1-11 The Words of the Teacher, Son of David, King in Jerusalem
All is vanity. There is no purpose to life. I think this may be what we would call a mid-life crisis today. Just what is the purpose of life? The answer will be: If we live life "under the sun," as do the animals, there is none!
- Nothing is really gained from hard work.
- Generations come and go -- nothing really changes
- The earth and all its processes move on - with or without us. Our existence makes no difference.
- We're never really satisfied.
- Nothing is ever new.
- Generations to come won't even remember us.
- Solomon applied his mind to search out all wisdom, and still found nothing but unhappiness.
- Nothing can be fixed -- it all remains the same
- The wiser one is the most frustrated one becomes -- the more you know the less you know -- or in Solomon's case, the less you want to know!
Ecclesiastes 2
1-11 The Futility of Self Indulgence
- A test of pleasure
- Solomon searched his mind on how to cheer his body
- With wine
- With great works – houses and vineyards, gardens and parks, orchards
- With possessions - male and female slaves, herds and flocks
- With silver and gold and treasures of kings
- With male and female singers
- With many concubines
- Again, it was vanity and chasing after wind
12-26 Wisdom and Joy Given to One Who Pleases God
- Solomon considers wisdom and madness and folly
- He concludes that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.
- Yet – both the wise and the fool eventually die – so where’s the advantage of being wise?
- Besides that, a fool can come along after the wise is gone and tear down everything the wise has built up.
- Without God, those “under the sun” work hard, with days full of pain and nights full of anxiety. What’s the point?
- With God, workers find pleasure in their work, because God grants them wisdom, knowledge, and joy.
1-8 Everything Has Its Time
- Birth-death; planting-pulling up; killing-healing; tearing down-building up
- Weeping-laughing; mourning-dancing; throwing away-gathering up; embracing-refraining from embracing
- Seeking-losing; keeping-throwing away; tearing-sewing; silence-speech
- Love-hate; war-peace.
- What gain do workers get from their toil?
- God has given us:
- Things to be busy with
- A sense of past and future, yet without a knowledge of his beginning and end
- The ability to enjoy food, drink, and work
- Whatever God does endures forever – we cannot add to it or take anything from it.
- “Under the sun,” wickedness takes the place of justice and righteousness
- God will be the judge of the righteous and the wicked
- He tests people to show they have no advantage over animals – they all die
- Since they can’t see what will happen after death, their pleasure is to enjoy their work while they’re still alive.
1-8 Oppressions of Life under the Sun
- There’s no comfort for the oppressed
- The dead are better off than they are – better off still are the unborn, who have not seen evil deeds.
- Even work and skill are motivated out of envy – vanity, and chasing after wind
- Another vanity – those who live alone – there is no end to their toil, and they toil for no one but themselves.
- Two are always better than one
- For support
- For warmth
- Three are better than two for standing against enemies – “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
1-20 Reverence, Humility and Contentment
- Making vows:
- Listening well is better than a fool’s sacrifice
- Don’t be rash with your mouth
- “God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few.”
- When you make a vow, fulfill it quickly.
- Better not to vow if you can’t fulfill it
- With many dreams come vanities and a multitude of words
- Don’t be amazed at the oppression of the poor – officials are watched by higher authorities. It’s actually an advantage: a king for a plowed field. (The translations differ on this statement. ASV and NKJV read “the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.”)
- Loving money is vanity.
- When goods increase, so do those who eat them.
- The surplus of the rich prevents sleep, while the laborer always sleeps well.
- When the wealthy lose their wealth in bad ventures, they leave nothing for the children; they have toiled for the wind.
- Goodness is found in eating, drinking, and enjoying your work, whether you are rich or poor, to accept your lot. (Philippians 4:11 – Learn to be content with whatever you have.)
1-12 The Frustration of Desires
- For a wealthy man to have possession and honor and not enjoy them is vanity, a grievous ill
- If a man has 100 children and lives a long time, but does not enjoy good things or a burial, he is worse off than if he had been stillborn.
- The appetite is never satisfied – better to enjoy what you see than to always desire what you cannot see.
- This is how it is: everything’s been named; we know we can’t dispute with those who are stronger
- The more words, the more vanity
- Who knows what is good for mortals in their short lives? Who can tell them what will come after?
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