Ecclesiastes 2:1-26
Notes
Transcript
Ecclesiastes 2:1-26
Ecclesiastes 2:1-26
Like I mentioned last week, Ecclesiastes can be a difficult book to comprehend. You start reading it and think “Why is this book here, and for what purpose?” We learned all is what? Vanity? What is vanity? Smoke, vapor, it’s gone in an instant, beautiful, mesmerizing, and that Solomon is actually chasing after the meaning of life “under the sun.” That means here, on Earth. This book is the reflection of the pursuit of the meaning of life! Then we went to the end of the book too and found out what Solomon’s final conclusion was, remember what it was? Ecc 12:13-14 “13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. 14 For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.”
Ecc 1:9-10 “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. 10 Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us.” Remember what we talked about last week? How many sets of fingerprints are there? 1. In all of the world, only one. God gave those fingerprints to you because you are the only new thing “under the sun.” That should make you feel powerful. You have a unique purpose, a unique calling. Nobody else can do what you can do and can contribute to this world what you can accomplish.
So, the question I asked last week was: “What will you do with it?” Have you become active listeners? Building bridges with people? Seeing these conversations in their minds? Let’s return to the text this week and take a look at what the wisdom of Solomon can tell us about how to be better administrators of the Gospel message by helping rebuild foundations.
Pray
1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity. 2 I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?” 3 I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.
Last week we looked at the fact that our hearts are wicked, and our mind can be deceived. Does anyone remember the Proverb I brought up that shined lights on our behavior? Prov 27:19 “19 As in water face reflects face, So a man’s heart reveals the man.” Solomon searched his heart, what was he looking to satisfy? His flesh? He’s BORED! he tested his own heart with mirth which is jubilation, happiness. Is boredom a good thing? It’s a very good thing, especially for kids. That’s when you watch the wheels turn and get creative. However, that can easily go awry right?
Laughter he found madness, and mirth is translated as gladness. Happiness can be taken from you so quickly. Kids, what makes you happy?
Solomon saught to satisfy with wine and was found lacking, held himself from foolishness, seeking wisdom to see what would be a worthy task. What were these tasks you might ask? Some of them are here:
4 I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards. 5 I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. 7 I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds. 9 So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. 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. 11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.
In these 7 verses, we hear I/me/my 29 times. That’s 4+ times per verse. Solomon did a whole lot of things to find what was Good for man to do and he was still lacking. All the resources known to man. All the money and power. All of the wisdom, next to Jesus.
What is Solomon really doing here evangelist? Solomon is identifying with his audience. He’s saying I’ve tried what you’re trying and there was NO PROFIT under the sun. I’m chasing after this beautiful smoke and my reward was nothing. I have done some embarrassing things myself…Things I’m not proud of. Decisions the Lord allowed me to make that have shaped the man I am today. The Lord doesn’t want past you. But He uses the past You to allow others to hitch to you and show them the way. He wants you as the person you are NOW, and who you’re going to be if you choose the hard walk of following Him. It is hard. It gets lonely sometimes.
Each of us start out our Christian lives blind. We don’t know where to go, what to do, what to read, how to use this manual, right? We need someone to train us. Kids, I’m finding in recent weeks, I’m a failure as a father. Let me qualify that statement…When I see my kids doing something like loading the dishwasher, I watch them do it wrong. Then I scold them, then I ask them why they continue to get it wrong…What should I be doing? I should be training my children. If they are getting it wrong, it’s my job to re-train them WITH THE RIGHT HEART right? Why can’t I do this? I get frustrated. I yell. I point fingers. I shame. I’m terrible.
If that’s all you knew about me, you’d think that would flow into the rest of my life right? BUT, is’t not all most of you know about me. This is an embarrassing part of my life. I can say, in this vein…I looked at all the works my little servants have done and all was vanity, a grasping for the wind. I failed. What I should be doing, is what the Lord teaches us, thru younger Solomon, Prov 22:6 “6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.” Now, my electric slave that washes the dishes for my servants is broken. Now dishes have to be washed as they did in Solomon’s time. That means I can either throw them a towel and be entertained…OR, I can train my oldest how to do the job, and let him train his siblings, supervising. That takes the fruits of the spirit. It teaches those fruits to others. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and be real. People think you’ve got your life figured out Christian, if you do, I want to do what you do because I don’t know what I’m doing most of the time. Don’t live a woe-was-me life. Stand tall, God designed only one of you. Don’t put that light under a basket.
