Day 29-30, The Song of Solomon 5-8: The persistence of love

In these last chapters we see the married couple interacting.

Chapter 5 seems to be dealing with some sort of marital conflict or difficulty - they are distant from each other, and when one looks for the other, they are not there - possibly considering an emotional distance rather than a physical distance. Yet the love persists, and overcomes the difficulty, though not without some searching.

Chapters 6 and 7 are another description of the beauty of the bride in marital intimacy - the garden and the vineyard seem to be metaphors of their intimacy and love.

Chapter 8 seems to go back to the idea of the preciousness of purity - the protection (walls) desired for the younger sister, and the wife mentioning the righteous walls she had up to guard her purity. We all need walls up in our lives. Men and women, both considering sexual purity and the whole realm of spiritual and intellectual purity -  not letting just anything in, but guarding the gates carefully.

Quoting some verses, which seem to summarise the thoughts in this section and tell much of the story themselves:

What is your beloved more than another beloved, O most beautiful among women? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you thus adjure us? 

(Son 5:9)

I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the lilies. 

(Son 6:3)

How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights! 

(Son 7:6)

I am my beloved's, and his desire is for me. 

(Son 7:10)

Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised. 

(Son 8:6-7)

A good way to end the Wisdom literature - considering the power and delight of love! And again, how much greater is the love God has shown to us, greater even than the gift of love expressed in marriage. He offered not the wealth of His house, but His life - the only offering that would not be despised.