From Ecclesiastes to Eternity

We can have the church, the congregation, the feast site here in Hawaii, sing along with the Panama City Beach, festival sites, and other festival sites around the world. How wonderful it is to be together to see Jerry Ost leading the choir five times a way, to have the Panama City Beach choir sing to us, inspiring us. I want to thank Czech support, not only in Panama City Beach, but also here, the Hawaiian unit, for putting this together. They've been working on this for a good part of a year to make this possible, to have the message be delivered from one site, be transmitted to Panama City Beach, then re-transmitted to as many of the other 55 festival sites that we have around the world. Some will be hearing a delayed recording, and some will be hearing a backup sermon. It's been wonderful to be here in spirit and in body.

We're spending the feast here. My wife and I, Beverly and I, along with our son and daughter-in-law and our four beautiful grandchildren. The feast is for you and your household, not only physical household, but also the spiritual household of God. So whether you have family here, and there are a number of people here who have families that they have extended brought here, or all have gathered together, and also with physical family and friends.

Today I have a question for you.

Have you ever dreamed of suddenly coming into more money than you knew what to do with?

Have you ever dreamed of what you would do with millions? No, no, no. Billions of dollars. Just imagine that you have inherited or won a hundred billion dollars. There are some people in the world who have that amount of money. Not many, but there are some. You can have anything you want. You are so happy. No more problems. And this month solves everything. You're going to build dream homes. You'll buy up properties here on the west side of the Hawaiian Islands. You'll furnish your home, your homes, with everything imaginable, and you will build homes for members of your family. You'll have yachts. You'll have a personal 747, just like Mr. Al-Bali in Saudi Arabia, who has a personal 747 with a traveling dining room. But that's not all. He also has an H-180, a double-decker, that takes its passengers as are in this room, plus another half the size of this room.

You will have the latest technology and time-saving devices available. Hired people will do everything for you. Robots will take care of anything you need to have done. You certainly will quit the job, and gold can do anything you want to do. You'll have gardeners to keep the most beautiful gardens for your eyes to enjoy. Maybe you could even buy a ticket for normal orbitables trip around the world. They do sell them. The Russians are selling them for $25 million a piece. You can take an orbital trip around the world. Maybe you can afford a helicopter ride. Your mind is racing as you realize that you can have everything and anything that you want. Well, there is a story of a man who lived just this very dream. An entire book of the Bible is devoted to his story and what he learned from it. He had it all. He had a personal direct connection and a relationship with God and wisdom and intelligence that came especially from God. He had a creative mind, talent, wealth, and fame. The name of this person was King Solomon, and the book of Ecclesiastes is his story. In ancient Israel, the book of Ecclesiastes was read aloud during the Feast of Tabernacles. Ecclesiastes is one of five books making up the megalot. It's a festival scroll, and different books were read on different festivals and holidays. For example, a Song of Solomon was read or sung during the Passover. Book of Ruth at Pentecost and the book of Ecclesiastes right now during the Feast of Tabernacles. Now, what was the point? What was the purpose? And why was the book of Ecclesiastes read during the Feast of Tabernacles? What significance? And what is the point of the book of Ecclesiastes on this holy day? What's the connection? And what do we learn? Now, as we know, with all Old Testament scripture, it was given for us, for our admonition, for our learning, for our reproof, for our instruction in doctrine, for reproof correction and instruction in righteousness. So, what is it about Ecclesiastes that we can learn? King Solomon was the author of this book of Ecclesiastes, as stated right in Ecclesiastes chapter 1 and verse 1. The words of the preacher, the son of David, king, and Jerusalem. No question who the author was. Solomon was a very talented author. He wrote a edition to Ecclesiastes. He wrote the Song of Solomon, which is also one of the books of the Bible. And he compiled the book of Proverbs. He also, as it stated, wrote hundreds and thousands of other songs and other pieces of literature that we have no record of at this time.

Solomon ruled in the 10th century BC. Israel reached a brief period of peace and prosperity. So, after many years of wars that his father David fought, the nation settled into a period of peace as the kingdom was consolidated. The nation's boundaries were extended from the Nile River in Egypt all the way to the Euphrates, the original promised land. Israel never had such boundaries. Different nations, different maps show Israel's political and economic influence dominating the Middle East. There has never been a time in Israel's history, such as was during the reign of Solomon, not before, and not since. And in a sense, Israel at this time was a dim kind of millennial period. Certainly wasn't the millennium, but it approximated the millennium, if you would say, any other time in history that Israel had. There was a period of rest for more, a time of peace and prosperity. And Solomon's name itself meant peace alone. The kingdom began on a very high note, with God very much working with Solomon as he did with his father David. A remarkable biography of Solomon is found in 1 Kings chapter 1 through 11. These 11 chapters give the biography of Solomon. But this peaceful period in Israel's history was short-lived as a nation split into two. Rehbon, Solomon's son, became king in Judah, and King Jeroboam split off, seceded with the ten tribes of the nation to form the nation of Israel. So this period of millennial type of existence was short-lived. But today, I would like to explore the Book of Ecclesiastes that was read at the Feast of Tabernacles. It actually was read on the third day of the Feast. And I would like to consider the profound lesson for us today, because there really is a very, very important lesson from the Book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes chapter 1 in verse 3.