12 Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly; For what can the man do who succeeds the king?— Only what he has already done. 13 Then I saw that wisdom excels folly As light excels darkness. 14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, But the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived That the same event happens to them all.
Consider Wisdom AND madness AND folly. Wisdom is experience, madness is blind/foolishness, and folly is lack of good sense. So, Solomon used his wisdom counter-intuitively and pursued foolishness and did things he knew better than to do. Like what? Taking 700 wives and 300 concubines maybe? He’s not sampling food or learning how to play the Irish sport of Hurling. You think Rugby is insane, google it. It’s fantastically dangerous and hilariously violent. It’s lacrosse with a baseball, a hooked stick and a lot of missing teeth. I think most Scottish and Irish games are based on a dare. Is that just me?
Solomon saw that wisdom does what? It erases opportunities to make bad choices. Is wisdom good to attain? Pro 16:16 “16 How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.” Just like light purges darkness, banking wisdom (or even using other’s wisdom) will keep us from making bad decisions. As we gain wisdom though, we’re doing dumb things. We take what we know looks like water and get told it’s got plant food in it…Shrug it off and then we’re on the phone with poison control and they’re laughing listening to me as my stomach is gurgling telling me I need to let it pass. Had I had the good sense to STOP DRINKING THE WATER, I wouldn’t have that wisdom, right? That’s the first time my wife tried to poison me.
The wise man’s eyes are IN HIS HEAD. Those eyes have been other places on the body right? Most of the days, my eyes are in my stomach. How about that for an anatomy lesson, huh? Good thing we haven’t evolved much in the 3,000 years since this was written, right? What’s he saying though? What are the eyes according to Jesus? Matt 6:22-24 “22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
The same event happens to all men though, what event is that? We all will come to an end. We have an expiration date. What are you doing with the dash? The dash that will be on your tombstone. What are you being known for?
15 So I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, It also happens to me, And why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This also is vanity.” 16 For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? As the fool!
So, lookie what we have here - as Biff Tannen would say. The fool gets the same end as me? That doesn’t seem right! You lead a good life, and where does it take you?
How many of us have a bucket list? What is a bucket list anyway for the kids in the room. It’s a list of things you want to do or accomplish before you die. What are some things that are on your bucket list?
I had some great things on my bucket list…I also had some very fleshy things on my bucket list. What happens when we don’t fulfill our bucket list? We get disappointed right? We start comparing - What did you do? What did I do? I wish I lived YOUR life. I wish I had YOUR money.
If I only…recognize some of these conversations with people? If I win the lottery…If I had that to do over again…Why do these things continue to happen to me?
Should we have bucket lists? I don’t have one anymore, but should you have one? Is it OK? Sure it’s OK! do you think the Lord doesn’t want us to have things to strive for? Enjoy His creation for us? Of course He does, BUT, it puts in the position of competition with one another, just like Solomon. I was at a wedding and there were testimonies about how this guy spent all of this money flying his friends around the world for crazy parties, paying for everything they did, etc. Do you think the people in his life are there because they care about him? If he lost all of his money, would they stick around? Some may, but probably not all of them.
We need to be careful about comparing our life with others, and remember that we’re the only thing new under the sun. We aren’t supposed to have the same experiences as everyone else. We’re here to change the world, to let God’s influence be known thru us.
17 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind. 18 Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether he will 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. 20 Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. 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. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? 23 For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
Now he’s faced with another problem…his derelict, jerky jerk face son right? Isn’t that a common complaint? Vv 18 and 19 is so common today. My father-in-law built a great business. I’m the 2nd generation, and I’m thankful I have had to struggle to keep it going and learned thru those struggles too. I’m ruling over what he toiled over, and he worries about that. It’s my brother-in-law and my job to make sure it keeps going.
Who was Solomon’s son? Rehoboam. He took over for his dad at 41 and what happened? 1 Kings 12, 2 Chr 10 we read that Israel split under him. What was the split? 10 north, 2 south. Which were the southernmost tribes? Benjamin and Judah. So what happened? Let me refresh your memory, Jereboam was a servant for Solomon in charge of forced labor. He was told by a prophet he would be king of Israel, so he fled to Egypt bide his time when to return, which I’m sure is like going to Vegas for a while. When Rehoboam was installed as king, the people requested lowering taxes and Jereboam returned. The men who served Solomon recommended Rehoboam listen to the people, and it would instill confidence in him as a merciful leader. His young council though, they told him he needs to rule with an iron fist and let the people fear him instead. So, what happened? The kingdom split and Solomon’s prophecy came true. His foolish son didn’t care for what Solomon worked for. He didn’t respect his elders or listen to them.
