The following is an excerpt from Eden’s Return by Nick Padovani.

There’s a story from the life of Peter that connects with the Shulammite, the main character of Solomon’s Song. Like the Shulammite, the apostle Peter experienced a “valley of trouble” that God would transform into an opportunity for greater fruitfulness.

This happened in the final hours before Jesus’s crucifixion when Peter displayed a horrible act of unfaithfulness. Like the wife of the prophet Hosea, Peter had been unfaithful to his Beloved. First, Peter fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane after Jesus specifically asked him to stay awake and keep watch. This was much like the Shulammite in Song of Songs 2 when the Beloved asked her to rise out of bed and come away with Him. But, like Peter, she fell back asleep. For the young apostle, this happened three different times (Mark 14:41). Immediately afterwards, Jesus was arrested.

Soon after the arrest, Peter’s unfaithfulness reached a whole other level. He went on to publicly deny His relationship with the Lord. When someone questioned if he was a disciple of Christ, Peter began to curse and swear, assuring people that he did not know the Lord. This also happened three different times, and on the third occasion a rooster crowed—another symbol for awakening. At that moment, Peter was overcome by sorrow and fell into the worst valley of his life. Yet it was here that Jesus’s faithfulness would overcome Peter’s unfaithfulness. Jesus’s awakening love would overcome the disciple’s sleeping heart.

After He was resurrected, the Lord spoke to Peter on a shoreline off the Sea of Tiberius (Jn. 21). Over breakfast, He asked him the same question three different times. For each denial, and for each moment of falling asleep, Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Initially, it hurt Peter to be questioned this way, but a deeper revelation was coming to the surface. Jesus was not questioning Peter’s love in a doubtful or condemning way, for He knew all things. He knew Peter did indeed love Him. Like the Shulammite, Jesus knew Peter’s true identity. He knew that he was still “the rock.” But He wanted Peter to see it. He wanted Peter to wake up and get it. 

And that he did. After the third question, Peter said to Jesus, “My Lord, you know everything. You know that I burn with love for you!” (Jn. 21:17 TPT) It was at that moment that Peter’s heart crowed and his true identity as a lover of God was confirmed. Instantly, his troubles were turned around and a doorway of hope was opened before him. For as Peter’s love was affirmed, Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” The Lord immediately affirmed Peter’s destiny and called him to be who he truly was—a lover of God, unafraid to take back the vineyards and eat their choice fruits.

This is the grace and power of God toward each and every one of us. Still, the Lord calls to us, inviting us to awake to His love and take hold of the harvest. This is the destiny of the entire church, embodied in the ancient story of the Shulammite. And as we read further, we’ll find her taking this invitation to its furthest conclusion…