Old Testament Survey | Lecture 11 : BC102-OT-20260911

Before the break, we saw that Satan had thrown a challenge to God. Satan originally said, "If you take away everything that this man has, including his children, then he will curse you." But even after he lost everything, including the you know his children, we see that Job does not curse God. He falls to the ground and he worships God and he says, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." And the second challenge which Satan throws and says is if you take away his health. If you make his life so miserable that he cannot even bear living then he will curse you. So God says all right go ahead and you know hurt him physically. And so uh Job's health is completely gone is covered with pestules and soores which are leaking. Uh he's in a he's in great pain. And in that state, we see him beginning to question the justice of God. He begins to grumble. He does all of that. But then when God comes to him and questions him back and says, "Who are you to ask me about these things? Can you answer me about the natural things which you see around you?" And Job is unable to even do that about the everyday things which he looks at every day. He's unable to explain them because you know at that time science had not advanced that much. So he was not even aware of the scientific details between behind the things which God has made. And uh so God says if you can't even understand these things, how will you understand the greater matters of justice and God's plans and purposes which you are obscuring which you are covering up with your you know words which are without knowledge. So uh God says all of that and then without any further explanation from the Lord about why he is suffering he gets down and he repents and he honors God. So Satan loses the challenge. Job proves that even when we don't understand anything even when we don't understand why God is doing what he is doing he is still worthy of worship. And Job demonstrates that. Job kneels down in the ashes and repents and honors God even though no explanation has been given to him. And when he kneels down and repents, he has not yet received any healing. He has not received any, you know, no no new children have been born to him. None of those things have happened. His property has not been restored. None of that has happened. In his greatest pain, he still kneels down and he acknowledges and says, "My eyes have seen you." And yes, you are worthy of worship. So I choose to repent. So Satan basically loses the challenge, you know. So um we we we realize that this entire book is not so much a a book about suffering. It's about the character of God. It is a man in his worst condition who rises up and says yes in spite of everything in spite of no explanation being given by God this God is still worthy of worship. So Job proves once for all that God is indeed worthy of worship. And then there's one more point which the Lord makes in the final you know the last portion in your chapter 42. if you could read out verses 7 to8. Um, and so it was after the Lord had spoken these things, these words to Job, that the Lord said to Elephas the Temonite, "My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams. Go to my servant Job and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering, and my servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has. Two times the Lord repeats this. He says to uh Elephas and the other two friends, you have not spoken the truth about me as my servant Job has. Job finally comes to his senses. He kneels down. He repents. He says, "Lord, everything that I was saying, I was saying it without any understanding. So I I will now keep my mouth shut." Okay? So he admits his wrong. So Job is now speaking correctly. And the Lord says, "You and your two friends, you also need to change what you have been saying because what you have been saying about my character, it is wrong." Because again and again these three friends kept saying only if some a person does something sinful or wicked then god will allow suffering to come upon them. That was a wrong statement. There are many many different reasons why suffering comes upon people. It's not just you know sin and wickedness is not the only reason which leads to suffering. And God deals with situations in different ways in manifold in a variety of ways. He doesn't restrict himself to one method or two methods. So for these three friends to put him in a tiny box and say this is how God is and that's the only way he is. That's the only way he has to operate. He cannot work in any other way is high foolishness. This is a God who created a universe which science is still not able to explain fully. I mean we are living in an age where they boast about AI but they still have not been able to create an artificial heart which is as efficient as the heart which beats inside you and me. So science has still not advanced to a stage where we where we fully understand what god has made and how he has made and the intricacies of you know the the the things which he has created. So uh here the lord says when you and your friends put me inside a small box and said this is how god operates and this is the only way he operates. You are reducing me to such a small level and the lord says what you have done is wrong. You have not spoken the truth about me. So he says now offer sacrifices and repent. you know your your uh your job will be like the priest who will intercede on your behalf and then you must make those offerings and confess your sin and then you will be restored. So this entire book is about God saying that I am a God of justice even when you don't understand what is being done. I am a God who knows how to take care of the world and who knows how to control those who think that they know everything and I don't know breaking rules and breaking the law and oppressing people. I know how to control even such people. I know how to humble them and I will do it at the correct time is what the Lord is saying about his character in this book. So now after we have looked at this entire account, how would we apply it to our