The Beauty of Christ in the Song of Songs
The Beauty of Christ in the Song of Songs.
BEAUTY: The quality of outstanding excellence in appearance, in usefulness, in moral character, in creative expression; brings delight to the senses; well-designed and constructed; a harmony that reflects creation; extremely attractive; that which inspires awe, wonder, admiration, praise; profoundly pleasing; an act of pure goodness; the presence of loveliness and grace; something exquisite in form, function, and proportion; that which contains glory and splendor.
Dwelling on His Beauty. It’s not enough to simply appreciate or admire the beauty of Christ. Instead, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus and His beauty, to gaze upon Him and worship His beauty, to allow His beauty to be formative in our lives. David exclaims in Psalm 24:7 that he has ‘one thing’ he wants more than anything else, there is one thing that would help form and direct his life… “to gaze with complete focus upon the sweet and delightful beauty of the Lord.” There’s a good chance that centering our life on the beauty of Christ, of worshiping His beauty, of allowing His beauty to change our lives into one like His, is indeed our ‘one thing most needful.’
“For all the world is not as worthy as the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the Writings are holy, but the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies.’ (Rabbi Akiva, the ‘Chief of the Sages,’ 50-135 AD).
The Song of Songs, often called the Song of Solomon ever since it was written around 960 BC. The title of this love poem means that this is the best song of all the songs, the most important song, and that this one song surpasses all others. There is debate as to whether Solomon literally wrote this extended love poem, or it was composed for Solomon, or written in honor of Solomon. Because this biblical poem has been understood in many ways down through the centuries, perhaps we can discuss it in the classic Jewish way of, on the one hand this, and on the other hand that…
Literally. On the one hand, the Song of Songs has been accepted simply as a superb piece of poetic literature in honor of romantic love between the lover and his beloved. It has become more popular now to claim that we shouldn’t read too much into it, that it is no more than an extended erotic conversation between two lovers. The intimacy between them is spelled out in graphic detail and the language is the most sensuous and explicit in all of Scripture. The faithful love between the two is a beautiful thing to behold as they celebrate the divinely created union between a woman and a man, a union that is enjoyed physically, emotionally, whole-heartedly, just as God intended.
Symbolically. On the other hand, limiting this classic piece of Scripture to a love poem flies in the face of how it has been historically understood by Jews and Christians alike. Jewish scholars and readers have always understood this book to be an exquisite picture of how God loves His people, Israel. Picking up on this, the early church leaders embraced the Song of Songs as a glorious allegory of the love Christ has for His bride the Church, as well as the love He has for each individual soul. If we followed the tributary of human love back to its source, we find the mysterious river of divine love. The pure intimacy between man and woman is the closest picture we get on earth to grasp the union that God wants with each of us and His body of believers. The human intimacy of Song of Songs is intended to help us understand and develop a profound spiritual intimacy with the Lord. The Song of Songs has been used throughout the history of faith to enable believers to contemplate the mystical union between God and His people, between Christ and His followers, both collectively and individually. In this surprising biblical poem, love is in the air, on every page, in every word. Eugene Peterson encourages the believer to read the Song of Songs devotionally, and he observed that this poem is a “prism in which all the love of God in all the world, and all the responses of those who love and whom God loves, gathers and then separates into individual colors.”
This spiritual understanding of the Song of Songs shouldn’t come as a surprise for students of Scripture. The inspired words of the Bible have primed us to consider the spiritual symbolism of marital love, since Yahweh God has described Himself as the Husband to His Chosen People, while the Son of God, Jesus, is described as the Bridegroom:
Husband In the Hebrew Bible. The covenant between God and His people has long been considered a marriage contract, a “ketubah,” ever since the profound spiritual marriage ceremony on Mt. Sinai. Too, prophets in the Jewish Scriptures loved to refer to God as a husband or a bridegroom to the chosen people. They loved to speak the truth that He considered Himself married to His people. God used the metaphor of marriage, evidently, because that is the closest earthly union, the most intimate and meaningful, that provides a way of communicating the love God has for His followers.
- “For your Maker is your husband – the Lord Almighty is His name – the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.” (Isaiah 54:5);
- “As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” (Isaiah 62:5);
- “Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.” (Jeremiah 3:14);
- “It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them.” (Jeremiah 31:32);
- “In that day,’ declares the Lord, ‘you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master’; I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion; I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord.” (Hosea 2:16, 20).
Bridegroom In the New Testament. The earliest Christians also loved to think about Jesus as the Bridegroom, the fulfillment of all the Jewish Scriptures about God being the husband. The prophets thought of the Church as His bride, and they considered the relationship between Christ and His followers to be a spousal relationship in a spiritual sense.
- You heard me tell you before that I am not the Messiah, but certainly I am the messenger sent ahead of Him. He is the Bridegroom, and the bride belongs to Him. I am the friend of the Bridegroom who stands nearby and listens with great joy to the Bridegroom’s voice. And because of His words my joy is complete and overflows!” (John the Baptist, in John 3:29, TPT).
