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Joel 1:6-7, 1 Peter 5:8, Revelation 5:5

The Lion King!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 3, 2023

Joel warns the people of God that judgment will come upon them like a locust plague. He calls them to wake up to the reality of their situation. He rebukes the people for their luxurious lifestyles and excessive indulgences, and then he gets specific on the judgment that’s about to come. In Joel 1:6-7 God lays out the devastation, “For a nation has come up against my land, powerful and beyond number; its teeth are lions’ teeth, and it has the fangs of a lioness. It has laid waste my vine and splintered my fig tree; it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; their branches are made white.”  It’s almost like Joel is describing what the land would look like after a locust plague passed through. But these locusts were more like lions! The produce of the field would be either eaten or destroyed. The bark of trees would be torn away, exposing the naked wood. The nation had just experienced a devastating locust plague, and they all remembered that experience. What was coming would be multiplied greatly as much as a predator the size of a lion would do more damage to a predator the size of a locust.

There were so many of them that they could not be counted. “The strength of the locusts is defined not only by their numbers but also by their voracious appetite and ability to devour anything in their path. And thus, the seer describes these hostile, countless intruders as possessing some formidable weapons: the teeth of a lion and the fangs of a lioness. The lion is often used to picture enemies who attack the people of God. In typical Hebrew poetical style, the locust’s ability to tear and shred is described by a parallel phrase: And it has the fangs of a lioness. The lioness is occasionally employed as a symbol of violence.”[1] Wikipedia says that the lion is an ancient Babylonian symbol and symbolically represents the King of Babylon. The lion imagery that Joel employs might very well represent the massive Babylonian army that would do the invading.

I’m moved by 1 Peter 5:8. It describes our enemy as a devouring lion. It says, “Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” This is a familiar verse, but we must remember that it uses a simile. Just to refresh your high school English a simile is a figure of speech comparing one thing with another to make a description more vivid or colorful. The Babylonian Army is not made of lions. Satan is not a lion. The Army and Satan are “Like” a prowling lion. There is a fascinating video of two lions fighting to see who will be king of the pride.[2] They will also fight over the right to mate with a fertile female as well. With the lion imagery being used in the Bible, both the Old Testament and the New Testament, I can’t help but think that the authors understood lions better than we do. The Messiah is also figuratively referred to as a lion in both the Old Testament and the New. The word “Satan” actually means “Adversary.” There is a battle between two forces. Jesus, the lion of the tribe of Judah, and Satan, the prowling lion wanting to devour us. I’m pleased to quote the book of Revelation here. One of the elders, in John’s vision, sees his anxiety and says, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered” (Revelation 5:5).

[1] Busenitz, Irvin A. 2003. Commentary on Joel and Obadiah. Mentor Commentaries. Geanies House, Fearn, Ross-shire, Great Britain: Mentor.

[2] Wildlife: Two Lions Fight to See Who’s King! – YouTube

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Hosea 1:4-6, Various

From Unloved to Loved!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 2, 2023

Hosea was instructed to name his son, born to Gomer, Jezreel. That was to be his name because it would declare the coming judgment of God upon an adulterous nation. Hosea 1:4-5 says, “And the Lord said to him, ‘Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day, I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.’” Gomer conceived again, but it appears this child was not from Hosea but from one of her many adulteries. God directs Hosea to give it a name with a specific meaning as well. Hosea 1:6 says, “She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, ‘Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.’”  Many commentators think that the ESV’s (English Standard Version) translation of the child’s name as “No Mercy” might not be as accurate as it should be. In Hebrew, it is Lo-Ruhamah. Some English translations like the King James, New King James, and many others just put the Hebrew word in English letters without defining it. The Good News Translation says, “The Lord said to Hosea, ‘Name her Unloved because I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them.’” Garrett says, “The name Lo-Ruhamah means ‘not loved.’ It is a dreadful name to give to a little girl. It communicates rejection by her father and says that he has abandoned her to all the troubles of the world. For a culture as child-centered as Israel was, it is difficult to imagine a name more scandalous and offensive. Whenever her name was spoken, it commanded the attention of the people around and invited the question, Why would anyone call his daughter that?”[1]

