Song of Solomon 6:4-10
:4 Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners. :5 Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead. :6 Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them. :7 As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks. :8 There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number. :9 My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. :10 Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?
The eleventh canticle runs from Chapter six, verse four to chapter seven, verse 10. Our above verses are another one of Solomons expressions of love for his bride. These verse deal with her singularity, to him she is the single most beautiful women that he has ever seen, her beauty is not compared to other women but her beauty is such that it has to be compared to the most beautiful things Solomon has seen in God’s creation. We are to Christ the single most precious thing in this earth, We are the treasure hid in a field that he sold all he had bought the whole field, that is the sins of the whole world, just so he could get the treasure hidden therein, the Church.
She is as beautiful as Tirzah and as comely as Jerusalem. Tirzah was a city set up on the hills in the tribe of Manasseh. The word means pleasant and so the Shulamite is compared to a pleasant city set on a hill, so is Christ bride the Church “a city set on a hill.” Comey as Jerusalem, which had been made more beautiful by Solomon and is also a representation of the church. We are not part of the earthly Jerusalem, but we are part of the heavenly Jerusalem which Christ has gone to prepare for us. The Shulamites beauty was comparable to earthly Jerusalem, but the churches beauty is comparable to heavenly Jerusalem. Our beauty is no natural beauty bestowed on us by good genetics but every person that makes up the bride is beautiful. It is Christ who will present us “spotless.” Our beauty is heavenly because it is from heaven and not from earth. In that way we to are “comely as Jerusalem,” that is new Jerusalem for us.
She is terrible as an army with banners and he tells her to turn away her eyes for she has overcome him. Banners were carried by armies in that time and as they marched onto the field of battle the banners were raised high above the army and those banners would represent the army carrying them and if it were a terrible army it would strike their opponents with fear. I believe the feeling one would get when they saw the banners come over the hill is what is being described here. When your palms sweat, your heart begins to beat, a lump rises in your throat and your knees become weak. She has overcome him in such a way with just one look. She has made his heart race, his throat swell. His love and passion for her is overwhelming. Like our Saviors passion for us. It reminds me of how the Holy Spirit, through Luke, describes Jesus’s death in Acts 1: 3 “To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:”
Luke describes the suffering and death of Christ as his passion. What a revelation in such a small statement. It reveals to us what we already knew, that Love drove him to the cross and held him there, but the word passion gives another level of depth to it. Like one glimpse of Solomons bride was enough to provoke passion, so was one glimpse of Jesus bride enough to provoke a passion greater than Solomon ever knew. As it was said in the New Testament concerning Christ “A greater than Solomon is here.” Before the foundations of earth were set God, through his foreknowledge, looked down through time and saw sinful man and all those who would believe and it evoke such love, such passion that for us he would be willing to live a peasants life and die a criminals death, be tempted in all points, suffer reproach and agony. If that is not passion, I don’t know what is.
Solomon goes on now to set her above all the other women in Israel. There are 60 queens, 80 concubines and Solomon could have his pick any of the young women in Israel that day but none of them compare to the poor Shulamite shepherd girl. She is a queen now but was a peasant when he found her in the fields. She was neither a concubine but now as the queen her beauty is not only seen by Solomon but by all of Israel and truly she is the most blessed women in the country. So are we the church, we are royalty now that we have been espoused to Christ, but we were not of royal descent, neither did we have an opportunity to find ourselves in the Kings palace but one day in the field, Christ found us. We were poor but he, like Boaz, showed grace and paid the price to redeem us and make us his bride. Now we are set forth in this world as a jewel, as a light in the darkness, as the Shulamites beauty was above all the women of Israel so should be the churches beauty in this world. Sadly, in this hour the church is not as beautiful on this earth as we should be, our heavenly standing in Christ is as beautiful as ever but may our testimony on this earth be representative of our heavenly beauty.
There is one last portrait of the church. Her Sight is like the breaking of dawn, like the moon and finally clear as the sun. It reminds me of the church who was not so clearly seen until this current dispensation. We see the church throughout the scripture but progressively it becomes more and more clear. We see the church even in the garden of Eden in the marriage of the first Adam to his bride, but as the light of dawn cloaks everything in shadows, and the shapes and forms of things can be seen but not details, so is the view of the church and our bridegroom hidden in shadows and forms. Throughout the Scriptures the light becomes clearer and like the moon reflects the true light so does the prophecies and laws reflect the true light of Jesus. As John said, he was not the light, but he came to bear witness of the light, so did the prophets and laws reflect the truth of Christ and his bride, but now clear as the noon day sun we can see the true figures and details of the church of Christ. We aren’t clothed in shadows and forms, but the true light came and shined 2000 years ago and the church can now walk in the clearest of commands and promises as they are laid out in the completed Scriptures and as we are indwelled by His Spirit. We have come to light, and we reflect the true light, Jesus.
If we are all this to Him how much more should he be to us? If He loves us so passionately shouldn’t we love as passionately as we can? If we are so singular in his heart, shouldn’t He be so singular in ours? His love for us should be examined and as we become more familiar with it, it will enflame our love for Him. If this subject cannot warm your heart to love him more, then there is a serious heart problem. We love him because he first loved us, and it is a cold heart indeed who can think on the life and death and passion that Christ had for us and not be moved to try and reciprocate as much of that love as we possibly can. God help us to Love our Lord!