Solomon's Pessimism

[Webers_Home]

-
Hello; and welcome to a journey thru the Old Testament book of
Ecclesiastes.

Afterlife opponents often quote the book of Ecclesiastes; which is a fatal
error because proof texts related to the afterlife drawn from this book of are
inadmissible; and the reason is very simple.

Ecclesiastes isn't a book of divine revelation, but rather, a book of
humanistic philosophy; and though a holy man wrote Ecclesiastes, and was
no doubt divinely motivated to do so; he didn't record his observations from
the perspective of an enlightened man who's privy to knowledge beyond the
scope of empirical evidence and human experience; but rather, he recorded
his observations from the perspective of a man under the sun; viz: a down
to earth thinking man whose perception of reality is moderated by what he
can see going on around him in the physical universe; and that's why Bible
students find so much material in Ecclesiastes contrary to the doctrines of
traditional Christianity.

Men under the sun who think for themselves typically find the book of
Ecclesiastes to be spot-on in agreement with their own philosophy of life;
and no mystery there since Ecclesiastes is primarily an evaluation of life on
earth as seen from the earth rather than an evaluation of life on earth as
seen from heaven.

Another thing to keep in mind when studying Ecclesiastes is that just
because people's statements are recorded in a sacred text does not make
their statements eo ipso true; for example Eve’s response to the Serpent.

"And he said to the woman: Indeed, has God said you shall not eat from any
tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent: From the fruit of the
trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the
middle of the garden, God has said you shall not eat from it or touch it, lest
you die." (Gen 3:1-3)

Was Eve telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth? No. God forbad
them to eat the fruit, yes, but He didn’t forbid them to touch it. (cf. Gen
2:16-17)

The Serpent’s response was untrue too.

"And the serpent said to the woman: You shall not surely die." (Gen 3:4)

Did Eve die? As far as we know; yes, Eve did eventually pass away.

The conversation between Eve and the Serpent is no doubt on record
because God wanted it so; but there are untruths in their statements.
Solomon's worldly philosophy of life is a lot like that; in other words:
Ecclesiastes isn't necessarily totally wrong just because it's an earthly point
of view, nor is it necessarily totally correct just because it contains a kernel
of truth. No, the danger is that Solomon's philosophy, like most all
philosophy, contains just enough truth to make it misleading. Caveat Lector.

/

 

[Webers_Home]

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Ecclesiastes 1:1-3


● Ecc 1:1 . .The words of Koheleth son of David, king in Jerusalem.

Koheleth is apparently a transliteration rather than a translation. The
Hebrew word is qoheleth (ko-heh'-leth) which means: an assembly gatherer
(i.e. a lecturer). A qoheleth assembler isn't a mechanic on a factory
assembly line, but rather, someone who assembles a group together for a
speech, a seminar, or classroom situation.

Christ was a koheleth. Just about everywhere he went, Jesus set up a soap
box and drew crowds.

The lecturer obviously isn't female because Koheleth was a son of David and
a king in Jerusalem. Sons and kings are eo ipso male.

Tradition accredits Ecclesiastes to David's son Solomon, the brightest
intellectual of his day because of the abundance of his God-given wisdom.
None of the other descendants of David ever matched Solomon's intellect.
He may not have been much of a soldier, but Solomon had no equals in
matters of scholarship.

"Yhvh endowed Solomon with wisdom and discernment in great measure,
with understanding as vast as the sands on the seashore. Solomon's wisdom
was greater than the wisdom of all the Kedemites and than all the wisdom of
the Egyptians. He was the wisest of all men: [wiser] than Ethan the
Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalkol, and Darda the sons of Mahol. His fame
spread among all the surrounding nations.

. . . He composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered one
thousand and five. He discoursed about trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to
the hyssop that grows out of the wall; and he discoursed about beasts,
birds, creeping things, and fishes. Men of all peoples came to hear
Solomon's wisdom, [sent] by all the kings of the earth who had heard of his
wisdom." (1Kgs 5:9-14)

Solomon's education would most likely be categorized as Liberal Arts in our
day; which is a pretty broad field of study consisting of a variety of subjects.

● Ecc 1:2-3 . . Utter futility!-- said Koheleth --Utter futility! All is
futile! What real value is there for a man in all the gains he makes
beneath the sun?

