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TH1135: On-Line
Please open your Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter 6, as we continue our study through the Word of God. Now as we study the book of Ecclesiastes we must keep in mind that its primary purpose is not one of doctrine. Now that may shock some of you. The primary purpose is to show what life is all about apart from God - and what Solomon found was life is empty apart from God!
It is interesting that many false doctrines that people gravitate to come primarily from 2 books, Job and Ecclesiastes. In the book of Job, after 37 chapters of Job's friends speaking of why all this was happening to him, and Job responding to them, God rebukes them for their wrong conclusions. And the book of Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon out of his experience away from God, looking at life apart from God, from a human perspective. And at times he does come to the right conclusion, and thus, you must take what is written and compare it to the rest of the Scriptures. You see, truth is not found under the sun, as Solomon was looking, but in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. So keep that in mind as we go through this book.
ECCLESIASTES 6
VERSES 1-2
1. Solomon is speaking of a person who has it all, is very wealthy, and yet he is not able to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Not only can't he enjoy it, but he has no children to pass it on to, and thus,a stranger or foreigner takes it from him in his death. And of course this is empty, no satisfaction found in this.
VERSES 3-6
1. Now he speaks of a person who has many children and yet they don't care for him, there is no love in the home. In fact, they can't wait for him to die so they can get his money. And when he does die they don't even bury him but they are very quick to be in line for the reading of the will. And out of this Solomon feels it is better to be stillborn than to live many years in a home where there is no love. In fact, from his point of view, it is better to be born dead than to have to experience all those years of pain and hurt, only to die anyway. Just bypass life and go right to death, what a sad state to be in.
VERSES 7-8
1. There is no satisfaction in feeding the flesh. As one person put it, "Contentment is the carrot on the stick that forever eludes him." And I have to agree with that if you are trying to satisfy your bodily desires, living on the level of the physical instead of filling yourself with the things of God. Remember when the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness and they began to complain of eating Manna when they wanted meat. They turned from the bread of heaven and lusted for dead things. And God gave them meat for 30 days, till it was coming out of their nostrils. And in Psalm 106:14-15 we read of this time "But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tested God in the desert. And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul." When you live to satisfy the flesh your walk with God is hampered. Remember what Jesus said to the woman at the well in Samaria. He said "...'Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.'" The things of this world will never satisfy your thirst, the Lord will!
VERSE 9
1. In other words, be content with what God has given you, if your not, you will never be content. Leupold said of this that it is nothing more than "Lustful straying about from one thing to another in quest of true satisfaction."
VERSES 10-12
1. It is sheer folly to think we know better than an all-knowing God. How can we strive against our Maker and win? And if we could actually win, we would really lose! We need to learn to accept what God has given us, believing He has planned out our life. Our responsibility then is to come before Him so He may show us the steps we need to take in life. As Paul said in II Timothy 1:9, that God, "who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began." If you want that abundant joy in your life, do the will of God and you will be satisfied!
ECCLESIASTES 7
VERSE 1
1. Many in this country have placed character as least important when they look at our leaders. As long as we have good jobs, money in our pockets, we don't care what our leaders do in their personal lives. The problem with that kind of logic is this; as our leaders go, so goes the nation, the people. And that is true of anyone in a position of leadership or power, keep that in mind before you do anything! In I Peter 1:17-19 we read "And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." The importance of having a good character.
2. Now why does Solomon say the day of a persons death is better than his birth? Because there is no more pain, no more suffering, no more sorrow, unless you don't know the Lord! But Solomon is only seeing things in black and white, that once you die the pain is over, and of course that is not true if you don't know the Lord!
VERSE 2
1. Why is it better to go to a funeral than to a barbecue? Because at a funeral you are faced with your own mortality. You see that life won't continue on forever and are you prepared to meet your maker? The funerals I do focus on the Lord with the hope that people will take it to heart and make peace with their Maker. I have been to many funerals that speak lofty of the dead person but negate the bigger issue, GOD! To me, that is a waste of time, you might as well go to a barbecue!
VERSE 3
1. As much as we may not like it, our spiritual growth is done in the valley, not on the mountain top. There is a depth of character that comes out of suffering. As Peter said in I Peter 1:6-7, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
VERSE 4
1. It is interesting to see that the church today is drunk in the spirit and laughing uncontrollably, while people are dying not knowing the Lord. Now don't get me wrong, there is great joy in serving the Lord, but there should also be mourning over the condition of unregenerate man. If you truly believe what God has said in His Word, then that should impact your actions, the way you see the lost!
VERSE 5
1. None of us like to be rebuked, but it is necessary at times in our lives. In fact, it is better to be rebuked for our error than to go around life, dancing to the music, like nothing is wrong, and moving farther away from God.
VERSE 6
1. Thorns will flame up quickly, make a lot of noise, and then burn out just as quickly. This is not a rebuke against laughter, but against vain or sinful things.
VERSE 7
1. Situations and money can make us do things that are wrong. Be careful!
VERSE 8
1. The Christian walk is one of endurance. It is not how strong you start, but how faithful you finish. Don't give up. At times you may be discouraged, down. The thing you need to do is wait upon the Lord, let Him comfort you, knowing that, as Paul said, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." II Corinthians 4:17.
VERSE 9
1. Don't let anger get the better of you, because its fruit is not pretty.
VERSE 10
1. I think the good old days were better because we forgot what they were really like. There is nothing wrong with learning from the past, but you are not to live in the past. As Paul said in Romans 15:4, "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."
