Chapter 6

This is the identification passage. Sooner or later everyone has to identify right man or right woman. This chapter is designed to give perspective with regard to this principle.

Verse 1 — the daughters of Jerusalem are speaking and they are completely intrigued by the description given of the shepherd lover by the Shulamite woman. This, again, is the reflecting of his glory. The Shulamite woman and the shepherd lover are right man, right woman. They have had a relationship up to now that has been so fantastic that when she describes him to them immediately they want to know him. Application: When through the daily function of GAP you have a real love for the Lord then your witnessing is not going to be based upon a bunch of laws or goofy approaches but you are going to speak from love, from understanding, you are going to communicate from your own frame of reference, from your own personality in the power of the Holy Spirit. You are going to be able to make a lot of sense and people are going to want to know the Lord Jesus Christ.

But this passage is teaching a great principle and it has to do with right man, right woman. It has to do with reflected glory. One of the great problems that often occurs is that people are in too much of a hurry and they will not wait for the one for whom the Lord has designed.

In verses 2 & 3 the Shulamite woman begins a very short but very beautiful soliloquy. It is designed to indicate identification. There is no doubt as to who her right man is. If capacity for love comes first identification for love is easy. Capacity for love comes through Bible doctrine. But since this is also a principle that applies to unbelievers, what happens with them? Their capacity for love can also be developed, though from different ways — from romanticism, from reading, from training, from concepts, from principles. So while the principle applies to everyone we are only dealing with those who are believers.

Verse 2 — “My beloved.” She is talking about her shepherd lover, her right man. She declares the identification and her attitude; “has gone down into the garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.” In Hebrew poetry there is a great deal of this type of alliteration and showing something in a romantic way. What is his garden here? His daily activities. It was also a place of pleasure. The first thing she is saying about her lover is that he is oriented to his life of business activity, and he enjoys it. So her lover is actually going about his business. He may be many miles away but she does know what he is doing because she knows him. She knows that he is on the job, she knows his character. When you can identify your right man you can begin to learn things about him, and you learn, as she learned, that he is faithful in his job, he has a certain character, he has a sense of responsibility, he is a man of stabilised character.

“to the bed of spices” — remember that the spices is the concept of a pleasant smell. It also indicates that his life is pleasant to him and that he has a good disposition. While he is in his garden the relationship he has with anyone he contacts is a pleasant one generally. In other words, he emits the fragrance of capacity for love, friendship, the ability to get along with people, to understand people, and so on. She is describing him as a well adjusted person; “to feed in the gardens” simply indicates that his life is filed with good things; “and to gather lilies” is simply the concept of appreciating things that are beautiful, it has to do with enjoying the details of life. It is possible for an adjusted person to enjoy the details of life without being enslaved by them.

Verse 3 — “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved in mine.” The words ‘my’ and ‘mine’ indicates that she knows that he is in her soul and she is in his soul. Even though they are separated “he feedeth among the lilies,” which indicates again that he is an oriented person and has a pleasant life, has the capacity to enjoy the details of life. So the details of life are involved here. She identifies and makes a very dogmatic statement. A woman must have confidence with regard to one member of the human race, male type, that he is her right man.

Principles of category #2 love

1. Song of Solomon 1:7 — category #2 love involves one person in your soul whom you can never forget and never erase. Therefore category #2 love is unique and special.

2. You must know something about the opposite sex. Song of Solomon 1:2, the analogy to wine.

3. Category #2 love is protective. It is important to realise that once you have the right man in your soul you are protected from a lot of things. The only problem is that you must be careful of reaction. The Shulamite woman was not reactive. Protective has to do with having the right person in your soul. When the woman becomes reactive to the right man he no longer is protective. If you become reactive you are in a danger area. The protective principle is important. As long as you are not reactive you can be anywhere in the world and you are safe, and his love protects you. He is in your soul. That is the greatest protection a woman ever had. This protective principle works when present — Song of Solomon 2:4, “his love was a banner over me.” Also when absent — Song of Solomon 1:13; 4:6.

4. Category #2 love must come from human volition. Therefore anything that destroys, for example, the woman’s free will destroys her ability to identify and to respond. A woman does not respond as a slave, she responds as a free agent, as a free soul. Therefore her response must be from freedom. Song of Solomon 2:7; 3:5.

5. Love is tone-oriented. This has to do with the fact that there is one person in your soul and you can tell if something is wrong by his voice, and that something is right by his voice — and vice versa. Song of Solomon 2:8.

