Lessons from Ecclesiastes

Let's start over in Leviticus 23, now that you're possibly turned to Ecclesiastes. There is something that was a part of the keeping of the Feast of Tabernacles that has always fascinated me. It would have been nice to have seen it happen once. Leviticus 23, toward the end of the chapter, verse 39, On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days. On the first day there shall be a Sabbath rest, and on the eighth day a Sabbath rest. Notice verse 40, And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees. Marginal note says, foliage of beautiful trees. I believe it's speaking of branches laden with leaves, the boughs of leafy trees, and the willows of the brook. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.

You shall keep it a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. Because, you see, there are at least ten places where the terminology is different from the spring feast. The spring feast says, put the leaven out of your house, and then you appear before me on day one and day seven. But with the fall it consistently says, you go with your family to where God places His name, and you appear before me seven days and then on the eighth day. And it always is spoken of that way.

It shall be a statue forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. But notice verse 42, You shall dwell in booths for seven days. Actually, what it is speaking about here, and in Nehemiah 8, you can notice Nehemiah 8 verses 13 through 18, just as a reference.

What they did was go and gather branches. And if you would cut off branches of trees that were leafed out, you would take those and build a dwelling, a temporary dwelling, a booth, a the Hebrew word sukkah, S-U-K-K-A-H. And you as a family would live in that for that period of time. Now, if you can imagine, think that through, because most of us have probably trimmed branches from trees. We prune trees. And the first day, it looks like it's still attached to the tree, but it's dying. And the second, the third day, it starts getting brittle. And the fourth and the fifth day, it gets worse. And somewhere along the line, it becomes an absolute fire hazard.

But Israel lay there at night. And on the first night, of course, is a full moon. Lots of light with a full moon. They lay there and they look through the branches, those leaves, as they begin to dry up and curl up. And they see it die before their eyes during the days of that festival.

And it taught them a lesson. And I believe it's there to teach us a lesson as well.

Now, let's go over to the book of Ecclesiastes. This is a book that contrasts the temporary with the permanent. The physical with the spiritual or the physical with the eternal. The book was written close to 3,000 years ago. But the messages are timeless. The author, whom everyone seems to believe is Solomon, and the evidence point to Solomon. More than once, he says, I was a king in Israel. And he had a wealth, the level of wealth beyond anything anyone else had ever seen before him. Why is this man who ever lived? Of course, until the time when Jesus walked the earth himself.

He takes us on a mental journey of a journey he took. He tried everything. He tested and tasted. He built. And he found that everything is just like chasing the wind. And he used that phrase repeatedly. It's like a pursuit of the wind, depending on the translation that you use.

A pursuit of the wind or chasing the wind. All is vanity. The word vanity, the Hebrew word hebel, appears 38 times. And everything of this life, he said, is empty, void, feudal, vain, hollow. In fact, Solomon comes across as though he's sort of a cynic.

He's kind of cynical as he writes. And yet, we also have a marvelous conclusion as he gets the last two or three verses of the book. The book is written as though it's late in his life.

We could, another time, you could go back and read his story in 1 Kings about 1-11, tells the story of Solomon. And Solomon, it took off with a boom, his kingship.

He built the temple. We have that marvelous prayer of dedication. It tells of all his building projects. It tells of all the song. It tells of when God asked him, what do you want? And he said, he wants an understanding heart to judge this. You're so great a people. And so, God gave him a phenomenal insight and level of wisdom. It tells of leaders from around the world coming up to Jerusalem. They had heard of his wisdom and of the glories of Solomon's Israel, but they wanted to see it with their own eyes. What better time would have been if they would have come up at one of the Holy Day seasons and especially the fall. But it's a remarkable story until Solomon begins hitting some of the ruts of the road. And it adds the fact that he had 700 wives and 300 concubines, and his wives turned his heart. And he no longer worshiped the God of his fathers, the God of David. He no longer worshiped the true God. And he turned aside. And of course, out of honor to David, God allowed him to stay on his throne. But then after Solomon's death, much of Israel was torn away from him. But for David's sake, Judah was left with the two tribes, and then later, basically, a third tribe, Levi, joined them. The author concludes that the missing dimension in life is that of fearing God and obeying his commandments. And we very shortly will go off to keep the Feast of Terriban Acls, or in the case of some of you, you'll be cybercasting or listening to a sermon every day here. The book of Ecclesiastes has many, many lessons for us. The Life Application Bible has in its introductory material some interesting comments. I want to read just a few highlights from that. Some of you may have the Life Application Bible. But Ecclesiastes says, is Solomon's written sermon. It is an analysis of life's experiences and a critical essay about life's meaning. Solomon takes us on a mental journey of his own life. Everything he tried, tasted, and built was meaningless. It was an exercise in futility. These words come from one who had it all. He had tremendous intellect. He had tremendous power and wealth. But at the end, he triumphantly concluded, kind of like at the end of his life when he had hit some of the deep ruts of the road. He says, the thing that matters most is fear God, keep His commandments. This makes the whole man. And that's where he concluded. The book is filled with practical, physical wisdom, wisdom applying to this life. It's filled with spiritual wisdom as well.