context? be New Testament Christians. This one psalm, you know, which the Lord brings to me again and again and that would be your Psalm 131 and I would just like to read it out to you. Psalm 131, you know, just basically has three verses. And so in these three verses, David, you know, is saying to the Lord, he says, "Oh Lord, my heart is not lifted up. My eyes are not raised too high. I do not occupy myself with things too great or too marvelous for me because those are the mistakes which you know Job makes right. Job tries to start analyzing things which he which are beyond his understanding. So David over here he says I will not behave like that. You know I will not uh lift up my heart too high beyond the things which I can understand. I will not raise my eyes too high and say who are you? What have you done? I will not do you know I will not behave in that manner because these are things which are too great and marvelous for me but rather this is the attitude which David chooses to adopt and we New Testament Christians sometimes when we are in a situation which we don't know how to explain this is the attitude that we should be having David says I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother soul is like the weaned child that is with me, you know. So here he's talking about a weaned child. That's basically a child who's no longer being fed with breast milk. That child is now, you know, moved on to solid food. So um uh of course the the weaning process today and the weaning process back then is very different. You know, at that time the child would continue to be fed on its mother's milk up to the age of three and then you know there would there would be more and more uh solid food and all of that. Uh but but the point is that a child who has not yet been weaned cries a lot. I mean if you have babies in your homes you know that for even the smallest thing they cry because their understanding is so limited. The smallest thing happens they think the world is ending and they cry and they cry but the world is not ending. Mommy has just gone to the next room. You know, as long as her face is over there and her voice is over there, right next to them, they're at peace. The minute she gets up and goes because they think the world is ending. But no, mother still loves you just as much as she did 5 minutes back. She still knows exactly where you are. She knows your situation. She knows your circumstances. She knows when the diaper needs to be changed. She knows it all. There's no need to shout and scream and cry like as if the world is ending because it is not. So a weaned child, a child who's know at least reached the age of three begins to understand these details. Oh, when mommy disappears, she's not disappeared forever. She's just gone to the next room. She's still there and she's fully aware of my circumstances. My mother knows how to take care. So he says, "Lord, I will not, you know, shout and scream like those babies, you know, which are unweened. And I will not you know lift my heart too high uh and or nor will I lift my eyes too you know with with with arrogance and question you. I will not deal with such things because my mind is too small to understand those things. I will be like a wean child. I'll calm and quiet when my when my heart rises up in in anxiety and anger and frustration. I will calm and quiet it and tell it my lord is in the next room. Don't worry. He knows exactly what you require. He has not gone off. The world is not ending. He's still there. It's just that you can't see him. Because there are times when you can feel the Lord's presence so beautifully. You can hear him so clearly and you're like that baby which is so happy. But the minute that voice stops and you can you can't feel his presence anymore, you you don't need to panic because the Lord is still there. It's just that you can't see him. You just can't feel him. But he's still there and he know and he still loves you exactly the same. Nothing has changed. You can be calm. So you calm and quiet your soul. Why? Because, oh Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forever more. For every occasion which you're ever going to face, you can continue to hope in the Lord because the Lord will never betray your trust. Okay? So rather than responding the way Job did in his time of panic, we should be like Psalm 131. You know, we should calm and quiet ourselves like a weaned child because the Lord is still there. The Lord has not gone away and he will provide. He will protect. Okay. So, uh that's the learning which we can take away at the end of this book of Job. So very quickly we'll get into the uh you know song of Solomon which is the other poetic book which we are covering today. Now uh we all have some general knowledge about the song of Solomon. Uh but uh many of the details which are debated over we you know we are many of us are not even aware of that there's so much complexity in this book. So um there are there are things which the scholars completely agree upon. Uh almost every scholar will agree that the Song of Solomon is talking about a healthy faithful marriage relationship where the husband and wife are devoted to each other, committed to each other. Uh so it's talking about loyalty and devotion and commitment uh in in the marriage relationship. Second, almost all scholars will agree that in uh in the time of the Israelites, they used this book to you know to reflect upon how God loves them in the same way with complete loyalty, complete commitment. Even when they were unfaithful, the Lord continued to stay faithful to them. So he was never disloyal to them. He was always com you know committed and faithful towards them. So the Israelites would take this song of Solomon as a reflection of how God loves them. So scholars agree about that as well. And most scholars will also agree that we can apply this book to the New Testament context in the sense we can think about this as Christ loving his bride, the church, because the church is the bride of Christ. So we can think about Christ's faithfulness towards the church. So all scholars will agree on these three points that the