Slices
Prepare
God uses the metaphor of marriage to portray his love relationship with his people (Hosea 2:14–16; Ephesians 5:31,32). How does knowing this influence your view of and attitude to marriage?
Bible passage
and your mouth like the best wine.
She
May the wine go straight to my beloved,
flowing gently over lips and teeth.
10 I belong to my beloved,
and his desire is for me.
11 Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside,
let us spend the night in the villages.
12 Let us go early to the vineyards
to see if the vines have budded,
if their blossoms have opened,
and if the pomegranates are in bloom –
there I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes send out their fragrance,
and at our door is every delicacy,
both new and old,
that I have stored up for you, my beloved.
8 If only you were to me like a brother,
who was nursed at my mother’s breasts!
Then, if I found you outside,
I would kiss you,
and no one would despise me.
2 I would lead you
and bring you to my mother’s house –
she who has taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the nectar of my pomegranates.
3 His left arm is under my head
and his right arm embraces me.
4 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:
do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
Friends
5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness
leaning on her beloved?
She
Under the apple tree I roused you;
there your mother conceived you,
there she who was in labour gave you birth.
6 Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.
7 Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give
all the wealth of one’s house for love,
it would be utterly scorned.
Friends
8 We have a little sister,
and her breasts are not yet grown.
What shall we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build towers of silver on her.
If she is a door,
we will enclose her with panels of cedar.
She
10 I am a wall,
and my breasts are like towers.
Thus I have become in his eyes
like one bringing contentment.
11 Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon;
he let out his vineyard to tenants.
Each was to bring for its fruit
a thousand shekels of silver.
12 But my own vineyard is mine to give;
the thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.
He
13 You who dwell in the gardens
with friends in attendance,
let me hear your voice!
She
14 Come away, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
on the spice-laden mountains.
Explore
During their courtship, the Shulammite had declared, ‘My beloved is mine and I am his’ (2:16). Early in their marriage, there’s a subtle shift: ‘I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine’ (6:3). While still asserting that he is ‘mine’, the bride first affirms that she is her husband’s, perhaps signalling a growing sense of security. Now, in the later years, love has matured. There’s no hint of possessiveness, just a joyful sense of belonging and confidence that her husband finds her desirable (7:10), which emboldens her to initiate a romantic getaway (7:11–13)! Notice her desire to please her husband and her focus on giving rather than getting (7:12,13) – yet another sign of mature love, echoing God’s 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love. To love well – freely, fiercely, unyieldingly, unselfishly – is to faithfully reflect our God who is the source of all love.
Looking to the end of the book, in the injunction for her beloved to make haste (8:14) the woman is demonstrating the same intensity of passion that we see at the beginning of the book. Reflecting on the use of the metaphor of marriage as representing our relationship with God, do we retain the energy of our first love like the woman still has for her beloved?
Respond
Where and in what ways do you see signs of mature love in your church? How do you seek to maintain your passion for God?
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Hosea 1,2; Jude
Pray for Scripture Union
As new opportunities to share Jesus with the next generation open up in the New Forest, please ask God to bless Mel with more volunteers to help her. (This week's prayers relate to this article.)
