Ken Boa Reflections Ministries

Dr. Ken Boa: Today, we have a one-off on the Song of Solomon. And you weren't counting on that, were you? That's an interesting book. Fascinating book, but I described this beautiful homage to the love that germinates and blossoms between a man and a woman. It stood out among the 1,005 songs that were written by Solomon, according to 1st Kings 4:32, as the Song of Songs, the supreme song.

A literary masterpiece of oriental symbolism, filled with layered metaphors and rich imagery that eulogizes the glories of romantic love. So I'm going to be talking about that in our session today, and it's an absolutely incredible book in many respects to see. So I'm going to be pulling out some themes here, and using, I have a thing I did called *Talk Through the Bible* for every book of the Bible, and we have these visual presentations for all of them, plus many others in addition to the 66 books of the Bible.

But this is just a little bit of an introduction to the book, and it's one way of just kind of tying the threads together. It's a complex book in many ways. It's hard to organize and we'll see what we can do. So what we have is a love song written by Solomon. It's rich in metaphors and oriental imagery. And historically, it depicts the wooing and the wedding of a shepherdess by King Solomon, and as well as the joys and the heartaches of wedded love. So it's a very intriguing thing.

And how could how do we look at this? Allegorically, it clearly pictures Israel as God's espoused bride, and Hosea 2 makes that very clear that you were a bride and you have been unfaithful to me. But it's the imagery of that lover and the beloved. It applies, it can be applied to the church as the bride of Christ. Though the church, of course, was a revelation that was not made until the New Testament. It was a mystery in the Old Testament. But nevertheless, there's application because clearly we are called the bride of Christ. So you can draw certain analogies from this in that respect.

So spiritual life finds its highest fulfillment in the love of God for his people and of Christ for his church. And so the arrangement of this is like a series of scenes in a drama, and there are three main speakers. There's the bride who's called the Shulamite one time. And then there's the King Solomon, and then there's a chorus consisting of the daughters of Jerusalem. So it's a dramatic kind of a movement there, a dialoger kind of an interchange that they have.

Now the title of this book is Shira Hashirim, the Song of Songs. And this is a superlative, and it really means Solomon's most exquisite song. And so the Greek title, Asmaton, and the Latin Canticum Canticorum also they also mean Song of Songs, the superlative, or the best songs. Sometimes called Canticles from the Latin title.

And because it's mentioned Solomon is mentioned in chapter 1, verse 1, it's known as the Song of Solomon. But there are challenges to the authorship that we can have to consider, and the Solomonic authorship really was rejected by many critics who claimed it was a later collection of songs. And many take it chapter 1, verse 1, to mean, which is about or concerning Solomon, rather than by him.

But the internal evidence of the book though is actually pretty strong because it favors I think the traditional picture that Solomon is its author. Solomon's specifically mentioned seven times, and he's identified as the groom. And there's evidence of royal luxury and rich imported goods, which was consistent with his time, and as well it refers to his harem. By this time he had 60 queens and 80 concubines. The harem at the fullest amount. Anyone remember what it was?

Guest (Male): Yeah.

Dr. Ken Boa: You had 700 queens and 300 concubines or porcupines. You see, so you have these it's just do the math, and the management of all that is just an absurdity, an absolute absurdity. And so I won't even process that with you there.

Guest (Male): Yeah.

Dr. Ken Boa: Wear a man out. So, but 1st Kings 4:32 tells us that Solomon composed 1,005 songs. And had intimate knowledge, of course, we know of the plant and animal world. He spoke eloquently about the natural world, as well as 21 plant and 15 animal species are referenced in this book alone. So it cites geographical locations as well in the north and in the south, which would suggest that they were still one kingdom during the United Empire, rather than divided later on.

So chapter 6, verse 4, for example, mentions both Tirzah and Jerusalem, the northern and southern capitals after Solomon's time. Samaria became the northern capital. And because of the poetic imagery, this it uses 49 words that are used nowhere else in scripture. So there's a unique thing to this. So if I turn my attention to it today, it was written primarily from the point of view of the Shulamite. But Solomon was its author, I think written early in his reign, around 965 BC.

But still, you're looking here at literature that's almost 3,000 years old. It's quite incredible to think about the sophistication of this material of that period from that period of time. And it's rather unique in many respects as well. And so it may be that so but how could it extol the Shulamite as if she was his only bride? My suspicion is that his relationship with the Shulamite was the only pure romance he ever experienced. That's a very real possibility. In spite of all these women and so forth, the bulk of them, as you know, were political arrangements. But it's significant that the Shulamite was a vineyard keeper of no great means.

But we go on from there, and the book was written before Solomon plunged into gross immorality and idolatry. For it was so when Solomon was old that his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, which is a sad thing. This wisest of men would become a fool in his older ages. Again, his mindset was if a little is good, more is better, and too much is just right. That was his whole philosophy when it came to money, when it came to sex, when it came to power. A little was not good enough, he had to go through everything, the whole nine yards.