He has a point. What does it benefit people "beneath the sun" to amass a
fortune, build an empire, accumulate knowledge, possessions, education,
accolades, achievements, and experience when they're only going to die and
lose every single bit of it? Here's a humorous epitaph that quite says it all:

Here lies John Racket,
In his wooden jacket.
He kept neither horses
Nor mules.
He lived like a hog,
And died like a dog;
And left his money to fools.

/

 

[amadeus]

Consider that this book, Ecclesiastes speaks to us of the ways of man when he dwells without God. In the case of a Spirit filled believer this book also describes a person who is following the "old man" mentioned by the apostle Paul. We should not, but we do quench the Holy Spirit of God in us and when we do the result is not a good one. James in the book bearing his name speaks of double minded men and one side of that double minded man can be seen in Ecclesiastes. The other side is the Jesus in us working [when allowed to work] to kill the old man and the old man's ways in us, so we may approach the place where are like Jesus and are able to see Him as He is.

 

[Webers_Home]

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Ecclesiastes 1:1-8
Continuing from post #2


● Ecc 1:4 . . One generation goes, another comes, but the earth
remains the same forever.

Solomon didn't intend for anyone to take his comment to mean that the
earth is eternal. No, within context, he only meant that the earth outlasts
everybody; viz: compared to human life the earth is permanent while all of
us are transient.

It's quite humiliating to realize that a mindless lump of granite with an IQ of
zero, and whose personal accomplishments amount to absolutely nothing,
will easily outlive the finest minds and the most energetic movers and
shakers who ever existed. The rock of Gibraltar, for example, was here
before Plato, Alexander the Great, Darwin, Beethoven, Einstein, Eli Whitney,
Edwin Hubble, Jonas Salk, and Steve Jobs; and the rock of Gibraltar was still
here after they all died. It will still be here after you are dead too.
Shakespeare once said: All the world's a stage. He was so right. Actors come
and go, but the stage is always there; ready for a new cast.

It's just not fair. People are much smarter, more sophisticated, and far
more valuable than anything on the planet. But the planet itself-- mute,
ignorant, and impersonal --endures forever; while its superiors die and drop
off all the time. In the grand scheme of things, Man's tenure on the planet is
but for a fleeting moment; then he's gone and forgotten; washed away. For
the vast majority of people, it will be as though they were never here at all.
The planet was doing just fine before they got here, and it will go on doing
just fine after they're gone. In point of fact the Earth would do better if
everyone were gone so that nature could be given time to rectify all the
damages that man has inflicted upon it.

● Ecc 1:5 . .The sun rises, and the sun sets-- and glides back to
where it rises.

Sounds like Orphan Annie-- "The Sun-ull come owwwwt too-maw-row.
Betcher bottum doll-ler that too-maw-rohhhhh, thair-ull be Sun." (chuckle)
Annie has it pegged. Maybe clouds block the Sun from view now and then,
but the clouds can never stop the Sun from coming up; nor stop it from
going down either. The Sun always comes up, and it always goes down--
there's always day, and there's always night

● Ecc 1:6 . . Southward blowing, turning northward, ever turning
blows the wind; on its rounds the wind returns.

Solomon perceived that winds are cyclonic; and he's right. The Earth's air
currents don't move straight ahead like waves roaring in on the beach. No,
they circulate. High pressure areas move air into low pressure areas. And
the winds never blow just once. They keep coming back to blow all over
again.

● Ecc 1:7 . . All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to
the place [from] which they flow the streams flow back again.

Solomon was pretty doggone savvy about hydrology. It's true. All streams
flow towards the sea (duh! gravity makes water flow downhill, and most
landmasses are above the level of the sea), but the water doesn't stay
there. It returns to the land masses again via evaporation and snow, and
rain, and hail, in a perpetual cycle.

● Ecc 1:8 . . All such things are wearisome: no man can ever state
them; the eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear enough of
hearing.

Science is fun. But there is just too much for one man to learn in his
lifetime. Even those who specialize in only one branch, like astronomy, or
biology, or chemistry, never really get it all. They are ever grasping for more
knowledge, but it eludes them. Then they die and someone else comes along
to pick up where they left off and continue the search.

A new 8.7 billion-dollar space telescope, said to be many times more
powerful than the Hubble, dubbed the James Webb Space Telescope (a.k.a.
JWSP) is on track for launch in 2018. What for? Only because Man's eyes
never have enough seeing, and his ears never have enough hearing. He
presses on for more and more knowledge because he just has to know. The
quest for knowledge becomes the entire reason and motivation for missions
like the JWSP. It's being built and launched simply for the purpose of
discovery.

