Songs of Songs, or Song of Solomon, is a book that many people have not quite know what to do with. It is mainly filled with poetry between lovers.  exception that it is in the context of marriage, or at least in parts, a bride and groom about to be married or on their wedding night. 

Sex in the Bible, of course, is reserved for marriage. And in that sense, Song of Songs presents a different picture of sex. While sex is portrayed everywhere in culture, rarely is it portrayed in a husband-wife relationship. Hot, passionate sex between husband and wife--it does not exist, culture says. Only affairs are portrayed in this way.

So, in that sense, by showing that sex between a husband and wife is good and can be passionate, Song of Songs redeems sex. Many Christians get the idea that sex is bad. Any song on the radio that speaks of sex is automatically bad. Even Christian adults in a marriage relationship can think that those are bad songs. (Some Christians even grew up with the idea that dancing in one's own bedroom is bad as well.)

Take for instance the following passage from Song of Songs 7:7-12. If you did not know that this were from the Bible, what would be your first reaction if you heard the words to this song on the radio? 

This is beautiful poetry, but it is pretty explicit. It shows that sex is good, enjoyment of one another's bodies--and heart and emotion and spirit--is good.  The physical, sexual relationship in a marriage is good. By not presenting a good, biblical view of sex at age appropriate times, and only speaking of the negatives of sex, we leave people to be shaped by the culture or to have negative views of sex even within Christian marriage. Both views are not good. 

There is much sexual brokenness today. This is true outside of marriage. But it is true even within Christian marriage. Why? Because of sin and the fall. When God created Adam and Eve, it says that they were naked without shame. But when sin entered into the Garden, Adam and Eve realized that they were naked and felt shamed. 

Today, of course, there is still sin--sin that we commit, and sin that others commit against us. Those who have been emotionally or physically abused may find it difficult for them to be vulnerable or "naked" with their spouse. Sin damaged the earth physically, and age and decay and cancer entered into the world. These can interfere with a good sexual relationship. Spouses sin against one another with selfishness and biting or hurtful words and actions. Emotional and physical affairs cause much damage. 

But in Song of Songs, we see what God intends for sex to be like in a marriage. It is no coincidence that the height of the sexual expression is found in the middle of the book of Song of Songs--and that this lovemaking happens in the context of a "garden."  Song of Songs 4:12-16 says this:

He Says
12 You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride;
    you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.
13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates
    with choice fruits . . . 
15 You are a garden fountain,
    a well of flowing water
    streaming down from Lebanon.

She Says
16 . . . Let my beloved come into his garden
    and taste its choice fruits.

Clearly, this is the sexual relationship that God intended for Adam and Eve to have for one another in the Garden of Eden, where they were made to become "one flesh." In this Song of Songs, God shows us the type of sexual relationship he wants for Christian husbands and wives--passionate, overflowing, wild, and loving--with nothing, no sin, between them to hinder the relationship.

The more that couples put aside the sin of selfishness that is inside us all, the more that the sexual relationship will blossom. And Paul encourages Christian couples to continue to have sexual relations in 1 Corinthians 7:1-5.

The tiredness of the world, sins committed against us, sins of spouses against one another, can all make sexual relations difficult.  And yet, withholding sex, except by mutual consent, because their is sin and hurt, is not an option for Christian couples. Paul even says something totally radical here, that one's own body is not one's own. That is a radical kind of oneness that goes beyond just a metaphor. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but must yield it to her husband! Even more radical for that time--the husband does not have authority over his own body, but must yield it to his wife! That is radical stuff. It means that the offer should, in general, always be open unless there is agreement by both parties to abstain--and only then for a time. Of course, Christian love will temper this demand and take into consideration the spouse's state. But this is still radical. It is far different from the occasional offer when the time and circumstances are just right. It may require a change in lifestyle to make this possible in a marriage to allow time and energy for this relationship. It may require a change in attitude. It may require many things that may be hard, but it is still what God calls Christian couples to do.

Again, sin and selfishness messes all of this up. That is why the more that spouses seek to be like Christ, the better the sex will be. (And Paul says that sex itself protects against sin and affairs.) Song of Songs gives us a glimpse and understanding of the type of sexual relations a Christian couple ought to strive for in their marriage. Marriage and sexual relations can be difficult. But it can also be incredible, with God's help and blessings and a Christ-centered marriage.


What do you think of the image of sexual relations and marriage found in Song of Songs? What challenges do you see? What hope do you draw from this?

In reading and studying the book of Proverbs this week, I was reminded how God created the world in his Wisdom to work a certain way, and that it is foolish to go against this created order.

One of the topics covered in Proverbs is sexuality. I could not help think that on this issue, our country has lost its collective mind.

• LOSS OF GENDER DISTINCTIONS - Facebook now has FIFTY-ONE! gender options to choose from.
• TRIAL MARRIAGES - Trial marriages of two years with no obligation to continue are now being advocated.
• UNIVERSAL GAY MARRIAGE and DEATH OF FREE SPEECH - The Supreme Court is likely to rule that gay marriage is a constitutional right--something which no state in the history of humanity legally recognized before the Netherlands around the year 2000; Canada's chilling death of free speech and state control on this issue should be a warning to us of what may soon come
• OPEN MARRIAGES - I have read article after article saying that the only way to "save" the antiquated institution of marriage today is to have open marriages.
• MANIPULATION OF SOCIAL DATA - Clear data that indicates that children from gay marriages suffer in such arrangements and that these marriages are vastly more promiscuous and unstable and "controlled out" to only look at "stable" gay marriages--which are a very low percentage"--to fit pre-determined politically correct conclusions.
• ATTACKS AND CRIES OF BIGOTRY for TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE ADVOCATES - And anyone who says that God and nature teaches us that marriage was intended for a man and a woman--virtually unquestioned in this country for hundreds of years--is now decried as a homophobic bigot--even children of gay marriages who argue for this position and gay rights advocates like Kirsten Powers.

The book of Proverbs repeatedly says "there is a way to a man that seems right, but it leads to death" (14:12). The Father in Proverbs repeatedly entreats his Son to reject the illicit call of lady Folly and instead to follow God's way of Wisdom.

Here is one of the many passages on sexuality from Proverbs:
Drink water from your own cistern,
running water from your own well.
Should your springs overflow in the streets,
your streams of water in the public squares?
Let them be yours alone,
never to be shared with strangers.
May your fountain be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
A loving doe, a graceful deer--
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?
For your ways are in full view of the LORD,
and he examines all your paths. (Proverbs 5:15-21 TNIV).

Such a teaching today on sexuality, if discussed in the public square, would be decried as bigoted (why only a man and a woman), antiquated (stay with the wife of your youth--who does that?), boring (what, no sex with strangers or another's man's wife?), and naive (what does love have to do with sexuality?). 

But Proverbs and the rest of the Bible teaches us that it takes a transformation of the heart to hear the call of Wisdom. And that is only possible through an encounter with Jesus Christ and the giving of a new heart and new spirit through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Ezek. 36:26f). 

So, to our fellow Christ-followers, while we rightly mourn the ungodliness of the world and the ungodliness that can be found in our own hearts, we cannot preach moralism to the world.The world will only accept God's Wisdom by encountering "Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption" (1 Cor. 1:30). (For more on how Jesus Christ leads us to accept Wisdom from God, click here.)


If we want to change the sexual condition of our country, we must change hearts. We must share Christ. Let us do so for Christ's sake, for the world's sake, for our country's sake, for our children's sake, for our sake. 

What do you think of the current trend in sexuality in America? As Christians, what should be our response?