Intermediate Lesson 19 - Book of Song of Solomon

MESSAGE FOR PEOPLE TODAY FROM THE BOOK OF SONG OF SOLOMON

Church: Thyatira                                        Lesson 24 of 39                                       Theme: Covenant

Background Information:

ü  We asked in the book of 2 Samuel, “How can the creation know how to remain faithful to a covenant?"

ü  In Nehemiah we were awakened to learn how the world will try to confuse the message of Jesus’ sacrifice by teaching contractual unfaithfulness as opposed to covenant faithfulness.

Statement of Faith to Say Amen to for the Book of Song of Solomon:

I can be a witness who learns how to enter into the new covenant by listening to a man and woman and not the world.

Essential Question:

Can I be a witness who gets a heart of flesh?

Book of Song of Solomon:

Have students read pages 110-114 in The Pattern of Sound Teaching.

After students read the information ask them, "What do you want to talk about?"

Remember the Issue:

Living a life of a man and a woman who are faithful to a covenant relationship bears witness to receiving God’s spiritual gift of a new covenant blessing of receiving a new heart. 1 Corinthians says because the power of love is so great that each man should have his own wife and each wife should have her own husband, so they will avoid fornication. The only other option is to stay single. When comparing how the world is teaching us to love, it is clear the world is not teaching the new covenant that Jesus established. For this reason, God offers the spiritual gift of another covenant blessing, where we can test God with our giving. Because the church is teaching the new covenant relationship, we are to give to the church. The church is to teach against fornication, and it is a burden to bear witness to the world about fornication as covenant unfaithfulness because the worldview teaches us to tolerate fornication. By putting on the armor of God, we can build an internal temple on the foundation of faith that the church of Laodicea formed on The Rock of Faith. We need to remember God’s armor includes a defense of the (4) The Belt of Truth. In Song of Solomon 8:4 we are warned against awakening our love until it pleases. People pleasers lie, and what this is saying is not to lie to yourself because pleasing someone will not make the relationship better. We should enter into a relationship as a covenant that is “till death do us part” and not believe lies that will awaken and “stir up” the heart to be scorned. We should use this weapon to stay in control of our mind, and to bear an inner witness to the world about the spiritual gift of the new covenant blessing of receiving a new heart that God offers for faith:

(1)   A man and woman will bear witness to the world when they both agree to enter into a covenant relationship with their hearts. Love is so enormously powerful it will overwhelm the man and woman's entire mental state.

(2)   The man and woman will bear witness to the world when they unite their hearts in a covenant relationship together.

(3)   When the man and woman are in a covenant relationship together, they should not take advantage of one another’s heart after entering into a covenant with one another. A man and woman will bear witness to the world when they are committed to meeting their partner's needs and not just their own needs.

(4)   A man and woman should forgive one another when they are in a covenant relationship together. When a man and woman are together there will be problems and when they forgive one another, this is how a man and woman bear witness to the world.

The woman in this story is a Shulamite woman who married King Solomon. King Solomon had 1,000 wives. King Solomon left his Shulamite wife with a jealous heart. When a loved one gives their spouse a jealous heart it will be a heart of stone and not a heart of flesh. The Shulamite woman who married King Solomon realizes now that the covenant that she and Solomon entered into has left her with a jealous heart, and she is feeling pains in her heart that are just as cruel as the grave.

Remember the Truth Jesus Brought:

Realize that the world’s agenda loves to promote the intimate part of the covenant; however, the world does not teach married couples how to remain in the relationship “till death do they part.” The world's agenda will teach intimacy that does not include God’s commandments. When the two agendas are compared, it is easy to see that the world's agenda will give people a heart of stone, and God’s agenda will give people a new heart. The world teaches us that God made us this way and we should satisfy our desires. The world teaches us that we cannot control our desires. One man and one woman include intimacy with commitment “till death do us part.”

Because there is a blessing, there is also a curse. Remember God said in the book of Deuteronomy that He would circumcise people’s hearts where people would love the Lord with all their heart, and then the curses would fall on the people who hate the people who are in a covenant. Love is a powerful force that can take away the heart of stone and give us a new heart of flesh when we use the force of love in the way that God intends for us to use it. The Song of Solomon is an instruction manual that explains how to harness the powerful force of love with new covenant faithfulness.

Remember the Rock God Established:

Solomon stumbled because he turned away from the Lord. Solomon was still under the old covenant. God said in the book of Deuteronomy that He would circumcise people’s hearts to give them a heart of flesh and not stone. God also said that He would write His commandments on people’s hearts (1) The Shulamite asked to be set as a seal on Solomon's heart as on thine arm; (2) A seal was used on a person’s arm to secure equally binding documents such as a contract; (3) However because the Shulamite asked to be a seal on Solomon’s heart, she was explaining how to be faithful in a covenant relationship “till death do they part.” As it is written in Song of Solomon 8:6, “Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is as strong as death; jealousy is as cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.”

Activity:

The activity directions are located in Appendix 3.

Students will play a game called Sin.

Conclusion:

Do not let the world awaken and “stir up” your heart with covenant unfaithfulness.

Next Lesson:

In the next lesson, God promises a way to escape what we cannot endure when we are unfaithful in a covenant relationship. We are to repent with zeal. When someone repents with zeal because they were unfaithful, we are to forgive them. A righteous behavior that will bear good fruit is new covenant faithfulness. Repenting with zeal and forgiving in a covenant relationship is a defensive way to fight back without empowering what we are fighting against.