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The book of Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs)

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At the start of reading the Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs) you should know that you are reading more than a teaching on lovemaking within a marriage relationship. There are approximately three major schools of thought with regard to interpreting the song: those looking for spiritual meaning, those looking for practical teaching, or those looking for poetic mastery.

The Song of Songs should be considered to be a type of perfect illustration or metaphor. It should be taken at literal face value – a book of love songs where the writer enjoys describing the many aspects of romantic and sexual love. But the Song is believed to be more than just a love song. It is ‘wisdom via entertainment’ and should be interpreted typologically.

Typology is where the text is allowed to speak literally but also illustrates a spiritual teaching. There is rich spiritual teaching that comes from allowing the in-built metaphor to work. Scripture itself indicates that the husband wife relationship is parallel (a type, a picture) of the relationship Christ has with his Church.

As you would have learned by now we need some experience and skill to help us get more out of reading the Bible. The poetry in the Song is quite difficult to get a message from if you have not tried before. To simplify it a bit, try reading the poems considering you (and us as the church) to be the woman and the man to be Jesus. This won’t solve all the difficulties but will help with many of them.

One troublesome phrase can sometimes be, ‘Arouse or awaken love till it pleases?’ Maybe Michael Eaton’s interpretation as an example will help. He says, “Once again the poem ends with the words that we have already seen in 2:7. It is a warning not to do anything that is artificial.

Daughters of Jerusalem, I ask for an oath!
By the gazelles and the wild deer of the field,
promise not to arouse or wake up this love until it pleases (3:5).

“It is as if the girl is saying to her friends: ‘Do you want a love like this? Be ready for some surprises and let this kind of love develop in its own way’. The Christian life has great heights and depths in it! It is wonderful when it is easy, but sometimes we must work at finding God in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Read it slowly. Ask many questions about who is saying what and why. You will find that ‘new glasses’ appear as you get into the language and style more closely.

The books of 1 & 2 Kings

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There is one book of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. Together they are a rich historical look at the kings of Israel and Judah from Saul to Zedekiah. Kings is history written for a distinct purpose and for a distinct people. Jeremiah is the strongest candidate for the author but authorship is open to question. The readers were supposed to read the history in these books and be moved by it. By focussing on the characters of the kings the book shows first-hand the purpose of God despite immense human failure. Most probably it was written to the exiles in Babylon to show them that God had not totally abandoned them.

Foremost on the minds of the original Hebrew readers would have been two promises from God: (1) that Jerusalem would be His dwelling place; (2) that David’s rule would last forever. In a place of exile the book seeks to restore faith to the nation by reminding the reader that God is faithful. Authors call it a theodicy – literature that seeks to justify God’s actions. In this case it shows that the exile was a result of Israel’s repeated disobedience.

The reader needs to note the history of the two kingdoms of Israel to the north and Judah to the south. Israel is made up of ten tribes and Judah of just two. Both Judah and Israel have 20 kings. Judah survives 140 years longer because of the good kings that reigned there.

Kings introduces us to some larger than life characters. Many of the kings are terribly wicked and some are wonderfully good. The book also introduces Elijah and Elisha to us. Elijah is on the stage of the rest of the Bible as a figure who represents the coming of the kingdom of God in victorious opposition to ruling wickedness. Ahab and Jezebel feature as figures of weakness and wickedness personified.

There are many lessons to learn in Kings for the individual and the church. Let the Holy Spirit show you these things.

What is Church.Life?

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1 Timothy 3:15

“…if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave [or how we should conduct ourselves] in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.”

There are many aspects of our life as the people of God, which the Bible calls “the Church”. Some of these aspects include how we ‘ought to behave’ (ESV above) or how we ought to ‘conduct ourselves’ (NIV).

Our faith is not about legalism. God accepts us as we are. But the scriptures do not shy away from saying that once we come to faith in Jesus, we ought to ‘conduct ourselves’ or ‘behave’ according to the change God does (and is doing) within us. For example, we devote ourselves to the Apostles’ teaching, the breaking of bread, the fellowship and prayers (Acts 2:42). We also get involved with God’s apostolic call to the world. And so on.

This new five-part preaching series has to do with some of the ways in which we ought to behave in the Church, in particular our local church, which is “the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” Some of the examples above, and others, will be covered.

