Solomon’s best work
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Allegory Celebration
Manual
• Allegory
▫ Christ
& the Church
• Celebration
▫ Sex
is good or fun ! !
• Manual
▫"Six
E-Z Steps"
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Of this “Reader’s Theater” or “Opera”
Groom / Husband
Bride / Wife
Daughters of Jerusalem (DOJ)
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1.
2.
Please stay with me to the end…
Poetry is powerful and sometimes
inexact, but . . .
when you put the whole book
together the basic message is clear.
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1A Courtship & Fulfillment, 1:1—5:2
2B Conversation ...wife & DOJ, 1:2-8
3B King rejoices in his wife, 1:9-10
5B Conversation between couple, 1:12-- 2:6
I love him and I love being married to him!
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1A Courtship & Fulfillment, 1:1—5:2
2B Conversation ...wife & DOJ, 1:2-8
3B King rejoices in his wife, 1:9-10
5B Conversation between couple, 1:12-- 2:6
I love him and I love being married to him!
6B Initial “charge” of the Wife, 2:7--3:5
2:7
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or
the wild does: do not arouse or awaken love until it is
ready! (NRSV)
BACK OFF ! ! ! Don’t get physically involved
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2:7 BACK OFF ! !
Easy for YOU to say ! !
We had every reason . . .
2:8-9 He is PHYSICALLY attractive
2:10--3:4 He is ROMANTICALLY attractive
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16-17
3:1-4
He initiated the relationship and invited me
Desired to know me
Resolved to avoid conflicts
Mutually committed
Always searched for one like him
3:5 BACK OFF ! !
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7B The Glory of a pure wedding, 3:6-11
8B The Lovemaking ...wedding night, 4:1--5:2
2A Conflict & Reunion
1B Cause of the Problem, 5:2-7
2B Her attempt to resolve it, 5:8--6:3
3B The reconciliation of the couple, 6:4-13
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3A Contentment & Security
1B The Couple Express their love, 7:1- -8:3
The kind of relationship which endures conflict and continues to grow
is one founded on committed & informed relationship rather than mere
physical attraction.
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3A Contentment & Security
1B The Couple Express their love, 7:1- -8:3
2B A Final Word of Counsel concerning Moral Purity,
8:4-14
1C
2C
3C
4C
The Theme: Don’t get involved before the right time! 8:4
Why? Because of the uncontrollable power of (sexually-charged) love,
8:5-7
It makes you crazy and you think there’s more to the “relationship” than
there really is!
The understanding response of the DOJ, 8:8-9
8 What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall, we will build on her a battlement of silver;
but if she is a door, we will barricade her with boards of cedar.
Wall = no entrance,
then we will encourage her
Door = “loose”
then we will barricade her
The blessedness of purity, 8:10-14
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1) May or may not be deeply compatible
2) You won’t have the personal integrity or
spiritual walk to build an intimate, personal
relationship with another.
? Personal Relationship ?
Marriage Covenant
Physical Relationship
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1) May or may not be deeply compatible
2) You won’t have the personal integrity or
spiritual walk to build an intimate, personal
relationship with another.
Personal Relationship
Marriage Covenant
Physical Relationship
Respect, Self-control, Integrity
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• “Every man who knocks on the door of
a brothel is looking for God”
--GK Chesterton
• You were designed (from the ground up)
• for intimacy with God first and
• then with another person
• in the bonds of a covenant.
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Why does this wisdom ring true?
• Relationships are founded in the soul
• They’re only celebrated in the body
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