Preview of:

When we smell the fragrance of a sweet-smelling flower, we desire to hold

it up to the noses of our friends and loved ones so that they can enjoy the
aroma with us. Song of Songs is the flower which gives off the fragrance of
Jesus Christ, our Bridegroom. It expresses better than any other passage of
Scripture how Jesus blossoms into our lives with His unquenchable love for
us as His betrothed and beloved Bride.
For years, I knew that the Song of Songs allegorically describes the
relationship between Jesus and the Church but its dramatic and emotional
style befuddled me. I peered at it like peering into a garden over a wall.
Then one day, it was as if God gave me the key to unlock this precious
Book of the Bible. I entered into the garden of the Song and discovered it
to be rich with delights. Its deep insights kept me marveling. While it holds
its original value as a song written by King Solomon about his beloved, it is
also a poetic and highly romantic parable about the love of God for us and
the journey that He invites us into with Him.
For many people, the Song of Songs is a mysterious book that has been
under lock and key (or ignored and neglected) while the rest of Scripture is
scrutinized and memorized. Rabbis of old knew that this book was a
masterpiece of wisdom revealing God’s love for Israel.2 The earliest
Christian teachers knew it to be a picturesque allegory of Christ’s love for
the Church. Unfortunately, some commentators in recent centuries have
limited its scope to that of sexual purity in marriage. While God is certainly
in favor of sexual purity, we are only cheating ourselves if we do not open
ourselves up to the story God is telling about our marriage to Jesus, our
Bridegroom-King. This said, it does contain some highly suggestive and
stimulating passages which could cause you to think your Bible is a naughty
book.

2 Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef

1
My aim in writing this book is to open the garden of God’s love to you by
guiding you through the original text of the Song of Songs and the parable
it presents of our walk of faith as the beloved Bride of Jesus. My desire is to
present it to you in a way that positions you to receive revelation from the
Holy Spirit directly. While I want to give you everything you need for
accurate interpretation, I feel that it is important to refrain from over-doing
exposition or intellectualizing something so poignant and beautiful. While
the Song of Songs will stimulate your mind, its purpose is to touch your
heart and encourage you on your journey with Jesus.
All for Love
As its name clearly states, the Song of Songs is the greatest of all songs. It
surpasses every victory song we will sing in eternity, including even the
Song of Moses which we will sing after our faith in Jesus has caused us to
triumph over this world.
Revelation 15:2-4 - And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with
fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast
and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by
God and sang the song of God's servant Moses and of the Lamb:
"Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are
your ways, King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to
your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before
you, for your righteous acts have been revealed."
Jesus came to this world as the Son of God, lived a perfect life in the flesh
as the Son of Man, suffered, and was crucified on a cross where He took
the wrath of God upon Himself, receiving the punishment for all of our
sins. He died, was buried, and descended into hell, but on the third day
God raised Him from the dead to everlasting life in a resurrected, glorified
body that will never perish. He ascended into heaven and is now seated at
the right hand of God, His Father and our Father, with all authority in
heaven and earth and under the earth—an authority that He shares with us
who believe. He poured out the Holy Spirit so that everyone who believes
in Him receives the Spirit of the Lord dwelling inside of our hearts to
enable us to become children of God. Through His life, death, and
resurrection, Jesus made a way for us to receive all of the benefits and
blessings of the righteous, not by our own works but by faith.
By faith in Jesus, we can move mountains, heal the sick, raise the dead,

