What is Love | Part 1
This episode highlights how God’s love story, as told through Solomon, serves as the ultimate guide for couples today. We also get a glimpse into the importance of commitment and exclusivity in love. Solomon's words to his bride are rich with meaning, and encourage us to embrace this as we build our own relationships. He wraps it all up with a powerful reminder that waiting for love can be deeply rewarding, leading to a bond that stands the test of time.
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Transcript
Welcome to the Fortifying youg Family Podcast.
Speaker A:It can be daunting to navigate through an anti marriage and family culture.
Speaker A:Our teacher will expound biblical principles to help fortify our families and keep these sacred institutions strong.
Speaker A:And now, here's this week's teaching from Sam Wood.
Speaker B:February is the month of the year that we celebrate love.
Speaker B:I recently came across the answers to a question that a group of 4 to 8 year olds were asked and the question was, what does it mean to love?
Speaker B:Rebecca, age 8, said, when grandmother when my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore.
Speaker B:So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too.
Speaker B:That's love.
Speaker B:Billy H4 said, When someone loves you the way they say your name is different, you just know that your name is safe in their mouth.
Speaker B:I like that.
Speaker B:Carl H5, said, Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.
Speaker B:Danny, age 7, said, Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him to make sure that it tastes really good.
Speaker B:I like that one.
Speaker B:Love is when you kiss all the time.
Speaker B:Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and still want to talk.
Speaker B:My mom and daddy are like that.
Speaker B:They look gross though when they kiss.
Speaker B:Chris, age 7, said, Love is when Mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he's handsomer than Robert Redford.
Speaker B:You can tell that's a little bit of an old one there.
Speaker B:Karen, age 7, said, when you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and then little stars come out of you.
Speaker B:Well, what kids say about love.
Speaker B:Of course, over the years, some of the most popular songs that have ever been written have been written about the subject of love.
Speaker B:Songs like Take My Hand, Take My life Too, I can't help but falling in love with you.
Speaker B:Y'all have heard that song by Elvis or songs I know I was in my twenties as I went through the seventies songs like the Temptations sang I've got sunshine on a cloudy day when it's cold outside I've got the month of May.
Speaker B:I guess you'd say what can make me feel this way?
Speaker B:What is it?
Speaker B:My girl, My girl We've got all these beautiful love songs that have been written through the years.
Speaker B:But as touchy and feel good we might say, as these kids quotes are and all these love songs are, they don't compare to the love song that's Written by God.
Speaker B:God's love song is written by a God inspired man named Solomon, found in the Bible in a book called the Song of Solomon.
Speaker B:I want you to look with me at a few stanzas from the closing scene in the Song of Solomon, where we see one of the most beautiful descriptions of love that has ever been penned.
Speaker B:So turn in your bibles with me this morning to Song of Solomon, chapter eight, and look with me at verse five.
Speaker B:And I want to read now through verse seven, Song of Solomon, chapter eight, verse five, through verse seven.
Speaker B:And if you're able to this morning physically, I would ask you to stand in honor of the word of God.
Speaker B:The song, chapter eight and verse five.
Speaker B:Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness leaning upon her beloved?
Speaker B:I raised thee up under the apple tree.
Speaker B:There thy mother brought thee forth, There she brought thee forth that bare thee Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm.
Speaker B:For love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave.
Speaker B:The coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
Speaker B:Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.
Speaker B:If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would be utterly contemned.
Speaker B:In the Song of Solomon, God gives us a glimpse into the relationship of two lovers, Solomon and his Shulamite bride.
Speaker B:And we also see in the song a chorus called the Daughters of Jerusalem.
Speaker B:And in this song we are given many different scenes, their relationship.
Speaker B:We're given scenes in their courtship before they are married, when they fall in love and when Solomon is courting her.
Speaker B:And then we see a magnificent scene of a wedding processional on the wedding day.
Speaker B:We see them sitting there together at the wedding feast, talking to each other.
Speaker B:And then God gives us a glimpse into the bridal chamber in a very intimate scene between Solomon and now his married wife.
Speaker B:And we even see in the song a time of conflict in marriage, which we all certainly have in marriage.
Speaker B:If you're married, you know that in a time of reconciliation we see a beautiful biblical model of how to reconcile and how to solve conflict in marriage.
Speaker B:And in our text today, as we see the curtain close on this song, it's kind of like a curtain call.
Speaker B:And the most beautiful song that's ever been written is closing.
Speaker B:And before it closes, Solomon and Shulamite bride are now married.
Speaker B:And they have gone on a vacation in the country and they're walking back home.
Speaker B:And we see a very beautiful scene described as a chorus in the song who is called the daughters of Jerusalem.
Speaker B:Ask a question to them.
Speaker B:This is so beautiful.
Speaker B:Look at the question they ask in verse 5.
Speaker B:Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness leaning upon her beloved?
Speaker B:The chorus in the song is looking out and they see Solomon.
Speaker B:They see the Shulamite, his bride.
