|
The Bible’s Song of Love Verse by verse through There are many passages of Scripture which portray human love and the married state (chaste or violated) as illustrations of the relationship between God and His people. Man was created in the image of God and within him there is still some faint reflection of Divine love. This, the noblest quality of Christian character, is the theme on which the Song is based. It is the song of Christ’s love for His Church and of hers for Him. The Apostle Paul describes the sacred relationship between Christ and His Church as "a great mystery" or secret (Eph.5:32) and we should not be surprised to find this recorded in veiled language in the Scriptures of the Old Testament which Jesus said "bear witness of Me." Next to the Psalms the Song was the favourite book of the Bible with the early Fathers of the Church. Origen’s commentary on it ran to ten volumes, and St. Bernard is reported to have written 86 sermons on the Song and only reached the first verse of Chapter 3. Davidson wrote that "There is reason to believe that the Psalms and the Song of Solomon formed the principal devotional books of our Lord." Adelaide Newton, writing over 100 years ago, described the book as being "full of Jesus...Jesus as our Bridegroom...and one of the Book’s most outstanding characteristics is that the person of Christ is dwelt on rather than His work and offices. He is loved, so to speak, for His own sake." In brief, this is a book of pictures of the relationship of the true Church to her Beloved rather than a connected narrative. It describes poetically the various experiences which arise in the relationship of Christ and the Church during her earthly pilgrimage. It is a parable which teaches us through the simile of human love how we should love Christ. The Book divides into six parts
To be continued |