Download the recordings

The books of 1 & 2 Chronicles

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Just like 1 & 2 Samuel, the two books of Chronicles are one in the Hebrew Bible. If you found Leviticus hard to get through then Chronicles is second hardest. This is mostly because it starts with a nine-chapter genealogy from the beginning of time until the time of its writing.

The Hebrew name for Chronicles means ‘the events of the days’. The books are written long after the events of Israel’s exile. It covers events we see in the books of Kings but the angle is quite different. Chronicles is concerned with religious history, the southern kings and God’s divine faithfulness. It is a positive and optimistic book.

The Chronicler (we don’t know the author) is dealing with Israel at a time when they are asking questions about the past exile and wondering about their relationship to God. They are asking questions like, “Are we still the people of God?”, “Do God’s promises pass on beyond the exile?”, “How do we move forward with God?” The writer is addressing these questions while chronicling the history of Israel.

The books break up into three main sections: the genealogies (1 Chron. 1-9), unity under David and Solomon (1 Chron. 10- 2 Chron. 9), the divided kingdoms (2 Chron. 10-36).

The genealogies (1 Chron. 1-9)
If you wanted to know if “God has abandoned you” a genealogy that goes back to Adam will answer, “Of course not!” A genealogy would also have functioned practically for eligibility for kingship, social status, military obligations and tracing family lines. For the modern reader these may seem rather boring but just like the genealogy in Matthew there is benefit in studying these.

Unity under David and Solomon (1 Chron. 10- 2 Chron. 9)
Chronicles traces the same history as Kings but leaves out all the ‘messy and disobedient’ bits. The concern of Chronicles is more to demonstrate a big-picture view of Israel’s history from the perspective of events rather than the characters. Possibly the reason was to inspire hope in this: God would work out his plan despite the characters involved.

The divided kingdoms (2 Chron. 10-36)
In a wide thematic approach the Chronicler differs from Kings in that Kings describes the events of the split and leading up to exile from a ‘God point of view’. Kings mentions God’s disapproval many times. Chronicles, being written many years after, picks up the idea (2 Chron. 7:14 not mentioned in Kings) that if Israel respond and had responded correctly, some of the judgment could have been averted. Again hope is shown for the future, encouraging readers not to make the same mistake.

To encourage you – these are the writings God has given us. They will teach us about Him, ourselves, following Him and so much more. Please don’t let the genre or our distance and removal from the historical situation prevent your growing knowledge of God and his amazing word.

Picture: “Tissot The Flight of the Prisoners” by James Tissot – Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

The book of Psalms

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The composition of the Psalms may be the most loved book of the entire Bible. New Testament writers certainly loved the composition of these emotionally and intellectually stimulating canticles. A modern commentator says, “Every Psalm seems to have my name and address on it”. He is not alone.

The Psalms are timeless pieces of encouragement that can be easily applied and have been used in thousands of hymns and songs. Millions have drawn inspiration from them. A large number of Christians faithfully read a Psalm a day. And this is part of the original intention.

The Psalms are accessible and ready to apply and use. Unlike prophetic books like Isaiah or Ezekiel, the Psalms are difficult to abuse through bad interpretation. They can be of more value than a little light reading in the morning. They are incredibly deep and challenging. They deal with almost every human emotion possible and present an answer to each of them in turn.

The Hebrew title means ‘praises’ and the Greek word means ‘to praise’ or ‘to pluck’. These are songs, mantras and pieces of truth that say, sing or shout out to God.

There is a lot of theology here but the message doesn’t come to us as though we are being urged or argued with. We are supposed to be convinced as we see people confess the truth about themselves and God. We are to be convinced that this is the right way to respond and think and be drawn to trust that the writer’s reality would become ours.

Considering their popularity, many an avid reader has surely noted that there are difficult to understand points. Getting a biblical message that is deeper than a few nice thoughts poses a fair difficulty. Most of the Psalms are without context and the thoughts expressed are hard to reconcile at times.

For example, consider Psalm 137:8-9:

O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who repays you
with what you have done to us!
Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rock!

Aren’t we supposed to love our enemies? Who is a daughter of Babylon to us, exactly? It is these types of difficulties we will need to iron out.