Speaker B:They're now married.
Speaker B:And they see her leaning upon him walking down the road.
Speaker B:This isn't the first time the chorus asked this question.
Speaker B:In fact, the first time that the chorus asked this question is back in chapter three and verse six in the wedding processional.
Speaker B:And in chapter three and verse six in the wedding processional, they ask the same question before they're married.
Speaker B:And the Shulamite is being taken from the country to the palace on the day of the wedding.
Speaker B:And there is a magnificent parade.
Speaker B:And there are four men, four strong men who are carrying her on a raised couch.
Speaker B:You've seen this kind of picture in movies before.
Speaker B:And they're carrying her to the palace.
Speaker B:And the chorus asks the very same question then who is this that cometh up from the wilderness?
Speaker B:They ask that very, very same question.
Speaker B:At that point, she is single.
Speaker B:She is not married.
Speaker B:But now they ask the same question.
Speaker B:They're reminding us, they're reminding them of the time when they were engaged and now the marital bliss that they're enjoying as a married couple.
Speaker B:She's no longer single now she's married.
Speaker B:And she's walking down the road in a very romantic scene with her husband Solomon.
Speaker B:And as they walk down the road, they probably pass an apple tree.
Speaker B:And if you've ever been on a walk before, perhaps when you go through the woods, you see something that reminds you of something in your past.
Speaker B:And I believe as they are walking in the road, they see an apple tree over here.
Speaker B:And Solomon is reminded when he sees that apple tree of their wedding night.
Speaker B:And he says this in verse 5, I raise thee up under apple tree.
Speaker B:Now you might be thinking yourself, what in the world is he talking about?
Speaker B:Well, if you go back to chapter two, if we had time to go back to chapter two, we see them in a very intimate scene in the bridal chamber.
Speaker B:And they are married.
Speaker B:And she is feeling very, very insecure about herself.
Speaker B:She doesn't feel like she belongs in the palace.
Speaker B:She's a country girl.
Speaker B:And there are all these palace purdies out here, and she's feeling very, very insecure.
Speaker B:And Solomon says these very romantic words to her.
Speaker B:I mean, he was a very romantic dude.
Speaker B:He always spoke in terms and tones of romance and love.
Speaker B:And he says Honey, you're like a lily among thorns.
Speaker B:That's a wonderful thing to say, your wife.
Speaker B:It's like saying, you know, all these other women don't even compare to you.
Speaker B:You're more beautiful than any of them.
Speaker B:And then she responds to him and she says to him, you're like an apple tree in the woods.
Speaker B:And she's giving him a compliment, too, and saying, you know, all these other men, they're just like ordinary trees, but you're like a big apple tree that stands out in the midst of all the other trees.
Speaker B:How beautiful, how romantic, these terms and tones of endearment that they are saying to each other.
Speaker B:And as Solomon walks by this tree and sees this apple tree, he's reminded of that scene back in the bridal chamber on the night of their wedding.
Speaker B:It's very interesting in that scene that the Shulamite gives a warning to those who are single.
Speaker B:And listen, singles here today, to those who are not married, she gives a warning.
Speaker B:She says this.
Speaker B:I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the rose and by the hinds of the field, that you stir not upon nor awake my love till he pleases.
Speaker B:What she's saying is, don't awaken love.
Speaker B:Don't stir up sexual passion until you're married.
Speaker B:What a great warning that is.
Speaker B:She gives this multiple times throughout the song.
Speaker B:And God is continually telling singles.
Speaker B:God is saying, listen, don't even stir up love, any kind of sexual passion until you are married.
Speaker B:And as Solomon walks by this tree, he uses the same word there, raised up that she used in that statement.
Speaker B:And I believe what he's doing is he's celebrating that they waited until they got married to have sexual passion.
Speaker B:And because they waited until they were married, their first union was a joyful memory.
Speaker B:Not one of guilt, not one of remorse, not one of regret.
Speaker B:And then he adds these words, there thy mother brought thee forth.
Speaker B:There she brought thee forth that bear thee.
Speaker B:And it's reminding him that as a result of doing things, God's way of falling in love and courting and getting married and then having sexual intimacy in the marriage, relationship afterwards, it results sometimes in even having babies.
Speaker B:You know, that's God's intended way.
Speaker B:I love this because God is reminding us very poetically here that his intention for us in relationships is that we are.
Speaker B:We do fall in love, that we do court each other, that we end up being married to each other, not living together, but married to each other in a covenant of companionship.
Speaker B:And in that covenant of companionship, we see the sacredness of sexual intimacy.
Speaker B:Sometimes, if God desires, gives the gift of a little baby, a little child.
Speaker B:I was reminded of that last night, what a wonderful night it was because I went to Lexington, Kentucky last night.
Speaker B:I got back about 2:30 in the middle of the night.
Speaker B:It might be why I'm a little glassy eyed.
Speaker B:But we have a new grandson and I rejoice that now there is a Henry Grant would that is their grandson.
