The Divine Romance

    Introduction:
  1. The nature of the book: 1:1 "The Song of Songs" (cf. 1 Kings 4:32)
  2. The persons of the book:
    1. Solomon-1:1 (typifying Christ as the kingly Bridegroom)
    2. The Shulamite girl-6:13 (typifying the church as the bride)
    3. The daughters of Jerusalem - 1:5 (typifying individual believers)
  3. The subject of the book: A description in song of the love relationship between Solomon (Peace) and the Shulamite girl (Peaceful). The words "love" and "beloved" occur over 50 times - (1:2-4, 9, 13, 16; 2:2-5, 7-10, 13, 16-17; 3:1-5, 10; 4:1, 7, 10, 16; 5:1-2, 4-6, 8-10, 16; 6:1-4; 7:6, 10-14; 8:4-7, 14)
  4. The purpose of the book: to typify the mutual love-relationship existing between Christ and the church corporately with a simultaneous application to individual believers (cf. Eph. 2:4-6; Gal. 2:20; Luke 7:47; 1 Cor. 8:3; 2 Tim. 4:8; Eph. 3:19; 5:1-2, 25-33; 2 Cor. 11:2; John15:9)
  1. A Song of Mutual Love - Song of Solomon 1:2-2:7
    2.
    1. The foundation of our love for Him - S.S. 1:2-7
      1. His incomparable love - S.S. 1:2 (1 John 4:19; Phil. 3:7-8)
      2. His dying love - S.S. 1:3 (Eph. 5:2; Phil. 2:8-11)
      3. His drawing love - S.S. 1:4a (John 6:44;12:32)
      4. His contagious love - S.S. 1:4b (2 Cor. 2:14-16; 8:7)
      5. His personal love - S.S. 1:4c (Eph. 1:4)
      6. His electing and justifying love - S.S. 1:5 (1 Thess. 1:4; Rom. 5:8-9)
      7. His disciplinary love - S.S. 1:6a (Heb. 12:5-6)
      8. His shepherding love - S.S. 1:6b-7 (John 10:14-16)
    2. The nature of His love for us - S.S. 1:8-11
      1. Leading us to the church - S.S. 1:8 (Acts 9:5-9)
      2. Making us into His image - S.S. 1:9-11 (Rom. 8:29-35)
    3. Our enjoyment of Him - S.S. 1:12-14
    4. His enjoyment of us - S.S. 1:15
    5. Our admiration of Him - S.S. 1:16-2:1
    6. His admiration of us - S.S. 2:2
    7. Our feelings about Him - S.S. 2:3-7

  2. A Song of Wooing Love - Song of Solomon 2:8-3:5
    3.
    1. Wooing by overcoming all obstacles - S.S. 2:8-9
    2. Wooing by persuasive speaking - S.S. 2:10-14
    3. Wooing by specific speaking - S.S. 2:15
    4. Responding to the wooing - S.S. 2:16-17
    5. Wooing that produces seeking and finding - S.S. 3:1-5

  3. A Song of Beholding Love - Song of Solomon 3:6-5:1
    1. The bride beholding the excellencies of the Bridegroom - S.S. 3:6-11
    2. The Bridegroom beholding the beauty of the bride - S. S. 4:1-5:1

  4. A Song of Heart Love - Song of Solomon 5:2-7:13
    1. The yearning heart of the bride - S.S. 5:2-9
    2. The exulting heart of the bride - S.S. 5:10-16
    3. The knowing heart of the bride - S.S. 6:1-3
    4. The Bridegroom's attraction for the bride - S.S. 6:4-10
    5. The Bridegroom's detailed enjoyment of thebride - S.S. 6:11-7:9a
    6. The fruitfulness of the heart love between the bride and the Bridegroom - S.S. 7:9b-13

  5. A Song of Unconquerable Love - Song of Solomon 8:1-14
    6.
    1. Loving His appearing - S.S. 8:1-4
    2. Love that has passed every test - S.S. 8:5-7
    3. Love for all believers - S.S. 8:8-12
    4. Waiting love - S.S. 8:13-14