The Preacher
Notes
Transcript
What did Solomon leave behind?
What did Solomon leave behind?
Turn to and read Ecclesiastes 1:1.
Tonight, as we begin our study of the book of Ecclesiastes, we are simply going to focus, in a sense, on this one verse:
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
As is always the case when studying a book of the Bible, it is important to look at the human author of the book in question.
Who was the human author of the book of Ecclesiastes?
Though not specifically noted, the author seems quite apparently to be Solomon. He is noted as the Son of David in verse 1 and no other of David’ s sons fit the description of the author of himself in the book. - Dr. David Sorenson
Notice what the preacher says in Ecclesiastes 1:16
I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
Notice what was written of Solomon in 1 Kings chapter 3:
Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.
So, without Scripture specifically stating that King Solomon was the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes, all the Biblical evidence points to that conclusion.
Here are a few facts about King Solomon:
Here are a few facts about King Solomon:
He was the son of King David and Bathsheba. I think it would be fair to say that Solomon grew up a privileged child in a dysfunctional family. (His father had his mother’s first husband murdered!)
There was a lot of political intrigue surrounding Solomon’s “appointment” as king of Israel. (Read 1 Kings chapter 1.)
Of interest is the fact that, in spite of all of the human conniving and political maneuvering, God had already ruled that Solomon would be king after David.
Turn to and read 1 Chronicles 28:5-11.
What does that prove? God was in control.
I find this very relevant because of what we see happening in our nation’s capitol. The Democrats are working hard to get rid of President Trump; the Republicans are working just as hard to keep President Trump. What they and all the reporters and political analysts seem to forget is this: God is in control.
After Solomon’s “appointment” as king, and before his father’s death, David took time to instruct Solomon.
Turn to and read 1 Kings 2:1-4.
Of the two passages that we have looked at just now, I would like to take just a few minutes to highlight two of the verses from those passages.
And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
David challenged Solomon to:
Know God.
One of the challenges that we face is simply to know God. We cannot assume that because we live in the Bible belt; in Charlotte, NC, one of the most Biblically minded cities in America, that we automatically “know” God.
One of the indictments that the prophets spoke against the nation of Israel in later years can be found in Hosea:
Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: For the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
Serve God with a perfect heart and willing mind.
This again is important for us to keep in mind and is something that I have preached in previous weeks.
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
I believe that one of the things that we find is that the more Solomon had the more difficult it became for him to serve God with a perfect heart and willing mind.
Seek God.
In Solomon, we find two extremes. At one point in his life we find a man seeking God. Turn to and read Proverbs 2:1-6. We find Solomon writing:
I love them that love me; And those that seek me early shall find me.
Later, though, we find Solomon begins to seek after human wisdom.
I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
Allow me to remind you of Colossians 3:1-2, our current memory verses:
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Don’t forsake God!
Notice the warning that David gives Solomon at the end of 1 Chronicles 28:9:
And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
That is a dire warning indeed! Those words, cast off, literally mean to reject.
Listen to the warning which Joshua, at the end of his life, gave to the nation of Israel:
If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.
What does it mean to “forsake the Lord?”
Literally, it means to leave behind.
As it relates to Solomon, what did he leave behind?
While all of those answers are good I would like to say it this way: Solomon left God’s wisdom behind in his pursuit of man’s wisdom.
Keep that in mind as we turn our attention to the other passage that we read earlier in 1 Kings chapter 2. In 1 Kings 2:3, we see David’s challenge to Solomon:
And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:
That is very much like the challenge that God gave to Joshua in Joshua 1:8
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
What Solomon did with God’s Word determined what God did with him.
Or...
What Solomon did with Godly Wisdom determined what God did with him.
Turn to and read 1 Kings 3:1-15.
In vs. 1, we see that Solomon, from the beginning of his reign, began to sow the seeds of his own destruction when he made the political move to marry Pharaoh’s daughter. Egypt, in the Bible, is always a picture of the world. Any inclination toward the world, for a Christian, is dangerous.
But, vs. 3 tells us that Solomon loved the Lord.
In Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon and asked, “What do you want?”
If God asked you, “What do you want?” what would ask for?
Solomon’s response?
Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Solomon asked for wisdom.
But notice what came with it?
And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.
If God gave you riches and honor, could you handle it?
Most of us would respond, “I don’t know but I’d like to try!”
At some point in Solomon’s life, he began to forsake God; he began to turn his back on God and Godly wisdom, leaving it behind and began to turn toward human wisdom - humanism.
Turn his back on God and Godly wisdom brought Solomon to a very bleak and dismal view of life:
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
In a society that is ever searching for riches and honor; in a society that is characterized by politics and scandal, I hope that the study of the book of Ecclesiastes will help us to maintain a focus on God and Godly wisdom - no matter how unpopular those things might be.