Here is some help as you read the Psalms:

Getting ready to read the Psalms

The Psalms are Hebrew poetry. Hebrew poetry is rhythmical and takes on its meter not by syllables but by accents on Hebrews words. The poems are supposed to be seen as a whole. Their fundamental characteristic is not however flow or rhythm but the echoing of thought with another. This is termed ‘parallelism’. Regularly the second verse will enhance the first intentionally, saying almost the same thing.

For example, Psalm 103:10

“He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities”.

Here are a few questions to answer before reading a Psalm:

1. How does this Psalm fit together with the others?
You will notice that there are different kinds of Psalms. There are lament Psalms (44, 74, 79, 80, 83, 85, 90); gratitude Psalms; royal Psalms; wisdom Psalms. People also group what are called ‘imprecatory’ Psalms. These are the Psalms that ask God to exercise judgement at the request of the writer. Each type of Psalm has a slightly different way of taking it as a whole.

2. What is the heading of this Psalm?
Please take careful note of the title. It is often the key to a deeper understanding and richer blessing. When you read “of David in the cave of Adullam” you will realise that his words are of such depth. What would you say if you were hiding in a cave?

3. What technical terms are being used and why?
When you read the list below you will realise there are quite a number of terms that we aren’t familiar with. The truth is that no one is that familiar with them. Considerable debate surrounds the exact purpose of some of these terms.

A few comments should help us be more familiar with what we are reading and why. All the following sentences should be filled with ‘probably’ even though not written: (definitions taken from Kidner)

Selah – it occurs 71 times. Used as an interlude or pause. Possibly to change instruments.
Haggaion – used to signal quiet instruments to be played and a time for meditation.
Psalm or Song – Songs are taken to be pieces that are used with music. Psalms may or may not be used with instruments.
Shiggaion – possibly denotes a poetic form designed to stir the emotions
Miktam – possible means ‘to cover’. The context of the Psalms it is used in could mean ‘a prayer uttered in silence’.
Maskil – could mean a ‘teaching Psalm’ but the Psalms it’s used with are not very technical. Could also mean to accompany a technical and difficult piece of music.

There is always more to know but hopefully this bit of background will help you. The Bible always becomes more real and exciting when you know as much of the background as you can.

Picture: Painting of Kern River Valley, California, USA by Old Master Albert Bierstadt.

The books of 1 & 2 Samuel

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There is only one book called ‘Samuel’ in the Hebrew scriptures. The book was divided into two around the second century (in the first Greek translation). Samuel probably penned these books, with additions from the prophets Gad and Nathan.

The first book comprises a period of about a hundred years and nearly coincides with the life of Samuel. It contains the history of Eli (1-4); the history of Samuel (5-12); the history of Saul, and of David in exile (13-31).

The second book comprises a period of perhaps fifty years. It contains a history of the reign of David over Judah (1-4) and over all Israel (5-24), mainly in its political aspects. The last four chapters of 2 Samuel are a sort of appendix recording various events, but not in a chronological order.

These books do not contain complete histories. Their aim is to present a history of God’s people and God’s kingdom in its gradual development rather than the reigns of successive rulers. Samuel is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand God themselves, and the world better. You could read Samuel many times and every time see something you never saw before.

You can see the rich personal messages in the lives of the characters. We will see ourselves there. The stories display the strengths and weaknesses of its characters honestly and plainly. Or you could read Samuel with history in mind. David appears as a king who mirrors the forever-king Jesus.

Jewish ideas of a Messiah come in part from Samuel. Israel comes to experience the rule and peace of God that it longed for. God’s underlying justice and mercy are golden threads in the books (as with almost every book of the Bible). Continue to place yourself in the story as you read. Smell, feel and taste the situations and emotions. Learn about the way our great God is so committed to his people.

Here are some questions that have often come up with regards to these two books:

An evil spirit from the Lord?

Judges 9:23; 2 Samuel 12:11; 1 Samuel 18:10

Obviously, if God is good then it seems very odd that he sends an ‘evil spirit’ to anyone. The question will rise: God can be evil?

To find an answer to this we have to first categorically state that God is not evil – he detests and can not and never will be tempted by evil. Whatever meaning we ascribe to these verses cannot bring us to the conclusion that God is evil, that would be very wrong.

