Solomon and Shulamite

There is another wonderful link between David’s distinguished son and Jesus Christ, and perhaps this is the most important. It is the driving force of human life: love. Although Solomon went seriously astray in the prime of his life when he sank into idolatry under the influence of more than a thousand of his Gentile concubines, the Song of Solomon, however, testifies to his relationship to the “one,” which makes him a precedent according to new understanding.

The name of Shulamite, Solomon’s bride means ‘perfect’ or ‘peaceful’. Once again, it is a meaningful name that reflects not only the groom’s desire or point of view, but also the reality to come: the beauty of Jesus’ bride, the perfection of her character, thereby eternal harmony, the infinite, happy relationship between Christ and those who love him.

We merely highlight a few lines in the love anthem then with regard to a man and a woman that were true there and. They are also mirrors of a much broader reality to come. The lines express the love and longing of the Son of God and the attraction to the Son of his earthly wife, the Christians called out from the world, and his insistence to overcome all obstacles.

• My beloved [is] mine, and I [am] his… (Song of Solomon 2:16)
• Thou [art] all fair, my love; [there is] no spot in thee. Come with me from Lebanon, [my] spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards. Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, [my] spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. How fair is thy love, my sister, [my] spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices! Thy lips, O [my] spouse, drop [as] the honeycomb: honey and milk [are] under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments [is] like the smell of Lebanon. A garden inclosed [is] my sister, [my] spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. (Song of Solomon 4:7-12)
• His mouth [is] most sweet: yea, he [is] altogether lovely.

(Song of Solomon 5:16)

• Thy teeth [are] as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and [there is] not one barren among them. As a piece of a pomegranate [are] thy temples within thy locks. (Song of Solomon 6:6-7)
• How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters [of grapes]. I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples; And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth [down] sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak. I [am] my beloved’s, and his desire [is] toward me. (Song of Solomon 7:6-10)

• Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love [is] strong as death; jealousy [is] cruel as the grave: the coals thereof [are] coals of fire, [which hath a] most vehement flame. (Song of Solomon 8:6-7)

Christ and the Called Out Ones

We can find several references to this incredibly intense love in the Old Testament – God’s love of man, dressed in the images above:

• I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh [himself] with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth [herself] with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10)

• … [as] the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, [so] shall thy God rejoice over thee. (Isaiah 62:5)

It is Jesus Himself who identifies himself as the bridegroom:

• And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. (Matthew 9:15)

The apostle Paul draws a perfect parallel between earthly, human marriage and Christ and his people:

• For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so [let] the wives [be] to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:23-32)

In the book of Revelation we find similar images:

• And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed [are] they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. (Revelation 19:6-9)
• And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God. (Revelation 21:2-3)
• And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light [was] like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; (Revelation 21:9-11)

I don’t know if we ever thought of ourselves as the happy lover of Jesus Christ. He is loved as his companion by the Lord, whom He dresses, cares for and nourishes as his desirable, beautiful bride. Furthermore, have we ever thought of ourselves as being the only and true love of Jesus Christ, having the most thoughts about Him, wanting to live his whole life with Him, having no secrets before Him, for whose pleasure and liking we want to live… If not, here’s the wonderful opportunity: I am my lover’s, and he claims me as his own.