And so it's an intriguing thing though, this was I think written before that period of time. But the Shulamite addresses the King as my beloved, and the King addresses his wife as my love, and the daughters of Jerusalem I think were probably attendants to the Shulamite. And so considering the setting, the term Shulamite appears only once in 6:13. And it may be derived from the town of Shunem, and in the tribal area of Issachar. And the song refers though to 15 geographical references from Lebanon in the north to Egypt in the south.

So it's a rich book and has rich imagery and complexities to it. So to give you a bit of a survey of this book, Song of Songs, the question about what we're looking at here is these metaphors, and so it's the Song of Songs that's the most beautiful elegy of love that stood out among them. Great literary value and use of metaphor, oriental imagery, and extols the purity and the beauty and the satisfaction of love. So it's got a unique place in scripture in that respect.

It never it's never crass, but often intimate, as it explores the dimensions of the relationship between two lovers, attraction, desire, companionship, pleasure, union, separation, faithfulness, and praise. Like Ecclesiastes, this little book is not easily outlined, and various schemes can be used. But it abounds with sudden changes of speakers, and they're not identified. So when you walk your way through this, you have to sort it out and do your best to figure out what the structure is in this respect.

And there are two major components that we have in this talk through of Solomon. The first part is the beginning of love, and this chapter is 1 through 5:1. And then the second part is the broadening of love. So there's a development in this in this scene. So in the beginning of love, King Solomon has a vineyard in the country of the Shulamite. And the Shulamite has to work in the vineyard with her brothers.

When Solomon visits the area, he wins her heart, and he eventually takes her to his palace in Jerusalem as his bride. So that's the background undergoing. She's tanned from hours of work outside in the vineyard, but she's fairest among women. It mentioned that. The song is arranged like scenes in a one-act drama. So you got these three main speakers again, the bride, the King, and the chorus. And so I there's ways of arranging it, which I have.

But Solomon, chapters 1 to 3, give a series of recollections of the courtship. The bride's longing for affection at the palace before the visit. So let me just give you a little bit of a sense of what that looks like. So she's in the first part of it then. This longing for affection at the palace before the wedding in 1:2 to 8. May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine. Your oils have a pleasing fragrance. Your name is like purified oil, therefore the maidens love me. So there's all this imagery of extolling your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you.

So she's tanned, black but comely. The idea that she's working out was out in the fields. The sun has burned me. My mother's sons were angry with me. But so it's talking about this this longing for affection. And then the expressions of the mutual love that's found in verse 9 in this banqueting hall. And so in verse 9 and following, to you, my darling, you're like my mare among the chariots of Pharaoh. And so all these images that are used, your neck with your cheeks are lovely with ornaments and so forth.

And so my beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms. How beautiful you are. All these images. How handsome you are. So you these this this return these refrains that go on back and forth between the two of them continue on in chapter 2. So they have the bride in chapter 2. They have the imagery here of I'm a lily among the thorns. My my beloved among the young men. So all this imagery here is let his left hand be under my head and his right hand embrace me. So do not arouse or wake my love until she pleases.

So and then we see this this springtime visit of the King to the bride's home, in the country. So he's coming climbing on the mountains, leaping on the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. So he's coming to visit the bride's home in the country. And then you have this whole idea of the the dream that takes place. So he's he's coming along and we catch the foxes for us, the little foxes. Some of these very well-known images here. He pastures his flock among the lilies until the cool of the day when the shadows flee away.

Turn my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young like a young stag on the mountains of Bether. So then she has a troubled dream because in this context here, she has a dream of separation from her beloved. So on my bed night night after night, I sought him whom my soul loves. So this idea of longing is is poetically expressed. I sought him, but I did not find him. I must arise now and go about the city in the streets and in the squares. I will seek him whom I love, my soul loves. I sought him, didn't find him.

And so he's asking what's this this like this anxiety that that's taking place. And then we go on to the the expressions of mutual love in the banquet hall, and again, the ornate wedding procession from the bride's home to Jerusalem. So this takes place. What is coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all scented powders of the merchant. Behold, it is the traveling couch of Solomon. They had quite a quite a transportation here.

He's got all these people carrying him around, all these servants. It's like a cool traveling couch, very luxurious with pillows and everything in it. That's kind of a strange idea. 60 mighty men around it. If a little is good, remember, of the mighty men of Israel, all of them were wielders of the sword, expert in war, guarding against the terrors of the night. He's made for himself a sedan chair. You see, he's got posts of purple fabric, interior lovely fitted it out. I think I'm looking at a car or something like this. It's kind of a strange thing.