Can God use evil though? Yes. This is what these verses are teaching. God can use evil for his own purposes. But if and when he does this the outcome is for good and justice is always upheld. God can not and does not contradict his character. The responsibility for the evil done is completely on the shoulders of the doer (spirit or person). Thus we could say that “an evil spirit from the Lord” is saying the same as, “God allowed an evil spirit to do as it pleased” or “God let evil fulfil his good purposes”. God employs this more often than is at first obvious in Scripture. The greatest example of God allowing evil is the murdering of Jesus to save the world. You could say, “God allowed an evil spirit to use Judas to orchestrate the killing of Jesus.”

The conclusion is that God can and does use evil to bring about his purposes in the world. He is good and right in all he does and the evil done is always the person or spirit’s own idea and God turns it all for good.

The medium calls up Samuel?

1 Samuel 28: 3-25 relays the account of Saul, Samuel and a medium. You may need to refresh your memory of the story before reading further. It brings with it many questions. Is this normal? Does this still happen? What does this mean about the dead?

The account doesn’t answer all of these questions directly. The difficulty with the Old Testament is that it often leaves out what we would consider to be very important info today – quite regularly! But it was written in a specific time and place.

It would seem that this was something totally out of the ordinary. The medium is shocked and scared when Samuel himself appears – not a vision or appearance but the man Samuel (28:15). Why would she be shocked if this was normal? Well, because it wasn’t! Not even she expected this! Whatever she did expect we cannot know, but the account is peppered with clues that this is not normal and God decides when such a thing happens.  He seemed to have decided to do it to rebuke Saul. As far as we know it has never happened again. Therefore we can’t say this passage is teaching any principle about mediums, calling up people from the dead and the like. It was a very unique situation.

The book of Ruth

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Most commentators put Ruth and Judges together because they are set in the same period. But that’s about where the similarities end. The book of Ruth is a gentle and romantic story about two inseparable women and two prominent men. The obvious messages of loyalty, kindness and generosity are easy to find. But the book has more than just that, however.

There’s a subtle thread of the providence of God in the narrative. We can’t believe that Ruth by ‘chance’ happened to be in the field of Boaz, can we? (Ruth 2:3). God was there, directing events in the background.

And not just for Ruth but for everyone and all of human history. The book presents Boaz has a kinsman-redeemer, a picture of Jesus Christ, which we see more clearly when we think of the New Testament. Ruth is also one of the first Gentiles to come to the Hebrew God in the Old Testament.

Christ is our kinsman-redeemer. We are his bride and he is the bridegroom. The bride of Christ incorporates both Gentiles and Jews. These are the main pictures we can see being presented in the book of Ruth.

The book of Judges

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No one can read through Judges and think it irrelevant for us today. We will see aspects of ourselves reflected in the narrative and the characters. As you go through the reading plan, it’s probably becoming obvious that our general knowledge of the Bible is often very narrow. Most people have a sanitised and flawed, almost ‘superhero’ view of Judges – that it’s all about people who have done great exploits. The majority of people have no clue about the main theme and purpose of this book.

Judges deals with a period of about 260 years between the death of Joshua and the rise of the monarchy under Saul, the first king of Israel. It looks at the history of Israel in relation to their behaviour before God. God had promised they would dwell in the Promised Land with great blessing as long as they obeyed Him. The history is told by looking at several characters that God raises up to keep the nation from self-destruction.

Calling the book ‘Judges’ in modern English is probably not the best. None of the ‘judges’ were judicial officials. They were more like charismatic personalities given profile and authority by God in the eyes of the people. Their roles were different but all were given to save Israel (or parts of it) from themselves and their enemies in the surrounding nations.

Reading Judges can be a rather gloomy affair if we simply look at the nation and the spiral of failure and repentance which never seemed to go anywhere other than to a worse state. But the people are not the only ones on the stage. God is there. God is the only one who is called ‘The Judge’. He is there in the midst of His people. He is there, the perfect judge, allowing sin and issuing redemption to bring about obedience. God is at work in every detail of failure and success.

There is one thing that all the judges did right. They placed their faith in the right place: God. Hebrews tells us God commended them for their trust in Him. Failures, mistakes, serious errors and sin can all be dealt with. People can be used warts and all, but not if they don’t have a rich and true trust in God. Misplace our faith and we will fail and fail indeed.

