Song of Solomon

Besides the story of Esther, Song of Solomon is the only other book in the Bible that does not mention the word 'God'. So why is it included in the inspired canon of scripture, when a cursory reading seems to suggest that it's a collection of love poems in prose and dialogue form?

The Hebrew title Shir Hashirim—Song of Songs—is superlative among the 1005 songs which Solomon wrote (1 Kings 4:32), despite the debates and contentions regarding its authorship. The name Solomon is mentioned seven times (1:1, 5; 3:7, 9, 11; 8:11-12) along with a lesser number of queens and concubines (6:8 vs 1 Kings 11:3) at the time this song was written.

While the original text provides no proper delineations to help readers distinguish who is speaking to whom throughout the book, it is not difficult to make out the voices of three parties involved, namely the beloved, the Shulamite girl, and a chorus of female attendees, aptly named 'the daughters of Jerusalem'. And like Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, this divinely inspired romance piece is played out in stages, beginning with courtship and ending in the consummation of love in marriage.

In this age of sexual promiscuity and moral laxity, Song of Solomon is perhaps the best gift from God that exemplify the excellence of fidelity in love and marriage in which a man and woman celebrate their sexual intimacy and union. But much more than that, it depicts the mystery of the marriage relationship between Christ and His Bride, the Church, of which the songwriter Samuel John Stone wrote:

The church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord;

She is His new creation by water and the Word.

From heav'n he came and sought her to be his holy bride;

With his own blood he bought her and for her life he died.

Indeed—love divine, all loves exceling!

OUTLINE OF SONG OF SOLOMON

1. The Courtship of Love (1:1-5:1)

a. Act I—Falling in Love (1:1-2:7)

Shulamite girl in love

Inside the king's private chambers

Friends' response

Shulamite girl defends her look

Beloved's captivation

Mutual admiration

b. Act II—Longing in Love (2:8-3:5)

Beloved's visitation

Shulamite girl's hesitation

Search in desperation

c. Act III—Uniting in Love (3:6-5:1)

Beloved's true identity revealed

Beloved's expression of love

Beloved's marriage proposal

2. The Consummation of Love (5:2-8:14)

a. Act IV—Struggling in Love (5:2-6:3)

Missed opportunity

Shulamite girl's lovesickness

Friends' query

Shulamite girl's praise of her Beloved

b. Act V—Maturing in Love (6:4-8:14)

Beloved's desire for intimacy

Shulamite girl's acceptance

Shulamite girl's declaration of love

Friends' promise to protect

United in love—at last!

 

The Five Scrolls

The five scrolls, commonly known to Jews as the Megillot, is made up of Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther. These short books are also regarded as festival scrolls and read with cantillation (ritualistic chanting) during important festivals in Jewish synagogues.

Song of Solomon is read during Passover, the spring feast, as it has a spring setting (2:11-13) where love—like the flowers—is in full bloom.

The heartwarming story of Ruth, with its late spring theme, is usually read on Pentecost during the barley and wheat harvest period, known as the 'feast of weeks' or 'harvest of firstfruits' (Exodus 34:22).

Lamentations, attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, is read aloud on the fast of day nine in the month Ab, when Jews mourn the destruction of Solomon's temple by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC and the second temple by the Romans in 70 AD. Interestingly, both events occurred on the same date!

Ecclesiastes is read during the Feast of Tabernacles as a firm reminder that life is meaningless without God, just as Solomon found out the painful way despite being the wisest man ever to live and rule in a golden age of peace and prosperity.

Esther is read at the feast of Purim, a Jewish national holiday to commemorate great deliverance from genocidal annihilation. Though the word 'God' is not mentioned in this book, His fingerprint can be clearly seen as He intervened behind the scene in the history of the exiled nation.

Let us immerse ourselves in the exhilaration of love, sweetness of loyalty, sorrows of desolation, contemplation of life's futility, and wonder of divine provision and protection!

 

Job

Perhaps no other books in the Bible is more personal and yet perplexing in addressing questions that relate to suffering like Job's story. What is God like? Why does He allow suffering? How should we respond to trials or help those who are going through one? 

As a literary piece, the brief prologue and epilogue are written in prose while the rest of the book are in poetic form. From a theatrical standpoint, it seems to be a bet between God and Satan—Job being the unfortunate deck on which the cosmic gamble is played out. From a philosophical perspective, the debates between Job and his friends brought out the futility and limitations of human reasoning, secular wisdom, and even scholastic theology.