Life Application Bible concludes by saying, Solomon affirms the value of knowledge, relationships, work, and pleasure, but only in their proper place. All of these temporal things in life must be seen in the light of the Eternal. Now, as we look at some of the highlights of Ecclesiastes shortly, there are four things I want you to watch for. And first of all, is the word vain or vanity or vanities. All of these come from the Hebrew word hebel, H-E-B-E-L, as it's transliterated. It's used 38 times. It means a breath or a vapor. And it denotes that which passes away so quickly that it leaves little apparent effect behind. This life, this physical existence, is futile. It's hollow. It's like a pursuit of wind. And it's so quickly over. It's kind of like when we go to the Feast of Terribanackles and we stand there, singing praises the opening night, and we turn around twice, and we're at the last day. It happens every year.

I suppose it happened that way with ancient Israel. They hurried to get their little temporary dwelling together, and then they were having to tear it apart. Life passes so quickly.

Secondly, keep in mind Solomon's basic question, which is this. Is this life all that there is?

It's kind of like he looks around at everything to do with life.

At building, at eating, at anything that we might enjoy. And he steps back and he asks, is this physical life all that there is? And he tells us the answer. God gives him the answer.

And the answer is resoundingly, no. This life is just a proving ground. This is a training period that we go through. Also, watch for the statements he makes about rejoicing in God's blessing. Rejoicing in God's blessing. And I would tie in with instructions back in Deuteronomy 14, where it talks about tithing, but it's different terminology from what it had used in Numbers about the first tithe, as we have called it. The first tithe was holy to God, and in their day and age, they gave it to the local Levite. It was God's for the work of the tabernacle. But then there was this other tithe that you are to keep. You don't give it to the local Levite. You keep it. You store it up, and you take that tithe of your wine and your grain, etc. And you go to the place, God says, where I set my name, and you appear before me.

So that second tithe is to be used on those occasions when we go off to appear before God.

And in Deuteronomy 14, it says, you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, always.

And so rejoicing is a theme of the fall feast, and we see it a number of places here in Solomon's book, Ecclesiastes. And then number four, what's for the word fear, meaning to revere?

A call to reverence God, to honor as holy and sacred the things of God, the things God sets aside as holy. And that, too, goes back to Deuteronomy 14, that one of the reasons you would take that tithe and go to where God sets His name is so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. Chapter one. And again, we will hit highlights, and the further we go, the faster I'll have to skip over quite a bit, because there's just too much here. The words of the preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem, the Hebrew word kohlet, kohlet. The Greek translation of the Hebrew kohlet is ecclesiastes. The word in the Hebrew means an assembler, one who gathers an assembly, one who convokes an assembly, and it can also mean a preacher. And so, depending on your translation, a lot of them will use that term preacher. But if you go back to those early chapters of 1 Kings, there were those times when Solomon would assemble all of Israel, or assemble the leaders of Israel. The son of David, that narrows it down a lot too, right there. King in Jerusalem, and that narrows it down as far as I think we have to go. Some, you know, you look in commentaries, they want to debate who it is. And granted, some of the other parts may have been written by others, but it's all collected under Solomon's name. He begins a section where he discusses that everything is meaningless. Vanity of vanities. That's a Hebrew superlative.

Essentially meaning the greatest vanity. And the word vanity, again, means a breath or a vapor. Physical life of itself will not bring lasting fulfillment and happiness. Only, as he says at the end of the book, only that relationship with God, seeking God, fearing God, striving to live by God's way. That is the only lasting value. In verse 3, we have the basic SPS question of the book. The key question. First story, what prophet has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun? So this is where he looks and asks, is this life all that there is? Or another way of saying that, he asks, why are we here?

The next few verses 4 through 7, he talks about some of the repetitive patterns of this physical life and within the natural world around us. One generation is followed by another generation. The earth goes on forever. Sun rises, the sun goes down. The wind goes toward the south, it turns toward the north. Rivers wander the sea, but the sea is not full. So he talks about these cycles of the natural world around us. Verse 8, all things are full of labor. Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing. Curious how we are that way. We sink our teeth into that most wonderful stake, and we enjoy it so much at that time. And with a little time, we want another one. We're never satisfied. There's never enough. We want more. And that's just what human beings are made of. Verse 9, that which has been is what will be. That which is done is what will be done. And there is nothing new under the sun. Same cycles, same four seasons, same earth revolving around the sun, same rotation of the earth daily on its axis, same cycles of planting and then tilling and... excuse me, planting and then harvesting and then tilling and preparing the seed bed to do the whole same cycle all over again.

