A Scandalous Mission

Tamar painting by J.Tissot, used by permission

Sometimes there’s no perfect time to do it. Love is bursting for expression, and what others think about your timing, or your method, is irrelevant. Your face is set like flint to “do the thing,” because it is love that motivates you and that is all that matters!

This kind of love doesn’t overthink, or analyze the situation. It might know that it’s a “crazy” idea, but it can’t be talked out of it.

As talked about in the last post, when the Shulamite woke up one morning and found Solomon had left on a shepherding trip – she was quite determined to go after him. This idea was so appealing to her, that she did something that was pretty bold. She found a messenger who could get a letter to King Solomon, asking him:

Tell me, the one who my soul loves. Where do you graze? Where do you make your flocks to rest at noon? – Song 1:7

But it’s the part that she tacked on afterward that I want to call attention to:

For why should I be one who is veiled wandering beside the flocks of your companions…

What does this mean?

Culturally, it will help to understand how scandalous it was in those days to be a veiled woman wandering alone near men. Prostitutes did that. The story of Tamar in Genesis 38 is a perfect example of this. Tamar was not a prostitute, but intentionally veiled herself at a shepherd camp to coercively receive from Judah the perpetration of seed which was rightfully hers by law — and incidentally in doing so, saved the line to the Messiah from extinction.¹

I’m not sure how much this story was in the Shulamite’s mind in how she crafted her note, especially since Solomon’s affection for his bride was anything but restrained. However there is some evidence of playful teasing in the woman’s very unusual choice of Hebrew that is translated “Why should I be.” It is extremely close to the name of Solomon! 

In other words — her statement can be read in one of two ways: “Why should I be like this…”  or: “Solomon, I will be like this…”

I find this intriguing, her very wise and creative choice of words. One is left wondering: is she concerned that she will be misrepresented as a prostitute when she sets out to meet him? Or is she subtly declaring a willingness to embrace this risk if she has to?

❤︎ No Fear in Love

Regardless of how to understand the nuances of these words, one thing is certain. This woman was not fearful. Her love for Solomon was greater than a desire to “save face.” We know this, because later in the story she went out in the streets looking for him at night, and was beaten up by the watchmen of the city. They judged her as a prostitute then, and took away her veil.²

Wisdom cries out in the street!  Proverbs1:20

You might remember another woman who had a “scandalous love” for a King. She too didn’t wait for an anonymously “perfect” time when nobody would see her. When the desire came, Mary of Magdala burst into a room full of staunch religious men, and tenderly ministered to Christ in a beautiful and intimate act of worship.³ 

In one bold act, several commonly accepted taboos were broken, and many people were offended. In fact, to this day, Mary has a reputation of having been a prostitute. I’m not saying it matters if she had been or not, but there is actually no evidence in Scripture that she was! Maybe, instead, this was a rumor meant to defame her reputation and the spiritual authority she later had as a female apostle among the early believers? It was not just men who experienced the resurrected Christ and received a sending mission. 

This is often the cost of true love – to be misunderstood and judged wrongly.

But Jesus understands. He is appreciative and deeply moved by our bold faith that chases hard after Him.

¹ Gen. 38 & Ruth 4:12 / ² Song 5:7 / ³ Luke 7