City Bible Forum is just about to start a 5 week series at on the surprising book of the Song of Songs. I wondered why I was so unfamiliar with the Song of Songs - until I realised it was in the sealed section of the Old Testament!
The Song of Songs is one of those books that is a bit hard to understand on first reading. As you read through the book, however, you will notice a repeated phrase:
2:7 Daughters of Jerusalem,I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field:Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
3:5 Daughters of Jerusalem,I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field:Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
8:4 Daughters of Jerusalem,I charge you:Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
This repeated phrase is a ‘structural marker’ and breaks the Song of Songs into four main sections (1:1–2:7; 2:8–3:5; 3:6–8:4; 8:5–14). At which point you might be wondering: so what is the big deal?Well, it helps us see that the Song of Songs is as much about waiting for love, as it is about finally enjoying that love. A message about ‘waiting for love’ sounds foreign to the ears of our culture. For our culture despises waiting for anything, let alone the passion of physical love.
Likewise for Christians, passionate love is not to be controlled or denied, but it is to be ‘waited for’: that is, enjoyed in the way that God wants and in the time that God brings for each of us.At the same time, a message about ‘waiting for love’ can help us as Christians who wait for Jesus who we haven’t yet seen, but whom we love (1 Peter 1:8). And as we wait, the Song of Songs helps us understand the extent of God’s love for his people.
City Bible Forum 12:30 pm Wednesday, Central Park Seminar Room
For more info email Nigel Gordon nigel@ecom.org.au
The Song of Songs is one of those books that is a bit hard to understand on first reading. As you read through the book, however, you will notice a repeated phrase:
2:7 Daughters of Jerusalem,I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field:Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
3:5 Daughters of Jerusalem,I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field:Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
8:4 Daughters of Jerusalem,I charge you:Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
This repeated phrase is a ‘structural marker’ and breaks the Song of Songs into four main sections (1:1–2:7; 2:8–3:5; 3:6–8:4; 8:5–14). At which point you might be wondering: so what is the big deal?Well, it helps us see that the Song of Songs is as much about waiting for love, as it is about finally enjoying that love. A message about ‘waiting for love’ sounds foreign to the ears of our culture. For our culture despises waiting for anything, let alone the passion of physical love.
Likewise for Christians, passionate love is not to be controlled or denied, but it is to be ‘waited for’: that is, enjoyed in the way that God wants and in the time that God brings for each of us.At the same time, a message about ‘waiting for love’ can help us as Christians who wait for Jesus who we haven’t yet seen, but whom we love (1 Peter 1:8). And as we wait, the Song of Songs helps us understand the extent of God’s love for his people.
City Bible Forum 12:30 pm Wednesday, Central Park Seminar Room
For more info email Nigel Gordon nigel@ecom.org.au
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