6. A woman’s love responds to the right man, and responds in two ways: a) When he is present — Song of Solomon 2:6; 8:3; b) When absent — 3:1.

7. Category #2 love causes illness when unrequited — Song of Solomon 2:5; 5:8. This is a psychosomatic (soul-body) illness.

8. Category #2 love is recognised by the two persons involved — Song of Solomon 6:3.

9. There is a strength and a weakness in category #2 love — Song of Solomon 8:6,7. The strength is the actual love itself, the weakness and the great enemy are the mental attitude sins. The one that is used and is a perfect illustration is jealousy.

Verse 4 — Solomon, the villain of this piece, goes right on. “Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah.” Tirzah was the royal residence of Solomon. It was a castle designed with great beauty in its symmetry. It has been described as one of the most beautiful residences of all time. He is saying that she and the palace go together. When that kind of a pitch is made then obviously it is not right man, right woman. So this is a double analogy with the intention of appealing to her approbation lust.

“comely as Jerusalem” — you are as beautiful as Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a very beautiful city, this is what struck Nebuchadnezzar as he was pursuing the Egyptians.

“terrible as an army with banners” — the word ‘terrible’ in the Hebrew is ‘majestic.’ The banners which are used are standards. These are military standards, this is why the word ‘army’ was inserted. The standard was a system of communication and identification, and when he says to her that she is as majestic as an army with standards he is saying he would like to communicate with her and he would like to be identified with her. He would like to have a relationship with her.

Verse 5 — “Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me.” That is nonsense because she has been looking at him with disdain, but he is trying to turn it into something good. Beware of a villain with a sense of humour!

“thy hair is like a flock of goats that appear from Gilead” — this was a beautiful sight and it means she has beautiful hair.

Verse 6 — “Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, of which every one beareth twins” — her teeth are well matched; “there is not one barren among them,” she hasn’t lost any teeth. Solomon is repeating himself. He didn’t get through the first time and he is determined to do so.

Verse 7 — “Like a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks” — this is describing the beauty of her colouring and the symmetry of her face as it relates to her beautiful hairdo.

The doctrine of true and false aggressiveness

1. Male aggressiveness is a manifestation of category #2 love where the right woman is involved.

2. However, all male aggressiveness is not love (some is predatory).

3. When male aggressiveness is category #2 love the woman responds as the Shulamite to the shepherd lover.

i. She said yes to him when he was absent.

ii. She said yes to him when he came to rescue her.

4. When male aggressiveness is not category #2 love the woman must say no, and under two principles:

i. She must learn to say no before she has found her right man.

ii. She will learn to say no after her right man, but this is easy because her right man affords her protection, he is in her soul.

5. Solomon’s aggressiveness was false. The shepherd lover’s was true — Song of Solomon 6:2,3. In verse 4, Solomon’s aggressiveness was false.

6. The woman is designed to respond in category #2 to one man only. Therefore any response to the wrong man can set her back temporarily, and even permanently.

7. Knowledge of this doctrine plus occupation with Christ plus the faith-rest technique protects the young lady until God provides her right man. Until the right man comes along Jesus Christ is her protection. He protects through the Word which is His mind, He protects through the principle of occupation with Christ, and through the faith-rest technique. Category #1 love, then, is a protection for category #2 love.

8. Song of Solomon chapter six indicates three kinds of aggressiveness. Verses 4-9, the aggressiveness of Solomon that is false. Verses 11-12, true aggressiveness, the shepherd lover’s — true love, therefore true aggressiveness. 7:1-9, the jealous queen is aggressive, and this is false. At that point it is a strong woman and a weak man (Solomon).

Verse 10 — “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, terrible and an army with banners?” Spoken by the daughters of Jerusalem. They are looking at the Shulamite woman who has seen her shepherd lover coming from afar. It is just like turning on the lights. She responds to him. He is there, he is near, he is coming in a chariot to rescue her and all of a sudden she lights up with a rosy glow. To look forth as the morning means rays of light coming from the sun, and she is the glory of the shepherd lover, she is a responder, and the daughters of Jerusalem immediately apprehend her respond to the true aggressiveness of her shepherd lover. By way of application, your response to the Lord Jesus Christ in category #1 love is Bible doctrine, the daily function of GAP in your life. The greatest virtue in the Christian life is knowledge of Bible doctrine.

