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Song of Songs 2:1–7

In Song of Songs 1, we learned of the beautiful love story of Mr. & Mrs. Solomon. This chapter is full of passionate imagery of Shulamite’s love for Solomon and Solomon’s response to her. We discovered how they yearned for each other and how they desired their wedding chamber, their place of romantic rendezvous and their safe haven of rest and love in their mountain getaway. We uncovered Shulamite’s unbridled joy as she pictures herself face to face with him. She yearned for a deep relationship with, and a glad cry for, the one to whom she is committed. She desired his company in both public celebrations and intimate moments. We learned that this is exactly what Christ desires for us—a face-to-face relationship, receiving kisses from Him daily. This is done through an intimate relationship, not from a distance.

When you read or hear something from the Bible which suddenly comes alive to you, literally jumping off the page, and you know that God was speaking to you, you have been kissed by God. The idea is that when you go to your prayer closet, (the bridal chamber), with Bible in hand, you look up into the face of Jesus, our heavenly Bridegroom and say, “You may kiss the bride.”

Now as the story continues, we enter the privacy of the wedding night and discover the wonder and beauty of intimate union between husband and wife.

We touched on verses 1 through 6 previously, but let’s look at this section from another perspective.

Verse 1

Shulamite is saying “I am just a common flower of the field.” These flowers she refers to grew in the plain or valley that sloped west to the Mediterranean and reached from Jaffa north almost to Mt. Carmel.

His response to her was “Listen, Babe, compared to you, all other young women are brambles or thorn bushes.”

Verses 2–3

The apple tree, shade, and fruit are all ancient erotic symbols, and erotic suggestions are what she has in mind as this is the beginning of the wedding night. The intimacy is all-encompassing. “I sat down” can mean dwell or remain. “Shade” speaks of closeness. The whole experience is described as “sweet” and full of “delight.”

Verse 4

The “Fruit and Wine” (“banqueting house” literally is “house of wine”) symbolize the ecstasy of intimacy. This is a metaphor for the man’s love having an intoxicating effect on her. In other words, she is delirious with passion for him.

Perhaps in Solomon’s pavilion were emblems of all the tribes over which he ruled, the banners making a notable showing against the blue of the sky. Shulamite had a banner that meant more to her than all the banners of Solomon. Beneath that banner, she found all that her heart desired. The word banner means “desire” or “intent,” so she is saying his intent toward me is love.

Verse 5

Shulamite’s passion or her “desire” burned so strongly that she was lovesick. “Lovesick” may also mean “worn-out” from this passionate intimacy; hence her call for refreshment to renew the activities in which her fantasies captured her.

Cakes of raisins mixed with apples came to be viewed as an aphrodisiac. She sought all possible fuel to keep the flame going.

Verse 6

Now Shulamite pictures herself nestled side-by-side with her lover in a full and satisfying embrace. She is absolutely overwhelmed at the thought of the love of her beloved, and his love overjoys her. The marriage has been consummated. The two have become one.

The figure of the bride and the bridegroom is frequently used in Scripture.

Isaiah states, “As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you” (62:5).

Paul says, “Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5:22–23). Then he says regarding the divine institution of marriage, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning the church” (Eph. 5:31–32). Writing to the Corinthian church, he states, “I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2).

Therefore, the delightful figure of the sweet and intimate marriage relationship is used throughout Scripture to set forth our union and communion with the “eternal lover” of our souls.

The first seven verses of chapter two draw our attention to the delight of speaking with those whom we love. One of the wonderful things about love is that, when someone has our heart, you do not feel that any time that is taken up communing with that person is wasted.

Look at verse 1 again:

Shoshana

Shulamite calls herself the “Lily of the Valleys.” The Hebrew word for lily is Shoshana, which can also mean “rose.” This particular flower may be scarlet, crimson, purple, blue, or white. These lilies thrive in the hidden place, not in town, not in the heart and bustle of the city, but out in the cool countryside, in the quiet field. This lily even bursts forth from every conceivable crack in the rocks.

Jesus referred to this flower when He said, “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Matt. 6:28–29).

If you consider the context of the Song of Songs, we can picture King Solomon in his splendid royal apparel contrasted with the Shulamite maiden, humble and lowly, yet adorned with a glory that surpassed the king’s. She was clothed like this through no effort of her own. She didn’t toil or spin to get that way. What a lesson for us to learn!

God wants us to stop our toiling and our spinning and allow Him to do a work in us. It is the Spirit of the Living God indwelling each member of His bride that makes her “all glorious within” (Ps. 45:13).

The Lily

The lily—scarlet or crimson, reminds us that we who believe have been purchased by the blood of Christ.

The lily—purple or blue, reminds us that we who believe are a royal priesthood and that we are children of the King.

The lily—white and fragrant brings to mind the purity of the soul redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. It speaks of the pure in heart, those who see God.

The lily holds water in its cup. The source of water is pure and clear as crystal. It is the Lord Himself, the Fountain of Living Waters, the same water that flowed from a rock in the wilderness that gave drink to God’s people Israel.

The lily, a picture of the bride of Christ, is composed of millions of every color, race, tongue, size, shape, and age. We are a holy people unto the Lord. We are righteous. We are cleansed. We are fragrant—like the lily. We bloom where the Father has planted us.