Nobel Prize winner, author of several best-selling books, and recipient of at
least a dozen honorary degrees, Physicist Steven Weinberg (who views
religion as an enemy of science), in his book, The First Three Minutes,
wrote: "The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it seems
pointless. But if there is no solace in the fruits of our research, there is at
least some consolation in the research itself . . The effort to understand the
universe is one of the very few things that lifts human life a little above the
level of a farce and gives it some of the grace of tragedy."

What a dismal appraisal. To a brilliant, secular man like Mr. Weinberg, the
human experience is an exercise in futility. The quest for knowledge seems
the only thing that gives humanity any purpose to exist at all.

/

 

[Webers_Home]

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Ecclesiastes 1:9-11


● Ecc 1:9 . . Only that shall happen which has happened, only that
occur which has occurred; there is nothing new beneath the sun!

Solomon noticed that nature has yet to reinvent itself; and yet to break it's
own habits. The tide always comes in, and it always goes out. The sun
always rises and it always sets-- there's always a day followed by a night.
The wind blows past us, and eventually returns to do it again. In the Spring,
leaves appear on trees, and in Autumn, they die and drop off-- every year.
In the Winter it's cold, in the Summer it's hot-- always. It rains one day, it
clears; and another day the rains return to do it all over again. Every year in
the woods, little frogs lay eggs in vernal pools. Their pollywogs grow into
more frogs who in turn will lay their own eggs in the very same vernal pools
the following year. Birds fly south for the Winter, and birds fly north for the
Summer

Every 27.3217 Earth days the moon completes one of its own sidereal days,
and every 29.5307 Earth days it completes one of its own lunar months; the
meanwhile always showing us the very same face; never the other side. For
twelve months, the Sun appears to travel along the ecliptic through each of
the constellations of the Zodiac. When it gets back to the Vernal Equinox,
does it then change course and take a new path? No. It will go right back
through every one of those very same twelve signs all over again.

While my wife and I were gazing at a planetary alignment of Jupiter, Saturn,
Venus, Mars, and Mercury some time ago, it occurred to me that I was
looking up at a universe virtually the same as the one that the Egyptians
looked up at during construction of the Pyramids. They saw the very same
stars, and the very same five naked-eye planets more than 4,000 years ago.
Political climates, wars, disease, economic ups and downs, death and life--
none of that has influenced the circuits of those five planets. They
methodically, silently, and religiously go about their business indifferent to
Man's problems; constantly circling the sun and haven't changed their
behavior one single bit since the day their creator hung them out there.

Through our Nikon FieldScope, we saw four of Jupiter's largest moons: Io,
Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede. Those very same four moons were circling
Jupiter on the night that Galileo discovered them with his crude 20x
telescope in 1609 AD. Can you guess what those moons were doing 400
years ago back in Galileo's day? The very same thing they are doing now:
orbiting Jupiter. And can you guess what Jupiter was doing in Galileo's day?
That’s right; the very same thing it does now: orbiting the sun. Nature is
truly in a rut.

● Ecc 1:10-11 . . Sometimes there is a phenomenon of which they
say, "Look, this one is new!"-- it occurred long since, in ages that
went by before us. The earlier ones are not remembered; so too
those that will occur later will no more be remembered than those
that will occur at the very end.

When Man discovers something new in nature, it’s best to keep in mind that
the new thing he discovered didn't come into existence the day he found out
about it. No, it was there all the time. He just didn't know about it yet. Like
coal and uranium. Did Man invent those? No. Did he invent petroleum? Did
he invent tectonic plates? Did he invent galaxies? Did he invent quasars? Did
he invent genes? Did he invent DNA? Did he invent electromagnetic waves?
No. Did he invent electricity? No. Did he invent gravity? Did he invent
magnetism? Did he invent molecules? No, No, No, No. All those things are
discoveries, not inventions.

It’s true that Man often manipulates nature to create things like super sweet
corn, lasers, penicillin, plastic, cardboard, aluminum foil, gasoline, and
nitroglycerine. But left to itself, nature rarely produces anything new
because if there’s one thing nature dearly loves; it's routine.

/

 

[ScottA]

-
Hello; and welcome to a journey thru the Old Testament book of
Ecclesiastes.

Afterlife opponents often quote the book of Ecclesiastes; which is a fatal
error because proof texts related to the afterlife drawn from this book of are
inadmissible; and the reason is very simple.

