Ecclesiaste

 Ecclesiastes 1 - This is a book I don’t know much about. So with the completion of John, I am moving on or back to the Old Testament. Ecclesiastes is the reflection of an old man, who is looking back over human life and the realizations that he has come too. The author (thought to be Solomon) appears to be particularly melancholy as the book opens,“Meaningless! Meaningless!… Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” The NKJV says “All is vanity”. On closer inspection of his own life he says, “I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone..., then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom… madness & folly, but I learned that this too, is a chasing after the wind. As I do my Bible study, I frequently break the passage into two columns. One that lists all that deals with God, the other all that deals with man. Only one phrase mentions God, the rest is all “I’s”. "I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven, I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, I thought to myself, Look I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone, I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge, I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, madness and folly but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind." Verse 18 says “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge the more grief.” It is true that man’s pursuits without God are meaningless. Man can achieve all that there is to achieve under heaven and without God his life will only end in meaningless and pointless sorrow. Man, without God, is utterly meaningless and life with out God nothing more than vain pursuit.

 Ecclesiastes 2 - This book should be an annual, mandatory read for everyone after 6th grade. We all have ideas of grandeur, of course, those ideas of what “grandeur” is can be vastly different from one person to another. To one, it can be a corner office with a six-figure salary, to another traveling on a tour bus playing for packed stadiums, for some just the travel and yet another to be married and have a houseful of children. From the time we are old enough to speak, we are being asked about what we want to do, what we want to be, and where we want to go when we grow up. Surveying the world and all it has to offer, we plot our pursuits to go, conquer and amass our treasure (whatever that might be). Still others seek simple pleasures, denying themselves nothing in the pursuit to eat, drink and merry. As the elderly author of this book, looks back over his life he recalls the pleasure and pursuits that were the focus of his days. He tried cheering himself with wine and embracing folly, he undertook great projects, built houses, planted vineyards, gardens and parks. He owned more herds than anyone, amassed gold and silver, surrounded himself with a harem of beautiful women, refused his heart no pleasure. Yet when he looked at it all, he found it to be meaningless, nothing but a vapor. So, he turned his thoughts to wisdom and while he found wisdom to have more value than folly, he noted that both the wise and the fool face the same fate. Everything that he had pursued and worked so hard to achieve and accumulate would, in the end, be left to another. This look back over what the world, would absolutely define as the best, that life has to offer left this man hating life. There is no point to any of it, without God. “… for without Him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases Him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God.” Nothing without God. Ever.

 Ecclesiastes 3 - I have to admit, I am not sure that I would enjoy having dinner with this guy. He is a bit too melancholy for my taste, talk about a glass half empty. This chapter starts off with a poem about the tedious repetition and routine of life and the fact that with every positive there is something equally negative and on and on it goes. At the end of the chapter, he is comparing our lives to the lives of the animals. We’re all the same and we all end up the same… dead. BUT! There in the middle he has a brief moment of hope and clarity. I had to really dig into these few verses, look up a lot of the original language, to allow the Holy Spirit to help me understand what he was trying to say here (vs 9-15). When man works to make something it is marked with toil and suffering but when God sets out to make something it always ends in beauty. It is our God-given task to occupy ourselves and humble ourselves with this realization. We can’t  begin to fathom all that God and done and will do. There is nothing better for us to do than to make good use of the time we have, rejoice in that which the Lord is doing and put our hope in Him and His abilities for everything He does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it! I know that it is not 100% certain that Solomon wrote this book, but it sure does fit with his story. Solomon, being David’s (a man after God’s own heart) son, certainly knew of God. However, while he had his moments, he absolutely let his own desires and cravings lead him around by the nose. He had over 700 wives, most of whom worshipped pagan gods in the High Places that Solomon had built for them to worship in. Solomon tried to walk the line, one foot on each side, but it’s impossible. The current of the world will sweep us away and leave us feeling like Solomon did here… aware of the truth but depressed by the reality of his life spent trying to find meaning in what the world has to offer.

