Ecclesiastes Part 4

Ecclesiastes 2:12-26
Teaching Pastor: Lloyd Shadrach

We have been gas-lighted (manipulated (someone) by psychological means into questioning their own sanity.) by the world of flesh and the enemy of our souls.

Adam and Eve lived in paradise and communed with our God, but the enemy caused her to question his goodness, leading to the fall. Instead of questioning the enemies validity, she began to question a perfect God and what she had been commanded. 

Previously in the book of Ecclesiastes it was made clear that pleasure will not fill  the void of our soul.  Now Solomon looks at the ability of Wisdom and Work to fill that void.

In 2:12-17 we see that death is the great equalizer. We may all argue or disagree on what we come face-to-face with in the afterlife, or if there is an after life, but none of us can or do question death.  We all die.  In v. 16 Solomon proclaims that there is no lasting remembrance of the wise.  None of us will be remembered, not in any meaningful way.  Memorial day just passed us by, and many thought back to "remember" friends, loved ones, and fallen strangers.  Many people are memorialized, and sure, we all "remember" Hitler and his terrible deeds, or the acts of love and mercy performed by Mother Teresa. 

Will any person or act, good or bad, or WISE, be remembered 5,000 years from now?  Personally, as much as times have changed in the 32 years I've been alive, I cannot even begin to comprehend the world my son will be an adult in, much less a world in 5,000 years.  While I can't imagine that world, it likewise will not know or remember me and my generation, even the most memorable of my generation.  Wisdom will not bring us remembrance, we are all forgotten and end life in death.

Solomon laments in v 18-23 that like wisdom, work also does not fill the void.  He laments that what he works for he must leave to whomever comes behind him.  While Solomon worked hard, and gained much, he had no control over his sons acts with what was left to him.  When we are gone we lose all control of that we have worked for.

v. 24 "There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work.  I have seen that even this is from God's hand."

The above verse is a carpe diem passage.  We are to enjoy the everyday things of life both literally and figuratively.  All that encompasses life should be enjoyed. 

As mentioned previously, even work was a gift from God.  Work became distorted after the fall, but we were made and designed to work and find joy and fulfillment.  The fall distorted work, but we all still have a longing and desire for work.

Any work we do, should be done as though it were a gift from the Lord, because it is.

We are made for more than this world offers, yet we can still eat drink and say know all we have is from the hand of God.

No one can experience goodness apart from God. 

My heart breaks as I grow and realize the goodness and pleasure that comes from knowing God.  I live in the deep south so everyone proclaims to be a "Christian," but my desire is to see everyone truly rest in the peace and pleasure that comes from knowing the Lord and living in relationship with Him.

Life in God's world is a gift, not a gain.  It is not something we work for and gain or earn, rather it is a gift and gifts are only enjoyed when they are received. 

Receiving our work as a gift will make it joyful.

Finally death = separation.  For me and all Christians, physical death is separation from the body, but it is really only the beginning.  I will be reunited with God, a fate much more pleasing than the pleasures offered up, from God, in this physical world.

Without salvation we cannot eat, drink and enjoy life, with it...even work is pleasure.

In the world we live in today, someone dies every 1.8 seconds.  My prayer today is that they knew and experienced life's pleasure, through God, so that someone is reunited with the Lord in ultimate pleasure every 1.8 seconds.  What a blessed world that would be.

Ecclesiastes Part 3

Ecclesiases 2:1-11
Teaching Pastor: Rob Sweet

Life under the sun is the fallen world.  The phrase is repeated many times in the book of Ecclesiastes and exemplifies the fallen world we live in.  This makes sense to me, because the phrase, maybe because of it's repetition, sounds tired to me...It makes me feel exhausted, as does/should life after the fall.

All of us living in the 21st century have a huge access to pleasing things or pleasure in this life.  We have access to more pleasures than any other group of people in any other time or place.  My day for example:

I woke up in a King sized bed, in a house cooled by AC, turned on electricity, laced up my running shoes and headed out for a run.  Upon my return I fed my dogs and my baby, then loaded my child up to go to swimming lessons in heated pool so he can safely enjoy the water.  I returned home, had a cup of coffee, looked up my daily Bible reading passage from a group of women reading through the Bible on facebook.  My husband is now grilling hamburgers as my child naps and I record these notes on Ecclesiastes.  Later we will enjoy said hamburgers, bratwursts, and coleslaw, potentially followed by swimming with our son. 

Talk about blessed and inundated with pleasure.  Even those of us most destitute have many more pleasures than most people in the grand scheme of people groups in all time in the world.

All that to say, Solomon does a great job pointing out that while we have huge access to pleasure, we take them for granted and they do NOT bring us true fulfillment.  Temporary happiness, perhaps, True Joy and Fulfillment...NO.

