*This episode is a little bit longer, but our marriages deserve it!

How do we teach our children God's beautiful design for love, marriage, purity, and lifelong faithfulness in a culture that often promotes the opposite?

In this special episode of The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries, Stephanie Hickox walks through the often misunderstood Book of Song of Songs (Song of Solomon), uncovering the biblical wisdom God provides for courtship, marriage, intimacy, and family discipleship.

While this episode is intended for adult listeners, it offers valuable encouragement for Christian parents who desire to train their children in God's design for relationships and prepare them for healthy, Christ-centered marriages someday.

Together, we'll explore why this book was included in Scripture, what it teaches about purity before marriage, intimacy within marriage, and how faithful marriages can reflect God's character to the world.

In This Episode:

• Why Song of Songs is part of God's inspired Word
• The difference between God's design for marriage and the world's view of relationships
• Lessons from Solomon's first marriage before his later compromises
• How purity before marriage strengthens future relationships
• Teaching children to pursue Christ before pursuing romance
• Why parents should train future husbands and wives—not just successful adults
• Protecting marriages from the "little foxes" that can cause damage over time
• Embracing God's design for intimacy as a gift rather than a source of shame
• Finding security and acceptance within a Christ-centered marriage
• Looking beyond imperfect biblical figures to the perfect faithfulness of Jesus Christ

Key Themes for Christian Families

❤️ Biblical Marriage

God created marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman—a relationship designed to display commitment, sacrificial love, forgiveness, and faithfulness.

❤️ Raising Future Godly Spouses

As parents, we're not only raising children for today. We're preparing future husbands and wives who will honor God in their relationships and families.

❤️ Purity and Wisdom

Song of Songs repeatedly encourages believers not to "awaken love until it pleases," reminding us that God's boundaries are gifts designed for our flourishing.

❤️ Protecting Your Marriage

Small compromises can become major problems. This episode explores practical biblical wisdom for nurturing healthy marriages and addressing issues before they grow.

Encouragement for Moms

If you've ever struggled with insecurity, comparison, aging, scars, stretch marks, or feeling unseen, Song of Songs offers a beautiful reminder that covenant love sees beyond imperfections. God's design for marriage includes acceptance, delight, faithfulness, and grace.

Most importantly, this book reminds us that even when human relationships fall short, Jesus Christ remains perfectly faithful. He is the ultimate bridegroom who never abandons His people and who is preparing an eternal home for His bride.

Scripture Covered

• Song of Songs (Song of Solomon)
• Themes of biblical marriage, purity, covenant love, and faithfulness

If this episode encourages you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another Christian mom seeking biblical wisdom for marriage, motherhood, and raising children who follow Christ.

Keywords: Christian parenting, biblical marriage, Song of Solomon, Song of Songs, Christian motherhood, purity, Christian family, marriage podcast, biblical womanhood, Christian wife, Christian parenting podcast, family discipleship, raising godly children, Christian relationships, faith-based parenting, Entrusted Ministries, Christian moms.

Learn more about Entrusted Ministries and discover additional resources for Christian families at Entrusted Ministries.

Do you feel hopeless, discouraged, or anxious in your parenting? Can God redeem those mistakes and give peace and hope for the future? Yes, He truly can! Entrusted with a Child's Heart can encourage you to embrace the fresh start God has for you. This quick episode explains how this biblical parenting study can guide moms, bless your church, and actually help the leaders! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-again-podcast-for-christian-moms-encouragement-in/id1700555502

Commentaries Most Referenced: Moody Commentary, MacArthur Commentary, Spurgeon's Treasury of David

This is The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox, and today we're

covering the book of Song of Songs or

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Song of Solomon, or wait, which one is it?

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I'll clarify that.

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But as I'm sure you would predict,

this episode is for mom ears alone This

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book of the Bible provides a picture

of the ideal courtship and marriage.

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And even though marriage, like everything

else, has been tainted by the fall, it

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is still a part of God's creation, and a

good gift intended for a husband and wife

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to enjoy and an opportunity for us to

more fully portray the character of God

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That's the primary purpose of this book

and even though Jewish tradition did see

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as displaying God's love for Israel,

and some Christian traditions

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have largely viewed it as

Christ's love for the church.

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When we force this allegory, it creates a

real strain that's gonna get uncomfortable

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when we get to certain verses.

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It just doesn't fit.

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It kind of reminds me of when a song

up-- comes on the radio that I like,

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and it's not a Christian song, and

I'm thinking, " Oh, wow, I could

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totally sing this as a worship song."

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And then as the lyrics continue, I

think, " Oh, wait, not that part.

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Uh, not that part either.

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Okay, never mind."

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Most English translations do name

this book The Song of Solomon

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because the first verse says, " The

Song of Songs, which is Solomon's."

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1 Kings 4 tells us that Solomon

wrote over 1,000 musical songs

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And this was one of them,

but not just anyone.

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In our Bibles, we read phrases

like the Holy of Holies,

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King of Kings, Lord of Lords.

