Hi!

got this from the DB-GoldenLife List.

sharon

Most of the Song of Solomon (S. S.) is joyous, upbeat love. How could two
people be more deliriously happy with each other?

But there is one of the "songs" that is sung in the minor key. It has been
said that the path of true love is never smooth. The love of these two is
strained
to near the breaking point in the drama of chapter five. (As we study we
must remember that the "two" are Christ and His bride-to-be; their path to
the
"marriage of the Lamb" has been rocky!)

It's not the Bridegroom who has been fickle; sorry, it's the "girl." He has
"chosen" her, "elected" her; His love has been steady. Their courtship has
led
them to the point of commitment, what we would call "the engagement." He is
"ready" for "the marriage," long delayed. In chapter five He has come to her
in a time of world history when He especially needs her to stand by His side
as a "help meet." There is a denouement to the crisis of the ages when the
Lamb of God who rides His white horse into the final battle of time needs
His bride, His one true church, to cooperate with Him as only nuptial love
can
do. But is her love nuptial? Sadly, no; the story tells how she callously
enjoys her selfish comfort, leaving Him knocking, knocking, vainly on her
door.

The story is told in S. S. 5:2-7. Finally she realizes she has repulsed Him
and belatedly gets up to let Him in, only to discover that His divine
patience
after years of delay, has been strained too far; and He is "gone." The story
of her search for Him in the dark streets of the city is pathetic. Decades
of prayer and fasting for a renewal of "the latter rain" and "the loud cry"
power have not as yet healed the wound in the relationship.

But.... He still loves "her." Why not choose a new "bride"? Revelation 19
says the same one will repent and "make herself ready," because His love is
not
fickle. That, incidentally, is our only hope.