- Matthew: “Then John’s disciples came and asked Him, ‘How is it that we and Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered, ‘How can the guests of the Bridegroom mourn while He is with them? The time will come when the Bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.” (Matthew 9:14-15; also refer to Mark 2:19);
- Paul: “I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to Him.” (2 Corinthains 11:2);
- Paul: “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up His life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to Himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault… No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. And we are members of His body…. As the Scriptures say, ‘A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife as the two are united into one.’ This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.” (Ephesians 5:25-27, 29-32);
- John: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready… Then the angel said to me, ‘Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ And he added, “These are the true words of God.’” (Revelation 19:7, 9);
- John: “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, ‘Look, God’s home is now among the people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them.” (Revelation 21:2-3).
Turning now to the Song of Songs, the most important of all songs of love, the deepest way to think about not only the divinely ordained intimate love between a man and a woman, but also the divine spiritual union desired by God with each of us:
Your Name: “Your name is like precious, perfumed anointing oiled poured out…” (S of S 1:3). The beloved woman is introducing an important quality of her lover right here in the beginning of this poem. The name of a person always referred to character and reputation. She is making it clear that she values her lover’s character, his personal qualities, and how he is admired by others for those qualities. She loves him for who is, not merely for what he looks like or his wealth, or anything else. The beloved loves her lover for being beautiful inside and out.
A Masculine Beauty. “Behold, my beloved one, how handsome you are, how truly delightful. You are pleasing beyond words.” (S of S 1:16). It is important that we can appreciate that beauty is not limited to the feminine. Down through history, men have been called beautiful as well when including one’s appearance with his inner qualities. As we consider the beloved’s portrayal of the ideal masculine beauty of her lover, let us remember that the picture she provides of her lover is a manly beauty, not at all soft or feminine.
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree. “My lover is like the most fragrant apple tree in a wooded forest, a ripe tree among a grove of saplings. In his delightful shade I sit, enjoying the sweet taste of his pleasant fruit, savoring his delicious love. He has taken me to the wedding feast at the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love.” (Song of Songs 2:3-4). Right from Day One, the early Church has maintained that the apple tree in this passage represents Jesus Christ. It combines two popular titles for Christ, the Bridegroom and the King. The fruit of his lips is accepted as representing the fruit of the Bridegroom’s lips, the words He has spoken, His holy Word. They are sweet to the soul’s taste, as the psalmist declares in Ps. 119:103: “How sweet are your promises to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” The king’s banner at his wedding feast was typically a pole with a flaglike cloth attached to it that was held up for all to see. This banner symbolized the king’s protective care. The bride here enjoys the privilege of viewing the king’s banner of love over her for her security and protection as an expression of his affection for her, the honored bride. In His love for us, the Lord has His banner over us as well.
The words to this poem/song are exquisite and powerful. It’s best used as a meditative piece on the Person of Christ. May these words inspire us to gaze on the beauty of Christ and be spiritually formed by His Beauty.
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree by Elizabeth Poston, sung by Ensemble Altera – YouTube
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
“The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green;
The trees of nature fruitless be,
Compared with Christ the Apple Tree.
His beauty doth all things excel,
By faith I know but ne’er can tell
The glory which I now can see,
In Jesus Christ the Appletree.
For happiness I long have sought,
And pleasure dearly I have bought;
I missed of all but now I see
‘Tis found in Christ the Appletree.
I’m weary with my former toil –
Here I will sit and rest awhile,
Under the shadow I will be,
Of Jesus Christ the Appletree.
With great delight I’ll make my stay,
There’s none shall fright my soul away;
Among the sons of men I see
There’s none like Christ the Appletree.
I’ll sit and eat this fruit divine,
It cheers my heart like spirit’al wine;
And now this fruit is sweet to me,
That grows on Christ the Appletree.
This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,
It keeps my dying faith alive;
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the Appletree.
Text: a poem by Rev. Richard Hutchins in the 18th century; Songwriter: Elizabeth Poston.
In the Song of Songs, the passage of 5:10-16 inspires a devotional focus on the beauty of Christ. Literally speaking, it is a poetic celebration of the beloved’s embrace of her lover’s beauty. Spiritually speaking, her sensuous description of her lover provides a way to imaginatively gaze upon, to meditate on, God’s beauty, Christ’s beauty, the beauty of our spiritual husband and bridegroom. As the reader soaks into these words, we do well to remember St. Paul’s instructions in Philippians 4:8, “Whatever is lovely and admirable… think deeply and fix your thoughts on these things.”