• Ecclesiastes 4 - This is by far the weirdest book of the Bible I have ever study. I almost feel like I should know the ending, maybe it would shine some light on these passages. So much of it is just plain hopeless. However, it is very good at reinforcing the hopelessness of a life spent without God. Chapter 4 is a rather depressing look at oppression, toil and the loneliness of life (without God) and it is bleak. Very bleak. There is, however, some bits of wisdom and insight tucked in the melancholy prose. He points out the wisdom of contentment in verse 6, “better one handful (of stuff) with tranquillity (rest, quietness) than two handfuls with toil (trouble, labor and striving). And he points out the benefit in human relationships. Two are more productive than one, two can help one another, two can comfort one another, two can provide safety and security for one another. Now I have heard verse 12b many times (at weddings) “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” and have always heard it in the context of marriage, husband, wife, and God, but I had no idea that verse was placed here in these verses. In fact, I literally said out loud, “what is this verse doing here?”. And while I completely agree that a marriage with God in the middle is far stronger than one without (that could totally be what he was referring to), I got to wondering, if in the context of what this author is talking about (because this is no mention of God anywhere else in this chapter), if perhaps the third cord here represents children and the 3 cords he was referring to was family. So, I did a little digging and did find multiple commentators that expressed the same theory. Even more to Solomon’s life, we see the split of Israel near the end of Solomon’s life between Jeroboam (one of Solomon’s officials) and Rehoboam (Solomon’s son) which makes the whole of Israel more vulnerable to the Assyrians and the Babylonians. “Just a little trivia." So, where does that leave us with chapter 4? Well, there is wisdom in contentment and wisdom in caring for our relationships and most of all… Life is completely and utterly meaningless without God in the middle of it. Don’t do a
• single day without Jesus. That is my take away!

 Ecclesiastes 5 - Sometimes Bible study requires getting your “hands dirty”, ya gotta dig in there and really pull it apart to understand the text in context and in light of the whole inspired Word. For example “Ask and you shall receive” does not mean God is the great genie in the sky on call to fulfill your wishes, nor does “I can do all things through Christ” mean you run a marathon or write a term paper for school by simply plugging into his power, to use these verses in this way is foolishness. Now, what do I mean by foolishness? A fool is not a person, that is incapable of learning, but a person that will not learn. One, who thinks, they are wise enough. With that in mind, let’s look at the first seven verses of Ecclesiastes 5. How do you reconcile the verses found here, that say, “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God… so let your words be few.” with verses like 1 Thess. 5:17 that says “pray continually.”? They seem to contradict one another. And I thought that God wants to have a relationship with us? That He wants us to comes to Him with our requests and concerns, Philippians tells us to “pray about everything”. The passage here in Ecclesiastes is not talking about a person that desires a relationship with God, a person like Mary, who wants to sit at the feet of Jesus and be taught and encouraged by Christ. This passage is talking about the fool, who offers nothing more than superficial religion, someone who rushes in and out of the house of God, never listening only running at the mouth, making rash promises he doesn’t intend to keep. Solomon shares great wisdom in verse 7, “Stand in awe of God.” For those who seek fellowship and a deep and meaningful relationship with God, make no mistake, He is anxiously waiting to “come in and dine with you”. Our prayer life should be marked by an on-going awareness of God through out our day, we should be devoted to prayer, praying at all times and in all things with full dependence on God. Our prayers should be spontaneous, filled with faith, reverence and humility and in submission to God’s will. So, “Go near to listen” - to be taught, to learn and to obey!

