Cessationism Vs. Continuance

Today among the many Evangelical scholars and pastors, there is a debate revolving around the spiritual gifts, specifically the so-called "sign gifts," which include tongues, healing, prophecy, etc. Many great men and women of God to this day are on either side. We have John Piper and D.A. Carson, great men of the faith and have contributed much to the Church of God, who believe that the sign gifts are still active to this day. Then, we have people like John MacArthur, who openly denies all the sign gifts for this day, but who is also a great man of God who has contributed just as much to the Church as Piper or Carson. Many have fallen into the error of extremes, either believing that the gifts have stopped for good, or that the Church should be as miracle-saturated as the apostolic church. I believe both are unbiblical, personally. One of my good pastor friends, Charles Leiter, wrote an article entitled Cessationism vs. Continuance: The Error of Extremes. Below is his article in its entirety, and I believe it will shed much light on both view, and also give a biblical alternative. I pray that this edifies the Church of God in a way that will accept the gifts when they are present, and will not deny the gifts when the Spirit withholds them.

Throughout the long history of the Christian church one of Satan’s most successful tactics has been the use of extremes. This is especially true regarding the work of the Holy Spirit. No sooner has one branch of professing Christendom been led into an extreme, unbiblical, or even fanatical position regarding the work of the Holy Spirit, than another branch reacts with an equally extreme and unbiblical opposing position. Needless to say, on both sides the Bible is subjected to the most unnatural and contorted interpretations in order to “prove” these positions, since they have arisen, not out of unbiased study of the Scriptures, but in the heat of reaction to the abuses of the opposite extreme.

Illustrations abound, both throughout church history and in our own day. For every charismatic who teaches that tongues are “the one true evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit,” there is someone from an opposing camp who adamantly maintains that baptism in the Holy Spirit is “always nonexperiential.” On the one side are those who gullibly accept every wild claim to the miraculous as a “great work of God”, on the other are those who deny present-day miracles entirely. Some see demons in everything; others see them nowhere. Some say that all the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit were intended to be operative in every local church at every period of time since the apostles; others contend that no supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit was intended to be operative in any local church at any period of time since the apostles.

In this scenario, Satan wins both ways. In the one group, the most grotesque and fanatical events are passed off as the work of the Holy Spirit; in the other, men recoil in horror and deny the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit altogether. Either way, the work of the Holy Spirit is in some way discredited, and men are tricked into formulating their doctrinal positions in response to errors introduced by the devil, not in the terms that the Bible itself sets forth.
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With regard to the issue of the continuance or cessation of miracles, miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, etc., the Scriptures themselves lead us to neither of the extreme positions set forth above.

Two general guidelines give the basic framework for a biblical understanding of this issue:

I.  A general outpouring, fullness, and manifestation of the Holy Spirit and His gifts characterizes the whole church age from Pentecost to the Second Coming.

1. Acts 2:16-21 (Joel 2:28-32) “This is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: 'AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,' God says, 'THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT UPON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; EVEN UPON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT And they shall prophesy. 'AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE, AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BENEATH, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE. THE SUN SHALL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS, AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME. AND IT SHALL BE, THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED.'”

Here Peter quotes the prophecy of Joel with respect to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that was to characterize the “last days.” It is clear from this passage, as well as many other New Testament Scriptures, that the term “last days” refers to the whole church age. Joel envisions a time period continuing right up to the second coming (“the great and glorious day of the Lord”). This period of time is identical with the period in which “whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”(v.21)—i.e. the whole church age. Pentecost was thus only the beginning of this Scripture’s fulfillment, which promises an outpouring of the Spirit upon “all mankind”, prophesying of “sons and daughters”, visions, dreams, etc.—none of which were fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. A few verses later (v.33, 38-39) Peter again makes it very clear that this promise of Joel extends, not just to first-century Christians, but to Christians of all generations— “all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself.”

