The Bridegroom's Call: New Covenant Springtime Text: Song of Solomon 2:8-17
Introduction: Reading God's Love Song
The Song of Solomon is in the Bible, and this fact has made a certain kind of pietist very nervous for a very long time. It is an intensely earthy, passionate, and erotic love poem. And because we, in our sterile age, have separated the spiritual from the physical, we don't know what to do with it. The ancient allegorists turned the bride's breasts into the Old and New Testaments, which is a hermeneutical move that requires more acrobatic skill than exegetical sense. The modern liberals, on the other hand, want to reduce it to a mere manual for married couples, stripping it of any grander theological meaning. Both are mistaken. Both are robbing the church of a glorious gift.
The right way to approach this book is typologically. This is not a formal allegory where every detail has a secret decoder ring meaning. Rather, this book describes the very real, very passionate love between a man and a woman, a husband and his wife. And in doing so, it puts the gospel on display. As the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 5, every Christian marriage is a living picture, a type, of the great mystery of Christ and His bride, the Church. If that is true of your marriage and mine, how much more is it true of this marriage, the one God Himself saw fit to include in holy Scripture?
So we are to read this, first, as a celebration of God's good gift of marital love. But as we do, we must keep our peripheral vision sharp. We must see the greater reality that this love points to. This is the love song between the great King, the Lord Jesus Christ, and His beloved bride, the Church. He is the Bridegroom, and we are the bride. This passage before us is a portrait of the Bridegroom's eager approach, His call to His beloved, and the nature of their relationship in a world that is not yet fully perfected.
This is not just poetry; it is covenant theology set to music. It is the announcement of a great seasonal shift in the history of redemption. The long, cold winter of the old covenant is over, and the springtime of the new covenant has arrived. And with that arrival comes a call to the bride. It is a call to leave the shadows, to come out of hiding, and to live in the full light of her Beloved's presence.
The Text
The voice of my beloved! Behold, he is coming, Leaping on the mountains, Jumping on the hills! My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he is standing behind our wall; He gazes through the windows; He is peering through the lattice. My beloved answered and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along. For behold, the winter is past, The rain is over; it is gone. The flowers have appeared in the land; The time for pruning has arrived; And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land. The fig tree has ripened its figs, And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance. Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along!’ O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret place of the steep pathway, Let me see your appearance, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your appearance is lovely. Seize the foxes for us, The little foxes that are wreaking destruction on the vineyards, While our vineyards are in blossom. My beloved is mine, and I am his, He who shepherds his flock among the lilies. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, Turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle Or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.
(Song of Solomon 2:8-17 LSB)
The Eager Approach of the Bridegroom (vv. 8-9)
The scene opens with the bride's excited cry. She hears and sees her beloved coming for her.
"The voice of my beloved! Behold, he is coming, Leaping on the mountains, Jumping on the hills! My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he is standing behind our wall; He gazes through the windows; He is peering through the lattice." (Song of Solomon 2:8-9)
Notice the sheer energy and eagerness of the bridegroom. He is not dragging his feet. He is not reluctant. He is coming with haste and power, "leaping on the mountains, jumping on the hills." This is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ in His first advent. The mountains and hills represent the great obstacles that stood between a holy God and sinful humanity, the long ages of prophecy, the types and shadows, the sin of man. Christ bounded over all of it. He did not let anything stand in His way. His love for His bride was so intense that He came eagerly to redeem her.
He is like a "gazelle or a young stag," creatures known for their speed, their strength, and their beauty. This is not a weak, effeminate savior. This is a virile, powerful Bridegroom, coming in the fullness of His strength to claim His own. The bride sees Him, and her heart leaps.
But there is still a separation. He is "standing behind our wall." He "gazes through the windows," He is "peering through the lattice." In the context of the history of redemption, this is a picture of the time of the Old Testament saints. They saw Christ, but they saw Him through a veil. They looked for Him through the lattice-work of the ceremonial law, the prophecies, the types and shadows. They saw Him, but not yet face to face. He was near, His voice could be heard, His presence was felt, but the wall of partition was still standing (Eph. 2:14). With the coming of Christ, that wall is about to be torn down.
The Call of the New Covenant Spring (vv. 10-13)
The bridegroom does not remain behind the wall. He speaks, and His words are an invitation that changes everything.
"My beloved answered and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along. For behold, the winter is past, The rain is over; it is gone. The flowers have appeared in the land; The time for pruning has arrived; And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land. The fig tree has ripened its figs, And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance. Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along!’" (Song of Solomon 2:10-13)
This is the central announcement of the New Covenant. The call is "Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along." This is the call of the gospel. Christ does not call us because we have made ourselves beautiful. He calls us beautiful because He has set His love upon us. In His eyes, clothed in His righteousness, the Church is lovely. It is a call to leave our old state, to rise from the dust of sin and death, and to walk with Him in newness of life.
The reason for this call is a fundamental shift in the spiritual climate. "For behold, the winter is past, the rain is over; it is gone." The long, cold, barren winter of waiting under the old covenant is finished. The stormy rains of God's judgment, which Christ Himself absorbed on the cross, are over. This is a declaration of eschatological springtime. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the first day of this new season. Everything has changed.
