Transcript

Podcast Introduction

This is Poetry Thursday. We’ll read Song of Solomon 5-6. I’m calling today’s episode “The Perfect Relationship.” 

Comments on Solomon 5-6

As you probably know, this book can be read from at least two levels: As just an account of a bride and groom from the purely human level, or as an allegory of the love of Christ for the church. Both interpretations are beautiful, and both have merit. 

As I was studying it again, in preparation for how to present it to you, I came upon an interesting fact. Jewish teachers often advised their young people not to read it till they were thirty years old, because they were afraid that the book would stir up feelings of lust in them. 

Reading the language with our very different vocabulary, it’s a bit difficult to imagine it having that effect on us, I suppose, but their fears are understandable, don’t you think? 

But if we look at the book from the allegorical perspective, we see how much Christ loves His church, and how much we ought to love Him. I ran across the following excerpt from the great 19th century preacher, CHARLES H. SPURGEON. He said, in reference a portion of chapter 5:16, which reads in the KJV: 

“Yea, He is altogether lovely” (v. 16). 

“Looking at my text I felt much humbling of spirit, and I hesitated to preach upon it, for I said in my heart,

“It is high, I cannot attain unto it.” These deep texts show us the shortness of our plumb line; these ocean verses are so exceeding broad that our skills are apt to be driven far out of sight of land where our timid spirits tremble to spread the sail. Then I comforted myself by the thought that though I could not comprehend this text in a measure, nor weigh its mountains in scales, or its hills in a balance, yet it was all mine own, by the gift of divine grace, and therefore I need not fear to enter upon the meditation of it. If I cannot grasp the ocean in my span, yet may I bathe therein with sweet content; if I cannot describe the King in His beauty, yet may I gaze upon Him, since the old proverb says, “A beggar may look at a prince.” Though I pretend not so to preach from such a heavenly Word as that before us, as to spread before you all its marrow and fatness, yet may I gather up a few crumbs which fall from its table. Poor men are glad of crumbs, and crumbs from such a feast are better than loaves from the tables of the world. Better to have a glimpse of Jesus, than to see all the glory of the earth all the days of our life. If we fail on this subject we may do better than if we succeeded upon another; so we will pluck up courage, seek divine help, and draw near to this wondrous text, with our shoes from off our feet like Moses when he saw the bush aglow with God. 

“This verse has been translated in another way: “He is all desires”; and so indeed Jesus is. He was the desire of the ancients, He is the desire of all nations still. To His own people He is their all in all; they are complete in Him; they are filled out of His fullness. He is the delight of His servants, and fills their expectations to the full. But we will not dispute about translations, for, after all, with such a text, so full of unutterable spiritual sweetness, every man must be his own translator, and into his own soul must the power of the message come, by the enforcement of the Holy Spirit. Such a text as this is very like manna which fell in the wilderness, of which the rabbis say it tasted after each man’s liking. If the flavor in a man’s mouth was very sweetness, the angel’s food which fell around the camp was luscious as any dainty he had conceived; whatever he might be, the manna was to him as he was. So shall this text be. To you with low ideas of Christ the words shall but glide over your ears, and be meaningless; but if your spirit be ravished with the precious love of Jesus there shall be songs of angels, and more than that, the voice of God’s own Spirit to your soul.”

—The Treasury of the Old Testament

I can’t improve upon what Spurgeon wrote. So I’ll leave it at that. 

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 5-6 HCSB

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STEVE WEBB – 0:00
Both interpretations are beautiful and both have merit.

INTRO S12E351 – 0:11
Coming to you from Riverside, California, this is the Lifespring Family Audio Bible. And podcasting since 2004, I’m your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. This is the daily show where we’re reading through the entire Bible in a year. And this is Poetry Thursday. We’ll read Song of Solomon, chapters 5 and 6, and I’m calling today’s episode, “The Perfect Relationship”. Today’s show notes page is at lifespringmedia.com/s12e351. And my email address is st***@*************ia.com. If you haven’t sent in your THE NEXT STEP email, please do that. Let’s get started.