book of um the song of Solomon uh can can be applied in these three ways can be interpreted in these three ways. However, when it comes to the story line which is there in your Song of Solomon, oh, there's so much debate, so much controversy and people have different views about how this the story in this song should be interpreted. Um so, um let's look at a little bit about that so that you know we'll just have a knowledge regarding these matters. Uh so we see in the very first verse uh that it um yeah if someone can just read out uh Song of Solomon chapter 1 verse one what does it say >> the Song of Solomon >> that's it a song of Solomon which is Solomon's uh now I'm not sure which version that is uh but you know if you were to look in your um NKJV or area NIV it just basically says Solomon's Song of Songs. Okay, if you if you go to look in your Bible hub, Bible Hub is the free software, right? Which which is available in the internet. If you type Bible Hub in your Google search, it'll take you to Bible Hub and then you will have the actual wording in the Hebrew and the actual wording in the Greek. Uh so if you were to look at the actual Hebrew wording for Song of Solomon chapter 1 verse one, it literally reads like this, the Song of Songs of Solomon. Okay. The song of songs of Solomon. So we can understand this as uh as being as referring to Solomon who is writing a song about his personal life or you can understand it as a song which Solomon is writing about somebody else's life not his own life. So there are two ways you can interpret this title. It's a song by Solomon. That much is clear. But is he writing about his story, his personal life or is he talking about a couple another couple which is not you know where he's not involved he's not the one who's being referring to who who's being referred to so we can interpret it in two ways and uh let's look at Song of Solomon chapter 2 verse 16 where the woman the main you know the main character the bride she makes a statement about her bridegroom and this is what she says in chapter 2 verse 16 if you can read out that >> my beloved is mine and I am his >> very simple statement you know she's basically saying my beloved is mine so he does not belong to anyone else he is mine he's faithful to me he's loyal to me he's committed to me she she makes a statement and says my beloved is mine on the other hand we are aware that Solomon is a man who had 60 queens and 80 concubines and uh and whole bunch of uh you know um other it says in your Song of Solomon chapter 6 8-9 that yeah he had 60 queens 80 concubines and virgins without number so actually if if you know it's this this song is referring to Solomon's personal life this lady the bride should have actually said my beloved is mine and he also belongs to 60 queens and 80 concubines and a whole bunch of others okay so it would really not make any sense so which is You know, a lot of people suggest that maybe this story is written, but maybe he's not talking about himself because he was never faithful to one woman. On the other hand, it's probably talking about a couple. You know, he's writing, he's composing a song about a couple who were completely devoted to one another. Now, this is just a theory. Okay? So there are different theories which scholars have placed you know put forward regarding this particular book and that is one interpretation that he is not writing about himself because he was never faithful to one person but rather he's talking about a couple that were completely committed to one another. Uh let's look at so keeping this in mind let's look at some scriptures. Um who is this lady the main character who is being talked about here in this book. Um, if you can read out chapter 6 verse 13. Return, return, oh shamite, return, return that we may look upon you. Here we get to know that the the main character in the story is a lady who is a Schulamite. A Schulamite would basically be a person from the town of Shunim. Shunim is something is is a village which was located in northern Israel. So it looks like this particular character, this lady, the main character of this song is a woman from Shunm and so therefore she is called a Shoulamite. Okay, so that's basically why in the commentaries they will refer to her as the Shoulamite bride. Okay, let's look at the another main character in this song. Um that would be your song of songs. Uh chapter 1 verse 7. If you can read out chapter 1 verse 7. Tell me oh you whom I love where you feed your flock where you make it rest at noon. For why should I be as one who wils herself by the flocks of your companions? here this lady you know she's referring to this man as you whom I love and she asks him where do you feed your flock and she also talks about how there are flocks of his companions also somewhere nearby so she seems to be talking to a shepherd so this is the uh theory which some scholars offer that Solomon is not writing about himself in the song he's writing about a couple, a woman, you know, who uh uh was a schulamite and a shepherd who used to, you know, feed his flocks. And so they suggest that maybe this song is was written by uh Solomon in his old age, you know, when he comes to his senses after all his foolish living. That's when he writes the book of Proverbs, right? After having lived in all kinds of foolish ways, he finally understands what wisdom is. And you know he writes that book of proverbs and he says this is this is the way a fool acts and this is the way a wise person acts. So they suggest that in the same way he probably wrote this in his old age composed this song about what true love looks like what true commitment looks like. So the suggestion that is made is that maybe the song which he composed is about a schulamite woman and her uh shepherd beloved. Okay. So um if you were to look at your chapter one, you know, verse one is your title and then you have the next uh verses 2 to 4 where um if you were to again go to your Bible hub and look, it just basically says, "Draw me away." Okay, that's basically the word the wording in your original Hebrew where the bride is saying, "Draw me away." And um there