In last week’s lesson, focusing on Song of Solomon 1:2a, we discovered that our relationship with God needs to be the MOST important thing in our lives, to be pursued even above His cleansing Blood! Now let’s take a look at what Song of Solomon 1:2-3 have to teach us:
Song 1:2-3: “Kiss me – full on the mouth! Yes! For your love is . . . Headier than your aromatic oils.” (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
Your love is HEADIER than aromatic oils. Hum. What does THAT mean, and how can THAT help us in our relationship with God?
In order to thoroughly digest the full meaning of this verse, I first went to the Bible Commentary to see what it has to say about what aromatic oils meant to the Israeli culture:
“The ointments and oils used by the Israelites were generally composed of various ingredients. Olive oil was combined with sundry aromatics, chiefly foreign (1 Kings 10:10; Ezek 27:22), particularly spices, myrrh, and nard. Being costly, these ointments were a much-prized luxury (Amos 6:6). The ingredients, and often the prepared oils and resins ready for use, were imported from Phoenicia in small alabaster boxes, in which the delicious aroma was best preserved. The better kinds of ointments were so strong, and the different substances so perfectly amalgamated, that they have been known to retain their scent for centuries.” (BIBLIOGRAPHY: R. J. Forbes, Studies in Ancient Technology 3 (1955): 1-49; R. K. Harrison, Healing Herbs of the Bible (1966), pp. 49-54. (from The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary. Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (c) 1988.)).
In summary then, oils, especially aromatic oils, were imported and very costly; thus they would be considered to be a sign of wealth. Therefore, when the text says that love for god is headier than aromatic oils, it means that in order to have the kind of relationship with God that He longs for, you need to desire Him more than any amount of wealth on earth!
Okay. I can handle that. But does it go even deeper? Remember that oil is also commonly used in the Bible as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. In our day and age, there is much talk about receiving the Holy Spirit, being baptized by the Holy Spirit, praying in the Spirit, being slain in the Spirit, etc. But remember that love is BETTER than aromatic oils! In other words, God hopes you will desire to be with Him MORE that you desire the beautiful gifts that come from His Spirit.
To better understand this, let’s look at the relationship between a father and a son. A father desires to be with his son, to know him, to have a relationship with him. He wants it so much that he buys him a car. He gives the car to his son freely, but requests that they spend the evening together. Now, the son can simply take the car. But should he? Or should he spend the evening with his dad to show his appreciation for the car? Or should he spend the evening with good ol’ dad because he loves him and would have done so anyway, even without the car? Of course, any parent longs for their child’s motivation to be love, not the gift, and it’s the same with God. To fully appreciate how much God loves you, you need to spend time with Him with your only motivation being your desire to get to know Him more. Yes, you’ll receive the beautiful gifts of the Spirit anyway, but your motive should be the relationship, not the gift!
Enough to ponder for today. Please DO ponder this though, my friends. Ponder how must God desires for us to want to be with Him the way He wants to be with us. Ponder that OUR part in the relationship is reciprocating that desire! We need to WANT to be with Him more than we desire the gifts of the Spirit, even more than the cleansing blood!
Join us next Saturday for Lessons on Relationships From Solomon, Lesson 15, where we will look at the second aspect of our part in the relationship: We must see Him as our dearest friend!
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org .
(To access the entire “Lessons on Relationship From Solomon” mini-series, please click here.)