WWUTT 1799 As a Banner Among Ten Thousand (Song of Songs 5:10-16)

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The wife is concerned that she has driven her husband away. Her friends encourage her to show her love and affection for her husband.

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And so she does, in the most beautiful of words, when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand The Text, teaching through a New Testament book on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, an

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Old Testament book on Thursday, and a Q &A on Friday. With our Old Testament study today, here's

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Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. Back to our study of the Song of Songs. We're still in Chapter 5.

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If you want to open up your Bible and join with me there. This is still the voice of the bride here, the voice of the woman.

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It was interrupted by a response from the others in verse 9. And then the woman resumes in her dream, or perhaps a response to the dream, in verses 10 through 16.

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Let me go ahead and read that. I'll read our text here and then catch you up on where we are and examine the text more closely.

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So Song of Songs 5, beginning in verse 10. Still the voice of the woman. My beloved is dazzling and ruddy, lifted up as a banner among ten thousand.

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His head is like gold, fine gold. His locks are like clusters of dates, and black as a raven.

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His eyes are like doves, beside streams of water washed in milk and sitting in their setting.

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His cheeks are like a bed of spices, towers of sweet -scented herbs. His lips are like lilies, dripping with liquid myrrh.

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His hands are rods of gold, set with beryl. His abdomen is a plate of ivory, inlaid with sapphires.

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His legs are pillars of marble, set on bases of fine gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars.

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His mouth is full of sweetness, and he is wholly desirable. This is my beloved, and this is my friend.

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Oh, daughters of Jerusalem." Now, this is the first time in the poem that the woman has described her man.

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We had his description of her in the wedding and then after. That was in chapter 4.

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At the conclusion of the wedding, they consummate their union. At the beginning of chapter 5, he says that he is satisfied and more than satisfied.

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And we have the blessing of the Lord even that comes at the conclusion of chapter 5, verse 1, eat friends, drink and imbibe deeply, oh lovers.

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But then in verses 2 through 8, we have the description of something of a nightmare on the part of the woman.

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She is asleep. He comes to her, comes to her door and wants to make love to her again, but she hesitates.

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And so because of her hesitation, he leaves. Once she is aroused to get up and go answer the door, she finds that he is gone and now she panics.

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She wonders if he has gone to find his satisfaction somewhere else because she did not respond to him when he wanted her.

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So she dresses herself. She goes into the city where the watchmen abuse her. The men who are supposed to be on the wall guarding the city instead strike her and even take away her modesty.

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In verse 7, the guardsmen of the walls took away my shawl from me. That was an article of clothing that demonstrated her femininity.

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So because she did not respond to her husband when he wanted her, she's feeling guilty for that now.

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And her conscience is afflicting her so that she says, tell my groom instead, tell my man that I am sick with love.

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And then the others, the women that have accompanied this woman throughout this poem, they say in verse 9, what is your beloved that he is more than any other beloved?

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Oh, most beautiful among women. What is your beloved that he is more than any other beloved that thus you call us to solemnly swear?

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And their response to the woman is he is your beloved. You tell him and you show him.

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And so what happens next, the response that we just read here in verses 10 through 16, the woman describes her man to her maidens.

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And so in this description, she shows how much she truly admires and loves and wants him.

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And it's because of this description that the others are then going to respond,

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OK, then we will help you find him. And based on this description that you have given this man that you admire and desire.

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So let's go through the the verses again, the symbolism that's used here, starting in verse 10.

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My beloved is dazzling and ruddy, lifted up as a banner among 10 ,000.

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So again, we've heard from the woman in Song of Songs, her desire for him. But there's never been like this expansive description.

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This is the first time that we see the woman say that of her man, how much she desires him.

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And so therefore, this is what he is like to me. He is dazzling. He is beautiful.

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So she thinks he's beautiful. And he's, of course, said that of his bride back to chapter four, verse seven.

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You are altogether beautiful, my darling. And there is no blemish in you. And even when he comes to her and wants her, he says, you are my dove, my perfect one.

