Redemption in Song of Songs

There are two main views of the Song of Songs. A popular view is that it is an allegory about the love between Christ and His Bride (church). Such a view is difficult since the book contains detailed and explicit descriptions of the male and human body. The same objection could be made for the Jewish view as a picture of the covenant relationship between God and Israel. It seems the best view of the book is to see it describing the love between husband and wife. One writer comments that such a view “respects the text’s grammatical meaning without inventing symbolic or hidden spiritual codes” (Aaron MeniKoff, “Three Reasons You Should Preach Through the Song of Solomon”).

It would be easier to write an article on redemption in the Song of Songs if I held an allegorical view of the book. What can we say about redemption in the book from a literal view? The book shows that humans are complex as created by God, and love in marriage, of which sexuality is a part, is a part of that complexity. Redemption in Christ means we are redeemed to be whole humans. This applies to marriage and sexuality. “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers” (Heb. 13:4). Finally, we have biblical teaching of marriage as an illustration of Christ and the church (Eph. 5:31-32).

Ben