Digital Logos Edition
In the Song of Songs, David’s son and King in Jerusalem overcomes hostility and alienation to renew intimacy between himself and his Bride. This most sublime Song sings of a love sure as the seal of Yahweh, a flashing flame of fire many waters could never quench. James M. Hamilton Jr, in this latest addition to the popular Focus on the Bible series, pours fresh light on this inspiring and uplifting book.
“Gradually I came to the view that if Moses can treat the covenant between Yahweh and Israel as a marriage, and if Hosea can write a prophecy in which he himself represents Yahweh and his wife Gomer represents Israel, Solomon could have done the same. Approaching the Song of Songs from this perspective fits perfectly with what Paul says marriage means in Ephesians 5, and I have tried to explain the Song of Songs and its glorious detail from this perspective.” (Page 12)
“The more you want something, the longer you have to wait for it, the more satisfying is the realization of your anticipation. If you have waited in purity, postponement intensifies the fulfillment of desire. If you have been faithful, if you have earnestly desired, when your relief comes you will know the truth of Proverbs 13:12, ‘desire fulfilled is a tree of life.’” (Page 72)
“The closest we get to being back to the Garden of Eden in the rest of the Bible is in the poetry of the Song of Songs.” (Page 22)
“In the Song of Songs we have Solomon, the son of David, King in Jerusalem, describing an Eden-like intimacy between himself and his wife in an Eden-like setting.13 Solomon knows what he is doing, and he intends to depict a glorious renewal, the consummation of the hopes of the people of God. Relational dysfunction removed, the desert blooms like the Garden of Eden in the presence of God under the hand of the new Adam through whom God has brought His promises to pass.” (Pages 27–28)
“That God would give such a gift and then encourage its enjoyment shows Him to be a God who seeks the satisfaction and delight of His creatures. God does not keep pleasure from His people, but creates gratuitous goodness and gives sound instruction on how to savor it.” (Page 29)