2. 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 “Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Here the apostle Paul specifically teaches that the supernatural gifts of the Spirit will be present in the church until the second coming of Christ, when they will then be “done away.” This passage was repeatedly used by the church fathers to prove this very point. The novel idea that the “perfect” which is “coming” refers to “the New Testament canon” is of recent invention and never even occurred to the great commentators of the past, much less to the Apostle Paul or the Corinthians! To any reader who is not trying to prove a point, it is clear that seeing “face to face” refers to personal encounter (Gen 32:20; Exo 33:11; Num 12:18; Dt 5:4; Jer 32:4; 2 Cor 10:1; 2 John 12; 3 John 14), and “knowing fully, just as we also have been fully known” refers to something much more glorious than having a “completed canon”! Are we really prepared to say that, compared to us, the Apostle Paul only “saw in a mirror dimly” and only “knew in part”?

3. Ephesians 4:11-13 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

It is important to notice that in Paul’s thinking, the supernatural gifts are not given by Christ to the church primarily to accredit the apostles, but to “build up the body of Christ.” These gifts are distributed to “each” (v.7-8) for the building up of the church, until “we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God”—the very “measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” It should be obvious that the church has not already attained this perfection, nor will it attain it until Christ returns. In other words, this passage sets forth the same truth as 1 Corinthians 13, that the gifts will function to build up the body of Christ until that day when they are no longer necessary, and the church is presented to Christ, “having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing.” (5:27)

4. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”

Once again in this passage, we see Paul instructing the church with regard to “quenching the Spirit” and “prophetic utterances,” in the very same breath that he assures them concerning the second coming of Christ! Clearly there was no thought in his mind that spiritual gifts would cease almost two thousand years before Christ’s return.

5. 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 “I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Here, again, Paul’s concept of the supernatural gifting of the church until the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ at the second coming is obvious. This, as noted above, is the ongoing characteristic of the church age set forth in Joel’s prophecy.

6. Mark 16:14-20 “And afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.”

Here the Lord Jesus Christ sets forth the characteristics of the church age. Supernatural “signs” will accompany, not just the apostles, but the New Testament church as a whole—“those who have believed” (v.17)—the same people referred to in the preceding verse as “those who have believed and been baptized.” (v.16) How long would this situation last? The parallel passage in Mt 28:18-20 makes it clear: “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ ” From this it is obvious that the great commission (and the promises related to it), though spoken originally to the apostles, is meant to extend to “all the nations” and to continue “even to the end of the age”, not just during the limited ministry and lifetime of the twelve. (When Jesus says, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” He cannot possibly be referring to the apostles, who died at least 2,000 years before the “end of the age.”) Thus, we see the same pattern in the Lord’s teaching as in that of the Apostles Peter and Paul in the passages already cited.

7. 1 Corinthians 12-14 and other passages too numerous to mention.
It is a general principle of vast importance that the New Testament was given to the church as its rule of faith and duty. It was not given as a history book to satisfy our curiosity as to how the church used to function (1 Cor 12-14), or what exhortations Christians used to have to obey (1 Ths 5:19-22; 1 Cor 14:1, 12-13, 39 etc.), or what opposition believers used to confront (Acts 16:16-17; 8:7; 19:19, etc.), or what powers Christians used to have in confronting that opposition (Lk 10:17-20; Mt 10:19-20; Acts 16:18; Mk 11:22-24; Mk 16:17- 18). Throughout passages like 1 Corinthians 12-14, which set forth the church under the analogy of “one body with many members,” there is never the slightest hint that some gifts are “continuing” and others are not, or that some are “supernatural” and others are not, or that some are “extraordinary” and others are only “ordinary.” Never is there the slightest hint in these passages that the “sign” gifts (whatever they are) will pass away with the apostles. Nor is it taught or implied that men need apostles to lay hands on them in order to receive these gifts. In fact, Paul specifically reminds the Galatians that God was “providing them with the Spirit and working miracles among them,” not by the laying on of his hands, but by their “hearing with faith.” (Gal 3:2, 5) The same is evident in Acts11:15-17, where God pours out His Spirit independently of Peter, and Peter realizes that he has no right to “stand in God’s way.” Likewise, in 1 Corinthians 14:1,13 Paul instructs the church to “desire earnestly” and “pray” for spiritual gifts as blessings that could be received directly from God, apart from his own presence or intervention.

II. Even though the whole church age is characterized by the supernatural gifts of the Spirit, the profusion and distribution of these gifts rests in the hands of the sovereign Spirit.

