Song 4:3 | KingComments | STEP | Then the groom speaks about her teeth, which he compares to “a flock of [newly] shorn ewes” ( ). The teeth are used to chew and take in food. In a spiritual sense, we can say that the believer eats the words of the Lord Jesus. Jeremiah says: “Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts” ( ). With him we see that he loves to eat God’s words because he has been called by God’s name. Teeth can also be misused. The apostle Paul warns the believers in the churches in Galatia of this. He sees that they want to reintroduce the law. If believers place themselves under the law again or impose it on others and the law is reintroduced into their lives in order to keep it, the result is that they devour each other. Paul is clear about this and says: “But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another” (cf. ; ; ). The teeth are not compared here with lions, but with sheep. Sheep do not tear apart other animals, but docile they follow the Good Shepherd Who takes them to grassy meadows. A flock of sheep indicates grazing in green meadows and being able to distinguish between what is good food and what is not. A sheep is also a picture of Christ Himself in His tacit surrender to the will of God. This feature also characterizes the believer. With newly shorn ewes it is clear that the wool has been shaved off. The spiritual meaning of shaving is that the believer judges everything that is of his sinful flesh and on which he boasts. It represents the judgment of what comes from its old nature. The leper to be cleansed had to shave off all his hair ( ). Priests are not allowed to wear woolen clothes when entering the sanctuary ( ). The bride’s food is characterized by purity. The bride feeds spiritually with the words of the groom. That makes her completely clean, as if she “comes up from washing”. Water is the familiar picture of the Word of God ( ; ). Reading the Word of God cleanses us of the defilement with which we are defiled as we go through the world. We cannot escape it. That is why it is important to read God’s Word over and over again and to become pure in our thinking. The result is also a balanced life of faith. This is seen in the “twins”. It is remarkable that the first teeth a child gets appear in pairs. Sound teaching from God’s Word results in sound practice. There will be no bigotry about all sorts of truths and no exaggerated emphasis will be placed on practical Christian life. Both aspects must be in balance. The result is spiritual fruit, on which we may think of when it says “not one among them has lost [or: is without] her young”. Others are encouraged to live the same way. Timothy and Titus are encouraged to be examples to others ( ; ). Especially older men and women have the opportunity to be examples for the youth ( ). Then the groom speaks about her lips ( ). Lips form the words we speak and are therefore a picture of the language. Our teeth are the instruments to receive and grind food given by the Lord, and our lips are the means to express what we have received from Him. Her lips are compared to “a scarlet thread”. That reminds both of sin and of the deliverance from the judgment of sin. Isaiah speaks of “sins” that are “as scarlet”, meaning that there is blood guilt on the people, but he also points out that they can become “white as snow” ( ). The deliverance from judgment is seen in the history of Rahab. She should hang a scarlet thread from the window of her house on the wall of Jericho ( ). This scarlet thread is the sign of her deliverance from the judgment that comes on Jericho. The picture here is that the believer uses words that make clear his deliverance from the power of sin. This is reflected in the speaking by the mouth of words that are “lovely”. In her words, her royal dignity resounds. Scarlet is also the clothing of kings (cf. ). The bride does not use vulgar or dirty language, but words that are good, while her lips are under the authority of the king. One of the contrasts between our life in sin and our life as Christians is the language or words we use. In the words we used to speak, there was nothing from and for God. Our mouth was at the service of our own corrupt heart as we roared: “With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own; who is lord over us?” ( ). This applies not only to the boasters, but also to highly civilized language users. There is nothing from and for God. The believer does not boast in himself, but in the Lord. He makes this heard, for his heart and mouth are full of Christ and His work of love on the cross. He will not restrain his lips ( ) from honoring Him, but “continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name” ( ). Also related to this is the “slice of a pomegranate” which the groom must think of when he sees her “temples”. The temples are the side of the head, behind the eyes. These are the weak spots in the skull. The pomegranate indicates a fullness of life in the many seeds it contains. Each seed is juicy, sweet and red. The fact that there is a slice of a pomegranate indicates that this fullness is visible to the groom. Pomegranates can also be seen on the hems of the upper garment of the high priest ( ). Here we see that the fullness of life is the result of the Lord Jesus’ service as High Priest in the sanctuary. He lives by the power of an imperishable life and is able to completely save those who approach God through Him ( ). The fruit He Himself produces in the sanctuary, He sees with the bride. We can connect the temples with our thoughts. Nobody sees our thoughts, but the Lord Jesus sees them. All the hidden thoughts of everyone are for Him an open book ( ). Of the believers He presupposes – in the picture we have here before us – that their thoughts go out to Him and that they say to Him with David: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer” ( ). The thoughts are connected to the veil here. In the veil is also mentioned. There we saw that it is a picture of dedication and separation to the Lord Jesus. Here we see that the thought life is full of Him, precisely because there is no other important person for the believer than He alone. The Lord Jesus sees the believer as one who is seeking the things above and sets his mind on the things above, where He is ( ). The “meditation” is “pleasing” ( ), both to the believer and to Him. The believer meditates in His law, which is His word, day and night ( ). He meditates on all His works ( ). He meditates on His precepts ( ). He meditates on His wonders ( ). He meditates on His statutes ( ). He meditates on His testimonies ( ). He meditates on all His doings ( ). All these meditations are at the same time a protection against satan’s attacks on his weak, wandering thoughts.

‏ Song of Solomon 4:3

Teeth, Lips and Temples

Then the groom speaks about her teeth, which he compares to “a flock of [newly] shorn ewes” (Song 4:2). The teeth are used to chew and take in food. In a spiritual sense, we can say that the believer eats the words of the Lord Jesus. Jeremiah says: “Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts” (Jer 15:16). With him we see that he loves to eat God’s words because he has been called by God’s name.

