Song of Songs — The Anástasis Center

Photograph: The Song of Songs imagines a locked garden, which transports our imagination from the specific geography of the Land of Israel back to the Garden of Eden. Perhaps this waterfall at Urederra, Spain, can serve as an image. Photo credit: Creative Commons Zero.

Below are messages, small group leader notes, and exegetical notes on the Song of Songs.

Messages on the Song of Songs: A Play in Five Acts

Song 1:1 - 2:7 Act One: The Laws of Attraction (and ppts)

Song 2:8 - 3:5 Act Two: Really Getting to Know Each Other...I Mean Really (and ppts)

Song 3:6 - 5:1 Act Three: The Glory of Sex (and Marriage) (and ppts)

Song 5:2 - 8:4 Act Four: A Scene from Married Life, and What Single People Need to Know About Marriage (and ppts)

Song 8:5 - 14 Act Five: A Married Reflection on Young Romance (and ppts)

Song 1:1 - 8:14 The Role of Friends (TBD)

Additional Materials on Dating, Sex, Love, and Marriage

Friendship for a Healthy Culture of Dating (and video) on Ephesians 4:25 - 32 (Rescued Church Boston, Jul 19, 2015)

An Open Letter to a Friend on Dating Non-Christians

An Email to Housemates on Boyfriends or Girlfriends Sleeping Over

Notes and Essays on the Song of Songs

The Heir of David: A Thematic and Canonical Analysis of the Writings

Essay exploring how the Writings — the third group of the Hebrew Bible according to the Jewish tradition — are arranged. There is a garden-to-exile-to-restoration theme that can be discerned in the orderings of the books in the Writings. The Writings develop the readers’ hope in the Heir of David as the one who will bring about the restoration from exile, and return to the garden land.