Job's friends meant well but their advices were more harmful than helpful to Job, and led to three cycles of theological debate over God's justice and mercy. Despite his bitter rantings, Job never repudiated his faith and trust in the LORD, and though he misunderstood God's mercy, it did not tarnish His name or nature. Conversely, Job's three friends oversimplified God's justice in view of the former's misfortune and as a consequence represented Him as the author of suffering. Theological truth spoken without compassion for the sufferer always distort the image of God.

The best and safest stance is that of Elihu's view—that there is no straight answer to the question of suffering, but anyone undergoing it ought to be humble and submit to God's process of purifying his life and faith through the crucible of fire.

Job could not see the why, but he knew the who and refused to let the present suffering cloud his mind and displace his focus. And he passed the test with flying colors. Indeed, the fear of the LORD is wisdom (Job 28:28).

OUTLINE OF JOB

1. Prologue (1:1-5)

Job's fortune | fame | faith

2. Dialogue in Heaven (1:6-2:10)

a. Satan's first accusation (1:6-22)

Job's wealth is taken away

b. Satan's second accusation (2:1-10)

Job's health is taken away

3. Dialogue on Earth (2:11-37:24)

Sympathy from Job's friends (2:11-13)

Squabbles with Job's friends (3:1-37:24)

Job broke his silence (3:1-26)

a. First cycle of debate (4:1-14:22)

Eliphaz vs Job | Bildad vs Job | Zophar vs Job

b. Second cycle of debate (15:1-21:34)

Eliphaz vs Job | Bildad vs Job | Zophar vs Job

c. Third cycle of debate (22:1-26:14)

Eliphaz vs Job | Bildad vs Job

Job's final defense (27:1-31:48)

Elihu's Rebuttals (32:1-37:24)

First | Second | Third | Conclusion

4. Dialogue with God (38:1-42:17)

a. First cycle of Q&A (38:1-40:5)

God questions Job regarding creation

Job's first reply—admits ignorance | insignificance

b. Second cycle of Q&A (40:6-42:6)

God challenges Job to take on the champions

of His creation: behemoth | leviathan

Job's second reply—humility | repentance 

5. Epilogue (42:7-17)

Job's friends reprimanded

Job's fortune restored

 

Proverbs

The book of Proverbs contains an assortment of wise sayings mainly by king Solomon and a few anonymous, with the last two chapters attributed to Agur and king Lemuel, respectively.

A proverb is a concise statement that expresses a certain truth. In Hebrew form, it usually takes on a poetic prose using the following parallelism structures:

 synonymous—the second line repeats the thought of the first using similar words or ideas (1:2)

 antithetic—the second line reinforces the first by stating the opposite (10:1)

 synthetic—the second line completes the first (3:6)

 climatic—the second line takes up the same words as the first with the exception of the last word (31:4)

 emblematic—one line conveys the main thought and the other illustrates (25:25)

 formal—two dissimilar thoughts are joined in parallel expression (15:33)

Wisdom (Hebrew, hokhmah) is more than just shrewdness or intelligence; it is the ability to make good judgments and take decisive actions based on sound moral values that leads to the practical outworking of righteous living. No wonder the queen of Sheba was completely overwhelmed by Solomon when she came all the way from the east to test him with hard questions (1 Kings 10:1-9).

There is an eternal perspective in Proverbs that is often missed (see 12:28; 14:32; 23:17-18). Not all of the promises or truths will be fulfilled in this life—but they WILL be made good in the end when God sets the record straight!

12:28 In the way of righteousness is life; and in the path way thereof there is no death.

OUTLINE OF PROVERBS

1. The Virtues of Wisdom (1-9)

a. Threefold 'My Son' Instructions (1:1-19)

b. The Call of Wisdom (1:20-33)

c. Seeking Wisdom

'Aleph' Section (2:1-11)

'Lamed' Section (2:12-22)

d. Wise Living (3:1-35)

e. Avoiding Evil (4:1-22)

f. Adultery vs Fidelity (5:1-23)

g. Surety | Sloth | Seduction (6:1-7:27)

h. Wisdom vs Folly (8:1-9:18)

2. The Proverbs of Solomon (10-22:16)

a. The Godly vs The Wicked (10:1-15:33)

b. On Godly Living (16:1-22:16)

3. The Sayings of the Wise (22:17-24:34)

a. Wise words by Anonymous Writers

b. Redeemer hinted (23:11)

4. Proverbs Collated by Hezekiah (25-29)

a. Regulating Relationships (25:1-26:28)

Kings | Neighbors | Enemies | Self

Fools | Sluggards | Gossips

b. Handling Circumstances (27:1-27)

c. Manual for Future Monarchs (28:1-29:27)

5. The Words of Agur (30:1-33)

a. God's Son hinted (30:4)

b. Three-plus-four emphases (six clusters)

6. The Words of King Lemuel (31:1-31)

a. A mother's advice—Avoid evil; do good (31:1-9)

b. The excellent wife (31:10-31)

 

The Psalms

Psalms is a collection of poetry and songs known as the sefer Tehillim in Hebrew. It is quoted 81 times by nearly every New Testament writers except James and Jude, more than any other Old Testament books!

