Love: As Strong As Death 

Love: As Strong As Death 

Love always. “for love is as strong as death…” Song of Solomon 8:6 

In the course of studying the Bible’s explanation of God’s design and purpose for human sexuality, we ought to be filled with a sense of gratitude toward King Solomon, that wise teacher and forebear of the Messiah whose tendency was to spare no detail when discussing matters sexual.  His lyrical praise of marital intimacy reveals the great potential of sex, and the confessions of his own lustful indulgences illustrate the terrible consequences of perverting it. 

Solomon’s poetic verse that “love is as strong as death” draws upon the themes that appear throughout his exhortations.  He viewed love as both the motivation and product of marital intimacy and sexual integrity (Proverbs 5:18-19), and death as the consequence of sexual immorality (Proverbs 7:21-22).  In Song of Solomon 8:6, love and death are portrayed as competing forces vying for the heart of a man, underscoring the reality that a choice is set before us each day: to love as Christ loves us (Ephesians 5:2), or to descend, through immorality, “to the chambers of death” (Proverbs 7:27). 

We are empowered, by God’s Holy Spirit, to choose love every time, and ultimately, our choice of love over death in the sexual context is a testimony of the divine love that is stronger than death.  What a privilege it is to participate in the proclamation of our King’s sacrificial love that has overcome death (I Corinthians 15:54-57) and is poured out upon His bride (Revelation 19:7).  Let us pray and encourage one another as we grasp hold of this victory.