TIMOTHY A. LITTLE (PhD, Baptist Bible Seminary) is Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Faith Baptist Theological Seminary in Ankeny, IA. He has authored one other book and several articles. He regularly speaks, leads Bible studies, and writes on the Song of Songs. He is also a cohost on The Thinklings Podcast.
ANGELA M. LITTLE (BS, Faith Baptist Bible College) is a wife, homemaker, and mother. She serves alongside her husband in their local church and assists him with his ministry at Faith Baptist Bible College, which includes speaking and leading Bible studies on the Song of Songs.
A Testimony Of Our Relationship
Tim grew up in New York and Angela was raised primarily in Iowa. God was gracious and allowed both of us to grow up in Christian homes. We placed our faith in Jesus at young ages and were baptized shortly thereafter. Neither of us dated in high school. We were regularly encouraged to live lives of purity for the glory of God. Nevertheless, both of us were engaged (to someone else) in college. Years after those engagements ended, we met each other and were married in less than a year. Our journey is a good journey, but it has had some bumps. We were technically virgins on our wedding day, but we struggled to uphold God’s standard of purity.
My (Tim’s) most memorable moments as a youth in the Song of Songs were writing some of the verses in letters and anonymously mailing them to the girls at church camp. The Song was a joke and I treated it as profane literature rather than the Word of God. For many years I desired to study the Song but never had an opportunity. That opportunity arose during my doctrinal program when I learned that one of my professors, Mark McGinniss, wrote his dissertation on the Song of Songs. He suggested I write a paper on an Old Testament theology of sexual arousal from the Song of Songs for one of my classes and thus began my study of the Song.
As I studied the Song and talked to Angela about it, God equipped us to address the sexual dysfunction in our relationship. We knew that there were problems in our relationship but didn’t know what exactly was wrong or how to fix it. This was a long process that took several years. Sin was destroying the intimacy that God desired for us to enjoy. Sin that started before we knew each other. Sin that was ignored, buried, and never confessed. Sin that continued into our marriage. We believed the lies of the world and defined intimacy according to worldly standards instead of God’s standards. By studying the Song of Songs, sin was exposed and confessed. Repentance led to forgiveness and healing in our relationship.
During this study, I first learned about the adjuration refrain, “Do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases” (Song 2:7; 3:5; 8:4). As I reflected upon this exhortation, the sexual dysfunction in our marriage, unconfessed sin, and the worldly lies I had believed, I became convinced that singles needed to hear the message of the Song of Songs. I began talking to friends and pastors about it. As I explained our premarital struggle for purity, I quickly learned our struggle was far too common. As I discussed our sexual dysfunction, I learned this struggle was also common. We have become more convinced that the church needs to teach singles about the Song of Songs.
Now as we have begun speaking and teaching the Song, we have found the resounding sentiment very positive. Many believers have ignorantly feasted on the world’s instruction concerning intimacy but have been left starving. Relationally famished believers crave God’s instruction concerning relationships, marriage, and intimacy. We pray that the next generation has more mature memories of the Song of Songs than sending anonymous letters to girls at church camp.
Our Family
God has blessed us with five children: Josiah, Zach, Daniel, Judah, and Aliza. Tim teaches at Faith Baptist Theological Seminary (FBTS) and manages the campus bookstore. He leads the college class and directs the K-6th-grade children’s program at Faith Baptist Church in Cambridge, IA. Angela homeschools the children and ministers to the ladies at FBTS and Faith Baptist Church.