So you have this imagery here of his of his coming there. And then in chapter 4, what you have are these a superb chain of similes and metaphors in chapter 4. And her virginity is compared to a garden enclosed. And the garden is entered when the marriage is consummated. So the union is commended by God in 5:1. So, but if you go and listen to some of these this this imagery here, it's rather strange to our ears because frankly, these images taken very literally at all would be grotesque.

How you know, your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats. You know, your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes, which have come up from their washing, and all which bear twins. So I came across this thing. I had this many years ago, which is a hoot. So this is the Song of Solomon illustrated. You see.

Guest (Male): Yeah.

Dr. Ken Boa: Let me just get rid of this thing here. Okay, go away. This is fun. So, how beautiful you are. Your eyes are like doves. There's the doves there. You see. And it's grotesque though because your your nose is like the tower of Damascus, which faces toward the that doesn't sound like an attractive image to me for a nose being like a tower like this.

And then it describes your temples like a slice of pomegranate. So you got this pomegranate right there. And the hair is like these little goats. You see them all going down there. It's a very amusing illustration. And so your neck is like the tower of David built with rows of stones on which are hung 1,000 shields. That's not exactly attractive to me. But your lips drip honey. Honey and milk are under your tongue. So you have the honey under here.

And the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. Your naval is like a rounded goblet right down here. So the the whole strange thing here. Your your yeah, your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. So you got these fawns here. And then you've got the the the home the yeah, feet among the lilies. So it's all nutty. So it's but it's rather fascinating to me to see this.

So if you take this thing literally, you're in serious trouble. But it is very strange poetic imagery that's very outside of my ordinary custom of using this kind of metaphors. But there you have it. It is it is rich in imagery and allegories and so forth. So I came into my garden, my sister. So he's the garden. It was like a garden that was shut, but now in this there's the consummation of the marriage going into the garden.

And eating my honeycomb and my honey. So all these things are are images there. And so the union is seen. And then they have the broadening of love beginning in chapter 5. And so going back to our text here, you can see it's in the broadening of love. The beginning of it, it begins to be unified in love, and then the broadening of love takes place. There's some struggles, and there are some growth in that process as well.

So giving you this idea, sometime after the wedding, the Shulamite has a troubled dream in the palace while Solomon's away. And so we see that in chapter 5. Let me see where we are here. Yes. So, all these components here. I arose to open my hands. My hands drip with myrrh on the handles. I opened my but my beloved had turned away and had gone. So this is an idea of separation and of anxiety.

And he and the watchmen who made the rounds, I adjure you if you find my beloved, as to what you will tell him, I'm lovesick. So this admiration by the bride, my my beloved is dazzling and ruddy, outstanding among 10,000. So we have his her descriptions here. His locks are like clusters of dates, and black as raven and so forth. His eyes are like doves. And his hands are rods of gold, set with beryl.

So again, this imagery here of mutual delight in one another. So in chapter 6, we move to we can see we can move on to the imagery of the Shulamite begins to think of her country home, and she tries to persuade her beloved to return there with him. And so my beloved's and my beloved is mine. He who pastures his flock among the lilies. So, the imagery here here's more again, your teeth are like a flock of ewes. Again, not the kind of thing we would use. But there we have it.

And so then in the last in the seventh chapter, there's admiration by the bridegroom. And she's how beautiful your feet in the sandals. And so they it's all alternate thing back and forth with one another and these these imageries that we have. And so then he has and they speak in chapter 8, and the trophies the the the imagery here that she was a wall, and now it's her position to look outside out for her brothers, her sisters. Do not arouse my or wake my love until she pleases.

So the love is as strong as death. Jealousy is as severe as Sheol. Its flashes are like flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, nor will rivers overflow it. If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, it would be utterly despised. We have a little sister and she has no breast. So it's referring to her youth. And what shall we do for our sister in the day when she's spoken for her? She if she is a wall, we will build a battlement of silver. But if she is a door, we will barricade her with planks of cedar.

I was a wall. So the idea that she was she maintained her purity is the imagery here. So, Solomon had a vineyard and he entrusted his vineyard to caretakers. The 200 of those. So my companions are listening for your let me hear it. Hurry, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices. So it's a very very foreign kind of an image for us for us to try to embrace. I'm going to draw some make some applications and pull some things out for you.

But the topics though, include the idea of courtship and of wedding, the problem that you have, and the progress that takes place as well. There's the fostering of love, and then it's fulfillment. But then there's a lot of frustration that takes place as well. And then the the image of fidelity. And so it takes place in Israel during the time about about a one-year period of time in that sequence. So just let me just say a few words about the theme of and purpose of this book. Just give you a feel for it.

