Jul 29 2018 Wisdom - Ecclesiastes - Pleasure - Foolishness - Wisdom - Conclusion - Fear God and Obey Him

There is the Author of the book – and a Teacher – whom the author writes about – if you want to understand the book – a majority of the chapters are the thoughts of the Teacher. It is assumed that it is written by Solomon – but it never says that. He speaks of his experience “Under the sun” – it is reflections on his life experience and it is NOT theological or biblical discourse. It is his experience. As we read the Teacher’s words – he has nothing to say about the afterlife or the resurrection – for him, it all ends, and nothing goes beyond that. But we can look at everything through the lens of the resurrection – through the lens of Jesus. The Bible points to Jesus, and we can look at it backwards, in light of the Christ story and in light of the Cross and Easter Sunday.

BUT – don’t throw it out because you know this! Many think this book doesn’t relate because of Jesus, but that is not true either. We must read it for what it is, as there is a lot to learn and it really relates to our world today. It is profound.

The conclusion of the Teacher is that there is a glitch in the matrix system – where the cat walks by twice. He called it an enigma, or paradox, in the BibleProject video. Things don’t work the way they ought to, in the world. We expect things to work out one way, and oftentimes, they don’t work out that way. Everything IS vanity – of no lasting value. Nothing we do has any lasting value – because even if it is an accomplishment, eventually you die and it is over.

With that as a starting point – after the first couple sentences, he uses analogies from the natural world to explain the vanities of life.

4 A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever. 5 Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; And hastening to its place it rises there again…

This is not a science text. That should be obvious. He is saying that the sun is in the human rat race – racing to get to the next morning – and it really gets nowhere – like a gerbil on the wheel – getting nowhere. And this is telling us – that is the human existence. We are like the sun, going round and round – and getting nowhere.

7 All the rivers flow into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, There they flow again. 8 All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it…

This is so cool – going to the river – but it makes no difference – it never fills up.

All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it….

We try to improve our world, but there is little progress

9 That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there anything of which one might say, "See this, it is new "? Already it has existed for ages Which were before us.

You might say – but cellphones, and the internet and rocket ships to the moon! Again, this is not a science text, but demonstrates the futility of the human existence. Throughout history – this has been the lot of humanity – to work hard – to make something that lasts forever – but we die – and it is all over and all gone. And for all of history, humanity has been trying to stop that – so we try to invent ways to find lasting value in all we do – but nothing is really new.

Cell phones. There was a point where there was the first cellphone. What does a cellphone do? Communicate – from the beginning, husbands and wives have failed at communication.

11 There is no remembrance of earlier things; And also of the later things which will occur, There will be for them no remembrance Among those who will come later still.

17 And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind. 18 Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.

Realizing that none of this makes sense, the Teacher gave himself wholly to finding out the meaning of life. And his conclusion? It is a bad idea to try to discover the meaning of life. We have misguided expectations and false hope about life, faith, and God.

We are all looking for a guarantee and a promise that all will be well and I will be happy – but that guarantee is just not there in this life.

The insurance industry in our world – is a great industry of people trying to answer Ecclesiastes questions – you can insure yourself for anything. A college football player can insure themselves against injury. We are caught up in trying to prevent and protect everything and we can’t.

I’m not against insurance, by the way.

I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself." And behold, it too was futility.

Basically it is wine, women and song and better homes and gardens. Nothing is new under the sun.

10 All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure…

(Remember this is a king who had access to such things)

11 Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.

The search for constant pleasure leaves us empty…

12 So I turned to consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except what has already been done?

Folly didn’t work – so I’ll go with wisdom – and he determines – wisdom didn’t work either, but it is better than folly

15 Then I said to myself, "As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. Why then have I been extremely wise?" So I said to myself, "This too is vanity."16 For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die! 17 So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.

In the end, there is no difference – but he comes to this conclusion:

2: 24 There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?

He will say this six times – there is nothing better for a man – and each time he changes the ending!

He comes up with – Enjoy life now! Seize the day! It is not the same seize the day of Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society – it lacks all enthusiasm, the scholars say – life stinks – if you get a little enjoyment, enjoy it. It is the resignation that life is not very good. If you get some good, be happy with it!

25 For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?

This is not a ringing endorsement for the sovereignty of God. You don’t know if you will end up on the good or bad end of it. And in reality, sometimes it feels like we have ended up on the bad end – let’s be honest.

What we are going to do – it goes like this for another 9 chapters – and in chapter 12, the Author comes back – and because it is so important to hear the words of the Teacher through the evaluation of the Author:

12:11 The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body. 13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

His conclusion – this makes us think about things – and this guy has written all these books – but don’t take it too far – it needs to be balanced off and there needs to be adjustments. The conclusion when all has been heard

13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

What the Author says – and I think the big problem with The Teacher – he lacks an eternal perspective. God is Justice and will restore all the mess and futility we experience in this life – and because of that, we have this hope. We have hope when the world is hopeless. We can know that God will redeem everything – because of what Christ did on the cross. Ultimately what that is leading us to do is to live in the present with God. The book wants to teach us how to live in the here and now. Most are living in the past with regret – or whatever – bitterness? How much of our lives are consumed with past regret and bitterness? Or we are living in the future – waiting for something else – for the dream to be better and we miss the here and now. All we have is this moment. What is critical about living in the moment is to live it in the presence and fear of God.

Last week we had a church meeting – and we all know that we don’t like change. Change is hard for us to get our hands around – and it is hard for me. Going through it last Saturday – I hate change – I hate conflict – and I figured I wouldn’t be able to sleep. God says to me – Mike – you will either go through this alone or with Me – your choice! (Ortberg).

Obviously, God is always with me – but I did have a choice to go through it with God – and that was the end of it. However it ends up – we have no control over getting a job or whatever – all you can do is your best – put yourself forward as best as possible – but ultimately it is in God’s hands and you have a choice to recognize that. The end will be the end – how it comes out is how it comes out. That doesn’t mean it will come out rosy and peachy – necessarily – but God will go through it with you.

The guys from the BibleProject say this- humans (we) believe – in our world of technology and our prosperity has caused a greater problem when it comes to understanding life. We view failure and disappointment as obstacles which keep us from being happy and accomplishing our dreams. The reality – and the truth is – failure and disappointments are the key to experiencing God’s best for our lives.

Paul talks about his complaints – his thorn in the flesh – take it away from me and my life will be better…

2 Cor. 10: 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Wow – that is so hard for us to believe – because we believe the opposite – we think power is perfected in power! Whether sports, or politics, or business, there are those who give themselves to that.

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

If we can get our brains around that – when I am weak, I am strong. Whatever situation – church/work/neighborhood – when I am weak, I am strong. When I am at a disadvantage – I have the advantage.

Finally – from Isaiah:

Isaiah 40:27 Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"?

We have all felt that way.

28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary (the person who has collapsed under the pressures of life) and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

This is much more than just – we think of it as that little extra strength God gives me to get through. This is not your mid-morning pick-me-up – this is a complete exchange of power. This person has lost ALL strength – all power – and all I can think of is a car battery that has died. You connect the jumper cables – and that dead battery does nothing – but the power from the good battery is transferred. This is not a science text. I am not a mechanic – so don’t judge.

That is what God wants to do with us. We are just a dead battery that he wants to connect to and send power through.