Ecclesiastes 5:1-3 comments: Solomon's warnings about worship

1 ¶  Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. 2  Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. 3  For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.

Solomon warns the faithful to be careful of their attitude when engaging in religious worship. It must be remembered that Solomon’s religion, the religion of the Jews, was a physical, temporal thing that revolved around a building, the temple, where worship was maintained, where God would meet with man. There was a sacred place set apart by God. The worship was physical revolving around hundreds of standards set down by God in the Law given to Moses for the Hebrews. The house of God in this context is a physical location.

Numbers 17:4  And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.

2Chronicles 7:1 ¶  Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house. 2  And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD’S house.

There are no sacred spaces in Christianity except in the believer’s heart. The Bible-believing Christian does not come to the church building to meet with God. He has God’s Spirit residing in him and his or her body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.

John 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

1Corinthians 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

The three parts of God abide in us by the Spirit which He has provided.

Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

The house of God in that context then is not a physical location as in one place where Christians meet. The definition of the house of God then is the family of God, the body of Christ. When the church, the called out believers meet together, wherever it is, there is the house of God.

Here is an Old Testament definition of house as family or dynasty.

Exodus 1:21  And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.

Genesis 46:27  And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.

Now, in the New Testament.

1Timothy 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

1Peter 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Notice Peter says, “us,” not it. We must remember that we set the church building apart, a building that did not exist in the physical world when the New Testament was lived and written, and it is special to us because we meet there to worship God. We can call it the house of God and talk about going to church rather than meeting with the church but we must always be careful of what we are thinking and also we must not confuse new believers with error based on the convenience of thought. Wherever the church meets, in a church building or  a store front or even in a home, there the house of God is.

It is not uncommon for us to say, “let God come down and walk among the pews,” but we must be aware that if God is not already in us then we are as lost as a goose in a horse race. More than walking among the pews (pews were a medieval creation) I would rather have God fill me with His Spirit which already abides in me.

Solomon says for those Jews of his day that when they go to the temple they should be more willing to listen than to speak rashly and foolishly, as that is evil. They were to come with an open heart and a closed mouth. This is applicable today in many ways. We should come to meet with the church with our minds attentive to what God wants to give us through the worship and the sermon. Face it, you often sit in front of the preacher with your mind filled with almost anything but what he is saying. We should ponder and consider what we hear and pray for guidance from God and not be too quick to speak and promise and demand.

Jesus Himself warns of repetitive, long-winded prayers that sound like so much pagan drivel. Before He gives His disciples an example, a model prayer, He says the following;

Matthew 6:7  But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8  Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

It is very disturbing to hear what is supposed to be a heartfelt appeal to or praise of God sound like a sermon to the congregation. Jesus spoke directly while speaking reverentially to God the Father without sounding like a lot of Christians sound, like a politician making an appeal for votes or an employee pleading for a raise or time off from work.

Solomon points out that we often have dreams because our minds are filled with unfinished business and the prayer of a fool sounds much like the confusing dream we have in the night, littered with so much mental rubbish. Sounds like he’s heard some really long-winded prayers that left him wondering what the point was. They may have been spoken because the king was present and the priest or petitioner wanted to sound spiritual to impress him. It didn’t work. Many Christians do the same today.

Ecclesiastes, chapter 4, comments

1 ¶  So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. 2  Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive. 3  Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

Life is full of oppressions committed by the powerful upon the weak. Even where a system is set up to avenge and assist the oppressed there is often corruption, even if only behind the scenes. As Stalin supposedly said that it doesn’t matter who votes but only who counts the votes so it is a logical thing to imagine that where there are great sums of money at stake and great power that the disposal of them is not going to be left any more to chance by those who have both than absolutely necessary.

In America many people have been bought off with a relatively comfortable standard of living so they are apathetic about the freedoms taken from them. What good is freedom if you are hungry and sick, it can be said. Other Americans are paid off by being offered a minimal standard of living from taxpayer funded government coffers where there is little or no opportunity to earn a living wage, as is often the case in Appalachia or the inner cities.