There's nothing new under the sun. Down to verse 12, he begins a section that goes all the way through chapter 2, where it focuses on his own autobiographical story. He tells his own story of what he has experienced. I, the preacher, was king over Israel and Jerusalem. I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven. This burdensome task God has given to the sons of man by which they may be exercised. I've seen all the works that are done under the sun and indeed all his vanity and grasping for the wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight? What is lacking cannot be numbered? So he tells of what he did in verse 16. I commune with my heart, saying, Look, I have attained greatness and have gained more wisdom in all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge.

I set my heart to know wisdom and no madness and folly. I perceive that this also is grasping for wind. He goes on in chapter 2. I said, My heart come now, I'll test you with mirth.

Therefore, enjoy pleasure. But surely this also is vanity. We live in a world that is obsessed with seeking pleasure. There's lots of it out there and it seems that we never get enough.

Football season's starting. It's about time. I'm ready. But you can just watch so many football games and realize, you know, is there anything more important than I should have been doing today?

And probably, if we're honest, yes, there's a lot that we should have been doing.

Verse 3, I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine. So yeah, he tried all kinds of things. Wisdom, madness, folly, mirth, laughter, wine.

But you don't find happiness down at the local bar. You don't find happiness out of the bottle of whatever your favorite flavor is, favorite variety is.

So he began building things. I made my works great. Verse 4, I built myself houses and planted myself vineyards. I made myself gardens and orchards. 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 and had servants born in my house. So he was king long enough where you had more than one generation. His servants had children and became his servants.

Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me.

I also gathered for myself silver and gold and special treasures of kings and of the provinces.

You can go back to 1 Kings and there's one place where it says that gold was everywhere and silver was as accounted as nothing. There was stones along the pathway. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men and musical instruments of all kinds. So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also, my wisdom remained in me.

Makes me wonder how painful this experience must have been for him. He kept his wits about him. He knew what was going on. Probably even when he turned to his harem to try to find happiness.

Even when he began caving in and worshipping other gods with his wives. And it had to be a horrifying experience to go through. Verse 10, whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure. For my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my reward from all my labor. I looked on all the works that my hands had done on the labor that I had toiled and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.

He comes to the conclusion that all of this is vain and hollow and empty. And none of this answers that ultimate question, why are we here? None of this answers that question, is there anything else beyond this life? And you know, when our life is passing before us, and we're looking at the end of it, that's something we want to know. That's something we need to know. Is this physical life all that there is? And the Word of God answers that for us. Well, in verses 12 through 16, 17, there he contrasts the wise and the foolish, wisdom and folly. Basically, he concludes, wisdom is better than folly, but just having wisdom of itself does not bring the supreme good of a relationship with God. There are a lot of people in the world around us today who have a lot of wisdom, a lot of savvy by the world's standards, but it doesn't answer that ultimate question that is only answered by a relationship with God. Verse 18, he looks at the futility of work and all that he might work for, and he's got to leave it to somebody else behind him.

Verse 18, then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled unto the Son, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And I wonder if by this time he looked at the heir apparent, whose name, well, the heir later becomes apparent, and it's Rhea Bone. I wondered if he looked at that young man growing up and began to realize he doesn't have the metal in him to do the job.

I mean, you look at where it went from David. David made many mistakes, but when it came down to it, he loved God. And then to Solomon. Solomon did a lot of things right early on, but then it turned the wrong way. And maybe by this time he looks and he realizes the one who'll be in the throne after him does not have what it takes, because we have that story for us there a little later in Kings, where Rhea Bone didn't listen to wise counsel and decided, well, like the young man had said, I will punish them no longer with whips. I'll use scorpions. And Tim Tribe said, we're out of here. Verse 19, who knows whether he'll be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. This is just chasing the wind. Verse 21, for there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill. Yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it.

You know, there is an old saying that we value little that which costs us little.

And that's where you see great corporations that this country has had. You had one visionary, hardworking man or family or clan who built up a great enterprise. And maybe the second generation kept it going, but somewhere about the third and certainly the fourth generation, life has been too easy. It has cost them nothing, and it is squandered, and it is lost. Verse 24, I think it's good to focus on this verse because it does say there is a good to enjoying the fruit of our own labor. Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. And one of God's greatest blessings that he's given to each one of us is that we enjoy the fruit of our labor.

Enjoying the fruit of one's labor is a gift from God. And so, whatever our phase in life, if it's early in our working years and we're struggling to make ends meet, and we have a car that runs and we have a roof over our heads and we have a place where we can have our children and train them and teach them, then God tells us, enjoy that. It's given to you to rejoice in and to enjoy. And if we're at retirement point and we retire and we enjoy all that we have worked for, then that's right and good. Enjoy that. You've worked for that. There's something within us.

