Song of Solomon: One Chain of Thy Neck

Hello again!  It has been awhile since I've decided to do a study for my blog.  I've been very busy, making sure my kids take their state tests for school, attending Ligonier's West Coast Conference, and the every day dramas of life.  The conference was a blast, and there are more quotes, pictures, and stories from my time in Seattle on my Facebook page if anyone is interested - the dates of the conference were June 5th & 6th, but there are also posts about it dated the 7th and maybe the 8th after I got home.  But without further adieu, let's get started with this new study.

I've had this idea for awhile, to delve into Songs a bit more and bring up another pearl.  A while ago, I asked the Lord about the necklace in Songs and why it's so important.  There is reference to it in Songs 1:10, & Songs 4:9.

We read, "Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck."

I understand why a glance from her eyes would ravish the heart of the Beloved, but her necklace?  What's that all about, Lord?  I know there's no idle word in Scripture, so this is likely more than poetry.

I didn't find the answer right away.  The Lord let me ponder the meaning of the necklace for some time.  It wasn't until I was reading along in another book that an idea started to take root.  At first read, this passage doesn't seem to have anything to do with anything.

The passage is Judges 8:26:

And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks.

In this Scripture, Gideon requested the men of Israel give him the earrings of their prey, likely so that they wouldn't idolize the gold over Yahweh.  They willingly gave the spoils and spread them out upon a garment.  When I read this passage, the Holy Spirit nudged me to remember the necklace in Songs.  But Judges doesn't elaborate further on the chains of the camels.

Besides, who wants to think about the chains of a camel as being attractive to the Beloved?!

But the Spirit kept nudging me to think about it.  The camels' chains were their reins.  Perhaps they were a bit ornate, but they were used to lead the camel and tell it where to go.  Okay, Lord, seed planted.

I just so happened to be reading another passage for leisure one day, not for study, in the book of Proverbs.  When I read it, I sat up and my hair stood on end.  Proverbs 1:8-9:

My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

I had even written this in my Bible's margin months earlier:

"Instruction and Law are like fine necklaces, or as reins that tell one where to go."

WHAAAT??  Immediately I remembered Songs and Judges, both how the necklace gave the Spouse beauty to the Beloved, yet also how the chains guide the camels.  Here in Proverbs, we see the same idea.  Instruction and law guide the believer.

This idea is further solidified in Proverbs 3:3: "Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart" and Proverbs 3:21-22: "My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck."

Another sister verse to Proverbs 1:8-9 is Proverbs 6:20-21:

My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.

Indeed, this is the true meaning of the Spouse's necklace in Songs.  Let's revisit what these Scriptures say:

"Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold."  ~~Songs 1:10

"Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck."  ~~Songs 4:9

In the context of the supporting Scripture elsewhere in the Bible, the mystery of the golden necklace in Song of Solomon is solved.  The chains that turn the head of the Beloved are instruction, commandment, law, mercy, truth, wisdom, and discretion.

With just one chain, she ravishes His heart.  With just her mercy.  With just her wisdom.  With just her truth.  We see the chains of her neck which lead her through life are actually attributes of God.  She reflects her Beloved by being like Him.  Out of her eyes she reflects Him, because His Spirit indwells her (dove's eyes), and she also reflects Him through her character and the way she lives.  His attributes govern her life.  His attributes are her adornment, as a necklace of fine gold.

Interestingly enough, both Songs and Proverbs were written by King Solomon.  I have found many "keys" to Songs in Proverbs.  Perhaps King Solomon spelled out his wisdom in Proverbs while veiling that same wisdom in the poetry of Songs.  It seems to me these two books decipher each other at times.

Not every secret in Songs is in Proverbs.  But I bet you'll never read Proverbs in the same light again.

Praise God!