Teeth can also be misused. The apostle Paul warns the believers in the churches in Galatia of this. He sees that they want to reintroduce the law. If believers place themselves under the law again or impose it on others and the law is reintroduced into their lives in order to keep it, the result is that they devour each other. Paul is clear about this and says: “But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another” (cf. Gal 5:15; Psa 57:4; Joel 1:6).

The teeth are not compared here with lions, but with sheep. Sheep do not tear apart other animals, but docile they follow the Good Shepherd Who takes them to grassy meadows. A flock of sheep indicates grazing in green meadows and being able to distinguish between what is good food and what is not. A sheep is also a picture of Christ Himself in His tacit surrender to the will of God. This feature also characterizes the believer.

With newly shorn ewes it is clear that the wool has been shaved off. The spiritual meaning of shaving is that the believer judges everything that is of his sinful flesh and on which he boasts. It represents the judgment of what comes from its old nature. The leper to be cleansed had to shave off all his hair (Lev 14:8-9). Priests are not allowed to wear woolen clothes when entering the sanctuary (Eze 44:17).

The bride’s food is characterized by purity. The bride feeds spiritually with the words of the groom. That makes her completely clean, as if she “comes up from washing”. Water is the familiar picture of the Word of God (Eph 5:26; Tit 3:5). Reading the Word of God cleanses us of the defilement with which we are defiled as we go through the world. We cannot escape it. That is why it is important to read God’s Word over and over again and to become pure in our thinking.

The result is also a balanced life of faith. This is seen in the “twins”. It is remarkable that the first teeth a child gets appear in pairs. Sound teaching from God’s Word results in sound practice. There will be no bigotry about all sorts of truths and no exaggerated emphasis will be placed on practical Christian life. Both aspects must be in balance.

The result is spiritual fruit, on which we may think of when it says “not one among them has lost [or: is without] her young”. Others are encouraged to live the same way. Timothy and Titus are encouraged to be examples to others (1Tim 4:12; Tit 2:7). Especially older men and women have the opportunity to be examples for the youth (Tit 2:2-5).

Then the groom speaks about her lips (Song 4:3). Lips form the words we speak and are therefore a picture of the language. Our teeth are the instruments to receive and grind food given by the Lord, and our lips are the means to express what we have received from Him. Her lips are compared to “a scarlet thread”.

That reminds both of sin and of the deliverance from the judgment of sin. Isaiah speaks of “sins” that are “as scarlet”, meaning that there is blood guilt on the people, but he also points out that they can become “white as snow” (Isa 1:18). The deliverance from judgment is seen in the history of Rahab. She should hang a scarlet thread from the window of her house on the wall of Jericho (Jos 2:18a). This scarlet thread is the sign of her deliverance from the judgment that comes on Jericho.

The picture here is that the believer uses words that make clear his deliverance from the power of sin. This is reflected in the speaking by the mouth of words that are “lovely”. In her words, her royal dignity resounds. Scarlet is also the clothing of kings (cf. Mt 27:28-29). The bride does not use vulgar or dirty language, but words that are good, while her lips are under the authority of the king.

One of the contrasts between our life in sin and our life as Christians is the language or words we use. In the words we used to speak, there was nothing from and for God. Our mouth was at the service of our own corrupt heart as we roared: “With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own; who is lord over us?” (Psa 12:4). This applies not only to the boasters, but also to highly civilized language users. There is nothing from and for God.

The believer does not boast in himself, but in the Lord. He makes this heard, for his heart and mouth are full of Christ and His work of love on the cross. He will not restrain his lips (Psa 40:9) from honoring Him, but “continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name” (Heb 13:15).

Also related to this is the “slice of a pomegranate” which the groom must think of when he sees her “temples”. The temples are the side of the head, behind the eyes. These are the weak spots in the skull. The pomegranate indicates a fullness of life in the many seeds it contains. Each seed is juicy, sweet and red. The fact that there is a slice of a pomegranate indicates that this fullness is visible to the groom.

Pomegranates can also be seen on the hems of the upper garment of the high priest (Exo 28:33-35). Here we see that the fullness of life is the result of the Lord Jesus’ service as High Priest in the sanctuary. He lives by the power of an imperishable life and is able to completely save those who approach God through Him (Heb 7:15-17 ; 24-25). The fruit He Himself produces in the sanctuary, He sees with the bride.

We can connect the temples with our thoughts. Nobody sees our thoughts, but the Lord Jesus sees them. All the hidden thoughts of everyone are for Him an open book (Heb 4:12-13). Of the believers He presupposes – in the picture we have here before us – that their thoughts go out to Him and that they say to Him with David: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer” (Psa 19:14).

The thoughts are connected to the veil here. In Song 4:1 the veil is also mentioned. There we saw that it is a picture of dedication and separation to the Lord Jesus. Here we see that the thought life is full of Him, precisely because there is no other important person for the believer than He alone. The Lord Jesus sees the believer as one who is seeking the things above and sets his mind on the things above, where He is (Col 3:2-3).

The “meditation” is “pleasing” (Psa 104:34), both to the believer and to Him. The believer meditates in His law, which is His word, day and night (Psa 1:2 ; Psa 119:97 ; 148). He meditates on all His works (Psa 77:12). He meditates on His precepts (Psa 119:15 ; 78). He meditates on His wonders (Psa 119:27). He meditates on His statutes (Psa 119:48). He meditates on His testimonies (Psa 119:99). He meditates on all His doings (Psa 143:5). All these meditations are at the same time a protection against satan’s attacks on his weak, wandering thoughts.