“Where has your beloved gone, O fairest among women? Which way has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you? My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies. I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; he pastures his flock among the lilies.” Song of Solomon 6:1-4

“I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the fields, and lodge in the villages; let us go out early to the vineyards, and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened and the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love. The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and over our doors are all choice fruits, new as well as old, which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.” Song of Solomon 7:10-13

Song of Solomon has been interpreted in both Jewish and Christian traditions as mirroring the love relationship between G-d and people. The principal actors are G-d and Israel, and Christ and the church. Today, biblical scholars see this text in a literal sense as celebrating a wholesome sexual relationship between man and woman.

If we look at this text as the relationship between Christ and the Church, we can say that Christianity is calling us to go abroad into the fields; and she, the Church, has Christ with her. Walking in the fields, doing ministry in the community yields no pleasure unless Christ is there. The phrases express the desire of Christ’s presence everywhere — at home and abroad, in the city and the fields. Christ’s desire is to have the Gospel spread in the world. In the barren parts of the world, our community, our country, we see what looks like uncultivated fields, the Gentile world — this is our mission field. And so, these “fields”, and the “villages”, are interpreted as the nations of the world.

Either way we read these words, as the relationship between G-d and Israel, or as between Christ and the Church, there are many wonderful verses and images that make this a wonderful read.

Pastor Dave