1. Not “always,” “all the time,” “everywhere.” It is clear from both the Old and New Testaments that miracles did not occur uniformly throughout the history of the people of God. There are seasons of special activity on the part of the Holy Spirit. It was especially fitting that the events surrounding the giving of the Law (including the exodus from Egypt and the revelation on Mt. Sinai) be accompanied with “mighty signs and wonders” and with the “outstretched arm” of God. (Dt 4:32; Heb 12:18-21) Likewise, it was especially fitting that the coming into the world of God’s only begotten Son be accompanied by unusual manifestations of Divine power, “both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” (Heb 2:4) As the direct representatives of Christ, the Apostles, in varying degrees, entered into these special manifestations. We are told in Acts 19:11-12, for example, that “God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.” Likewise, Paul speaks in 2 Corinthians 12:12 of “the signs of a true apostle” that he had performed among the Corinthians “with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.”

At the same time, we need to be careful not to take this argument to an unbiblical extreme, as some have done. Not all of these seasons of special visitation were related to the giving of a new body of revelation. They occurred at other times as well, according to God’s good pleasure, as in the days of Elijah and Elisha. Though Biblical miracles were especially profuse at the time of great revelatory events in Scripture, they were by no means lacking at other times. As Jeremiah 32:17-21 makes clear, God not only “set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt”, but “even to this day both in Israel and among mankind” (v.20) He continued to perform the miraculous. The idea that miracles were given primarily to accredit certain men (such as the Apostles) is simply not in line with the Scriptural evidence. As noted above, the various gifts are given “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.” Rather than limiting miraculous powers to a few leaders (men such as Moses or Paul), the biblical desire is to see the Spirit of prophecy spread as broadly as possible amongst the people of God: “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD'S people were prophets, that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!” (Num 11:26-29) “Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy.” (1 Cor 14:5) [Such prophesying in Old Testament times was no threat to the authoritative revelation given once-for-all by God through Moses. Neither was the prophesying at Corinth any threat to the authoritative teaching given through the Apostles. These utterances were never, even in the early church, received as being on par with Scripture, but rather were to be “judged” (1 Cor 14:29) and “examined carefully.” (1 Thes 5:21) Anything that did not line up with apostolic teaching was to be rejected. (1 Cor 14:37-38; 1 Tim 6:3-5) The same was true of “signs and wonders” in the days of Moses. (Dt 13:1-5) Thus, the argument that the gifts of the Spirit have ceased because the canon of Scripture is complete (or that a continuing manifestation of the gifts would threaten the authority of Scripture) is not a valid one.]

The fact that throughout the Bible the special activity of the Spirit occurs in seasons, coupled with the explicit teaching of 1 Corinthians 12-14 that the gifts of the Spirit are bestowed sovereignly, “just as God desires,” (12:11,18) should keep us from the error of thinking that we should expect equal manifestations of the Spirit at all times throughout church history. The ability to work miracles was not an automatic possession of either the apostles or the early church. (Mt 17:19- 20) Even in New Testament times, Christians were dependent for their mighty successes upon repeated outpourings of the Holy Spirit as God saw fit to grant them. It was only as God “extended His hand to heal” that “signs and wonders took place in the name of His holy servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:29-31) Neither in the early church nor today can men dictate to God when and where He will do His miracles, or what instruments He will use to do them.

The Type of Woman every Woman Should Strive to be, and Every Man Should Seek

Jonathan Edwards, writing about his wife at the age of 13, before being married to her, said this about her:

They say there is a young woman in [New Haven] who is loved of that Great Being, who made and rules the world, and that there are certain seasons in which this Great Being, in some way or other invisible, comes to her and fills her mind with exceeding sweet delight; and that she hardly cares for any thing, except to meditate on him—that she expects after a while to be received up out of the world and caught up into heaven; being assured that he loves her too well to let her remain at a distance from him always. There she is to dwell with him, and to be ravished with his love and delight for ever. Therefore, if you present all the world before her, with the richest of its treasures, she disregards it and cares not for it, and is unmindful of any pain or affliction. She has a strange sweetness in her mind, and singular purity in her affections; is most just and conscientious in all her conduct; and you could not persuade her to do any thing wrong or sinful, if you would give her all the world, lest she should offend this Great Being. She is of a wonderful sweetness, calmness, and universal benevolence of mind; especially after this Great God has manifested himself to her mind. She will sometimes go about from place to place, singing sweetly; and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure; and no one knows for what. She loves to be alone, walking in the fields and groves, and seems to have some one invisible always conversing with her.

