Lesson 8
Ecclesiastes
The Things That Don't
Work!
2:24-26
Solomon gives us here our first incite into DVPT what he's come to learn after all the
experiences of life he had pursued seeking satisfaction and happiness.
I
believe that this is an indication that he is writing from the vantage point of
spiritual recovery.
Corrected
TXLN: There is not good (tobh - no comparative = inherent good) in man (adham - natural) that he should be able to eat or drink
and get satisfaction from his labor. Even this, I have seen is from the hand of
God (His provision).
There
is quit a difference, instead of citing a hedonistic, materialistic philosophy
of life which would effectively cut God out of the picture of one's life, he is
saying that even the simple mundane routine things of life like eating and
drinking are gifts from the gracious hand of God.
For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?
- If one is to find true happiness and enjoyment in life
they must develop a relationship with the living God who is the only source of this
enjoyment
For to a person who is good in His sight - by God's STD
- the one who is good is the experientially righteous man; one
who is justified by faith and exemplifying that righteousness in his life
before others.
He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy,
- wisdom which is linked to reverence for God and His
Word
- Prov 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
- Prov 2:6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
out of His mouth comes knowledge and
understanding.
- knowledge - emph on knowing what is right and wrong – having a
conscience built on DVPT, God's STD’s
- joy - contentment with our
place in God's will and with what we have in our niche at that moment.
The Contrast:
while to the sinner (unregenerate - living their life under the sun) He has given
the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in
God's sight.
- Another way to define the sinner is one who does not fear
God; does not reverence or respect God and His word - does not take it seriously (8:12-13)
This too is vanity and striving after wind.
The provision is there for the sinner to break this pattern
by coming to know God himself and to please Him and then he
too would receive the ability to find joy and satisfaction in all of life just
as the one who fears God has found.
OBSERVATIONS
1. There is nothing inherently good in man. (All have sinned
and fall short of the glory - essence character the +R std
of God)
The
"good" one is the one who is righteous before God - who stands
justified before Him by means of faith in Lord Jesus Christ.
2. With a personal relationship with the Living God thru His
Son all of life is meaningful - has purpose. (this is
Life above the sun)
3. It is God alone, not things or human wisdom, who gives satisfaction
and joy in life. (+H)
4. Part of the distortion - deception of sin nature is to
get us to believe that it's the world - kosmos system
- that is the source of enjoyment in life and God who clubs us if we want to
have fun.
5. God uses the labor of UnBel'rs
for the believer's benefit in time.
- Prov 13:22; Job 27:16-17
6. God can turn even a little into +H for the believer
applying His word.
- Ps
37:16; Prov 15:16; 16:8; Phil 4:10-13; 1 Tim 6:6
CHAPTER Three
INTRO:
This
is probably the most quoted and the most familiar section of Eccl.
God
has established order in the world. Observation of the universe and all the
natural laws demonstrate that.
Not
only did he establish order in the World, He also has a plan, He is in control
of history.
OUTLINE:
1. 3:1-15 Thesis is
stated and illustrated: God has a plan that embraces every person, and takes
into account all
their actions in life.
2. 3:16 - 4:16 The anomalies and apparent contradictions in his thesis are
examined and reflected upon.
In 3:1 Solomon states the thesis then illustrates it with 14
pairs of polar opposites.
Solomon is affirming that all a person's activities, both
constructive and destructive, and all his responses to people, objects and
events occur in their times - are in fact taken into account by God's plan.
This list gives us experiences that each of us can
reasonably expect to occur in our allotment of time.
3:1 There is an
appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven--
No
matter who we are everyday we all have the same amount of time.
What
is important no matter what the occurrence that is in view from this list is
your relationship with God, both positionally and experientially.
Observations
1. In any activity if
you are in sync with the POG then you will have contentment. (not true of the
unbeliever or the reversionist)
2. Time is designed for our benefit.
QUOTE:
(unknown author) "Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you want,
but you can spend it only once."
3. A loving God wants
us to enjoy all the legitimate pleasures of life within our allotted time. (His
justice will let you know when its not legit)
4. Definition of
time: a stretch of duration, a measurable period, in which things happen --
good things, bad things, profitable, unprofitable things, time is significant, in a sense it is
very rare because it is irretrievable once spent.
3:2 A time to give
birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
-
Timing is everything when it comes to agriculture.