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That it's in chapter five, verse two. So now she's responding in like kind. He is dazzling.

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He shines almost like there's an aura about him, she might say.

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Now, again, this isn't necessarily descriptive of his appearance. Remember, a lot of the metaphors we have here are symbolic of something, not so much the appearance, but what it represents or what it means.

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And so this reference to him dazzling, it is a reference to his whole character. She's describing him from head to toe.

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We start with dazzling and ruddy. And then in verse 11, his head is like gold.

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In verse 15, his legs are pillars of marble. So she's looking at him from head to toe.

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But each one of these descriptions is even symbolic of his character in some way. This was the same way that he described her.

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And it's like she's following his pattern. Previously, when he was describing his bride, he's describing her from head to toe.

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And so now she's doing the same. And so to say that he is dazzling, again, this is something about his character.

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That he has a reputation and people see him and know that this is a man who shines.

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We've been told in Matthew chapter five that we are to shine a light before men, that they may see our good works and give glory to our father on the day of visitation.

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And so likewise, when a person sees this man, as she's describing her man, they are seeing somebody of good character.

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She's describing him in that way. I remember when my wife described first seeing me, this wasn't the first time that she had met me or seen me.

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I know that I had not yet met her. If you've heard us share our story before that, we say we say that she met me before I met her.

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But anyway, I was seeing a concert and I'm standing on stage and I'm making announcements and I've got my smile and my radio voice.

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Becky was sitting up in the balcony looking at me and she said, you just shined and your smile, it like it was almost like the

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Colgate commercial, just a little ding off your teeth or something like that.

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And she said, it was then that I'm looking at you and I wanted to marry someone like you. I didn't know it would be you, but I wanted to marry someone like you.

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And then the Lord just worked things out that it was she and I who have spent our lives together ever since.

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But anyway, that might be a self -serving example, but it comes from my wife that she said when she saw me and I just glowed,

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I dazzled. So that's the way that this woman is seeing her man, someone who shines that other people see and they see a man of good character.

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And she also describes him as ruddy. That's a term of of his appearance.

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David was described as being ready, you know, 16, 17 years old or something like that when he was the shepherd boy who was anointed the next king of Israel and he went up against Goliath as a teenager.

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He was ruddy and handsome. That's the way it's described him. And so she sees her man the same way.

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He is dazzling and ruddy, lifted up as a banner among ten thousand.

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In other words, he is eminent. He is distinguished.

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He is someone to be looked at and admired. And when you see a banner, if it's if it's the banner, well, generally when we're talking about a banner, we're talking about something royal, right?

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The royal banner that's been lifted up. So it is a symbol for the entire kingdom. It's something that marks the nation.

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We know this nation by its flag or by its banner. And so that's the case with this man.

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And once again, a descriptor or a metaphor of his entire person.

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Now, she's going to go head to toe here when we start at verse 11. But right now, verse 10, this is who he is, dazzling and ruddy, lifted up as a banner among ten thousand.

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He is someone that should be looked at and admired and that others would desire even to have character like his verse 11.

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His head is like gold, fine gold. His locks are like clusters of dates and black as a raven.

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Now, surely when you read his head is like gold, you're not thinking of something visual, right?

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I mean, she doesn't think of her man as having a yellowish head that gleamed like a polished metal.

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Now, this is a description that's common of kings as having a head like gold, especially when you consider that a king wears a crown and that crown is typically made of gold.

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Why? Why do kings and queens wear crowns of gold?

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Why are they often depicted as wearing a crown of gold? Well, a crown is somewhat symbolic of a being like a halo.

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And so it's demonstrating their purity, their royalty and even their headship. So it's like having an aura around their head, hence the gold crown.

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So when she says of her man, his head is like gold, like a fine gold. She again is seeing him as someone regal.

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She sees that of him previously when he enters the wedding coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke is rising incense of myrrh and frankincense with all scented powders of the merchant that was in Song of Songs three beginning in verse six.

