For forty years I led you through the desert … yet your sandals did not wear out." Duet. 29:5
“King Solomon then asked for a man named Huram to come from Tyre. He was half Israelite, since his mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been a craftsman in bronze from Tyre. Huram was extremely skillful and talented in any work in bronze, and he came to do all the metal work for King Solomon.”
No doubt Huram was paid handsomely for his labors King Solomon spared no expense in building the Temple of the LORD.
“He made two cherubim of wild olive wood, each 15 feet tall, and placed them in the inner sanctuary. The wingspan of each of the cherubim was 15 feet, each wing being 71/2 feet long. The two cherubim were identical in shape and size; each was 15 feet tall. He placed them side by side in the inner sanctuary of the Temple. Their outspread wings reached from wall to wall, while their inner wings touched at the center of the room. He overlaid the two cherubim with gold.”
How stunningly beautiful, how awesome it must have been to behold! And yet this is but a meager representation of the throne room of Heaven.
“When Hiram received Solomon’s message, he was very pleased and said, “Praise the LORD today for giving David a wise son to be king of the great nation of Israel.”
Hiram, King of Tyre, was a Gentile king, yet here he is praising the LORD God of Israel. Even as God has promised to Abraham hundreds of years earlier: “In you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.”
“For love is as strong as death…”
Yea, in light of God’s promises to us, in light of His unchanging love for us, love is stronger than death.
“How beautiful are your sandaled feet, O queenly maiden.”
Many verses in the Old Testament were interpreted (in allegorical fashion) by the early church fathers as referring to Mary, the virgin mother of the Lord. This might have been one of them. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan in the late fourth century, was known for his allegorical interpretation of Old Testament passages, but he was also known for his hymns. This one dates from 397 AD:
Savior Of The Nations, Come!
Savior of the nations, come;
Virgin’s Son, here make Thy home!
Marvel now, O heaven and earth,
That the Lord chose such a birth.
Not by human flesh and blood;
By the Spirit of our God
Was the Word of God made flesh,
Woman’s offspring, pure and fresh.
Wondrous birth! O wondrous Child
Of the virgin undefiled!
Though by all the world disowned,
Still to be in heaven enthroned.
From the Father forth He came
And returneth to the same,
Captive leading death and hell
High the song of triumph swell!
Thou, the Father’s only Son,
Hast over sin the victory won.
Boundless shall Thy kingdom be;
When shall we its glories see?
Praise to God the Father sing,
Praise to God the Son, our King,
Praise to God the Spirit be
Ever and eternally.
“I am my lover’s, and my lover is mine.”
This verse reminds me of one of my favorite hymns, “I Am His And He Is Mine”, written by George Robinson in 1876. It may have inspired him to pen these words:
His forever, only His;
Who the Lord and me shall part?
Ah, with what a rest of bliss
Christ can fill the loving heart!
Heaven and earth may fade and flee,
Firstborn light in gloom decline,
But while God and I shall be,I am His and He is mine.
“My heart sank. I searched for him but could not find him anywhere. I called to him, but there was no reply.”
How lost we would be if God had not chosen to reveal Himself to us. There would be no way for us to find Him.
The wonderful reality is that He has indeed chosen to reveal Himself to us—through creation, through the Scriptures, through Jesus Christ. He has taken the initiative. All we have to do is respond, and respond with all our heart.
“You have captured my heart, my treasure, my bride. You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes, with a single jewel of your necklace.”
We treasure what we love, who we love. True love is an investment that is its own return.
“Promise me, O women of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and wild deer, not to awaken love until the time is right.”
The intimacy shared by a husband and wife is a wonderful thing, a God-honoring thing. It is sacred— to be reserved for marriage alone. Then, and only then, is the “right” time.
“I am the spring crocus blooming on the Sharon Plain, the lily of the valley.”
‘He (Christ) is the Lily of the valley’, as the old hymn goes, ‘the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.’ But He is also the Lily in the valley, signifying the perseverance, promise and purpose available to us even in the most difficult of circumstances.
