The book of poetry that we know as the Song of Songs or Song of Solomon has provided great interest and speculation among Biblical scholars and ordinary folk for centuries mostly because of its apparent sensuous and some might even say erotic conversation between a woman and a man. Its authorship too has been a source of great debate for centuries as well. Most scholars have concluded that the writer was Solomon, the so-called wisest man that ever lived who was King of Israel for many years after succeeding his father David. Another less prominent view is that the Song of Solomon may not have been written by Solomon at all but it was based on his numerous relationships with women. It was a book of poems written about the life and relationships of Solomon written by someone else. Although neither of these hypotheses are conclusive by any means there is good reason to believe them. After all, Solomon’s reputation as a womaniser who used sexual relationships and marriages to advance his political aims was well-known and documented.
The poem at face value follows the discourse between a woman and a man who are lovers and the friends of the woman who also join in praising the love of this woman for her Beloved. The conversation that ensues and the language that is used is enough to keep tongues wagging for sure and the book overall seems to many people to be out of place in the Hebrew scriptures.
Whatever we may think about the Song of Solomon as biblical writing, I would like us to focus a little more on the messages that we can get from the text, even a text that seems to focus on praising the beauty of romantic love. Let’s put the romance aside for a moment and grasp another important message in this text.
In chapter eight the man who is described as a gazelle or a young stag comes with an invitation to the woman. It’s an invitation to go with him. We don’t know where they are supposed to be going but it is an invitation into a relationship. “Come with me” (verses 10 and 13), is as much about inviting someone or something into your company or into a relationship as it is about going on a journey somewhere. It may just be an invitation to experience something new and different. The following verses give reason it seems for the invitation to be offered. In the text, it is mentioned in vs.11 that winter has passed and although the word Spring is not specifically used, there are more than enough descriptions to suggest that it is now Spring and with this change in season, the time has come to go out, and to experience new things. In verses 12 and 13 the sure signs of Spring are described such as flowers appearing vs.12 the cooing of doves vs.12 and blossoming vines spreading their fragrance vs.13. In a nutshell, the Beloved is inviting his love or lover to enter the new season with him. She is being invited to grasp with him that new thing which has come which is the Springtime and all the newness and life and vitality that Spring brings. However it is not just about the coming of Spring that is important but the fact that the springtime symbolises the fertility and life that abounds in new relationships.
Spring brings many images to life. We can picture longer days, flowers blooming, animals giving birth to their young and so much more that point to the earth returning to life and liveliness after the winter has passed, especially in places where the seasons are very distinct. The Spring symbolises a new day, a new time to be grasped eagerly and enjoyed fully. Truly it can be said that with Spring a new day has come.
We have literally just come out of Spring ourselves so many of us in this sense can relate to the text. Spring should by its nature herald a time of joy and liveliness and hope and fruitfulness. In what way has the literal Spring brought new life to you? Has it been a time for new births in your families? Has it been a time for new relationships to be formed or dying relationships revived? Above all can we see ourselves being invited into a new relationship with God? The Song of Solomon above all things is a poem that elevates the enduring beauty of relationships. We don’t have to see this only through the romantic eyes of two lovers. Relationships are special and beautiful, irrespective of who the persons are in the relationship, when they are formed out of sincere love and desire and commitment to one another.
This is why some interpret the Song of Solomon as an allegory of the relationship between God and the Church. The Church being the young woman and God being the Beloved. In the book of Revelation the Church is also described as the bride of Christ so the reference to the love relationship between God and his Church is not a new thing.
This is what God is calling us into with him today. He is calling us into a new relationship. For every newly born again Christian the day of his or her conversion is like Spring because new life has come for that person. He or she is brought into a new love relationship with God. For those of us who are longtime Christians we can see the arrival of Spring as a new day in our own relationship with God. In this light, every day is Spring because our God is always inviting us into a new and ever-growing relationship with him through the saving love of Jesus. We are being asked every day to see our God as that friend or that nearest and dearest or even a lover (if that analogy works for you), who is saying to us simply “Come with me.” (See Song of Solomon 2:10,13) Spring time symbolises the invitation to enter into a new relationship with God. Indeed a new day has come. Can you sense it? Can you feel it? Do you want to share in it? Maybe for many it is still winter that is to say it is still a time of challenge and pain but the best part is that Spring can be ushered in by simply accepting God’s invitation to “Come with me”
Despite the pain and the challenges of this life, please allow yourself to hear that still small voice whispering in your ear, “Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.” (See Song of Solomon 2:13 NIV) Let those words swell within your spirit and trust the invitation from no other than God himself to enter into a new day with Him as He becomes your beloved and then you and I can bask in the joy of new life in Him. As he calls us into Spring, let your response through the pain and disappointment and loss that you have faced or are currently experiencing be, ‘Yes Lord! I will go with you.’ Let the answer you give to God’s invitation reflect the fact that a new day has come for you and for all who remain steadfast in Christ.
Go with God into this new day hand in hand trusting him to lead you through the winter of life into Spring and beyond because of his everlasting and faithful love for you. Amen.