What makes it stand out from the rest of the Bible is its literary style that engages the whole range of human emotions, and the consistent theme of praise and prayer that runs through its variety of authorships. David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, was the major contributor and collector of these songs, along with Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon, Moses, and two Ezrahites—Heman and Ethan. 47 psalms are by unknown authors.

Psalms is organized into five books, each ending in a doxology. While the topics vary widely, from instructional to ethical, from adoration to supplication, history and imprecatory, suffering and thanksgiving, ascent to acrostic, the center focus of each book is the fear of God as the Judge of the whole earth. Godly fear forms the breath that gives vitality to praise, and lends expression to man's relationship with God in every emotion of the human experience.

Some psalms contain superscriptions pointing to the historical background in which they were written; those employed in temple worship usually carry the phrase 'To the chief musician' and are sometimes accompanied by special musical terms such as 'alamoth', 'gittith', 'higgiaon', 'sheminith', etc. which likely refer to certain familiar tunes or some kind of instrument.

Christ is also prophesized in messianic psalms that spoke of his life and ministry, most notably Psalms 22 and 110 which are fulfilled, and Psalms 96-99 which awaits future fulfillment just as surely as He proclaimed:

40:7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me…

OUTLINE OF PSALMS

1. The Book of the Messiah (1-41)

a. Mainly Davidic except four (1, 2, 10, 33)

b. Psalms about the Messiah

His Sonship (2)

His dominion (8)

His resurrection (16)

His suffering and death (22)

c. The Shepherd psalm (23)

d. Begins with 'Blessed is the man…' (1)

e. Ends with 'Blessed is the LORD…' (41)

2. The Book of Desire (42-72)

a. Half of these psalms are personal in nature

b. Eight psalms with historical background (51-52, 54, 56-57, 59-60, 63)

c. David's famous penitent psalm (51)

d. Begins with a deep longing for God (42)

e. Ends with the glory of God (72)

3. The Book of Israel (73-89)

a. God's dealing with Israel (74, 77-81, 83, 85, 87, 89)

b. Begins with 'Truly God is good to Israel…' (73)

c. Ends with 'Remember, LORD, the reproach of Your servants…' (89)

4. The Book of God's Reign (90-106)

a. Six great enthronement psalms (93, 95-99)

b. God's rule over our lives (90), the wicked (94), our frailty (103),

creation (104), Israel, her deliverance (105-106)

5. The Book of Praise (107-150)

a. Passover praise (hillel) psalms (113-118)

b. Greatness of God's Word (119)

c. Songs of degrees or ascent (120-134)

d. Son of David messianic psalm (110)

 

The Wisdom Books

The wisdom or poetical books, as is commonly known, are the most loved and read among the Old Testament books of the Bible, notably Psalms and Proverbs.

Jewish poetry generally exhibits four distinct features, namely, rhythmic structures, figures of speech, vivid imageries, and intense emotional expressions. The most common form uses what is known as parallelism—a pair of statements or verses that emphasize or reinforce an idea. Figures, on the other hand, convey indirect meanings and can include symbols, metaphors, similes, metonyms, sarcasm, irony, etc. Imageries provide rich expression of thoughts that stimulate the reader's mental sensory experiences. The full spectrum of human emotions—joy and sorrow, love and hate, praise and desperation—not only lend voice to our deepest beings but also challenge us to bring ourselves into submission to the Scriptures.

On a superficial level, wisdom is gained through essential life skills by means of observations and human experiences and encompasses both natural and social relationships. Beyond that, wisdom is rooted in God's created order which makes one wise with godly understanding through divine insights and inspiration. The process of acquiring wisdom, however, cannot be divorced from religious commitments, as evident from the many references made to the Scriptures to arrive at a right interpretation of life's experiences. And while we are limited in our ability to fully discern the wisdom and ways of God in the midst of life's perplexing anomalies, the wisest thing we can and should do is maintain a constant reverential fear of God in humble dependence.

