(vs 4:16 - 6:3) David wrote his songs (Psalms), and Solomon wrote his (SoS). It's allegorical about his relationship with his wife, and is how Christ and His Church (bride) relate to each other.
The setting is a marriage relationship riveted with physical affection. If you read with the wrong eyes it arouses the wrong thing in you.
* INTIMACY - Physical and Spiritual (personal & corporate). The purpose of sex is intimacy (to be fully known and fully accepted) - the product is LIFE!
SoS is broken up into several acts, like a play.
Vs 5:1 - The end of the third act of SoS - Christ and His bride had experienced intimacy.
* The beginning of the Fourth Act - going back to when their love was first born. She has a dream:
Vs 5:2 - Her husband had come to the door and gently entreated her - He was pursuing her.
Vs 5:3 - She 1) wasn't ready and 2) unwilling to surrender to Him.
Vs 5:4 - He was longing for her. She was "moved" when she realized he was pursuing her.
Vs 5:5 - She was finally ready to respond to His pursuit. Everything inside of her was now ready for Him - she put her perfume on.
Vs 5:6 - Christ had departed. She waited too long. The words of Isaiah 55:6 are so true - "Seek Me while I may be found."
* Christ doesn't accept half-hearted commitment. She then went looking for Him - she now was pursuing Him.
Vs 5:7 - Well intentioned spiritual leaders with ill delivered methods. They misjudged her and left her exposed.
Vs 5:8 - She couldn't trust the watchmen, so she makes an announcement to everyone - "I want Jesus!"
Vs 5:9 - They respond - "How is He different than any other god?"
Vs 5:10-16 - She responds - "Let me tell you about my Jesus!"
* He was a TENDER WARRIOR, like the two-sides of King David - a lover and a fighter. He was both Truth & Love!
Vs 6:1 - They respond - "If He's all that, then we want Him too!"
Vs 6:2 - She finally found Him - He had gone down from His palace to His garden, in the 1) quiet and 2) secret place.
* If she wanted to find Him, she had to be alone.
Vs 6:3 - The two came back together again and were now in a position of intimacy once again. They were each other's - He was hers and she was His.
** UGLY - SoS 7 - she was a pot-bellied girl with a long neck, beady eyes, and a massive shnoz. She didn't walk places, she waddled. She was an ugly duckling, but He dug her in a crazy passionate way because she was His girl!
This is where the church needs to be today, but it starts with each one of us going through these steps above personally with Jesus.
A Picture of Christ and the Church
A lesson from Solomon
September 27, 2015 • Benham Brothers
The Foundations of Church
January 15, 2013 • Benham Brothers
* Covenant with Noah (8:20) * Covenant with Abe (Gen 12) * Description of Covenant (Gen 15) 15 years later he had Isaac 1000 years later Moses came 2000 years later Jesus came Gen 9 - Civil Govt Gen 9:20-24 - Covering Nakedness * Ham - cursed because he didn't cover Noah (father of Canaanites) * Shem - father of Israelites * Japheth - father of Gentiles Gen 12 - First thing's first * The first thing Abe did when he came into a land was build an altar to show honor to the maker of the Covenant * When Abe told Sarah to lie he had not yet built the altar - he failed to do it first!
Huddle Up
January 10, 2014 • Benham Brothers
God's command was to multiply and fill the earth, but the people wanted to huddle up God's plan was for us to possess and take dominion, and we can't do that in a crowd They also wanted to build something that would make their names memorable They wanted to build something so tall they couldn't be flooded out again God confused their language, which was the opposite thing He did on Pentacost God waited until they spent a lot of time and money before He busted it up - He gave them time to repent Our natural tendency will be to huddle in a comfortable group and not go into all the world (our neighborhood)
The Cost of the Covenant
January 12, 2017 • Benham Brothers
* When God made a covenant with Abraham He required Abraham to honor it. * It was going to cost Abraham something in order to enter the covenant. * For him, he had to cut his junk. * He had to remove the needless skin from his unit. * Can you imagine this? He was 99 years old at this time. * The first blessing from God to man was procreation. * Now, the sign of the covenant required pain to enter it. * If Abe didn’t want the pain he didn’t get the covenant. * For us, to be in covenant with God it cost Jesus His life. * The price we have to pay is the same - to give up our lives. * But to remain in the covenant we have to endure the pain. * Are you willing to pay that price?