Thinking of his superlative character she compares him and says,
3″Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest
is my beloved among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.”
Her desires for further displays of his love to her,
“4 Let him lead me to the banquet hall,
and let his banner over me be love.”
Her inability to handle such displays of love on her own,
5 Strengthen me with raisins,
refresh me with apples,
for I am faint with love.
His help sustaining her in his presence.
6 His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.
Context
Imagine you are a single girl working hard and laboring everyday, unsatisfied trying to find purpose and meaning in life and desiring a husband who could fulfill are your desires of being loved. All you want is to feel loved and be happy yet all you get is hatred from your so called brothers, unhappy and in slave labor. You hear of a king with unmeasurable wisdom and loves God. The man of your dreams is king and he is single. Out of love to him you desire to submit to him and also want him to be your husband.
You meet the king the one you love and desire him to lead you closer to God. He agree’s and admires your beauty by calling you the “most beautiful of women”. You emotions peak at the thought. He was drawing you closer due to him manifesting his most beautiful, sweet and wonderful thoughts about you. He admires you and you admire him. You can’t keep your eyes off each other and its only just beginning.
You have to put yourself in her situation and at each step of the way wonder what is she feeling right now? What would it feel like to be her right now. The feeling with the thought is a true idea of love. To know love you have to sense it.
He takes you to the most beautiful garden in all the world and compares you to the most beautiful rose in that garden. You feel safe and happy around him and getting the rest your heart desired from under the noon day sun.
Oh how much he loves you and can’t keep his eyes off you and praises your inner and outer beauty, its all so good and you want even further displays of his love shown to you at the banquet hall.
What I would like you to see is the manner in which her love increases. First she is contemplating who his is and her love to her which leads to her desire to be shown greater acts of love and then he takes her to the banquet hall and manifests his love to her and others by having a banner over her with the word LOVE on it there.
So she thinks of who he is and his love to her 2:3, wants more of it 2:4 and gets it and is in his arms in 2:5. Her increased desire for greater manifestation of his love to her aroused him to display it. Similar to how Jesus will manifest who He is and His love to us in proportion to our ability and desire for It/Him.
Under his love and protection she aroused him to greater displays of his love to her. Due to his great love to her, both seen and delighted in, is what causes her to want greater manifestations of God’s love to her through her suitor to be experienced. At the banquet hall she thinks is a good place where two people who love each other display that love to everyone. So her desire is to be taken to the banquet hall and have his banner over her say in big bold letters to her and everyone “LOVE.” Herein we get an idea of God for God is love.
Doctrine= Love is strong as death. 8:6 Its jealousy is severe as the grave, unquenchable like an eternal flame of love in the heart, and can’t be bought. The unquenchableness of their love is seen here. It only grows. It got more and more intimate from Song 1:2 till now and will only get more and more intimate until the two are practically one in every way.
The strength and depth of her love is in the words “Let him take me to the banquet hall and let his banner over me be love” How badly does she want him to do this? If you have not known and sensed God’s love for you in Christ for quite some time then you may be panting for God and greeter manifestations of his love like a dehydrated deer desires water brooks.
General Thoughts
Where does love happen? Love happens under the apple tree.
In what context does love happen? Here it happens in the context of her desiring him to publicly display his love to her and others by taking her to a place where people get a good idea of what love is by watching what love does. Her lover takes her to the banquet hall and but a banner over her that proclaimed God’s love to her through him.
Here you have a location. The banquet hall.
Here you have what is happening. The suitor is displaying his love to the one he loves by placing a banner over her that says LOVE.
You can only imagine her heightened emotions as she was taken into the banquet hall and saw a banner over her that said LOVE.
She was outside the banquet hall and desired to be taken there by him. He was drawing her closer by his love to her.
You need two lovers. Love happens in a marriage between a wise husband and a bride who fears the Lord.
Love is happening or growing in the union and communion of two bodies and two souls (mind, will, emotion)
The banquet hall is a place where love happens. She aroused him and he took her to the banquet hall.
Her desire form him/Him to take her to the banquet hall aroused his love to her. Her desire to be taken there, where love happens or is on display, by him aroused his love to her.
Like the one being aroused is drawn closer due to her desire to have love on display by a declaration of his love to her by way of a banner over her that said LOVE.
Love happens at the banquet hall. What do I mean by love happens. Love happens under the apple tree. Song 8:5 “Under the apple tree” in 8:5 is a phrase meaning where love happens. There is no literal apple tree in Song 8:5.
Since her love to him was unquenchable. Her desire for further displays of his love to her competed her to express her hearts desire in a specific way in which he could show her love to her so that she could experience his love that was more delightful than wine in a greater way than before.
Her growing love for him is seen in the fact that she is asking for a greater display of love. A display of love in the banquet hall is greater than any other display so far. The degree of closeness and nearness would reach its peak thus far in the relationship when he satisfies her desire by taking her to the banquet hall and putting a banner over her that says LOVE.
Application for the believer
When Jesus showed up He said a Greater than Solomon is here. Solomon was a Messiah of Israel and Jesus is saying a Greater and wiser Messiah is here, referring to Himself. Jesus Christ is a Greater Lover than Solomon. Jesus is God and God is Love. Yet the Love of Christ is Greater than Solomon’s love to his bride.
Get an idea of the Messiah’s love in the Song and think of how much greater The True Messiah’s love is for His Bride. Think of the feeling she had when contemplating the superlative character of who he was and the love he had shown her thus far which caused her to compare him to matchless apples tree among the tree’s of the forrest. And the fruit of his love to her as a king, shepherd and suitor was sweet. Feeling safe next to him was the most delightful experience better than wine.
How much more delightful is it to think of who Jesus is and His Love to us. Experiencing the fruit of His love to us is exceedingly better than and more delightful than any other experience on earth. Just as she thought of her suitor and his love to her so also we should contemplate our Heavenly Suitor’s Love for us and then we will have much greater desire than she had to experience greater manifestations of Christ’s love to us and then He will in due time shed the Love of God abroad in our hearts through our knowledge of God and His Love and Grace to us in Christ!
You want your love to Christ to increase!!! Think often of who Jesus is and His love to you which will stir up the flame in your heart to desire more!! See all your sin on Him at the cross. See the Love. See the Love of God in sending the Son. See the love of Jesus in obeying God at the cross. See the love of God to the birds and the grass of the field. See the love of God in a husband loving his wife as Christ loved the Church. See the love of God in giving us Scripture to guide us…. and on and on His Love Endures Forever!!
You know I must say that we as Christians seem to be more hungry for the world and comfort than for greater manifestations of the love of God. Lord show us your love over and over again in greater in greater manifestations for you love is more delightful than wine.
Application for courting and married
To those who are courting, are you at the phase where making it known to everyone that he loves you would be appropriate? Like maybe posting it on facebook. Or desiring for it to be clear to you and all your friends and family that he loves you. You want it announced publicly that the one you love loves you!
To this who are married, remember when you were dating and things were transitioning into making the relationship more public like when he met her parents and let them know his intentions. Here is love, get an idea of it. One might say they are getting more serious. Deepening the relationship. She wants him to show an out manifestation of his inward feelings of her to everyone. Husband is it clear to everyone that you love your wife. Can other see your love to your wife. She wants to be loved by you and for everyone to know and see your love for her. In seeing your love for her we get to have some idea of love. It is one of the most delightful experiences to get a clearer idea of God’s love to us through a mediator.
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