The commentators are also divided on the issue of whether this little girl is Hosea’s daughter or one of his many consorts. But the name itself seems to imply to me that this daughter, who is unloved by her father, is the offspring of another man. Garrett goes on to observe, “The people heard that terrible name, and no doubt whispered to one another, ‘Hosea’s wife is unfaithful; he must doubt that this child is his. He has rejected the poor thing!’” The most important translation confusion, however, rests with the phrase “to forgive them at all.” Garrett and other Hebrew scholars argue that it’s a total mistranslation. He translates this verse as “Call her name ‘Not Loved.’ Thus I shall no longer let it happen, that I should love the house of Israel. But I shall completely forgive them.” This seems to be the message of the whole book and fits the context much better. Hosea is about a husband who continues to love and forgive an unfaithful wife. It was a picture of how God continues to forgive his unfaithful people.

As I think about this, it’s truly humbling. We might want to point our fingers at Israel, which I think I do often and say what an ungrateful, unthankful, and rebellious people they were. They deserve everything they get. But then I remember the indignation that David showed to the parable Nathan told him about the wealthy man slaughtering the only beloved pet of his poor neighbor while he kept his own herd safe. When David got indignant and said, “that man should die.” Nathan said to him, “you are that man.” It’s always tempting for us to identify with the righteous people in the Bible stories, but if the truth be told, I am the one that has proven unfaithful. I am the illegitimate child of God that has been named “unloved.” Although we were all foreigners, not natural children, God bestows upon us in Christ the blessing of adoption. As Paul tells the Romans, we are now legitimate children of God who cry, “Abba! Father.” Although we were once aliens and unloved by God, He demonstrated his love for us in Christ. While we were still sinners, Christ took the shame of our sins on himself and paid the penalty for us.

[1] Garrett, Duane A. 1997. Hosea, Joel. Vol. 19A. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

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Daniel 1:8-15, Various

Dare to be a Paul

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 1, 2023

The King of Babylon was intent on converting the Jewish youth to their lifestyle and culture. But Daniel and his friends found ways to resist. Daniel 1:8-15 tells some of the story, “But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, ‘I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.’ Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ‘Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.’ So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days, it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.”

“Dare to be a Daniel” has been the title of many books and sermons, past and present. But it’s important that we understand the “stand” that Daniel took and why. The nation of Israel was in captivity because of its failure to keep the law of Moses. Daniel and his young friends were dedicated Jews and had set their hearts on keeping the law while in captivity in Babylon. As God had punished the nation for failing to keep the law, God rewarded these young men for keeping it while prisoners in Babylon. The pressure to compromise their standards was great. They were offered all the good things of Babylon and received very special treatment from their captives. Yet, even in the face of this pressure, they held firm to the conviction to keep the law of Moses. Daring to be a Daniel is holding firm to one’s convictions in spite of pressure from others to compromise them. What does that mean for us today?

Peter was told in Acts chapter 10 to take and eat foods that had been forbidden to Jews according to the law of Moses. Peter refused to eat, saying that he would never compromise this standard. But God repeated his vision three times, telling him not to call unclean what God has declared clean. Most commentators suggest that this was simply symbolic and represented the Gentiles who did eat unclean food but did not refer to eating the forbidden food itself. This suggests that the standard of a Jewish diet is still applicable to us today. But Jesus said in Mark 7:18-19, “Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him,  since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled? (Thus he declared all foods clean.)” Peter’s peer pressure was not from a gentile culture that ate such foods but from the Judaizers who insisted that all gentile converts keep the Jewish laws regarding their diets as well as circumcision. Peter struggled with this peer pressure during much of his ministry. Paul had to confront Peter on these issues, as recorded in his letter to the Galatians. In Galatians 2:11-12 we read Paul’s testimony, “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.” There are still those who would restrict Christians from certain foods. Paul warned Timothy about them. He urges Timothy to stand against those who “forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods created to be received with thanksgiving… for everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 1:3-5). Daniel stood against those pressuring him to violate God’s revealed truth. Paul stood against those who pressured him to violate God’s revealed truth. Jesus fulfilled the law, and we are called to stand against the legalists who want to rob us of our freedom in Christ. Dare to be a Paul.

