Song of Solomon

Song of Solomon 8: Love as strong as death

Begin in prayer

Before we read the last chapter of this song, let us ask the Lord to show our family a love that is as strong as death, and to lead us to Christ.

We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.

1 John 4:16

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Thank You for love that lasts, and for making marriage strong and faithful. Show us the love of Jesus, which death could not stop. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

The young woman wishes her beloved were like her brother, so that she could show her love openly and no one would despise her. She would bring him to her mother’s house, and again she asks the women of Jerusalem not to stir up love until it so desires. Then she is seen coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved. She asks him, “Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; for love is strong as death.” She says that many waters cannot quench love, and a man who would give all his wealth for love would be utterly scorned. Her family speaks of a little sister and asks what to do for her in the day when she is spoken for. She says she is a wall who found peace in his eyes, and the song ends with her call, “Come away, my beloved!”

As you read Song of Solomon 8, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God made marriage a love that lasts, strong as death, and no flood can drown it.

The song ends with some of its best-known words about love, and they come from the young woman (verses 6 and 7). She asks to be set as a seal on his heart and on his arm (verse 6). A seal is a mark of ownership, worn close to the heart and the arm. She says love is strong as death, because death cannot be stopped, and love like this holds to the end of life. Love burns like fire, “a very flame of Yahweh,” which means the greatest of flames, kindled by the LORD who made marriage. Many waters cannot quench love, and floods cannot drown it, and no amount of wealth can buy it (verse 7). Her family speaks of caring for a young sister until the day she is spoken for in marriage (verses 8 and 9). In the end she says she found peace in his eyes (verse 10). Christ loved His church and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5 verse 25), and death could not hold Him (Acts 2 verse 24).

How does Song of Solomon 8 show us that God made marriage a love that lasts, strong as death, and no flood can drown it?

God made marriage to be a love that lasts.

She asks to be a seal on his heart, close to him as long as they live (verse 6). She says love is strong as death, for death takes everyone, and nothing turns it back. This joining is for life, and Jesus said no one should tear apart what God has joined (Matthew 19 verse 6). This is why a marriage is a promise to love until death.

Floods cannot drown true love, and riches cannot buy it.

She says, “Many waters can’t quench love, neither can floods drown it” (verse 7). Hard times come like floods, and true love stays. A man who gave all the wealth of his house for love would be utterly scorned, because love is not for sale. Gold and silver could never redeem God’s people, so Christ paid with His blood (1 Peter 1 verses 18 and 19).

Christ’s love is stronger than death.

Christ’s love took Him to a cross, where He died for His church (Ephesians 5 verse 25). Yet death could not hold Him (Acts 2 verse 24). He lives forever, and He holds the keys of death (Revelation 1 verse 18).

Memorise

Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; for love is strong as death.

Song of Solomon 8:6

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, have I trusted Jesus, whose love was stronger than death?

Love, says the young woman, is stronger than any flood. “Many waters can’t quench love, neither can floods drown it.” God made marriage to be a love like this, a love that lasts as long as life. Yet one love is greater than any marriage, the love of Jesus Christ.

Christ loved His church, and He went into death for her. On the cross He took the death His people owed, and all their sin was laid on Him. Death could not keep Him, for He rose in power, and the whole debt of their sin is paid.

Because He lives, love like His cannot be stopped. So come to Him. Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. He gives forgiveness and a place with Him to everyone who trusts Him, and nothing will be able to separate them from His love.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God made marriage a love that lasts, and that the love of Jesus is stronger than death. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Please explain verses 1 to 3, 5, 8 and 10 yourself, and be kind to a child whose parent has died. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for a love that lasts, and for the love of Christ, which is stronger than death, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.

Galatians 2:20

Gracious God, we are glad that You made marriage a love that lasts. Thank You for Jesus, whose love was stronger than death and who rose to life. Take our sins away, and give us faith in Him. Keep our family faithful to one another, and close to You. Amen.