So the theme of the book first of all. The purpose of this book depends on the viewpoint that you take for its primary thrust. Is it fictional, allegorical, or historical? If it's fictional, some hold that this song is a fictional drama that portrays Solomon's courtship of and marriage to a poor but beautiful girl from the country. But the book gives every indication that this story actually did happen. If it's allegorical, in this view, the primary purpose of the song was to illustrate the truth of his love for his God's love for his people.

But it seems to me that the best way to see it is that of being historical. So going to that, I think it's it's historical. And what I mean by that is that you're dealing with an actual romance with this Shulamite woman. The various scenes in the book extol and exalt the joys of love and courtship and marriage, and teach that physical beauty and sexuality and marriage should not be despised as base or unspiritual. So it offers a proper perspective of human love and avoids the extremes of lust and of asceticism.

Only when sexuality was viewed in the wrong way, as something akin to evil, was an attempt made to allegorize the book. But really it's to see it as part of God's creation, with all its related desires and pleasures. It's reasonable that he would provide us with this guide to the this imagery here. So the the union of the two sexes really was the imagery of the positive endorsement of by God of marital love, all its physical and emotional beauty.

And this interpretation doesn't mean that the book has no spiritual applications or illustrations. But it certainly does, as I say, illustrate God's love for his people. And ultimately Israel, but then later on, by analogy, Christ and the church. So if I consider the key to the book, the obvious word would be love. And so you choose that as the book celebrates this theme. And then one or two key verses in this song. I am my beloved's and his desire is toward me.

Another key verse carrying the same theme is found in the eighth chapter. Many waters cannot quench love, nor can floods drown it. If a man would give all for love, the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised. And I think that as as far as this key chapter is concerned, the whole book is really pretty much of a unity. So there's no real key chapter. They all really depict the love of a married couple. So we have its contribution to the Bible, and it makes some interesting and unique contributions.

Again, it's a unit, rather than a collection of songs. It's a dramatic poem built on a dialogue between the same two characters and an occasional chorus throughout. There's a continuity of style, of imagery, of expression in this book. And he emphasized the intellect in Ecclesiastes, but the emotions clearly come out and dominate this song. So it brings out another dimension altogether.

The this book was one of the antilegomena, which means to be spoken against. Its inclusion in the canon of scripture was delayed because of questions over what what religious value does this book have? You see. And its use of the name of God only one time in chapter 8, verse 6. It has unusual subject matter, as we've seen. And also it's been its lack of quotations in the rest of scripture. It's normally has been traditionally been read at the feast of the Passover.

And then we go to how Christ is seen because whenever I do a book of the Bible, in the talk through the Bible, I always look at how Christ is seen in every book of the Bible. I actually did a little book called *Jesus in the Bible* once with Thomas Nelson. It went out of print, but looked at all 66 books and showed how every book you see Jesus embedded in that book in one way or another. It's quite intriguing. So, as we see this in the Old Testament, you have Israel regarded as the bride of Yahweh. And in the New Testament, the church is regarded as the bride of Christ.

The Song of Solomon illustrates the former and anticipates, you might say, the latter. And so something that was not revealed and not known later on. But there's an analogy that's true. In fact, it was used a lot, I should mention this, in the Middle Ages. The scribes and the the monks actually made many commentaries on the Song of Solomon. Why would they do that? These monks. 500 commentaries on the Song of Solomon by monks. Monastics. Why? Because it was bridal mysticism.

And the idea of the union of the soul with Christ was seen this was seen and taken allegorically to describe the mystical union of Christ and and us in Christ. So that's one of the reasons why it became bridal mysticism was a major theme at that particular time. So it's intriguing, isn't it how it how it all works together? At any rate, applications. I have a few for you just to kind of tie it together for you. One of the applications is what was interesting to me is the kiss.

So I'm just pulling out this this motif of kissing, which is let's look at the at that motif in the Old and the New Testament. It's intriguing. The first mention of a kiss in the Bible is found in Genesis when Isaac kissed and blessed Jacob, who deceived his father by opposing as his younger older brother Esau. You have Jacob kissing Rachel. Later in Genesis, we find Jacob giving a kiss to his future wife Rachel, as Rachel's father Laban greets and he greets Jacob with a kiss.

Esau having been estranged from his family, he greets Jacob with a kiss after a long separation. And then you have Joseph kissing Benjamin. This image of Joseph revealing his identity to his brothers, accompanied by kissing and weeping. And in Exodus, you find Moses greeting Aaron with a kiss, as well as bowing down and kissing his father-in-law. Here is a wonderful image of Naomi kissing Ruth. So she gives a heartsick goodbye a kiss to her two daughters-in-law.

In 1st Samuel, the prophet Samuel anoints and kisses Saul, declaring him King over Israel. And then the most famous in the Old Testament maybe, the idea of the relationship with David and Jonathan. And David kissed and wept with his dear friend Jonathan upon their forced departure. And he also kissed his son Absalom after two years of estrangement, after Absalom killed his brother, Amnon. There are other examples of kisses in the Old Testament as well.