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Ezekiel 1:4-6

Every Knee Will Bow

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 30, 2023

Although God is often pictured in scripture as the “rider on the storm” in Ezekiel’s vision, there seem to be four riders. Each of the riders has four faces and four wings. Ezekiel 1:4-6 says, “As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings.” Cooper talks about the vision of the storm, “The storm vision has several significant features. It was described as ‘immense,’ a reference not only to its size but also to its intensity. Successive bursts of lightning came from this storm, creating an intense electrical display. The flashing fire was so intense that it illuminated the storm cloud like the brightness of the molten metal. The storm came from the north, the direction from which the Babylonians invaded Judah. The great storm from the north represented the coming invasion and destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by the Babylonian army.”[1]

Out of the storm walks the four living creatures, a tetramorph. The word comes from the Greek for tetra, meaning four, and morph, meaning shape. In Christian history, this word is often used to refer to the four Gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In ancient art, you will see drawings associated with them and the four living creatures mentioned in Ezekiel. Wikipedia says, “The tetramorphs were especially common in Early Medieval art, above all in illuminated Gospel books, but remain common in religious art to the present day.”[2] I don’t think Ezekiel is picturing the Gospels. I think he’s showing that the gods of Assyria and Babylon are simple instruments in God’s hands to bring judgment on Israel for failing to abide by their covenant promises.

Ezekiel was captive in Babylon when he saw this vision, and it’s hard not to connect it with the Lamassu of that culture. The Lamassu was a Sumerian god or goddess depicted by the hybrid image of a human, bird, bull, and/or lion. According to a Wikipedia article, this is a well-known symbol, even today. The British 10th Army, which operated in Iraq and Iran in 1942-1943, adopted the Lamassu as its insignia. Further, the United States Forces in Iraq used a bearded man with a winged bull body in its logo. The article goes on, “A man with a bull’s body is found among the creatures that make up Aslan’s army in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis. He appears at the Stone Table, challenging the White Witch “with a great bellowing voice.” In the film Alexander (2004), lamassu are seen at the Ishtar Gate in Babylon. In the Disney film Aladdin (1992), a gold lamassu can be found in the scene where Aladdin and Abu enter the cave in the desert to find the lamp. And, in the “Star Wars” prequel: Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Lama Su is the name of the Kaminoan cloner who tells Obi-Wan-Kenobi about Jango Fett.”[3] In the book of Revelation, we see very similar “living creatures” that worship at the throne of God. If I’m right, and I’m always right, the depiction of these creatures pictures God’s use of these nations and their gods to do His will. They only worship and serve at the command of the one true God. In the end, every knee shall bow, of things on earth, under the earth, and above the earth, at the name of Jesus. He is seen as the lamb that sits upon the throne in the book of Revelation accepting the worship of the 24 elders along with the living creatures. As Ezekiel is a prisoner in Babylon, it’s only temporary. God will bring his storm of judgment upon the world, and all will bow to worship his Son Jesus.

