Don’t Awaken Love Before It’s Time
Reflective Reading: Song of Solomon 3:1-5
For decades the meaning of Song of Songs 3:5 has alluded me.
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. (ESV)
What does it mean to “not stir up or awaken love till it pleases”? To add to the confusion of this saying, the King James Version gives us this take:
I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. (KJV)
In the Hebrew Bible the text reads:
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up, yea, stir not the Beloved until it pleases.
Which is it, “don’t awaken love until it pleases,” “don’t awaken my love until he pleases,” or, “stir not the Beloved until it pleases”?
The way in which one approaches the translation will determine if the phrase is “it,” “he,” “my love,” “love,” or “the Beloved.”
When translating vague and difficult passages, it is helpful to consider that all possibilities have merit. I call this divine ambiguity. So, without straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel (Matthew 23:24), let’s take a look at what we do know.
Here in this section of Scripture we have a young girl who is seeking the one whom her soul loves—the ‘Shepherd’ of chapters one and two. Who is this Shepherd that her soul seeks? Let’s find out!
In chapter 1 verse 7 we read,
Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon;
The Shulamite woman is in love and describes her lover as one who pastures his flocks. Since Solomon isn’t a sheep herder, this must mean that her lover is a shepherd. Solomon, however, has a hold on her. This is why she says to her Shepherd lover, “Draw me after you, let us run.” She knows that she is one of a thousand other women. Though Solomon has everything most women would want, her affections are solely for the Shepherd.
The entire book of Song of Songs is about the longing of this young girl, who is desperately searching for this mysterious Shepherd. Just like the modern-day spiritual battles we face; evil forces are against her. She must fight with everything within her to resist instant gratification, lust, pleasure, and false protection. Her struggles reveal to us in beautiful, creative colors what it looks like to pursue Christ in the midst of a vexing world of enticements.
One interesting note is that the only time she meets the Shepherd is in chapter 2:
With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me!
This, to me, is one of the most beautiful pictures of romantic love. The Shepherd places his left hand under her head and his right hand embraces her. In my romantic imagination, I see him placing his left hand under her neck and his right hand around her waist. This one moment of romantic love is enough to seal the deal!
But there’s one major problem. The Shepherd disappears from the text after chapter 2. Nothing is said when he will return for her. The only thing she has to hold on to is the promise of his voice in chapter 2,
The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping over the mountains bounding over the hills. (Song of Solomon 2:8)
What a beautiful picture of Jesus and His bride. Like the Shulammite girl, we too hold on to the promise that He will return for us,
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True. (Revelation 19:11)
Not only do we have the promise that He will return for us, but at the end of the Revelation of Jesus the Christ, we have His double promise,
“Behold, I am coming soon.” (Revelation 22:12)
“Surely, I come quickly…” (Revelation 22:20)
The Greek also lends itself, and I believe more accurately to mean,
“Surely, I come suddenly!” (Revelation 22:20)
Consider the parallels as we await the return of our Savior. In Jewish culture, the bride waits for her groom. Without notice he will come unexpectedly for her; one of his groomsmen blasting a trumpet to alert her of his sudden arrival. When she and her bridesmaids hear the trumpet, they will quickly prepare for his coming.
Additionally, the Shulamite girl has a “first love” relationship with her Shepherd lover, and for the remainder of the book she longs to be with him, but he is nowhere to be found. We too, long to be with our Savior, but we must wait and maintain our purity. All we have to hold on to are the words recorded in a book—the Scriptures.
How long can she hold on to this promise? How long can we believe Jesus will return for us? It has been over two thousand years, and He hasn’t returned yet! That’s a long time to wait, I would say! So what’s the purpose in waiting? He is preparing us for a wedding—creating in us a pure heart, undefiled, and blameless. That is why God challenges the Shulamite in 2:7,
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
It is imperative that her passions for love are not awakened before its time. She must learn to be patient and faithful, surrendering her emotions and feelings to a greater life; a greater love. Being in love is amazing and she longs for the day when her longings are fulfilled—yet she must persevere in patience. This becomes increasingly difficult as there is one major obstacle—Solomon. He offers her power, prestige, and promises of unending pleasures in the attempt to convince her that waiting is not worth it. Solomon is greedy and foolish as we read in the book of Ecclesiastes. Here in Song of Songs, Solomon can offer her everything except for true love. He can have her by force but he will never force her to love him. That is why Solomon writes:
…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. (8:6b, 7)
The remainder of the book tells how this young girl, who has been left with the promise of the Shepherd’s love, will not, with all that is in her, stir up or awaken love before its time. She needs to be like a gazelle or a doe of the field if she is to keep herself pure. Why a gazelle or a doe? They are extremely attentive to danger. When they sense danger, they flee as if their life depended on it!
In 2 Timothy 2:22 Paul warns against the temporary pleasures that bind,
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
This is our challenge as we wait for our Lord’s return. May we be encouraged by His last words,
“Surely I come suddenly! Truly! Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20)
Thank you for joining me this week as together we discovered more hidden insights from the greatest book written of all time. I look forward to studying more with you next week!
Blessings,
Dr. Mark Hamby
M.S., M. Div., Th. M., D. Min.
President
Recommended Reading on the Topic of Passion and Purity:
The Three Weavers book/illustrated (Ages 4+)
The Painted Fly and Other Tales (Ages 6+)
Basket of Flowers bk/audio drama (Ages 9+)
A Peep Behind the Scenes bk/audio drama (Ages 9+)
The Wanderer bk/audio drama (Ages 9+)