Vanity and a GREAT EVIL. It’s like the wisest man in the world who knew his spoiled son, still living at home, mooching off dad’s money, just waiting for dad to die. We do that too, waiting for that insurance money…for what’s coming to us, instead of making sure that the legacy being left behind is secure. What a lesson to learn huh? It still goes on today, we scoff at that old wisdom KIDS, how many of you say “I know” when your parents have asked you to do something you don’t want to do right now? So often, right? Believe me, eventually that council will stop teaching you and you’re alone, holding the towel, or the bag, or the litter scoop and they’re saying, “You know it all, you do it.” Only the things we do for Christ will last generation to generation. Only what we pour into those around us matter. Learn from your parents, Obey their commands, because there will be a time when they’re not with you and it’s a hard world to live in these days.
Do those people around you know you love Jesus? Have they heard it from your mouth? Or are you just hoping they watch your example and get to know Jesus thru that? Do you think Solomon lived some of his life as an example to his adult son? What did it earn him? Did Solomon do some dumb things too? Yep, his hand wasn’t to the plow. His son learned bad habits from him, that’s a given. Our kids watch and listen to EVERYTHING. Even thru the floor. People see our ups and downs too. All the more reason to teach people using words. Especially when someone dealing with depression and confusion. What do they need? They need the power of the Holy Spirit flowing thru You!
24 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. 25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I? 26 For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
So, the Lord wants us to be merry. What does any good dad want for his kids? That they get along, right? Nobody partied like King Solomon, we’re finding, but we remember his final words of the book say “Obey God, do what He says.” The Lord wants us to be filled, and fulfilled. He wants us to have “good lives.” BUT, not in the prosperity kind of living. He wants us to fulfill our purpose. To fulfill our ministry here on Earth. To know Him and make Him known.
Wisdom AND Knowledge AND Joy. Contrast that with Wisdom AND madness AND folly. Wisdom allows you to see both paths, right? Well, last time I did this, I got poisoned and spent a lot of time trying to keep my insides, inside, right? Solomon choose the madness and folly to see if he could satisfy. God gives good things to those who do His will. The devil tries to ruin it for us. BUT, the sinner gets work of gathering and collecting to give to those who do God’s will…this is prosperity gospel fodder right here if it’s misused. We know better.
Now...Let’s read this again from God’s perspective. Ecc 2:24-26 “24 Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good from the wages of the skills I’ve bestowed on him. This reward also, I showed them, was from MY Hand. 25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than Solomon? 26 For I give wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in My sight; but to the sinner I give the work of gathering and collecting the peices of their broken lives, who chase after vanity and grasp at the wind, that he may give to him who is good before Me, who can show how I can mend them.”
This is how I read it now. God wants what is best for us. The devil turns all of this to ash in our mouths and in our hands. This discourages us and makes us focus on the problem in front of us, instead of seeing the blessings coming to us.
We need to learn, as Solomon did, that failure is just a word that describes the condition or fact of not achieving the desired end or goal. Another definition is “ONE WHO FAILS.” Am I failing as a father? Yes. Am I a failure? By definition, Yes. Now, my condition has been revealed, it’s time for action, right? Use your failures, your scars, tattoos, your busted teeth, your gimpy limp…Use those things the Lord has given you that the world casts you out with and lay them before the Lord and ask Him, how do I use these? Can you teach me? They made you who you are, and they’re going to help others get there. It starts with small steps, a few Columbo questions, and start connecting the dots. Our lives are embarrassing. Mine is one big hilarious train wreck after another, but my past doesn’t define me, it motivates me to change.
In this chapter, we learned Solomon choose to follow after the pleasures of life and found it empty. Listen to those who are around us that chase the worldly things. You need to ask them why? Why do you want those things? Why do you want to be in that status? What will more money actually bring you? HELP THEM SORT THOSE QUESTIONS OUT. Because everyone will die, fool or wise, rich or poor. Ask the question, what happens when you’re gone if you have these things? Can you trust those around you to take care of it? Solomon knew Bart Simpson was his son. He knew he’d not appreciate it and work to keep the reputation up. Gently ask the questions. Because eventually they’ll ask you. Be prepared to train them, to disciple them. They might be in this room today. Start thinking now, how would I answer that question “How do I use these broken pieces Lord to bring Glory to You?” Because that sets up the final lesson here…those who are broken are going to bring their lives to you and say “What can you make of this? What can YOUR GOD do with this?” Teach them.