Ecclesiastes is best known for the folk song by the Byrds, “Turn, Turn, Turn, Turn.” An excellent video of the song can be found here on YouTube. You can open the link and let the music play while reading the rest of this blog! For me, at my age, I get pretty sentimental and nostalgic listening to it.
The other reason the book of Ecclesiastes gets attention is that it states 54 times that all is vanity or meaningless. To most people they have enough stress and depression so don’t read the rest of the book. We are tempted to think of Ecclesiastes as the ravings of a lunatic, a skeptic, or a cynic. We may see his “All is vanity,” or in the NIV, “All is meaningless,” as a humdrum and boring way to think of life. How depressing! Isn’t Christianity supposed to be felt, to be the burning of the heart, and the high pitched love song to God?
Because Ecclesiastes is so different than all the other books of the Bible we are tempted to see it as dangerous, contrary, or so odd it isn’t the real deal.
- It doesn’t rail against any sins.
- We are not told how to fear God, but we are commanded to do so.
- We have very little history recorded.
- The book has a few proverbs in it,
- a few nuggets of theology,
- no laws and no commands.
Rob Bell taught a series this past summer from Ecclesiastes. He began the series holding a spray bottle in his hand. He captured the essence of the word that the KJV translated “vanity” and the NIV translates “meaningless.” That word is HEBEL. It means “mist” or temporary. Everything is HEBEL. Bell would say the word, “HEBEL,” then pump mist into the air letting the micro droplets of water float to the ground and disappear. We got the point! Life is temporary, a mist, and slips through our fingers!
Have you ever felt like you were a caged hamster running in your exercise wheel? Solomon wondered, too! To whom was he speaking? Many scholars think a Rabbi collected Solomon’s sayings two or three hundred years before Christ to inspire the exiled Israelites as they suffered without a King, a country, or a temple. They wondered, “Is life going anywhere?”
We Christians are pilgrims, wanderers, exiles in this time and place. We need Solomon’s wisdom! Ecclesiastes is needed more today than at any time!
I’ve found five basic teachings in Solomon’s wisdom.
HOW DO YOU MAKE SENSE OF YOUR CONTEXT? WHAT’S HAPPENING TO YOU AND AROUND YOU?
3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:HOW CAN WE MAKE SENSE OF OUR POSSESSIONS OR LACK OF…?
6:2 God gives a man wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.
IS THERE A MAGIC THREAD OF WISDOM THAT MAKES LIFE HAVE MEANING?
Eccl. 7:11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.WHAT DO WE DO WITH THE PROBLEMS IN LIFE, ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT JUST DON’T MAKE ANY SENSE (THE IRONY AND INCONGRUITY OF GOOD AND BAD HAPPENING “RANDOMLY”).
Eccl. 7:14 When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future. Eccl. 7:15 In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.SOLOMON OFFERS A SIMPLE, SIMPLE VALUE SYSTEM TO FOLLOW IN LIFE. IT IS THE BEDROCK OF LIFE: HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND HARD WORK BRINGS SATISFACTION.
3:22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them? Eccl. 12:13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man. Eccl. 12:14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.I’ll be writing more about Ecclesiastes in the weeks ahead. I’d love to see your comments!