Over the last century or so we have come up with many laws and regulations to try to keep the common Joe or Josephine from being ripped off, manipulated, and exploited at work or in dealings with the business community. But, you can’t change human nature and wickedness and corruption are endemic even in countries with strong laws to protect the weak. Whether it be banks that foreclose on the homes of unsophisticated working people who have hit hard times and yet help criminals launder and hide money and avoid taxes or employers who cheat workers out of overtime or make them work in unsafe conditions it will just go on and on. Those are oppressed also who, by a culture of helplessness, are taught by government action to spend their lives with their hands out demanding payment just for existing without taking any action to better their own plight.

Solomon was aware in his time that it was impossible to stop oppression. Solomon, in the depths of his despair over the human condition, says that people are better off dead due to the oppressions of life and then goes on to even say those who had never been born in the first place are even more fortunate. I don’t think you can get any more negative than this.

4 ¶  Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit. 5  The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh. 6  Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.

Solomon goes on to discuss envy. An honest man, by toil and effort, lifts himself up and creates a business or is successful in his own trade, and people are envious of him.

Proverbs 27:4  Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

In an America that has been so corrupted by Marxist social theory it is often assumed that any man who achieves success is a crook, a charlatan, and cheat. Americans don’t think this of an actor whose livelihood depends on pretending to be someone he’s not, or a musician who can bang out almost any kind of trash if he can get someone’s ear, but they often think this of a businessman who has worked hard to be successful. Meanwhile, the fool in verse 5 is so unwilling to help himself, as he thinks badly of others who will help themselves, that he is likened to someone who eats his own flesh. So, he brings himself to ruin. In verse 6 Solomon says that it is better to have a little bit than to have much with overwork and stress. Another danger is expressed in the following;

Proverbs 30:7 ¶  Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: 8  Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: 9  Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

7 ¶  Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. 8  There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. 9  Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. 10  For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. 11  Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? 12  And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Here, Solomon points out, as Matthew Henry says in his commentary, the selfishness of a man who seeks only his own wealth and has no one in his close personal relations to depend on him. He is alone but greedy and never satisfied, the classic definition of the miserable miser.

Solomon expresses the ideal that a man should not be alone. Even in paradise being alone was not sufficient.

Genesis 2:18  And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet [meet = worthy, compare Matthew 3:8 with Luke 3:8 for word substitution] for him.

Having a fellow-laborer in life, in any endeavor, is always more helpful than going it alone. Two of us together working together are stronger than one alone.

One caution here can be brought up about a Christian who will not unite with even two or three other Christians in worship and Bible study regularly and thinks they can go it alone, just praying and reading their Bible. If you are alone, without the counsel of others, it is easy to fall into heresy, even to doubt your salvation. Whether you are attending a modern church, a face-to-face Bible study, or an internet discussion group speaking with other Christians, being taught and teaching, is important. It is difficult to go it alone.

A famous poet once wrote;

No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; 
It tolls for thee. (2)

Paul, as well, speaks at great length about the unity of Christians in the body of Christ and their separate abilities all joining together to form the body as he discusses spiritual gifts of the early church in 1Corinthians, chapter 12.

(2) John Donne, “No Man is an Island”, Poem Hunter, http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/no-man-is-an-island/ (accessed 2.11.2015).

13 ¶  Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished. 14  For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor. 15  I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead. 16  There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

For Solomon poverty and youth are to be preferred to foolishness in an old man who will not be corrected, who cannot be taught. This is particularly a tragedy if he is a ruler of his people. As Matthew Henry said in his widely available commentary on this section, “Nothing is more slippery than the highest post of honour without wisdom and the people’s love.”

Imagine that Solomon is referring here to Joseph, coming out of the Pharaoh’s prison, to rule.

Psalm 113:7  He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; 8  That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.

A king that is raised in the throne can become poor by his foolishness and refusal to concede to wise counsel. Think of Solomon’s own son, Rehoboam, in 1Kings, chapter 12.

A king must have an heir, as Matthew Henry noted, either his own son, who might be a fool, or the poor man who rises out of prison.

Solomon comments that a great many people have gone before and there will be a great many that come after. The people are fickle and those whom they admire and adore one day are despised the next. Note how the people welcomed Christ;

John 12: 12 ¶  On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,13  Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

And how quickly the people turned on Him;

John 19:14  And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! 15  But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

Solomon laments again as he does often that this is another empty, troubling of the spirit.

Ecclesiastes 3:16-22 comments: is a person any better off than an animal?

