Song of Solomon 4 ~ Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with all choicest fruits

Song of Solomon 4

Behold, you are beautiful, my love,
behold, you are beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
and not one among them has lost its young.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
built in rows of stone;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that graze among the lilies.
6 Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no flaw in you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
come with me from Lebanon.
Depart from the peak of Amana,
from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.

9 You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11 Your lips drip nectar, my bride;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
a spring locked, a fountain sealed.
13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates
with all choicest fruits,
henna with nard,
14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
with all choice spices—
15 a garden fountain, a well of living water,
and flowing streams from Lebanon.

16 Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden,
let its spices flow.

Let my beloved come to his garden,
and eat its choicest fruits.


When we got ready to tell our sons the way God created the world to love, I was chosen to speak up. I have two uncles named Frank and the subject to me is one of ease and humor.

Frankly, there are a few things I believe strongly about. God the Father who loves us.

Vows taken in Church to Love and Honor.

The intimacy of marriage and the privacy of not sharing what is sacred.

And the beauty of what He designed in delight.

The Word of God does not go on and on about His design, yet when He does tell us, He describes beauty and longing. The fruitfulness of desire is described as paradise.

 
And the Song of Solomon does not really read well to a group - for good reasons. As young people we are learning to be comfortable with, what I hope, is married relations. And in learning we are always inclined to ask and share with good friends. Actually this is a very poor idea. Even when women share or ask others, there are plenty of mothers or fathers to ask. Actually a lot of Christian counselors are trained to speak up on the subject. I recommend Christian Pre-marriage counseling as a very important step. And in having that clergy relationship, being able to ask questions. Real relationship with Him, allows real conversations.

Choosing friends and extended family to reveal or ask questions, opens doors that should be covered.

Yet why would God step aside in His creation. This does not embarrass Him. When He walked with us in the Garden, we were the only ones embarrassed by being naked before Him.

We use humor to describe what makes us uncomfortable or we use humor to be more comfortable. It's a two edged sword.Nothing described in Solomon would preclude humor or joy.

I believe that the Song of Solomon is a wonderful thing to be read with joy while honeymooning and during times of great intimacy. This is the celebration of Life He gave to us. Always to be encountered with love, joy, words and understanding. Never forgetting humor and tenderness. And that is an orchard.

In the Old Testament, God used clouds to manifest His Glory. A small tent, in a vast wilderness, could not contain the glory of God.

In the New Testament, God have us HIS Son - who is the Light of the World. His Spoken Word. John the Baptist called for repentance in the wilderness - leaving the Temple.  A small stable, with a small baby, changed the world forever. Moses saw the Glory of God. Jesus gave us the Mercy of our Father and Jesus made us His Children. Saying the Glory of God dwells in us; never leaving us. Making us Love. We want want to glorify Him in our lives - our words, our actions, our thoughts. God, in Jesus, telling us to build His Church so the gates of Hell cannot prevail against us - also tells us His Glory dwells within us. He did not want to spill from a tent, but to dwell in our hearts making us Love.

Isaiah 32:15
until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.

Revelation 2:7
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Isaiah 2:5
Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.

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