12/15/15. Ecclesiastes 1-2

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1 1 2 12/15/15 Ecclesiastes 1-2 We begin in our journey through Ecclesiastes and pray that God will give us understanding that will produce wisdom in our lives lest we think ourselves the exception to the clear warnings in the book of attempting to find satisfaction and fulfillment in life apart from Jesus Christ. The first eleven verses provide for us the prologue much like John s gospel in the first eighteen verses. Then the introduction follows in verses twelve through eighteen. And then he begins the process of his experiment in chapter two to chapter twelve verse eight. The final thing is the epilogue, from verse nine of chapter twelve to the end. 1:1-11 The prologue. 1:1 He identifies himself by a three-fold manner. 1) He calls himself as the Preacher his present office. a) The words Preacher koheleth has as it s root meaning, to assemble or gather an assembly in order to address it. b) The word is used seven times in Ecclesiastes. Eccl. 1:1, 2, 12; 7:27; 12:8, 9,10 c) The word describes the office being exercised at the time of the writing. d) The function of Solomon the Preacher is for the purpose of teaching, therefore some have translated it the teacher. Eccl. 12:9 2) He was the son of David through Bathsheba yet he had other sons born to him in Hebron and in Jerusalem where he reigned. 1Chron. 3:1-9 3) He is the king of Jerusalem. Eccl. 1:12 1:2 The proclamation of the books theme. 1) Solomon declares that all is vanity. 2) Solomon s perception is the expression of life lived out through the eye of a person without God. a) The word vanity hebel means vapor, or breath. * The repetition of it adds emphasis to it s meaning and point. b) The word is the same used for the name of Adam and Eve s son Abel. Is. 57:13; Prov. 21:6 - The noun form appears seventy-one times in the Old Testament.

2 3 4 - Thirty-eight of those are found in the book of Ecclesiastes, over half and the only chapter that it does not appear is chapter ten. c) The word is used by Solomon to mean, that which is unsatisfying, a waste of time, frustration, absurd, useless or of no profit.- The context must be considered to gain the appropriate meaning. - The other expression that is equivalent to it is grasping for the wind. Eccl. 1:14, 17; 2:17 1:3 The word profit yithrown mans advantage, benefit, sense or goal. 1) The word appears only six times in Ecclesiastes, 14 with it s cognate form. Eccl. 1:3; 2:11; 3:9; 5;9, 16; 7:11 2) The expression under the sun is used by Solomon to indicate life here on earth apart from God and on the earthly pain. * The phrase is key to the book as much as the term vanity, in fact they can not be separated in the book! 3) The word toil amal means misery, travail, and energy expended. * The word appears twenty times in the book. Eccl. 1:3, 8; 2:10, 11, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24; 3:13; 4:8, 9; 5:15, 18, 19; 6:7; 8:15, 17; 9:9; 10:15 1:4-7 Solomon views life as one monotonous cycle that just goes on and on as senseless and useless activity. 1) The masses of people is replaced by the next generation. vs. 4 2) The sun repeats it s daily cycle but nothing changes. vs. 5 3) The wind currents are constant yet for what purpose. vs. 6 4) The hydrological cycle is ongoing. vs. 7 1:8-11 The conclusion of the matter. 1) Man is unable to understand or explain completely and is wearisome to man. vs. 8 2) There is nothing new under the son. vs ) The people of the past are forgotten very quickly and so will be by the future generations. vs. 11 1:12-18 The introduction to the book. 1:12 The identity of Solomon for the second time. 1:13-18 Solomon s pursuit was like that of a scientist to observe and document yet in disobedience God s word. 1) Under heaven is synonymous to under the sun. vs. 13

