulated using the mouth of his friends, ‘you have abandoned your first love’ (Revelations 2:4).
Re-discovery of true love, and re-union with the first love
3. In Songs 5:2 we see that though the bride temporarily fell into darkness, she was awakened by her inner spirit to realise her mistake. Now the bride is re-discovering the realities of eternal life as opposed to temporalities. In a similar situation we read how the prodigal son realises his lost glories of life at his father’s house (Luke 15:17). The Shulamite girl once again envisioned the eternal life with her true love, and decided to deny all worldly riches offered to her by King Solomon. Neither the palace, nor the fragrances, nor the number of servants, ornaments or garments could fancy her because her beloved was distinguished among ten thousand (Songs 5:10). Further, she is convinced, ‘I am my beloved’s and his desire is for me’ (Songs 7:10).
Hebrews 11:25 witnesses Moses’s sacrifice that ‘he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, and chose rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin’. This happened when Moses grew up, and re-discovered that true love of Christ is greater wealth than the treasures and palatial pleasures of Egypt (Hebrews 11:26).
The rediscovery of true love in Christ, the bride groom makes Saint Paul categorically declare that ‘neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39). Saint Paul rediscovered his true love and is now committed to be united with his true love. And, he is not shy or afraid to declare that ‘it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me’ (Galatians 2:20).
In accordance with his rediscovery of the self in Christ, Saint Paul realises that ‘woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel’ (1 Corinthians 9:16). Therefore, it could be concluded that rediscovery of true love in Christ triggers us to resolve that in return to Lord’s bounty, ‘I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows, in the presence of all his people’ (Psalms 112:13-14).
To work tirelessly in Lord’s vineyard is the true articulation of commitment to His love. This contradicts the characters in Jesus’ parable of the wicked tenants (Matthew 21:33-41). When the bride groom returns He will ask for the fruits of the labour, the number of souls saved through our witnessing of Him.
The arrival of the bridegroom is in fact a new dawn for his bride. There is no better happiness for her than to receive the bridegroom after a long wait. That in fact is the actual New Year for her.
The number of souls saved through our preaching, teaching and witnessing equates the number of fruits that we produce. And, these produces is the actual New Year gift that the bride has kept for her true love.
This is exactly what the clever Shulamite girl did for her beloved. When her beloved arrived, she said to him,
Come my beloved,
Let us go forth into the fields,
And lodge in the villages;
Let us go out early in the vineyards,
And see whether the vines have budded,
Whether the grape blossoms have opened
And the pomegranates are in bloom.
THERE I WILL GIVE YOU MY LOVE
(Songs 7:11-12).
Solomon had 1000 wives but in his old days he was left to grieve in the absence of true love, perhaps his first love.
Fr Dr Saji K Mathew 