By the way, for those of you who would like to have notes to this, I have tweeted them and Victor Kubik on Twitter, Victor Kubik one word. So if you want to download the notes later, you can get more details. Solomon asks a question in verse 3 that many have asked. What prophet has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun? Translation, what he is saying is, what is the value and purpose for living? What is the meaning of life?

Solomon asks this question from the very get-go in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Having been blessed with great material resources, and Solomon had everything. Wisdom, intelligence, wealth. Solomon was starting on a search. He seemed to not have everything that he needed, and it wasn't all very satisfying. And the remainder of the book, he shares with us the results of his own investigation, and he offers observations where the council gleaned from his search. Because Ecclesiastes is an expression of experimentation, of every possible pleasure and desire imaginable to man, to try to find meaning and satisfaction in life. Solomon looks at it from the human perspective, and actually comes to the conclusion that from the human standpoint, it's all empty. There's nothing there. He was king, he was wise, he had everything he wanted, as we'll see. Power, popularity, prestige, and pleasure. There was nothing that was denied him. He could have everything he wanted. But he also found that nothing could fill the God-made void in man's life, except God himself. Again, you may wonder, well, what does Ecclesiastes have to do with the Feast of Tabernacles? I mean, why was it read here? Did somebody think that, or was it random? Or what was the purpose of having Ecclesiastes read here at the Feast of Tabernacles? Well, biblical scholars have a hard time with the Book of Ecclesiastes. It has some scholars really scratching their head as to what this book is all about. What happened to Psalm? He started off so well. And why is he sounding the way he does, right from the very beginning of what is the meaning of life? Is it a private diary of thoughts written down late in life that was uncovered to be a book of the Bible? Was it a log of observations of his empirical experiments? I'll try this, I'll try that, I'll log this, and I'll come up with my conclusions. Does he intend for this book to be published as it is now?

In the very first verse of the Book of Ecclesiastes, he calls himself the preacher. And this is the only time that it's used in the Bible in the Old Testament, meaning one addressing an assembly. So maybe the Book of Ecclesiastes is Solomon, later in life, giving this as a sermon. That's a possibility. So it's everything from being a private diary to a logbook of experiments, a sermon. There are other explanations as well. Many, many commentaries write about this. It has been called the strangest book in the Bible by some. Dr. Abraham Cohen writes the preface to the well-respected San sino commentary as follows. Because he asked these. He says, it is the most difficult book in the Bible for the commentator. Its complexities and obscurities are so many and often baffling that the assumption of dogmatic certainty is unwise and unwarranted. He says, I give up. I don't know what the book is about and what conclusions we can draw from it. The part of the difficulty lies in not understanding the meaning and the purpose of the Feast of Tabernacles on which it was read. The connection between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Book of Ecclesiastes is the key to understanding this book and its profound lesson for today. And truly it's an amazing story. Ecclesiastes in part is explained by the Feast of Tabernacles. And the Feast of Tabernacles in part is explained by the Book of Ecclesiastes. Now the Feast is a time of abundance and joy. Certainly here in Hawaii we have truly felt that. I have never felt joy as much as I have here with nature, beauty, and the spirit of all of us being together as I have here in Hawaii. Of course, it's been to many wonderful feasts and many wonderful people, but it's truly been truly joyous and very, very natural.

The Feast is a time of abundance and joy. Time to look forward to as we look towards the kingdom of God, towards the millennium. Now we know what the purpose of the Feast is and some very, very definite instructions that we have heard many times, but I think it's important to reiterate them as we connect it with the Book of Ecclesiastes. I'd like you to turn to Deuteronomy chapter 14 in verse 22, which we have turned to already, but nonetheless it's important to take a look at three extremely important elements about the Feast. Deuteronomy chapter 14 in verse 22. You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year, and this is for the purpose of this. You shall eat before the Lord your God in the place where He chooses to make His name abide the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, the first born of your herds and dlocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. It's part of a learning process to learn to fear God, which we will take a look at here momentarily. You will exchange it for money. You will take 10 percent of your earnings for the past year, which is solely allocated for the purpose of eating and enjoying at a place where God has prepared a place and placed His name, a feast of joy and rejoicing. You will spend that money for whatever your heart desires, for whatever you want, at the Feast of Tabernacles, for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, and for whatever your heart desires. You can have what you want. God says, indulge. Enjoy yourself. You shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice. You and your household. It's not just for the heads of households, it's not for representatives from churches, it's for everybody. You, your children, your grandchildren, people that you bring with that are friends, people who can't afford to come. You bring everyone together so that we can all rejoice and have a good time. We are commanded to rejoice. There's no other festival that has so much said about, I want you to go there and have a great time in a place which God has chosen. The world doesn't understand this. They don't understand this aspect of the Feast of Tabernacles. Do you know what I mean? 16. In a couple chapters later, this aspect of rejoicing is reiterated in verses 13 and 15. So we have come to the Feast to rejoice, to have a good time. We've come here to learn to fear the Lord your God, and we have come here to spend the tide of your income on whatever your heart desires. I like this church. This is a great time that God has provided for us. Now, I'd like to explain here what it means to fear God, because this is extremely important, because this is where the Book of Ecclesiastes and the Feast of Tabernacles come together. Fear in God is not to be in terror, horror, or shock. It certainly is not that at all. It is a family or filial type of fear that a child in a normal family has for his parents. A child who has tremendous respect and love for mother and father in a normal family, and dearly wants to please them. A child has fear or anxiety of offending the one he loves, not because he's afraid of punishment, but rather because he's afraid of displeasing the one who is in that child's world the source of security and love. Also, this type of fear is in all and respect for the majesty of God. Have you ever been around somebody famous? You kind of say, oh, this is very famous. I even feel this way about the mayor of Milford, Ohio.