2
conquer all sorts of enemies, and do all sorts of wonderful things. It is also
through our faith in Jesus that we become betrothed to Him as His beloved
Bride until He returns. In that day, we will partake with Him in the most
festive and glorious celebration the world has ever known—the wedding
supper of the Lamb.
Revelation 19:6-7 - Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the
roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "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.
We may know these things and understand them intellectually through our
study of the Bible, and we might have faith to believe them for a day that is
still yet to come.
Even so, love is greater than faith. Unless love is the driving force behind
our faith in Jesus, we will be seduced by the attractions of this world, and
we will not stand in the day of trial. He has opened to us the way to
experience deep intimacy with Him as the lover of our souls so that we can
come to know Him and the depths of His heart. He is dynamic and holy.
He is majestic and humble. He is water and fire, kindness and severity,
mercy and judgment, love and wrath, righteousness and justice. He is
awesome beyond compare. If we do not know Jesus as He really is, we will
have incorrect views of His grace and His desire for us to become all that
we can be in His Kingdom, while making excuses for ourselves as to why
He is ok with our failure to change. Unless we know His love for us, we will
feign our affections for Him and drench ourselves in religious
proclamations and church activities. It is His love for us and our love for
Him that will make us willing to reject and forsake every other temptation
and will sustain us through all tribulation.
This is why the Song of Songs is greater than every song that has ever been
written. It is our wedding song with Jesus, our Bridegroom-King.
Some Notes about Interpretation
In the original text of the Song of Songs, there are no chapter demarcations
or verses as these were not introduced into the Bible until the sixteenth
century. Moreover, in contrast to the modern presentations of the Song of
Songs, there is nothing in the original text to indicate who is speaking.

3
Deciding the speaker must be done through interpreting the events of the
Song and the gender of the Hebrew verbiage used. Translations reflect
various opinions about who is saying what. As such, the places where I
have marked a new speaker may be different from the speech pattern in
your Bible. That is ok. I have done my best through research and prayer to
present what I believe to be the dialog of the Song of Songs in a way that
most accurately reflects both the original text and the story being conveyed
by its author.
Even though it was King Solomon who penned the Song of Songs, all
Scripture is authored by God for the purpose of pointing us to Jesus. (See 2
Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21.) After Jesus’ resurrection, He opened the
minds of His disciples to understand how all of Scripture points to and pre-
figures Him. (See Luke 24:27.) This means that natural events which
historically took place and are recorded in the Old Testament now serve as
types and shadows of what we experience in our spiritual lives as we follow
Jesus. (Read Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 8:5, and 10:1.) The Apostles Paul
and Peter demonstrate this in their writings by using Old Testament
examples as allegories to explain spiritual concepts and to encourage
followers of Jesus in their walk of faith. (Note Romans 4:1-25, 15:4;
Galatians 4:21-31; 1 Corinthians 10:1-11; 2 Peter 2:4.) The rule of thumb
for Bible interpretation is, “Scripture interprets Scripture.” This means that
we draw our analysis of one passage of Scripture from God’s use of the
same words, images, people, objects, or concepts in other passages. When
used correctly, allegorically interpreting the Scripture can solidify our
understanding of what Jesus did for us and what our role is in our
relationship with Him.
The same is true for the Song of Songs. It can be interpreted literally as a
poetic love song by King Solomon and also as a shadow which points us to
the love of Jesus, who is the King of Kings for all eternity. For this reason,
I believe the Lord has led me to present the Song above all Songs to you
with a side-by-side commentary exposing both the original text and how it
allegorically points to our journey through life as the Bride of Jesus. My
hope is that the Holy Spirit will grant you revelation of many wonderful
metaphors about God’s love which will remain with you forever and that
you will be encouraged on your own personal quest for intimacy with Jesus,
your Bridegroom-King.

4
Revelatory Reading
The Song of Songs is not for the faint of heart. You might want to read the
Song of Songs in your Bible for yourself before reading this book to see
what the Lord reveals to you. Then, as you begin to read this book, ask the
Lord to open your heart, reveal the truth to you, and grant you wisdom for
your walk with Jesus. Then, after you are finished reading this book, open
your Bible again and read the Song of Songs in one sitting if possible. See
what the Lord has done, and delight yourself in His love.
May the Lord draw you by His love into deeper and deeper intimacy with
Him until you come into full union with Him as a Bride with her
Bridegroom-King. Amen.