Intimacy with Christ Song of Songs 1:1-7. Song of Songs 1:1-7. The Woman. 1 The Song best of all songs Solomon s song!

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1 1 The Song best of all songs Solomon s song! The Woman 2 Kiss me full on the mouth! Yes! For your love is better than wine, headier than your aromatic oils. The syllables of your name murmur like a meadow brook. No wonder everyone loves to say your name! 4 Take me away with you! Let s run off together! An elopement with my King-Lover!

2 We ll celebrate, we ll sing, we ll make great music. Yes! For your love is better than vintage wine. Everyone loves you of course! And why not? 5-6 I am weathered but still elegant, oh, dear sisters in Jerusalem, Weather-darkened like Kedar desert tents, time-softened like Solomon s Temple hangings. Don t look down on me because I m dark, darkened by the sun s harsh rays. My brothers ridiculed me and sent me to work in the fields. They made me care for the face of the earth, but I had no time to care for my own face.

3 7 Tell me where you re working I love you so much Tell me where you re tending your flocks, where you let them rest at noontime. Why should I be the one left out, outside the orbit of your tender care?

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5 According to a study done in 2007, of all the songs written, recorded and sold, 60% were about love and relationships.

6 Degrees of Intimacy increasing desire for distance contact is not wanted nor rejected increasing desire for presence adversary enemy jerk nuisance stranger, passer by acquaintance good friend friend spouse best friend

7 Jesus intimacy scale Inner 3 12 Apostles followers/disciples (~120 Acts 1:15) Crowds that followed him (~5,000)

8 1. Who wrote Song of Songs? (no one knows) 2. What is the Song of Songs? (Hebrew poetry) Many times was set to music Uses chiastic structure

9 1. Who wrote Song of Songs? (no one knows) 2. What is the Song of Songs? (Hebrew poetry) Many times was set to music Uses chiastic structure a1 a2 b1 b2 c1 c2

10 1. Who wrote Song of Songs? (no one knows) 2. What is the Song of Songs? (Hebrew poetry) Many times was set to music Uses chiastic structure a1 - look how the bird soars b1 - look how she collects tiny twigs c1 - tiny twigs to build her big nest c2 - tiny twigs to build a strong nest for her young b2 - how meticulously she collected them a2 - How she soared through the air to make a home

11 1. Who wrote Song of Songs? (no one knows) 2. What is the Song of Songs? (Hebrew poetry) Many times was set to music Uses chiastic structure Assonance Repetition/parallelism: saying the same thing and building on it

12 1. Who wrote Song of Songs? (no one knows) 2. What is the Song of Songs? (Hebrew poetry) 3. How do we interpret it? A. Allegorical B. Typological C. Mythical Story D. Historical/Literal

13 1. Who wrote Song of Songs? (no one knows) 2. What is the Song of Songs? (Hebrew poetry) 3. How do we interpret it? 4. How will we interpret it? Dimensions of Intimacy

14 When we develop and express our love to another person we are using the same words and actions and emotions that also are used to develop and express our love for God; and vice versa. Eugene Peterson Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Ministry

15 Degrees of Intimacy x

16 y x

17 y x agnostic (contact is not wanted nor rejected)

18 y new believer x

19 y 4 disciple x

20 y 4 3 increasing desire for presence x

21 y 4 3 increasing desire for presence x pagan

22 y 4 3 increasing desire for presence x atheist

23 y 4 3 increasing desire for presence x increasing desire for distance

24 y 4 Christ heaven spouse x

25 y x hell

26 Like other Wisdom Literature, the Song of Solomon assumes that the covenant God of Israel ( the LORD, Song 8:6) is the one true God, Maker of heaven and earth. The purpose of the redemptive covenants is to restore fallen, damaged creatures (mankind) to the proper functioning of their humanity. Therefore obedience to the Lord s commands is the right way to enjoy the world God made, and it also displays to the rest of the world how refreshingly attractive it is to know the true God. The picture of the two lovers in the Song of Solomon is an ideal one... the picture provides the pattern into which God wishes to shape his faithful people, which is also the pattern toward which they will freely give themselves to be shaped. Indeed, one function of wisdom literature is to make that pattern attractive, as the Song of Solomon does in full measure. ESV Study Bible

27 The first word in the Song (in Hebrew) is Kiss me! a direct, and passionate, appeal for intimacy. This person does not want to talk about theology, does not want to gossip about love, does not want to get on a committee to do something for God. There is no time for cultural platonic conversation, no use for that which in the theological world goes under the label of apologetics. The lonely isolation of the solitary person must be invaded. Life, to be meaningful, must be joined: intimacy is a requirement for wholeness. Eugene Peterson Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Ministry

28 How could I and everyone that I knew and loved be in sin? In this crucible of confusion, I learned something important. I learned the first rule of repentance: that repentance requires greater intimacy with God than with our sin. How much greater? About the size of a mustard seed. Repentance requires that we draw near to Jesus, no matter what. And sometimes we have to crawl there on our hands and knees. Repentance is an intimate affair. And for many of us, intimacy is a terrifying prospect. Rosaria Butterfield The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert