Page:The Song of Songs (1857).djvu/93

 Chapter.

1. The period of the preaching of the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles                               i.-ii.

2. The period of the increase of the Church, and persecution from without                       iii.-iv.

3. The period of peace from without and danger within                                             v.-vi. 8.

4. The period of the Reformation                         vi. 9-vii. 10.

5. The period of unsettlement after the Reformation                                        vii. 11-viii. 3.

6. The period of the persecution                         viii. 4-6.

7. The period of rest after the sufferings and longing for the spread of the Gospel               viii. 7-14.

1648. Strange as this mode of interpretation may appear, yet, as we have seen, it is not confined to a single individual or country. John Cotton also affirms that Solomon in this book "describes the estate of the Church towards Christ, and his respect towards her from his (i. e. Solomon's) own time to the last judgment."

Chap. i. describes the estate of the Church from the days of Solomon to the repair of the temple by Josiah.

Chap. ii. describes the estate of the Church from the repair of the temple to the days of the Maccabees.

Chap. iii. describes the estate of the Church from the days of the Maccabees to the time of Christ's sojourning here on earth.

Chap. iv. describes the estate of the Church—first, in Christ's time, under his ministry, ver. 1-6; secondly, after his ascension, under the Apostles, ver. 7-11; thirdly, after their departure, during the first ten persecutions, ver. 12-16.

Chap. v. describes the estate of the Church from the time that Constantine entered it to the time of restoring