16 ¶  And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. 17  I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. 18  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. 19  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. 20  All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21  Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? 22  Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

Here are some of Solomon’s most negative and disturbing statements as he puts his thoughts down for posterity and God preserved them for us. Solomon has observed that in the world there is often great corruption and iniquity in the place of judgment. Magistrates whose job it was to dispense God’s justice and judgment could be bribed or have another agenda other than their assigned duties.

Deuteronomy 16:19  Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.

He also saw corruption in the realm of religion where so-called men of God practiced iniquity.

Jeremiah 23:11  For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.

Solomon was confident that God would judge both the righteous and the wicked.

Daniel 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

We know that those who reject God’s free offer of salvation through Christ will be judged by God at the great white throne.

Revelation 20:11 ¶  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Christians also have their time of judgment before the judgment seat of Christ.

Romans 14:10  But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

2Corinthians 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Solomon then says that men are no different than beasts, even that they are beasts. He says we have that commonality with all creatures. We die, as they do. He makes the disturbing statement that man is no better than an animal. We, like them, go into the ground and turn again to the elements from which we were created. Who knows, he says, whether the man’s spirit goes upward and the beast’s spirit goes down into the earth? Maybe both go to the same place.

Let’s look at this from the Bible. God created living things, beasts of the field and beasts of the forest, things that fly or fowls, and things that swim in the sea or fish. He had already created  prototypes in the spiritual, unseen world of heaven.

Ezekiel 1:4 ¶  And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. 5  Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. 6  And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. 7  And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. 8  And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. 9  Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. 10  As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. 11  Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies. 12  And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went. 13  As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. 14  And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

These are the cherubims. Please look at Ezekiel, chapters one and ten. Notice the word substitution between Ezekiel, chapter one and chapter ten, with cherub in 10:14 replacing ox in 1:10. A cherub is not a fat little baby floating on a cloud. It is a spiritual animal.

Ezekiel 10: 8 ¶  And there appeared in the cherubims the form of a man’s hand under their wings. 9  And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone. 10  And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel. 11  When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went. 12  And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had. 13  As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel. 14  And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. 15  And the cherubims were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar. 16  And when the cherubims went, the wheels went by them: and when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them. 17  When they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also: for the spirit of the living creature was in them. 18  Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims. 19  And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD’S house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. 20  This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.

These creatures are around the throne of God as well.

Revelation 4:6  And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. 7  And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

God created physical creatures that originated in the seas and then regenerated on the land.

Genesis 1:21  And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good…24  And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

A creature that is alive is one that breathes air, breath that God gives to them.

Genesis 6:17  And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

Genesis 7:15  And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life….22  All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

These creatures, of course, like us, have a body; animate, living flesh. Many of them, what men call higher animals, have a self-identity, a seat of will, and an understanding of their separateness from other creatures, which goes on forever from its initial creation, called a soul.

Job 12:10  In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

Numbers 31:28  And levy a tribute unto the LORD of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep…

Here, in verse 21 we have an acknowledgement that animals have a spirit. The rhetorical question that Solomon asks, for the sake of his argument, is who knows, who can see if the spirit of one goes up to God or the spirit of one expires upon its physical death? He is pointing out how, from a strictly temporal view, a view from this life alone, without any other instruction or understanding we have no way of knowing. His point is that for all he knows from what he sees a man or woman should just enjoy what God has given them in life because from his perspective there is nothing else. How will he even know what happens after him?

Here is a very important point and the danger of drawing conclusions from experience alone. Without God’s revelation of Himself through the teaching of the Holy Ghost man knows nothing, like an animal, but his immediate surroundings and the sensations he experiences through his or her experiences. Man, without the understanding that God can give to him, is no better than and has no more understanding than a dog.

He can be loyal, kind, loving, considerate, faithful, and helpful or he can be mean, hateful, violent, malicious, following the pack to trouble, and vile in his habits. In the end, though, no person has any understanding without God’s generous imparting of understanding. God gives understanding to mankind that He does not to the animals. No matter how intelligent I think my cat is, he is never going to balance my checkbook or demand to know angrily why a cup of coffee is so expensive.

Job 32:8  But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.

God gives the faith by which a person believes and is saved.

Ephesians 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Were it not for God’s choice human beings would be rolling in the mud just like any beast with no more thought for tomorrow or eternity than a pig. Of course, many are just like that and the  atheistic evolutionists would have you believe that is the way it should be. After all, to them, we are no better than a hog.

