Ecc Notes Week 2

Main Thrusts

Ecclesiastes week 2

we're gonna talk about how there's no fear of God and how this lead to the pursuit of everything including the Lego announcement about LGBT

Three main pursuits where we try to find only what God can give

In our sexuality and sexual identity

And our work status and achievement

And then our wealth and accumulation

Themes

Attempt #1 - finding meaning in pleasure, profit and wisdom — fail

The Futility of pleasure, possessions, productivity and the pursuit of wisdom.

prudence?

Finding enjoyment in everyday life

Big Idea:

You cannot enjoy the gifts of God without the giver of the gifts.

Intro

Can’t gain without help.

imagine you were given a gift, but not the instructions on how to use the gift.

Language

imagine you were given your favorite book to read, but it was in another language.

you would have to learn the language to truly enjoy it.

enjoyment of God’s gifts is itself a gift.

imagine you were given a check, you couldn’t enjoy that check until you cashed it in the bank.

nothing can truly be enjoyed apart from God, for the enjoyment itself, along with the gift are given by God.

Are celebrities really happy?

Have the gained anything?

Jesus and barns

the man who stored up wealth only to die that night.

Concepts

Gain

There is something to be gained — wisdom is better than follow (Ecc 2:13)

Like light over darkness — wise person has eyes to see, the fool walks in darkness (Ecc 2:13-13)

Enjoyment

Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs 6. On Wealth (2:18–26)

But he insists that people should learn how to enjoy the return they get on their labor. Indeed, the ability to enjoy and use the good things of life (i.e., material things) is itself a gift of God. Those who belong to God should above all others have a capacity to enjoy life.

Be Satisfied Chapter Three: Disgusted with Life? (Ecclesiastes 2)

Solomon is not advocating “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die!” That is the philosophy of fatalism not faith. Rather, he is saying, “Thank God for what you do have, and enjoy it to the glory of God.” Paul gave his approval to this attitude when he exhorted us to trust “in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17, NKJV).

Be Satisfied Chapter Three: Disgusted with Life? (Ecclesiastes 2)

Solomon made it clear that not only were the blessings from God, but even the enjoyment of the blessings was God’s gift to us (v. 24).

see Ecc 6:1-5

Be Satisfied Chapter Three: Disgusted with Life? (Ecclesiastes 2)

He considered it “evil” if a person had all the blessings of life from God but could not enjoy them (6:1–5).

Conclusion (Ecc 2:26)

The Message of Ecclesiastes: A Time to Mourn, and a Time to Dance The Assessment

the vital contrast in this verse, which is between the satisfying spiritual gifts of God (wisdom, knowledge, joy), which only those who please Him can desire or receive, and the frustrating business of amassing what cannot be kept, a business which is the chosen lot of those who reject Him. The fact that in the end the sinner’s hoard will go to the righteous is only a crowning irony to what was in any case vanity and a striving after wind. And for the righteous it is a crowning vindication, but no more. Like the meek, who are promised the earth, their treasure is elsewhere and of another kind.

Be Satisfied Chapter Three: Disgusted with Life? (Ecclesiastes 2)

God wants to give us wisdom, knowledge, and joy; these three gifts enable us to appreciate God’s blessings and take pleasure in them. It is not enough to possess “things”; we must also possess the kind of character that enables us to use “things” wisely and enjoy them properly.

The Sinner

Be Satisfied Chapter Three: Disgusted with Life? (Ecclesiastes 2)

The sinner may heap up all kinds of riches, but he can never truly enjoy them because he has left God out of his life. In

Words

“eat and drink”

Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 23A: Ecclesiastes Comment

The phrase “eat and drink” is symbolic of the good life and its pleasures

Illustrations

Ecc 2:26 — Righteous receiving wicked’s wealth

Be Satisfied Chapter Three: Disgusted with Life? (Ecclesiastes 2)

At their exodus from Egypt, the Israelites spoiled their Egyptian masters (Ex. 3:22; 12:36),

He is not fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose — Jim Elliott