His banner over us ,,,,,,

Song of Songs 2:1-4 I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the maidens.

Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste. 4 He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love.

I can’t get enough this soap opera that ensues in this book of Songs. The beloved story continues all the time. In our last post we examined the exchanges between the lover and the beloved in a bit. We saw the beloved captivated by her lover but she recoils back and she is intimidated by the texture of her skin. Meanwhile the lover pursues and showers her with love despite her murmurings. We also saw that this love story is a picture of our relationship with God which climaxes in Christ who entices us with love and we are captivated by him. I cant get enough of the way God is always in the mission of love.

The conversation carries on as the beloved says that she is a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. Rose of Sharon is a depiction of different species of flowering plants that are highly valued. The beloved discovers her value, she is extremely valued, a lily of the valleys.

This is how the Wycliffe Bible commentary describes the Rose of Sharon

I am the rose of Sharon. The bride is still speaking. It is difficult to determine which flower the bride refers to. The only other occurrence of the word in the OT is in Isa 35:1. Crocus appears to be the best translation. Sharon is the Mediterranean coastal plain between Joppa and Caesarea. In the time of Solomon it was a place of great fertility.( (Charles F. Pfeiffer, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Old Testament, (Chicago: Moody Press) 1962.)

His banner over us,,,,,,,,,,

So we can see How esteemed we can be when we realize how beautiful and loving we are. It’s like glowing and reflecting the same light which shines on us as in a mirror.This is actuually a mystical union

The lover replies and describes her beauty in a more phenomenal way like a lily among the thorns is my darling. We must use a lot of typology here to suck all the juice from this love story, after all Christ is the perfection of any love story. We will discover that Christ is really the rose of Sharon, he is the valuable fragrant lily of the valley, most valuable and to be desired of men.

The Lover echoes her beloved’s new found status by describing her as a darling, a lily among the thorns, what a picture of our God resonating with us in love. She s not only a lily but a lily uniquely found amongst thorns, she is conspicuously beautiful and captivates her lover.

This is what God sees in us. Value. We carry within us treasure. That is the beauty of being human. We are treasures in earthen vessels ,,, yea that sounds like lily among the pricky thorns . Out of the miry clay we are formed and established upon the rock who is Christ.

What a status we have now? We are loved and actually this is the status we had right from the point of our creation. For God Chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be Holy and blameless, in Love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons in conformation to his pleasure and will.(Eph 1:4-5)

love has been our design ever since . Our true design is compatible with love . Like the beloved we resonate with an accurate expression. We have been taken into the banquet hall and showered with love immense. His banner over us is love. God is in the eternal activity of loving us.

Love has set everything in motion, its like the software that runs every system harmoniously. We have been installed in love and the fruit of his love has become sweet to our taste. We know this because of our capability and potential to love and to respond to love. All this is in conformation to his will. The way God has designed us is that he is sure that we have everything good and fit within us to love and to respond to love. We just have to pay attention to the symphony that is in the atmosphere for the glory of God fills the earth like a canopy. I believe the glory of God is also in his love. Gods love is immense and great and available to our joy and bliss. If surely there was no love, the universe would not be running.