Genesis 2:18-25 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.

But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

The Bible’s Romance Novel Song of Songs Book is also know as Song of Solomon King Solomon and the Shulammite peasant woman Written in Solomon’s early years It is a song honoring love & marriage 7 poems…courtship, wedding, marriage Most sensual language in Bible

Main themes: Sex Love Beauty Problems

God made male/female for one another Sex is a gift from God It is meant for the marriage relationship Motivated by love and commitment for mutual enjoyment and family Not for selfish motives The marriage relationship goes much deeper

Purity and sacredness of romantic love Especially important today with our distorted views on sex and marriage God created love and marriage He also created sex and intimacy They are good, and are to be enjoyed within marriage Not to be abused

“Love” may begin as a feeling Beginning of relationships can be filled with a lot of emotion Not to be rushed “Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it desires.” (2:7; also 8:4)

Feelings can be deceiving Emotions alone are not enough to support a lasting relationship Emotion and commitment need to be allowed to develop together LOVE = Emotion + Commitment

Friendship is important “…This is my lover, this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.” (5:16) “phileo” -- “eros” -- “agape” Love in marriage is multi-faceted When a spouse is lost, emotional support of friends is critical

A love relationship must be mutual “My lover is mine, and I am his” (2:16) “I am my lover’s and my lover is mine” (6:3) Relationships that are one sided are rarely healthy or permanent

True love is a decision of commitment Marriage is a celebration of a daily commitment to each other “While romance keeps a marriage interesting, commitment keeps romance from dwindling.” (Life Application Bible) Openly express emotions & commitment “Fiddler on the Roof”

Beauty is often the first attraction The two lovers of our poem praise the beauty they see in the other Our love for our loved one makes him or her look beautiful to us! Spanish “novio/novia”

Chapter 6, Lover: 4 You are beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, majestic as troops with banners. 5 Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm me. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Gilead. 6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing. Each has its twin, not one of them is alone.

7 Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate. 8 Sixty queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number; 9 but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her.

Chapter 5, Beloved: 10 My lover is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand. 11 His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven. 12 His eyes are like doves by the water streams, washed in milk, mounted like jewels. 13 His cheeks are like beds of spice yielding perfume.

His lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh. 14 His arms are rods of gold set with chrysolite. His body is like polished ivory decorated with sapphires. 15 His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars. 16 His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely.

Our love for our loved one makes him/her appear beautiful Beauty should not be limited to physical characteristics Inner qualities keep love alive – sincerity, generousity, spirituality, humor These qualities don’t fade! Story of wife finding gift

Overtime, little things can wear on us Problems Overtime, little things can wear on us “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards in bloom.” (2:15) It is important to deal with the small problems, irritations, even distractions that can destroy a relationship

Eludes to issues that had come between them, and the husband had left Feelings of loneliness, indifference and different goals can come between Chapter 5 Eludes to issues that had come between them, and the husband had left When she realizes this, the wife searches for him and hopes to solve the problem

Communication is critical to romance, renewal and reconciliation Don’t let walls come between you Take care of problems while they are still small

Song of Songs gives us a picture of marriage From first attraction, courtship, wedding, romance, dealing with problems It ends with a the beloved telling her friends about the power of love

Chapter 8 Beloved 6 Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.

7 Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.

The ultimate example of marriage is how Christ loved the church The church is referred to as the Bride of Christ Ephesians 5 uses this analogy to illustrate marriage… to show us how husbands and wives are to love each other

22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.