Song of Solomon 2:1 I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.
7 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
The Bible makes it clear that salvation is a gift of God. Adam was created without sin but he became a sinner in need of a Saviour. Before he sinned, God instituted marriage. Jesus referred back to Genesis 2 when He was tempted to sin by the Pharisees. Jesus is the eternal Son of God and He knew the wickedness of the Pharisees. He also knew the wickedness of the devil. Those Pharisees would be accountable for their sin. They will suffer in the lake of fire for all eternity along with the devil.
God directed king Solomon to write of the beautiful intimacy there is in a marriage that is built by God. God was painting this picture of the marriage relationship to show a much greater truth. True saints have a beautiful relationship with their loving Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. That relationship might be strained sometimes because of the sin of a saint, but the Lord Jesus Christ is pure. There is no blemish in Him and those who trust in Him for salvation have eternal life. They can be forgiven and restored and they can grow in their walk with Him.
In verse 1 the groom is speaking of himself. This is again a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sharon is the coastal plain along the southwestern coasts of Israel. Two flowers grow well there. The rose and the lily. Jesus Christ is better than both of them. Often times men will purchase roses for their wives. Roses are also used to mark special occasions. Florists know the value of the rose and they like to make sure they make their money off of them. Jesus Christ is of greater value than all the roses in the world. True saints value Him and they want to be sure to exalt Him.
However, according to verse 1, Jesus Christ will be exalted whether anyone thinks He is worthy or not. He exalts Himself. We know in the Gospels that His Father exalted Him on several occasions. We know that in Philippians 2 we are told that every knee will bow before Him one day. He will be exalted to His rightful place by all humanity. The wise person chooses to exalt Him now.
In verse 2 we see that the lily, Jesus Christ, stands out among the thorns. We would much rather have a lily to look at than to be scratched and pierced by thorns. Jesus knew all about the thorns. They made a crown of thorns and forced that down upon His head. He bled as a result of that torture, but His beauty was not lost. Isaiah 53 tells us they beat Him so He was unrecognizable as a man, but three days later, He rose from the grave and the blood was all gone. The pain of that event was in the past. He was the risen Saviour.
His love was like that lily among the thorns. The wise person will seek out that lily, knowing the extreme value it has. The Holy Spirit is drawing lost people to the Saviour. Occasionally one will yield and be saved. It will be much different than the illustration we used of Alice Cooper yesterday. He is just one of thousands of frauds that make a mockery of Jesus Christ.
In verse 3 the bride is speaking of the blessing that her groom is to her. He is like the cherished apple tree among the trees of the wood. The blossoms of that tree are a sight to behold in the spring. As those apples are forming, the harvest is anticipated. The fruit, once ripe, is to be desired.
Again this is a picture of the relationship between the true saints and the Lord Jesus Christ. True saints do not appreciate the cheapening of their Saviour. They want others to see the extreme benefit of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour.
Mark 9:22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
A man came to Jesus with a need. He had gone to the disciples but they could not help. He came to Jesus with a doubting mind. In verse 22 he expressed his doubt in Jesus. Jesus rebuked this man and told him to believe. Remember, Jesus was proving His deity at this time. The people needed to know He was the promised Messiah.
Jesus is not on the earth now. True saints are not given the power now to cast out devils and to heal as Jesus did. We do have the power to pray for people and God can and still does do miracles today. Not on demand as some think. The greatest need of man is salvation. He provides that. He will cleanse the addict and give him eternal life if he turns to him in repentance and trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. The saved person will understand that he was not saved to be a rocker or a dancer, etc. He is saved to glorify God.
As the bride states in verse 4, Jesus Christ is sweet to the taste of the saved person. True churches want to exalt Him. They want to make Him known in these days of grace.
In verse 5 we see that Jesus brings the saints to His banqueting house. At a banquet, food is in abundance. It is of the best of the food. It is mouth watering. It satisfies the hunger. Jesus satisfies the longing of any soul that turns to God in repentance and trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. There is no lack of help for those who trust in Him for their salvation.
If we want to see examples of what a true saint looks like, we should look at the New Testament for proof. There we read of possessed people who are saved and clothed and seated calmly. We read of men like the apostle Paul who was a Christ hater, but turned out to be a lover of Truth. He was feared by the saints at one point, but loved by them later on because he was not that hateful man any longer. He was changed.
In verse 5 the bride speaks of her condition. She is lovesick. She cannot get enough of her groom. She does not want to be away from Him. Some women are happy to see their husbands leave the house. They do not mind them around for awhile, but they also get tired of having them around. The true child of God wants more and more of Jesus. They do not want to go it alone.
In verse 6 she again speaks of the intimacy of the relationship. This is again a picture of what a true relationship with Jesus Christ is all about. He is not ashamed to embrace His saints. There is nothing untoward taking place here. There is nothing rude here. This is a beautiful picture of that wonderful knowledge of truly knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. There is no pretending here. There is no redefining holiness or worldliness. There is a purity here that is only found in truly knowing the Lord Jesus Christ.
In verse 7 we see the care this bride has for her groom. She does not want him disturbed by anyone. In the spiritual sense, true saints do not want people to waste Jesus’ time with mocking questions. They want to grow and learn the truth.
While I was in Bible school there were students who loved to get the instructor off topic. They figured if they could waste their time, it would be easier for them at exam time. One instructor was wise to that and he warned us as students that even if some wanted to take him off course, the material we covered in class was all fair game for the exam. Some of the students did not believe him but they found out otherwise come exam time.
Personally, I did not go to school to waste time. I wanted to know the God of the Bible. I wanted to know how to walk humbly with the Lord Jesus Christ. I wanted the truth. Today, I find that most professing Christians are not that interested in truth. They call that legalism or unloving. They would rather be lied to and made to feel good in their sin.
Thus many churches give them what they want. They are careful not to offend. They make sure their words are wrapped in candy. They do not heed the warning given in II Timothy 4. They learn how to scratch the itching ears of the people. That massage may feel good for a time but it does not solve the problem. Truth is what we need. We need to be confronted when in sin and we need to understand there is only one real solution to sin. It is not a bandaid. It is repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a sigh of relief when sin is dealt with Biblically.
Pastor Bartel