Speaker B:And I even thought about that even as I was meditating.
Speaker B:Reflecting on these, on this passage here today of what a wonderful thing it is to do things God's way.
Speaker B:And the world has everything so messed up, but when we do things God's way, it results in something very, very beautiful.
Speaker B:And I believe that's what Solomon reflecting upon as he passes this apple tree and he sees it and he makes these statements.
Speaker B:Now as they are walking down the road and she is leaning upon him.
Speaker B:Maybe some of y'all can.
Speaker B:I hope some of you married couples can relate to this.
Speaker B:When you go out and take a hike or when you're walking down the road together sometime that your wife will lean over on your shoulder, she'll grab you by the arm and hold your arm and you're having a very romantic walk together.
Speaker B:If you can't remember that, you need to get out and do that often.
Speaker B:Might be a little bit of cold and rainy today, but you need to make plans to do that.
Speaker B:And they had been on a vacation in the countryside and they are coming home and she has her arm in his arm and her head is laying on his shoulder.
Speaker B:That's the scene here.
Speaker B:And I believe as they're coming home, he's getting ready, he's the king of Israel and he is getting ready to leave on a distant trip.
Speaker B:And she desires a sign of affirmation from him that will affirm his love toward her.
Speaker B:I mean, it reminds me, I can think back.
Speaker B:Debbie and I travel most of the time together now, but I can think back many years ago when our boys were small and I would go out and preach somewhere.
Speaker B:And I would be gone for several days.
Speaker B:And before I'd leave, Debbie would come up and give me a big hug, give me a big kiss, and she'd say, I love you.
Speaker B:And she was waiting for me to say, I love you too.
Speaker B:And we were affirming our love before we left each other.
Speaker B:And I believe that's the scene here.
Speaker B:As a Shulamite makes this very poetic request in verse six.
Speaker B:And in verse six we see, in seven we see one of the most beautiful descriptions of love that we see in the Bible.
Speaker B:She requests that Solomon do two things.
Speaker B:She says, set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arms.
Speaker B:She desires to be set as a seal upon his heart and a seal upon his arm.
Speaker B:Now, a seal in that day and time was a person's most prized possession.
Speaker B:A seal was a type of signet, we might say, that left an impression denoting authority and ownership.
Speaker B:In their culture, if you wanted to steal someone's identity, you didn't steal their credit cards, you stole their seal because it represented their identity, it represented who they were.
Speaker B:And often in that day and time, because these seals were so important and so valuable, they would be cylindrical in nature and they would hang.
Speaker B:One might hang from around the neck of the person who had the seal.
Speaker B:Sometimes it might hang around upon their wrist.
Speaker B:And possibly as they're walking down the road, the Shulamite looks over at Solomon and maybe sees this little cylindrical seal hanging around his neck.
Speaker B:And it prompts her to ask for these two requests.
Speaker B:Set me, Solomon, as a seal upon your heart, and set me, Solomon, as a seal upon your arm.
Speaker B:And these requests were beautiful requests made by a wife who dearly loved her husband.
Speaker B:But you might say, what is she exactly asking for?
Speaker B:Her desire is to be imprinted and engraved in his heart and arm, expressing ownership of her as Solomon's most prized possession.
Speaker B:First, she asked him to engrave her or seal her upon his heart, indicating his unconditional covenant love for her.
Speaker B:Knowing that her name is sealed upon his heart assures her of his constant affection and loyalty to her.
Speaker B:Her second request is to be sealed upon his arm.
Speaker B:And the arm, as you know, is a sign of power.
Speaker B:It's a sign of security.
Speaker B:A wife grabs the arm of her husband and it makes her feel more secure.
Speaker B:As she's born up in his strength, so the arm indicates power, it indicates strength, it indicates security.
Speaker B:She not only wants his inner love, but also to be born up in his arms and comforted by his strength.
Speaker B:If she is sealed upon his heart, and if she is sealed upon his arm, she is continually in his thoughts and in his actions.
Speaker B:This is a beautiful picture of the love that every wife desires from her husband and the loving devotion of a husband who responds to his wife in the same way.
Speaker B:Shulamite desired Solomon be sealed to her heart, that he be inseparably linked to her in his attitude and in his devotion to her.
Speaker B:But she also desired to be sealed to his arm so that there would be no doubt in the public's mind who he belonged to.
Speaker B:She belonged exclusively and only to him.
Speaker B:So the seal was twofold inner feelings and outer behavior.
Speaker B:And what a beautiful picture of marital love this is.
Speaker B:Be sure to tune in for part two next week as we look at one of the most beautiful descriptions of love in the Bible.
Speaker A:Thank you for joining the Fortifying youg Family podcast, and if you feel encouraged by today's teaching, give us a follow so we can invite you back and share us on your socials so more marriages and families can be strengthened and fortified through the truths of God's Word.
Speaker A:Remember, fortifying your family starts with a strong belief in God's Word.
