Promise me, O women of Jerusalem . . . not to awaken love until the time is right. (Song of Songs 3:5, New Living Translation)This is a repeating charge in Song of Songs. Don't awaken love until the time is right. It can be found in chapters 2, 3 and 8. There has been a whole range of opinion regarding the love affair chronicled here. Is it a story of the relationship between God and Israel? Christ and the church? Two young lovers? A king and his bride? Over the years majority opinion has shifted between these choices.
Joseph Dillow has written a great book called Solomon on Sex – The Biblical Guide to Married Love. He focuses on this repeating verse as the key to understanding this work of Old Testament wisdom literature.
God intended sex to be enjoyed within the bonds of marriage. Solomon's bride charges the women of Jerusalem with that very truth. Nowhere is the sexual relationship as beautifully expounded as in this book, and nowhere is it as beautiful except within the marriage relationship.
How cool is that?
No comments:
Post a Comment