[1] Cooper, Lamar Eugene. 1994. Ezekiel. Vol. 17. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetramorph

[3] Lamassu – Wikipedia

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Lamentations 1:4, Various

A Time to Celebrate!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 29, 2023

Lamentations 1:4 continues the narrative on the suffering of Israel at its enslavement by the Babylonians. Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, the home of King David, and the center of Israeli life, has been left as a ghost town. There are no more neighborhoods, the Temple has been destroyed, and the walls have been torn down. Except for a few stragglers, the city is empty of all life.  The city that once buzzed with commerce, celebrations, and social activity is now left desolate. The passage says, “The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly.” The phrase in this passage that says “her virgins have been afflicted” is rendered by the Septuagint (The Greek Translation of the Old Testament) as “her maidens have been dragged away.” The New Revised Standard Version has this translation. It seems to complement the rest of the verse in that all signs of life are gone. The “virgins” or young maidens represent the hope for future generations. All hope is gone. Gingrich writes, “The roads to Jerusalem, formerly crowded with pilgrims, were empty, for the feasts were no longer kept. The open places inside the city’s gates (where the merchants had sold their wares, where the judges had settled disputes, and where the people had gathered to converse) were deserted. The city’s priests sighed for they offered no sacrifices and so had no income. Her virgins were afflicted with sorrows, for they had no prospects for a husband and children. All of these things caused Jerusalem to dwell in bitterness.”[1]

I’m reminded of our stay at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem several years ago. We arrived at the Hotel after a long day of walking to several places in the city. Jerusalem is divided into four quarters: Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. In a video presentation on the city, a young girl of each religion explains what it’s like to live in her quarter of Jerusalem.” Although they all have distinct characteristics, the business, the activity, the commerce, and the crowds make the walk very interesting. When we arrived at the Hotel, we enjoyed a great meal in a restaurant that overlooked a modern swimming pool with a large pavilion where a band was set up. We watched a young Jewish couple perform their routines in a traditional wedding ceremony. It was very Jewish and very somber. When the ceremony was over, men cleared away the tables, and the band began their opening set of music for the newlyweds and their guests. I was rather surprised that the first song the band played was one we all know from KC and the Sunshine Band, “Get Down Tonight.” The wedding was in Hebrew. The music was English.

There is no longer any reason to celebrate. There are no more weddings in Jerusalem. The city itself is in mourning. There is no more commerce, and there are no more celebrations of any kind. The city lies desolate. Yet, as the Psalmist sings, there is coming a great day of restoration. Psalm 65:11-13 says, “You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.” The outcasts in Jeremiah’s day could not even imagine what God had in store for them. In the midst of their great “lamentation” God did not totally desert them and had great plans for their future. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” This is God’s plan for us as well. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” That will be a great time of celebration.

[1] Gingrich, Roy E. 1998. The Book of Lamentations. Memphis, TN: Riverside Printing.

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Jeremiah 7:21-23, Various

The Pit of Despair

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 28, 2023

 Jeremiah warns the people that God’s wrath is to be poured out on man and beast and the whole created order. This is an irreversible prophecy. It came to us beginning with our ancestors, Adam and Eve. God sent the curse on sin. Every generation since has followed in the footsteps of the first sinners. We felt shame and remorse and try to hide from God and even appease Him with our sacrifices. But none of that will assuage God’s wrath on sin. He does not want our sacrifices. He wants our obedience. Jeremiah explains this to the children of Israel who have turned from God to idols. In Jeremiah 7:21-23 we read, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the flesh. For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’” This is reminiscent of 1 Samuel 15:22. Saul disregarded Samuel’s instructions and offered the sacrifices on his own, “And Samuel said, ‘Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.’”

We seem to think, maybe subconsciously, that we can do something or give something that will make up for our failure to obey. It’s a lesson we all have to learn the hard way. David had learned the hard way that obedience is better than sacrifice. He had learned it with Bathsheba. He learned it when he failed to handle the Ark in accordance with God’s instructions to Moses, and it cost Uzzah his life. He learned it again in 1 Chronicles 19 when Satan inspired him to take a census contrary to God’s instructions, and a plague killed thousands of his citizens. Yes, David learned the hard way (like most of us) that obedience is better than sacrifice. This theme is repeated in the Bible a lot. Solomon speaks of it in Ecclesiastes. It’s in Proverbs. According to Loizeaux, “The book of Esther contains principles of great value at all times, but especially at the present one when some who delve very little into the word of God are liable to wonder at some of His ways and grow discouraged in the path of obedience. It is needful, therefore, that such, and all of us, should have detailed before us the fact that ‘obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.’ May God richly bless your effort to bring to the surface what His Spirit has laid up for us in this little book.”[1]

