January’s blog post detailed what was Truth, Fact, and Fiction from my debut novel, Love Amid the Ashes (LATA). Today’s post gives fun tidbits about book #2 in the Treasures of His Love series: Love’s Sacred Song (LSS).
- CLICK HERE to receive directly to your inbox the final two Truth/Fact/Fiction articles!
- Love In a Broken Vessel (LBV–coming 2/24/25 to my blog)
- In the Shadow of Jezebel (ITSOJ–coming 3/10/25 to my newsletter)
- Click on any of the titles above to see each book’s dedicated page on my website. You’ll find study questions, sneak peeks, and other fun, free stuff!
Here are a few insights about the Treasures of His Love series as a whole:
- Each book was written as a stand-alone novel so they can be read in any order.
- If you’d like to read the Treasures of His Love series in chronological biblical order (Because I’m an Amazon advertising affiliate, a small commission is earned when purchases are made using Amazon links below):
- Love Amid the Ashes – The Story of Job & Dinah (Job & Genesis 34, 36)
- Love’s Sacred Song – Solomon and his first true love (1 Kings & Song of Songs)
- In the Shadow of Jezebel – Queen Athaliah, High Priest Jehoiada, Jehosheba (2 Kings 11 & 2 Chronicles 22)
- Love In a Broken Vessel – Hosea & Gomer (Hosea & 2 Kings 15ff)
- Though these books don’t meet the literary criterion for love stories, every book includes romance. And, as the series title indicates, LOVE is the essence of every plot. Yes, you’ll see the journey of a man and woman’s earthly struggle to overcome obstacles and see their love triumph. Even more importantly, however, the Treasures of His Love series shows God’s unconditional love through every Old Testament Truth, historical Fact, and creative piece of Fiction.
Love’s Sacred Song (LSS) – Book #2
Truth
Solomon wrote Song of Songs early in his reign.
Sixty queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number; but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. Song of Songs 6:8–9 (emphasis added)
By the time Solomon was old, his queens outnumbered his concubines 2 to 1:
He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 1 Kings 11:3–4 (emphasis added)
Solomon divided Israel into twelve DISTRICTS
Whereas Moses and Joshua instituted the boundaries that God drew for Israel’s twelve TRIBES, King Solomon was given wisdom from God (1 Kings 3:1-15) and drew twelve new DISTRICTS. He appointed officials and governors over the districts and instituted taxes in the form of labor and provision for the king’s household. He stretched the borders of Israel to its largest land mass ever before or since:
The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy. And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These countries brought tribute and were Solomon’s subjects all his life. 1 Kings 4:20–21 (emphasis added)
Facts
Blame King Solomon for your taxes!
The Bible describes the labor force–historically named, “corvee”–that worked two months of labor tax and then went home for a month. Some of the workers were Canaanites still living in the land, but others were Israelites–committed to the same labor law.
There was no attempt to create districts of equal economic potential. Besides sending the monthly provisions for Solomon’s palace, the commissioners in the old tribal districts were responsible mainly for the corvée (the best quarries were in those very hill-country zones) while the commissioners in the lowland districts were responsible for the levy. Their subjects were mainly Canaanites and others of the pre-Israelite stock. The commissioner in Naphtali evidently had both Canaanites and Israelites to administer. Judah was not included in the twelve but it did have a commissioner. The district divisions of Judah (Map 156) may represent a counterpart to the commissioners’ districts but it seems obvious that Judah was considerably favored under the United Monarchy. (Aharoni, Y., Avi-Yonah, M., Rainey, A. F., Notley, R. S., & Safrai, Z., eds. (2011). The Carta Bible Atlas (Fifth Edition, p. 91). Carta Jerusalem.)
In other research sources, it was suggested that the whole tribe of Judah was even protected from this one-month-a-year provision because the WHOLE TRIBE OF JUDAH was not a part of the redistricting. They were–the whole tribe–included AS PART OF SOLOMON’S “HOUSEHOLD.”
How popular would you think that was with the other tribes and districts?
Fiction
Because Song of Songs is poetry, rather than a narrative (story) or historical account, I relied on a lot of fiction to write this allegorical novel.
Most Bible scholars agree there are three poetic voices in the song but few agree on who said which parts. There is a Him (in some Bible versions called, Lover), a Her (that some versions call, Beloved), and a group of singers often referred to as, Friends (or the Daughters of Jerusalem in some translations). Judging from the title, Song of Songs, Solomon believed this song to be his very best. After reading all eight chapters every day for more than a year (in 1999), I wholeheartedly agree!
This book took me twelve years to write because it began as a Bible study. Then became my most popular retreat topic. As it morphed into half-Bible-study/half-novel, it was the first thing I tried to publish–and was so discouraged, I almost stopped writing altogether.
Almost stopped writing. That is, until a friend suggested I write the full book as fiction and allow readers to learn from the allegory. So, here we are–eighteen years and eighteen published novels/novellas later–LOVING writing biblical fiction. Definitely not on my radar until 2007.
Allegorical Premise for Song of Songs:
- I built the whole premise of the plot on a fictional conspiracy of an ancient society of Judean loyalists (Sons of Judah–SOJ). They try to fulfill Jacob’s deathbed blessing (Truth: Genesis 49:10). Jacob prophesied that “the scepter would not depart” from Judah. The fictional SOJ plan to use Solomon’s weakness for beautiful women to fulfill Jacob’s deathbed prophecy. Solomon had already redrawn the twelve tribes, which caused widespread political unrest. He’d already instituted high taxation for the other eleven tribes. The goal was to raise Judah to the royal rulers over Yahweh’s chosen people.
- The SOJ chose two sisters–“the Daughters of Jerusalem”–to distract Solomon from his first love: the young shepherd girl (Beloved). But she demands his heart’s full commitment. Sound familiar? Doesn’t God command that we love Him with ALL our heart, soul, mind, and strength? The SOJ focused on–with the help of the Daughters of Jerusalem–convincing Solomon to make more divisive decisions.
- And then there’s King Solomon (Lover), who is distracted by all his responsibilities as a young king. His largely Judean council members fill him with fear to keep his heart unsettled, but the wise governor of Issachar (symbolizing the Heavenly Father) offers his Daughter (Beloved) as a “treaty Bride” from the northern tribes. If Solomon will only give Her his undistracted heart.
Allegory Summary
In Love’s Sacred Song, the enemy deceives Solomon’s heart (us). The Daughters of Jerusalem (satan) prey on Solomon’s weaknesses to distract him from the Shepherd Girl (his Savior). This distraction means he can’t love the Savior with his whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. The Father (Issachar’s Governor) sends His Daughter (Jesus) to Jerusalem as a treaty Bride (sacrifice). to bring peace to Solomon and Israel. Love’s Sacred Song includes every Scripture of the NIV text and will both challenge you and show you the love of Jesus in new ways.
Enjoy this post?
Read what’s Truth, Fact, and Fiction in Love In a Broken Vessel (LBV) – Book #3 in my February 24th blog! To see what’s Truth, Fact, and Fiction in In the Shadow of Jezebel (ITSOJ). CLICK HERE to become one of my Newsies for my March 10th update!
Happy Reading, y’all!
