Ecclesiastes, Part 1

If you were able to have the bulletin today, you will see that the name of the sermon is Nuggets of Gold. And I make that reference about the Book of Ecclesiastes. The Book of Ecclesiastes, which most of us, if you ask, may be able to give one or two scriptures, but we really can't tell a whole lot about it. I had read it more than a few times, but never really went in depth with it, as I have now. And I found there to be such a richness of words there that I actually... this is a three-part sermon that I hope I can inspire you to read the Book of Ecclesiastes over the next two weeks. Because when we get to after next week, I want to go into some of the gold nuggets, because that's what I call them. Gold nuggets that are in that Book of Ecclesiastes. And I want to give you, hopefully today, a reason to read it.

Hopefully, I can inspire you to think about it. And why would I say gold nuggets? Well, gold is interesting that it is so valuable that there is no natural substance that can destroy gold. You can change its shape, but there's no natural substance that can destroy it. It is very valuable. Gold is actually a very soft metal on the gauge of metals. On a tin scale, it's only about a two or three. And that you could actually... a nugget of gold you can sometimes put in your mouth, as you might have seen in the old movies. The prospectors were to see if it's gold, they would bite down on it. And if their teeth could make an impression, they realized it was probably gold. They realized it was probably gold. Gold is so malleable that you can take a single ounce of gold and you can make it so thin and it will stay together. And it can become so thin that a single ounce of gold can be made to stretch 35 miles.

Only any other metal in the world is like gold. Can you imagine? Peter and Stephen, you live about 35 miles from here. An ounce of gold can be made and the components of it can be made to stretch from here all the way to your house. One ounce. And the gold carries a gravity scale of rating of 19.6, which means it is 19.6 times heavier than the weight of water by volume. He said, well, I thought this was a sermon on Ecclesiastes. I'm just trying to relate that the words and the phrases and the scriptures in Ecclesiastes is worth more than gold.

More than any gold you could find. Gold is very valuable.

I want to pass this through. I just ask that you return this, please. Okay. This is a Canadian leaf and this is actually one ounce. This is actually one ounce coin, which actually is what we just talked about. You could have, because this is pure gold, you could have this gold and it would stretch all the way from here, all 35 miles. Hard to believe, isn't it? God made this. I'd like you to pass this around because I just want you to see and hopefully you will bring it back.

Otherwise, we're going to have a whole bunch of sermons.

Because I'd like you to feel the weight of this. It's incredible, this little thing here.

Very valuable.

What's your, that little coin that you're holding in your hand, one ounce of that, on the market today, is around $1,100 to $1,200 for that little coin. If you had a single cubic foot of gold, what do you think that would weigh?

Almost 1,200 pounds for a cubic foot of gold. But as I say, those coins, I do want them back.

Because my wife would kill me. Because she said, why are you pulling it out when you can take some fake coin?

So, my wife does not trust and believe in the congregation like I do.

Please forgive her for her unbelief and the power of God in this room.

Gold nuggets.

So, you look at that little coin and you go, wow, $1,100, $1,200 for that.

But yet, the Scriptures that God has given us in Ecclesiastes, it's worth so much more than that.

And I want you to see that, and I want you to understand that.

Hopefully, we're all readers.

Hope you like to read. Hope you like to read Ecclesiastes. I hope you will read Ecclesiastes during the next two weeks. It is loaded with gold.

Harry Truman, President Harry Truman, once said, not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers. Many of the books have been written.

Many of the books have been written in the nation's bestseller, the world's best sellers, on what?

Success. Somebody doesn't want to give up a coin, it sounds like, right there.

But there have been many best sellers. Perhaps you have read some of the success books.

Some of the self-help books that people write.

I know I was looking at some of the lists as I got on the internet and looked at the list of the world's best selling. He brings them back.

Very good.

Maybe I better bite and make sure they're not. Thank you, Neil.

There was a book I was recommended to read when I was in my 20s. It was by Napoleon Hill, and it was actually Think and Go Rich. You might have read that book. In my 20s and 30s, I read as many books I would read, probably one or a book every other week, or once a month, at least one of these self-help books. Because I wanted to study from people who were successful because that was my goal, was to be successful and more focused on money at the time or jobs or various things than it was about the things of God.

The Millionaire Next Door, I remember reading it thinking, wow, that's a good book.

