Title: The Lord's Visit
1. Solomon visits the Shulammite woman (2:8-14). After reminiscing on the day of the wedding, the Shulammite woman now recalls the days when she was dating Solomon. One day at the end of winter and the beginning of spring, Solomon visits the mountains of Lebanon to meet his beloved Shulammite.
Verse 8 says, “This is the voice of the one I love. Behold, he runs on the mountain, and he comes swiftly over the hill.” In the text that vividly describes the lover who comes to meet her, the Shulammite woman repeats the title “My Beloved” three times in a row.
This shows how much she wanted to see Solomon in Jerusalem. She had been waiting for her lover, Solomon, to visit her every day. I saw the lover rushing to him over the mountain with the lover's voice calling her from afar.
Solomon also “runs up the mountain” to see the woman he loves as soon as possible. The image of a woman welcoming her lover to her and Solomon running swiftly to see the woman she loves show how much they miss and miss each other.
Not only was Solomon young, but he was also so in love that he would not have been able to walk slowly. Verse 9 says, “My beloved is like a roe deer, like a young deer, who stands behind a glass wall, peers through the window, and peers through the windows. Solomon urges her to come out and go with her at home.
Verse 10 says, “My beloved spoke to me, saying, My love. My pretty one, get up and go with me.” Verses 11-13 say, “The winter has passed, the rain has ceased, the flowers are blooming on the earth, and the time has come for the singing of the birds, and the voice of the hemisphere is heard in our land. The fig tree has ripened green fruit.
The vine blooms and vomits its fragrance. My love, my sweet child, get up and go with me.” Spring is the perfect season for love. However, the description of spring in this verse does not simply glorify the beauty of the seasons.
Spring is a beautiful season, but the beauty of the season is felt more vividly because the person who sees it falls in love. Solomon's supreme love for the Shulammite woman and the love of the Shulammite woman who longed for and longed for him make us feel the beauty of spring anew.
2. This is the petition of the Shulammite woman. (Verses 15-17) The Shulammite woman, who has received Solomon's proposal and is about to marry him, considers their future problems and seeks wisdom to solve them. Verse 15 says, “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that destroy the vineyards, for our vineyards are in bloom.”
The owners of the vineyards had to do everything they could to protect the vines from wild animals, including foxes. It was necessary to build a high wall and take turns watching and monitoring the net. The Shulammite woman, a country girl who cared for her brothers' vineyards, must have been well aware of this fact.
This would have told Solomon about the obstacles to their love. Although they trust and love each other supremely now, some difficulties may arise in the future that may destroy their love in an instant, so we are saying that we should deal with such obstacles well.
The request to “hold for us…” is asking Solomon to take the lead in resolving the problem. “Just as the vineyard has blossomed,” their love has blossomed and now the time to bear fruit is approaching, so they need to keep their love stronger.
Now they are eagerly waiting for their love to ripen and to taste the joy of being completely united. Verse 16 says, “My beloved is mine, and I am his; he feeds the flock among the lilies.” There were some problems and there will be difficulties in the future,
The most important thing for them is the unwavering love to become one. Things that hinder the maturation of love between lovers or couples may be trivial rather than unexpectedly big problems. Small words or actions often break trust and prevent love from bearing fruit.
When love begins, such as each other's growth background, cultural and social differences, forces opposing them, temptations, unexpected trials, differences in personality, etc. . But the Shulammite woman has practical wisdom,
We must prepare in advance and overcome problems together by trusting each other as we petitioned the lover with the will and mature attitude to think about the obstacles in love in advance.
3. This is the conflict that the Shulammite woman experiences in her dream (3:1-5), verses 2-3, “Then I got up and went through the city, saying that I will find the one I love in my heart, both in the streets and on the highway, but I did not find it. I met the walkers of the city and asked, "Have you seen anyone whom I love in my heart?"
She can't even stand without him, so wandering around in the dark isn't a problem. But when she turned away from them in despair, she found “the one she loved” and met her.
Verse 4 says, “As soon as I leave them, I find the one I love in my heart, hold him, and wander in search of my mother’s house to the room of the one who conceived me. But when I finally meet them, I hold them tight and go to my house so as not to lose them again. It portrays the anxiety that comes with it well.
As she concludes her recollection of her dream, suddenly the Shulammite speaks to a imaginary choir called “Jerusalem women. Verse 5 says, “The women of Jerusalem, I entrust you with roe deer and wild deer, do not be shaken and do not wake up until the one you love wills it.”
The repetition of these warnings is due to the fact that she realized how strong the love she had experienced had captured her with an irresistible force. The Shulammite woman's deep love for Solomon teaches us that marriage must be built on deep love and confidence in each other.
Without this love, it is difficult to overcome many of the difficulties that marriage will face. Without this sincere and deep love, it is dangerous to get married based on a simple rational liking or evaluation of conditions. A recollection of the Shulammite woman's dream reveals what husbands need to know about their wives.
- Women who are about to get married are very anxious. Men need to understand this and be attentive to it. The woman who will become a wife is afraid of the fact that she will have to live a new life away from the world she has been accustomed to.
You may have expectations for your love for the person you will be married to and the life you will spend with him, but at the same time, you can't help but have anxiety about the future. Therefore, men should understand the psychology of women and consider them so that they can have deeper love and trust.
- For a wife, the most important thing is her husband's love and being with him. Her strength to start a new person and her strength to endure through difficulties are her husband's love and the fact that she is with him. All husbands should understand these longings with their wives and make sure that they share as much time as possible and feel loved.
Dear saints, Our faith and faith must accumulate such devotion and trust to build a normal marital relationship, so the relationship between the Lord and the saints is the same. Just as Solomon came to the Shulammite woman, our Lord came first. You are still coming.
O Lord, possessed by pure faith, when the Lord knocks on the door of the heart! I pray in the name of the Lord that you will have a life of saints that can welcome you with joy.