We can go back maybe in places that, you know, at times I drive through Birmingham. It's been a long time ago. I may look over to place and I think, you know, I wired that place. I wired that southeast terminal and the Phillips terminal where they had to redo it. And we were there with crew them in weeks on end. And I look and I say, you know, that gate's still there. Nobody's run into it yet with a truck and knocked it down. And it's, I mean, we should enjoy that. That there are things we can accomplish. I think there's a right type of pride to take in. Things we build are men who have laid blocks and bricks and men who have built houses and men who have, you know, and ladies who have started businesses and, you know, learn how to make draperies or whatever it is. We should enjoy that. The fruit of our own labor. Skip on down to verse, rather chapter three, because we have the first verses where it talks about there's a time for everything. And Solomon here reflects on life and expresses his thought in a beautiful poem where he has 14 different pairs of opposites that he contrasts. And God has a sovereign design and purpose behind all events. God has a perfect sense of timing, and he never makes a mistake. He has an eternal purpose in his plan for each individual. To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven, a time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, a time to pluck what is planted, a time to kill, a time to heal, a time to break down, a time to build up, a time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance, a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones, a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to gain, and a time to lose, a time to keep, and a time to throw away, a time to tear, and a time to sow, a time to keep silence, a time to speak, a time to love, and a time to hate, a time of war, and a time of peace.

There is a purpose behind everything that God orchestrates in our life. What prophet has the worker from that in all he labors? I've seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he, God, has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. There are some secret things that belong only to God. There are unanswered questions that we all will live with. That's something we learned from the book of Job. There are those questions God simply does not address. Do we have the faith to trust God with our unanswered questions in life?

But God has placed eternity in their hearts. And this speaks to the distinct difference between an animal and a human. There is a quantum leap of difference there. There is a distinction, well, Ecclesiastes will speak of it, the spirit in man. There is that non-physical, spiritual element within a human being where there is a brain, there are animals that have larger brains than humans have, but there is that non-physical spirit in man that imparts the ability to make plans, to devise plans, to work toward fulfilling. But also, like King David, as probably a young man, as he wrote there in Psalm 8, he looked up the sun, the moon, probably the moon, the stars at night, and he asked, what is man? What is man that you are mindful of him? He recognized there is something within human beings that is different. And of course, we can go all the way back to Genesis 1, where in verse 26 it says, and God said, let us make man in our likeness after our own image. And those words, likeness, and image speak of the eternal, the eternity God has placed in our hearts.

That there is something within human beings. We looked at the moon for a lot of years, and man dreamed of going there. And finally, it was done. Did it a few times, and I guess then we said, awfully expensive, but we'd been there done, Lent. If time goes on, probably others will want to go back there. We look on out across. We send these probes across the solar system and beyond, because we dream of what is out there. God has put eternity in their hearts, and I believe that is sowing a seed of the fact that God wants us to be his eternal sons and daughters forever.

Verse 12, he again goes back to a point he made earlier. I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice and to do good in their lives. Also, that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of his labor, it is the gift of God. So, with what you're blessed with, enjoy it. And as you can, share it with others, because it is in relationships and giving that God can bless us.

Verse 14, I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. This is one of the great teachings. God and His work and His plan is permanent. It is eternal. It is forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it. God does it that men should fear before Him. Man's work is to be in fear, in awe, in utter, just utterly astounded at the marvels that God has for us. That which has already been, and what is to be, has already been, and God requires an account of what has passed. Well, verse 16, he reflects on a number of the apparent injustices of life. He talks about a place of judgment, and wickedness was there. We see that an awful lot, don't we? We see that a great deal in this world around us. Iniquity was there. Verse 17, I said to my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

Well, verse 19, what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals.

One thing befalls them as one dies, so dies the other. Surely they have one breath. Man has no advantage over animals. All is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust. All return to the dust. So here he speaks of the mortality of man, that we are given a certain number of times, and just like the animal world around us, our life ends and our remains go back to the ground from whence we were taken. And speaking of how God formed Adam out of the very elements of the earth, who knows the spirit of the sons of men which goes upward and the spirit of the animal which goes down to the earth. And this speaks to that non-physical element, spiritual element with the human mind. And we will see more later in Ecclesiastes and there are other places in the Bible that speaks of the spirit of man, but here it says that with death, which is the topic, when we go to the dust, that spirit that the sons of men have had go upward. God keeps those.

It can be likened. You know, it's interesting as we have over the decades tried to liken the spirit and man to something. Once upon a time, we likened it to a cassette tape. And now we have a generation growing up that says, what is a cassette tape? And there's a recording and it was an imprint of everything we are, of our memories, our character, the lessons that we had learned, all of our experiences. And then we use the CD-ROM and the thumb drive and we'll come up with something new. It'll be in the cloud. But anyhow, God will keep that and God won't lose a one. And He'll use that in a resurrection. Whenever, you know, whether it's the first, whether it's the second, and we won't talk about the third, or whether it's the third. He'll use that to resurrect the person for the next phase of God's purpose in their life. But the spirit of the animal goes down to the earth. There's no scriptural indication. That's one of those painful questions to address. The child wants to know, my kitty that died, will I see it in the kingdom? That's a tough one to deal with. But there's no scriptural indication that there's anything beyond this physical existence for that animal. Verse 22, so I perceive that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for this is his heritage. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him? Chapter 4, Solomon continues talking about some of the apparent contradictions of life.