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When people refer to this as the

Song of Songs, they're saying

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this was Solomon's best song

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but our English Bibles Have probably

chosen Song of Solomon because it

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gives a little bit more information

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rather than that superlative

description of Song of Songs.

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The fact that Solomon is king is

mentioned five times in the book

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So this courtship and marriage description

occurs sometime during his kingship p-

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at the time of his first marriage union

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The Shulamite woman referred to was

probably a resident of Shunem, which

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was in the lower region of Galilee

As I said She's Solomon's first wife.

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And I'm going to try to say this in

the least cynical voice possible.

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You know, back when Solomon understood the

purity of marriage and how God intended

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it to be between one man and one woman?

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How did I do?

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I feel like I just need to address

the elephant in the room right away.

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God uses a man who is infamously as having

700 wives and 300 concubines, to write

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the book of the Bible that gives us the

wisdom of what the ideal marriage is.

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This is as i- ironic as it gets

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There was a British anthropologist, J.

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D.

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Unwin

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that studied the fall of

cultures throughout history.

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And he found that whenever a culture

Strays from this marital ideal of one

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man and one woman, that they will meet

their demise within 90 to 100 years

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Scripture definitely does not

condone Solomon's Polygamy

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And even though Solomon

himself could not follow the

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faithfulness set out in God's Word

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we can embrace the fact that this

is God's wisdom and His design and

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there's still much that we can learn

that the Lord would instruct us in

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Also, we can humble ourselves and

say, even when we have wisdom,

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our hearts are prone to wander.

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We can plead with the Lord to help us

walk in righteousness, particularly

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in this area that the enemy

would love to attack and destroy.

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It also reminds me that as I'm listening

to pastors online or finding a new

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podcast I better be careful that just

because someone seems to have wisdom

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It's Jesus Christ and His perfect

character and faithfulness

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that I need to be looking to

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I also wanna caution us against

looking at these chapters and saying,

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" Hmm, well, I sure wish my husband

was writing poetry about me too."

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Instead, we can say, "How can I be

the godly wife this is describing?"

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And then how can I train my children

to be godly spouses someday?

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Michael Rydelnik and Tim Sigler say that

just as the Book of Proverbs repeatedly

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said, " My son," the way that this

book repeatedly speaks of the daughters

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of Jerusalem tells us that this might

be read as a counterpart to Proverbs

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as I've recently learned from Betsy,

this book of the Bible was intended

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to be taught to the young women by

the older women so that they would be

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able to embrace God's idea of intimacy

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Even though God is only mentioned

once, the early church recognized

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this as scripture because God's

design is the banner over it all.

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Marriage is one of the most

powerful places in which we can

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be the hands and feet of Jesus.

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It's the place where we can experience

freedom from shame, complete forgiveness

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and acceptance, and together more

fully reflect the character of God

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I hope that inspires you to dig

in and study it for yourself.

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We'll just hit a couple highlights

together today I've always really

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resonated with the Shulamite bride.

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Instead of the king finding a perfect

princess in an ivory tower, she's

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much more of a Cinderella type of girl

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Verse 1:5 begins, " I

am very dark but lovely.

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O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents

of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

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Do not gaze at me because I am dark,

because the sun has looked upon me.

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My mother's sons were angry with me.

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They made me keeper of the vineyard,

but my own vineyard I have not kept."

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Surely, as a mom, you can relate

to neglecting yourself while

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you're caring for everyone else

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And I really resonate with this because

I've had skin cancer seven times, mostly

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on my face , the doctors have really

been at the cause of this, and there's

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been a grieving for as I've had more and

more scars added to my face, and it's

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humbled me the amount of times that my

husband has still told me I'm beautiful

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in the midst of surgeries and treatments

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The longer I'm married I realize he

doesn't see my flaws like I see them.

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And just like sometimes our husbands

struggle to find things in the

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fridge, maybe that's also why they

don't look at our flaws like we do

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In Song of Solomon, he tells his

young bride that she's beautiful

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14 times, but she only refers

to him as handsome one time.

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Generally, men are very drawn to

appearance, but they're also more

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gracious about our flaws, and I hope

that as you look at Solomon's delight

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in his bride, that you can feel more

free to embrace your husband's delight

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in you, even if your appearance is

far from where you want it to be.

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You may see scars and stretch

marks, but most likely he sees the

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beauty of sacrifice and strength

as you pour into your family

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A lot of these descriptions of

beauty are different than what

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we would say culturally today.

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One of the silliest, I think,

is in chapter one, verse nine.

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" I compare you, my love, to a

mare among Pharaoh's chariots."

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If my husband ever tells me I look like a

horse, I'm not going to feel very loved.

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But in the ancient Near East, these

were pretty normal descriptions.

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We can find them from other

ancient writings, and in fact,

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some of them are still sung today

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The young Shulamite woman repeatedly

warns, "I adore you, O daughters

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of Jerusalem, that you not stir up

or awaken love until it pleases."

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Intimacy belongs in marriage

between a man and a woman.