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So as she sees him coming in and she describes his entrance coming into the wedding back in chapter three, she sees him as as someone royal.

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So continues with that description of him even here, his head being like gold, like fine gold.

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His locks are like clusters of dates, locks being his hair and black as a raven.

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Now, his locks are his his locks don't look like clusters of grapes or dates here,

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I guess is the word. But anyway, it's just for her to say that he's desirable to me and to say that his hair is as black as a raven.

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This is also to say something about his youthfulness and his rigor. It doesn't mention anything about gray hairs.

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Gray would be a color of season or experience or of age.

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But she doesn't say that. She says that his hair is black as a raven. So he's a young man to her.

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She goes on in verse 12 to say his eyes are like doves beside streams of water washed in milk and sitting in their setting.

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Now, the the eyes like doves. Remember that he's described her eyes the same way.

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And it means gentle also means to be easy on the eyes. So again, this is another way of her saying that she loves his appearance and he is desirable to me.

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Now, besides streams of water, this is actually a description of the moistness of his eyes.

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And if you've ever seen something that you really wanted, well, let's stick with let's stick with people.

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OK, let's somebody that you have a lot of affection for. And in the moment that you're expressing affection for them or even they're expressing affection for you, how are your eyes usually in those kinds of moments?

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They're kind of moist, right? Not like you're on the verge of crying necessarily, but it's almost like there is a physiological response to the desire or the affection that you have for another.

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It may be the way you even describe your child. My son, I'm so proud of him, you know, saying something like that about your son.

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When I say that of my son, what kind of condition would my eyes be in?

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I probably have a little bit of moistness in there. I can kind of feel it and it creates this gloss, this this glossy look, this bit of a gleam in the eye whenever you are talking to or about somebody you are really affectionate for.

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And so when she says that of him, his eyes are like doves beside streams of water.

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It's as though she is saying, I know he desires me because when he looks at me,

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I can see the desire in his eyes. That sort of physiological response, we almost can't even control it, of the way that we feel so passionately about someone that we are looking at.

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And she says his eyes are washed in milk and sitting in their setting. That's describing the whites of his eyes.

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And it's also to say something of his purity, because when something is that white, we would say that it is pure.

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Anything that's that white that's talked about being white in the Bible, it's a description of purity.

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So saying that his eyes are washed in milk and sitting in their setting, what he looks at, he looks at with pure eyes.

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This is not a man who lets his eyes wander and go after other maidens. Again, if she's saying that his eyes are kind of misty, the way that he looks at me showing that his desire for me, then also being washed in milk is to say that his desire for me is right and pure.

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He's not looking for other women. He looks at me and desires his bride.

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That's also saying something of his character. I love how the descriptors here are more than just about appearance, but it's something with regard to the character of the person that they describe.

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And she is describing a man of fine character. Remember, she's panicking here because she thinks that because she didn't satisfy her man when he wanted it, he's gone off to find his satisfaction somewhere else.

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The maidens have challenged her. To describe him, tell us who this man is, who is he?

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Oh, most beautiful among women that thus you call us to solemnly swear, show us that you love him, show him that you love him.

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And now in these descriptions of him forced to be put in a in a position where she describes her man so that we may find him together.

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She describes him as someone who is pure, and this description of him would therefore put her conscience at ease.

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He's not gone off to try to find his satisfaction somewhere else. His desire is for me.

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Now, let me jump to a quick application here and make this between a husband and a wife. Men, you cannot go off to try to find your satisfaction somewhere else if you don't feel satisfied in your wife.

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And I'm talking about something sexual here. If you're not sexually satisfied by your wife, that does not give you permission to go off and find it somewhere else.

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And I'm not just talking about going off into an adulterous affair. I think you know what else

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I'm describing. You are are not permitted to go and let your eyes wander and look at other women or their bodies or desire them.

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Your eyes must be for your wife. In Job chapter 31, when

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Job is defending his own character, he says of himself, I have not let my eyes go after a virgin.