Every woman who is in Christ should strive to be this type of woman, and men, we should all seek women like this, if we truly wish to be holy, and pure, and undefiled before our Lord.

Why is The Book of Chronicles Important? A Word from Matthew Henry

Today, while sitting in my Old Testament History & Poetry class, we began to discuss the book of Chronicles and our teacher showed us how important and great the genealogies and the rest of the book are, and it was very helpful. I became more curious and decided to see what my good friend, Matthew Henry, had to say concerning the books of Chronicles. Here is his introduction to the book of First Chronicles from his commentary on the entire Bible:

In common things repetition is thought needless and nauseous; but, in sacred things, precept must be upon precept and line upon line. To me,says the apostle, to write the same things is not grievous, but for you it is safe, Phil. iii. 1. These books of Chronicles are in a great measure repetition; so are much of the second and third of the four evangelists: and yet there are no tautologies either here or there no vain repetitions. We may be ready to think that of all the books of holy scripture we could best spare these two books of Chronicles. Perhaps we might, and yet we could ill spare them: for there are many most excellent useful things in them, which we find not elsewhere. And as for what we find here which we have already met with, 1. It might be of great use to those who lived when these books were first published, before the canon of the Old Testament was completed and the particles of it put together; for it would remind them of what was more fully related in the other books. Abstracts, abridgments, and references, are of use in divinity as well as law. That, perhaps, may not be said in vain which yet has been said before. 2. It is still of use, that out of the mouth of two witnesses every word may be established, and, being inculcated, may be remembered. The penman of these books is supposed to be Ezra, that ready scribe in the law of the Lord, Ezra vii. 6. It is a groundless story of that apocryphal writer (2 Esdr. xiv. 21, &c.) that, all the law being burnt, Ezra was divinely inspired to write it all over again, which yet might take rise from the books of Chronicles, where we find, though not all the same story repeated, yet the names of all those who were the subjects of that story. These books are called in the Hebrew words of days—journals or annals, because, by divine direction, collected out of some public and authentic records. The collection was made after the captivity, and yet the language of the originals, written before, it sometimes retained, as 2 Chron. v. 9, there it is unto this day, which must have been written before the destruction of the temple. The LXX. calls it a book Paraleipomenon—of things left, or overlooked, by the preceding historians; and several such things there are in it. It is the rereward, the gathering host, of this sacred camp, which gathers up what remained, that nothing might be lost. In this first book we have, I. A collection of sacred genealogies, from Adam to David: and they are none of those which the apostle calls endless genealogies, but have their use and end in Christ, ch. i.-ix. Divers little passages of history are here inserted which we had not before. II. A repetition of the history of the translation of the kingdom from Saul to David, and of the triumph of David's reign, with large additions, ch. x.-xxi. III. An original account of the settlement David made of the ecclesiastical affairs, and the preparation he made for the building of the temple, ch. xxii-xxix. These are words of days, of the oldest days, of the best days, of the Old-Testament church. The reigns of kings and dates of kingdoms, as well as the lives of common persons, are reckoned by days;for a little time often gives a great turn, and yet all time is nothing to eternity.

