Ecclesiastes

The Book of  Ecclesiastes

 ·         It contains a collection of Proverbs.

·         It has a unique style and arrangement. There is a mixture of poetry and prose.

·         Some of it is written as Hebrew Poetry.  It doesn’t rhyme!  It never did!  It’s poetry because the second part of a verse retells, or reinforces the first part, or closely relates to it.

 It is hard to outline the book, but here is one suggestion:

 I.                  Solomon’s experience of the meaninglessness of Earthly Things. (Chapters 1 – 4)

II.               Exhortation in the Light of This Experience (Chapters 5 – 10)

III.           The Conclusion of the Matter.

 (Eccl 1:1-3 NKJV)  The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

[This is a description of Solomon]

 {2} "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher; "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."

[This becomes somewhat of a theme for the book.]

  {3} What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?

[Under the sun is key to understanding "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."  I believe Solomon uses under the sun to be life without God.]

 (Eccl 1:4-7 NKJV)  One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever.

{5} The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose.

[But what lasting good was accomplished?]

 {6} The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit.

[An important aspect of the weather, the north wind can bring cooling, but what permanent good has been accomplished?]

 {7} All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again.

 Think of the Mississippi River, and all other rivers that dump the waters that may have flooded communities, yet the ocean is no fuller!

Again, Solomon is dwelling on the emptiness of life without God.

(Eccl 1:8 NKJV)  All things are full of labor¹; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.

¹tired; hence tiresome:--full of labor, weary.

(Eccl 2:3-11 NKJV)  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.

{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.

 In other words, he was rich.  He had his own chorus, and he had his own band.  He didn’t have to get tickets or worry about reservations for a good seat, he owned the whole show!

{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.

 

(Eccl 3:1-3)  To everything there is a season,

 A time for every purpose under heaven:

{2} A time to be born,

And a time to die;

A time to plant,

And a time to pluck what is planted;

{3} A time to kill,

And a time to heal;

A time to break down,

And a time to build up;

What about “the good ol’ days”?

(Eccl 7:10 NKJV)  Do not say, "Why were the former days better than these?" For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.

 (Eccl 7:10 TLB)  Don't long for "the good old days," for you don't know whether they were any better than these!

 (Eccl 7:14)  In the day of prosperity be joyful,

But in the day of adversity consider:

Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.

Consider What?

Sickness:  Did you cause your sickness because of bad habits?  Lack of sleep, poor eating habits, etc.

Financial:  Have you overspent, need to work harder?  What’s the problem? 

Spiritually:  Take spiritual inventory.

(Eccl 7:16 NKJV)  Do not be overly righteous, Nor be overly wise: Why should you destroy yourself?

How can you be overly righteous? – Good question!

·         Some will not forgive themselves of things they have done.

·         The Pharisees “strained at gnats” and swallowed camels.

·         Some worry that they have not done enough.

 I don’t believe the verse is encouraging negligence or lukewarmness, but remember  “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (Eph 2:8 NKJV)

 We will never be good enough to save ourselves!

There are many great proverbs in this section, but we must move on.

 (Eccl 12:1 NKJV)  Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, "I have no pleasure in them":

(Eccl 12:3-4 NKJV)  In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, (the hands)

 And the strong men bow down; (the legs)

 When the grinders cease because they are few,

(You’ve lost most of your teeth.)

And those that look through the windows grow dim; (It’s hard to see, and we need more light.)

{4} When the doors are shut in the streets, (lips)

 And the sound of grinding is low; (You don’t make much noise eating because you don’t have many teeth.)

When one rises up at the sound of a bird, (You are awakened easily)

 And all the daughters of music are brought low;

(There is less to sing about.  The voice may have lost it’s quality, and life is just not as exciting.  Compare the voices of singing and excitement of children to that of older people.)

(Eccl 12:6 NKJV)  Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, (The spinal cord) Or the golden bowl is broken, (The brain no longer works properly)

Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,

Or the wheel broken at the well.

The fountain, the well.  What is associated with both?  The heart!

What delivers from the heart?  The aorta!

When the pitcher is shattered – the aorta dissected!  I never heard of it till it happened to me on March 4, 1998.  I've heard it's fatal 95% of the time.  I Thank God for His grace, many prayers, and perhaps the finest surgeon in the world that I lived without brain damage kidney failure, or other possible conplications which the cardiologist warned my wife and middle son about.  The Bible is an amazing book.  How did they know about a dissected aorta back then?

(Eccl 12:13 KJV)  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Scripture quotations marked "NKJV™" are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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