Draw Near to Hear

Introduction:

Man is instinctively religious, but that is not always a good thing. In fact, it could be a very bad thing. Because His religiosity may hide from him his need of salvation that can only come through Jesus Christ.

In addition, man’s own religion may be nothing more than a charade, and outward show without inward reality. Vanity may seep into the religious life just as we have seen in every other sphere, and maybe even more so.

What we are going to see in this particular chapter is that Solomon is going to law down some advice to guard against formalism and externalism in dealing with God.

What Solomon has to say is actually pretty good in this chapter. We should take heed to the wisdom he will impart to us. The problem here is that Solomon is looking at the religion and politics through his earthly lens never coming to a solid conclusion… Because he is looking under the sun only.

Recap:

So far we have covered most of the natural deals of men and women, only to find its all meaningless under the sun. The best we can do is to try and enjoy our lives and live them to the fullest.

A part from Christ all we can say is “eat drink and be merry… For tomorrow we die.”

Solomon also gave us a beautiful poem that let us know that there is a time for everything.

And last week we tackled Solomon’s findings about oppressions and oppressors. Stating it was better to never be born then to experience the evils under the sun.

Solomon had no hope, because God was not included in His search. Apart from God everything is exactly as Solomon finds… Meaningless.

vv 1-7) A need to worship God reverently.

[1] Worship: Living a life of respect and devotion toward God. Ascribing supreme worth and value to God in word and deed.

David gathered the supplies for building the temple and Solomon actually built it. The temple was made out of white Jerusalem limestone, cedar wood, olive wood, and pine wood. Overlaid with gold.

This beautiful structure would stand for about 400 years. Would fall to the Babylonians 586 BC. Rebuilt by the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. It would stand until 70AD when it was destroyed by the Romans.

The Jews never stopped worshipping it was just that how the worshipped changed. They would worship God in the synagogue. 10 men or more to start one. A small collection of people. The Christian equivalent would be something like our church services.

This probably has a two fold meaning. The first is a literal guard your steps. The second is spiritual.

[[Southern Step]] The way these steps are fashioned notice that it is a short step about 12 inches long followed by a longer step of about 36 inches. These steps would break the normal stride of a person, preventing a hurried approach to the temple. You would have to take your time, and think about what you are about to do.

There needs to be reverence in worship. The steps make sure that you could not hurry to worship. But Solomon is also talking about honoring God and showing care to thing about the consequences when we come to meet God.

How many of us take the time before church starts to prepare yourself for corporate worship? Many of us need to reevaluate our hearts when it comes to worship of our God.

This isn’t some new concept. Many of us know that worship is a lifestyle. Singing portions of a church service is usually called worship, but that is just one part of the bigger picture.

Family, we need to be aware of what we are doing as we gather together to worship the God of the universe. This isn’t something we should take lightly.

Fruitful and acceptable worship begins before it begins.

There shouldn’t be any difference between the way we live our lives on Sunday then the rest of the week. We need to not only talk the talk but also walk the walk.

2 John 6 ESV

6 And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

3 things I see here)

Worship is about a reverential attitude toward God.

Getting to church on time. (We get to our doctors appoints on time…)

Worship is about listening much and saying little.

Worship is about giving.

The second half of verse 1 also shows us something very important also.

The sacrifice of fools is the hasty speech and rash promises mentioned in the next couple verses. Solomon counsels us to come to the house of God to hear more than speak.

“To hear:” This has more weight in Hebrew than in english.

1 Samuel 15:22 (ESV)

22 And Samuel said,

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey (literally to listen) is better than sacrifice,

and to listen than the fat of rams.

[2] Worshippers should avoid recklessness in prayers, promises, or in professions of devotion to God.

[[Example]] “God help me… then forgets all about the promise made.”

The presence of the Almighty is no place for compulsive talking. The fact that God is infinitely high above man, as heaven is high above the earth, should teach men to curb his speech when drawing near to Him.

Solomon rightly described the human tendency to speak without thinking before God and others. Even with the under the sun premise, it is foolish to speak too much and hear too little in God’s presence.