And Proverbs describes the seductive kisses of an adulteress and warns against the deceitful kisses of an of an enemy. But this, of course, of all the scriptures in kisses in the Bible, is the most poignant of all. The most famous kiss is Judas's kiss of betrayal in the Bible. So it's like this intimacy and this this that distorted good that you have. And then you have Mary Magdalene, a famous image here in the New Testament.

There's the repentant Mary Magdalene, wedding Jesus' feet with her tears and kissing his feet. In the same scene, Jesus rebukes Simon the Pharisees. You gave me no kiss. But she since the time I came in has not ceased to kiss my feet. Certainly Jesus was accepting and encouraging of the kisses of others. And then another very rich and beautiful image is the kiss of the father to the prodigal son when he returned. And that that wonderful passage of scripture has five components that I cannot resist giving to you here because it's in Luke chapter 15.

And in Luke 15, in this remarkable scene, when the son, the the younger son goes ahead and he abandons his father, actually says, I wish you were dead. It's effectively what he's doing because I want my inheritance now. And the father goes ahead, goes along and does this, in spite of all, in spite of that. He allows him to have his own inheritance, lets him go off. He doesn't try to bail him out.

But what happens is he's he squanders it with loose living. And he reduces himself to the point where he's now feeding feeding unclean animals, feeding the pigs, and actually wanting to eat what he was giving them, the pods. He was starving. And then it tells us in verse 17, he came to his senses. An interesting image, isn't it? He was out of his mind. And when he came to his senses, what did he conclude? He said, I'd be better off being my father's hired man.

I'll get up and go to my father, and I'll say to him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired men. So he got up and came to his father. And verse 20 of Luke 15 is, I've shown you this before, the clearest picture of the love of God for you and me. If you want to know what the father heart of God is like, if you want to know what true fatherhood is like, here's the verse.

Five things it mentions here. When he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him. That's the first point. What does that mean? His father never bailed him out, but he was waiting for him every day. He was looking at him, looking for him, and in the distance when he finally came, he saw him in the distance. So think of how long it took for him to squander that wealth, and then he comes back. So the father's waiting for him. Number one.

Number two, it says, he felt compassion for him. Third, this is most startling, he ran. That's something not done in the ancient Near East. To gird up your loins like that and then to run after your son would be an absurdity. It's totally contrary. It would be reducing him, eliminating his dignity effectively. Countercultural. But so was so much was his love and his enthusiasm that he literally ran to him. And then it tells us that he embraced him, and then he kissed him.

The son, by the way, starts his little speech. I've sinned against heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer to be called your son. And what was he going to go on to say? Make me as one of your hired men. But he cut him off. The father said to the slaves, quickly bring the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet. Instead, a normal father's imagery that we would have would be he he'd see the son coming to him now. And his arms would be like this, to say, yeah, now you come back.

You see? You know, now you now you're out of money, and you need me. But instead of that, you have nothing of that sort at all. But the father heart of God transcends He knows the depths of our depravity. But he loves us anyway, and he pursues us in spite of our degradation, and lifts us out of that mire, and embraces us and brings us into his home. So, yes.

Guest (Male): I have a question.

Dr. Ken Boa: Oh, okay, yeah.

Guest (Male): I read somewhere, and I don't know the credibility of it, that there was a tradition that if a son or child ran away from home and said essentially what he did, I wish you were his dad.

Dr. Ken Boa: Yeah, that's exactly what it is.

Guest (Male): That there was a tradition of the people in the community, if the child ever came back, that they would stone him to death. Is there any

Dr. Ken Boa: I don't know that that's in the scriptures. I'm not aware of that. But it would certainly be a crazy thing to do. To go off like that and then come back and hope for he's going to get brought back in.

Guest (Male): So the implication of the story that that I read was that the father wanted to be the first one to greet the son and to reconcile him back to the family before others got there.

Dr. Ken Boa: That's the that's the issue here. Before others got there. I think that's right. That that makes complete sense. But it was his father heart of God. But that how long did it take? How many days was he constant? He must have been looking all the time. So it tells us about the love of the Father for us. Because many of us need to be re-parented who haven't received that blessing of the grace of God in their lives.

But I I'm this beautiful painting though, this this imagery here is just a wonderful picture of the uh the the glory of God in that in that scene. And actually the Rembrandt painting, I got to see it at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, a number of years ago, right after I read the book *The Return of the Prodigal Son* by Henri Nouwen, which exegeted this painting, and it was such an astonishing thing. He describes it. So having done that, I was able to go there and study it.