Another one was The Richest Man in Babylon, which had a little overtones of God in them. Donald Trump had a book called How to Get Rich. It obviously worked for him, but it didn't work for me. I read The Art of the Deal. I didn't read that one.

But then Andrew Carnegie wrote The Gospel of Wealth, and I guess Dale Carnegie is most remembered for How to Win Friends and Influence People. These are success books written by successful people that many people would read multiple times so that they could follow in the footsteps or learn from these people who have gone through all these things. But I do like J. Paul Getty, the rich billionaire, when they ask him about wealth and they ask him the secret of success. And he said, rise early, work hard, and strike oil, because that's what he did.

And that's easier said than done. Perhaps the richest man on the planet is debatable today, his name Warren Buffett. He is an investor. Berkshire Hathaway is his company, a corporation. I don't know how many he's got, but it was interesting when you saw Warren Buffett as, you know, when he was in college. He read a book. He read a book by the name of intelligent investor, and it was by Benjamin Graham, who was a professor but also had a business in Columbia University. So, Warren Buffett read this book, and it so touched him that he wanted to meet the author.

And he was excited, so he actually went and got his master's at Columbia University.

Where do you mean? I feel this thing moving too much.

So, he enrolled in Columbia University to get his master's, just so he could be in this man's class.

And he did take his class and studied under him, and was just excited that when he got his master's degree, he wanted to go to this man's investment company and work, to which the man turned him down three times because he didn't know if he was really qualified to do it.

About a year or two later, he did hire him, and he went to work for this investment company. And he took with him the ideas from this investor, this Benjamin Graham's book, and all he had learned from him, and he went to work his company, and he invested $100 of his own money, and followed these things to, eventually, five years later, he was a millionaire. And, of course, today he is a multi-billionaire and invests others' money. I bring this because we saw there was value in this man's writings, and I hope to be able to convince you today that there is value in the writer of Ecclesiastes, which was Solomon. Wealth neither equals wisdom or success.

I think we all know that. We've seen that.

You know, many books out there, we read for information, but the books in the Bible, our book, I like to say our book, because it is our book, the words are given for not just our information, but for our transformation.

As God wants us to be transformed from this human to eventually divine.

That's not a simple equation. There's nothing simple about that, because it's not a simple goal that we should have. You should turn to Ecclesiastes, if you will, a book after Proverbs.

The word Ecclesiastes is actually a Greek word. It's also from the Latin.

But it's a Greek word, and it's interesting because the Jews would always, as I think about it, went back through some of the historical points, and so many of the Jews at the Feast of Tabernacles, which we just ended, they would actually read the book of Ecclesiastes that was read to them during the Feast. Have you ever wondered why? Have you ever asked? Well, I hope we can mine the answer later, just like gold. I hope we can find why this was given at the Feast of Tabernacles, and how it might be also given to enhance our Feast of Tabernacles next year. But the Hebrew word, or the Hebrew name, this was from the Greek, was actually kahleth. Kahleth is how it's actually Q-O-H-E-L-E-T-H. You may find that translated in your Bible as preacher.

You know, some Bibles actually have, instead of Ecclesiastes, preacher. Because kahleth, the meaning is, a preacher are one who calls or gathers people together.

We know from the New Testament the ecclesia is talking about the church and the called out ones, are called together to assemble, that we do on the Sabbath.

It was believed that Ecclesiastes was written around 935 BC, which was actually about three years before Solomon died in 931.

So he wrote this towards the end of his life. Now, our book, this book says that Solomon was the wisest and richest man who lived.

Would you have paid millions of dollars to come and sit and ask him questions and listen to his wisdom? Would you do that now? That's why people buy these self-help books. They buy these books because, okay, I'm going to pay this guy $29.99 for this book and I'm going to be able to take out of there all his thoughts. Well, they didn't have that back in Solomon's time, but they did have a way of doing things where kings would either come themselves or they would send even their sons, they would send their assistants, they would send men, women to come before Solomon and ask him questions and listen to him talk. I think you go to 1 Kings 2.

1 Kings 2. Verse 6. It's interesting here, before Solomon ever took the throne, we can see that God was guiding his life. And he was an interesting young man because it says that even before he took the throne, David said in verse 6, therefore do according to your wisdom. So we already had wisdom David had seen before. Verse 9 says, Now therefore do not hold him guiltless for you are a wise man.