Ecclesiastes isn't a book of divine revelation, but rather, a book of
humanistic philosophy; and though a holy man wrote Ecclesiastes, and was
no doubt divinely motivated to do so; he didn't record his observations from
the perspective of an enlightened man who's privy to knowledge beyond the
scope of empirical evidence and human experience; but rather, he recorded
his observations from the perspective of a man under the sun; viz: a down
to earth thinking man whose perception of reality is moderated by what he
can see going on around him in the physical universe; and that's why Bible
students find so much material in Ecclesiastes contrary to the doctrines of
traditional Christianity.

Men under the sun who think for themselves typically find the book of
Ecclesiastes to be spot-on in agreement with their own philosophy of life;
and no mystery there since Ecclesiastes is primarily an evaluation of life on
earth as seen from the earth rather than an evaluation of life on earth as
seen from heaven.

Another thing to keep in mind when studying Ecclesiastes is that just
because people's statements are recorded in a sacred text does not make
their statements eo ipso true; for example Eve’s response to the Serpent.

"And he said to the woman: Indeed, has God said you shall not eat from any
tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent: From the fruit of the
trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the
middle of the garden, God has said you shall not eat from it or touch it, lest
you die." (Gen 3:1-3)

Was Eve telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth? No. God forbad
them to eat the fruit, yes, but He didn’t forbid them to touch it. (cf. Gen
2:16-17)

The Serpent’s response was untrue too.

"And the serpent said to the woman: You shall not surely die." (Gen 3:4)

Did Eve die? As far as we know; yes, Eve did eventually pass away.

The conversation between Eve and the Serpent is no doubt on record
because God wanted it so; but there are untruths in their statements.
Solomon's worldly philosophy of life is a lot like that; in other words:
Ecclesiastes isn't necessarily totally wrong just because it's an earthly point
of view, nor is it necessarily totally correct just because it contains a kernel
of truth. No, the danger is that Solomon's philosophy, like most all
philosophy, contains just enough truth to make it misleading. Caveat Lector.

/

You have given two would-be interpretations of the book of Ecclesiastes, and then you give your own third interpretation. But, your's too is man's perspective. Instead of fully understanding the meaning of the scriptures as they fit into the overall word of God which only He has providence over down through the ages, you make void what He has promised will not return void.

Solomon's life is a foreshadowing of Christ. Therefore, when he says "all is vanity", it is indeed of great purpose to God. But, if you are not able to discern the passages spiritually you should not speculate. Do you not know that this is what is meant by the passage: "women should be silent in church"...that God alone should speak?

 

[Webers_Home]

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you make void what He has promised will not return void.

The "void" thing is restricted to God's word (Isa 55:11). I do not believe
that Ecclesiastes is God's word; no, I am fully convinced that it is Solomon's.

In my opinion it is a grave error to spiritualize Ecclesiastes; I truly feel that
it is best to interpret Solomon's world view from the perspective of a man
whose feet are on the ground instead of a man whose head is in the clouds.
Perhaps when you're older and a little more mature, you'll be able to better
appreciate Solomon's philosophy of life down here on this old terrestrial ball.

/

 

[ScottA]

-


The "void" thing is restricted to God's word (Isa 55:11). I do not believe
that Ecclesiastes is God's word; no, I am fully convinced that it is Solomon's.

In my opinion it is a grave error to spiritualize Ecclesiastes; I truly feel that
it is best to interpret Solomon's world view from the perspective of a man
whose feet are on the ground instead of a man whose head is in the clouds.
Perhaps when you're older and a little more mature, you'll be able to better
appreciate Solomon's philosophy of life down here on this old terrestrial ball.

/

Yes, of course, it's quite obvious what your opinion is:

1. You don't believe God's word is His word.
2. God is spirit, yet you are against "spiritualizing" His word.
3. And then you dis' me too.

 

[Webers_Home]

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Ecclesiastes 1:12-16
Continuing from post #5


● Ecc 1:12-13a . . I, Koheleth, was king in Jerusalem over Israel. I
set my mind to study and to probe with wisdom all that happens
under the sun.

The phrase "all that happens under the sun" is limited to exactly that.
Ecclesiastes is an accumulation of worldly observations; viz: one man's
philosophy of life.

Your philosophy of life may not be on a par with Solomon's in eloquence; but
then it doesn't have to because one's philosophy of life is their own outlook
derived from their own personal impressions, experiences, and observations.
What I'm saying is: there is no one correct interpretation of a book like
Ecclesiastes. Though I offer mine for your intellectual enjoyment; you could
probably write an interpretation of Solomon's composition of your own that's
just as useful and just as entertaining.