SONG OF SOLOMON (HCSB) – 0:45
Song of Solomon, chapter 5.

(1) I have come to my garden—my sister, my bride.
I gather my myrrh with my spices.
I eat my honeycomb with my honey.
I drink my wine with my milk.

Eat, friends!
Drink, be intoxicated with love!

(2) I sleep, but my heart is awake.
A sound! My love is knocking!

Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my perfect one.
For my head is drenched with dew,
my hair with droplets of the night.

(3) I have taken off my clothing.
How can I put it back on?
I have washed my feet.
How can I get them dirty?
(4) My love thrust his hand through the opening,
and my feelings were stirred for him.
(5) I rose to open for my love.
My hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with flowing myrrh
on the handles of the bolt.
(6) I opened to my love,
but my love had turned and gone away.
I was crushed that he had left.
I sought him, but did not find him.
I called him, but he did not answer.
(7) The guards who go about the city found me.
They beat and wounded me;
they took my cloak from me—
the guardians of the walls.
(8) Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you:
if you find my love,
tell him that I am lovesick.

(9) What makes the one you love better than another,
most beautiful of women?
What makes him better than another,
that you would give us this charge?

(10) My love is fit and strong,
notable among ten thousand.
(11) His head is purest gold.
His hair is wavy
and black as a raven.
(12) His eyes are like doves
beside streams of water,
washed in milk
and set like jewels.
(13) His cheeks are like beds of spice,
towers of perfume.
His lips are lilies,
dripping with flowing myrrh.
(14) His arms are rods of gold
set with topaz.
His body is an ivory panel
covered with sapphires.
(15) His legs are alabaster pillars
set on pedestals of pure gold.
His presence is like Lebanon,
as majestic as the cedars.
(16) His mouth is sweetness.
He is absolutely desirable.
This is my love, and this is my friend,
young women of Jerusalem.

SONG OF SOLOMON 6 (HCSB) – 3:06
Song of Solomon, chapter 6.

(1) Where has your love gone,
most beautiful of women?
Which way has he turned?
We will seek him with you.

(2) My love has gone down to his garden,
to beds of spice,
to feed in the gardens
and gather lilies.
(3) I am my love’s and my love is mine;
he feeds among the lilies.

(4) You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
lovely as Jerusalem,
awe-inspiring as an army with banners.
(5) Turn your eyes away from me,
for they captivate me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down from Gilead.
(6) Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
coming up from washing,
each one having a twin,
and not one missing.
(7) Behind your veil,
your brow is like a slice of pomegranate.
(8) There are 60 queens
and 80 concubines
and young women without number.
(9) But my dove, my virtuous one, is unique;
she is the favorite of her mother,
perfect to the one who gave her birth.
Women see her and declare her fortunate;
queens and concubines also, and they sing her praises:

(10) Who is this who shines like the dawn—
as beautiful as the moon,
bright as the sun,
awe-inspiring as an army with banners?

(11) I came down to the walnut grove
to see the blossoms of the valley,
to see if the vines were budding
and the pomegranates blooming.
(12) Before I knew it,
my desire put me
among the chariots of my noble people.

(13) Come back, come back, Shulammite!
Come back, come back, that we may look at you!

Why are you looking at the Shulammite,
as you look at the dance of the two camps?

COMMENTS – 4:50
Beloved, as you probably know this book, The Song of Solomon, can be read from at least two levels. It can be read as an account of a bride and groom from a purely human level, or as an allegory of the love of Christ for the church. Both interpretations are beautiful, and both have merit.

Now, as I was studying this book again in preparation for how to present it to you, I came upon an interesting fact. In times past, Jewish teachers often advised their young people not to read it until they were 30 years old, because they were afraid that the book would stir up feelings of lust in them.

Well, reading the language with a very different vocabulary today, it’s a bit difficult to imagine it having that effect on us, I suppose. But their fears are understandable, don’t you think?

