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Christ, the Fairest of All Men III: Song of Songs

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Our meditations on Song of Songs ended at the 7 th verse of the first chapter, where the “lovely” Bride poses a question to her lover. She asks, “Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends?” Song of Songs 1:1-3 Song of Songs 1:4-7 Song of Songs: Christ and His Church In this post, let’s look at the next four verses. 8 If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the sheep and graze your young goats by the tents of the shepherds. 9 I liken you, my darling, to a mare harnessed to one of the chariots of Pharaoh. 10 Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels. 11 We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver. The speaker in these four verses is the Bridegroom, who is responding to the question posed to him earlier regarding the whereabouts of his “flock” (1:7).   Earlier, we stated that the Bride’s love for her Bridegroom seems to be secretive and unpu

The Power of the Gospel

A few years ago, I used to teach at a high school in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. Al Ain is one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE. The country is located in the gulf region, and despite its receptiveness of people from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, Islamic extremism is still rampant, while varying in degrees from the most ultra-orthodox to the more moderate, yet practicing Muslims. In the midst of this setting, I would conduct my affairs, going to school, shopping at the grocery store, and even offering private English lessons to high school students. One of my clients was a Grade 10 student, who was originally from Palestine, and judging by the full hijab and traditional Islamic dress she would wear, she took her faith seriously. She needed help with her novel, Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities . There is a love triangle in this novel between three characters, Charles Darnay, Lucy Manette and Sydney Carton who has a great physical re