As we continue, Solomon keeps considering the great issues of life from the perspective of carnal man to show us how pointless an existence consumed by the thoughts of the flesh really is.

Ecclesiastes 3:11-15 comments: our finite minds

11 ¶  He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. 12  I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. 13  And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. 14  I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. 15  That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

God has made everything the way it is supposed to be. Sin, and the fall of man, has done the damage. Still, God has set finiteness in our hearts so that we cannot fully comprehend what God has done. The world, as in a system of things, as in a period of time, and as in the current condition is set in our heart’s understanding so that we are unable to comprehend eternity or God’s full plan. We are limited, constrained by our flesh and the narrow shortsighted focus that temporal beings have.

Deuteronomy 29:29  The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Solomon says that it is good for man to enjoy the fruits of his labor, which is the gift of God, in any event, and to do good. After all, there is nothing man can do to add to what God has done or to take away from it. God is in control and the wise man will fear and honor Him, acknowledging His sovereignty. Unfortunately, many people honor, like the Antichrist, a god of forces, impersonal, unknowing, and blind.

Daniel 11:38  But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.

 The past is present and the future is past in the eyes of God as He sees the world from the vantage point of eternity (Isaiah 57:15).

God calls men into account for what they have done. This is accepted in almost all religions of mankind that believe in a Creator God, that they will be called into account at some point.

The thought that God will require something as a response to man’s behavior is used throughout the Old Testament to speak of God’s calling into account just as the latter word is used in the New.

Examples from the Old Testament;

Deuteronomy 18:19  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

Psalm 10:13  Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.

And from the New;

Matthew 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

Romans 14:12  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Solomon acknowledged that mankind’s purpose is to enjoy the fruits of his labor that God has provided and to do good. Christians are also called to good works, not to get saved but because they are saved.

Ephesians 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

The good works that Christians are called to do in Paul’s writings have been surrendered to the government today so that fundamentalist minded do not think of doing good so much as in providing food, clothing, and shelter to their poorer brethren but only in seeing that their spiritual needs are met. However, there is a strong strain in the writings of the New Testament that a great deal of our service to God is in meeting the physical needs of the poor, aged, fatherless, and helpless along with their spiritual needs.

Solomon is saying it is what it is, you might as well enjoy what you’ve gotten, what God has given you and do good. There is nothing you can do to change the overall scheme of things, nothing at all. You cannot even begin to understand the eternal perspective that God has, who sees it all; past, present, and future as if it is already happened. And God will call into account what you’ve done.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-10 comments: the confusion of dualism

1 ¶  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3  A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4  A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5  A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6  A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7  A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8  A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. 9  What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? 10  I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

There was a rhythm to life, as Solomon saw it, as he looked around at his kingdom and his world. Things which appear to be contradictions come about in their turn. Living and dying, planting and reaping, killing and healing, tearing down and building, weeping and laughing, mourning and rejoicing, etc. etc. all have their place under God’s direct or permissive will. There is nothing so sinister or evil on earth that God has not either permitted to happen or caused to happen for reasons most often unknown to us. If God did not permit evil to happen then He would not be God, but a weak figment of our imagination and desire for peace, comfort, and safety in our lives.

Isaiah 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

He permits one to express that person’s evil, malicious, and wicked nature by committing violence on another. This will show, at the final judgment, that His judgment is perfect and just in an absolute sense. He permits the victim to defend themselves against the attack. He allows mankind to express his highest motives in acts of kindness, sacrifice, and charity and also permits that same mankind to be a vicious, nasty perpetrator of malice and spite.

What is the point of humanity’s efforts? God has given us all the work of all things that we may be proven by it and our true self revealed.

Jeremiah 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Every day has its share of pleasure and pain, joy and trouble.

Matthew 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Conservative Christians await the translation or rapture of the church to remove it from the world and often ask why, like every generation of Bible believers before them, why it has not happened yet. But, as God promised Abraham’s descendants a heritage of land He pointed out that something had to fill up before they could claim it.

