The Song of Songs is, in fact, a song, and therefore, poetry. Captain Obvious, here. We're starting strong, aren't we? 

Never fear, I wasn't an English major. So, I won't go deep on the significance of poetry, but we need to hit the highlights. 

[Side note: I wanted to major in English. Then, while eating cashew chicken, my dad told me it was an "unemployable degree." I chose the business management route instead. It worked out okay. For the record, some of my favorite friends are English majors, so my #respect runs deep.]

Poetry is a type of literature, and its purpose is to stir emotion, imagination, and feeling. I believe there's a desperate need in our culture for the "logic" of God—a deep understanding of the evidence of God as it relates to our origin, meaning, morality, and destiny. Logic or reasoning is essential to the Christian faith. However, while feelings shouldn't dictate our decisions, we shouldn't discount the design of emotion and feeling—especially as it relates to the love of Christ. 

It takes both—the logical and the passionate love—to experience the character of God in fullness. In Acts 20:27, Luke says, "For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." Scripture is to be read in context because the context makes it come alive. God is entirely logical and fully love. 

Song of Songs is a love song that stirs passion. Just as we are to read Scripture within context, we are to read the Song of Songs within the context of a Biblical covenant and a marital union between one man and one woman. At times it is erotic (meaning, it's within the context of marriage between one man and one woman), but not pornographic (meaning, it’s outside the context of marriage and involves other individuals). 

While this book has no apparent religious content, it has significant spiritual meaning. Think of the Song of Songs as a playlist on Spotify that tells the melodic story of a couple's dating life, engagement, wedding, and marriage. It has undertones and crescendos, like all love songs that move you. 

Interpreting The Song

As we listen to this melody of love, we must be cautious. As we learned previously, this is poetry. It condenses emotions into a burst of words. The Song of Songs provides plenty of analogies and figurative speech: "Your hair is like a flock of goats" (Song of Songs 4:1). Yes, that was considered a compliment in those days. I wouldn't recommend these words if you're already prepping what to write on your crush's valentine's day card. 

Since this is poetry, it will not fill in all the blanks. The text needs to breathe. Poetry leaves a margin on the page for you to write your life's application as you meditate on the words. While there are analogies and allegories, this book also provides opportunities for literal interpretations and typology. Why the fancy words, Tiffany? Hang with me. Literal = literal. Taking the words as they are written, with no metaphor or allegory. Typology = interpreting types or symbols to help construct an additional or different meaning.

For example, Moses was a type of Christ. Joshua was a type (foreshadow) of Christ. The shepherd in the Song of Songs is a type of Christ. As we read this book, we’ll see opportunities for literal translation, and opportunities for typological translations. Clear as coffee? It will be because we have the Holy Spirit to teach and guide us. Never fear.  

Purpose of The Song

So, what is the purpose of this song? Iain Duguid sums it up nicely:

The Song of Songs is a superlative: it indicates that this poem is the finest of songs, in the same way that the Holy of Holies was the very holiest of places in the temple. Is human love, even within marriage, the worthy subject of the very best of songs? The Bible tells us that true love is not that we love one another, nor even that we love God. Rather, it is that God loved us and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10). So the finest of songs surely has to point us in some profound way to God's love for us in Christ, the love that entered our fallen world, lived the perfect life in our place, and suffered and died for our sins.

The song is about you and a Savior who loves you even when you don't love Him back. 

Most of us have had a vision test. In actuality, it's a test that detects a refractive error in your eyes. I went last week and sat in the chair as my doctor put the Phoroptor up to my eyes and said, "One or two? Three or four? Four or five?" 

Think of the Bible (which is God's Word, alive and active) like the Phoroptor machine, and God is the Great Physician. Just as the eye doctor uses a Phoroptor device to determine precisely how a lens must be shaped and curved to correct our vision to a normal state, Jesus has come to restore our sinful and broken vision. Through the process of sanctification, our vision and life transform. With time, we begin to see as Christ sees. As the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians:

"For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:12 

One day, beloved, you will see Him as He is, and you will be like Him. Until then, He will continue to test and correct our vision through the lens of His Word. And, day by day, from glory to glory, we are changed. 

The Song of Songs helps with correcting our distorted vision. It allows us to see God's original intent of intimacy—whether single or married. There's a balance we can strike between the figurative and literal extremes of this book. It is a "...wisdom literature that celebrates a great mystery in life, the mutual love of a man and a woman, yet that in this celebration will not only shape our thinking about human relationships but also show us profound insights into the love that Christ has for his bride, the church" [Iain Duguid, Song of Songs]. 

With our earbuds in, the volume turned up, eyes closed, and heart opened— let's listen to Christ's melody of love in the Song of Songs.