The Banner That Named Her Beloved

In the hill country of Tuscany, outside the village of Montalcino, there is a tradition that dates back centuries. When a family celebrates a wedding, they hang a hand-sewn banner from the highest window of their home. The banner bears the family crest and the name of the bride, stitched in gold thread. It stays there for forty days. Everyone who walks through the village square looks up and knows: she has been chosen. She belongs. She is celebrated, not in secret, but for the whole town to see.

The beloved in Song of Solomon 2:4 knows this feeling. "He brought me to the banqueting house," she says, "and his banner over me was love." This is not a whispered affection or a private arrangement. This is a public declaration. The Hebrew word for banner, degel, carried military weight — it was the standard that an army raised high so every soldier knew where to rally. It announced identity and allegiance for miles.

God does not love you quietly. He does not slip a note under the door and hope you find it. He raises a banner. He seats you at His table in full view of everyone and says, "This one is Mine." The cross itself stands as that banner — lifted high on a hill outside Jerusalem, visible to the whole watching world, declaring that the Almighty's love for you was worth everything He had to give.

You are not God's secret. You are His announced beloved.