Genesis 15:16  But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

As these things that Solomon mentioned circle and whirl around in a seemingly endless pattern, if you can call it a pattern from our perspective, and history repeats itself over and over, mankind is approaching the tipping point, the fill point, where the lid is off the boiling pot, which is what Revelation is, in a manner of speaking. The lid is coming off the pot to reveal the full extremity of what has been brewing. Prophecy lovers talk constantly about what has to happen before the end comes as they have been doing for a thousand years. But, all that has to happen is for God to declare that it is finished. No more. Mankind’s rebellion under Satan’s deception will have reached the end.

Solomon sees a world, a life, a system where everything has its place, good and bad. These verses do not, as some idiots say, justify killing, destruction, and bad behavior. They simply acknowledge that this is the way it is, as Solomon observes it.

Were God not completely in control of every event, either in its direct command or by His permission, allowing Satan, as in the Book of Job, to exercise his malice and hatred for us then things like the Sermon on the Mount would make no sense and neither would the letters Paul wrote to the churches. But, as it is, God calls His people to stand out from the crowd in acknowledging Him and His authority and sovereignty and, in obedience.

Christianity has been polluted with a platonic moral dualism throughout its history. Just as a dualist says that cold is merely the absence of heat or darkness the absence of light, the moral dualist will say that evil is the absence of God in spite of the verse quoted previously, Isaiah 45:7, and others like it. They will say that Hell is the absence of God in spite of the Bible’s clear statement;

Psalm 139:8  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

Dualism has God as a bystander who witnesses a mugger, the Devil, attack one of His people and then He intervenes to protect His man or woman. This is nonsense. In the universe painted by the Bible God gives the Devil permission to attack and then stops Him when the attack has gone far enough or limits Him beforehand as to how far He may go, and the Devil must obey.

Dualism came into Judaism and Roman Catholic Christianity not only from Greek philosophy but from the Persian religion, Zoroastrianism, which talked about a good force and a bad force, a good god and a bad god, good angels and bad angels.(1) In this philosophy of Christian belief the absolute sovereignty of God in all matters is destroyed, as is the faith of many who do not understand why, in a world supposedly governed by their God, bad things happen to good people.

Verse 10 says again, “I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.”

Theological dualism is confusion and inconsistent with clear, Bible focused doctrine. It will destroy your faith if you practice it.

Solomon has seen the power and the glory of God in all matters, no matter how small or personal. Nothing he did could change any of it. He continues with the deepest theological treatise outside of Job, something that can help us all in our walk with an all-powerful God through the, “express image of his person,” who is Christ. (Hebrews 1:3)

(1) Mike Clegg, “Dualism Through the Lens of Perception,” Absolute Reconciliation Ministries, http://www.absolute-reconciliation.org/dualism_1.html (accessed 2.5.2015). E.P. Sanders, The Historical Figure of Jesus (New York: Penguin, 1995),  Kindle Edition.

Ecclesiastes 2:17-26 comments: Solomon disgusted by life's struggles

17 ¶  Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. 18  Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. 19  And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity. 20  Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun. 21  For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22  For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? 23  For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity. 24  There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. 25  For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I? 26  For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Eve, the first human mother and wife, had been deceived by her passion for three things when confronted by Satan in the guise of a serpent, a dragon, beautiful to behold and covered with glory. See Ezekiel 28:12-19 in a comparison likening the King of Tyre to the spoiler of the universe which affords us an immediate prophecy about a man along with a description of Satan’s fall from grace in the Bible’s classic conservation of words, with descriptions often having multiple layers of application and meaning. These things came from within Eve when Satan uttered his famous words, “Yea, hath God said?”

Genesis 3:6 ¶  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Three things are present here; the lust of the flesh in that she saw the tree was desirable for food, the lust of the eyes in that the fruit, whatever it was, was pleasing in appearance, and the pride of life in that she would gain wisdom and understanding above her current knowledge. These three things Christians are warned about by the Apostle, John.

1John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Solomon denied himself nothing and consumed everything he desired. None of these things gave him the satisfaction he craved. There was still this unsettling feeling, this gnawing of uneasiness and dissatisfaction. He grew to hate life. His search of wisdom, material possessions, and pleasure did nothing for him but make him feel spent and used.

Solomon despised all of the work that he had done and held all of his efforts in contempt because for any pleasure he would gain by them was overshadowed by the fact that he was doomed to one day die and the man who came after him would enjoy the fruit of his efforts, his labor.