This is why it is important to prepare ourselves for worship. Because when we come before God, our minds are full of our own business rather than with the worship of God. When we talk too much we usually talk like fools.

The priests of baal prayed hard and long on Mount Carmel; Elijah prayed short and sweet, and full of faith to the living God. God heard and beautifully answered Elijah’s prayer (1 Kings 18).

J. Edwin Orr (baptist preacher, hymn writer, and author) used to advise brief, earnest prayers, especially in prayer meeting. He said that when one prays in a meeting, for his first three minutes everyone prays with him. Should he continue a second three minutes, everyone prays for him. Should he continue for a third three minutes, the others start to pray against him.

“For as it is not the loudness of a preacher’s voice, but the weight and holiness of his matter, and the spirit of the preacher, that moves a wise and intelligent hearer, so it is not the labor of the lips, but the travail of the heart that prevails with God.”

[3] Just as a hyperactive mind often produces wild dreams, so a hyperactive mouth produces a torrent of foolish words, even in prayer.

The thought in this line is probably well represented by the Living Bible: “Just as being too busy gives you nightmares, so being a fool makes you a blabbermouth.”

Alexander Pope (A english poet and satirist in the 18th century) wrote, “Words are like leaves and where they most abound, much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.”

[4] In the matter of vows to God, simple honesty demands that they be paid promptly. God has no use for the person who talks up a storm, then fails to deliver.

Solomon wishes to keep people from uttering rash or meaningless words during the worship of God, and particular he has in mind the careless taking of a religious vow as an act of piety:

Deuteronomy 23:21–23 ESV

21 “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. 22 But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. 23 You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.

[5] If you do not intend to pay, don’t vow in the first place. Solomon knew very well of man’s propensity to strike a bargain with God when caught in a tight, desperate situation. Only to forget quickly when the crisis is past.

Even in moments of spiritual exhilaration, it is easy to make a vow of dedication, celibacy, poverty, or the like. God has never required such vows of His people.

When vows are made, they should be kept. Vows made before conversion should be kept, except in those cases where they violate the Word of God.

Jesus speaking on oaths and vows:

Matthew 5:37 ESV

37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

Family God does not take broken vows lightly. A broken vow may incur his judgement upon our endeavours.

A commonly overlooked sin among God’s people is the sin of broken vows- promising thing to God and failing to live up to the vow.

Those who honor God:

Will not be quick to make vows to God.

Will be serious about fulfilling the vows made.

Will regard broken vows as sin to be confessed and to be repented of.

[6] So the general rule is not to let your mouth lead you into sin through shattered vows. A word of advise don’t try to excuse yourself before God’s messenger by saying it was an error and that you didn’t really mean it.

The messenger of God: Could mean messenger or angel. While this could refer to the priest, since broken vows were to be confessed before him:

Leviticus 5:4–6 ESV

4 or if anyone utters with his lips a rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of rash oath that people swear, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and he realizes his guilt in any of these; 5 when he realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he has committed, 6 he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.

But this presupposes a knowledge of the Mosaic law, whereas Solomon is speaking here apart from revealed religion. Meaning, I believe we can do away with the angelic interpretation.

The probably meaning is that he means anyone who serves as a representative of God.

[7] Solomon yet again compares dreams to the foolish person. Just as there is tremendous unreality in dreams, so in words spoken unadvisedly there is vanity and ruin. The thing to do says Solomon, is to fear God.

He isn’t implying the loving trust of Jehovah but the actual fear of incurring the displeasure of the Almighty.

For Solomon this is the fear of a slave, not a son. For the true Christian we fear God not as a slave but as a son, having reverence and awe of the God who saved us by His strength.

vv 8-20) Vanity of wealth and materialism

We are now going to switch gears and continue our journey through vanity. Having demonstrated that all thing are vanity and that the proper human response is, first and foremost, to fear God, Solomon makes further observations on the hardships of lie in a fallen world and provides practical counsel for dealing with them in the rest of chapter 5 through chapter 7:24.

vv 8-9) Injustice

[8] Solomon reverts to the subject of oppression of the poor and perversion of justice. He is giving counsel against complete despair if we see these evils in a province.