Ecclesiastes 2:2  What does pleasure accomplish? Is there meaning to pleasure? We live in a frivolous society and pleasure can be associated with laughter, also with addictive behaviors What is there to be gained "under the sun?"

Ecclesiastes 2:4-7  speak of work...Solomon increased his achievements, made parks, gardens, reservoirs and vineyards for himself.

Like us, he desired to create his own Garden of Eden.  We all, deep down, long for utopia, that which is missing in the fallen world. 

Under the Sun, in a fallen world, our instinct is to insulate ourselves from outer pain and live in a cocoon.

There is much to say of our pleasure, as well as Solomon's. 

in v. 8 it is clear that wealth is attractive for what it can buy as well as security and status.  Solomon lived in the world before recorded music, but he has singers.  If I want to enjoy music I turn on the radio, play from a variety of apps on my iPhone or television...Solomon had to, and did, keep singers to provide music for him.  He also had an abundance of concubines.  700 wives and 300 concubines.  The wives and concubines were status symbols that likely meant little more to him than his money.

Our strategies to gain our own pleasures often robs life from others.  What must have it felt like to be in Solomon's concubine?

As always, in v.11 The end result is always vanity...a striving after the wind.

We were meant to enjoy life's pleasures and recognize them as gifts from God.  We must think of pleasure in light of all 66 books of the Bible.

THEOLOGY OF PLEASURE

The world often leads us to believe that pleasure is wrong and to equate it with sin.   This is false. Pleasure is not sinful.  It is created by God.  Often we indulge in pleasures in a sinful manner (ex. addiction, substance abuse, pornography, etc.) but the pleasure itself is not sinful.  It is the way we wrongfully engage in such pleasures that lead us to sin.

In Genesis 1, before sin entered the world, everything mankind experienced was pleasure.  Even work was pleasure.  We were designed to co-run this world with the Lord.  The deep yearning we have to work is because, pre-fall, that too was pleasure. 

In a fallen world pleasures are deadened and we have been separated from God.

God did not intend for us to use pleasures for selfish gain.  The only way life's pleasures can be redeemed is if something is done about our selfishness and sin problem.  Thankfully we have JESUS.  Something has been done, on our behalf, to atone for our selfishness and sin. 

Jesus engaged the pleasures of life and redeemed pleasure for us all.

In Revelation 21 and 22 The Garden of Eden is restored and paradise is regained.  None of this is at all possible without the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord.

The good things in life, when rightly enjoyed, are the truest things in life.

We instinctively try to create paradise and when we do it with the blessing and presence of our creator, it points to paradise. 

We must walk cautiously in the Lord's grace and redemption. Even as a redeemed people, it is so easy to abuse the pleasures of life.

We must strive to worship God as we experience all life has to offer, even and perhaps especially, life's pleasure.

We should invite God into the experience with us, praise him for his good creation and anticipate the fulfillment that is yet to come. 

Ecclesiastes Part 2

So this is the second part of the Ecclesiastes sermon series I am loving.  Such a good way to think about life, and I feel like it will only continue to be a rich book, worthy of my time and attention. 

I am currently reading The Road Back to You and reading through the Bible chronologically with a group of ladies on facebook. There have been passages in both this week's Bible reading and The Road Back to You that echo the truths spoken in Ecclesiastes.

This week we look at Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 

I applied my mind to examine and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven.  God has given people this miserable task to keep them occupied.

I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.

I said to myself, "See, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has thoroughly grasped wisdom and knowledge.

I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly; I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.

For with much wisdom is much sorrow; as knowledge increases, grief increases.

 

 

As was alluded to in 1:11, life is transient.  No one who came before is remembered.  Our life is but a vapor. 

 

An interesting thought.  We are here today, gone tomorrow.  While we may pass on knowledge, information or some "discovery," Nothing is new, and we will not be remembered. 

 

 

This can seem like a sad, disheartening thought, but I think there is hope and truth here.  We can gain nothing in this life and on this earth.  We have nothing to offer this world.  The world is in constant motion, but all is the same.  Trivialities may change/grow/develop, but life functions in a cosmic rhythm of circularity. 

 

In Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 we learn that Knowledge is Painful.  I love the illustration that my teaching pastor Lloyd Shadrach gave on Sunday.  When you go to a funeral, children are the people who can still smile, play, laugh and sing.  They do not have a capacity to understand grief or pain.  They do not realize or fully understand (even when it's been explained) that the person in the casket is not coming back.  I feel grief over these hypothetical children's lack of knowledge that Dad's not coming home, just typing that sentence.  This is because as we get older and experience more our capacity for grief and pain grows. 