● Ecc 1:13b-15 . . An unhappy business, that, which God gave men to
be concerned with! I observed all the happenings beneath the sun,
and I found that all is futile and chasing the wind: a twisted thing
that cannot be made straight, a lack that cannot be made good.

From a practical point of view; it's futile to attempt to assign any real
meaning to life-- just as there are some things that simply cannot be
remedied; such as a tree twisted and gnarled so badly that it's lumber is
beyond hope for use in a new home, or a five-foot man trying to meet a six
foot height requirement.

Well; that's Mr. Koheleth's preface to Ecclesiastes; and from here on, he will
elucidate his reasons for being so negative about all that goes on under the
sun.

● Ecc 1:16 . . I said to myself: Here I have grown richer and wiser
than any that ruled before me over Jerusalem, and my mind has
zealously absorbed wisdom and learning.

Solomon wasn't what might be called a warrior king like Alexander the Great
or Genghis Khan. He was more like Jacob (who had far less concern for
outdoor adventure than his brother Esau).

Solomon enjoyed a peace-time economy and generally good relations with
his political neighbors. War was rare during his tenure on the throne, the
state-of-the-union was tolerable, he was financially independent,
comfortable, and had plenty of opportunity to devote himself to self
improvement in the study of liberal arts; which are defined as: the studies
(such as language, philosophy, history, literature, abstract science) in a
college or university intended to provide chiefly general knowledge and to
develop the general intellectual capacities (reason and judgment) as
opposed to specific professional or vocational skills.

Webster's defines "wisdom" as: sagacity, insight, sagaciousness, sageness,
sapience, shrewdness, sound judgment, and good sense.

"Learning" is defined as: knowledge, information, education, scholarship,
erudition, science, and facts.

Obviously, learning does not eo ipso make one wise or we wouldn't have so
many educated people doing so many dumb things.

Solomon's desire to improve his mind isn't uncommon among the idle rich;
after all, who better can afford higher education than they? They say a mind
is a terrible thing to waste. Well, plenty of poor and middle class minds are
going to waste simply for lack of funds. Some have managed to break the
chains of ignorance through scholarships or great personal sacrifice on the
part of themselves and of their families.

But not Solomon. No, he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and
inherited all the money one could ever possibly need, and then some.
Finding the money for an education was the least of Solomon's concerns;
and so, having nothing better to do with his time, he went to school; but
anon discovered there is no guarantee education will bring people things like
peace of mind and less stress. Solomon realized that he had expected too
much from the pursuit of knowledge; in other words: education made him
neither happier nor better off than before.

Many a privileged youngster has thrown away four perfectly good years of
their life in college. They typically enroll in a liberal arts program, not really
knowing what they want in life, often change their major, and come out of
school four years older than when they first enrolled with no marketable
skills, and no idea on earth how they will support themselves. All those
tuition dollars, and all that time out of their life-- puff! . . up in smoke,
frittered away; gone.

Adults seem obsessed with telling young people not to worry too much about
things like career, marriage, family, and retirement because they have their
whole life ahead of them yet. No. They don't have their whole life ahead of
them. By the time a youngster is out of four-year college, at least twenty
two of the best years of their life are gone forever and they are in a third
decade; rapidly approaching an age when they will be old enough to die of
natural causes.

Time and tide wait for no man; with time being the one asset men can least
afford to liquidate at bargain prices. You can always catch another tide, but
no one yet has caught another youth.

/

 

[Webers_Home]

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Ecclesiastes 1:17-18


● Ecc 1:17-18 . . And so I set my mind to appraise wisdom and to
appraise madness and folly. And I learned that this too was to
pursue the wind: For as wisdom increases, vexation increases; to
increase learning is to increase aggravation.

Knowledge can be likened to the pieces of a very large, very complicated jig
saw puzzle. In order to see the big picture, it's necessary to assemble the
pieces in their correct location in respect to the other pieces. Well; it seems
that the more someone knows, the harder it is to fit all the information
together in a coherent unity, i.e. the more we know, the more burdened we
become with the difficulty of fitting it all together; and there's probably little
more frustrating than a jig saw puzzle with a number of its pieces missing;
which of course we don't find out till we've already assembled large
portions of the puzzle.