are different translations which in you know which kind of translate this differently in your English. And so in some translations you get the impression that she's telling the her beloved you know draw me away and let's run and go to our room so that we can be together. That's one idea that you get from certain English translations. But then when you look at some other English translations, it's like as if she's trying to run away from him. Uh that would be uh I'll just read out a couple of them. The easyto read version. It says, "Take me with you. Let's run away. The king took me into his room." So she doesn't want to be with the king and she actually wants she's she's telling somebody come draw me away, take me away and let us run. So there are some translations which will you know NIV will go to the extent where it will use its own wording and it will say let the king bring me into his room but that's not the actual wording in your Bible hub where it just says draw me away is a separate sentence and uh the king has brought me to his chambers is a separate sentence and then you have the sentence about running in the middle. So NKJV tries to stay you know because NKGV is a word to word translation it tries to stay true to that. So in your verse four you have draw me away and then in your verse six it talks about you know uh running uh we will run after you. Um and then uh in in the next phrase it just says the king has brought me into his chambers. So again according to this theory which is suggested you know this woman was probably someone who used to work in the vineyards of Solomon. So when she was working in the vineyards of Solomon and she talks about how how how her skin is dark know because she has been working outdoors in the vineyard and so they suggest that m while she was working in the vineyards maybe Solomon saw her and he wanted her to become one of his concubines and so he's he she's brought to the chambers to the royal palace you know where the concubines are trained to um you know and and they're given this beauty treatments and all of that so that they can they can become one of the king's concubines. So that's a suggestion which is made and this woman right from the beginning of chapter one she's longing for her shepherd beloved and she doesn't want to be with a king. So that's the interpretation that they give the verses you know which are being mentioned uh in these chapters. So if you go a little lower in your chapter 1 and if you were to look at chapters 12 and verses 12 and 13, chapter 1:es 12 and 13, it says, "While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance. My beloved is to me a sache of myrr resting between my breasts." So here she says, "The king is sitting at a stable, but where is my heart? Where is my perfume? My perfume is going to the one who is my beloved. She's referring to him being in her heart, you know. Uh so she says my beloved is to me a sache of my resting between my breasts. So she's saying the king is at the table but the one whom I genuinely love, he is here in my heart. So that again is an interpretation which the people who believe in the shepherd theory, they present it from that angle. So um as we are you know mainly familiar with the general interpretation of this being Solomon uh and uh the bride being a scholamite. Let's look at this other interpretation the shepherd interpretation and see whether it makes any kind of sense or not. And the reason that we are trying to do this is because this book of the Bible is supposed to be reflecting God's love towards us. Now no one would really ever want to think that God's love is like the love of Solomon who was so fickle in his ways. Every other day he would just go and marry in one more uh princess from some other country. So we would it would be good for us to just at least look at this interpretation at the end of the class. You don't have to accept this theory but at least let's you know you can bear with me and listen to my explanation of what I have learned about this shepherd theory. So we will you know if you were to look at it from this angle you can divide the song of Solomon into eight main portions. Okay that would be the structure. So verse one chapter 1 verse one is your title and then uh chapter 1 verse 2 all the way up to chapter 2 verse 7 is basically where she is longing for her beloved. Okay, she's over there in the king's chambers, but her heart is, you know, reaching out to the one that she loves. She remembers him. She remembers how she asked him, "Where do you feed your flocks?" So, she's, you know, she keeps longing for him. Um, so all that would be in your uh second main section, chapter 1 verse 2 all the way up to chapter 2 verse 7 where she is longing for her beloved shepherd. And then the third section would be chapter 2:8 up to chapter 3 verse 5. Chapter 2:8 up to chapter 3:5 where you know u she says look he's coming you know she talks about how her beloved is coming leaping over the mountains. There's a lot of poetic language used over here. So we obviously don't uh take poetry literally you know we understand that it is symbolic language which is being used. So in your um chapter 2 8 to 10 she talks about how he is coming. She says listen my beloved look here he comes leaping across the mountains. And then in your verse 9, chapter 2:9, she says, "Look, there he stands behind our wall, uh, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice." So it's like as if he has come to, you know, collect her. He has come there to take her and he speaks to her. And this is what he says in your chapter 2:10. Uh, my beloved spoke and said to me, "Arise my darling, my beautiful one. Come with me." So he's offering and he's saying, "Come, come with me. you don't have to be here anymore. You can come back with me. And um she does not go with him. And then it says in the chapter 3 verse 1, she says, "All night long on my bed, I looked for the one my heart loves. I looked for him but did not find him. I will get up now and go about the city through its streets and squares. I will search for the one my heart loves. So I looked for him but did not find