Song of Solomon - A Love Song

Today and tomorrow we will be reading Solomon’s Song of Songs (read chapters 1-4 here). It is a love song between a husband and wife, probably written early in King Solomon’s reign, about 970 BC.
 
I found this summary by Chuck Swindoll to be helpful:
 
The Song of Solomon’s willingness to broach the topic of physical love within marriage has made many of its readers throughout history uncomfortable, so much so that Rabbi Aqiba had to vigorously defend the book’s place in the Jewish canon even as late as AD 90 at the Council of Jamnia. But as a testament to the beauty of the marriage relationship in its fullness, Song of Solomon stands out with its uniquely detailed vision of this beautiful reality.
 
The fullness of the union that takes place at marriage is described in some of the most splendid poetic language in the entire Bible. In a world where so many speak of God’s special gifts with coldly clinical or apathetic statistical language, the passion of Solomon’s poetry refreshes a world thirsty for the truth about marriage. Solomon began his rendering of this relationship with the two lovers in courtship longing for affection while expressing their love for one another (Song of Solomon 1:1–3:5). Eventually, they come together in marriage, the groom extolling his bride’s beauty before they consummate their relationship (3:6–5:1). Finally, she struggles with the fear of separation, while he reassures his bride of his affections for her (5:2–8:14). All of this reinforces the theme of the goodness of marriage.

A Second Meaning behind the love of husband and wide
 
Because the Church is the bride of Christ, you can also read this song remembering that the Savior sees you as his beautiful bride, not because of your personal perfection, but because his forgiving love covers over every sin.

You are altogether beautiful, my darling;

    there is no flaw in you.

This is how the Savior sees you!



Paul's Letter to the Romans - A Very Different Love Song
 
We are privileged to see the Savior’s love most clearly in Paul’s letter to the Romans (read Romans 1:1-17 here). 

Paul wrote this letter on his third missionary journey while in the city of Corinth. His goal was to strengthen this congregation so that it could be a launching pad for further missionary journeys farther west all the way to Spain. 

Romans doesn't have the passion and imagery of Song of Songs. Paul doesn't focus on the Church as the bride of Christ. But it is still a love song, making clear that the beauty of the Church is found in God's righteousness. 

Righteousness is a key term in Romans. God is just and right. We can be just and right in God's sight. Not by what we do, but by faith in the Son of God who died for us and rose again. 

In the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

When you begin to get bogged down in the details of Romans, it may be helpful for you to glance back at Song of Songs and just hear the Savior say to you: "How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful!" (Song of Songs 1:15) 

More Map Work

As I was looking for the map above of Paul's third missionary journey, I stumbled across this map below... a nice summary of where Paul was when he wrote his letters. The one change I would suggest is to remove "Hebrews" from the letters written in Rome. We don't know who the author of Hebrews is, but it probably was not Paul.