Sometimes it just doesn't pay to be too smart. People who never ponder the
mysteries of life-- existing in obscurity day to day --seem far more content
than sages and philosophers who vex themselves trying to justify the human
existence. Live and let die is the motto of the simple person. But the
philosopher just can't let it go that easily. He agonizes, he ponders the
mysteries of life over and over again for the Nth time, and sometimes can't
sleep because of it.

There's really nothing intrinsically wrong with searching for a meaning to
life. But when people limit their search parameters to the natural world of
personal experience and empirical evidence --then they end up perplexed;
and life seems unfair; it seems futile and makes no sense.

In my opinion; leaving a supreme being out of one's quest for the meaning
of life leaves a key piece out of the puzzle. In mathematical formulas, there
is usually at least one constant from which a solution can be derived. Well;
to me anyway, the existence of a supreme being is just as valid a constant
in the meaning of life as the values of pi and the speed of light; and I think
it's an oversight to look for a meaning without it; but hey; that's just me--
others may be just as content with a philosophy of life that's minus a
supreme being as I am with a world view that includes one. Suum Cuique.

/

 

[Webers_Home]

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Ecclesiastes 2:1-3


● Ecc 2:1-2 . . I said to myself: Come, I will treat you to merriment.
Taste mirth! That too, I found, was futile. Of revelry I said: It's mad!
Of merriment: What good is that?

The only problem with a natural high is that it's so transitory. Joy and
excitement are emotions, and emotions can't be sustained for very long
before they need rest. Sometimes after a very pleasurable experience like a
big night on the town, a great victory, an exciting movie, a day at
Disneyland, or a wedding; we feel run down because the merriment wore us
out. It's not uncommon for people to actually feel very depressed and let
down after a round of excitement. They don't have a mental problem; no,
their emotions are just fatigued.

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with entertainment and excitement.
Solomon's focus isn't upon the morality of fun-- his focus is upon the value
of it. Unfortunately, fun has no lasting value. It's value is temporal. Fun is
only good for now, not for later. And things that are fun for the moment,
often become boring after a while. I mean, picnics are fun, but who wants to
do them every single day? And movies? I love movies like Matrix, Lost in
Translation, Love Actually, Moonstruck, Inception, Avatar, Margin Call, and
School Of Rock. I've watched them at least six times each. But you know
what? I can't watch just those same eight movies all the time. I need variety
because fun things lose their fun value when you do them too often.

From a practical point of view, entertainment is only profitable for an
entertainment vendor. The patron derives no profits from fun. Take a chess
game. Chess for some people is very entertaining, and quite relaxing. But
there is no profit in a friendly game of chess; only a temporal pleasure.
That's Solomon's point. Fun is good if you keep it in perspective. Have fun
for fun's sake; but don't expect it to gain you anything of long lasting value
--and for pete's sake, don't let yourself feel guilty about having fun because
amusement has a legitimate place in the human existence. Though fun has
no eternal value, there's really nothing of eternal value to gain by asceticism
either.

● Ecc 2:3a . . I ventured to tempt my flesh with wine, and to grasp
folly, while letting my mind direct with wisdom,

The word for "folly" is from cikluwth (sik-looth') and/or sikluwth (sik-looth');
which mean: silliness. Late night comedy, e.g. Jimmy Fallon, would fit into
that definition.

Late night comedy isn't for everyone. Solomon, for example, was just far too
sophisticated to enjoy something crass like that. He did give it an honest try
though and thoroughly analyzed comedy's potential just in case there might
be something he was missing. But comedy bounced right off Solomon. He
could recognize humor, but couldn't enjoy it. He was one of those guys who
can sit through episodes of Jerry Seinfeld, the Simpsons, and/or watch a
romantic comedy like Made Of Honor and wonder what people see in them.

What Solomon was searching for was something to cheer himself up. He was
an incredibly brilliant man, but his intellect only made him melancholy. So,
along with comedy, he tried alcohol. But alcohol presents its own problems
because your body gets used to it. Pretty soon, you have to imbibe larger
and larger doses to get a buzz. And then when it wears off, you might have
a headache and a hang-over. Same with narcotics. Users need larger and
more frequent doses, and when they come down they often become blue
and irritable; and sometimes so ill that they die.

● Ecc 2:3b . . to the end that I might learn which of the two was
better for men to practice in their few days of life under heaven.

Well, which is the better of the two-- alcohol or comedy --is a matter of
opinion. Some people would prefer not to make a choice between them but
to keep both. You could watch Jimmy Fallon with a night-cap or a glass of
wine just as easily as not. And actually, those two are a pretty good way to
end your day. Jimmy makes you laugh at the world, and the booze is
relaxing so you can sleep better. The key to enjoyment in life is to do all
things in moderation. A little wine is okay, but a lot is bad. A little silliness
here and there is okay too; but a whole day of it every day all day long
would not be a good idea.

