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THE FRAGRANCE OF LOVE!

What do the following names have in common? The names are: Rapture, Spectacular, Intuition, Mania, Splendor, Breathless, Blue Grass, True Love, Beautiful, Dazzling Gold, Dazzling Silver, Pleasures Intense, Beyond Paradise, Dream Angel Divine, Diamonds & Sapphires, Passion, White Diamonds, and Forever Elizabeth.

If you haven’t already figured it out, they are all names of perfume. I’ve listed eighteen different names but could’ve easily listed, with the help of the internet, a hundred different names. This means that someone, whether it is Armani, Liz Taylor, Calvin Klein, Estee Lauder, or Victoria Secret, has created a fragrance just for you, a fragrance that will attract others to you.

Also, it is interesting to note at this point that it won’t be long before we will be able to send Aromatic E-mails. A company has developed a Hi-Tech Air Freshener that plugs into a PC and sprays a smell linked to some message. The cartridge contains 20 basic aromas that can be combined to produce 60 different smells. Those who have developed this device, this cartridge, maintain that it could be used to sell numerous products.

For example, it could be used to tempt people to buy a particular brand of bread by sending out the scent of fresh baked bread. It could be used to encourage people to buy a particular brand of coffee by filling the air with the aroma of coffee. Or it could be used by travel agencies to stir up images of sun-kissed beaches by splashing the scent of salt water in our nostrils as we read their computerized brochure. And, of course, we could use it to promote romance by sending a jasmine scented valentine card to someone we love.

You see, the business world knows that one’s sense of smell always triggers an emotional response. A scent is rarely neutral, it either attracts us or repels us. Paul reminded the Corinthian believers of this when he said:
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. II Corinthians 2:14 - 16a
Paul wrote these words at a time in his life when he was having self-doubts about his decision to leave Troas. He had gone there to preach the gospel but had not found Titus there as expected. So, despite the opportunity to preach, he packed up his bags and went on to Macedonia.

But as he made his way to Macedonia he was nagged by the thought that he had made a mistake. He was nagged by the notion that he had stepped out of God’s will for his life. He felt that he had made a wrong turn even though he had been sensitive to the spirit within him. He discovered, however, that while it may not have been the best decision he had ever made, it was okay. In fact, it was better than okay for God’s fragrance didn’t depend on how he felt about his decisions.

For the fragrance of God was not a function of how he felt about his decision. It was, and is, a function of being in Christ. It is a function of having the Spirit of God within us. So Paul was thankful that the fragrance of life didn’t depend on him as much as it depended upon the Spirit of God within him. Granted, we can quench the Spirit within us but this wasn’t one of those types of decisions.

So what does all of this have to do with the Song of Songs? Simply this, in reading the Song of Songs we need to be sure that we don’t miss the scents within the book. There is the scent of perfume and/or cologne in every chapter. Indeed, it ought to have one of those peel and sniff tags next to many of the verses. Or perhaps, scratch and sniff pages. That way, as we read a particular verse we could peel back the outer shield, or scratch the page, and smell of aroma of Solomon’s cologne or the Shulammite’s “Breathless” perfume.
The first scent we pick up on is found in v. 3 of chapter one. The Shulammite girl is speaking of Solomon and says:
“ Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfume; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you!”
Initially, the girl is remembering the scent of his cologne. She’s responding emotionally and favorably to the scent of Sahara by Solomon or perhaps Fahrenheit by Christian Dior. But she quickly moves on to the metaphorical fragrance of his character. His name represents the totality of her lover. It represents his stature in the eyes of others and his reputation within the community of nations.

It’s clear that others spoke well of him. They evidently spoke well of him not simply in the palace where we’d expect them to speak well of the king for political reasons, but out in the countryside where there was little need to be politically correct. As with Timothy in Acts 16, people were talking about him in a favorable light. Additionally, more than one person was doing the talking and it was being done in more than one location.

It is also clear that there are other young ladies who think highly of Solomon. These maidens are potential rivals to the girls. But she is so secure within herself and in her relationship with Solomon that she can afford to let him bask in their admiration. She is neither annoyed or threatened by these girls for she is secure in Solomon’s love for her. Obviously, this speaks as highly of him as it does of her.