He was a young man at the time, but even David recognized that this individual, his son, had incredible wisdom at a very young age. I go to 1 Kings 3. 1 Kings 3.

Said in verse 7, as Solomon has, I would say, an appointment with God, where God actually talks to him in his dream and Solomon is able to actually communicate. And in verse 7 it says, Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child. I do not know how to go in or to come out. Verse 7, And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, to numerous be numbered or counted. Therefore give to your servant an understanding heart. To judge your people that I may discern between good and evil. How many of us have asked God for that?

Ask God to help you discern between good and evil. So obviously it's going to require more than the human thinking to be able to really do it right. To be able to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours, and the speech please the Lord? Because Solomon could have asked for anything, but he asked for wisdom and understanding, and it wanted to come from the heart. Then God said to him, Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern judgment. 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, nor shall any like you arise after you. To which you have to say, Wow! No one, no one person was wiser, smarter than him.

No one, no one is wiser than him. No one. No one. No one. No one. No one. No one. No one. No one.

And then I saw John D. Rockefeller, $340 billion. And they all kind of agreed that the richest man that lived was in the 1200s of his name was Manamusa. And they thought his wealth was about $400 billion. But then, there were a few that actually included Solomon's time. And included Solomon. And gave his wealth as they transformed it into today's dollars as they did these others. And he was not worth $400 billion. He was not worth $600 billion. His worth would have been $2.1 trillion.

No one, even in his league, in the history of man. Which proved Scripture correct.

I'd like you to turn to 1 Kings 4. 1 Kings 4 and verse 30.

This is said about Solomon. 1 Kings 4 and verse 30. Said, Thus Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the east and all of the wisdom of Egypt. Verse 34. And all and men of all nations from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, Solomon came to hear the wisdom of Solomon. So anyone who had even thought they were wise or anything they wanted, they came to hear Solomon. That's how wise he was. That's how valuable his advice was.

I'd like you to turn to 2 Chronicles. As I lay this groundwork for why it's important. 2 Chronicles 9. You probably all know the story.

Take this thing.

2 Chronicles 9.

Let's go down to verse 13.

Because here my title says Solomon's great wealth. Said, The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was 666 talents of gold. That's what people sent to Solomon. That's just his income. That wasn't it, just part of it. How much is, would this be today? Would be like someone sending you 700 plus million dollars every year. So they're sending him 700 million.

That's besides, as verse 14, besides what the traveling merchants and traders brought, and all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. And King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold. 600 shekels of hammered gold went into each shield. Remember the coin?

He made these shields to just be decoration for his houses.

Now, each of these shields, in today's dollars, worth about 200,000 dollars in gold alone. And then it says he made 300 shields of hammered gold, 300 shekels each, which was about 100,000 dollars for each shield. These were not what you fought with. These were just decorations like these pictures on the wall.

The king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. The throne had six steps with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne. There were armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps. Nothing like this had been made for any other king. I'll send these down each side. This is an artist's drawing, as you can see, the regal. I could have put this up, but I'll just pass this down.

This is what you would kind of be seeing if you came up to meet with Solomon as he was sitting on his throne.

I did a great deal of study on this because I found it to be very interesting. I want to describe why you're looking at the pictures also in verse 20. He said, all king's of Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest were of pure gold. So think about your glasses or containers at home. He had nothing but pure gold. He said, Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. Silver didn't mean anything, as the story says. It's like stones. So you can see that not only because this was Solomon wealthy, the whole nation was wealthy.

He said, verse 21, For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram. Once every three years, the merchants came, bringing back gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys. So king Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom, and all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. And he left some stuff for us.

And that's why I say there are gold nuggets in the book of Ecclesiastes from the richest man who ever lived, and the wisest man who ever lived.

I want you to realize you can actually go back and see where David for the temple of God. He left his son as he collected this. He left him 100,000 talents of gold for him to use in the temple. Today's money, that would be 21 billion dollars that David left his son just in gold, just in this, to use in the temple.

I want you, as most of you have seen the pictures of the throne. And it had the stairway, six steps that actually led up as the scriptures tell us. And it also had the lions, those big gold lions that were on each side. All solid gold, these lions were. Thank you, Kobe.

But the interesting part was the throne. And you can study this history if you want to spend hours that I did to save you, looking that up, because you had to dig through a lot of history. But that throne that he set upon was very interesting because it was made of solid ivory. And then it was covered with gold.

