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TH1133: On-Line

Teaching Notes

ECCLESIASTES

As we begin our study in the book of Ecclesiastes, understand that the writer is on a journey, a search for the meaning of life outside of a relationship with God. And this quest is not only limited to this writer, but has been going on in the hearts and lives of people for generations, even today!

For the writer of this book, he spent a lifetime searching for the answer of life, something he had early on in his life, but now has forgotten or he took his eyes off of. And if we were left with no conclusion to his life's pursuit, it truly would be a very dark and depressing book to read. It would leave us in a hopeless, futile condition with death as the only way out. But thank God we are not left in that condition, for we are given hope, a reason to live. It will take this writer his whole life to figure out the answer, but at least he found the answer!

And so, without any further introduction, lets pick-up our study in chapter 1 of the book of Ecclesiastes.

ECCLESIASTES 1

VERSE 1

1. The writer of this book is the son of David who was king over Israel in Jerusalem, which says it was before the nations split into two kingdoms, the Northern and the Southern Kingdoms. Thus, the writer is none other than king Solomon. The book of Proverbs, or the book of wisdom was written very early on in Solomon's life. It focused on applying the truths of God to our life. Now if the book of Proverbs can be called the book of wisdom, then the book of Ecclesiastes can be called the book of a fool, for its focus is earthly based instead of being heavenly based, and thus, his conclusions are of this world, and not of God.

Solomon became king at a young age, maybe 14 or 15 years old. And he realized that he lacked the wisdom that was needed to lead the people of God, and so he has an encounter with God and asks the Lord for wisdom to rule His people by. Thus, God not only blesses Solomon with wisdom, but also with wealth, peace, prosperity. In II Chronicles 9:22 we read "So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom."

Now as wise as Solomon was towards others, he surely did not apply that wisdom to his own life. Maybe he felt he was too wise to heed the Words of God, maybe that was just for the common people, and not for him. Whatever the case, he disobeyed God's Word, fell into sin, and lived most of his life in a backslidden condition trying to satisfy his flesh. It is now, at the end of his life, that he is writing these words out of his life's experiences, probably around 930 BC. Solomon should have listened and applied the words of his father David, for in I Chronicles 28:9, prior to Solomon's reign as king, David said "As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever."

2. Solomon calls himself a "preacher" and in the Hebrew it is KOHELITH and the Greek is EKKLESIASTES, which means "one who calls an assembly." Thus, Solomon is calling us to listen and heed his words, the things he has found through his life long endeavor to find the meaning of life. He has been there and done that. He has learned those lessons, now may we learn from his mistakes.

VERSE 2

1. Solomon uses the word "vanity" some 28 times in this book. And don't mistake what he is saying. The word "vanity" speaks of an emptiness, futility, vapor, a grasping for the wind. And Solomon is saying that life is empty, it has no real substance, no real significance to it. How can Solomon, the man who encountered God on two occasions, built a temple to worship the true and living God, say this? Verse 3 gives us his reference point and helps us to understand where he is coming from.

VERSE 3

1. His perspective is an earthly one, "under the sun" which is spoken of some 29 times in this book. You see, instead of looking at life from a heavenly perspective, he is doing it from an earthly one, which is not accurate as we will see. Paul said in Colossians 3:2 "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." You see, "All human endeavors lack ultimate value; life should be enjoyed in the fear of God, as a gift from His hand." You need to have a correct perspective!

2. I have said many times before that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and it is. Paul tells us in II Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." Now this book is an interesting one, for God has given us these words to learn from. The problem that many don't understand is that some of Solomon's conclusions are true, in Ecclesiastes 7:20 we read "For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin." Some are half truths, as in Ecclesiastes 1:4, "One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever." And some of his conclusions are not true at all, as in Ecclesiastes 3:19, "For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity."

You see, Solomon is speaking from an earthly perspective instead of a heavenly one. Dr. Chafer said in regards to this, "Inspiration may record the untruth of Satan (or of men) but it does not vindicate the lie or sanctify it. It secures the exact record of what was said - good or bad." Thus, we must look at the totality of the Scriptures before we make a doctrine out of an untruth!

3. Solomon is speaking of laboring to the point of exhaustion and yet there is no real profit from it, nothing to gain from all that hard work. H. L. Mencken said "The basic fact about human experience is not that it is a tragedy, but that it is a bore. It is not that it is predominantly painful, but that it is lacking in any sense." Outside of Christ that is true. But in Christ Paul said "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." I Corinthians 15:58. True joy, satisfaction, fulfillment is not found outwardly, but inwardly as we cultivate a relationship with God, and that joy is the thing that then overflows in our lives and touches the lives of others.

