Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm,
for love is strong as death,
jealousy is fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
the very flame of the LORD.
Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
all the wealth of his house,
he would be utterly despised.
(Song of Solomon 8:6-7, ESV)
This week I’d like to think about the vertical implications of these verses. In other words, rather than thinking about only how they apply to earthly loving relationships or specifically marital love between a man and a woman, I want to talk about God’s fiery passion for his people; that is, Christ’s Bridegroom love for his Church and the Church’s love in response. This was the primary way of interpreting the Song of Solomon during the medieval church. They saw it as an allegory of the love between Christ and His Church. And you can see where they got this given the symbolism of the bride and groom imagery found in passages like Hosea 1-3, Eph. 5, and Rev. 19.
Again, let’s use the same images we looked at last week to think about what Christ has done for us:
Seals and lockets: Remember this is about ownership and permanence, about carrying important things around the neck and close to the heart.
- 2 Cor. 1:21-22 is a great example: Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
- Here’s another: “If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him [final apostasy], he will also disown us; if we are faithless [temporary lapse in faith], he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” (2 Tim. 2:12-13, NIV)
Death and fire: Remember these images are about passionate and resolute devotion.
- Although death is the ultimate enemy, God’s in his love and fiery passion for us is, like death, all-powerful and unstoppable. And jealousy here is about resolute devotion, not selfish ambition. The point in all of this is that he is relentlessly persistent in accomplishing his purposes for those who love him despite our wandering hearts. He is the “Hound of Heaven.” (See song and lyrics at the conclusion.)
- The ESV above translates the “raging flame” image in a literal way as “the very flame of the LORD.” This seems a wise way to render the phrase as it brings out the only mention of the divine name in the entire book.
Many waters: Remember this is the one about the struggle bus.
- Life on planet earth is hard—so hard sometimes and it’s brutal on relationships whether that’s with our work colleagues, family, friends, or even our relationship with God.
- We cry out with the Psalmist: “Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.” (Psa. 69:1)
- But guess what? The creator of love and life says, “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world! My love is so powerful that nothing can separate you from my love. Not death or life, angels or demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate you from my amazing love in my son, Jesus. Indeed, my love is strong enough to be the foundation of any relationship and it is strong enough to save you! Many waters cannot quench the fiery passion of my love. No flood can drown it. I am a present help in trouble. Though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, there is a river of grace that can bring gladness to your soul—I will come through and my fiery passionate love will save my people!”
In conclusion, please enjoy this song and the lyrics below related to God’s fiery love and passion for us:
Hound of Heaven
I fled Him down the nights and days
I fled Him down the path of years
I heard all about the love of the One
Who was following me
I clung to every shallow friend
The whistling mane of every wind
I feared that once I tasted that love
I could never let go
Cause those strong feet kept following the way I sped
But the love that followed overcame the fear that fled
So I ran inside the world again
To the ones who called the Hound their friend
I thought in vain that would be the best place to hide
To mother nature’s breast I flew
And shouted to the sky so blue
Please hide me from this One so set on loving me
Came back a voice that sounded like the bursting sea
None will shelter you who will not shelter me
Shelter me, Shelter me
Finally, I can flee no more
I yielded for Your open door
The prize You sought for so long is finally Yours
Your dark and gloom have hounded me
For so long now that I can’t see
I surrender all those things You’ve taken from me
Came back a voice “I did not take them for your harm
I only wanted You to seek them in my arms
The dark and gloom you said
You could no longer stand
Was after all the shadow of My loving hand
How little worthy of My love could anyone be
Who else could ever love you, save only Me.
by Christian artist, Michael Card, who wrote these lyrics is based on parts of Francis Thompson’s 182-line poem first published in 1893.
For Discussion: What is your favorite part of Song of Solomon 8:6-7? Do you like the image of the hound of heaven above related to God’s pursuing love? Is there anything you dislike or would want to nuance differently?