For the past
week I have read through the New Testament (excluding 3/4 of the gospels) with
my class. We watched, listened, and read through together and privately
multiple books at a time, bringing each book to discussion. I found it to be an
incredible experience. Because we were reading books continuously through, we
started seeing the bigger picture connecting together through the New
Testament, and themes that we never before picked up. So it came to reading
Song of Songs, I simply couldn’t stop to blog after each couple chapters.
Honestly,
reading through Song of Songs was quite mind-boggling. I read through the
descriptions, bewildered at the extreme descriptions, debating whether there
was a meaning to what I was reading, a purpose, a plot, a moral, or a theme.
After talking to a couple friends and reading through a commentary book on Song
of Songs, I found out that there are indeed many different perspectives on this
book.
Song of Songs
almost seems to be a random book, without really a message or even a mention of
God. Some suggest that it should be read historically, as a portrayal of the
main characters as it really was. Others hypothesize that it suggests the
future, describing Jesus’ love relationship with the Church, “His Bride”, and
also others suggest it describes the present, the relationship between man and
woman. There are also some who hypothesize that Solomon actually did not write
the book, it isn’t about him, or there is a love triangle between him, the Shulamite
girl, and a shepherd boy. But regardless of all the theories, I think that it
is important to appreciate the book for its poetic worth (though much of the
play of words is not translated into English). It is a book that addresses
themes of Love, physical attraction, intimacy, fear of loss, loneliness,
loyalty, jealousy, and self-consciousness. Though slightly awkward to read, it
is a great book appreciating the creation of God in the beauty of man and
women, and the unification of two as one.
On a side track,
In terms of my own feelings regarding this book, I found that it was quite a
timely read. I previously watched many Korean dramas and love fairytales that
explode butterflies in my tummy. Ups and downs, jealousy and tension,
frustration and sadness, but love that conquers all. Often I have faced
self-consciousness and slight envy. When will I get my love story? Almost 2
decades of my life, and I have not yet tasted romance. When I was a little
girl, my grandmother always told me to pray for a good husband. I have always
since then imagined that God was preparing a prince charming for me. But now I
am reminded yet again that the perfect love story is already mine. Jesus is
preparing Me for Him. I found it very interesting, that in my first few days of
Bible School this term, one of my respected lecturers from my bible school told
me he had prayed for me not to get a boyfriend yet, that I wouldn’t be
distracted. I was honestly surprised; why would he pray for such a thing? Is he
jinxing me? I found it completely random and slightly confusing. But weeks
later I understood. Relationships can often become distracting, and take away
your focus from God as first. God taught me many things I’d have never learnt
if I had been impatient and did things my way. Physical attraction can be
intoxicating, and can take your focus away from approaching the other person
without wrong intention, genuinely seeking to understand him or her as a person
of purity and character. Also, it distracts yourself from being a person of
selfless character, emphasizing more on attracting others by charm.
So often our
view of love today is tainted by the world. We are so desperate for
relationship that sometimes we are willing to compromise. But love, although is
chemistry to a certain degree, is also majorly learnt. We learn to be selfless,
we learn to sacrifice; we learn to be loyal; we learn to understand; we learn
to love. And I think it’s the same for any relationship, even our relationship
with Jesus. How does this relate to Song of Songs? Not too sure, but I think it
brought me back to yearning for romance, for one person to be passionately in
love with. Romance, passion, beauty, was all designed by God our creator. Love
is a blessing, a gift from God. Human beings are so beautifully designed, and
man and woman were crafted to assist, unite, and complete each other in Christ,
as seen when God created the first couple, Adam and Eve. But Christ is the
ultimate perfection. With Him, we are complete. A quote I saw recently on my
friend’s status update was “Imagine a man so focused on God that the only
reason he looks up to see you is because he heard God say, “That’s her”. That
struck something in me. If I try to attract someone with my own means, the only
guy will be attracted to me for the wrong reasons, and I wouldn’t even want
that! But if I focus on God and being the person that he wants me to be, then
if a guy comes alongside my journey of seeking God, then yay! But as for now, I
look down at the two rings on both my ring fingers, one with my baptism date
(12-12-12) inside and the other representing my promise of purity. A commitment
to patience. And I realize, that I have more than enough, because I have Jesus.
***
P.S.:
After seeing the picture on the blog page for the reading, my roommates
and I started incorporating random dialogue from the book into our
conversation, such as “the beautiful goats in your hair” or “lovey DOVEY
EYES”. We also thought it would be a
funny and interesting activity to find all the descriptions of both the man and
the woman in Song of Songs, and attempt to draw it out. Eyes that sparkle like
doves beside springs of water, set in jewels, washed in milk, fawns, goats,
young gazelles, fruit trees…. The list goes on. At the end of the day, we found
that it helped us remember the book so much more, and with a humorous twist. So
I hope you enjoy it too (sorry its black and white), and that you can decipher
the references!
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