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And that's as though to say, I've not let my eyes want any other woman. I've been faithful to my wife.

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And so, fellas, we must be the same way. And women, I challenge you to think better of your husband's character, even be complimentary of his character.

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Don't let your insecurities in anything be something that you therefore impose upon his character to say something about his character because you feel insecure about something.

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Understand and have this security that his desire is for you and for no one else.

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But most of all, we need to be satisfied and secure and confident in Christ, our savior, knowing that he has forgiven our sins and washed us as white as snow.

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Lest we have a guilty conscience because of our past, because of poor decisions that we made.

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Our conscience is purified by faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

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He is the greatest purity and therefore also our purity. When we put our trust in him, he clothes us in his righteousness.

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Let's continue on. We'll make further application when we get to the end here. So in verse 13, she says his cheeks are like a bed of spices, towers of sweet scented herbs.

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Now, here we come back to something that is that is descriptive of an aroma.

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And what did we say earlier with regards to something aromatic, something that is sweet smelling?

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It's not just that he smells good. It's that he's got good character throughout the wisdom books,

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Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes. These descriptions of sweet smelling things have also said something about character.

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And so his his cheeks talk almost talking about the whole face and the face is the countenance of a person.

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His cheeks are like a bed of spices. When people see him, they know that he is a man of good character, towers of sweet scented herbs.

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There aren't towers of sweet scented herbs, but it's as though to say that his character is so great, it's like a city unto itself.

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People can see it from a distance and they know this is a man who has built a good reputation of his good character.

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His lips are like lilies, she says, dripping with liquid myrrh. The words that he speaks are even sweet and savory.

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They're good to her. She loves hearing him talk and she loves hearing about the way that he talks about her.

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But it's his words altogether, the character that's demonstrated in his words, as Jesus has said in Matthew 12, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

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And so if a person is good of character in their heart, their words are going to be reflective of that. Verse 14, his hands are rods of gold set with barrel.

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His abdomen is a plate of ivory inlaid with sapphire. So now we've gone from descriptions of something scented.

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We're going back to these rich metals, his hands like rods of gold. That's a regal description because a king would hold a scepter or a rod of gold through which even he would make decisions.

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He extends a scepter or holds a scepter to a certain way in order to approve a decision.

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And so this is a man who is decisive. He makes decisions for us and for our household. His abdomen, like a plate of ivory solid to his core.

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This is a man who is upright and strong and remember upright. That's another description of good character.

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Previously, when the man described his bride, he said something about her neck being like a tower, and that was saying something about her grace.

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She is a graceful and confident woman is the way he's talking about her. And this is sort of the same kind of a thing that she's saying about her man.

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For a woman, her neck was was sort of like the center of her grace.

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Visually, that's where a person would think of a woman being graceful is her neck, because it's upright and strong and her movement, her sway, her her walk, her gait, all of that kind of being reflected in the movement of the neck.

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Not a lot of women were very exposed. Not a lot of their body was visible back in this

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Bible time. OK, but the neck was, hence why she would even wear jewelry there to kind of draw attention to the neck.

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It was it was a sign of gracefulness of the woman for the man.

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It was his core, his chest, his stomach, everything there in his center mass.

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And so she says of that, it's a it's an abdomen, a plate of ivory inlaid with sapphires.

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He's solid and strong and even greatly valued. Verse 15, his legs are pillars of marble set on bases of fine gold from top to bottom.

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We've got gold. His head is like gold. He's set on a base of fine gold.

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He is he is the most desirable there is to have. I want him more than any other man.

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There is no one that I value more than he she is saying of her husband.

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His appearance is like Lebanon choice as the cedars. Lebanon was a distance to travel, but they loved the wood of the cedars of Lebanon so much in Israel.

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They love the cedars of Lebanon. They would be willing to travel there to get those trees and bring them back for whatever building projects they had.

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So I would go to find him to get the choices and best the best of the materials to build with.

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And if you're thinking about building a home here. The woman is also saying, this is who I am building my home with.

