“I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.” (Song of Solomon 5:8)
Remember that Solomon wrote about the love between a bride and the bridegroom. In order to understand this Scripture, it’s necessary to read it in context. The bridegroom came to his bride when she was already asleep. (Song of Solomon 5:2) He asks her to open the door, but she doesn’t want to get up because it’s an inconvenience. She had already taken off her robe and washed her feet. (Song of Solomon 5:3) When she finally does, he is no longer at the door. (Song of Solomon 5:3-6) It’s possible that being half asleep she imagines going through the city in the middle of the night searching for the bridegroom and being mistreated by the watchmen and those who stand at the wall to protect the city. (Song of Solomon 5:7) She tells the virgins, young girls probably not of age to marry and who attend to her to speak to the bridegroom if they should see him and reassure him of her love. (Song of Solomon 5:8)
This love poem of Solomon’s was canonized, recognized as inspired divinely and included as the Word of God because of it’s allegory interpretation of the Lord’s love for the church. In the Scriptures above, including our Scripture of study we can see the symbolism of the love of the Lord toward the church and the love of the church. Just as the bridegroom comes to the bride at an unexpected time, Jesus will come at an unexpected time for the church. “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” (Matthew 24:36) This follows the ancient Hebrew tradition of the yearlong engagement time in which contact between the bride and the bridegroom is discouraged. They know each other. They have agreed to marry. Now they must wait a year in which contact is minimal if at all. When the father says the groom is ready, sometime after a year, the groom is allowed to go to his bride and marry. This represents our Lord and Savior’s time away physically, but not spiritually from His bride the church. Jesus said, “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world and go to the Father.” (John 16:28) At that time the Holy Spirit had not come to the disciples because Jesus had not ascended yet to heaven. They didn’t fully understand nor make the connection of Jesus following the Hebrew tradition of the bridegroom. “Then said some of His disciples among themselves, What is this that He saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me: and, Because I go to the Father?” (John 16:17) Yet He had indicated several times that He was the bridegroom. (John 3:29; Matthew 9:15; Mark 2:18-20; Luke 5:34,35)
In Solomon’s love poem, the bride is asleep. She is reluctant to open the door to him because she is not expecting him that night. She’s taken off her robe and washed her feet, probably referring to having clean feet in her bed since the floors were most likely dirt. What a sad correlation to the church. And hopefully this will not be the case when Jesus returns. Already we see the church (universally and also meaning group of believers and individual believers) struggling with the Gospel as it clashes with culture. Teachers of the Gospel have taught that the seven churches in Asia that were revealed in Revelation represent the state of churches worldwide and the individual children of God. (Revelation 2,3) Their spiritual state is not good, but for each the Lord encourages it, telling the churches that there is still time to repent and prepare herself for His coming. The sad truth is that some will not be ready and will not be included in the first resurrection as the parable of the Ten Virgins illustrates.(Matthew 25:1-13) “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:6) The state of the sleeping church will become the nightmare that Solomon’s bride had. They will be persecuted by the very people that are supposed to protect her. (Song of Solomon 5:7) They will be desperate to let the Lord know that they do love Him. “... if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love...” (Song of Solomon 5:8)
In the following chapters, we find that the groom has gone to his garden. (Song of Solomon 6) This represents the heavenly place of worship for the Lord. Our Lord has returned to heaven where there is continual worship for Him. And the bride is still searching for Him. She remembers His beauty and goodness. (Song of Solomon 6:4-7) The Lord still loves the church that was left behind. (Song of Solomon 6:6-13) And Jesus as the bridegroom tells her, “Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee...” (Song of Solomon 6:13) Jesus in His love and mercy is still seeking the lost church. This beautiful love poem beautifully illustrates the love Jesus has for His church. Even after the first resurrection, He yearns for those who didn’t make it. What a beautiful warning to wait expectantly for the Lord, to be awake and prepared.
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