The oppressed are not always relieved. They are not always comforted. We have a section in beginning of verse 7 of the advantages of companionship. God created us to be egregious, to be...we yearn for relationships. We want a family. We want a body of friends.

Then I return and saw vanity under the sun. There is one alone without companion. He had neither son nor brother, yet there is no end to all his labors, nor is his eye satisfied with riches, but he never asks, For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good? This also is vanity and a grave misfortune. So he paints a picture of a person alone, out there carving away an existence, and everything that is done is just simply for self. There's no one to share it with, and there's a void that's left in our lives whenever it's that way.

Verse 9, 2 are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor. You're familiar with the story it was told, and I forget what exhibition it was, something like Chicago at the end of the 1800s. They had the teams of mules pulling dead weights to see how much they could pull from a standing start.

I believe the first place team of mules pulled, I want to say, and I may be way off here, I want to say 17. No, no, no, wait a minute, that's way too high. Something like nine tons that they strained, they broke it loose, and they pulled it. The second place team pulled eight tons, and you would think that if you, someone came up with the idea, what if we gang them all together, have all four pulling, you would think, well, nine plus eight equals 17, maybe a little bit more, but they pulled something like 30 tons because they were working together.

Two are better than one. Then it says, for if they fall, one will lift up his companion, but woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.

Again, if two lie down together, they'll keep warm. How can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. So he talks about the strength, the value that comes from being together. I believe it's one of Esop's fables, tells the story of the man with the sons where he took ten small sticks, and he bound them together and handed them to his sons, asking them to break them.

And it passed around from eldest to youngest, and they strained, and they could not break them. And then when it got back to the father, the father said, I want to teach you something. He just merely took the cord off and easily snapped them one at a time. He taught them something about the true nature of strength and about wisdom. The latter verses speak of the futility of political power. Here he's talking about the king, better a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.

He comes out of prison to be king, although he was born poor in his kingdom. Let's go to chapter 5. Walk prudently when you go to the house of God, and draw near to here rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil. Walk prudently. Have a respectful attitude when you go and appear before God. When you go to observe time that God says is holy. When you read God's Word that is holy, have the deepest reverence for it.

Do not be rash with your mouth and let your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven and you on earth, therefore let your words be few. Have a reverent attitude and be quick to listen rather than to tell God what you think He should do. God help us to always listen to what God says. Skip on down a bit to verse 8.

It begins talking about some of the futility of wealth. If you see the oppression of the poor and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter. For high official watches over high official and higher officials are over them. In part there, what he's referring to is God.

You have different levels of human administration, but the highest of them all is watching over everything. He is sovereign. He may not, he and his God and his province may not act in a way we may think or expect, but still He's keeping a record and He will restore in His own way, at His own time. Verse 10, He begins talking about riches. He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver. You know, we have some of the wealthiest people on earth, this country and others. Are they satisfied or are they about the business of how can I get my hands on more? Well, I think for the most part it would be the latter.

And of course, they're all different types. The stock market had a tremendous correction in 1987 and that was when Sam Walton was worth $8 billion. The wealthiest man on earth at that time. After the correction, he was interviewed and he was worth $6.2 billion. They asked him what he thought about it. He said, it was just on paper. He was from simple roots out in Arkansas.

And yet, if you go back to the stock market crash in 1929, you had people jumping out of high buildings, taking their lives because their life was over. So, we have to keep riches in our proper perspective and I do a good job of that by not having any. And I think some of you are there with me. But riches do not answer that ultimate question, is this life all that there is? Verse 15, As he came from his mother's womb, naked shall he return. To go as he came, and ye shall take nothing from his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. All we're going to get out of here with is, frankly, the character that we developed in this life. Anything that we build and accrue won't go with us when we die. 18 through 20, Solomon returns to that theme of enjoy the fruits of your labor, that is, the gift of God. But chapter 6, Solomon, here in the first verses, considers those God has blessed with wealth and success and long life and many children. And yet, far too often, these individuals have no lasting contentment, rest, or enjoyment. Verse 3, If a man begets a thousand children, lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or indeed he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he. He said it would have been better to have been born dead and maybe never have even had a name, and the way he's describing this. But you think of Solomon. I don't know what his life was like with 700 wives and 300 concubines, and I really don't want to dwell very far on that, but how many children could you beget? And he was on the throne for quite a number of years. How many children could he have been? He talks about if a man begets a hundred children. Maybe that was an understatement for him. Verse 9, better the sight of the eyes and the wandering of desire. This is vanity and grasping for the wind. The latter verses of chapter 6 he talks about the future is unknown. Verse 10, whatever one is, he has been named already, for it is known that he is man. He cannot contend with him who is mightier than he, since there are many things that increase vanity, how is man the better? He who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow. Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun? Enjoy life, no need to dream about what might have been, what should have been, what could have been. No need to let the desire wander, because what is is what is. Chapter 7. This is a chapter where it shifts and it actually reads more like Proverbs. A lot of practical wisdom for life in general.