After all, there are chains of command in government, and those in the higher echelons watch their subordinates with an eagle eye.

Yet do they? Too often the system of checks and balances breaks down, and every level seems wicked to some degree.

For a righteous person their only hope is in knowing that God is higher than the highest authorities, and that He will see that all accounts are settled.

The frustrating bit about this is that Solomon isn’t referring to that here.

He is most likely bringing to like that bureaucracies bring oppression, and it goes all the way to the top.

[9] This verse is one of the most obscure verses in Ecclesiastes. The reason is that the original Hebrew is uncertain.

The general thought seems to be that even the highest official is dependent on the produce of the field.

We can take that one step further though. Everyone is dependent on the field but that means everyone is dependent on the providence of God. All are accountable to God. That’s the first step of understanding the gospel.

vv 10-12)Dissatisfaction in wealth

[10] Of all people, Solomon knew that the gathering of riches did not satisfy. People who (the) love of money are never satisfied; they always want more.

Wealth doesn’t buy contentment. Profits, dividends, interest payments, and capital gains whet the appetite for more. But this, Solomon knew, was vanity.

[11] When a person’s possessions increase, it seems that there is a corresponding increase in the number of people who live off of their wealth. If you were to win the lottery you’d be surprised how many relatives you have.

What advantage does wealth truly give? A man can only wear one suit at a time, can only eat so much in a day. So the main benefit of his wealth is to be able to look at his bank statements and his accumulated wealth and say:

Luke 12:19 ESV

19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’

[12] When it come to sound sleep, a laboring person has the advantage. Solomon indulged an envy of the laboring man, who has so much less to worry about. The rich man has greater worries and less sleep. Worried about their wealth.

Elon Musk the richest person in the world; in a podcast said that he has to force himself to sleep 6 hours or his work suffers.

vv 13-17) Uncertainty of wealth

[13-14] Solomon saw that hoarding riches gives rise to disastrous consequences. What we see is a man who had vast reserves of wealth, but instead of using them for constructive purposes, chose to stash them away.

All of a sudden, there was some calamity such as a market crash, and the money was all gone. Even though the man had a son, he had nothing to leave to him.

[15] Empty-handed he had come into this world… Empty-handed he leaves this world.

Cecil Rhodes, a businessman and politician, exploited the natural resources of South Africa. When he was about to die, he cried out in remorse:

“I’ve found much in Africa. Diamonds, gold, and land are mine, but now I must leave them all behind. Not a thing I’ve gained can be taken with me. I have not sought eternal treasures, therefore I actually have nothing at all.”

[16-17] The NT gives a more hopeful picture, taking us beyond the Solomon’s understanding under the sun premise and telling us that we can lay up treasure in heaven.

We cannot take our wealth with us when we die; but we can send it on ahead by generously giving our time, money, and worship to God and His work.

For the man who puts everything on the line for money will have a reverse Cinderella story- from riches to rags.

Solomon’s earth wisdom is that it is foolish to hoard money when it could be put to use, then losing it all, and having nothing to show for a lifetime of work.

vv 18-20) Making the best with what you got… under the sun.

[18] So what are we to do with the wisdom Solomon bestows on us?

The best strategy is to enjoy the common activities of daily life- eating, drinking, and working. Then no matter what happens, nothing can rob one of the pleasures he has already had. Life at best is very brief, so why not enjoy it while you can.

Solomon thought that it was ideal when God gave a person riches and wealth and when at the same time He also gave him the ability to enjoy them, to be satisfied with his lot in life, and to enjoy his work. This combination of circumstances was a special gift of God, or as we might say, this was the “real thing.”

At the end though Solomon’s counsel to the wealthy man was simply, try not to think about it and keep yourself busy.

Hebrews 13:5 ESV

5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Psalm 16:11 ESV

11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Numbers 6:24–26 ESV

24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.