The Title of the Song of Songs
The twenty-second book of the Bible is not only the greatest song ever but it even states this as its title in its opening verse: “The song of songs” (1:1). Let us compare this with the opening words of other canonical books.
Some continue the historical thread of the previous book. Exodus begins, “Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt” (1:1), as recorded in the latter chapters of Genesis. Leviticus begins, “And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle” (1:1), which had been constructed in Exodus 40. Numbers begins, “And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai” (1:1), where he was at the end of Leviticus.
Other biblical books pick up the story after a significant person’s death. The book of Joshua starts “after the death of Moses” (1:1), just as Judges begins “after the death of Joshua” (1:1). Even II Kings continues the history “after the death of Ahab” (1:1).
At the very start of many of the writing prophets, we read words such as these: “The vision of Isaiah” (1:1), “The words of Jeremiah” (1:1), “The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea” (1:1) and “The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see” (1:1).
In his epistles, Paul opens by referring to his office and/or those with him, and the congregation or individual whom he is addressing. These are the first words of one of our Lord’s half-brothers: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting” (1:1). Simon begins his first canonical letter thus: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1:1).
There is no scriptural book entitled “The history of histories” or “The chronology of chronologies” or “The prophecy of prophecies” or “The gospel of gospels” or “The epistle of epistles” or “The apocalypse of apocalypses.” But we are given the Song of Songs!
Some biblical books have impressive opening words. Consider the majesty of Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” and the pathos of Lamentations 1:1: “How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people!” John 1:1 declares the preexistent, personal, divine Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Hebrews opens with a brief summary of revelation in the Old and New Testaments: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son” (1:1-2). But the title of the Bible’s twenty-second book is unique for it announces itself as the greatest song ever: “The song of songs” (1:1)!
One final thing about this title: It rules out the rationalist and unbelieving notion that Canticles contains a number of disparate love poems. Advocates of this position compound their error by invariably assigning this book to a pagan provenance, such as Syria, Babylon or Egypt. The truth is that God has not given us “The songs of songs” (i.e., a collection of songs) but “The song [singular] of songs,” one, unified and inspired book, penned by Solomon, the King of Israel, God’s redeemed people. Rev. Stewart
Did Saul Prophesy?
A reader from Wales writes, “I Samuel 18:10 interestingly states that Saul ‘prophesied’ when the evil spirit came upon him.” He wants an explanation of this. He may also want an explanation of Saul’s other prophesyings (I Sam. 10:10-13; 19:23-24).
There are several examples in Scripture of wicked men prophesying under the influence of the Spirit of God. Balaam’s prophesies in Numbers 23 and 24 are notable. He clearly prophesied of Christ when he said, “the shout of a king is among them” (23:21), and again when he spoke of “a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre out of Israel” (24:17). That these prophecies were from God and by His Spirit is evident from Numbers 22:35, where the Angel of the Lord says, “Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak.”
Caiaphas, the high priest who condemned Jesus, also prophesied of Christ’s atoning work when he said, “Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not” (John 11:49-50). Scripture itself tells us that what he said was prophetic: “And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad” (51-52). What that wicked man said was a prophecy of Christ’s death for all the children of God, both Jews and Gentiles. That he prophesied under the influence of the Spirit was possible because he was high priest, though he prophesied unwittingly. The Spirit of God used him as He had used Balaam.
The two occurrences of Saul prophesying in I Samuel 10 and 19 were also under the influence of the Spirit of God. In the first incident, Samuel told Saul, “And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man” (10:6; cf. 10). The account of Saul prophesying at Ramah, the second of these references, also tells us that “the Spirit of God” came upon him (19:23). In the first incident, the prophesying was proof that God had chosen Saul as king of Israel. In the second, Saul’s being overcome by the Spirit of prophecy was God’s way of insuring David’s and Samuel’s safety. In that inspired narrative, not only did Saul prophesy, but the three groups of messengers that he sent to find David were also overcome and prophesied (20-21).
It is interesting that in both cases the Word of God tells us that Saul, a wicked man, was acting out of character when he prophesied. He was not known for his spirituality or for having the Word of God on his lips, so much so that his prophesying became a proverb in Israel, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” (10:11-12; 19:24).
Something similar happens in our day, when a man who is not himself a believer, something proved by his behaviour and speech, preaches the truths of God’s Word and administers the sacraments with the result that God’s people are edified. The Westminster Confession makes a point of this in its treatment of the sacraments: “neither doth the efficacy of a sacrament depend upon the piety or intention of him that doth administer it” (27:3).