VERSE 4

1. He is saying that life just passes by. You are here one minute and gone the next. It is kind of a fatalistic approach to life, that death is the inevitable end to everything. Taxi driver Jose Martinez makes that point very clearly, a point that is shared by many people today. He said: "We're here to die, just live and die. I drive a cab. I do some fishing, take my girl out, pay taxes, do a little reading, then get ready to drop dead. You've got to be strong about it. Life is a big fake. Nobody gives a --. You're rich or you're poor. You're here, you're gone. You're like the wind. After you're gone, other people will come. We're gonna destroy ourselves, nothing we can do about it. The only cure for the world's illness is nuclear war - wipe everything out and start over." How sad a state to be in, and yet, it sounds like Solomon's view, and it is the view of many today!

2. Also, Solomon is not teaching doctrine here when he says that the earth will abide forever. He is comparing it to the brevity of life. We are told in Psalm 102:25-26, "Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed." Also, Peter said in II Peter 3:7, 10 "But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men...But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." THE BIG BANG IS COMING!

VERSE 5

1. Some like to point at this to disprove God speaking these words, for we all know the sun does not rise or set, the earth is rotating. Or, God must not be too smart if He did say these words. If that is the way you think, what do you say? What do weather men say? "This morning the sun will rise at 6:00 AM and the sun will set and 8:00 PM." Solomon is using poetic language and is not stating a scientific principle here.

VERSES 6-7

1. Here we even see nature being caught in this monotonous circuit that seems to go nowhere.

2. Interestingly enough Galileo first discovered the circuits of the winds back in 1630.

VERSE 8

1. Just the monotonous cycle of life that is never satisfying. Man desires to fill his life with more and more and he feels less and less satisfied, less and less complete outside of God.

VERSE 9

1. Again, just the cycle of life that just keeps repeating itself over and over again.

VERSE 10

1. Not necessarily technology, even though we have records of past civilizations that were supposed to be primitive and yet have done brain surgery, dentistry, made batteries that still work today, built pyramids, stonehedge, the Mayan's solar year was calculated out to be 365.2420, only recently have modern astronomers been able to calculate the solar year to be 365.2422, and-so-on. This here, though, is primarily speaking of life's experiences', they are not new.

VERSE 11

1. How easily we forget things. Solomon is saying that this generation has forgotten about the last generation and the next generation will forget about what we have done. Think about it. How many of you can name the last 4 vice presidents of the United States? How many can give the details of World War II, which was only some 50 years ago? A nation that does not remember its past is prone to relieve its mistakes!

VERSES 12-13

1. Malcolm Muggeridge, a contemporary sage (a very wise man respected for his wisdom), said "Education, the great mumbo-jumbo and fraud of the ages, purports to equip us to live, and is prescribed as a universal remedy for everything from juvenile delinquency to premature senility. For the most part, it only serves to enlarge stupidity, inflate conceit, enhance credulity [have a tendency to believe too readily] and put those subjected to it at the mercy of brainwashers with printing presses, radio and television at their disposal."

2. Solomon is searching out some reason for his existence. Why he is going through all this pain, all this work, if it is all for nothing. He first takes a philosophical approach to life, what he sees going on around him, and his conclusion...

VERSES 14-15

1. You hear of the solutions to man's problems coming from the ivory towers and when placed into practice they are empty. Like the "primal scream" just screaming as loud as you can is suppose to make you feel better. But people buy into it all the time. You see, only the Lord can fill that void in our hearts. Pascal said "There is a God-shaped vacuum in the human heart." Augustine said "You have made us, O Lord, for Yourself, and our heart will find no rest until it rests in You." How sad to see people running to and fro to straighten their lives out when the Lord can and will. How sad to see people trying to fill that void in their hearts with anything and everything except the Lord, and in doing so they will never be content, never be satisfied outside of Him! Solomon is basically saying "Que sera, sera, what ever will be will be..."

VERSE 16

1. Solomon was a brilliant man. According to I Kings 4:32-33, Solomon wrote 3,000 Proverbs, of which we have about 1/4 of them. We have one of his 1,005 songs he wrote, the Song of Solomon. And he wrote 2 or 3 Psalms, 72, 127 and maybe 128. He also was very intelligent in the sciences. He studied trees - dendrologist, animals - zoologist, birds - ornithologist, insects - entomologist, and fish - ichthyologist. He put forth a tremendous effort to learn.

VERSES 17-18

1. In other words, "Ignorance is bliss" or "What you don't know can't hurt you" mentality. You see, Solomon saw the futility in education, information. It only made him more aware and more depressed. Listen to scientists today and many are fatalistic in their thinking. They see pollution, wars, famine, disease, technology and-so-on, as leading to the destruction of man. You see, that void is not in our heads, although some people you may think otherwise, but it is truly in our hearts, and it can only be filled with Christ.

ECCLESIASTES 2

VERSES 1-3

1. Forget the philosophy. Forget the education. It is time to party! This is not an escape but it will drag you farther into bondage. He has been there, done that, and it accomplished nothing. David, in Psalm 16:11, gives us the truth of the matter. He said "You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

VERSES 4-6

1. Look at the restlessness of Solomon. There was no contentment in his life. He tried building up his empire, and his empire was truly magnificent. But because of his pursuit to find the meaning of life, contentment, it caused a heavy tax burden on the people. The same is true today, those that are restless, their actions, behaviors affect family and friends, they become burdened down by this.

