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Commentary on "Love Stories"
Day 5: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - A Book of Romance
In today's lesson, the author spends an inordinate amount of time discussing sensory and sexual pleasure, eventually leading to a “skim through the Song of Solomon.”
Skim through the Song of Solomon. What does the book say to you about how God views the pleasures of the flesh in the right context?
Although some have used the Song of Solomon as an allegory, showing how Christ loves the church, it is truly about the love between a man and woman when married. In stating that God is a romantic, then using the Song of Solomon to teach about sexual love, the lesson author is not focusing on God's love; he is mixing it with sensory pleasures intended for a man and a woman within the confines of marriage.
Finally, in today's lesson, the author leaves us with these words:
Who alone but God can even begin to assess the pain and suffering caused by the abuse of these wonderful gifts? Who hasn’t been impacted in one way or another by their abuse?
Although sexual abuse is rampant in our society, including religious institutions, how is one to answer this question in the context of God as a romantic? It is puzzling that a lesson about the love of God would include a personal look at the pain and suffering that so many have experienced in this world. I would suggest to not focus on the abuses, but identify the times when you have received unconditional love, either from another person or from God himself. Those are the times one should meditate upon.
Copyright 2012 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised March 17, 2012. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Camp Verde, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
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