And I just stared at it because I knew what I was looking for then. So it was a very meaningful and profound experience. But again, a lot of a lot of men need to be re-parented, and that's just the nature of what that looks like. Um, so, and then and the elders of Ephesus began to weep aloud and embrace Paul and and repeatedly kissed him. Um, so you see that that's another image and greet one another with a holy kiss. So this is a major theme that runs throughout the scriptures. It's it's pretty significant.

And um, this imagery here, um, may he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. And so the kiss plays a key role in the Bible. It can be used improperly by the adulteress, the betrayer. The primary use is of a tangibly expressing love, affection, approval, respect, or passion. And may he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. So you have the this this multifaceted dynamic. And by way of application, that kissing and being kissed are a natural part of the way God wired us to demonstrate this love and affection.

So we use properly is a versatile means of affection, able to communicate the range of emotion from respect to intimate passion. So command the scriptures commanding us to greet the brethren in this physically expressive give one another greet one another with a holy kiss. As is part of that. And regardless of whether or not it seems normal in our culture. So, I am my beloved and my beloved is mine. In addition to expressing our love, approval, and respect in this way, we can metaphorically allow the Lord to kiss us.

It's an interesting way of seeing it that way. You see, um, you are his beloved. His desire is for you. And so in truly he accepts and unconditionally loves each of us not based upon our merits, but because of his infinite love and grace. That's what makes it possible for us to have a union and to have peace with him, to have an intimate relationship with him. So it really really allowing the love of our bridegroom who deeply desires spiritual intimacy with us to give us that that relationship and that intimacy that we can enjoy with him.

So it's a an interesting way of going about this and to see what what's involved in that. I have another little application here. I have time time for that. Expressions of love and and and praise. So of um of rather of of drawing me. And so this this concept here of drawing him. Draw me after you. So many desires expressed in the Song of Solomon. This desire to be drawn. Draw me after you, and let us run together.

The Hebrew word implies a gentle drawing of love toward itself. It's used in Jeremiah 31 as well where the Lord appeared to him saying, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness. It's a chapter that talks about the new covenant as well. And so this this same loving drawing is found in Hosea 11:4. I I drew them with the cords of a man, with bonds of love. I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws. I bent down and fed them.

So the word for drawn carries the idea of being attracted or pulled or enveloped by love itself. The lover draws the beloved to himself deeming the the pursued one worthy of pursuit. And I if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. So this again, this imagery of drawing us. He's the one who attracts and captivates the beloved. And it's the drawing of his profound kindness that leads to to repentance.

So draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Again, that's the idea of the backwards and forth of the the metaphors are used. So it's a rich book and I have allowed some time for us to chat about these things. But it raises a lot of questions. It's um very difficult for us to read because we're not accustomed to that kind of imagery. And though those grotesque images often come to my mind. These are not the descriptions I probably would use with with my bride.

You see. Your your temple's like a pomegranate. You know, just kind of very strange stuff like that. Your your teeth are like little ewes or little lambs and so forth. Um, but there you have it. It was a very different kind of a world and a different culture. So, let me just see what thoughts you have about about this. But it's a unique book, a unique chapter, a book of the Bible.

Guest (Male): That that that was interesting.

Dr. Ken Boa: You don't know where to go, do you?

Guest (Male): No.

Dr. Ken Boa: Yeah, sure I did. Yeah. Yeah, it's a crazy thing though. It's really uh uh it it's the imagery here of this fierceness, this intensity, this this closeness to them. But love is stronger than death. And so I I think of it this the wrong one. Song of Solomon chapter 8. Yeah. So this this whole idea he entrusted. But this that it is is this from yes, it's like strong as death is the text that comes to my mind in chapter 8. Jealousy is as is as severe as Sheol. Its flashes are the flashes of fire. The very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, nor will rivers overflow it. If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, it would be utterly despised. So this this is a intriguing intensity that's going on here.

Why do you think that God included this in the scriptures? See, there was a there was a debate, as you know, over this inclusion. I think it adds a great deal in many respects. Um, and when I'm thinking about my own bride, you see, I I see her as she always has been. So I see her. And you see in the eyes that love that is stronger than death. And that there even though there may be a diminishment, one can still remember that beauty and see, it's the same person.

And and so the three things I've told Karen um of late is number one, I've never really come to appreciate told her, I never really appreciated all that you did and sacrificed for me as I now do. So I've told her that. But it's never too late, I told her. Took me a long time to figure it out of what you I look back and reviewed that. See, because when I see her in her adversity, um, the idea of that diminishment, I I then have ways of looking back into remember her as she was, it's the same person.

And it's and so to review that, to understand that soul. But she never complains. So she she suffers without complaint. She she um is is very sweet and cheerful to me. And so I've been able to tell her those two three things. Number one, I never really fully appreciated you until now. Now I will. Number two, I recognize the blunders that I made in life are related to the times when I didn't take your wisdom into account.