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

 

Tanakh: The Hebrew Old Testament

 

OT: The Writings

To

THE ANCIENT OF DAYS

Whose going forth

is from everlasting to everlasting

and Whose glorious praise

is ever upon the lips of angels and mortals.

To

The PRIESTHOOD of BELIEVERS

elected and redeemed

to worship in the beauty of holiness

sanctified and made holy

to serve in His heavenly Presence.

 

Preface to Volume 3

Following the Law and the Prophets, the third major division of the Old Testament is known as the Writings, or Ketuvim in Hebrew, from the root word katav, meaning 'to write.'

The Writings, beginning with Psalms, comprises twelve books arranged into three parts:

• The wisdom books—Psalms, Proverbs and Job.
• The five scrolls—Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther.
• The historical books—Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles.

Notice that the arrangements and categorization of books are very different in the Hebrew canon compared to that found in the English Bible. For example, the latter grouped Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon along with Psalms, Proverbs and Job under the wisdom or poetical books but the former included only the last three.

The book of Daniel, considered a major prophet in the English Bible, is oddly stashed in the historical books of the Writings instead of the prophetical books in the Prophets collection.* It serves to reveal a disparity in the Jewish and Gentile mindsets —which is not surprising. Perhaps that could possibly explain why many Christians arrive at different interpretations when it comes to reading the prophetical books of the Bible!

Another curious deviation is how the English Bible considers Ezra and Nehemiah as separate books, whereas the Hebrew OT lumped both into one single scroll. The former attributes such division based on authorship; the latter, however, views both as a coherent continuity that recorded the Jews' return from captivity and their restoration.

These few distinctions alone should make it sufficiently clear that we need to read the Old Testament in light of its original cultural background and settings, not according to our modern perception and understanding. Jesus and His disciples were well acquainted with the Hebrew scripture in its organization, and so were the Jewish Christians and New Testament writers that followed years after. Reading the Writings based on the order prescribed by the Jewish scribes may possibly offer a fresh look and better appreciation of the ancient text.

As you embark on this enriching journey of 87 days through the Writings of the Old Testament, may you rediscover the awe and beauty of Hebrew poetry, prose and prophecy, walk with the saints and psalmists of old in their trials and triumphs of faith, and come face to face with the Author Who faithfully preserved His writings for posterity to experience Him in their own generation.

Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. (Psalm 40:7-8)

* Most of these prophets focused mainly on Israel and Judah, with three peripheral references to two other nations (Assyria and Edom) that directly or indirectly affected God's people. Daniel, however, is basically concerned with Gentile kingdoms in the grand scheme of human history under the time-table of God's sovereign rule.

Malachi

Malachi ministered in the days of Nehemiah and directed his message to a nation plagued with corrupt priests and practices, and a people that had lapsed into a false sense of security in their privileged relationship with God.

Using a question-and-answer approach, the prophet revealed deep underlying problems of superficial devotion and worship, self-centered lifestyle, blatant mixed marriages and divorces, and a prevailing arrogance of self-conceit in the leaders and people. The nation as a whole had sunk so low that God's Word no longer had any effect on them. As a result, no prophetic voice was heard for four hundred years after Malachi—until John the baptist appeared.

What had caused the returned Jews to degenerate to such a sad spiritual state? It seems that the people were impatient to wait for the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah to be fulfilled, and had become disillusioned and doubtful their faith gave way to cynicism. Like many Christians today, the Jews wondered if it's worth fearing and serving God, while outwardly they carried on a meaningless empty ritual fraught with insincerity and irreverence. They offered God blind and lame sacrifices, short-changed God on tithes and offerings, and exhibited temerity against Malachi's protest on their callous attitude: "Oh, come on, it's not that bad!"

When our view of God grows dim, materialism and externalism invariably supplant true devotion, and we end up with either ritualism or rationalism. Obligations and duties soon replace our love for God and devotion becomes a drudgery instead of delight. No wonder Malachi ended his message with the bitter word 'curse' as the final word in the Old Testament!

OUTLINE OF MALACHI

1. God the Prosecutor (1:1-2:9)

a. Against the Priests who despise God's Name

b. The Priests are cursed

2. Malachi the Prosecutor (2:10-3:15)

a. Against the People

Idolatry | Divorce | Rob God | Doubt God

b. God will judge the People at His coming

3. Commendation of the Righteous (3:16-4:4)

a. The Righteous are heard

b. A distinction will be made

c. The Day of the LORD shall come

d. The Righteous shall prosper

e. Remember the Law of Moses

4. Coming of the LORD's Messenger (4:5-6)

a. Elijah shall come

b. He shall bring restoration