Chapter 7 points us toward choosing wisdom, united with the fear of God, over pursuit of things that really don't have any lasting value. There is a value to being good as a human being to others in this life. Verse 1, a good name is valuable. A good name is better than precious ointment, the day of death than the day of one's birth. Verse 2, better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men. The living will take at the heart.

Going to the house of mourning reminds us that tomorrow is not promised to us either. It reminds us to number our own days. It reminds us that there's a more important question.

Does God exist? Is the Bible His Word? What does He want me to do with it in my life?

Sorrow is better than laughter. Verse 13, consider the work of God, for who can make straight that which has been made crooked? The providence of God controls a lot of events of life.

Some events may be straight when they appear to us to be crooked. The will of God is oftentimes baffling to human beings, because we do not see everything. There are secret things that He retains. We only have this limited, temporary physical life to look at, and He looks at eternity.

Verse 15 begins a section where it talks about the limitations of human wisdom.

Verse 15, He talks about a just man who perishes in righteousness, but there's a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness. And we just can't answer these things. We do not know why.

Somehow, humanly, we think, well, God ought to settle the score right here, right now, and that wicked man ought to be brought down now. But He lives and dies of an old, old age. And other times, there's a righteous person in an accident or from a disease or a number of reasons their life is snuffed out early. Verse 21, Also do not take to heart everything people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. For many times, also, your own heart has known that even you have cursed others.

There's a lot of wisdom here. Don't hear everything that is said. You might have someone who works for you, someone who works with you. You might have someone else in the family. You might have someone else in the congregation, and they say something. It's out of frustration. And it is not worth making a battle out of it. And yet, humanly, so many times, we make big issues over the piteous of things.

And He says, don't hear everything that's said. Don't pick that battle. Let it go. Because, in your heart of hearts, you know when you look in the spiritual mirror of God's Word, you yourself have done the same thing. A lot to chew on there. The latter verses 23, down through the rest of the chapter, He discusses some of the mysteries that we do not and cannot understand. He writes some rather harsh words toward women, and yet, let's also remember the source. We have the words of a man who tried to find happiness in a harem of one thousand, and I think that says a lot for him. I mean, it says a lot about him, I should say.

Well, verse 25, I applied my heart to know, to search, and seek out wisdom and the reason of things, to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and badness. And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are fetters, he who pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinners shall be trapped by her.

It cuts both ways. Any of us men who have been in locker rooms in high school and college, you know what men are like. You go work with them, you hear what they talk about. It's not just one way. It's both sexes, both genders here. Here's what I found, says the preacher, adding one thing to the other to find out the reason which my soul still seeks but cannot find. One man out of among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found.

Truly this only I have found that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

Well, again, consider what had happened to him in his life.

Chapter 8, early on, speaks of the value of having a willingness to obey, whether to God or to a king.

Verse 2, I say, keep the king's commandment for the sake of your oath to God. Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever he pleases. You know, the king has great power. He goes on and speaks of that.

He asks, what are you doing? And we need to use wisdom. A better part of wisdom is in no time and judgment, knowing proper procedure, proper demeanor in the presence of a king.

Verse 8, no one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit. No one has power in the day of death. There's no release from that war, and wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it. Well, verse 9, he has a section here. He goes back contrasting the wicked and the righteous.

Verse 10, I saw the wicked buried who have come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had done so. This is vanity. Verse 11, very important verse, because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily. Therefore, the heart of the sons of men are fully set in them to do evil. And we see that playing out in our world all around us. We have those who finally in some states come up for execution for the most horrible crimes, and these are crimes they did how many years ago? Six or twelve or fifteen? I mean, in these extreme cases, we have a system, the adversarial system, that allows for appeals back and forth. We're probably all tired of the NFL's deflate gate.

I was shocked, really, I was shocked that the judge overruled the NFL suspension of Tom Brady.