What I've met her, oh, that's the mayor of Wilford, you know, a great woman, or the county commissioner, or the governor of the state, or our representative. When you're around somebody famous, you have this fear, this respect, this awe of that person.

And also, let's not forget, too, God does say in Hebrews 10-13, it's a frightening thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Ultimately, there will be punishment, but those who are unrepentant and incorporeal. Part of the motivation for repentance is fear. Okay, so we've saved our second tithe, as God has commanded. We are gathered at the feast of tabernacles in abundance. 10% of our income is available for this eight-day period. Of course, we spend a little bit other times a year for other festivals, but nonetheless, there is a lot of money that's spent at this time of year.

And you don't worry too much about prices. Well, you do worry about prices, but you know, you have more. You don't normally live this way through the rest of the year. This is abundance, and God tells us to use it to rejoice and enjoy whatever your heart desires. And furthermore, the kingdom of God, the feast of tabernacles, pictures the coming millennium, the kingdom of God, which is a time of the restoration of all things. It is a time of plenty. It's a time of peace.

It's a time that is a solution to the state of the world that we are living in, hopefully coming to an end before too long. And the Apostle Peter, which I spoke first on the very first of one of his first sermons, talked about the restoration of all things. He talked about a time when there'll be a refresh, refreshing that are coming, spoken of by all the prophets, Acts chapter 3, 18 through 21. I read that on the first day. Apostle Peter said, repent and be converted that your sins may be brought out, so the times of refreshing may come the presence of the Lord.

And that Jesus Christ will return, was preached to us, whom heaven must receive, in verse 21, until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets, which we've had reference to here at the Feast of Tabernacles. Isaiah, Daniel, Amos, Micah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, etc., etc., all the holy prophets have spoken about a time of restoration, a new time, a new world, a time of refreshing. So the Feast of Tabernacles pictures this time of plenty. We are here celebrating it at the Feast of Tabernacles. We're celebrating a thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ in Revelation 20 in verse 6, which has also been quoted here.

This is a time of world peace. We'll have a Bible study this afternoon on this. Isaiah chapter 2 and verse 4, they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. It's a time of plenty, as pictured in places in Isaiah, and one which I really like in the book of Amos, Amos chapter 9 and verse 13. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, Amos 9 and verse 13, when the plowmen shall overtake the reaper, and the predator of grapes, him who sows seed.

The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with it. This is a time of plenty. This is a wonderful world tomorrow, a utopian picture that we paint here at the Feast. It's also a time when there's no more of the sickness, no more prayer announcements about those who are ill, no more death, and no more tears. We are to truly rejoice. And part of our rejoicing is not having a good time, but it's a memorial, or commemorating the wonderful time that's ahead of us.

The entire creation is aching, groaning, waiting for that period. The world does not comprehend the coming kingdom of God, nor the Feast of Tabernacles connection. And this is sad, because this really is a very important part of understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes, where Solomon had everything that he could possibly have. He had a kingdom which really was at peace, even though it was a small knockoff of really the kingdom of God.

But nonetheless, Israel was at peace. The kingdom was consolidated, with the war starting up again towards the end of his reign. But Solomon had great political control of the area and economic development in other parts adjacent to Israel.

The Feast of Tabernacles and the Ecclesiastes have very similar goals and very similar outcomes. Ecclesiastes has a very special relevance to us in our materialistic society, because it helps us see the vanity, emptiness of many earthly pursuits that are an end to themselves. It also contains lessons for all of us and speaks to the young who have so much to lose, should they make the choices, the wrong choices early in life. Because let's take a look at Solomon, how he began. It's important to put into context Solomon's own life.

First things chapter three, and this is in that first 11 chapter set of chapters that give Solomon's biography. First Kings chapter three and verse five. At Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, ask what shall I give you? Very directly, God talked to Solomon. What would you have asked for?