Notice that the sun throws out rays, the moon reflects them. When a woman is a true responder she initiates her own response from her free will, and that is a picture of the sun as the sun throws out rays of light. But she is also a woman, so the moon is brought in. The moon is a reflector. She is the moon in the sense that she reflects the glory of the true aggressive man. So both the sun and the moon are used by God the Holy Spirit at this point.

Again, ‘terrible’ is literally ‘majestic’ as an army with banners. Standards were used by an army to identify units so that there could be communication between units. Right man, right woman has a true communication.

A woman, as we will see with the jealous queen, can be aggressive and out of line. If a man does not initiate anything toward her she is going to be like the jealous queen. She has nothing. If a man initiates aggressiveness, love, then it has to be determined if it is true or false. If it is the right man it is true, if it is not category #2 it is false aggressiveness. Aggressiveness is not a virtue in itself, it is the male demonstrating both soul and physical love. But it has to be directed toward the right woman, and she is a responder. When it is false the woman is aggressive and the man is aggressive in a false sense is illustrated by chapter seven.

In verses 11 & 12 the Shulamite woman describes her action.

Verse 11 — “I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley.” This was her excuse. She said, “Excuse me, I want to go down to the orchard.”

“to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded” — she is pretending to have interest in Solomon’s orchard.

Verse 12 — “Before I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.” That isn’t what she said at all. She was aware in her soul. And she didn’t say ‘like the chariots of Amminadib,’ she said, ‘I was in a chariot beside my prince.’ “Before I knew it, my soul was beside my prince in a chariot,” is what the Hebrew says. Amminadib means to be beside my prince. Notice that in their first meeting her awareness is in her soul, category # 2 love starts in the soul. The body is an extension of the soul, is under the control of the soul. In category # 2 love soul love precedes physical/sex love.

Verse 13 — we see the Shulamite woman leaving in a chariot and the daughters of Jerusalem are running after her yelling “Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return that we may look upon thee.” At that point they more or less fade out.

Verse 14 — up comes the jealous queen. Solomon is obviously standing at the window watching the whole panorama. The jealous queen says, “What will ye see in the Shulamite?” What’s so good about her?

Solomon gives an honest answer. “As it were the company of two armies.” The majestic, glorious panorama of a great battle scene. It is very difficult for us to enter into some of the love comments of the ancient world but there was something very beautiful about a great panoramic view of a battle. There was something majestic and glorious and beautiful about the Shulamite woman. She had found her right man, she had the glory of her right man, and this glory plus her own tremendous beauty and all of the other soulish assets which she possessed. Plus also the spiritual assets which she possessed made her a challenge to Solomon who was a woman watcher, as well as a woman chaser. He saw in her a challenge to everything that he wanted, and he did not get it.

Why didn’t Solomon pursue and get the shepherd lover killed? Answer: Chapter seven.

7:1-9, Act three. Remember that the queen is jealous, she has mental attitude sins. She is also aggressive. Solomon has been aggressive and his aggressiveness has ended in nothing, so he is a picture of false male aggression. The jealous queen is a picture of false female aggression. Her aggression is based upon two things: mental attitude sins and frustration. In their frustration jealous women are seeking what they do not have and what they cannot design. Only God can design right man, right woman. The jealous queen is a picture of false female aggression. Immediately she starts a dance — Well I can do something she can’t!

Verse 1 — Solomon now describes the dance of the jealous queen. “How beautiful are they feet with shoes.” Shoes can obviously make a woman’s legs beautiful or they can make them horrible. In beginning his description he starts with her feet. In dealing with the Shulamite woman he started with her hair, face. etc. — the opposite end.

“O prince’s daughter” — in other words, she is a queen; “The joints of thy thighs are like jewels.” The joints of the thigh was considered by the ancients to be the sexiest parts of a woman. This joint isn’t joint, it is hollow. The hollow part of the thigh where it meets the trunk. Just as the hair is the setting for the face the hollow of the thighs was the setting for the female genitea. When Solomon was wooing the Shulamite woman she was every bit as beautiful as this jealous queen but he started with her soul and the area where her soul resides. But now Solomon is being Solomon and the queen is being the queen, and the emphasis is not on the soul. Why? Because when this scene is over Solomon and this woman are going to have sex. But that is all it is going to be, there is no soul relationship.

“jewels” — jewellery is designed to emphasise some beauty spot in the body, not to be a status symbol.

“the work of the hands of a cunning workman” — he is talking about some man who is clever in making up jewellery.