But the NFL will appeal it. That's why I watch less politics. I watch less news the older I get. It just depresses me. It makes me kind of like the cynic in who's writing this book, and I need to fight against that. So, the wicked, the righteous, the tables are often turned as the just receive what should happen to the wicked. The wicked receive what should happen to the just. Verse 17, then I saw all the work of God that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun, for though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it. Moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it. Speaking of the things that really matter, the eternal things, in 1 Corinthians it says, eye is not seen nor ear heard, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him. But chapter 9, section here, stressing that death comes to all. We're not going to get out of this thing alive. Physical life will end. Life is temporary. Yet it allows for accomplishment, it allows for enjoyment, and for reward. Verse 2, all things come alike to all. One event happens to the righteous and the wicked, the good, the clean, the unclean. To him who sacrifices, to him who does not sacrifice, as is the good, so is the sinner, he who takes an oath as he who fears an oath. This is the evil, an evil that is done under the sun, that one thing happens to all truly, the hearts of the sons of man are full of evil. Madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. But for him who is joined to all the living, there is hope for a living dog is better than a dead lion. Hold on to life. If we're living, there's still hope. We can change. We can learn. We can work for a greater reward. But if we're dead, we're like that dead lion. The living know that they will die. The dead know nothing. So here's a statement about the state of the dead. Again, we have those in the world around us teach all these things that happens when somebody passes on to the other side and their immortal soul lives on and they go to heaven. And no, the Bible says the dead know nothing. There's no knowledge. They have no reward. The memory of them is forgotten. They have no thought processes taking place. Also, their love, their hatred, their envy have now perished. Nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun. So verse 7, enjoy life. Go eat your bread with joy. Drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has accepted your works. Let your garments be white because white because it's a symbol of living in a righteous way. Let your head lack no oil. Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life, which he has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity, for that is your portion in life and in the labor which you perform under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work, no device, no knowledge, no wisdom in the grave where you are going. So here, too, it speaks of when we go to the grave, the processes of the mind, the thought processes end. So enjoy life. Choose the path of righteous obedience. Love your spouse. Choose to love the spouse of your youth. We took a vow before God and before human beings to love, to hold, to cherish, to cleave, to protect. Whatever you do, He says, then do it with your might. Well, verse 11, we have five statements of unexpected results over which man has no control.

The race is not to the swift. We've all seen races where somebody should have cleaned a house, but it doesn't turn out that way. Nor the battle to the strong. There are times when there are over... Go back to the destruction of the Spanish Armada back in 1588, and there's no way that the Brits should have won, but they did. Nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill, but time and chance happen to them all. Time and chance. There are times when God just has hands off. Jesus spoke of that in Luke 18 about these men upon whom the tower of Siloam fell. Were they the most wicked people on the face of the earth? No. But unless you repent, you'll likewise perish. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Time and chance came upon them. Later in the chapter, verse 13, he begins again contrasting wisdom and folly.

The great king, it came and be seized a little city, and the poor wise man in that city, and by his wisdom delivered the city, but no one remembered him afterward. Verse 16, then I said, wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless, the poor man's wisdom is despised, his words are not heard. 18. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

Verse 10, again, another chapter that reads a bit more like the book of Proverbs. A lot of practical wisdom to guide a person through the perplexities of life. And he's saying, keep wisdom close at hand.

Fool's are characterized by useless, careless talk. Verse 5, he starts talking about some of the ironies of life. Verse 6, folly is set in great dignity while the rich sit in a lowly place.

I've seen servants on horses while princes walk on the ground like servants. So he's describing these ironies of life things that are turned upside down. He who digs the pit falls into it. He who breaks through the wall is written by a serpent. He who quarries stones will be hurt by them. He who splits wood may be endangered by it. The axe is dull. The one does not sharpen the edge.

Then he must use more strength. Wisdom brings success.

Let's go to the end of the chapter. Verse 20, did not curse the king, even in your thought.

Did not curse the rich, even in your bedroom. For a bird of the air may carry your voice, and a bird in flight may tell the matter. I suppose that's where our phrase, a little bird, told me came from. But, you know, this was written 3,000 years ago, but think of the applications today in the internet age. There are people, well, I'll say in the Church of God, there are people who don't get to work at summer camp because the camp director checks their Facebook page and finds the most unbelievable stuff, the most ungodly rot on this person's Facebook page. So do we want them to come and work with our teenagers? I don't think so. There are people who shoot themselves in the foot at their workplace. And, you know, let's face it, big brother is watching. We, perhaps, all should be more careful. I know I'm much more careful now. I used to get some funny little thing that might make fun of this politician or that politician. I just hit forward and I'd send it to my friends and we'd have a good laugh. I don't do that much anymore because somewhere out there, somebody has a record of that.

I shouldn't say this, but it's only Hillary Clinton's emails that disappear forever. Okay, moving right along.

Verse 11, or chapter 11. I'm stuck on wanting to say verse when I mean chapter. Chapter 11, it continues with some of the uncertainties of life, but it gives an interesting principle here, the first couple of verses. Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.

It's giving a principle of be generous, give. Give far and wide, and it's going to come back to you somewhere down the line. God notices that. Giving is an act of faith. God notices that.

And God sends it back to us. Give a serving to seven to eight, for you do not know what evil will be on the earth. Clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, for the tree falls to the south of the north and the place where the tree falls. There it will lie. He who observes the wind will not sow. He who regards the clouds will not reap. Talking about this human tendency that, you know, if a farmer just watches the cloud, watches the weather reports to the point that he just paralyzed and he doesn't go out there and do anything, then the crop's not going to get brought in. You won't get the hay in the barn. You won't get the grain to the grain elevator.

Because conditions will never be exactly right. Makes us indecisive.