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But God created sex as a good gift, so

the draw toward it is natural This means

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we have to be very careful to not stir

it up or awaken it until we can follow

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through in the context of marriage

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We need to train our kids to not see how

close they can get to the line, but to

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let their love of and their fear of God

Guide them to walk in wisdom and purity

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I've heard it said that the enemy does

his best to draw you towards sex before

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marriage and keep you from it once

you're married So we need to be careful

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that we're pursuing

chastity before marriage

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and maintaining intimacy afterward

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And the ideal marriage actually

starts way before the wedding day.

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It's paved in purity and a

pursuit of Christ that will

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bless the marriage union to come

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Verse 2:15 warns, " Catch the

foxes for us, the little foxes

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that spoil the vineyard, for

our vineyards are in blossom."

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It's important to handle conflict and

issues as they arise so they don't build.

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These are little foxes, but if we're not

careful, they'll become like those foxes

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that Samson set their tails on fire,

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And they'll cause utter destruction

if we don't get them in check

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Initially in this book, we see the

courtship, then the wedding, and then

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a picture of a maturing marriage.

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And there is a chiastic structure

with the focal point being the wedding

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That portion begins in chapter

three, verse six, as we're

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given a thorough description of

Solomon's chariot and procession

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But in chapter four, we're shown how much

he delights in his bride at the wedding.

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Behold, you are beautiful, my love.

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Behold, you are beautiful.

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Your eyes are doves behind your veil.

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Your hair is like a flock of goats

leaping down the slopes of Gilead.

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Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes

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that have come up from the washing

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All of which bear twins, and not

one of them has lost its young.

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Your lips are like a scarlet

thread, and your mouth is lovely.

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Your cheeks are like halves of

a pomegranate behind your veil.

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Your neck is like the Tower of

David, built in rows of stone;

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on it hang a thousand shields,

all of them shields of warriors.

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Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins

of a gazelle that graze among the lilies.

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Until the day breathes and the shadows

flee, I will go away to the mountain

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of and the hill of frankincense.

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You are altogether beautiful, my

love; there is no flaw in you.

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Come with me from Lebanon,

my come with me from Lebanon.

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Depart from the peak of Amana, from the

peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens

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of lions, from the mountains of leopards.

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You have captivated my heart, my

sister, my bride; you have captivated

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my heart with one glance of your

eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.

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How beautiful is your

love, my sister, my bride!

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How much better is your love

than wine, and the fragrance

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of your oils than any spice!

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Your lips drip nectar, my honey

and milk are under your tongue.

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The fragrance of your ornaments

is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

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A garden locked is my sister, my bride,

a spring locked, a fountain sealed.

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Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates

with all choicest fruits Henna with nard,

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nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,

with all trees of frankincense, myrrh,

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and aloes, with all choice spices,

a garden fountain, a well of living

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water, and flowing streams from Lebanon.

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Awake, O north wind, and come,

O south wind, blow upon my

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garden, let its spices flow.

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Let my beloved come to his garden

and eat its choicest fruits

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And Solomon responds in 5:1, "I came

to my garden, my sister, my bride.

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I gathered my myrrh with my spice.

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I ate my honeycomb with my honey.

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I drank my wine with my milk."

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And the wedding guests respond, "Eat,

friends, drink, and be drunk with love."

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They were finally in the context

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where they were encouraged

to awake and embrace their

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God-given desires for intimacy

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There are descriptions that

point to the perfection of Eden

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And reveal that marriage

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can be a refreshing oasis in the world

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And as you read the chapters that refer

to their maturing marriage, there's even a

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picture of how sometimes intimacy doesn't

time up ideally for a man and a woman.

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At one point, he's ready,

but she's not quite.

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and then after he tells her how

beautiful she is and recites another

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poem to her, she finds herself awakened

to love and ready to connect with him

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In chapter eight, verse six, she

declares, "Set me as a seal upon

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your heart, as a seal upon your arm.

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Your love is strong as death.

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Jealousy is fierce as the grave."

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The marriage covenant is

vital before the Lord.

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Not only do we mark ourselves physically

that we've made this covenant, but we

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are to set a seal upon our and to walk in

devotion to our husbands and them alone

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And as Jewish wedding would

often be inscribed, " I am

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my beloved and he is mine."

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Let's pray to that end.

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Heavenly Father, we thank You

that Your Word doesn't just

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tell us how to relate to You.

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It gives us a pattern for success

for every other relationship

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We praise you for the picture

that marriage can be and how it

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can represent you and the church

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We confess our shortcomings when we

have not known your ways or when we

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have strayed from your design for purity

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or the manner in which you've called

us to protect our marriage union.

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Help us to elevate this in our

hearts and to walk in wisdom.

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As Solomon also wrote, " The fear of

the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

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Help us to wisely cut out anything that

could potentially lead us astray from

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or our hearts astray from our husbands

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Teach us to train our children in the

fear of You as well, that they could

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walk in righteousness, and that if

You have the gift of marriage for them,

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that they could bless it by the way they

preserve themselves and seek You first

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and foremost Thank you, Jesus, that you

are forever a picture of faithfulness,

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even when the men and women in

scripture fail, we know you never will.

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Thank you that you're coming back

for a spotless bride Make us ready.

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Amen