But if we look at the book from the allegorical perspective, we see how much Christ loves His church, and how much we should love him. I ran across the following excerpt from the great 19th century preacher, Charles Spurgeon, he said in reference to a portion of chapter 15 (which reads in the King James: “Yea, He is altogether lovely” (v. 16)) these following words”

“Looking at my text I felt much humbling of spirit, and I hesitated to preach upon it, for I said in my heart, ‘It is high, I cannot attain unto it.’ These deep texts show us the shortness of our plumb line; these ocean verses are so exceeding broad that our skills are apt to be driven far out of sight of land where our timid spirits tremble to spread the sail. Then I comforted myself by the thought that though I could not comprehend this text in a measure, nor weigh its mountains in scales, or its hills in a balance, yet it was all mine own, by the gift of divine grace, and therefore I need not fear to enter upon the meditation of it. If I cannot grasp the ocean in my span, yet may I bathe therein with sweet content; if I cannot describe the King in His beauty, yet may I gaze upon Him, since the old proverb says, ‘A beggar may look at a prince.’ Though I pretend not so to preach from such a heavenly Word as that before us, as to spread before you all its marrow and fatness, yet may I gather up a few crumbs which fall from its table. Poor men are glad of crumbs, and crumbs from such a feast are better than loaves from the tables of the world. Better to have a glimpse of Jesus, than to see all the glory of the earth all the days of our life. If we fail on this subject we may do better than if we succeeded upon another; so we will pluck up courage, seek divine help, and draw near to this wondrous text, with our shoes from off our feet like Moses when he saw the bush aglow with God.

“This verse has been translated in another way: ‘He is all desires’; and so indeed Jesus is. He was the desire of the ancients, He is the desire of all nations still. To His own people He is their all in all; they are complete in Him; they are filled out of His fullness. He is the delight of His servants, and fills their expectations to the full. But we will not dispute about translations, for, after all, with such a text, so full of unutterable spiritual sweetness, every man must be his own translator, and into his own soul must the power of the message come, by the enforcement of the Holy Spirit. Such a text as this is very like manna which fell in the wilderness, of which the rabbis say it tasted after each man’s liking. If the flavor in a man’s mouth was very sweetness, the angel’s food which fell around the camp was luscious as any dainty he had conceived; whatever he might be, the manna was to him as he was. So shall this text be. To you with low ideas of Christ the words shall but glide over your ears, and be meaningless; but if your spirit be ravished with the precious love of Jesus there shall be songs of angels, and more than that, the voice of God’s own Spirit to your soul.”

That was from Spurgeon’s “The Treasury of the Old Testament”, and I can’t improve on what he wrote. So I’m gonna leave it at that.

If you have a comment, let me know at lifespringmedia.com/s12e351. Tomorrow is Prophecy Friday and we’ll read Revelation 12 through 17.

Boost.

IT’S STEVE’S BIRTHDAY! – 9:28
If you’re subscribed to the weekly newsletter, you saw that Kirsty sent out a newsletter this week mentioning my birthday, and Kirsty, I want to thank you for that. That was very sweet. But in addition to sending out that newsletter, she also sent me a $22.40 cent in Australian dollareedoos birthday gift. She said, “Happy Birthday, Steve. My donation calculation was a little complex. It comes from adding up the letters in “Happy Birthday, Steve” using A as 1, B as 2, etcetera, which equaled 224. So $22.40, it is! Wishing you a wonderful birthday surrounded by your family and remembering all the blessings granted to you.” Well, Kirsty that was very sweet and thank you so very much. Very, very thoughtful.

FEEDBACK – 10:14
And I got a comment from Brother Paul of Seattle on the Nehemiah 10 through 13 the “It Had To Happen” episode. He said, “Okay, I had to do a double take at, ‘They went past the Tower of Ovens.’” He said, “Maybe it’s just because I’m pretty hungry for dinner, but this made me laugh and wonder what this is, the bakery part of town where I could get some sort of blueberry hand pie?” And he put a smiley face.

So I’ll comment on that and then he had a little bit more to say. Yes, the Tower of Ovens or in some translations it’s the Tower of the Furnaces was located on the street where the bakers were or some people call Bakers Street, off the western wall of Jerusalem. This area was considered the baking district of Jerusalem. The Sabbath show bread for the Temple was baked here by Levite bakers. We know that from 1 Chronicles chapter 9, verses 31 and 32. And Zedekiah had his guards feed Jeremiah, a daily loaf of bread from Bakers Street. We know that from Jeremiah 37:21.

