Song Of Solomon 6
The book of Isaiah, chapter 6, is an important chapter that describes the calling event of the prophet Isaiah. It begins with a vision in which Isaiah experiences God’s glory and holiness, and then moves on to the scene where Isaiah is called to deliver God’s message. Overall, the structure flows as God’s holiness, human frailty, and God’s call and people’s response.
1verseWhere has your beloved gone, you fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?
2verseMy beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
3verseI am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine. He browses among the lilies.
4verseYou are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.
5verseTurn away your eyes from me, for they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats, that lie along the side of Gilead.
6verseYour teeth are like a flock of ewes, which have come up from the washing, of which every one has twins; not one is bereaved among them.
7verseYour temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind your veil.
8verseThere are sixty queens, eighty concubines, and virgins without number.
9verseMy dove, my perfect one, is unique. She is her mother’s only daughter. She is the favorite one of her who bore her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed. The queens and the concubines saw her, and they praised her.
10verseWho is she who looks out as the morning, beautiful as the moon, clear as the sun, and awesome as an army with banners?
11verseI went down into the nut tree grove, to see the green plants of the valley, to see whether the vine budded, and the pomegranates were in flower.
12verseWithout realizing it, my desire set me with my royal people’s chariots.
13verseReturn, return, Shulammite! Return, return, that we may gaze at you. Lover Why do you desire to gaze at the Shulammite, as at the dance of Mahanaim?
The Flow and Structure of the Text
- A vision of God’s glory (Verses 1-4): Isaiah sees the Lord seated on a high and exalted throne in the temple in the year King Uzziah died. At that time, angels praise God, and the temple is filled with smoke.
- Isaiah’s reaction (Verse 5): Standing in the presence of God’s holiness, he deeply becomes aware of his own sin and uncleanness and is afraid.
- Cleansing received (Verses 6-7): An angel purifies Isaiah’s lips with a coal from the altar and proclaims that his guilt has been removed.
- God’s call and Isaiah’s response (Verse 8): When God asks, “Whom shall I send?” Isaiah answers, “Here am I. Send me.”
- The mission of the prophet (Verses 9-13): God tells Isaiah to deliver the message that although the people will hear, they will not understand, and He speaks of both judgment and hope for the remnant.
The Meaning of the Entire Chapter
In Isaiah 6, human limitations and sinful nature are revealed in light of God’s holiness, and it shows how a person who has been made clean by God’s grace responds to God’s call and carries out the mission. It also contains a message of hope that, despite the stubbornness of the people of Israel, God will prepare a new beginning through the remnant.
Points for Reflection
- When we look upon God’s holiness, we come to see what kind of response we give and we are led to look down on the limits and sin within us.
- Remember that God calls even insufficient people as workers of God’s work, and that He is the one who makes them clean.
- Even if the path of obedience and mission is sometimes hard to understand and lonely, we can reflect on how important it is to have an attitude of responding to God’s calling.
Applying It to Me
- I too examine whether I can respond humbly to God’s calling, and whether, despite my weakness, I can offer myself to God.
- Even if I do not directly hear God’s voice, I consider what mission God has entrusted to me in my life today.
- I remind myself that I need to live with the expectation that God works in the circumstances He has provided and that His grace will cleanse me every day.
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