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The Bible’s Song Of Love Verse by verse through the Song of Songs 6:6"THY TEETH ARE LIKE A FLOCK OF EWES, WHICH ARE COME UP FROM THE WASHING; WHEREOF EVERY ONE HATH TWINS, AND NONE IS BEREAVED AMONG THEM." 6:7"THY TEMPLES ARE LIKE A PIECE OF A POMEGRANATE BEHIND THE VEIL." God uses no vain repetitions; there is, therefore, some precious truth to be sought out from the recurrence of this passage from chapter 4:1‑3. The Bride has fallen into grievous declension (decline) since these words were there uttered. "She might therefore think that Christ had other thoughts of her now, and to remove her suspicions, and show her that she was the very same to Him, He will not only commend her afresh, but in the very same words. However apt believers may be to slip and fail in their duty, and from their own fickleness to suspect that Christ is changeable also, refusing all past evidences of His love, and the words that have comforted them aforetime, the Lord graciously repeats what He had said, to prove His unchangeableness." (Durham circa 1850) 6:8 In Revelation 7 the elect of the Lord are specifically numbered. Whether we are to understand the figure of 144,000 literally is not certain but it does convey to us that the exact number of those who are to reign with Christ is a distinctive feature of the divine purpose. It appears that it is in this sense that we are to understand the last two verses of this fourth part of the Song. "THERE ARE THREESCORE QUEENS, AND FOURSCORE CONCUBINES, AND MAIDENS WITHOUT NUMBER." (Mar.) 6:9"MY DOVE, MY UNDEFILED, IS BUT ONE; SHE IS THE ONLY ONE OF HER MOTHER; SHE IS THE PURE ONE OF HER THAT BARE HER. THE DAUGHTERS SAW HER, AND CALLED HER BLESSED; YEA, THE QUEENS AND THE CONCUBINES, AND THEY PRAISED HER." (Mar.) These verses indicate degrees of nearness to the Bridegroom. Have we a bridal love for Christ or have we only a queenly attitude which fully recognises the honour and responsibilities of the high calling but is deficient in love? Are we even further away, having the attitude of a concubine—that is one who strictly adheres to duty and service but is without bridal love for the Lord? Or are we just virgins (damsels) rather like those from amongst whom in times past kings called candidates for probationary training as queens or concubines? The A.V. (v.8) translates "maidens" as "virgins" but this can be misleading for it is the usual Hebrew word for "damsels" or "maidens" which is used here. It is a word which is in fact used uniformly in the Old Testament to describe merely an unmarried female. The word most commonly translated "virgin" on the other hand means "separation" and conveys a deeper thought than is intended by the word "maidens" in this verse. With this understanding we can see more clearly how our Lord views His Bride. Rotherham translates "one alone is my dove, my perfect one, one alone, was she to her mother, Pure, was she to her that bare her." (The words in italics are emphasised in the original Hebrew text.) This passage singles out the Bride from the queens and concubines. It is not enough that she should be a queen–the "King of Kings" requires for His Bride the "Queen of Queens." We also note the emphasis on the word "one." Does the phrase "is but one" suggest the erstwhile (former) secret thought of the unity of the Church "we, being many, are one"? (Rom.12:5 KJV) The comparison of the "one" with the numbers of the queens and concubines alone emphasises the smallness of the "little flock." The maiden had said "He is the chiefest among ten thousand." His response is "She is my only one—my dove, my undefiled is but one"—more to Him than all others. In this verse the Lord tells us that there are others who are near to Him—but whose attitude of heart keeps them from the close and privileged position of the Bride. First we are told that there are "threescore queens." This seems to have a bearing on the earlier picture of the threescore valiant men who were shown as bearers and protectors of the Bridegroom in 3:7,8. They, too, were very near Him in a place of high honour but within the same passage even they are distinguished from the one who "cometh up out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense…" (v.6) Then we are told that there are even more concubines. These seem to represent those who are in a privileged position as part of the Royal household. Their lives are set apart to serve their Lord but they do not reign with him. The word "concubine" means "half‑wife" (Young). How fitly this describes those with half or divided hearts and who have little more than a duty or service relationship to the Lord. They are devoted to the Lord but lack the intensity of true bridal love. The context clearly identifies the queens and the concubines with that class described earlier as the "daughters of Jerusalem." In the several references to them we have seen varying degrees of love. In Chapters 5 and 6 they reveal an understanding of the Bride’s earnest love for her Beloved. In Chapter 3:11, however, they had to be told to "go forth…and behold" the Bridegroom and it is probably not without significance that on that occasion they were called "daughters of Zion" which means literally "daughters of the fortress." These two references alone picture the attitude of heart of the queens and the concubines respectively. Nevertheless the Bridegroom reads the deep thoughts of their hearts and is able to say that they called the bride blessed and praised her. Although the queens are distinguished from "the only one" they have a place of great honour. Perhaps this is what the Apostle intended to convey in 1 Cor.15 when, after distinguishing between the natural and spiritual bodies, he goes further and says even of the celestial (spiritual) that "star differeth from another star in glory." (v.41) Moreover in Rev.7 after the angel had given the specific number of the elect of God John says "After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number…standing before the throne...and palms in their hands." (v.9) How many there will be who will not be queens upon the throne no man can number; nor do we need to know for the call is not to be servants in that day but to sit with the Bridegroom. But, if we fall short, God in His love has arranged for the spiritual concubines to be "before the throne…and...serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them." (Rev.7:15) Then the Apostle John tells us that the Elder concluded in words reminiscent of earlier passages of the Song "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more" (v.16) (for the need for being stayed "with raisins" and "apples" (Chap.2:5) will have gone.) No longer will they be "swarthy, because the sun hath scorched" them, nor will others be angry with them (Chap.1:6) for "neither shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat." (v.16) They who failed to be fountains of the Lord (Chap.4:12) are to be guided by the Lamb "unto fountains of waters of life" (v.17) and they shall no longer be distraught for "God...shall wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Rev.21:3‑4) Some of these references applied, of course, to the maiden but only in the days of her immaturity. Those who will be judged as "daughters of Jerusalem" at the last will be those who never grew beyond spiritual adolescence. The first two parts ended with an adjuration to the daughters not to disturb the Bride until she pleased. Now as Part 4 closes she is seen as "the only one of her Beloved." No longer do the daughters question her place in His love and so we read they "called her blessed…and praised her." EEA/ LB |