And this is the only place scripture mentions that women worked on the wall, the daughters of Hallohesh. So yes, this was where the baking district was in Jerusalem. Pretty interesting, huh? And by the way, I got that information from the website, tentstakeministries.net. And it’s interesting that the last fact they have there in Tent Stake Ministries was that this is the only place scripture mentions that women worked on the wall.

This dovetails very nicely with Paul’s second point in his comment. He said, “Also, there is a verse that says, ‘Even the women and children were excited and happy.’” Paul says, “I remember a similar verse somewhere and it struck me then how people could take this and twist it like, ‘see, God doesn’t think much of women and children.’ Well, I know,” Paul says, ”that God loves women and children and that they’re not lower then men, but I always wonder why some of these types of phrases appear. I know it is just conjecture, but interested in your insight on this.”

So here’s my thoughts on this subject. We know from the very important place that some women had in Scripture, God honors women just like he does any other godly person. And children were obviously important to God because when the children wanted to come around Jesus and the disciples tried to shoo them away, Jesus said, “Let the kids come around here.” That’s Steve’s paraphrase. Jesus loves children. Like the song says, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.” Okay, not for that singing. So we know that God honors men and women of God, and He loves children. Now, again, this is my opinion, Jewish society was a patriarchal society. So when censuses were taken, or when the attendance of a crowd was reported, it was based on the number of men. This is the way things were done back then. This is the way people counted. We know from our reading of genealogies this year in the Bible, the numbers reported were the numbers of men. Oftentimes, you may remember, the number was reported as how many men capable of fighting were there. This was a way to sort of measure the strength of a tribe or a nation. Women and children were not allowed to fight obviously, and so they were not counted. Now, I have not done a deep study on this subject, but there’s my thoughts off the top of my head.

ON THIS DATE IN CHURCH HISTORY – 13:53
On this date in church history, August 18, 1927, 20-year-old Theodore Epp was converted to a living faith. A pioneer in Christian radio broadcasting, he founded Back To The Bible, an evangelistic radio program in 1939. And Back To The Bible is now heard on more than 600 stations around the world.

And on this date in church history, August 18, 1959. Haldor Lillenas died and he was an American hymn writer who founded Lillenas Music Company in 1924. And he authored nearly 4000 gospel texts and hymn tunes including “Wonderful Grace of Jesus” and “Peace, Peace, Wonderful Peace”. Back in the 80s when I managed some Christian bookstores, we sold a lot of music, sheet music and choral music, from Lillenas Music Company.

CLOSING PRAYER – 14:54
Let’s pray. Our Heavenly Father we do love you and we long to see Jesus. And we cherish the closeness we have with the Holy Spirit. As husbands and wives respond to the love their spouse shows for them, we returned the love you give to us. The parallels are fitting Lord and we thank you for creating the marriage relationship as an illustration for us to begin to understand the relationship that you want to have with us.

Lord, I asked you to continue the healing of both Steve O’Brien and Kathi and, Lord, any other members of the Lifespring family who need your healing touch. For any who are hurting physically, emotionally or spiritually, we know that you are aware and we ask you to show them your love, and we ask you to have your perfect loving will in their lives. Let them feel your presence even now, we pray. I thank you for each person listening right now, wherever and whenever they’re hearing this and I asked you to bless them. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

If you have a prayer request or a praise, go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com.

OUTRO S12E351 – 16:08
Comment on the show at lifespringmedia.com/s12e351. Send an email to me at st***@*************ia.com. Thank you, Kirsty, again for the newsletter this week. That was very, very sweet of you. Thank you. And thanks to Sean of San Pedro and Denise for the work they do as well. I thank you and I thank God for you every single day. Thank you, Beloved, for inviting me into your day. I enjoy our time together.

And until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb.

Bye.

Unmatched value.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Corrected by Denise