As I ponder the struggles in my life right now, there are some ways in which I don’t feel I have the ability to do even know I believe God wants me to do them. I still harbor some bitterness against people. I’ve said some things that I should go apologize for. I’ve even told some lies that I should go back to those people and ask for forgiveness. This thinking has often led me to the pit of despair. It was extremely refreshing to read Charles Stanley’s explanation from the Christian perspective. He writes, “What happens when you ignore God? In your mind, do you picture Him just walking away, looking forlorn and rejected? Or do you have a mental image of God getting mad at you and banishing you to forty years of wilderness wandering? Neither is correct. God loves you perfectly. And His love for you is not based on your obedience. Though He tells us in His Word that obedience is better than sacrifice, the thing that God wants most from you is a love that comes from your heart. He doesn’t stop loving you just because you do something wrong. None of us can earn God’s love by being good or trying to be perfect. For one, we do not have the ability to do either of these on our own. We need a Savior. And this is why Jesus came to die for you and me. He does the very thing that you cannot do for yourself. He makes you acceptable in God’s eyes. He sets you free from sin. When we ignore the Lord, we are the ones who suffer and miss a great opportunity for blessing. God is not a strong and mighty taskmaster who waits for us to do something wrong so He can pounce. He is a loving God who listens to our cries. When He draws you to Himself, He uses love, not a rod of thunder. God knows that once you drink of His love, the world’s appeal will fade. Give Him your heart, and you will be blessed by what you receive from Him.”[2]

[1] Loizeaux, Paul J. 1921. “Prefatory Note.” In Notes on the Book of Esther, 2d ed., 5. New York: Loizeaux Bros.

[2] Stanley, Charles F. 2006. Pathways to His Presence. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

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Isaiah 1:4-6, Various

The Problem Within

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 27, 2023

In the first three verses of the book of Isaiah, God calls forth the universe to stand up as witnesses against his people, Israel. They are children who have rebelled against him, and unlike animals, the ox and the donkey who come home when they’re hungry, they remain alienated from the one who feeds and cares for them out of his great love. God sends Isaiah to ask them to consider what their rebellion brought them. Isaiah lays out the current condition of God’s people in the next three verses. Isaiah 1:4-6 says, “Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, and they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil.”

Isaiah charges the nation with deep-seated sin. Briley says, “The parallel terms nation, people, brood, and children are comprehensive, and the descriptors sinful, loaded with guilt, evildoers, and given to corruption refer to a deeply rooted problem rather than a superficial one.”[1] Isaiah is describing the symptoms of leprosy. McGee suggests this is exactly what Isaiah thought when he wrote this passage. He says, “Isaiah also had leprosy in his thinking as he described the sins of his people: “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment” (Isa. 1:6).”[2] The sin has gone so deep into the very core of the nation that there was no one to treat it. There is no medicine or treatment of any kind that might cure this disease. Like leprosy, it has spread to all aspects of the nation. Ryrie adds, “Principally, leprosy illustrates the defilement of sin, which results in separation. Insidiousness, loathsomeness, uncleanness, separation, defilement, death, are all points of comparison between leprosy and sin.”[3] Even though you saw leprosy on the outside of the body, the real cause of the disease was lying beneath the surface. The sores and other problems were symptoms of the disease, but the cause ran deeper still. Sin is precisely the same. We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. The root of sin runs deep. Sin proceeds from a sinful heart. We all have sinful hearts. Jeremiah tells us that the heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things. Who can know it? That answer is no one can know it. Jesus tells us in Matthew 15:19 that evil thoughts, murders, adultery, theft, and lies all proceed from the heart of man. The disease lies at the heart of man. We have it long before the symptoms begin to show. One blogger writes, “sin does its work in us well before others may ever see it. It often starts with secret sins, where only we will feel the tenderness. Then it begins to show itself in public sin, then when we defend and justify our sin, it starts to fester and putrify, but it all starts from within.”