Verse 2 — “Thy navel is a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor.” This means that looking at the midsection of the female anatomy he is stimulated as if he had been drinking enough to stimulate him. In other words, as his eye moves upward his stimulation increases.

“thy belly [stomach] is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies” — he is talking about the symmetry of the lower trunk. In the ancient world they had a wheat field but they never cut down the flowers that grew wild around, and even cultivated flowers, around their fields. Why did they put flowers around fields in the ancient world to attract the pests to the flowers and away from the wheat fields. The point is she has such beautiful midsection symmetry that his eyes do not stray from her beauty.

Verse 3 — “Thy breasts are like two young roes that are twins.” He is describing symmetry again.

Verse 4 — “Thy neck is like a tower of ivory.” Towers in the ancient world were built for their symmetry. Her neck is not too long, it is not too short. Everything he describes as he moves from her feet up her body is the fact that the various portions of her body relate to each other. And all the time she is dancing to emphasise this.

“thine eyes, like the fishpools in Heshbon” — in other words, very clear. She apparently had very clear and very beautiful eyes; “by the gate of Bath-rabbim.”

“thy nose is like the tower of Lebanon” means that she has a very delicately shaped nose. The tower of Lebanon had beautiful symmetry; “which looketh toward Damascus.”

Verse 5 — “Thine head upon thee is like Carmel” means that just as mountains rise out of the distance to give beauty to the horizon so her hair gives beauty to her face; “and the hair of thine head like purple” means it was very attractive. Purple was considered, along with scarlet, to be the most beautiful and the most aristocratic colour of the ancient world.

“the king is held in the galleries” — in other words, he is sitting there clapping. The word ‘galleries’ means tresses, he is occupied with the tresses.

Verse 6 — “How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!” Underline ‘for delights’ because this indicates no category # 2 love here. These are just two people who have missed the boat getting together. False aggressiveness meets false aggressiveness and they have delight (the word for delight here is the Hebrew word for sexual delight). It is a case of any port in a storm and each has found his port.

Verse 7 — “This they stature is like a palm tree.” This means symmetry, it doesn’t mean she is tall; “and thy breasts, to clusters (the word grapes is not found).” A palm tree also has clusters and that could very well be the idea here. The idea is symmetry.

Verse 8 — “I said, I will go up to the palm tree.” This is obviously the final approach; “I will take hold of the boughs; no also thy breasts shall be like clusters of the vine; and the smell of thy nose like apples,” a reference to stimulation. Apples were used as smelling salts for the fainting.

Verse 9 — “And the roof of thy mouth.” Obviously he is in contact with her now; “like the best wine.” Stimulating.

“For my beloved.” The next phrase, “that goeth down sweetly” — the word should be ‘smoothly.’

The next phrase is “gliding over the lips and teeth,” not ‘causing the lips of those who are asleep to speak.’ Literally from the Hebrew, when “the wine goes down smoothly gliding over the lips and the teeth.” This is a reference to their contacts, they are now in each others arms, they are now embraced. That is why Solomon did not pursue and it also teaches us something about true and false aggression. Up to this verse we have seen false aggression.

From 7:10 - 8:4 we have Acts 4.

Verses 10-13, the Shulamite woman speaks to her shepherd lover after the rescue. This is a beautiful illustration not only of occupation with Christ but it is probably an even better illustration of the worship of Jewish believers in the Millennium. This is where chapter 8 should begin.

Verse 10 — “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.” Notice the contrast. Solomon started at the woman’s [jealous queen’s] feet and moved to her head. In this case the woman recognises and identifies her right man, and notes that his desire is toward her. It is not that they lack any sensuality but this is a permanent desire based on right man, right woman. It is a soulish identification because the greatest physical relationship always includes the soul. The soul is the basis for a hundred per cent in the erotic index.

Verse 11 — the aggressiveness of the shepherd lover. “Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages” — long term activity. This is right man, right woman. They are going to have something fantastic all of their lives together whether they are in the field or in the village, they have a glorious beautiful life ahead. It is worth waiting for. She said no to all of the appeal and aggressiveness of Solomon and now she is getting true aggressiveness from her right man.

Verse 12 — “Let us get up early to see the vineyards; let us see the vine flourish, whether the tender grapes appear, and the pomegranates bud forth. There will I give thee my loves [plural]” — soul love, sex love.

Verse 13 — she responds. “The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits [a glorious life ahead], new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.” She has saved herself for her right man.