Here is what he also had to say in his introduction to Second Chronicles:

 This book begins with the reign of Solomon and the building of the temple, and continues the history of the kings of Judah thenceforward to the captivity and so concludes with the fall of that illustrious monarchy and the destruction of the temple. That monarchy of the house of David, as it was prior in time, so it was superior in worth and dignity to all those four celebrated ones of which Nebuchadnezzar dreamed. The Babylonian monarchy I reckon to begin in Nebuchadnezzar himself—Thou art that head of gold, and that lasted but about seventy years; The Persian monarchy, in several families, about 130; the Grecian, in their several branches, about 300; and 300 more went far with the Roman. But as I reckon David a greater hero than any of the founders of those monarchies, and Solomon a more magnificent prince than any of those that were the glories of them, so the succession was kept up in a lineal descent throughout the whole monarchy, which continued considerable between 400 and 500 years, and, after a long eclipse, shone forth again in the kingdom of the Messiah, of the increase of whose government and peace there shall be no end. This history of the Jewish monarchy, as it is more authentic, so it is more entertaining and more instructive, than the histories of any of those monarchies. We had the story of the house of David before, in the first and second books of Kings, intermixed with that of the kings of Israel, which there took more room than that of Judah; but here we have it entire. Much is repeated here which we had before, yet many of the passages of the story are enlarged upon, and divers added, which we had not before, especially relating to the affairs of religion; for it is a church-history, and it is written for our learning, to let nations and families know that then, and then only, they can expect to prosper, when they keep in the way of their duty to God: for all along the good kings prospered and the wicked kings suffered. The peaceable reign of Solomon we have (ch. i.-ix.), the blemished reign of Rehoboam (ch. x.-xii.), the short but busy reign of Abijah (ch. xiii.), the long and happy reign of Asa (ch. xiv.-xvi.), the pious and prosperous reign of Jehoshaphat (ch. xvii.-xx.), the impious and infamous reigns of Jehoram and Ahaziah (ch. xxi.-xxii.), the unsteady reigns of Joash and Amaziah (ch. xxiv., xxv.), the long and prosperous reign of Uzziah (ch. xxvi.), the regular reign of Jotham (ch. xxvii.), the profane and wicked reign of Ahaz (ch. xxviii.), the gracious glorious reign of Hezekiah (ch. xxix.-xxxii.), the wicked reigns of Manasseh and Amon (ch. xxxiii.), the reforming reign of Josiah (ch. xxxiv., xxxv.), the ruining reigns of his sons, ch. xxxvi. Put all these together, and the truth of that word of God will appear, Those that honour me I will honour, but those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. The learned Mr. Whiston, in his chronology, suggests that the historical books which were written after the captivity (namely, the two books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah) have more mistakes in names and numbers than all the books of the Old Testament besides, through the carelessness of transcribers: but, though that should be allowed, the things are so very minute that we may be confident the foundation of God stands sure notwithstanding.

May we remember that God's Word is exactly that, God's Word. It all transforms us into the image of Christ more.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Is It Justifiable To Interpret The Song of Solomon Allegorically?

There has been much controversy of late between scholars whether the Song of Solomon is about Christ and the Church, as has been the historical position of the Church for 2000 years. Many are now saying that the Song of Solomon is simply nothing more than a love poem on the love between a man and a woman. Personally, I hold the historical interpretation, that it is an allegory made up of parables and metaphors and allegory showing the relationship between Christ and the Church/individual believer. My reason for posting this will be to give a defense of the historical allegorical view.

First off, before even trying to argue for an allegorical interpretation of Song of Solomon, we first need to see if interpreting any part of Scripture allegorically is justifiable. I would argue yes, considering that the apostles themselves did this. One example of the apostles interpreting Scripture allegorically is 1 Timothy 5:17-18, where it says,

"Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,' and, 'The laborer deserves his wages.'"

As you can obviously see, within a normal reading of those OT passages, which are Deut. 25:4 and the second OT quote from Paul is a combination of a few OT & NT Scriptures, probably, Deut. 24:15 and Luke 10:7. As seen in context, the only one that could possibly pertain to preachers is the second quote, "The laborer deserves his wages." But the first quote, "You shall not muzzle and ox" & cont. would in no way be interpreted about preachers of the Gospel, considering that they are speaking about oxen. Thus, it is interpreted allegorically. I'm aware that some may try to explain that as not allegory but as the "shadow of the things to come" and the "copy" finally pointing to what they truly intended.

Which is why I have a second example of the apostles interpreting allegorically, and this one cannot be explained away so easily. In Galatians 4:24-26 it says,

"Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery, this is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother."

The apostle Paul says outright that this can be interpreted allegorically. Some translations say figuratively, but the more literal translations, such as the ESV and NASB, both say allegorically. So, this implies that allegory is acceptable at some times, maybe even necessary.

