Song of Solomon: A Lesson in True Love

It's that time of year again. Love is in the air. The smell of perfume, chocolate and flowers announce to the world that Valentine's day is here again.

If you ask around, no one really has a clear cut answer as to how or when Valentine's day originated.
We just cumulatively know it has something to do with St. Valentine and his little minion, Cupid and we all agree that pink and red M&M's are yummy. Yet despite our solidarity, Valentine's day usually leaves many people lonely, cynical, and depressed.

The media and advertisers do their best each year to promote unrealistic expectations to single and married people alike, painting a false picture of love and focusing instead on all things materialistic and superficial.

I experienced this first-hand as I stood in the Valentine's day isle at Super Target while my children lovingly fought to the death over which character cards they had to have for their classmates.

Angry Bird Valentines? How..uh...ironically sweet.

I look around me and my breathing pattern starts to change. I suddenly feel late! It's a few days before February 14th and I realize that I must bake something pink with sprinkles for 75+ children....and while I'm at it I really should do a Valentine's theme Christmas tree...Oh, and I must take romantic couple pictures of Sean and I and some of the kids and mail 150 of them out to our closest friends and family members...Oh! and do not let me forget to blackmail someone into babysitting so we can go stand outside a restaurant, in the cold, for 2 hours holding a non-blinking coaster...

Oh Lord, I just need more time and money!!!!

Now do you want to know what I really love (no pun intended) about God?  I love how God can just reach down into my chaos and give me a word. And not just any word, a holiday themed word. Just for me for Valentine's day. God said, "Let me tell you a real love story...."

This story came from a message entitled "Just Another Kiss" by Missionary Brad Lambeth and he got his text from the book of Song of Solomon.

For those who are not Biblical-ly savvy, I will just announce that the book of Song of Solomon is, uh, the steamiest book of the Bible. When a preacher preaches from this book, he is very brave, to say the least.

Song of Solomon is a story about a beautiful young Shulamite girl who falls in love with a Shepherd boy and they are going to be married. However, word of her beauty reaches the ear of King Solomon and she is taken captive and brought to King Solomon. King Solomon wishes to make her one of his more than 700 concubines. The shepherd boy comes secretively to the palace and asks her to come away with him but the Shulamite girl is beginning to fall under the seduction of the King, and she refuses. When she realizes the Shepherd boy has left, she runs from the palace and asks the daughters of Jerusalem if they have seen her lover, the Shepherd boy. They jeer at her and she is taken captive once again. The story ends with her calling for her Shepherd boy to make haste and return to her.

Disclaimer: The amazing thing about the Bible is that almost every story has a direct correlation to Christ. Sometimes these parallels are harder to decipher. The Bible is a living document because it is God's word but it is a mystery to those who's spiritual eyes are not open. This is how God is able to reveal Himself to His people. That is also why people who are not born-again can not understand the Bible. God has to open your eyes to it and divinely reveal it to you. That is also why Jesus spoke in parables so that everyone, believers and unbelievers, could understand Him. All Bible stories have a face value and also a spiritual typology. 

We can all appreciate a good love story but nothing beats a love story written for YOU personally.

The Song of Solomon is a picture of Christ's love for his bride, The Church. 

Jesus is the Shepherd boy and the church is the Shulamite girl. Their love is pure and perfect. Jesus loves the church unconditionally, and they are going to be married one day, symbolic of the rapture.

Solomon represents Satan. He has all of the worldly wealth and prosperity and glamor and he has conquered many with offers of fame and lies.

The daughters of Jerusalem represent the fallen girls whom Satan has brought to His palace and wooed away with lies and empty promises, telling them they are beautiful and loved and special but just adding them to his collection. Nothing more than a conquest. They too had all once loved a Shepherd boy but they were blinded by all that the palace had to offer. This represents people who have turned away from the love of Christ and believed the lies of Satan. Women who have been told all their life that they must dress a certain way or adorn themselves a certain way in order to be accepted or loved. Empty, hollow lies that lead to death and captivity in the end.

Satan takes the bride of Christ into his kingdom and tries to lure her away from The Shepherd. The first thing the Shulimite girl says when she is taken to the palace is, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth, for thy love is better than wine." She reminisces of the love of her Shepherd. How many people who leave the church look back and think, "Oh if I could only feel the love of Jesus again!" Some do and some don't. Some are too enamored with the sights and sounds around them to even miss the life and the love they had.

The Shepherd pursues the Shulimite girl and calls to her through the lattice, offering to take her away and take her back. Jesus will never leave you side, he will always pursue you, even through the gates of hell, to take you back. However the Shulimite girl is beginning to fall under the spell and the Shepard leaves. The girl can feel the presence of her lover at the door, she knows he was there and she runs after Him, but He has left. She is ridiculed by the other concubines and her veil is torn off, a symbol of her glory being removed from her. The true colors of her choices are becoming clear. She cries out for her Shepherd and the story ends with her asking her lover to make haste and return to her. 

The Bible says in Isiah 55:6, "Seek the Lord while He may still be found." Such a beautiful portrait of Christ's love for us but also a tragedy. Knowing that it might be too late. 

I take this story as a personal reminder to myself, may I always remember the love of my Shepherd. When I am surrounded and tempted by the world telling me what I should be or how I should dress or offering me fame and prosperity, I want to remember His kiss. The feel of the presence of God on my life is all that matters. I want my beauty and value to be only in Christ. Christ loves me unconditionally and He says I am beautiful just the way he created me. The love of Christ for His church is pure. The world says I am beautiful only if I wear make-up, or cut and highlight my hair, or wear jewelery or have a nice figure, but these are all lies of Satan. Lies intended to trap you in his world. 

But there is a love story that spans generations. Written for people who are hurt, abused, neglected, abandoned and those left out of the Valentine's day celebrations because of the hand life has dealt them. Those who feel that they can never love or be loved again. it is also written for people who think they have it all together and have need of nothing. Everyone can experience the ultimate love story....the love story that began on a cross.