Such things are proof that wicked men are entirely in God’s hands, and that He is able to control and use them for His own purposes. Balaam acknowledged that when he said to Balak, “Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth?” (Num. 23:12). God used Balaam (and Saul) in the same way that He used Balaam’s ass (II Pet. 2:16). This is true not only of Balaam but of every word that comes from any man’s mouth: “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord” (Prov. 16:1).
The case mentioned in I Samuel 18:10 seems to be different. Then Saul’s prophesying was the result of an evil spirit sent by God: “And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand.”
Was this prophesying like the other two incidents in Saul’s life, i.e., God by His Spirit using a wicked man to speak truth? Was what Saul said true or false, or was it just raving? Was there an evil spirit, a demon, involved in this prophesying? Was this some sort of demon possession, like the girl who was healed by Paul and Silas in Philippi (Acts 16:16-18)? So was Saul’s prophesying true or false? Why did it happen and what was the point of his prophesying? These questions are not so easy to answer from the information given us in the Word.
There are several possible answers to this question.
(1) It is possible that the evil spirit referred to is not a demon but Saul’s own spirit, in other words, some sort of evil fit came on him, a kind of temporary insanity. The passage says, literally, that an evil breath (spirit) from God came on him: God breathed on him and he fell into a kind of spiritual madness. Judges 9:23 seems to speak an evil spirit in this way, i.e., an evil mind or feeling. If this is the case, then Saul’s prophesying was nothing more than the frenzied ravings of a madman.
(2) Another possibility is that Saul only pretended to prophesy. Some suggest that the Hebrew tense of the verb is never used in reference to real prophesying. One commentator even says that the verb (in that tense) should be translated, “he pretended to prophesy.” Reference is made to Jeremiah 23:21 and 29:26, where Jeremiah mentions madness and a man making himself a prophet.
Then Saul’s prophesying would have been an attempt to conceal his intention of killing David.
I Samuel 18:11 indicates that his attempt was not spur-of-the-moment but premeditated: “for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it.” He failed in his attempt but that was because the Lord was with David (12). This writer favours that view, believing the language of the passage supports it.
(3) If the evil spirit was indeed a demon, then the prophesying of Saul under the influence of this spirit must have been lies or raving. In the story of Ahab’s last battle, God used a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab’s wicked prophets to convince him to go to battle against the Syrians and be killed (I Kings 22:22). There are other things hard to understand in that narrative but the point here is that evil spirits are always lying spirits. It may have been that an evil spirit or demon by lying prophecy convinced Saul that he could kill David with the javelin that he had in his hand. It may also have been Saul’s prophesying through an evil spirit that warned David of Saul’s intentions. Nevertheless, we are not told and must leave that matter unresolved.
The important thing in the passage is that Saul himself with all his hatred of David, and any demon who may have been involved in Saul’s prophesying, was under God’s sovereign control and direction. God is sovereign over the devil, his demons and all their works. He is sovereign over the actions and intentions of wicked men, exercising His sovereignty in such away that He cannot be charged with evil. This sovereign rule of God over evil is always for the sake of His people, as His care for David shows. God does not always keep them from harm but even then He is with them as He was with David.
In this case, that care was especially important because David was the one from whose line Christ would come. Whether influenced by a demon or suffering from a kind of insanity, Saul was Satan’s instrument in his attempts to kill David. It may be true that Saul was not aware of Satan’s malice in all of this. His motive may simply have been the preservation of his throne and dynasty (cf. I Sam. 20:30-31). Nevertheless, behind all the attempts to destroy the promised line (for example, Pharaoh in the book of Exodus, Saul, Athaliah and the Babylonians) was Satan, the great enemy of God’s people.
This is pictured in Revelation 12:1-4. There the woman represents the church of the Old Testament, pregnant, as it were, with Christ, waiting for His birth and coming. Satan, pictured by a great red dragon, stands always ready to devour her child, though in God’s sovereignty his efforts are always thwarted.
During the life of Jesus, Herod’s murder of the children of Bethlehem, the attempt of the Nazarenes to throw Jesus off a cliff, the efforts of the Jewish leaders to stone Him, and all the slander and discredit that was heaped on Him are part of what Revelation 12 pictures. Satan’s tempting of Him in the wilderness also represents his unceasing efforts to thwart God’s saving purpose. The cross itself was such an attempt. Influenced no doubt by Satan, “both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,” though they could only do what God’s “hand” and “counsel” had already determined to be done (Acts 4:27-28). Rev. Ron Hanko