• Ecclesiastes 6 - I can almost see Solomon slumped over a desk, dressed in the finest materials money can by, surrounded by every whim and desire obtained over the course of his life. A palace full of wives and children, barns filled with strong and mighty horses. He had everything, this life has to offer and not just a bit of everything but an over abundance of everything and yet he was filled with deep despair. He had and achieved all that he could and yet he found it all meaningless. He had sought to make it on his own, he didn’t need to bother himself with One God, he would cave to the will of his wives and build places for them to worship pagan gods, but in the end, he comes to the realization that man can not contend with God. Sadly, he missed the beauty of God’s sovereignty, to him it is one more burden to bare, whatever exists, whatever man is, is already known by God so why bother. Solomon looked at all he had accomplished, acquired and achieved and all he saw was vanity and shadows, he looked at death and saw darkness and uncertainty. What a hopeless way to live. This is the best that the world can offer. But here’s the beauty of God’s sovereignty that Solomon missed. God has this epic story of redemption weaved throughout the history and story of the world. A rescue that spans generations and ends with all set back in order and WE get to be a part of it!! God wants to include us, to allow us to participate. Solomon was right, God’s story will play out exactly the way He wants it too but what he missed was that we have the opportunity to be in the middle of it working with God to accomplish it! Now that is something to get excited about! Picture Solomon and Esther, both royalty, standing within their palace walls. Solomon weighed down with the meaninglessness of his life, and Esther just outside the door of King Xerxes pondering the question posed by her Uncle Mordecai “… who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” Mordecai was right when he said, “if you remain silent… relief and deliverance… will arise from another place” God’s will would be accomplished but unlike Solomon, who found that to be a case for giving up
• Mordecai and Esther saw as an opportunity to be the one God would use!!

 Ecclesiastes 7 - I have to be honest, this has not been my favorite book of the Bible to study, this guy is just so “glass half empty”. But, that doesn’t mean there isn’t valuable stuff to learn here. Sometimes you just have to use your “3D” glasses to see the whole picture and not the blurry one his melancholy mood can paint. I used the list approach with this chapter summarizing themes of verses in light of the whole of scripture vs. his “under the sun” mentality. 1. A good name is better - yes! And the best name is one written down in the Book of Life! 2. Day of death is better... also true! Because as a believer in Jesus Christ this is the beginning of my eternal life with Him! 3. House of mourning and sorrow better... a sober view of our mission while on earth will indeed cause us to make a better use of our time. 4. There is much benefit in the rebuke of a wiseman and In practicing patience. 5. Stop romanticizing the past. 6. Degrees and money, that’s the best This life without God can offer. 7. The extremes of both legalism and libertarism are bad. 8. We are all sinners so, don’t take negative talk about you too seriously. 9. We will never truly arrive when it comes to wisdom, so remain teachable. 10. There is great danger in unchecked passion and sexual desire. 11. Strive to be the one upright in a thousand!

• Ecclesiastes 8 - in this chapter, Solomon starts off with two questions. 1. Who is like a wise man? 2. Who knows the explanation of things? His conclusion is right on, “ then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it he will not be able to find it.” We can not put God in a box, We will never be able to fully comprehend who and what He is and to me that is exciting news. What confidence can there be in a god that can be understood by the human mind? Solomon makes some great suggestions in this chapter as well. “Obey the King” and enjoy life. His observations? Whoever obeys the king will not come to harm, no one has power over his death, oppressive rule by others happens, people seem to forget the wickedness of men after they die, long-suffering often needs to more wickedness, it will go better for the God-fearing man, and righteous men get what the wicked-deserve and the wicked what the righteous deserve. I want to Stop here for a moment, isn’t this the age-old question? Why do bad things happen to good people? Think of it this way, if you were to make the choice to make a mad dash from the store to your car in a torrential rainstorm it would be ridiculous to think that you wouldn’t get wet. Of course, you are going to get wet, even if you were prepared, umbrella, rain slicker, the whole nine yards there is no that you will be able to stay completely dry. It’s raining, and your outside in the rain You’re getting wet. Now consider for a moment, you’ve have decided to wait out the storm in the safety of the store, you’ve got time, there’s no reason to run out in the rain. But as you watch the people running to and from their cars, you see an elderly person fall in the parking lot, without hesitation you race from your shelter in the storm to help. It takes time to help them to their feet, gather their belongings and escort them inside. Now you are soaked, not a part of you is dry, you didn’t deserve to get wet, you had a plan, wait out the storm, but you were in a position to be used by God to help
• someone else. We are living in a “rainstorm” and we are going to get wet BUT that isn’t the end of the story! It’s just a few chapters, a plot twist is coming!!! Those who believe will be caught up in the clouds, given fresh dry clothes never to be rained on again!!! So hold on! Obey the King, don’t rush out of his presence and make the most of this part of the story! 