him." And then she asks the watchman, "Where is he?" You know, because now she wants to somehow find him. And then in your verse 4, chapter 3:4, she says, "Uh, I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother's house, to the room of the one who conceived me." So from these verses we get the impression that he has come to collect her. First she know she does not go, but afterward she changes her mind. she pursues him and so now they have returned back to the uh to her uh village home because she says I brought him to my mother's house to the room of the one who conceived me. Okay. Now this is all the interpretation given by those who support the shepherd theory. There are some who will say this is just a dream. It didn't really happen. While she was lying down she dreamt that she was searching for her uh beloved. But I do not know why she would be searching for her beloved when she's actually sitting in Solomon's palace. If Solomon is the beloved. Okay. So all this searching is probably because he's not the one that she wants. There's someone else that she wants. Um so that would be a second main section where she where he comes and he takes her back. They both go back to her home village. That would be chapter 28 up to chapter 3 verse 5. And then you come to the third main section which will be your chapter 3 6-11. So now Solomon comes in all of his splendor with his chariots to take her back. So he wants to show how great he is, how wonderful he is, how glorious he is, you know, in the hope that she'll be impressed and she'll be willing to go back to the palace along with him. So in your chapter 3 6 to 11, you have the details. Uh if you could maybe read out chapter 3 just uh just the verses 6 and 7. It talks about Solomon coming with his chariot. Uh chapter 3 verses 6 and 7. Who is this coming out of the wilderness >> like pillars of smoke perfumed with myrr and frankincen with all the merchants fragrant powders. Behold it is Solomon's couch with 60 valiant men around it. Okay. So in the next few verses it describes about how great he is, how glorious he is and all those details are given. But then when we move into chapter 4 um again you know we are still sticking with the shepherd theory. So under the shepherd theory chapter 4 verse 1 up to chapter 5 verse1 will be the fourth uh will be the fifth the fifth main section. Okay. From chapter 4 verse 1 up to chapter 5 verse1 we get to know that she chooses not to go back with Solomon but instead she marries her beloved shepherd. So 41 to 51 it talks about their uh you know their their uh wedding ceremony and their wedding night together. So that will be 41 to 51. And then there's a conflict which enters into their relationship. That would be your chapter 5 2-8. So the sixth main section that we are stepping into would be chapter 5 vers 2 to8 where there seems to be some kind of a conflict. It is presented in poetic language. So we don't take it literally but it's like as if he's reaching out to her but she does not respond. And because she does not respond he walks away. And after he walks away, she feels bad and she again, you know, pursues him. She goes searching for him. So it it may not have literally happened. Uh but in poetic language, they're uh you know, the writer is talking about a separation, a temporary separation which happens between them because she refuses to respond when he reaches out to her. So the sixth main section would be chapter 5:es 2-8. and then they are reunited. Um yes, >> the man mentioned here is it King Solomon or the shepherd? >> So uh if we are following the shepherd theory, he comes in chapter 3 6-11 in all of his splendor. But then once you move into chapter 4 verse1 up to chapter 5 verse1 if you're going with the shepherd interpretation which some scholars follow she has not married because it's discussing their actual marriage in in your 41 to 51. So if you're going with the shepherd theory you would say that she has married the shepherd you would not say that she has married Solomon. So depending on which scholar is doing the interpretation you would either say that she has married Solomon or you would say that she has married the shepherd. But this it's actually talking about their her marriage to one of them 41 to 51. So when the conflict takes place in your chapter 5:es 2 to8 it's with her husband with her bridegroom uh that the conflict takes place and it's presented in poetic language and then at the end of that they are once again reunited and then in your ch then then you move into your next main section uh the seventh section that will be 5 verse 9 all the way up to 8 verse4 where they are you know praising one another and expressing great delight in each other. Um he refers to her as having goat what hair like a goat and he talks about her having teeth like sheep uh which all sounds very horrible because I'm sure no woman in uh in 2026 wants to have hair like go go goat. So we should not take these things literally. He's talking about the thick hair which a goat has and all women do like to have thick hair. Uh so he's referring to that and when he talks about her teeth being like the sheep he's talking about you know those white snow white sheep you know which are the use which are going in a in a in a single row he's talking about that. So it's all poetic language being used to talk about how white her teeth are and how thick her hair is. So we don't do literal interpretation of poetry ever. Okay. So uh so your seventh main section is them praising each other and delighting in each other. That would be your chapter 5 verse 9 all the way up to chapter 8 verse 4. And then you have a conclusion. We will look at the conclusion in greater detail a little later. That would be your chapter 8 5-4. The last 8th section the conclusion. Chapter 8 5-4. Okay. So uh we we'll look at that conclusion uh because again you you know you have Solomon mentioned and there are some statements which she makes about him. Uh so we will look at that but three times in this song there's a sentence which she speaks to the daughters of Jerusalem. Okay they are like the audience watching the relationship