Picture: “Poussin La Victoire de Gédéon contre les Madianite” by Nicolas Poussin – Aiwaz. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

The book of Joshua

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The mighty salvation promised to Abraham way back in Genesis 12 comes to pass in Joshua. After the unnecessarily long wandering in the desert, Joshua records how they come into the Promised Land. The story is one of conquest and distribution of the land.

The book of Joshua comes to us in three pieces. The three parts relate to Joshua between the ages of 80 and 110. Chapter one talks about Joshua being set in place to lead. Chapters 24 & 25 cover Joshua’s final message and death. The middle portion breaks up into three parts as well.

  • Chapters 2-5 follows Israel entering into the land
  • Chapters 6-12 tells of Israel’s conquests
  • Chapters 13-22 explain the distribution of the land

As with all the books of the Bible there are many layers and beautifully rich stories that intertwine. These stories and perspectives will keep us in God and keep us busy with the Bible’s infinitely deep message.

Joshua is about two very important elements in life: God and us. Its teaching shows how they and we come to inherit what God has promised us. Each of us has been given promises from God. Some of them are general promises. Everyone who loves Jesus has been promised heaven forever with God. Each saved person has promises of being useful to God in their life. People are like Israel – saved from bondage to come into inheriting all that God has for them. But this inheriting is not automatic. Israel had to trust and to remove the inhabitants of the land, who were idol worshippers. We, too, will have to follow Jesus in absolute trust and remove old behaviours.

The book continues to emphasise these two elements – man’s part and God’s part. We trust and we obey. God gives the means, the power, the directives and pretty much everything else! Joshua also defines the type of courage we need – courage is dogged determination to do what we know is right, especially when there is no cheering on from anyone else.

Joshua is a high point in the life of Israel. It is supposed to be that for us: A high point in our understanding that we are saved from bondage but saved to come into some amazing promises. As Peter says ‘what precious promises’ we have! (2 Peter 1:4.) Let us learn from Israel and get all we are supposed to in God! He has an amazing inheritance for you!

Picture: “Poussin Nicolas – The Victory of Joshua over the Amalekites” by Nicolas Poussin – Hermitage. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

The book of Deuteronomy

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If you’ve made it this far in our Bible reading plan don’t let anything stop you from completing it! Well done so far. We hope this has been deeply meaningful to you.

“Deuteronomy”, translated into English, simply means “repetition of the law”. The book is a series of final addresses given by Moses on the plains of Moab. If Moses wrote a ‘last will and testament’ this would be it. Moses was preparing and reminding the people to obey the covenant way of life they promised to live by. It is essentially a repetition of the Law from Leviticus and Numbers but is concerned more with the ‘spirit’ of the Law than the definite details.

Therefore it tends to be less technical than the previous books. You can hear Moses ‘preaching’ and applying the Law to the people. It contains reasons and encouragement that the other accounts leave out. If you listen carefully you can hear Moses saying, “Come on! Please obey the Lord with your whole heart.” He was doing this especially because they were about to come into the Promised Land.

Moses’ final address starts with four chapters of him reminding Israel about the key issues they faced in the desert. The failure at Kadesh Barnea, skipping past the Edomites and Moabites on their way north. He recalls God giving them victory over the Amorites. Moses summarises their position in 4:40: “You shall keep His commandments, that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land God is giving you forever.”

Chapter 5 to 30 is taken up with Moses detailing and pressing the Sinai covenant upon the people. The explanation is long and rich. Moses moves from details and pleas (5-26) to explanation of the blessings and curses in store for them (27-30). Bear in mind that the people who were now to go into the Promised Land were small children when they came through the Red Sea. They needed to be well acquainted with the Law of God. It was their ability to obey that meant success or failure.

The last four chapters are a final goodbye from Moses. Joshua is declared the new leader. The book ends with the death of Moses. Thus Deuteronomy is a grandiose view of Israel’s life at a key moment. Moses warns of the past errors, tells them how to live now, and reminds them of the glorious future they can have.

We can see ourselves so clearly in the big scope of the book. We need to know what to do with our past – mostly break from its mistakes and forget it. Then we live out our present responsibility and live for God with all our energy and passion. Then remember the future – forever in the heavenly Promised Land!

Picture: Moses Smashing the Tables of the Law (illustration by Gustave Doré)