All the signs of spring are here. The flowers of new life appear. "The time for pruning has arrived," which can also be translated "the time of singing." Both are true in the New Covenant. The dead branches are pruned away, and the result is the joyful song of the redeemed. "The voice of the turtledove," a migratory bird whose return signals spring, is heard. This is the preaching of the gospel, the good news of the kingdom, now being heard throughout the land. The fig tree and the vines are fruitful; the firstfruits of the Spirit are evident. The whole creation is bursting with the life of the new age that has dawned in Christ.
And so the call is repeated: "Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along!" The gospel is an urgent invitation. Now is the favorable time; now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2). Don't stay in the cold house of the old age. Come out into the warm air of the new creation.
The Shy Dove and the Loving Gaze (v. 14)
The bridegroom knows His bride. He knows her fears and her insecurities. He speaks to her with tender understanding.
"O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret place of the steep pathway, Let me see your appearance, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your appearance is lovely." (Song of Solomon 2:14)
He calls her "my dove." A dove is gentle, but also easily frightened. And where is she? She is hiding "in the clefts of the rock, in the secret place of the steep pathway." This is a beautiful picture of the Church in her insecurity. We have been saved, the winter is past, but we are still prone to fear. We hide. We are conscious of our sin, our weakness, our unworthiness. We feel safer in the shadows, in the secret places, than out in the open with our Lord.
This is the impulse of all the sons of Adam. When we sin, we hide (Gen. 3:8). But the Bridegroom does not come to condemn. He comes to woo. He says, "Let me see your appearance, let me hear your voice." He is not repulsed by us; He delights in us. He wants our fellowship. He wants to hear our prayers and our praises, not because they are perfect, but because they are ours. "For your voice is sweet, and your appearance is lovely." This is the logic of grace. We are lovely to Him because He loves us. Our standing is not in our performance, but in His gracious declaration. He calls us out of hiding and into a relationship of intimate, confident communion.
The Threat of Little Sins (v. 15)
This new life of springtime and communion is not without its dangers. The garden of the church must be protected.
"Seize the foxes for us, The little foxes that are wreaking destruction on the vineyards, While our vineyards are in blossom." (Song of Solomon 2:15)
The call here shifts. Some commentators believe the bride speaks this, others the groom. It is best to see it as their shared concern. "Seize the foxes for us." The "vineyards" are a common biblical metaphor for God's people, Israel in the Old Testament and the Church in the New. The vineyard is "in blossom," which means it is in a tender, fruitful, but also vulnerable stage. And what is the threat? Not great roaring lions, but "little foxes."
Little foxes are subtle. They sneak in. They do their damage quietly. What are these little foxes? They are the "little" sins, the compromises, the bitter roots, the whispered gossip, the subtle heresies, the unforgiving spirit, the prayerlessness that can ruin the communion of a church. The prophet Ezekiel compares false prophets to foxes among ruins (Ezek. 13:4). The apostle Paul warns of false teachers who secretly introduce destructive heresies. These are the little foxes.
They must be dealt with. They must be "seized." This is a call for church discipline. It is a call for doctrinal vigilance and for personal holiness. A healthy church, like a healthy marriage, does not tolerate the little things that can grow into big things that destroy the relationship. We must be ruthless with the little foxes, because Christ's vineyard is precious, and its blossoms are tender.
Covenant Possession and Hopeful Waiting (vv. 16-17)
The passage concludes with the bride's confident declaration of her covenant relationship and her longing for the consummation.
"My beloved is mine, and I am his, He who shepherds his flock among the lilies. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, Turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle Or a young stag on the mountains of Bether." (Song of Solomon 2:16-17)
This is the heart of the covenant. "My beloved is mine, and I am his." This is a statement of mutual possession and exclusive delight. It is the language of the marriage vow, and it is the language of God's covenant with His people: "I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Jer. 31:33). Our relationship with Christ is not a one-way street. He has given Himself for us, and we, by grace, have given ourselves to Him. We belong to Him, and He, wondrously, belongs to us.
She knows her beloved is a shepherd, one who "shepherds his flock among the lilies." He leads His people in places of beauty and provision. He is not a harsh taskmaster, but a gentle shepherd-king.
But the story is not over. She looks forward to a future time, "Until the day breathes and the shadows flee." Springtime has come, but there are still shadows. The new age has dawned, but it is not yet noon. We live in the "already, but not yet." The day has dawned, but the full light of Christ's glorious return has not yet arrived. And so she prays for His return. "Turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether." Just as He came the first time with speed and eagerness, she prays that He would come again. It is the prayer of the Church in every age, the prayer that concludes the whole of Scripture: "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!" (Rev. 22:20).
Until that day, we live in this story. We have heard the Bridegroom's call. The winter of our condemnation is past. We are invited to walk with Him in the springtime of His grace. Let us therefore answer His call, leave our fearful hiding places, deal faithfully with the little foxes that threaten our joy, and live in the confident possession of this covenant truth: He is ours, and we are His.