We have spent the last two posts on two books commonly attributed to Solomon; today we read about the third. Proverbs is about the wisdom that God granted Solomon. Song of Solomon is romantic (and racy!). Ecclesiastes fills out the “Solomon trilogy” with the jaded ramblings of an old man who has tried all those catch phrases from Proverbs to get a better life and used all those lines from Song of Solomon to pick up women and sees now that life is pointless because in the end, we all die anyway.
Depressing? Sure, if you read it that way...but that’s almost the only way to read it.
I like to think of Ecclesiastes as the opposite of Proverbs. Solomon’s most famous book tells how the world should work; Ecclesiastes tells it like it actually is. If the key word of Proverbs is wisdom, the key word of Ecclesiastes is futility. The Teacher writes, in my own words “There is no satisfaction, none at all.” Other verses say, “All pursuit of wisdom is pursuit of the wind.” So much for Proverbs, huh?
There are a few high points scattered throughout the book, like gold nuggets in the mud. For example, Ecc 2:24-25 “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. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?”
We also have the famous “For every thing there is a season” passage, Ecc 3:1-8. “A time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant, a time to reap, a time to build, a time to tear down...” among other things.
Later in this book we find that God will eventually judge the good and the wicked. Only God, not us, can tell which is which, and the end for both is death. (People in this period in history did not have an understanding of heaven and hell.)
There are many more morose verses about how things-and striving for them-cannot make you happy. But then, like another gold nugget, we find Ecc 5:18. “Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward.”
More gold:
Ecc 7:14 “In the day of prosperity be happy, But in the day of adversity consider--God has made the one as well as the other so that man will not discover anything that will be after him.”
Ecc 10:19 (my new favorite verse) “Men prepare a meal for enjoyment, and wine makes life merry, and money is the answer to everything.” (If it’s in the Bible it must be true...)
The book almost ends with these words: Ecc 12:11-12 “The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.” (Anyone who has been to college will agree.)
That would have been a really depressing ending. Basically, “Life stinks, and then you die.” However, these are the last two verses of Ecclesiastes, 12:13-14 “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
Fear God and keep His commandments! Where have I heard that before?
A lot of things in Ecclesiastes don’t make any sense at all. But I think that’s the point. Lots of things in life just plain don’t make sense. It’s not all cut and dried, cause-and-effect like in Proverbs. Both the wicked and the righteous will perish. Sometimes nice guys really do finish last and it seems like one big game of chance. But we can take this away from Ecclesiastes: follow God, keep His commandments, and enjoy the cards you are dealt.
And a little wine never hurt anyone.
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