You're starting a new career, a new job. You're certainly going to be anxious and have certain priorities, the things that you would want to ask for. What would you ask for if you had a new job, a new position, a new rule? We see Solomon's response. Verse six. First Kings five, verse six. And Solomon said, you have shown great mercy to your servant David, my father, because he walked before you in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart with you. You have continued this great kindness for him. You have given him a son to sit on his throne as it is this day. Verse seven. Now, O Lord, my God, you have made your servant king instead of my father David. That's me. But I am a little child. I do not know how to go out or to come in. Verse eight. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people too numerous to be numbered or counted. I'm responsible for this whole nation. Therefore, verse nine, give to your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours? The humility here is amazing. The speech, verse 10, please the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. Then God said to him, because you have asked this thing and have not asked for a long life for yourself, not things about yourself, but give me a lot of years, not asked for riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself to understanding, to discern justice. Behold, I have done according to your words. See, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, shall any like you arise after you. I also have given you, which you have not asked, both riches and honor. That's going to be something that will just flow, that will be just drawn in, and that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. So if you walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days. This thing really started out well. What an opportunity! Solomon even had the wisdom to ask for wisdom. What Israel was wealthy. Solomon was wealthy. He built amazing structures, including the multi-billion dollar temple in today's old valuation. His fame had spread around the world. The queen of Sheba heard about him, about this wise king, and made a long trip from Ethiopia to come and have an audience with King Solomon. But now when we come to the early verses of the book of Ecclesiastes, we see a marked change in Solomon's spirit and attitude. Something wasn't going right. Something's not right. Because in the first two chapters of Ecclesiastes, Solomon searches for the meaning of life. I thought he had that down pretty well.

But he was given everything. Enjoy it, have it, use it. And he was finding some lack of satisfaction in all that. Right in the very beginning, Ecclesiastes chapter 1, verse 2, he cries out, "'Vanity of vanities,' says the preacher." That's him. The vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

Ultimate uselessness. The word vanity appears 38 times in the book of Ecclesiastes. It's a term that means uselessness, temporariness, vapor, something that's here and gone. Do you know that this whole world, everything that we see around us is vapor? It's here, we enjoy it, but it'll be gone.

You won't know anything about it. No. Something lacking real substance. So everything that Solomon was enjoying, everything he built, every experience he had, he looked upon it and said, okay, well, now, what does it satisfy? Not really.

Where do I go with this? How can I take it with me? He really was lost.

Vanity means bleeding, philosophical substance, permins.

Then he also writes, in fact, of the 38 times he uses the word vanity, in verse 2 he uses it five times. I mean, he was just really frustrated. I mean, when he used a word five times in one sentence, you really feel.

Verse 3, what profit has a man from all his labor, in which he toils under the sun, which we are right. It was the purpose of life.

And he talks about it in context of under the sun. He uses that expression under the sun 29 times, and it appears only one other time in the whole Old Testament, under the sun. That means here on the earth. And also, by context, means away from God. What is the purpose of everything here on this earth apart from God, as we'll see? From the human point of view, life under the sun does often appear to be futile, and it's easy for us to get pessimistic. So basically, Solomon found the first two verses, first three verses, saying life is a fleeting vapor aside from God. Do we want to ever come to that point in our lives? Well, Solomon kind of brings it together. And also, the Feast of Tabernacles, and what we already covered in Deuteronomy 1422, spares us from just looking at the Feast of Tabernacles as a time of plenty, and the future as a time of plenty, and just enjoyment, and having a good time, and all this sort of thing, without having a true context about both Ecclesiastes and the book Ecclesiastes and the Feast of Tabernacles come to.

So he goes on in verse 4. Here's some of his meandering of mind. One generation passes away, another generation comes. The sun also rises, the sun also goes down. Verse 6, the wind goes towards the south, and it turns around to the north. All the rivers run into the sea. The sea is not full. Talks about cycles. That which has been, verse 9, is what will be. That which is done is what will be done. There is nothing new under the sun. Been there, done there. Now what? There, in verse 10, anything of which it may be said, see this is new, there's already been in ancient times before us. This sea's life is just a series of cycles. Birth announcements, obituaries. Birth announcements, obituaries. Birth announcements, obituaries. That's the way he viewed life.

Have you ever gone to a cemetery? Sometimes when you go to a funeral and there's a burial, I kind of walk down and see the stones of other people, and kind of see somebody who died in 52 or 55. Who was this person? What was his life? He's probably not even remembered. Hardly anybody remembers who that person was. What they did, what they accomplished, their memory. How many people do we know from 34 years ago? At a funeral, we try to memorialize them. We will never forget, then we forget. People try to memorialize the lives of certain people by naming a building or to naming something after them just to keep that name alive. That's really all fuel. And that's the way Solomon was coming to. He was caught in the unending and alterable cycles of life. So Solomon says, I'm going to try to find out. I'm going to try to figure this out. Verse 13, I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom, by reasoning, by experimentation. I doubt that this was the godly wisdom that he had from the very beginning. Certainly had that. But you know, the word wisdom probably has more synonyms than any other word in the English language. I'm not sure. Don't hold me to that. But I have counted 30 words that are similar to wisdom. Cleverness, reasoning, experimentation, astuteness, capability, competence, cunning, intelligence, shrewdness, smartness, prudence, eruditeness, brilliance, sensibility, learnedness, cognizance, keenness, sharpness, smartness, just to name a few. You can run it to Sarras. You'll find many words that have to do with cleverness, wisdom, smart, intelligent.