 Ecclesiastes 9 - several years ago, my daughter wanted to invite a friend to come with her to Vacation Bible School. When I spoke with her friend’s mom about it, she was very hesitant. She even joked about the potential for animal sacrifices. We laughed and I assured her no animals would be injured. I used the opportunity to ask her about her upbringing, and whether or not she believed in God. She motioned to the displays of creation all around her and said “well, i think it’s pretty obvious that there has to be some kind of god behind all this, I’m just not sure what he’s up to.” I was reminded of her this morning in the study of this chapter. Solomon knew without a doubt that God existed but he had no idea if God loved him or hated him. From his point of view God was in control and what He wanted would happen so why bother. Death was the end for everyone, so ya better live up while you’ve got the chance. Life wasn’t fair and in the end, we won’t even be remembered. Ugh. What a hopeless way to live. Solomon did “live it up” but still didn’t find happiness or contentment. That’s because it isn’t possible without God. Yes! “He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.” “Heaven rules!” But that is a good thing! We can rest in that, knowing that no matter how messed up things appear, God IS in control His will shall be established. There is no question when it comes to how he feels about you. He loves you with an unfailing and everlasting love. Death is merely the doorway to eternity where all matters of unfairness and unjustness will be set straight. And God will always remember you. You are his masterpiece, knit together by Him, fearfully and wonderfully made by Him. As Solomon has poetically shown us a life lived without knowing God is truly meaningless but a life lived in love with God is one of excited anticipation of what’s to come! So “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might!” For Him!!

 Ecclesiastes 10 - Ya know one of the biggest things I have learned from my study of Ecclesiastes? Don’t be a complainer. Solomon’s “why bother” attitude is exhausting. No wonder Paul tells us to do everything without complaining, so that we can be like shining stars in the universe!! In this chapter Solomon focuses in on the foolish life, pointing out the even small things have consequences. I think this is an especially important lesson to learn young. So many of us make choices when we are young, thinking “what’s the big deal”, not realizing that even the smallest decisions will have consequences. Verse 2 is really the fork in the road of this chapter, “the heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.” This made me think of Jesus, sitting at the right hand of God, I long for life and decisions to always be those that take me closer to Him!

 Ecclesiastes 11 - I don’t want to jinx anything, but I think may-haps that the cloud, under which Solomon spends so much of his time, might just be lifting! I actually, really loved this chapter. It’s full of good advice for life and could be summed up this way. Be adventurous, don’t always play it safe, be generous when you have the means to be so, don’t get bogged down with “what if’s” do all that you can and trust God with the rest, live life to the fullest but be wise in your choices of how you choice to live your life, for all will be called into account. I can think of a few people who really lived out this passage, that understood what it meant to live life to the fullest. Billy Graham, lived his adventurous life to the fullest in sharing the Gospel with as many as 215 million people in live audiences in over 185 countries! What about George Mueller? I can’t wait to meet him! It is said that when God called him to build his orphanage he had $.50 to his name. Not one time did he make his financial needs know to man, he only prayed and left it to God to provide. Over the course of his work, $7,000,000 was sent to him for the building and running of his orphanages! When all was completed his orphanages could care for 2,000 orphans at a time. I truly believe that God has an adventure waiting for each of us, if we would just do as this chapter suggests! Just imagine what God could do if we all had the faith anc courage of these two men!

Ecclesiastes 12 - Ah, the end. I am happy to report that in the end Solomon found the meaning to life. In the end, he found that God is the true meaning of life and he uses this final chapter to encourage and admonish others to do things differently than him. He implores us to remember our Creator in the days of our youth. In other words, the sooner we realize that we are not our own and that God created us with a specific purpose in mind, that happier and more content we will be. What a terrible waste of a life to reach its end and find that it has been wasted chasing the wind, when it could have been directed by an almighty and loving Creator. Chapter 12 could be summed up this way, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, remember Him! Life without Him is utterly meaningless! Here is the secret to meaning of life: Fear God and keep his commandments! This is where the joy is, where your purpose and value will be found!