I've always taught that really we complete each other. And don't isn't it so that you marry another person, and the that the that the two of the total is greater than the sum of the parts. And so one person enhances another. And the truth is in between us. It's never one or the other. Sometimes more toward me, sometimes more toward her. But the truth is always a composite because we complete each other. So that idea you need that difference and to and not reject it, but to embrace that because it will it'll balance you out.

So that's the second thing and it's not too late. And then the third thing is the realization, as I've told you before, that she is suffering as um falling in Jesus' steps to suffer sinlessly, silently, without complaining, and as a substitute. So there's some mysterious way in which she's undergirding or underwriting the cost of the ministry. And that's that's that's so everything I do, she's a part of. So what I realize then is this course of life is to understand that the greatest goods in our past are hints and anticipations of better goods to come.

That's become a very major theme with me. And I want you to do the same. Anytime that you look back at anything that seems to be lost or diminished, remember that your greatest moments of beauty, of of intimacy, and of adventure are hints of better goods to come. It's not that the best is in the past, otherwise you're going to live in regret and remorse. Don't want you to do that. I want you to realize that the greatest things in your past are actually hints of better goods to come.

They're not the things themselves, but they are hints of those better goods. If you if you kind of tried to love them for what them themselves, they would become like a dumb idol that would break your heart. They're not the thing itself. As C.S. Lewis in *The Weight of Glory* says, they're scent of a flower we haven't seen, of a country we haven't visited, of a song we haven't heard. Um, and it's but it's an enchantment to recognize that they are pointers to what he calls Zenzucht, or longing, for more than this world can provide because you were meant for more.

You were meant for infinity and eternity. And if in transtemporal, transfinite good is that for which you were meant, then any other good in which you fix your heart will be unworthy of you. So it has to be not the thing itself, but a pointer to greater goods to come. But they'll be so great in resurrected life, in a resurrected world, that you will not be disappointed. You know no one was going to be in the presence of Jesus in the resurrected life and in in the resurrected world and say, but you said, but I thought.

It'll be better than you thought, and in fact your only regret will then be that you didn't obey him when he called you to do some things. And that reminds me of an imagery that I have here I created for my Sunday morning class, but I might as well show it to you as well. This is a tapestry. And the the idea of this is one of this is the part of one of the unicorn tapestries. It's in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and we we were given this as a wedding gift. An image of this.

But what's fascinating about tapestries, as you know, is they don't look so good in the backside. So if you look at the back of this tapestry, what's what and what's interesting here is you look at this tapestry here and this is the backside and that's the front side. So it's intriguing how they you'd never guess that's what's going on. Or another another image is this. So you have this as the background. Who would guess that it's this? You see. So the idea is that we get we see the bottom of the tapestry.

So as Corrie ten Boom put it, and she shows he's these two tapestries. Here's the front and here's the back. Ofttimes he weaveth sorrow. And I in foolish pride forget. He sees the upper and I the underside. So she used this illustration while sharing a message of hope in Jesus because the this tapestry uh hung in her in the Ten Boom Museum in Holland. But it's to illustrate. But I add a little thing to this metaphor about the tapestry about the two sides of the tapestry.

What I add to this metaphor is that the most beautiful part of the tapestry will have been woven in the time of your greatest adversity. That's my thinking. I think the most beautiful patterns and images in your tapestry from God's vantage point will be have been woven in the times of your greatest pain. It's it's not accidental that Jesus bears the mark of his crucifixion. So that I believe then when we stand before him, our regret will not be the pain we endured in this world.

But the our regret will be the times we didn't trust him enough to obey him. I think that's what you'll regret. So try to get heaven's view. And the heaven's view is if I'd only known. If I'd only known. So try to imagine that the best of this world are mere hints of better goods to come. And then I think that'll be a an enriching experience uh for you. Um, I was with my friend, um, uh Rodney Crips and another friend that he came brought with him from Oklahoma.

And we had dinner together. Uh, and I invited Earl to join us. And this was just uh last week. And we it was a marvel and a wonder. Uh we went to the little Lazy Betty's, which I think is the best in in restaurant in town. It was a a three- it's got a Michelin florette. In fact, I told them, the only reason this doesn't have three stars, because I've been to the several in Manhattan. Aquavit, Danielle, and others that are three stars. This is every bit as good. The reason is because it's in Atlanta.

Little bias going on there. If it was but I'm telling you, this it was the what was it like Raymond? how would you describe you the time?

Guest (Male): Excellent service.

Dr. Ken Boa: This is the menu here. It's just crazy. Uh, I wouldn't I frankly, looking at it, it doesn't make doesn't draw me to it. Um, you know, crazy menu. But but it's um it's in um in Midtown now. They they've moved it. Yeah. But we had some marvels and wonders. Here's a picture of there's our there's my pal. And then my there's Rodney and John. And so we but look at these crazy things. They're just uh this is the most amazing thing I've ever had. This this rice. I never had anything like it. So,

Guest (Male): About the Japanese steak that Moses said.