Concerning, I set out to search by wisdom, verse 13, concerning all that is done under heaven. I want to figure it out. This burdensome task God has given to the sons of man by which they may be exercised. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and indeed all is vanity, all is vapor, and the grasping for the wind. Nothing I can really hang on to. You know, more people than you think are interested in the questions the Solomon raised. A few years ago, scientists at John Hopkins University surveyed nearly 8,000 college students at 48 universities and asked what they considered to be very important to them. And what do you think these college students said? Was it making money? Was it getting married, getting a job, buying a home? Well, only 16% answered making a lot of money. An overwhelming 75% stated that their first goal was finding a purpose and meaning for my life. Do you have meaning and purpose for your life? And are you learning that right now through the things that we teach and that God reveals to us? Solomon had everything, and yet he despaired by the time that he wrote the book of the Ecclesiastes. How could things start out so right and end up so wrong? Why the despair?

But we'll see that Solomon went beyond an outside of what God had given him. He was looking to himself and setting his own criteria. And God allowed it. God allowed all kinds of things for Solomon to do that really were out of bounds, like the whip. 300 wives, couldn't have God clear the throat and said, I don't think so. But God said, okay, you want 300 wives? You want 700 concubines? Hey, we'll make it happy.

Ecclesiastes 16, 1 and verse 16, I communed with my heart, saying, look, I have attained greatness and have gained more wisdom than all who were performing in Jerusalem. He was smart, brilliant. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge. Solomon is sometimes said to be a composite of the Apostle Paul, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Neil Diamond, and Hugh Hefner.

We see very quickly what Solomon wrote later in life that he had lost his humility, that an attitude had soured.

17, I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and following. This is definitely his own search criteria. I perceive that this is also a grasping for the win. When before, when he met God in 1st Kings 3, he says, I am your servant. What do you, I see that you have done this to my father David, and I want to serve you as your servant. Now, as I have achieved greatness and I am looking, orientation was quite different.

Verse 18, for much wisdom is much grief. Now, when you set criteria for finding out the purpose of life outside the bounds of God, it may not be a journey to happiness. And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil wasn't the best choice. God had given Adam and Eve choices. You eat in the tree of life, but you stay away from this one. And Eve said, well, wait a minute, wait a minute. This fruit looks good, smells good. The tree is different than other trees. Also, this serpent came up and started agreeing with her in a lot of things and said, you know, you're going to die. Why would you die? God says you will die. You know, something God has some up his sleeve while he doesn't want you to eat that tree. He says, well, yeah, I'm going to try it out. I'm going to see how this works. You know, you don't prove an experiment by doing things wrong in disobedience to God. You know the way to prove, you know, how to prove the commandment, thou shall not commit adultery? Don't commit adultery. Now, you could also come to a conclusion that it's not good when you do commit adultery, but it's painful and it's full of grief. You'll find out that it's wrong. That goes for all the other commandments of God.

Is it obedience or is it experimentation? And Solomon was into experimentation.

You know, no matter how smart we are, can we really attain to the greatness of God's universe, understand everything about Him? God has given us enough things to figure out right now in our lifetimes. He's given us His commandments, His laws, His parameters, His promises. What more do we need? Do we have to go outside of God and the criteria that He's shaped for us to figure things out ourselves? The more we learn about God's universe, see how complex it is, there's some things that are really not for us to delve into. Matthew 7, verse 14, narrow is the gate. In difficulty, there's a way that leads to life. There'd be few who find it. Some try to come around in different ways. You know, we're so little and we're so tiny. How many dimensions do you understand?

You know, I understand length, width, height, time, you know, four dimensions.

Physicists can calculate mathematicians to five, six, seven dimensions. You know how many dimensions God has? Infinite. Infinite amount of dimensions. He has a dimension where He will place us into eternal life. Do I understand? No, I don't. But I do know that God has criteria that He has really blocked off from us. We're not to go there. We're not to experiment. And part of Solomon's problem was he was experimenting. It wasn't good enough for what God told him. He wanted to experiment.

Later in life, Solomon looked back over all the wealth that he had and his accomplishments, experimentation, and his possessions. And he said, it's all meaningless. It's all vanity. Been there, done that, still searching.

Just because you get rich and famous doesn't mean that you are successful. J. Paul Getty said, I hate to be a failure. He's one of the world's first, maybe the very first, billionaire. I hate and regret the failure of my marriages. I would gladly give all my millions for just one lasting marital success. He also wrote about his wives. Five wives can't all be wrong. In chapter two of Ecclesiastes, you go on into a continuing experiment. Chapter two of Ecclesiastes. I said in my heart, come now. I will test. I will experiment. I will explore you with mirth.

Therefore, enjoy pleasure. But surely this was vanity. This was nothing. I said of laughter, madness, and of mirth, what does it accomplish? In his palace, he had stand-up comedians come and just made him laugh to death. Or close to death. And just was just thought of a big party, lots of people having a good time. And after they all left, it all got quiet.