I am not of course arguing what the early church fathers argued, that we can allegorize the entire Bible so that it can have completely different meanings. I reject that fully. I lean more towards the view of Scripture that the Puritans had. When the Puritans came along, they completely rejected the view that the early church fathers had in allegorizing absolutely everything. Because when that happens, the text has no real meaning anymore because it has every meaning. They argued for true meaning in Scripture, and so do I. But, they also interpreted Song of Solomon allegorically, as do I. Some may argue that the Puritans were prudes that wanted to be hush hush about sex and were extremely naive towards it, but, with a little research in their own writings and history, you actually come to realize that the Puritans, much unlike the early church, had high regards for sex, and even praised it, as long as it was within the context of heterosexual marriage. If they truly loved and praised sex, which they did, and if they truly were not embarrassed by it, which they weren't, they would have used Song of Solomon to no end to prove that sex was beautiful, glorious, and a God given gift. But they didn't. But, that is not an argument in itself. Let me get back to the Scriptures to make my point.

So, since we see that Scripture may be at times interpreted allegorically, how can we justify allegorically interpreting an entire book of the OT, particularly Song of Solomon? First we need to see what the authority on the Scriptures, Jesus Himself, had to say about Song of Solomon. That may seem absurd, considering He never once said something along the lines of “it is said in the Song…” But, in reality, Christ did speak about the Song, not explicitly, but implicitly.  In John 5:39, Christ says,

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me..”

Also, Christ says in Luke 24:44,

“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

The first Scripture, John 5:39, is pretty obvious to understand. Jesus is saying that all Scripture points to Him. The second Scripture is a bit harder to understand unless you have a bit of knowledge concerning the culture and views of the Jews back then. Let me explain. By saying, "in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms,” Christ does not mean literally just those books. In the original Aramaic that He would have used, the words would have been Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim. Torah means Teaching, Ketuvim means Writings, and Nevi’im means Prophets. These are the three main sections of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh. Each title stands for more than one book of the Bible.

For example, Torah stands for the Law of Moses, or the Pentateuch. Nevi’im stands for Prophets, which, for the Jews, were the books of Joshua, Judges, I-II Samuel, I-II Kings, and the Major and Minor Prophets, minus Lamentations. And the last one, Ketuvim, stands for Writings. Some may argue that the passage in Luke just says Psalms, and only means the book of Psalms, which is incorrect. Sometimes the Jews said a certain name of a book to mean the entire section that it was in. We even see that in some of Paul’s letters when he quotes a prophet by name, and it turns out not to be that prophet at all but a totally different prophet! So, for the Jews, the Ketuvim included the books Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and I-II Chronicles.

As we can see by that, it automatically groups in Song of Solomon into the Scriptures that Christ said spoke about Him. Christ didn’t say, “all the Scriptures except Song of Solomon are about me,” but, “all of them.”

Before I continue, I want to address something concerning what modern day scholars are saying concerning the Song of Solomon. Many modern day scholars and preachers, that I highly respect and learn much from, do hold the view that Song of Solomon is about the love between a man and a woman. They have a great many arguments to prove it, and all of them are very good. But, if at the end of the day we were to approve of everything that they had said, we could still say this: If Song of Solomon is a book about the love between a man and a woman, what is the love between a man and a woman about? God has made absolutely everything in creation as a teaching tool, an illustration about God and His relationship with His people. So marriage itself has been given unto men to teach men of the relationship between God and His people. So I believe their arguments are nullified.

Anyway, now to show that the book of Song of Solomon itself, with its own contents, declares that it is about Christ. Many are unaware that the Song is greatly alluded to in the New Testament. Ironside points out some allusions to the Song in the NT. To quote him,

“[Christ] declared the Hebrew Bible to be the Word of the Living God, and there are many figures from this little book in various parts of the New Testament; for instance, ‘the well of living water’ (John 4) ; ‘the veiled woman’ (1 Cor. 11) ; ‘the precious fruit’ (Jas. 5:7) ; ‘the spotless bride’ (Eph. 5:27) ; ‘unquenchable love’ (1 Cor. 13:8) ; ‘love strong as death’ (John 15:13) ; ‘draw me’ (John 6:44) ; ‘the Shepherd leading His flock’ (John 10:4. 5, 27) ; and ‘the fruits of righteousness’ (Phil. 1:11). Who can fail to see in all these allusions to the Song of Solomon?”