VERSES 7-8

1. Listen to what it took to provide for his house hold each day, according to I Kings 4:22-23. (A kor was about 6 1/2 bushels).

A. 30 KORS OF FLOUR = 200 BUSHELS OF FLOUR

B. 60 KORS OF MEAL = 400 BUSHELS OF MEAL

C. 10 PRIME OXEN

D. 20 COMMERCIAL OXEN

E. 100 SHEEP

F. PLUS: DEAR, GAZELLES, ROEBUCKS, FATTED FOWL

2. Gold was so common that if something was made in silver it was worthless. He had a throne made of ivory and then covered it with gold! And even that did not satisfy him so he began to import various animals and materials to try and fill that void in his life. In I Kings 10:22 we read "For the king had merchant ships at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the merchant ships came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys." (Monkeys should be translated peacocks). He also had many servants and musicians and-so-on, and yet he wanted more.

VERSES 9-11

1. He looked back on what he had done, where his carrier was taking him, and found himself empty. All he worked for, all he tried to attain was nothing. The flesh is never satisfied, it always wants more, bigger, better, and-so-on. Have you ever desired something so bad that once you obtained it you wondered what all the fuss was about? There is no complete satisfaction outside of Christ. In a sense, this mentality, this lifestyle, is like the emperor's new clothes. He is strutting around totally naked and it took a child to see his folly. How many today are running around spiritually naked, thinking they have it all? How sad a state to be in.

VERSE 12

1. Solomon had it all, did it all, no one could surpass all he accomplished in his lifetime, and yet he was completely empty on the inside.

VERSES 13-16

1. In all Solomon accomplished, with all the knowledge he took in, he sees no advantage in death of someone who is wise and someone who is a fool. What a stark contrast between his words in the book of Proverbs and what he has to say here in Ecclesiastes. In Proverbs we read "The LORD will not allow the righteous soul to famish, But He casts away the desire of the wicked...The memory of the righteous is blessed, But the name of the wicked will rot...The fear of the LORD prolongs days, But the years of the wicked will be shortened...The righteous will never be removed, But the wicked will not inhabit the earth." Proverbs 10:3, 7, 27, 30. What happened to his perspective of things? Solomon, at one time was one of the wisest men in the world, but now has his eyes so far off of God that he sees no difference in the death of a person who is wise in the Lord and one who is a fool outside of the Lord. Asaph had the same problem until he had fellowship with God and saw the proper perspective of things. In Psalm 73:27-28 we read his view after he spent time with the Lord. He said "For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry. But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, That I may declare all Your works."

VERSES 17-23

1. Solomon was concerned that all his work was going to be in vain, all he accumulated, the gold, silver, all those material possessions would be take away in his death if the next person who inherits the kingdom is a fool! This did come to pass when Solomon's son, Rehoboam became king. Rehoboam was a fool and instead of meeting the needs of the people, giving them some tax relief, he was going to make life even harder for them. Because of that the nation was divided into 2 kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom of Israel was under the leadership of Jeroboam, 10 of the 12 tribes siding with them. And the Southern Kingdom of Judah was under the leadership of Rehoboam, 2 of the 12 tribes siding with them, that is Judah and Benjamin. And Shishak, king of Egypt came against Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, the kings home, even the gold shields that Solomon had made. So Solomon was right, all his labor was in vain, for a fool, his son, gave it away. As Psalm 49:10 says "For he sees wise men die; Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish, And leave their wealth to others."

2. For those that are out there wanting to experience life. Grab for all the gusto before its too late. Don't waste your time. Solomon had it all and did it all. Most, if not all of us will never experience all that Solomon experienced in his lifetime. And we would be wise to learn from his mistakes instead of finding out the hard way. These things never truly satisfy. His conclusion of life was this: "LIFE STINKS!" And yes, I would have to agree when you look at it under the sun. That is from an earthly perspective. But get re-focused and look at things from a heavenly perspective, with eternity in mind, and you will have a whole different perspective on things. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33 a proper way to approach life. He says "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

VERSES 24-26

1. Here is the first of Solomon's conclusions. Accept what God has given you, be content with it. If you are not content, if you are restless, you are going to run to and fro trying to grasp for more, and like grasping the wind, you will come up empty. Too often people miss out on the blessings of life because they are looking in all the wrong places. My son, Joe, who came back from Mexico on a missionary trip, working with an orphanage out there, said something to me that spoke volumes. He said that those kids, who had absolutely nothing, were some of the happiest kids around. They were filled with joy. And as I thought about that I came to the realization that the reason so many people in America are unhappy is because they have so much and they want even more, feeling that will make them happy. Let me leave you this evening with these Words of God's invitation to the world to come to Him, to receive what He has for us. In Isaiah 55:1-3 we read "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you; The sure mercies of David."