/

 

[Webers_Home]

-
Ecclesiastes 2:4-7a


● Ecc 2:4a . . I multiplied my possessions.

Even the poor have this opportunity-- to multiply their possessions --and
some are pretty good at it in their own way. It's not unusual to see a
homeless person with a shopping cart or a bicycle piled high to the sky with
things they've accumulated. And many low-income folk here in America have
at least two television sets and one car; and sometimes a gun too.

Here in Oregon we have a colloquialism that goes something like this: When
the weather gets bad, it's time to go shopping. (chuckle) Who doesn't enjoy
buying something new? A new possession can cheer you up; even little doo
dads and trinkets that cost only 49 cents. Whenever we go to the mall, I
stop by the LEGO store and check out the key rings and now have Star Wars
and Toy Story related rings attached to my backpack and a few more around
the house. One is attached to the pull chain of desk lamp in my computer
room. A new LEGO key ring always cheers me up. No doubt Solomon would
just shrug and wonder why I was buying that stupid stuff.

I'm always thoroughly amazed at how lifted my wife's spirits become
whenever she buys herself a trendy new lipstick or nail polish at Sephora's.
Multiplying possessions is good for the mood; like Godiva chocolate. True,
it's only a temporary high, but it's a good high and I always enjoy buying
things, even if it's only second-hand at Good Will or Salvation Army.

● Ecc 2:4b . . I built myself houses

The filthy rich never seem to be satisfied with just one home. No; they have
a house in Bel-Air, and another out on The Hamptons. They have Summer
cottages, and they have Winter cabins. They build custom homes costing in
the millions of dollars and when they tire of those, they sell, move out, and
build another custom home.

● Ecc 2:4c-6 . . and I planted vineyards. I laid out gardens and
groves, in which I planted every kind of fruit tree. I constructed
lakes of water, enough to irrigate a forest sprouting with trees.

It isn't unusual for governments to build parks and initiate beautification
programs in their cities. What the heck, why not when you can use someone
else's money and don't have to pay for it yourself? Solomon received tribute
from all his neighboring kingdoms: from the borders of Egypt clear on over
to the Euphrates river. It was actually a time of great peace and prosperity
in Israel according to 1Kgs 4:20 and 1Kgs 5:5.

Of course Solomon himself didn't do a lick of the work. He purchased slaves
and conscripted his own citizens to accomplish his expensive ambitions.
David his father conscripted foreigners, but Solomon went him one better
with a national draft board that inducted his fellow Jewish men into
government service. There was no danger of war at the time. He just
needed manpower in the labor camps.

30,000 were conscripted to work with Hiram's axe men up in Lebanon
logging for the new Temple, and he had another 70,000 general laborers,
plus 80,000 men working in stone quarries-- and not to forget 12,000
horsemen. All his construction projects were very labor intensive because of
the lack of machinery and power tools in those days.

● Ecc 2:7a . . I bought male and female slaves, and I acquired
stewards

The Hebrew word for "stewards" is ben, which means sons; viz: children
born of slaves he already owned. So the bens cost him nothing all the while
that his purchased slaves multiplied among themselves since in that day, the
children of slaves were born into slavery.

People like Solomon, born with silver spoons in their mouths, typically don't
take into consideration the feelings of others less privileged than
themselves. They are often totally self absorbed. Those below them exist
only as cannon fodder; lackeys to serve their every wish as if that were
somehow the natural order of things.

Well, Solomon was finding out that sometimes the natural order of things
works against those who are very intelligent, and against those who are very
rich, and against those who are very powerful. Contentment and fulfillment
eluded his grasp. No matter how he exercised his advantages in life,
Solomon couldn't find peace of mind. He found that for men like himself, life
is pointless. The more he sought fulfillment, the more he felt like he was
wasting his time trying.

NOTE: An episode in 1Kgs 12:1-14 reveals that Solomon's people sorely
resented the labor camps. He delighted himself in the public works that they
accomplished with their own backs and the sweat of their own brows while
he laid back in his palace and thought up more things for them to do.

/

 

[DPMartin]

webers home, your view of this book is way off base, because the after life if you will, or better said judgement after this life is presumed by Solomon. and what is the purpose of a judging unless there be something to experience after the judgement.