 

There are 3 truth's in life that we all find it hard to swallow.

 

1. There is something wrong with EVERYTHING.

            Every happy high point in life is marked by grief or tragedy.  I think of my life now...I have

            the incredible opportunity to stay at home with my son, and it has given me immense

            opportunity to grow closer to the Lord.  The opportunity came about because a terrible

            car accident rocked my world and changed my life circumstances.  IMMENSE JOY

            along side grief.

2. There is always something missing

            Nothing in life is person, and in all situation we will find something missing.

3. I cannot do anything to fix it.

 

When we can embrace these truths we will be able to rise above them.  We must live them and realize the truth they possess in this world but know that Christ has the final say and has brought judgment to all things.

 

 





Ecclesiastes Part 1

I need to be better about taking notes during sermons, bible reading and truly studying.  Ever since my car accident and the blessing of being a stay at home mom, I've been so fortunate for the opportunity to read and study the Word more than ever before in my life.  In 2017 my husband and I set a goal to read through the entire Bible.  We used a great app that allowed me to "check a box" when I completed a daily bible reading.  This tool allowed me to be able to say I've read the whole Bible.  This year I am doing a read through the bible with a Facebook group.  Grace & Truth Living is a Facebook group created by author Joanne Kraft, to bring like minded women together to read through the Bible.  Her motto is don't catch up, jump in.  I did not start with the group until February, so knowing I could jump in, read and learn, was huge. 

Through all of this reading, I need to write, journal, take notes and process more. 

This brings me to Ecclesiastes. 

My church Fellowship Bible Church just began a new study on the book of Ecclesiastes.  The study will last through the Summer and I felt called to take good notes and internalize the Book as much as possible. Fellowship does of a lot of expository Bible teaching.  So, my desire is to learn more. 

This week the passage was Ecclesiastes 1:1-2; 12:13-14 

The very beginning and end of this interesting book.

Ecclesiastes 1:1 sets up the author of the text as Solomon.  The verse sets the author as a preacher (leader, assembler or spokesperson), a son of David (anyone in David's line), and King of Jerusalem.  Perhaps Solomon penned the book, or perhaps it is a compilation of his thoughts and wisdom, there is much debate.  The voice IS King Solomon's. 

There is much to know about Solomon, and much more I'm sure I'll learn....in 1 week:

Solomon was the most humanly successful Hebrew.
Solomon had much wealth and wisdom.
Solomon represents the pinnacle of human success.
Solomon is most renown for his wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 1:2 sets the message of the book.

"'Absolute futility,' says the Teacher.  'Absolute futility.  Everything is futile.'" CSB

SHOCK VALUE.  Futility is also translated Vanity or meaningless.  A vapor.  Everything is meaningless, nothing more than a vapor.  THERE IS A TENSION HERE. This book and these words come from a man of God with great wisdom.  Whatever he has to say must surely grip my soul as I read His words.

The teaching pastor at my church pointed out that these words should be seen through 2 lenses.

LENS 1: We are a fallen creation.  Life under the sun, a phrase mentioned repetitively in Ecclesiastes, refers to a fallen creation.  In this creation that is fallen, death is the major player not life.  *In 2018 we are on the opposite side of the cross from Solomon, Solomon was pre-Jesus. In his understanding as his wisdom crafted this book, death WAS the major player.  This brings me to ...
LENS 2: Progressive revelation.  Because of the time God chose to create me and give me life on this planet, I know what Solomon did not yet know.  What had not been fully realized.  I live on the side of the cross where death has no sting, because Jesus conquered that death through the cross.

A few thoughts...

Solomon is mourning the hopeless state of affairs for all Christians, and even living on this side of the cross I should feel righteous desperation and angst for all things to be made right and restored through Christ.


The very end of the book of Ecclesiastes gives us a conclusion or meaning:

12:13-14
"When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: fear God and keep his commands, because this is for all humanity.  For God will bring every act to judgment including every hidden thing, whether good or evil." CSB

Fearing God - we should be relating to God as we were designed to.  He should be a place of comfort, and a Deity we reverently and respectfully obey.

It is important to know that every act comes to judgment.  Good and Evil. 

The job of a judge is not just to dole out punishments for crimes committed, but to restore justice.  In Ecclesiastes it is clear that the restoration of judgment applies to all things.

In light of the fall all things are meaningless or futile...In light of the restoration that is to come, NOTHING is meaningless or futile.  EVERYTHING has meaning. 

Ecclesiastes makes a full circle...
In Ecclesiastes 1:2 everything is MEANINGLESS
In Ecclesiastes 12:14 everything is restored, therefore, everything is MEANINGFUL

There is much to study in between 1:1 and 12:14....