of this couple. So she she kind of addresses them now and then and you know they they they they pass comments about how wonderful this couple is and and they ask her questions and all of that. So the main characters are the uh Schulamite bride and her beloved and the daughters of Jerusalem are like an audience who are watching this and praising and commenting and asking questions. So three times there's something which she says to these daughters of Jerusalem uh in your um chapter 2:7 and then again at in chapter 3:5 and then again in chapter 8 verse 4. All these three times she says to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you or I instruct you or I plead with you." I mean depending on how you want to translate that. If someone could read out uh one of those verses, they're almost the same wording. Um maybe we can choose Song of Solomon chapter 2:7. So what is she charging them with? What is she instructing them? What is she appealing to them to do? Song of Solomon 2:7. I charge you, oh daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazels or by the dose of the field, do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases. Uh yeah. So basically she's saying do not uh stir up or arouse or awaken love until it so desires. Three times she repeats this in this entire song. So what is the point that she's making? Why is she saying do not awaken or stir up love until it so desires? You know the the uh the the ERV the easyto read version puts it in very simple English. Uh this is what it says. Women of Jerusalem, promise me, don't awaken love. Don't arouse love until I am ready. Very simple English. Okay. So when we when we read it in the NIV, NKJV, we may not catch what she's saying, but she repeats this three times. It's very important to her that these women of Jerusalem, that these daughters of Jerusalem catch what she's saying. She's telling them, don't awaken love. Don't arouse love until you are ready for it. Uh and now you have you know children in our generation who are in the first standard and they have boyfriends and girlfriends. I mean it makes no sense right? They are definitely not preparing for marriage because in in in grade one you're not in any condition to get married or earn your livelihood. Uh so she's making the point over here. Don't allow your heart to get stirred up with love until the time is right until you are ready and then allow your heart to be freed. Let it open up and give yourself to someone. So she's saying do it with commitment, do it with wisdom. So three times she instructs these daughters because you know she's going through this whole experience where where Solomon has taken her to the to his uh um concubine chambers and she's longing for someone else and then later on she has this she has a conflict with her new husband. All of this is happening. So the advice she gives again and again is do not awaken love. Do not arouse love until you are ready for it. And uh so there's this you know expression which people use in our modern times. They say oh I just fell in love. It's they're just talking about attraction. Okay. You just talked to someone for about maybe half an hour and now you have fallen in love. But at that point it's just this interest which you have developed. Now you can make a choice after you have developed that interest. Are you going to continue arousing and awakening that love or will you choose to step back and say this is not the right time and this is not the right way. Let me examine this prayerfully and ask the Lord, is this person for me? You know, and then make a commitment emotionally because people who make emotional commitments before they know what the Lord's will is, they get tied into that relationship. They, you know, they talk about soul ties and all of that and all of that emotional mess. It happens because you made a conscious choice to arouse love. See, you will not know whom you're going to meet in that day. So yes, when you meet that per person, you'll become very interested and you you'll say that I have fallen in love. But whether you choose to continue staying in love or not is a conscious choice. Your heart is yours. You can decide whether to step back and cool things down or to move forward and pursue something without even knowing whether it's God's will for you. The choice is entirely yours. You can tie yourself up in that relationship or you can take a step back and not arouse love, not awaken love until you are ready until the Lord gives the green signal. The choice is entirely yours. So you can't use the you know excuse and say, "Oh, I just fell. I couldn't help it." You can help it. The choice is yours to make. No one can force you to continue staying interested. So you know we can always withdraw. Um so we can always take a step back and pray about it and then decide whether you should be awakening love or not. So we see this very important piece of advice being given by this lady who has gone through this process of relationships and has understood this you know uh this important truth. Um so uh let's now look at this conclusion where there are three main things which are brought about you know that entire you know song has been written talking about love about commitment and all of that at the end of it in the conclusion this is what Solomon wants to you know leave with us three main points and we don't have much time uh so let's you know quickly look at them the first is the importance of total commitment because over here you know in uh chapter 8 verse 6 this is how love is described and this is one of the more popular verses we know which people are familiar with uh song of Solomon chapter 8 verse 6 if you can read out >> here chapter 8 is not that difficult to find and time is running >> me place me like a seal over your heart like a seal on your arm For love is as strong as death. It's jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire like a mighty flame. >> The thing about love is that it is strong. It is fierce, you know. It's like a mighty flame which can't just be put out with one small, you know, small glass of water. It's something which burns, which