You know, on Sirius XM, they have these channels for just comedy, you know, just comedy. 24 hours a day, you know. People just wanting to be entertained. But what does it accomplish? Then, verse three, I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, how to lay hold them folly. He started using wine for recreational purposes. Who knows? Maybe even drugs. I have no idea. He wanted to see, he could push the limits of his mind and happiness through wine, alcohol, perhaps other substances. So I might see what was good for the sons of man to do under heaven all the days of their life. Then he went into another mode here of construction and building. Verse four, I made my works great. Rich people like to do this. Usually these new billionaires in Russia, these new millionaires, they're called the new Russians. They've been poor all their lives, but once they become rich, as some of them have through the sale of petroleum, they start building places. They start building exotic places. They buy up expensive apartments in London and build homes in Miami Beach. Well, Solomon himself, I built myself houses, houses, and planted myself vineyards. I made myself gardens and orchards to be happy. To look at these things and say, look at my big house. I can invite 25 friends over, have a big party. I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. I acquired male and female servants. He was in acquisition mode. He was just trying to get as much as he could. Had servants born in the house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks and all who were in Jerusalem before me. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasure of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers. And he was a musician himself who wrote a lot of songs. The delights of the sons of men and musical instruments of all kinds. He had it all.

He had great accumulation of things. If we had all this, if we had a hundred billion dollars, what would we do with it? And how would this change our life? Would we turn into a solemn?

Would we be happy? Would we feel fulfilled? Would we feel satisfied? That's a question. Let's ask here, because if the Feast of Tabernacles, you have money. Take 10% of what you own or have made this past year and spend it on whatever you want. Does that make you happy?

It should with the proper criteria. Verse 9 of Ecclesiastes 2, became great, famous, and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom remained in me. He still had his smarts. Yet a lot of corruption take place, because the word wisdom, godly wisdom, is more than just one word. It's a lot of synonyms that have a connotation of sinister things and less than desirable aspects. There was a detachment of the godly component of the system. I'd like to turn to two New Testament passages. First is 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 19, to demonstrate that there is wisdom that is not of God. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 19, for the wisdom, the reasoning and experimentation of this world, is foolishness with God. For it is written, He catches the wise in their own craftiness. The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they are futile. Paul understood this about the wise in metropolitan centers such as Rome. James chapter 3 verse 13 has a similar thought. James 13, who is wise in understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But Solomon had at the very beginning, but if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but it's firstly sensual demonic. It could be cleverness, cunningness, but not godly wisdom in practice. And verse 16, for where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, without hypocrisy. And this is what Solomon was losing. Verse 10, for Ecclesiastes 2. Whatever my eyes desired, Ecclesiastes 2 verse 10, whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them. He'd be horrible on amazon.com. I mean, he'd just be ordering like crazy.

I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure. And then in verse 11, he says, then it looked at all the works that my hands had done, and on the labor in which I had toiled, and indeed, all was a vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun. These words are words that we really need to think about at this time, in conjunction with the joy and the rejoicing and the things that we are to learn at the Feast of Tabernacles. Solomon's observations were that death came to both the wise and the fool.

Verse 15, I said in my heart, is it happened to the fool, so it also happens to me. The poor beggar in Jerusalem, and when Solomon died and the beggar died, the same place. What's the point?

And why was I then more wise than I said in my heart, this also is vanity. For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, so all that is now will be forgotten days to come. We don't like to think about these things, but everything we see here is vapor. This is all an illusion, so to speak. It's here today, but it'll be gone. The book was written to be read this time, here for a very good reason. We have extra money, extra time, extra opportunity for pleasure, and to spend money on anything we desire. But what are we going to gain from this week together? Because even though Solomon had everything, he was unfulfilled, dissatisfied. What was the matter? After all, Solomon experienced. There was still an emptiness in his heart. Things and experiences did not fill it.

Man was created with a need that can't be filled with material things, pleasure, or experiences.

Chapter 3. In the first two chapters, Solomon described his search for the purpose of life. In chapters 3 through 6, Solomon shares observations gleaned during the course of his search.

In a well-known passage in what was sung here so beautifully yesterday from chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes, to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven, a time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant, a time to pluck, as planted, as planted, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down, a time to build up.

These have been lyrics for songs sung popularly like the Burks in 1965, Grammy-winning songs, also sung by Judy Collins and Bob Dylan, words from the Bible. What prophet has the worker from that in which he labors? I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in his time. Also, he has put eternity in their hearts.

He has put eternity in their hearts. Is God putting eternity into your heart, or are we just enjoying things for the present, experiencing it just for the sake of experiencing it and having it as an end in itself? Or is it something that is leading to having eternity placed in our hearts? And that is not vapor. Eternity and vapor are totally separate, diametrically opposite of one another, putting eternity in our hearts. We're here celebrating the time when Christ will return to set up his kingdom for all eternity. God is putting eternity in our hearts that we understand, as frankly nobody else understands as much as we do. I don't apologize for this. This world has lost the words that have come from the Bible about the Feast of Tabernacles, the Book of Ecclesiastes, the purpose for life, answering the biggest questions of who is God and who are we, and what is our relationship, and where are we going together.

Verse 12, I know that nothing is better than for man to rejoice and to do good in their lives. And also that man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor. It is the gift of God.

It's the gift of God to enjoy. Verse 14, I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever.

Saul was looking to his way, to his criteria, to the things that he was going to do and accomplish and build, and the stand-up comedians that were going to come by, and just enjoyment that he would have for the present time, not realizing that what God is telling us and teaching us will be forever, as contrasted to vapor in his life. Nothing shall be added to it. Verse 14, nothing shall be taken from it. God does it that men should fear before him. Fear before him. This is what he's going to be talking about more and more. And isn't that why we are here? To fear the Lord God.