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Psalm 127 one, unless Yahweh builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.

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Unless Yahweh watches the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. And so in honor of the

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Lord, this woman is committed to this man to build their home together.

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Verse 16, his mouth is full of sweetness and he is wholly desirable.

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Once again, describing his entire countenance. This is my beloved and this is my friend.

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Oh, daughters of Jerusalem. Now, let me go ahead and briefly read chapter six, verses one through three, and then we'll end there.

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We'll pick up with the man speaking in verse four next week. The others now reply, where has your beloved gone?

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Oh, most beautiful among women. Where has your beloved turned that we may seek him with you?

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So now with this description that the woman has given, she has proven that she loves him and desires him.

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Don't just say it. Prove it. Show us that you love him. Show him that you love him. And so the woman sings the praises of her husband to her maidens.

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And even though he's not there for her to show him directly to his face, that she loves him, this is nonetheless a showing of her love to him because she sings his praises in the public.

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As it says of a of a godly wife in Proverbs 31, 23, her husband is known in the gates when he sits with the elders of the land.

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And in verse 31, give to her from the fruit of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates.

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And so this woman has declared how much she loves and is affectionate for her husband.

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She has proven it. And so the others say, where is your beloved turn that we may seek him with you?

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And she says in verses two and three of chapter six, my beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to shepherd his flock in the gardens and gather lilies.

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I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine. He who shepherds his flock among the lilies.

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And that's where we will stop for now. We'll come back and pick that up there in chapter six next week.

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But some further application here. Let us speak kindly of one another. Let us build one another up as we have opportunity to do so.

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This especially needs to be among husbands and wives that you not speak disparagingly of one another.

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But even when you're apart from each other, you're still complimentary of each other. Guys, when you go out and you're hanging with the other guys, they start joking about their wives or putting them down through jokes and things like that.

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Disparaging jokes don't join in with them in that. In fact, as you are able, encourage them to speak more positively of their wives and demonstrate that yourself by singing your wife's praises among the men that you are with, sing their praises.

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Now, you know, you know what I mean? You don't have to break out into song when those guys get together.

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We don't have musicals together anyway. And ladies, same way my wife has talked about occasions when she's gotten together with other women and she has said,

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I just can't connect with these women or I can't relate to them because they speak so negatively of their husbands.

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And she has seen in that an opportunity to speak highly of me to them so that they will have an example of a woman who loves her husband and speaks highly of him so that she can encourage them to do the same.

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So that needs to happen in our marriages. Parents, we even need to speak positively about our children.

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Your children are not an obstacle for you. They are blessings from the Lord. Speak highly of your kids, even among your friends.

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And we need to speak encouragingly of one another in the church, not gossiping, not slandering.

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Whenever that person is not in our presence, we're not speaking ill of them. But where we have an opportunity to encourage and admonish one another, we should do so to one another's faces and then speak positively of one another in the other groups that we would be a part of.

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Let us be encouraging in these ways and building one another up in love. And in so doing, we speak in such a way by honoring one another.

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We even honor the Lord. When we speak highly of his bride, we speak highly of Christ.

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Heavenly Father, I thank you for such good things that we're able to draw out of even the song of songs and may it convict our hearts and stir in us a desire to live a life of purity.

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Living a life of purity doesn't just mean to be sexually abstinent, which is often the way that it's delineated.

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But to be pure means that in our very language, we say words that would be reflective of the

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Savior whom we serve. We our actions demonstrate the righteousness that we have been clothed in in Christ Jesus.

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And let us not just speak kindly about one another in other circles, but even to one another's faces that we may encourage one another or admonish as fits the occasion.

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As we're told in Colossians 3 16, we would be filled with the word of Christ stored up in our hearts that we may give honor to the

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Lord in all our word and deed. And it's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen. This has been when we understand the text of Pastor Gabriel Hughes for all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more.

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Visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com

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and let your friends know about our ministry. Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in the study of God's word when we understand the text.