Dr. Ken Boa: There it is. This A5 Wagyu. Um, my friend was generous. He paid for this. I wouldn't be able to pay for this thing. But it was it was an amazing experience and that that things but I take pictures of these things. And the reason why I do that is because you're paying for a memory. You see. That's what you're really doing. Uh, but I but looking at these pictures, I still remember what it was like. And that that helps me a lot.

And the reason why I'm telling that is because this an experience like this is really like a hint of home. It's like a a hint of better goods to come. And so that's that's the idea and it may be involved in it.

Guest (Male): Yes. If you go home today, please say on behalf of this group how much you appreciate what Karen has done to support the ministry.

Dr. Ken Boa: Oh yeah. Yeah. Yes, um, so she needs to know that even though she's confined to the bedroom, that she contributes to everything I do. She's underwriting the cost of the ministry. And that's a very significant concept that you have. And so uh in as I see it in 2nd Peter, if I can find it because you have this this 1st Peter, rather. Um, I have a little thing I did, but I I I can't find it right right now. Um, it means I didn't name it. If I can't find it in two seconds, I didn't name it right.

But um, it is um, um, yeah, this is it. Here it is. You can see this. These are the three things in 1st Peter chapter 2. And this is actually worth closing out with because it's that good. Um, in 1st Peter, um, this relates to our in 1st Peter chapter 2. You have been called for this purpose since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example to follow in his steps. You hear what he's saying? You're this is here's the here's the following is an example for you to do.

And then he quotes from Isaiah 53. Number one, who who committed no sin, nor was there any deceit found in his mouth. So in in the first part then you have, let me get it right like this. Um, the example of the suffering servant. So he suffered sinlessly, not because of his own sins in 1st Peter 2:21-22. He suffered silently, as well. And then we see it right here in 23. And so he he says in 23, while being reviled, he did not revile in return.

While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. And then the third part is the most amazing of all because there some mysterious way we are called to our adversities to become a substitute for others. There's some redemptive way in which your adversity can undergird um, your ministry and undergird what you're what you're doing. And so in this last verse in verse 24, then it tells us that um, he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

By his wounds, you were healed. In some mysterious way then, I believe she's undergirding the ministry. And I tell her that. So she's as part much a part of what I do, as what I'm doing. Do you see that? She needs to hear that, because otherwise she said, what am I accomplishing nothing? No, your adversity, in some mysterious way, is making up for that which is lacking in Christ's affliction. It is undergirding and empowering the ministry. And that's a significant thing.

So in my mind, that's very powerful a word for us all. Yes.

Guest (Male): I'm going to just make a quick statement. Ken, you mentioned that, you know, the sum of the parts. We all have daughters, sons, granddaughters, grandsons. As we counsel them, we need to make sure that as they date people, as we counsel them that they they take that in mind that the sum of the parts is is bigger, right? Because I have a daughter dating somebody, and I always tell her that, that the people you date need to make the two of you need to be bigger than the than you individually.

And that's really important because I had a daughter dating someone with an addiction problem, right? And the some of them did not was not greater than the parts, you know what I'm saying? So I think as we counsel people, when we leave this room, we need to counsel people in that in that regard. I think this is a really important part of the of this discussion. Thank you.

Dr. Ken Boa: Um, in everything we do, and I know we're out of time. But um, the if we see a film together, we see it in a in a kind of a stereophonic way. There's there's a stereoscopy because you know, that's why we have two eyes. There's a parallax. And that's why insects have two eyes. Because with the two eyes, what happens? Each is slightly different, and you have depth of field, the next dimension as a result of the two eyes. So in the similar way, you have these two personalities, these two souls that are molded together.

But she sees things I don't see, and I see things she doesn't see. So the total's greater than the sum of the parts. Whether we see a film, we see it slightly differently. But the total is actually a unified understanding. So enriching that concept makes an enormous difference. So to me, that is what life is is is about. Last night, and I'm going to stop with this. Um, there's this uh Archie recommended it. It's called *After Death*. It was done in 2023 by Angel Studios.

Check it out. It's most interesting about near-death experiences. So we we we went uh that that was our last thing we did, and watch that film together. Sharing those thoughts, and then reflecting, what will it be like in the in the next world? Because we want to have an aspiration for home because we're heading in the same direction. I use these illustrations from my life because I'm forced to live what I'm teaching, or life will be absurd.

So I'm forced to live it out. You see, God's put me in a position where I need to do that. But I believe it has redemptive value because all of us are in the same situation. We need to choose. Remember, gratitude is what? A choice. Uh, joy is a choice. Contentment is a choice.