It was something to see, heavy to move. But what's interesting that this picture does not show is the historical accounts from various people who actually saw the throne because it didn't end here. When Babylon, according to historical documentation, when Babylon captured Jerusalem, guess what? Nebuchadnezzar took this throne. He wanted this throne. When he was conquered, King Xerxes wanted the throne. When he was conquered, Alexander the Great wanted to sit on this throne. And it went down through the years. The last time someone actually saw the throne was in the year 200 AD after Christ, and it was somewhere near Rome.

And that's the last they had seen of it. So it's very possible it's somewhere, even today, unless somebody melted it down. But you'll find it's very interesting because he was so advanced, and that's what these references said, he was so advanced in mechanics and how things were put together that we sometimes think, well, they were prehistoric almost.

No. They described how these steps were actually escalators. And that when King Solomon made his first step, the mechanics under these steps actually moved as they had people underneath there turning, churning these wheels that put them in motion, which lifted him almost like he was walking on air straight up to his throne. So you can see why kings would send all their people there. And that he actually had a train that had trained birds that were actually coated in gold. And the birds would, when he would walk up to his throne, they would actually release this bird, and in its mouth was a little scroll containing the Ten Commandments so that he would rule with the... so he would make his judgments with the Word of God in his hand.

Just amazing things you can read about that was so far advanced of its time that Solomon gave them. Even some of the lions opened up their mouths and would turn to him as he walked up. They just had amazing things at the time. So I bring this out, not to give you all these facts and figures, but I wanted you to perhaps understand that Solomon lived 70 years. He was 40 years king, and he lived like no one has ever lived, unlike anyone. He had it all. But he wrote three self-help books in his lifetime, and we have access to those self-help books now. The first one, it was written in his youth when he was young. He was a young man when he wrote the Song of Solomon. And then he wrote another book in his middle years, which was called the Book of Proverbs, that he wrote to his son. And he finished his life as he looked back upon all this success, everything that he had, and also his disappointments. And so the last few years of his life, he wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes, and it was written so that he could leave something behind. Gold Nuggets, as I like to call it, Gold Nuggets that he left us. You know, it's a realistic book. When you read it and you understand where he was coming from. It was a realistic book. He was writing to a very rich people. He gave it to them because they were wealthy also, as, like you say, silver was the stones at that time. We would be considered very rich people today. What are we doing with it? There are lessons from a man who possessed the greatest wisdom, superior mental capabilities, divine understanding, obscene material possessions, and powerful political rule. All this made Solomon uniquely qualified to write this book, this self-help book. Some have questioned, yes, some have questioned, in the 18th century. Writers and theologians and historians began to question whether Solomon actually wrote this book. And they said, no, there's something missing here. They would never question before. But it was questioned because of linguistic factors, because there was vocabulary and syntax change compared to some of the other writings of Solomon. And so, a lot of them have actually said, well, no, it was actually Ezra who wrote it.

Because there are Persian phrases, there are Persian syntax dialect in there, that it must have had some influence after Persia had conquered the Medesian-Persian Empire. But it's amazing, these same historians never even think about that the Middle East and those who lived in Persia, many at the time, came to Solomon to listen to him. They would have come to work with him. And you're going to tell me, in case any of you have not seen, the Persian women were very nice-looking women. Right, Namath? Always. What's her name? The husband, the lady, the dad. I don't know. She's all Persian. So can you imagine that Solomon had what? How many wives? Remember? 300 wives, 700 concubines. He picked the best of the best from all over the world. Right? You're going to tell me there were none of his concubines or wives from Persia that might have influenced him because he wrote this at the end of his life. Something to think about. There are two views of Ecclesiastes before you jump into it. One is that Ecclesiastes is a work of a cynical, depressed, suicidal, negative teacher who is telling you not to expect much out of life. But there's also the view, which I take, that Ecclesiastes is an honest assessment of the core reality of life from an aged teacher who wants to leave us something about what he's learned from his unique place in this world. What really has value to us and to God in the physical three score and ten that we will live? Or I love his pronouncement that a life apart from God is a life without purpose or meaning. Literally, he's saying life without God is a wasted life. And how would he know? Because he knew.

He had a life with God, and he had a life without God. And now he's set almost 70 years old, and he's writing this down and realizing, haven't we all looked at life through our lenses? We've something that was very important when we were 20 or 30, and, boy, we got it. Maybe it was a car we always dreamed about, this car.