Verse 17, I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there's a time and there's a purpose for every work. This is a subject in itself about the fact that there are good times and bad times. There's a time for various things that God is teaching us. It is a greater purpose in his overall view of life and man's odyssey and journey from this life into eternity, because that's where we want to get to. That's the dimension we want to reach. And we want to be in a proper attitude to be able to reach that dimension. Aren't we here to learn, fear God? In chapter 4 of Ecclesiastes, Solomon continues his observations. We'll need to kind of skip through some of this very, very quickly. He talks about the value in friendships and relationships. He talks about how important relationships and friendships are. You know, that's why we're here together with our families, and not just by ourselves and just like a men's group or just a representatives group. We're here to develop relationships and have time with our children, to have time with our friends, to talk to one another, to share thoughts and ideas with one another. Solomon also in this chapter speaks about the vanity of popularity.

Relationships above things could be one of the sub-themes of chapter 4. Chapter 5.

Chapter 5, having observed much folly and nonsense during his search for the purpose of life, Solomon offers advice on a number of things and is beginning to sound more like a book of problems now about worshiping God, making promises, injustice in high places, and properly using riches. Some of these are, verse 1, walk prudently when you go into the house of God, and draw near to here rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know what they do evil. Verse 2, do not be rash with your mouth, let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven and you on earth, therefore let your words be few. He seems to speak quite about the use of the tongue, which he does in the book of Proverbs as well. That's an important aspect about life and how we deal with one another, the proper use of the tongue. When you make a vow, and this is something he covers in a number of places, verse 4, when you make a vow to God, make a promise to God, do not delay to pay it. For he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed. Keep your promises. Verse 6, do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands? Verse 7, for in the multitude of dreams, in many words, there is also vanity, vapor, but fear God.

In Ecclesiastes 5, verse 18-19, these two verses magnify how we should be keeping the feast of tabernacles, because this festival season represents the coming kingdom of God. Our thoughts and activities need to be with this in mind. Here's what I have seen, verse 18. It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink and to enjoy the good of all his labor, in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life, which God gives him, for it is his heritage. As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth and given him power to eat of it, to receive a heritage and rejoice in his labor, this is the gift of God. You can do things that are enjoyable, that are vapor, but things that have meaning, relationships, and future, that is a gift from God. For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart. It is fitting, it is a fitting experience, to enjoy the good of one's labor, but the ability to totally enjoy it is a gift from God.

Chapter 6, no matter what you accumulate in this world, you won't take it with you.

You don't own anything. King Tut, if he knew that his body was being paraded around the whole world and his treasures, would be horrified. And yet he owned all these things. He owned nothing. All we are are stewards of what we have in this life. So either spend it all or give it to your kids, or the government will take it from you. Isn't that sound kind of like all is vanity? That's what it is. It's just nothing. So no matter what you accumulate, enriched people come to a point of where there's a condition known as wealth fatigue syndrome. People get so rich that, oh, he's got a 125-foot yacht. I better get 150-foot yacht. Oh, he's got a ghosting 900 series jet. Oh, I better get a 747. You know, they just compare each other. One of the... those things mean nothing. They're vanity. It's a kind of addiction. Vanity. The parable of the rich fool in Luke chapter 12. The rich man who said, I got such big crops, such huge crops in Luke chapter 12 verse 16, that I better build better more barns to store all this stuff.

Then I'll need to get guards to guard you, of course, so it'll be all stolen. The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully, Luke chapter 12 verse 16. And he thought within himself, saying, what shall I do? I have no more room to store my crops. Oh, poor me! So he said, I will do this. I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. I will say to my soul, soul you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, fool, this night your soul will be required of you, and then whose will those things be which you have provided? So is he who lays up treasure for himself is not rich towards God. We are never owners, get it? Never owners of anything in this life. They'll be gone generation or two, no matter how much we acquire. In the remaining chapters, the final chapters, six chapters, Solomon shares his advice through a mixture of proverbs and narration, how to make the most of life under the sun. In other words, how to live life while we are here under the sun. In chapter seven, some of the highlights, enjoy what you have while you can. Death is inevitable. There will always be things we don't understand. Don't feel badly that you don't understand all the meaning of life. But the Bible has enough there for every level of education and every intelligence and every race and every time. Thinking that you've attained enough wisdom is a sure sign that you haven't. Chapter eight, the last chapters are Solomon's counsel for life and his epilogue. Chapter eight, verse one, who is like a wise man and who knows the interpretation of the thing. Though a sinner does evil, verse 12, a hundred times and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear before him. This fear of God is a theme that is woven all the way through the book of Ecclesiastes, as it is one of the commands for the Feast of Tabernacles. Judgment ultimately will be made against all evil. Nobody's getting away with anything. Everything that's secret will be unearthed.

Chapters 11 and 12. Chapter 11, verse 9, Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, talking to you youngsters. What was that announcement? I read children ages zero through nine. Maybe go down that far, but nonetheless, O young man, rejoice in your youth. Let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these, God will bring you to judgment. You who are young and who have your health, who have your whole life before you, think, think before you act. We had a whole series of billboards in our town. Think before you text. Think before you post. Think before you do anything.