So verse six, in the morning sow your seed. In the evening do not withhold your hand, for you don't know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both alike will be good. A new man once upon a time would walk on a job site and if the men were kind of stumped on what to do and how to do it, he'd just say, well, let's do something, even if it's wrong. And he meant that. You know, in essence, there was wisdom that get in there and get to doing something. You find that doesn't work, then try something else, but at least be doing and you'll find a way. Verse seven begins to shift to some advice for the young and the old. But let's go to verse nine. Rejoice, oh young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the side of your eyes, but know that for all these, God will bring you into judgment. Here Solomon cautions young men and women against a life of self-indulgence. Don't just do everything you can do. There is an accounting for that somewhere down the line. You will be responsible for your choices and your actions. Therefore, remove sorrow from your heart and put away evil from your flesh. For childhood and youth are vanity. Well, chapter 12 was coming just a little, and then we'll look at a few summary lessons. Chapter 12, verse 1, remember now your creator in the days of your youth before the difficult days come. It is best to develop a relationship with God when you're young. The younger, the better. Build those patterns of getting up and pouring over the scriptures. Build those patterns of meditating, reflecting, seeking counsel, praying with God. The earlier we develop those, the better. It is money in the bank. Verses 2 through 5 are interesting. It'd be good to read it. I read it this morning in the New Living Translation. It had an interesting twist on it. Basically, these verses are looking at the aging body in code. So, in verse 3, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, liken to the arms. The New Living Translation bore that out.

Shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and then the strong men are liken the strength of the body is largely in the legs. And the grinders cease, and that's liken to the teeth. So, it's looking at the aging body, and it's like Denise's dad tells us, aging is not for the faint of heart. He turned 86 the other day. Aging is not for the faint of heart, because, you know, it just, well, a lot of these things, life is fading. Cease because they are few, and those that look out the windows be darkened, which would refer to the eyes. The door shall be shut in the street, when the sound of the grinding is low, and shall rise up the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music be brought low. Anyhow, it goes on, and I would just say, read that in, like, The New Living, or another more modern translation, and see how they render that. But it describes the aging process. It sets in. It continues. The physical body begins wearing out. And then, in verse 7, then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

So, when the life ends, the remains of the body go back to the earth, and the spirit in man goes to God. And God keeps that to use for resurrection. Then we come to His conclusion. Vanity of vanities, says the preacher, all is vanity. Everything He has discussed, everything about life, everything you build, your work, your relationships, begetting a hundred children, whether you're wise or foolish, all of this is just temporary, and it does not answer the question, is this life all that there is? And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find acceptable words, and what was written was upright words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, a cattle prod to move them on. The words of scholars are like well-driven nails given by one shepherd.

And further, my son, be admonished by these, of making many books, there is no end, and much study is worrisome to the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. 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. And that's His conclusion. What really matters is fear God, keep His commandments, have a relationship with God, and what you do in this life, remember, you will be brought into judgment for that. It does matter what you do from day to day. So, as we summarize the book, first of all, the book places the physical in its proper place. It places the physical life in a proper perspective. Life is temporary. It is fleeting. Every person will end up in the grave. Part of life is that it sometime will end, and we will return to the dust. But again, think of what we're going to be doing as we go to the feast. Think back to ancient Israel and those temporary dwellings made out of branches covered in leaves, and as they died, they ultimately became fire hazards. We'll go keep the feast, and it too will turn around twice and it's over. It'll be time to make plans to go home. Number two, God intends that we enjoy the fruit of our own labor. Eat, drink, rejoice, enjoy what we produce in life, enjoy the fruits of our own labor, enjoy what you build, and again, think of the feast. It is spoken of as a time to go appear before God that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always, and to rejoice before Him. Enjoy what you have saved this year. Enjoy the fellowship. Enjoy the whole experience.

Number three, this physical life is not all that there is.

Solomon answered that question from early on. Is there anything else? And the answer is no, this life is not all that there is. There's something far more. There is a time of the restoration of all things, the restitution of all, and God gives us a taste of eternity.

We go to the feast. We have a taste of what will be ahead. He gives us a taste of eternal life.

We have this training ground, this proving ground. Character development comes through trials and suffering, and facing the inequities of life and pain, and going through the aging process. There are things that it seems we learn in no other way. Turn to Romans 8. I think we're through back here in Ecclesiastes, except one more point. Romans 8, beginning in verse 18, one of the great focal points of the feats of tabernacles, is covered right here. Romans 8, verse 18, Paul says, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God, for the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope. Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails, labors with birth pains, together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we even ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of the body. And so the feast answers that question, and the book of Ecclesiastes answers the question, is this life all that there is? And the answer is no. God has so much left for us. He has more than we can even imagine. And then number four, only God and the things of God are permanent and eternal. Therefore, as Solomon ended the book, fear God, keep His commandments. This makes the whole person. God's plan has to do with eternity. And time comes when this mortal must put on immortality, and a relationship with God imparts hope that goes beyond this physical life. So as we go to keep the Fall Holy Days, let us remember to worship God in Spirit and in truth, because especially the Fall teaches us why we're here, where we're going, and what is ahead.