Song of Songs 2:4
“He has brought me to his banquet hall,
And his banner over me is love.
Song of Songs is a difficult book to read because there are so many different views of "how" to read it. Do we read it as a allegory of Christ's love for the church? Do we read it as a story of God's love for Israel? Do we read it as a shepherd's love for a female shepherdess, whom Solomon is trying to steal away from the young shepherd boy? Do we read it as Solomon's first love and his eventual marriage to that love? All the above views are held by some great theologians and pastors. No matter your interpretational views, everyone can agree that the book is about love. One's love for another. With that said, the above verse gives us a glimpse of that theme. Whoever is speaking, and whoever they are speaking about about, has been brought into the "banquet hall." What we know about a banquet hall (under any interpretation) is that it is a place of celebration and gathering of close friends, family and collegues. What we have in the verse, above, is a lover bringing the person they love into a gathering of close friends to "show her" off to those friends. How does he show her off? With a "banner" over her that reads, "LOVE." The Hebrew word for "banner" is used 14 times in the Old Testament. Of those 14 times, 13 of them are used in the book of Numbers when the nation of Israel is coming to rest in the desert and setting up camp. Moses tells us where each tribe pitched their tent when it became nightfall. In that place, where THAT tribe was resting for the night, they placed their name on a flag and put it high on a pole. The "banner" over their tribe would read the name of the tribe's father (Judah, Benjamin, Reuben, etc). The banner was a flag. It would indicate that below the banner you would find whatever was named on the flag at the other end of the pole, or under the banner. In the case we see in the above verse, Solomon is saying that the thing you would find under his banner for this women is: LOVE (now indicated with a flag over this young women being introduced to the young man's friends and family). What the young man was saying is that this women is loved and was brought to this banquet in love. But, perhaps there is even a great lesson pictured here. In the days of Solomon it would not be unusual for a king to go out to conquer another country. Upon their return it would, also, not be unusual to have that king return to their home country carrying the banner(s) of the king(s) they conquered on their side; like scalps of the defeated dead. The king would bring those "banners" into the banquet hall to celebrate their great victory or victories. In our above verse, however, we see that the victory over this women was not one of a fight or a siege or a conquest; but, rather, one of love. The king has not stormed her castle and brought her into his life via force or war. In the above verse we see that she was conquered and brought into the banquet hall through the most powerful of weapons: LOVE. What a great picture of how Christ conquered us. His banner over us is love. He brings us into His banquet hall via love. He could conquer us via force, but He doesn't. He storms the castle of our hearts via love (John 3:16). So, too, should we in regard to others. We are to "conquer" others via the banner of Love. Peter tells us in regard to our Christian brothers, that love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8 - Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.). We ought to raise our banner over others and bring them into the banquet hall of our lives and show them off to our friends. The flag we fly ought to read, LOVE. It covers sins and conveys hope. The banner of LOVE says we forgive. The banner of LOVE says we accept this person with all their failures. When we were the most unlovable, God's love for us captured us (even when we didn't deserve it) and He expressed love for us. The flag flying high above our heads and waived by Jesus Christ reads, Love. So, too, should we in regard to our treatment of others. We ought to escort them into our banquet hall and place a banner over them and us that reads: LOVE!! When we do this, the One who gets the glory is the One who created love and demonstrated it to us!! His banner of us is Love!!
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