Whether wise or a fool, the person who was next to come along and enjoy the things he had worked hard for, would have them anyway.  Solomon’s labor was in the search of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge and the thought that he might leave it to a willful moron, which he did by the way, disturbed him to no end.

For all of the sleepless nights and days of stress and struggle there seemed not to Solomon any point to it. Remember, he had armed men surrounding his bed so that he, the king, could sleep in safety, sort of like your alarm system backed up by the handgun in your night stand.

Song of Solomon 3:7 ¶  Behold his bed, which is Solomon’s; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel. 8  They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.

We learn to live in fear without even thinking about it although it has its effect. How well would you sleep surrounded by armed retainers all night long?

Solomon concluded here that there was nothing better for a man to do than to enjoy the fruits of his efforts that God provided him. He acknowledged God’s hand in the bounty that he enjoyed. God gives to the man or woman who understands that good things come from God, not only wisdom and knowledge but joy. On the other hand, the person who does not honor God will, in his hard work, lay up treasures that, perhaps, will be used by a good person after the sinner is gone from the earth.

Things come full circle, Solomon said. The wise man and the fool both come to the same place in the end and who knows but that the wise man will lay up earthly benefits that a fool, who comes after him, will enjoy. Even the sinner’s fruit of his labor, often, is enjoyed by a wise and good man after he is gone.

It was frustrating to Solomon because of how our own efforts do not seem to play a big part in the outcome. Whether we are good or bad, a wise man or a fool, whatever we do in this world for ourselves and for the world appears to have little value. It certainly does not help us in eternity.

Ecclesiastes 2:12-16 comments: which is better, wisdom or folly?

12 ¶  And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done. 13  Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. 14  The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. 15  Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. 16  For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.

Solomon turned wisdom and foolishness, being wise or being mad, over in his head and as he thought about those things he realized that no one who would come after him would do any better than he did. He had everything a man could possibly want and yet he still felt it did not answer the questions that plagued his soul.

He understood that wisdom was better than the foolishness he pursued by far. The common Christian has answers that Solomon did not. Paul told us;

Philippians 2:3  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4  Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Solomon’s introspection, his focus on the pursuit of the questions to his answers, was not satisfying. Although wisdom is certainly better than the folly of wine and excess and sin, for the Christian, satisfaction must come in the pursuit of the needs of others, and in their benefit. None of us will ever be truly happy if we seek our own wisdom only. For Christ is our wisdom.

1Corinthians 1:24  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God…30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

The answers to our soul’s hunger for satisfaction must come in the service of others for Christ. We will never be happy serving ourselves only. Seeking knowledge and wisdom by itself alone will never produce the feeling of fulfillment that man and woman desires. The monk in the monastery, the everyday Christian huddled over his Bible or in prayer, cannot hope to know the contentment and peace that comes from acts of service in Christ’s name.

Mark 9:41  For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.

We need to commune with and have fellowship with our Lord through His word and prayer. But, at some point we must leave our Jerusalem and encounter a lost world for Him. We must engage our mission field or we will never find satisfaction as a Christian.

Our mission field is our family, our coworkers, our neighbors, all first, and then strangers we meet randomly. It is the difficult relative who is skeptical about your beliefs. It is the coworker whose wife left him, the neighbor who has lost a child, and the stranger with the worried look on his face at the gas pump. A good, Christian mother is the classic example of this as she serves her children and their children, perhaps, her entire life, selflessly, putting her own comfort and health aside to move them forward, always talking about her love for Christ. The man in the church family who quietly goes about helping others and making himself available for the assistance they need but cannot obtain on their own is another example. These are only two and there are many others.

A pursuit of knowledge and wisdom and understanding by itself is no knowledge, wisdom, or understanding at all if they are not bound up in mercy and the ministry of reconciliation with Almighty God. Trust me, I am the classic bad example of the person who has used knowledge as a shield, wisdom as a cloak, and understanding as a panic room to protect myself from confrontation and facing my own personal failings.

Solomon could see that, initially, he was better off being wise than being a fool. But, in the end, both the wise and the foolish wind up in the same grave. One is no better off than the other. If you have been a wise person your whole life, prudent, careful in the things you do and cautious in the things you allow, always using your head in every situation and being disciplined in every way, you will still wind up dying like any fool who burnt out their body in wine, food, and excess. In a relatively short period of time you will not be remembered any more than the fool who you think is living stupidly.