3 5 6 2) He attested the vanity or emptiness and compares it to grasping for the wind, fleeting and impossible to satisfy apart from God. vs. 14 * Another phrase synonymous to vanity. 3) He declares impossibility of man changing apart from God. vs. 15 a) The crooked, is sin-nature or falseness of man. b) The lacking is the unexplainable issues of life that natural man can not know or the believer in all the things of God. 4) He gives his qualifications for such an endeavor. vs. 16 * This is wisdom on the earthly plain of the natural man. 5) The conclusion from the beginning is stated, grasping for the wind, grief and increased sorrow. vs * The process begins, Eccl. 2:1-12:8 2:1-11 The dissatisfaction of pleasure. 2:1-3 The word to test nacah means to prove, to attempt to verify the claims by his own personal experience or expose them as false claims. 1) Mirth means happiness, he concluded that it in and of itself accomplishes nothing. vs.1 2) Pleasure means what is pleasant or agreeable and he concluded that it in and of itself was vanity, senseless and unsatisfying in life. vs. 1 3) Laughter, he said is madness, for no one can live laughing all the time. vs. 2 4) Wine equally was a waste by implication of the entire section. vs * While guiding my heart with wisdom in attempt to observe and evaluate! a) A little sorrow makes us better and more mature Christians. Eccl. 7:3-4; Ja. 4:9-10 b) A life of pleasure blinds us from knowing that we are dead while we are alive. 1Tim. 5:6 2:4 Solomon was a great builder. 1) He built the Temple. 1Kings 6 2) He built houses for himself. 1Kings 6:37-7:7 * Thirteen years for his own house and seven for the Lord s! 3) He built houses for his pagan wives. 4) He married pagan wives and built places of worship for them on the Mount of Olives. 1kings 11:1-8 a. His wives turned his heart from God when he was old. 1kings 11:4 b. His kingdom was taken from him. 1kings11: ) He built many other things. 1kings 9:15-28

4 7 8 2:5-6 Solomon was a horticulturist among his other talents of poet, song writer, botanist, biologist, zoologist, etc. 1kings 4:32-33 * These would be worthless without adequate watering systems of receivers and canals! 2:7 His house was enormous. 1) Solomon s provisions for one day is staggering. 1kings 4: ) Solomon s personal setting without servants was 1,000 wives plus children and himself. 3) Servants and herds was a way to measure a man s wealth. 4) Solomon s administration is listed for us. 1kings 4:1-19 2:8 The wealth of Solomon is beyond imagination. 1) The gold alone is recorded for us. 1kings 10: ) The ontrepeneure Solomon had a horse and chariot business going from Egypt. 1kings 4:26; 10:28-29 * Solomon went against the word of God. Deut. 17: :9 Solomon did excel all before him in Jerusalem and he was the wisest. 1) It is amazing the wisdom God can give to a man for the ministry and yet he can be so foolish in his own life s decisions without seeking God! 2) Solomon forgot that the wisdom was by God s soveriegn choosing and not his own ability! 2:10 Solomon knew no restraint during this time of his life in whatever he set out to do. * The parable of the rich fool. Lk. 12: :11 Solomon s conclusion regards to these first experiments was that they were vain, not lasting and of no benefit for they serve only man not God. 2:12-17 Solomon compares wisdom to folly 2:12 Solomon turns now to the man that succeeds the king will end up doing what the previous king did, for they are both sinful and imperfect. * Wisdom based on the natural man not God s. Job. 28:28; Ps. 90:12; Prov. 1:7; 9:10 2:13 Solomon then makes a distinction between wisdom and folly and compares the excellence as light to darkness.

5 9 10 2:14 The wise man has perception and understanding while the fool does not yet they both end up dead. 2:15 He concluded that this also was vanity! 2:16 The wise man and the fool both end up in the same place, through death they perish due to living apart from God! 2:17 The conclusion was the he hated life, it s senselessness and futility by every attempt to be satisfied through these endeavors apart from God. 2:18-23 The vanity of accumulating wealth for wealth s sake. 2:18 First Solomon detested life due to the fact that all he had built and accumulated would have to be left to the man who would come after him. 2:19 Solomon s thoughts were that there was no guarantee that he would be wise and maybe a fool. * He was a fool, his son Raoboam. 1kings 12:16-19; 14: ) All my labors. 2) I toiled. 3) I have showed myself wise under the sun. 4) This also is vanity. 2:20-21 Second the awareness of this turned his heart to despair. 1) He had labored, toiled through knowledge and wisdom and skill to achieve it. 2) He would leave it to someone who had not labored for it. 2:22-23 The ultimate question in Solomon s mind is, what is the benefit of all the labor expended in sorrow and grief night and day! * His conclusion is VANITY! 2:24-26 The reflective council for one s hard labor. 2:24 Man should enjoy the fruit of his labor. 1) This does not mean that he is to consume everything on himself. 2) This does not mean that he is not to live in contentment. Phil. 4:13; 1Tim. 6:6-8 3) This does not mean that he is not to be a good steward. 4) This does not mean he does not leave an inheritance for his children. Prov. 13:22 * It is God who has given to him all that he has!

6 2:25 Solomon acknowledges that the only way to enjoy this basic blessings is only with God. * The phrase more than I, means apart from God. 2:26 God makes a distinction between the saint and the sinner and imparts to his own. Ja. 1:5; 3:13-18 * This is also vanity and grasping for the wind! 11 12