Often in the valley, instead of the mountain, we are planted. There are more of us than can be numbered. Our very existence should proclaim, “There is a creator who has made me, who loves the world He made and longs to communicate with His creation.”

This is what a lily does—they cause others to look to the Creator. This is a holy calling: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8).

One other point regarding the lily is the fact that the lily thrives in the countryside, not in the city. The countryside represents peace, fruitfulness, purpose, and holiness for the believer in God. The city symbolically speaks of confusion, chaos, evil, and death—the opposite of peace and holiness. The Christian, in order to thrive, is to separate himself/herself unto Christ alone. We are like the Rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley, separated unto God, in the countryside, in the valley.

Therefore, we are like a lily among the thorns, among the rough, unpleasant, disagreeable thorns. The thorn speaks of those who are still under the curse, walking in the ways of the world, and the lily sets forth God’s sanctified, devoted people, those who have turned from the world to Himself. Their fragrance is very distinct in the world.

The Shadow

The bride of Christ, the lily of the valley, looks up to the Bridegroom and says, “Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down in his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste” (2:3).

Sitting down under the “shadow” of the Beloved refers to the bride’s submission to His authority. She welcomes the protection and the rest she finds in Him. The shadow or shade is used in the Scripture to speak of rest and of comfort found alone only in intimacy with God.

This verse brings to mind what Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 22:28–30).

Many times the Spirit of God employs the figure of a shadow or shade. To understand it completely you have to think of a hot eastern climate with the tropical sun shining and beating down upon the traveler. Suddenly, he sees before him a place of refuge and exclaims as David does in Psalm 17—“Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings.” And in Psalm 36:7—“How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore, the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.”

Isaiah speaks of “The shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (32:2).

Spending Time

There is no drudgery here. Those of you who are married, do you remember when you first fell in love with the one who is now your life-companion? Did you find it hard to spend half-an-hour with each other? Did you try to find an excuse for staying away from the one whom you loved? Did you always have something else to do so that you would not be at home when they would call you on the phone or stop by to visit? No, of course not! You would put everything else out of the way so you could spend time with this one you love.

So it is with the believer. The more we get to know of Christ, the more we delight in His presence.

Tasting Fruit

The bride says, “I sat down in his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste” (2:3). In other words, her bliss was complete.

The psalmist said, “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him” (Ps. 34:8).

“His fruit was sweet to my taste.” The Fruit here refers to Scripture. Is God’s Word sweet? Yes, indeed, sweeter than honey. We read in Psalm 19:10 that the Word of God is sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.

After my conversion, I would read and read the Scripture. I would arrive at the church before anyone else and simply sit there and meditate. I would sit close to the front because I couldn’t wait until the pastor taught from the Bible. I poured over the pages of Scripture, what an exciting adventure!

Well, one of the “kisses” that I received was found in John 15:16—“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” These words have always been sweet fruit to me because they impart a deep knowledge of the election of God, the purpose of God, and the provision of God in my life.

God has chosen you. He has a great purpose for your life. You will bear lasting fruit through Him. God your eternal Father, through Jesus, longs to give to you fruit to bear in your life.

Some of the fruit is mentioned in Galatians 5:22–23—“Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Fruit naturally develops on the branches of a fruit tree. Jesus is the fruit tree. When you are in Him, and are faithfully reading in His Word, yielding to His Spirit, willing to die to all that is unfruitful, you will begin to see His fruit developing in you.

Every time you control your temper, refrain from saying something unkind, bear patiently with a child or someone slower or weaker than yourself, your fruit is showing and growing.

Experiencing stress? An agricultural discovery was made in Israel not too long ago that showed that plants under stress produce more fruit and sweeter tasting fruit. “Delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4).

Regarding Marriage

Some think that a relationship is built by the accumulation of things or attempting to change mates or even adding children in order to create stability and relationship.

Solomon states in Proverbs 24:3–4 that a strong marriage is not built on what we have or don’t have, but on what we are. “Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

Wisdom implies getting below the surface or underneath to the depths of our mate’s mind and soul. Both Solomon and Shulamite desired to know each other to the fullest—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Understanding involves transparency in conjunction with wisdom. Communication is of utmost importance.

Knowledge means learning with perception. When we stop trying to learn about the other or quit taking special interest and care in the other, marriage intimacy begins to wane.

If you are struggling in these areas, if love and communication is waning:

1 Start now to restore your marriage.

2 Follow God’s way of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.

3 Work to change yourself.

Don’t try to change your spouse. You change. The first step is trusting Christ as your Savior. If you have done that, then submit yourself to God’s authority in your life and let God change your spouse.

Regarding All Believers

We are the lily of the valley, the bride of Christ.

1 Bloom where the Father has planted you.Our cups hold water; Christ is the Fountain of Life. Let our fragrance be known throughout the world.

2 Dwell in the shadow of the Almighty.Let the Spirit of God bring you rest, comfort, and intimacy with God. Spend time with God.

3 Desire to bring forth fruit, such as love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

4 Let God kiss you through the sweetness of His Word. His word is “sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb” (Ps. 19:10).