is which is fierce. It's something very possessive. So here she's saying I expect you my beloved to always show me that kind of a love. I don't want you to have a kind of love you know which can be put out by the first glass of water with the you know with the first hardship which comes along. Your love towards me should continue to burn like a mighty flame. That's the demand that she's making from her beloved. And so she says to him, "Place me like a seal over your heart and also like a seal over your arm." The heart over here represents the emotions and the arm represents the actions. So in your emotions, I should be the first priority for you. And in your actions, my interest should be your first priority. So she's saying in seal me in your heart and also seal me on your arm where your commitment will be towards me and you know where you will not be chasing other things you know chasing money or you know chasing your promotions but rather you your commitment will be towards me towards my interests is the demand that she makes over here. Why? Because love is a strong thing. So what she feels is very passionate. She's very possessive about her beloved and she in fact declares and says my beloved is mine. So she expects him to be showing that kind of a commitment. So in a marriage the Lord expects people to be committed to one another because people get married and once they married they're like okay fine marriage is finished that one basic requirement is done. now let me pursue my career and they spend day and night in the office and they have even forgotten what their spouse looks like and uh then they wonder oh why is my marriage not working it makes no sense right so uh here she's saying place me like a seal over your heart and also over your arm that commitment needs to continue even after marriage really you know important thing that she points out that is in verses 8 to 10 she talks about when she was young, you know, and her brothers were watching over her, protecting her. And, you know, at that time, uh, she was not even a woman, you know, physically she was still a child. And so, at that time, they protect her and they guard her purity. So, they say, this is basically what the brothers say about her in verse 9. They say, "If she is a wall, we will build towers of silver on her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar." Basically, it's poetic language saying, "We will protect her. We will guard her. We will see to it that her purity is not, you know, contaminated or corrupted in any way." And then she declares in um in the next verse saying, "Look, you know, now I'm a grown woman and I have come kept myself pure and now I have given myself to my beloved." So the second main point which Solomon makes in the conclusion is the importance of keeping and preserving your purity until you're fully grown until you're ready and then giving yourself with total commitment to the one who is your beloved the one whom God has appointed as your beloved. So the second main point is on on the importance of purity and maintaining yourself. And then the the third thing is we know there are sentences which she addresses directly to Solomon. That would be your verses 11 and 12. If someone could quickly read out that for us >> Paul Hammon he released the vineard to the keepers. Everyone was to bring for its fruit a thousand silver coins. My own vineyard is before me. You, oh Solomon, may have a thousand and those who tend its fruits 200. So here at the end of the entire song, this lady says to Solomon, you know, you are a rich man. I mean, you're a king and uh he's supposed to have this h you know, have had this vineyard in Bal Harmon, which was this large uh vineyard where he was earning how much he was earning a,000 shekels of silver from its fruit. So he would he basically had leased out this huge orchard to somebody and then you know the some of the profits would go to him and the rest you know they would uh they would use for themselves. So basically he has made a lot of money out of that vineyard. But she says as for me my vineyard is mine to give. I will choose whom I will give it to. So she says to Solomon you can keep your 200 what's it? Yeah you can keep your 200. Uh no, you can keep your thousand shekels and the people who are running the that Bal Harmon vineyard they can keep their uh 200 but as for me me you know she refers to herself as a vineyard and she says this vineyard this body that is up to me to give to whom I want to so basically that's like a declaration at the end of the entire song that she has you know made a commitment that she cannot be bought off by money or glory she didn't want those things she wanted to stay loyal to her shepherd beloved even though he does not have any riches or any glory or anything of that kind. Okay. So, uh this would be your um uh shepherd interpretation of this particular book. Uh so we can choose to either continue going with our you know usual interpretation of this being Solomon or we can know consider this new theory which has been it's not new actually it's been there for many many years. Scholars have been proposing it for many many years. uh but for you it may be in you. So for me personally the only reason I I preferred the the thing um this shepherd theory is because Jason Derushi you know he's one of it's one is one scholar who's an evangelical scholar very well respected and a man who has a deep love for the kingdom of god uh for the promises you know messianic promises which are being fulfilled in our new testament times he's very committed to those things whenever he preaches he doesn't just give you a lecture on the old testament He talks about how the Messiah is discussed in the Old Testament and he brings out those truths. So he believes in the shepherd theory. He says uh how can we compare uh the love of God to the love of Solomon who refused to stay faithful uh to the you know to the to any one woman in his life. So uh that's the reason why I prefer the shepherd theory. uh but of course each of us has a right to accept our own interpretations regarding this. And so at the end of it all uh this is what we