As an aside, we can’t fly by vv. 9 - 11 without making two comments. The verses read:
I liken you, my darling, to a mare harnessed to one of the chariots of Pharaoh. Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels. We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.

First, we need to note that Solomon refers to her as his “darling” or perhaps more accurately, his “darling companion.” It is my understanding that in Hebrew this word for “darling companion” sounds very much like the word for “shepherd.” This play on words, contrasted with v. 8, suggest that not they, but she is his closest friend. It indicates that he doesn’t simply love her, which he does, but that he likes her. It indicates that he desires her to be his friend, and not simply his lover.

Second, he compares the Shulammite to a “mare among the chariots of Pharaoh.” I say “among” for there is nothing in the original text to really suggest that she is harnessed to a chariot. At any rate, he could be saying that she is gloriously decked out like one of Pharaoh’s chariot horses. This explanation, of course, goes well with the rest of the verses.

Or, he could be comparing her beauty to that of a beautiful mare. As city dwellers, we’re reminded once a year, whenever the Kentucky Derby rolls around, that a well-cared for a well-bred horse is a magnificent animal. And in Solomon’s world horses were very much a part of the culture and were admired for their beauty.

But, there is one other possibility to be noted. The chariots of Pharaoh were pulled by stallions. Consequently, a mare among them was no mere thing; indeed, she would have caused quite a stir. In fact, there is a recorded incident in regards to the Egyptian military campaign against Qadesh where the prince of Qadesh released a mare amongst the stallions of the Egyptian calvary. His plan was to distract the stallions so much that they wouldn’t have anything on their mind but the mare. The plan worked well, that is, it worked well until an Egyptian soldier killed the mare!

So it is possible that Solomon is saying that the Shulammite effected him the same way as a mare would effect the stallions of Pharaoh’s chariots. Just as the stallions began pawing the ground with only one thing on their mind, so Solomon was sent into a frenzy of desire when he saw the Shulammite. In short, he’s saying that she had sex appeal. This is the view taken by the Good News Bible. It reads:
You, my love, excite men as a mare excites the stallions of Pharaoh’s chariots.
At any rate, the second scent we pick up, or the third depending on whether you see the scent of a woman in vv. 9 -11, is found in vv. 12 - 17. We read:
While the king was at his table my perfume spread its fragrance. My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breast. My lover is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.
How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are like doves.
How handsome you are, my lover! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant.
The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are firs.

The girl now muses (dreams) in response to her lover’s praise. In her musing, or in her dream, she sees herself at his table, or his couch, and either her perfume literally surrounds him with its enchanting fragrance or she is the perfume of his life. Most likely, it was the first and it became the latter. For it is clear that her presence as a reality in his life surrounded him like choice perfume.
Dreaming as she is, the girl perhaps goes to bed with a little leather pouch of myrrh suspended around her neck & dangling between her breast. The word translated “resting” (between my breast) is somewhat weak. The verb usually means, but not always, “to spend the night.” So just as the pouch rests, or spends the night, between her breast, so she sees her lover resting, or spending the night, between her breast.

Either way, it is a scene of relaxed harmony beneath the two as they lay on the canopied bed, a bed beneath the evergreen fir and cedar trees above them. In this setting they praise each other and she uses what becomes her pet name for Solomon. She refers to him as “her lover.” Apparently, this word best expressed her joy in him for she saw him as one who truly loved her in every way.
Here, in this intimate scene, we see two things happening that can go a long ways toward helping any marriage or any relationship between two people.

First, we have the essence of what it means to spend quality time with someone we count as a friend. The scene gives us a snapshot of quality time between the two. Some people, of course, would like to define quality time as being in close proximity with another person. It certainly involves proximity, but it is far more than simply being with someone. Nor does it mean simply doing something with someone. It means giving that someone your undivided attention. It is not the activity that counts, it is what happens on the emotional level that makes the difference.

Second, we see them praising each other. Praise or words of affirmation meet one of the greatest needs in the human spirit. It is the need to be appreciated by someone, whether it is our lover or someone else it doesn’t matter. Somebody has to tell us that we’re special. With this in mind let me tell you this:
If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.
If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it.
He sends you flowers every spring.
He sends you a sunrise every morning.
Face it, friend – He’s crazy about you!

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