in certain ways, the natural is just a metaphor for the things of the spirit. c.s. lewis said that we live in the "shadowlands" and that the things we perceive as real (in physical creation) are really just shadows cast by the true light of heaven. part of the problem, i think, is that we tend to read the bible anthropomorphically, and project our non-spiritual human experience into spiritual realities.
Very well said.... The whole post! I wanted to comment on this paragraph, especially the last part. I think the Bible is written to use natural examples to guide us to understand the spiritual side. In other words, God and his Holy Men purposely used things things of the natural world like trees (I am the vine you are the branch) and in this instance, love making, to explain spiritual world things so we could have some comprehension of the spiritual relm. Of course the natural man can't understand the things of the spirit, but its enough of a likeness to get us going in the right direction.
Good post!!!