Her Beautiful Man. Notice the beloved’s description of her lover in masculine terms… manly, powerful and full of energy, faithful, noble and majestic, well-put together, rugged, strong arms and legs. Beautiful sums up her masculine ideal. In 5:9, other women around her have inquired about what makes her lover so special. And this is her answer…
5:10 = “My dear lover is radiant, shining in dazzling splendor, and ruddy, glowing with manly power and good health. He is the best of ten thousand. He’s one in a million;
5:11 = “His head is like the finest gold, pure and untarnished. The locks of his luxuriant hair are wavy and as dark and shiny as the feathers of a raven;
5:12 =”His eyes are like those of a dove at the edge of a stream as they bathe in milk. His eyes are perfectly set in place;
5:13 = “His rugged, bearded cheeks are like a garden of spices, like banks of fragrant herbs. His lips are like beautiful lilies dripping with sweet-smelling myrrh;
5:14 = “His hands and arms are powerfully built, as strong as bars of gold set with jewels. His body is sculpted like polished ivory and decorated with sapphires;
5:15 = “His legs are like pillars of marble that are set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like the choicest cedars of Lebanon, standing tall and strong;
5:16 = “His mouth is full of kindness, his words are sweetness itself. He is altogether lovely and desirable in every way. Yes, this is my darling lover and this is my dear friend. Everything about him fills me with desire.”
The Eyes of a Dove. “His eyes are like those of a dove at the edge of a stream as they bathe in milk. His eyes are perfectly set in place.” (5:12). The dove is the most frequently mentioned bird in Scripture, over 50 times. So depending on the context, the dove became a symbol for many things: peace and restoration, pleasant innocence, purity, a lack of aggressiveness, humility, and even the nation of Israel. In this love poem the dove is probably a symbol for loving faithfulness. The dove was known as birds that mated for life, and literally had eyes only for the other. They literally can focus on only one thing at a time because of their unusual type of vision, and doves were made to faithfully focus on the mate. The Hebrew term used in this verse was “kayownim,” and this is the only place in the Bible it is used. This particular dove mentioned by the beloved was an especially intimate term of endearment as she recognized that her faithful lover only had eyes for her.
Jesus Christ the Cedar of Lebanon. “His legs are like pillars of marble, set in bases of pure gold. His appearance is like the choicest Cedar of Lebanon, standing tall and majestic. His posture is stately, like the noble Cedars in Lebanon.” (Song of Songs 5:15). The magnificent cedar trees in Lebanon were the most honored of all the trees in early Scripture. They are mentioned over 100 times in the Hebrew Bible, and were known in biblical times as the “king of trees.” There were good reasons people esteemed them so highly. They had a natural resistance to decay. Their oil repelled snakes and bugs. They were deliciously aromatic. They grew to majestic heights while their enormous trunks made them a picture of stability. These cedars were evergreens, beautiful in their appearance, and the cedar forests in Lebanon were breathtaking. The wood of these cedars were known around that part of the world as the very best for shipbuilding and toolmaking, and were always the wood of choice in construction of palaces. The first Temple was built with the cedars of Lebanon, as was the second Temple. So down through ancient history, the Cedars of Lebanon were a symbol of strength, beauty, durability, and majesty. Could there be a more beautiful picture of Jesus than this Cedar of Lebanon?
Other Symbolic Descriptions of the Glorified Christ. There are other vivid pictures of Christ in Scripture that stretch the reader’s imagination and drink of Christ’s beauty. One was on the island of Patmos, when St. John saw Jesus in His glorified body: “He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across His chest. His head and His hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And His eyes were like flames of fire. His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. He held seven stars in His right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came forth from His mouth. And His face was like the sun in all its brilliance.” (John 1:13-16). The other scene that requires an imaginative meditation of the beauty of Jesus is in Daniel 10:4-6, when Daniel witnessed an extraordinary sight while standing on the bank of the Tigris River in Babylon. He saw a heavenly Christ standing before him… “a man dressed in linen with a belt of pure gold around His waist. His body was muscular and glistening, as if sculpted from a precious stone, His face was as radiant as flashing lightning bolts, His eyes bright and shining like flaming torches, His arms and feet dazzling to see like polished bronze, and His voice was deep and resonant, sounding like a huge choir of voices.” This sight is virtually identical to John’s vision of Jesus in Revelation 1:13-15. Solomon, Daniel and John have provided all of us with an opportunity to gaze on Christ, and to let the Holy Spirit guide us in our contemplation of Him.
Formed by Beauty. As we contemplate the divine beauty of Jesus Christ in the Song of Songs, we do not want to merely appreciate or admire His beauty, but by fixing our eyes and imaginations on His beauty, we can be spiritually formed by it. “We do not want merely to see beauty. We want something else… to be united to the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.” (C. S. Lewis, “Weight of Glory”).
“Of all men you are the most handsome, my King. You are more beautiful than all the others. Grace is dew upon your lips, pouring forth your gracefulness. For God has blessed you forever! So gird up your sword upon your thigh, O Mighty One, and ride on in your splendor and beauty and majesty. Ride on for the sake of truth! Ride for the righteous meek!” (Psalm 45:2-4).