see in chapter 7 verse 10. You know the lady very confidently says I belong to my beloved and his desire is for me. His desire is not for all the other women. His desire is for me. you know that's the you know um confidence with which she declares about the exclusive relationship that she has with her beloved where he does not go to others but he stays true to her. Uh so this is just one brief outlook at this book. Um and um so any questions at all? Nothing posted here. Any question? Yes. Go ahead. Uh okay we have one question here. We'll handle that and then we'll come to you. Definitely. Yeah. Go ahead. Go ahead. >> Actually, there are plenty of questions. Ma'am, you we have we actually have no time. Just one and the rest of them you can put them in the Google stream page. I will answer every question which is put in the Google stream page. Yes. Go ahead. Uh so does Job know that it is uh it is uh coming from God that means the adversity whether it is coming from God or not and that he was so confident about it confident about >> he was so confident one I mean even if we think about our own lives adversity is coming from God or it's coming from the devil in that sense. Yeah. Yeah. Uh so throughout he keeps blaming God. How many when he's going through that patch of anger and challenging God, he always refers to God as the one who has brought this upon him. So in his mind, it was the Lord who did this and because after all it's the Lord who gives permission, you know, for these things. Put that question in the Google stream page. I can give you a better answer, a more detailed answer with verses because uh we have we are totally out of time. There was an online question. Quickly, if you could unmute and go ahead, >> repeat the third point. Yes. The conclusion. The third point you said, can you just tell me what is the heading of that? Like you said, the first one was importance of total commitment. The second was importance of keeping yourself pure in marriage and then being totally committed. >> The third was regarding her rejection of wealth and riches. She rejects Solomon and all of his wealth and riches because um in an earlier verse which I did not write down over here it says you know love cannot be bought with all the with all the treasures of the world just a few verses earlier I did not put that down in my so that's the third point where love is more important than all the wealth and the riches and it just cannot be purchased she says my vineyard is mine to give to whom I wish to give it to that was the third point all right uh yeah your question please put that in the stream page. You have a question. U yeah, can I ask now or like on next week? >> What is the question? >> What's my question? Okay. like in chapter uh in the songs of Solomon in chapter five uh the beloved describe about his bride >> and there is like turn your eyes from me I either like it's like that and in the verse >> like uh uh 6 chapter 6 verse 8 uh he describes that there are 60 queens and 80 concubines and whatever. So like if we go with this shepherd theory then uh >> for me personally I guess he is the Solomon only because when he is describing her his bride then he mentioned that uh there is other woman's true but you are the one. So this is what I stuck on that uh true there are scholars who will say he was treating her as more special than all the other wives that he had and all the other concupants that he had. But uh here in the in your Song of Solomon 7:10 she makes a statement and she says I belong to my beloved and his desire is for me. So she's kind of cancelelling out his desire for any other women. Uh so that would be the shepherd uh argument in support of the shepherd argument. But what you are saying is what some of the scholars say that he was esteeming her more than all the other women even though the other women were there. And one more thing uh like >> one more then I just ma'am no it's not a question it's just my opinion like David was a shepherd so maybe like he's she is imagining a personality of Solomon which is referring to that this person this uh person is belong to me only but there is one truth also that he has other women's too so maybe we can contemplate like that. >> So yes, there are scholars who will say that the kings of the Israel were referred to as shepherds of the people. So in that sense we can say that Solomon is the shepherd that she has been referring to throughout this entire psalm. But then again when we come back to our Song of Solomon 7:10 here she's declaring that her his desire is only for her. But we know that Solomon's desire was for a whole bunch of uh wives and concubines as well. Okay. So there are arguments both for and against. Uh so yes it it is what you what you believe is quite acceptable as an interpretation. But then when we get to heaven we can ask Solomon directly what was his real interpretation. Okay. So let's just quickly I know we are out of time but quickly let's close with a word of prayer because we must commit this into the Lord's hands. Lord we just thank you so much that your presence has been here through our two sessions. Thank you for the truths which you have spoken to our hearts and we pray oh Lord that you would help us now to walk in those truths. Enable us to pe be people who will not question you the way Job did for a little while but Lord we will calm and quiet our soul and just trust in you and continue to hope in you and hold on to you. And second Lord enable us to be people who will be committed in our physical relationships you know in our marriages. Uh so we will we pray that we will be committed in our uh earthly relationships and also oh Lord that we will be faithful in our commitment towards you. We pray that we will be people who will keep ourselves pure and holy because we wish to honor you and we also wish to honor the spouse to whom we will give ourselves one day in the future. Lord we pray that in all of these things you will help us to keep loyal and hold on to you. Thank you Lord in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Thank you for patiently waiting even though we were over time. Okay.