Sunday 12 April 2009

Mark Dever on the Song of Songs

Pah ...

"It seems to me that it is best to understand Song of Songs as a song or collection of sings that are, well, basically human love poems. This seems like the natural and literal meaning of the text doesn't it? ... In This way lovers are lovers and desire is desire. We might be embarrassed - at least in a sermon - by all the talk about breasts and kisses and embracing arms, but we understand it ... Song of Songs is certainly an important book about marital love".

Mark Dever - "Song of Songs: Wisdom for the Married" - in "The Message of the Old Testament" - Crossway Books, Illinois (2006) - (p553-554)

2 comments:

Peter Day said...

Personally I haven't got a problem with people using this book to describe married love... Provided that is not ALL they use it for.

Eph 5 tells us that the love of a man and woman is a reflection of the love of Jesus and His people. So any interpretation of Song of Songs in terms of marital love is a reflection of its fuller interpretation - the love of Jesus for His people.

Maybe people prefer to limit their interpretation to male/female intimacy, because their intimacy with Jesus is a pale reflection of their intimacy with their spouse... So they interpret the scripture from their experience rather than letting the scripture challenge their experience (both of marriage and their relationship with Jesus).

But if marriage is a reflection of my relationship with Jesus, then my relationship with Jesus should be MORE INTIMATE, MORE PASSIONATE, MORE FILLED WITH PLEASURE than my relationship with my wife.

And, unmarried believers are not excluded... They can have awesome intimacy, awesome pleasure, and total ravishment of soul - better than marriage - through their relationship with Jesus.

lydia said...

Pete!!! I always love your contributions!! That was a wonderful comment.............