One allusion that Ironside failed to mention I would like to bring to light. The expensive nard carried in the alabaster flask that was poured out upon the Savior’s feet mentioned in John 12:3 and Mark 14:3 are allusions to Song. 4:13, 4:14, and most specifically 1:12. Also, Jesus refers to Himself quite a bit as the “bridegroom,” specifically in Matt. 9:15, 25:1, 25:5, 25:6, 25:10; Mark 2:19, 2:20; Luke 5:34; and John 3:29.

I would like to also add an unbiblical argument really quickly. Though it doesn’t hold much ground since it doesn’t come straight from the Bible, it still should be considered. If you go back to before the time of Christ when the Jews were the only people of God, they have always believed that Song of Solomon is about God and Israel. Then, when Christ came, as far back as we can go, it has always been shown that the early church always interpreted Song of Solomon as Christ and the Church, or individual believer. That interpretation has held for over 2000 years, and the marriage view is rather new and unique. My thoughts are this: If the Holy Spirit really is the Teacher that will lead all of God’s children into truth, as Jesus Himself stated in John 16:13, then why has the Holy Spirit chosen not to reveal to any of God’s children throughout the entire 2000 years of Church history the correct interpretation of an ENTIRE book? Yes, the Jews show that God’s people can get things very wrong, as they did concerning the coming Messiah, but we have the Spirit of God within us, and they didn’t. Like I said, this isn’t really a scriptural argument, just something to think about concerning the faithfulness of God. There’s more I could say about this, but this message is already way too long. These are mainly my reasons (though there are more) for holding to the allegorical view of Song of Solomon. 

John Bunyan Quote on Slothfulness

Friends, Solomon saith, that "the desire of the slothful killeth him;" and if so, what will slothfulness itself do to those that entertain it? (Pro. 21:25). The proverb is, "He that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame" (Pro. 10:5). And this I dare be bold to say, no greater shame can befal a man than to see that he hath fooled away his soul, and sinned away eternal life. And I am sure this is the next way to do it; namely, to be slothful; slothful, I say, in the work of salvation. The vineyard of the slothful man, in reference to the things of this life, is not fuller of briars, nettles, and stinking weeds, than he that is slothful for heaven, hath his heart full of heart-choking and soul-damning sin. - John Bunyan

Song of Solomon Is The Test Of A Man's Christianity - Robert Murray M'Cheyne

"There is no book of the Bible which affords a better test of the depth of a man's Christianity than the Song of Solomon. (1) If a man's religion be all in his head, - a well-set form of doctrines, built like mason-work, stone above stone,- but exercising no influence upon his heart, this book cannot but offend him; for there are no stiff statements of doctrine here upon which his heartless religion may be built. (2) Or, if a man's religion be all his fancy - if, like Pliable fromPilgrim's Progress, he be taken with the outward beauty of Christianity - if, like the seed sown upon the rocky ground, his religion is fixed only in the surface faculties of the mind, while the heart remains rock and unmoved; though he will relish this book more than the first man, still there is a mysterious breathing of intimate affection in it, which cannot but stumble and offend him. (3) But if a man's religion be heart religion - if he hath not only doctrines in his head, but love to Jesus in his heart - if he hath not only heard and read of the Lord Jesus, but hath felt his need of Him, and been brought to cleave unto Him, as the chiefest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely, then this book will be inestimably precious to his soul; for it contains the tenderest breathings of the believer's heart toward the Saviour, and the tendereth breathings of the Saviour's heart again toward the believer.

It is agreed among the best interpreters of this book - (1) that it consists not of one song, but of many songs; (2) that these songs are in dramatic form; and (3) that, like the parables of Christ, they contain a spiritual meaning, under the dress and ornaments of some poetical incident." from Sermon 'The Voice Of My Beloved' Robert Murray M'Cheyne on Song Of Solomon 2:8-17.