Oh, can't wait to get that car, and you get it, and it smells so good. You know, and then after six months, those payments aren't so good, and the car doesn't smell like it once smelled. And you're just like, ah. And later on, you get to where a vehicle is like for transportation, and it's no longer who I am.

When I had a business, I remember, Mary and I, I had on my list a dream when I was in my 30s or whatever, I wanted a certain car. It was going to make my world. I just had to have one, and I got one. And it was a Jaguar. And I liked driving that Jaguar. She did, too. It was heavy. And I found out, wow, you know, it carries status. Oh, it was Jaguar. And I found out, you did not have to be rich to own a Jaguar. You had to be rich to keep one up. That's what we found out.

That's wisdom. Would I ever own a Jaguar if somebody gave it to me? No! Because I don't want to have to keep it up. There was always something, and it was $500. Here was $1,000 for this, and it's always.

But Solomon is trying to give us the benefit of all the wisdom he gained, all the wisdom and knowledge and superior understanding of all humans on earth.

Now, before we go into the first, because we're just going to go into the very first chapter, I'd like you to remember that as you read there, it says, vanity or vanity. All is vanity, if you remember the first words, right? Or if you have a new NIV, the New International Version, it actually says, meaningless. Life is meaningless. You know, that's actually said 37 times in Scripture, 37 times in that book, and it's only mentioned 32 times in the rest of the entire Bible.

And it's interesting that under the sun or under heaven, as he is beginning, because see, he has the knowledge of God. He has an incredible understanding of God and everything. And he says, under the sun or under the heaven 29 times, because he's able to look at the entire world, because the whole entire world came to see him.

It's the only time it's ever mentioned in the entire Scripture, is just in the book of Ecclesiastes, under the sun or under heaven. And do you realize that in the book of Ecclesiastes, when it referenced God, Yahweh is not used one single time?

Why? Yahweh is not mentioned one single time. Every time God is mentioned and doesn't show the understanding that John understood, John 1-1, in the beginning was a word, and the word was God, and the word was with God, because the actual word is Elohim, every time. Every time in the book of Ecclesiastes.

Incredible. Incredible understanding. The word vanity has multiple translations, whether it's empty, absurd, fleeting, futile, emptiness, worthless, void.

You can either view this book, like many people have, as he's actually saying, life's a pain and then you die, or life's like a female dog and then you die, as they say. Or, you can look at it as life is a daily gift from God. What are you going to do with it?

So, in the five or ten minutes we have left, I'd like you to go back to Ecclesiastes, if you have not turned there.

Ecclesiastes 1.

I would suggest, if you have a New Living Translation or some other translation, other than the New King James or NIV, if you read the two together, it will really enhance your understanding of Ecclesiastes. It's just incredible. I actually looked at it when I had three laid out there. It really helps you have this total understanding. Because this is the greatest self-help book that will ever be written for human beings.

Okay? Now, let's look.

Oh, you must understand one thing. Because I told Mary this, and she said, well, yeah, I understood that. I didn't. I didn't even think about it. When the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon, you remember the story?

And she brought him, as a gift, $4.4 million in gold and silver gifts. But she brought something else.

So you have to understand that Ethiopia at the time was a very powerful country. And they controlled the trade routes, her country did, of all those coming from Africa, all the way down, so the country. So you want to bring your stuff to the east, to the Middle East, to wherever, and sell them to the most rich and powerful countries. You would go through Ethiopia, where the Queen of Sheba.

So they formed this incredible trade route.

And so the agreement was he received a great deal of the oil of its day.

The oil of its day, just like the Middle East is known for its oil today, it was known for another kind of oil.

The oil was spices. Spices at that time was the oil of the day. Spices were used in everything, in food, in fragrance, in worship. All, every temple had, yes, had every, all spices. That's why Ethiopia was very wealthy.

And Solomon was influential in that, as you can see even today. He is reviewed in the nation of Ethiopia, for other reason we won't go into. So let's go in there. Chapter 1, verse 1, said, The words of the preacher, the son of David, king of Jerusalem, vanity of vanity, says the preacher. Vanities of vanity, all is vanity, or all is worthless.