Therefore, remove sorrow from your heart and put away evil from your flesh. This is to you, young man and young woman, teenager, child. Be serious. Solomon started okay, but he went in a direction that was painful, that was hurtful. For childhood and youth are vanity. They're a vapor. They're here today, gone tomorrow. Before long, you'll become old.

Solomon is speaking to our youth today. It reminds them of the choices they make daily will determine the direction of the rest of their life. Hopefully you're here in services all the time. You are hearing these messages of morality, of truth, of commandment keeping that will make you happy, that will give you the things that Solomon did not have. Chapter 12, the last chapter, the final chapter begins with a continuation of the advice to the young to remember God in our youth before the difficult days come. Remember verse 1, your creator in the days of your youth before the difficult days come. And the years draw near to you and you say, I have no pleasure in them.

The things that won't be long before you say, I can't do these things anymore. I can't run the way I did. I can't do the fun things. I can't ski. I can't do this. Before the difficult days come, remember the Lord creator in your youth. Verse 6, remember your creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. Remember God before you get old and broken.

Young people, don't wait. If you're hearing this, God is working with you in your mind. Think about your future, your relationships, your children, and eternity. It's hard for young people sometimes to think about eternity, because that's a long ways off. But think about it. Those days will come very, very quickly. Finally, we are told the grand conclusion for the whole matter. Solomon ends his search for the meaning of life by concluding full purpose for man's existence. Here we have the convergence of the Feast of Tabernacles in Ecclesiastes. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, verse 13 of chapter 12. Fear God! Keep his commandments! Obey him! Eve would have been smart and wise if she would have obeyed God instead of experimented. If she would have had awe and respect to her parent, she would have feared the consequences that God had said. Fear God and keep his commandments, fear God and keep his commandments, for this is man's all!

Solomon had everything! He thought that was all, but it was nothing. It was vapor. We could have everything we wanted to, to have, possibly. A hundred billion dollars. Would that be all? Would that be nothing? It would be nothing but a relationship with God, fearing him, the one who is putting eternity in you, the one who is giving you years, and the one who is going to put you into a further dimension of eternity. That's the one to have a relationship with. You know, I want to live forever so badly. There's so many things I want to do, so many things I'd like to accomplish, so many things I would like to do, not just life, but eternal existence. And it's very, very close to us, to every single one of us. If we keep the meaning of these days, fear God, keep his commandments, come to the feast, and learn to fear the Lord your God always, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. Ecclesiastes is Solomon's search for the meaning of life, chapters 1 and 2. Solomon's observations from life. Okay, this is what it means. This is how it turns out. Turn, turn, turn. Chapters 3 through 7. And finally, Solomon's advice and conclusion, chapters 8 through 12. It's really a straightforward book. It's not the strangest book in the Bible. People don't get it because they don't tie in what the meaning of fear is and how it relates to other things that we do. And it's brilliant that it was read at the Feast of Tabernacles, where we learn to fear the Lord your God always.

So what did we learn in summary from the book of Ecclesiastes? Proper fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. The proper keeping of the commandments is the beginning of wisdom. Fear and the keeping of commandments is just that simple. That's how Solomon ended his words. And God is working with us just as parents who want to provide the very best we can for our children. Our Heavenly Father has provided this week of abundance and joy as a sample looking forward to eternity, of God placing eternity into our hearts, the kingdom of God. Real enjoyment and lasting enjoyment can come only with a proper fear and respect of God in keeping his commandments. Let's not forget this now during the Feast of Tabernacles, a time of plenty and enjoyment of the physical. Let's not forget why we are here.

God is placing eternity in us and his ways are forever. I'll just quote a New Testament scripture quickly here, 1 John chapter 2 and verse 17, because I feel this embodies much of what we're saying here. The world, 1 John 2 verse 17, the world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. We will inherit all things. What will we do once we get it? And how will we manage that inheritance?

Now, one thing people fear about going to heaven, this is a different subject, that they'll be bored, staring at God for all eternity. What if we were to be in the kingdom of God and had nothing to do and just kind of sit around or mismanage or just get, have fun all the time? But we get bored? Do we have wealth fatigue syndrome? It has to be purpose in what we do. And God is love. God wants to develop himself, his family, and expand to make us in his image and have bigger things for us to be able to continue that process. I'm looking forward to what can be done in the future. We don't want to be bored with our lives. Trying to figure out life's meaning by yourself or through alternative means outside those revealed by God will result in futility as it did for Solomon. It won't come through building things. It won't be coming through even human creativity or even trying to figure out the mathematics of the future. It's what God reveals to us. And also, we don't need to experiment to find out. Experimentation can be very, very dangerous as it was in the case of Solomon. We need to believe and obey what God tells us is the best way. Next, remember God in your use. We have youth here. We have children here that hear these words. We have many of you who were children at one time attending the Feast of Tabernacles as toddlers and still remember some of the things that were said. And you have remembered God in your youth and you're here. Ecclesiastes affirms that meaning for life is not in life, but in the one who gives life, our relationship with God. Let us hear the conclusion one more time to the book of Ecclesiastes. Fear God. Keep His commandments. For this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. This is the road from Ecclesiastes to eternity. May God's grace and peace be with you in abundance.