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Jan 22 2020
Pausing To Think About Friends
A brief pause here, to share a lesson I learned this week. As it often happens, it’s related to where we are in the Song of Songs. It is:
Telling others too much, too soon.
Doing so may feel good in the moment, but the results do not!
Think about it. Declaring “he brought me into his chambers” (1:4) was a true statement for the Shulamite, but it brought out the immaturity and hidden jealousy of the young women who heard her.
They immediately scanned her for faults. They judged her unworthy of a high calling. And they were closed off from rejoicing with her.
In the next post we’ll look at the stunning way she responded. (Sorry, I don’t mean to keep dangling that!) :-)
But meanwhile I got to thinking…
Jan 16 2020
God’s Stigma and The “Dark” Secret of the Shulamite (1:5-6)
Did you know there is a “mark” for the people of God? Ezekiel 9 and Revelation 7 are a couple places that speak of it. It is not the “mark of the beast,” or the “mark of Cain,” but a mark of identification with Christ. It is the reproaches of Christ Himself, by which He bore loss, rejection, ridicule, and misunderstandings.
The Shulamite woman in the Song of Songs was a “marked” woman as well. What little information she does reveal is intentional. Consider the following points:
Jan 14 2020
Being Gazed Upon (Intro to 1:5-7)
I believe we can assume self-consciousness was a temptation for the Shulamite at some point in her life, perhaps as soon as she came out of the chamber room of the King for the first time.
It’s not that Solomon made her feel that way. In his gaze she felt vulnerable, yes, but loved. He was ever so kind in how he dealt with her. A “consummate gentleman,” as the old saying goes. :-)
Rather, as soon as she came out of the King’s chamber she found herself suddenly under the judging eyes of her very own friends. At first they seemed to be encouraging to her, but now they are finding fault with her suntanned skin, which was an undesirable trait in those days. It was most likely because it looked even darker now, in contrast to the “glow” she was wearing on her face from being in the Beloved’s bed!
How did she respond to her friends? What can we learn?
Jan 12 2020
Just To Make a Clearer Distinction (1:4 Con’t)
The last post about “being brought into His chamber” was heavy, I know, and long. I don’t make any apologies for it, as everything isn’t for everybody, and it helped bring things together for me, in my Spirit. I’m not always able to make things easy for other people to understand. Call it a writing style, or whatnot, but sometimes after the fact I hear someone else put it into less, more succinct words, and I’m like, “Ahhh, perfect! So much simpler!” :-)
Like the following, which I give credit to another author for writing. Forgiving some of the religious language whose overuse has become problematic in my opinion, I think you’ll get the overall gist.
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