Well, sounds like the guy you want to hang out with. What prophet has a man from all his labor, in which he toils are labors under the sun? One generation passes away, and another generation comes, but the earth abides forever. He's saying, as James said in James 4, that life's a vapor. You're just here for a little while, because how many of you have actually, as you get older, realized, you know, when I'm young, when I'm Joseph, or when I'm these young kids, time just goes so slow.

Man! Now, as you get older, time goes so fast. It's five years. I can't believe I've been here for almost four years now in this church. I mean, it just flies by. You can imagine, I'm not seventy yet. Okay? But he was almost seventy. He looked and said, it's gone. Man! All this stuff, and it's gone. And he said, the sun also rises, and the sun goes down.

And hastens to the place where it rose. That means it just keeps moving. He can't stop it. He's rich. He's got everything, but he's like, I'm dying! I'm going to die! Can't get off the train. It's just like, it's going to go on. In verse 6, the wind goes around towards the south, and turns around to the north.

The wind whirls about continually, and comes again on its circuit. All the rivers run into the sea, and the sea is not full. To the place from which the rivers come, there they return again. He's describing ecosystem. There's a whole system. God created the world, and it's working because he's got all the wind blows here, water comes here. It's going to continue to work, except there's one thing. He's not going to be a part of it. You're only here for that little, that little bitty part of time.

He says, all things are full of labor. Man cannot express it. Verse 8, the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What's he saying? We always want more! No matter what we've got, we want more. And he knew because he had it all, but he still wanted more. That which has been is what will be. What's he saying? History merely repeats itself. He says, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

Oh, people would disagree with that. Is there anything of which may be said, see, this is new? No, he's saying, it has already been in ancient times before us. There is no remembrance of the former things, nor will there ever be remembrance of things that are to come by those who will come after. You can read that.

It's really good in the new living translation. Do you have that, Peter? You read it. You read that verse. I think it's at verse 9? No, verse 10. Sometimes people say, here is something new, but actually it is old, and I think it's never what we do. We don't remember what happened in the past, and the future generations long. Yes, he said, nobody's going to remember that. Somebody would say, well, wait a minute. I remember when the cotton gin was made, and it was going to change the world.

That's what I was taught in history, didn't you? Oh, it changed the whole world. Where's the cotton gin today? Right? How about Morse code? Oh, it's going to change everything. About the steam engine. Oh, a computer! Man, that's never been before. He lied. That's the computer. Why? You need a laptop today? No, you can have a tablet. No, you don't. Right? You can actually have it on your phone. It's called a smartphone. You don't need a smartphone. You can put it on your watch.

They make a watch now. Oh, wait a minute. Forgot. They have glasses now. You can actually wear it on your glasses, and you can see. Type into the Internet. Yes, yes. Yes. All this stuff is supposed to give us time back. But it's not. So, pretty soon, this laptop that's over there, nobody's going to know what they're going to be laughing at. Just like my wife, we could look at the computer way back, and they had punch cards.

And she had these things. Everybody was like, what? He talked to them right now. We don't even know what that is. That's what he's saying. Everything's going to go. And you know, my father told me that. My mother told me that 30 years ago. You know what I said? You poor pitiful people. You don't know. You don't know. But eight tracks are here to stay. Right? Oh, man. Yes. This is what Solomon is getting to. Here, in verse 12.

And what is lacking cannot be numbered.

I went and had fun. I went and saw these people who were crazy. And madness and everybody. Oh, that's crazy to do that. I did it anyway. I did it all. And what did he say? All is vanity. All is worthless. Solomon chased happiness. And then verse 18, as we wrap up.

He said, For in much wisdom is much grief. And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. He said, Well, wait a minute. What's that mean? He's talking about human knowledge. Human knowledge, we can know everything. But human knowledge, it ignores God. It only highlights man's problems without God. Man without God is utterly confused about life. And he realized that God has the answer. He is the answer. And happiness is not stuff. You know how long it took me and how much money I wasted finding stuff. All I had to do was look here and listen to it. But like my dad, he wasn't very smart at that time. Now I look back and I've studied this and realized just what a genius that Solomon was. And what he's trying to teach us and tell us. I'd like you to read Ecclesiastes during this week. And we'll come back next week. And we'll go into actually a little more in depth of it now that you know the background. Because next week is part two of the Nuggets of Gold. And chapters two and three, wow! It gives us things that are not written in any other book. It gives us an insight. And it actually shows a Solomon who shouts these words, I want it all. And does he ever? And does he ever get it? He gets it all. So next week, come back for part two.