 Isaiah introduces his readers to the condition of the people of Israel. He is also introducing us to our own condition, which is not unlike leprosy. But Jesus can heal lepers. Isaiah is going to speak of this truth through his book. The description of Jesus’ cleansing action is seen clearly in chapter 53, where Isaiah writes, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds, we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

[1] Briley, Terry R. 2000–. Isaiah. The College Press NIV Commentary. Joplin, MO: College Press Pub.

[2] McGee, J. Vernon. 1991. Thru the Bible Commentary: The Law (Leviticus 1-14). Electronic ed. Vol. 6. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[3] Ryrie, Charles C. 1956. “The Cleansing of the Leper.” Bibliotheca Sacra 113: 264.

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Song of Solomon 1:4

More than Smell and Taste

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 26, 2023

Verse 3 of the first chapter of the Song of Solomon informed us that the lover smelled like sweet perfume and fragrant oils. In verse 2, the lover informs her lover that his kisses are sweeter than wine. All the young girls were attracted to the young king and praised all his lovable attributes. Then verse 4 adds the idea of urgency and haste to the maiden’s love for this man. She says, “Draw me after you; let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers.” Instead of running after party pleasure, the maiden prefers her lover’s company. She continues, “We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you.”

The senses of smell and taste play a large part in how people are attracted to each other. “Compared to most other animals, humans are not historically known for their keen sense of smell. However, when it comes to falling in love, recent research shows that people do, in fact, rely on their noses to perceive chemical signals in a potential mate. These signals, known as pheromones, give the brain subtle pieces of information that, in combination with our other senses, help people determine the viability of a budding love interest. Additionally, ‘if you have a positive experience with someone whose smell you enjoy and to whom you’re attracted, your body’s dopamine system will register this interaction as a reward worth seeking again,’ says Dr. Stieg. From this point, the brain will correlate being in that person’s presence with the insatiable desire to do so over and over again.”[1] Also, “Tasting something sweet sets off the brain’s pleasure center, flooding it with dopamine and the strong urge to repeat the behavior — in this case, the reward of being with that other person.”

The King’s lover wants to be with him. His attraction is stronger than anyone or anything else in her life. Everything about the king draws them to himself. When commentators see this book as an allegory of the church’s love for her king, they understand this to be teaching about the general attraction Christ has above all others. Taking this book as a literal presentation of love between a man and a woman has its merits, yet, that love, as seen in all of David’s affairs and Solomon’s affairs, brings diminishing returns as life goes on after the initial stages. They also all end in death. There seems to be more lasting value to understanding the Holy Spirit wrote this book through the hands and experience of Solomon to teach us of a far more comprehensive love. Charles Simeon writes, “Who is there so excellent in himself, or such a source of blessedness to them that love him? Go through the universe; survey everything that stands in competition with him, and see what it can do for your souls. Take that highest of earthly bliss, which is here used to shadow forth the blessedness of union with Christ: how often have they been disappointed who have most passionately sought, and fondly hoped that they had attained, the summit of human happiness! And where it has been enjoyed in its utmost perfection, how soon has it been cut short by the hand of death! But nothing can damp, and nothing can terminate, the blessedness of those who are united to Christ.”[2]

[1] Your Brain and Five Senses: The Science Behind Falling in Love (nyp.org)

[2] Simeon, Charles. 1833. Horae Homileticae: Proverbs to Isaiah XXVI. Vol. 7. London: Holdsworth and Ball.

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