VERSES 11-12
1. Wisdom and money are profitable, but of the two, wisdom is better. Why? Because money is not eternal, but wisdom has eternal benefits when you take the truths of what God has said and apply them to your life. As Solomon said in Proverbs 16:16, "How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver."
VERSES 13-14
1. When we look at life we tend to think prosperity equals blessing while adversity equals sin and judgment. That is not always the case. In fact that was what Job's friends thought and God rebuked them for their error. God uses adversity and prosperity in our lives, He is sovereign. And yes, ultimately God will bring down the wicked and lift up the righteous, but for now, we must learn to trust in Him no matter what we are going through.
VERSE 15
1. As Solomon looks at life he sees the righteous die and the wicked prosper, and he is troubled by this. Now from a human perspective of things, this is the conclusion he comes to...
VERSES 16-17
1. Solomon tells us not to be good or bad, a purely worldly view. He is not speaking of saved people, but those that are self-righteous, that are good in their own eyes. It is as Proverbs 16:2 says, "All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the spirits." Don't be self-righteous!
VERSE 18
1. Instead of being self-righteous, look to the Lord to forgive you of your sins and have His righteousness imputed into your life. As II Corinthians 5:21 says, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." And Philippians 3:9 says, "and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith."
VERSES 19-20
1. You see, you must have a proper perspective of God and your own condition, a sinner separated from God. There is no righteousness apart from God. For those that think there is, those that are self-righteous, they will die in their sins. The Scriptures say "...'There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit; The poison of asps is under their lips; Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.'" Romans 3:10-18.
VERSES 21-22
1. People may say things that may offend you. Don't be to sensitive. We need to remember that we often are offended by what others say, and yet we see nothing wrong when we say things of others.
VERSES 23-25
1. A search for wisdom apart from God is a futile effort.
VERSE 26
1. In the book of Proverbs Solomon spoke to his sons telling them to avoid the seductive women by using several different examples. Here he is warning to watch for the woman that sets traps to catch a man. How can we do this? By walking in the light of God!
2. Solomon may also be speaking of the wisdom of the world, how they set traps to catch us. Paul warned us in Colossians 2:8, "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ."
VERSES 27-28
1. Solomon is saying that there are a few men who are wise and not to many women. Maybe all of his wives made him a little jaded towards women, and we must also remember in that culture that women were not educated. And as Solomon looks at this from a purely human perspective, that was true in his eyes. But of course that is not the way that God sees things. In Galatians 3:28 we read, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Also, a fool in the eyes of man who knows the Lord is far wiser than the most educated man who doesn't know the Lord.
VERSE 29
1. How true this is. God created man without sin, upright. And man tried to circumvent what God had said, to make himself like God, scheming all the way, and has found that it doesn't work. Apart from God we are naked. And man continues to do that today, trying to scheme their way into heaven, but it ain't going to happen!
ECCLESIASTES 8
VERSE 1
1. A person who comes to know the Lord radiates the love of God.
VERSE 2
1. We are to keep the law of the land unless it is contrary to what God has said. In I Peter 2:13-17 we read, "Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men; as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king."
VERSES 3-4
1. An earthly king had power over the people and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is sovereign over all.
VERSES 5-8
1. We don't have power over life and death in that we don't know the days that God has given us. Only one man has ever had that power, and that is Jesus. In John 10:17-18 we read of Jesus saying, "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father." But for man, there is a appointed time for his death, which God has set. Hebrews 9:27 says, "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment."
VERSE 9
1. Man, many times, as he is placed in a position of authority, abuses that power, and in the end he reaps what he has sown.
VERSE 10
1. This is not speaking of someone who is saved but of a person who plays church. They get all dressed up and go to church on Sunday and live like the devil the rest of the week. They are only fooling themselves by their actions. In fact, in death they will find out how empty their actions were!
VERSE 11
1. When a society's judicial system is mocked, it is not long before that society disintegrates. Today you can be on death row for some 15 years, and in that there is no incentive against murder. Judgment should be executed speedily, either guilty or not guilty. If you don't believe that stiff and quick judgments are a deterrent to crime, look at Singapore and how drug dealers avoid that area because of its stiff penalties. Crime rates do go down when judgment is done quickly and fairly.
2. Now God is merciful. If he weren't, we would all be judged and found guilty as soon as we sinned. But, as Peter tells us, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 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." II Peter 3:9-10. I am truly thankful for His mercy and grace! But for those that refuse the free gift, judgment is coming!
VERSE 12
1. In other words, it is better to be poor and upright, fearing the Lord, than rich and wicked. A good perspective of things.
VERSE 13
1. Again, a human perspective of things. The wicked do live long, they do prosper at times. But in the end, they don't get away with anything. Proverbs 29:1 says, "He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
VERSE 14
1. Solomon couldn't understand, from a human perspective of things, why the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. The Scriptures tell us that "...He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Matthew 5:45.
VERSE 15
1. Since it doesn't matter what we do, we might as well party! That is purely a worldly perspective of things. You remember the beer commercial that says "It doesn't get any better than this!" Outside of Christ, that is very true. That is as good as it will get, so you might as well party for you will have a eternity to regret your foolish mistake!
VERSES 16-17
1. We are not always going to understand an all-knowing God. Isaiah 55:8-9 says, "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,' says the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.'" Thus, all we can do is trust in Him, be sensitive to His leading, and be comforted by the fact that God loves us and will do what is best for our life, no matter how difficult things might get. When we walk in the light of God, we will find true joy, contentment, no matter what we are going through. As Paul said in Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."