Ecc 12:12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

and the book is a focus of under the sun, not as in heaven. and in the Presence of God under the sun, not as in heaven. it is not a human view as many would have you believe. they seek to justify your posted interpretation because they can disregard the truth of it, and believe something they want about this life. "all is vanity" isn't the view of the sons of man, its the view from the Kingdom of God of the that which is under the sun. most Christians don't want to know that, its disheartening to their desires, hence they seek to discredit it as a work of God through Solomon.


people pursue what they value and if what they value isn't worth squat, then their life sucks. that's bad for business in the happy happy joy joy Christian religion of you are entitled that promotion or that house or what ever it is you want.

 

[Webers_Home]

-
Ecclesiastes 2:7b-8a


● Ecc 2:7b . . I also acquired more cattle, both herds and flocks, than
all who were before me in Jerusalem.

It's interesting Solomon should mention he was a bigger cattle baron than all
who were before him. What was he doing? Competing? Can you imagine? He
wasn't content with enough. No; he had to have more than enough-- larger
herds than all before him so that he became the champion rancher; literally
the King Ranch of Israel.

For some people, it isn't enough to win; no, all others must lose. Does being
number-one really bring contentment? Well, it might for some, but it didn't
for Solomon. And you know: it's only a matter of time before competitors
like Solomon run out of people to best; and then what?

● Ecc 2:8a . . I further amassed silver and gold and treasures of kings
and provinces;

Solomon's wealth was what's known as tangible assets as opposed to assets
on paper. The wealth off many of today's rich men is tied up in investments
like derivatives, stocks, bonds, and funds: but much of Solomon's wealth
was in precious metals-- actual metals that you could hold in your hand
rather represented by an on-paper, Wall Street trading account. Though
many of today's rich men can show you on-record that they own a certain
number of ounces of gold, silver, palladium, and/or platinum et al; where is
it? Not in their own hands that's for sure; no, it's in somebody else's hands.
Not so Solomon.

"The Queen of Sheba presented the king with one hundred and twenty
talents of gold, and a large quantity of spices, and precious stones." (1Kgs
10:10)

"Moreover, Hiram's fleet, which carried gold from Ophir, brought in from
Ophir a huge quantity of almug wood and precious stones." (1Kgs 10:11)

"The weight of the gold which Solomon received every year was 666 talents
of gold, besides what came from tradesmen, from the traffic of the
merchants, and from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the
regions.

. . . King Solomon made 200 shields of beaten gold-- 600 shekels of gold to
each shield --and 300 bucklers of beaten gold --three minas of gold to each
buckler. The king placed them in the Lebanon Forest House.

. . .The king also made a large throne of ivory, and he overlaid it with
refined gold. Six steps led up to the throne, and the throne had a back with
a rounded top, and arms on either side of the seat. Two lions stood beside
the arms, and twelve lions stood on the six steps, six on either side. No such
throne was ever made for any other kingdom.

. . . All King Solomon's drinking cups were of gold, and all the utensils of the
Lebanon Forest House were of pure gold: silver did not count for anything in
Solomon’s days. For the king had a Tarshish fleet on the sea, along with
Hiram's fleet. Once every three years, the Tarshish fleet came in, bearing
gold and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. King Solomon excelled all the
kings on earth in wealth and in wisdom." (1Kgs 10:14-23)

Solomon's personal fortune, in adjusted dollars, and counting his property,
his metals, and his livestock, must have easily exceeded Bill Gates' in that
day. But wealth and luxury just didn't satisfy Solomon. I think many of us
commoners would be happy not to work another day for the rest of our lives.
Or would we? You just never know. Riches don't seem to protect the rich
from despondence, boredom, depression, and feelings of failure and futility.

In 1997, Michael Hutchence, the lead singer of a really cool rock group called
INXS, had a pleasant dinner with his dad and then went back to his hotel
room and hanged himself with a leather belt. He was 37 years old. What the
heck was that all about? Hutchence was young, healthy, wealthy, successful,
popular, and doing well on the music charts. At dinner with his dad, he had
expressed concern about the band's popularity and its future.

What is that saying? Hutchence's happiness was all bound up in music? So
his concern over the band's possible decline in popularity made him
despondent enough to end his life? It just doesn't make sense.

So what does it really take to make some people happy? Well, for Solomon,
it wasn't wealth and success; and, apparently for Hutchence, wealth and
success didn't do it for him either: nor did youth, fame, nor popularity
because real peace is psychological, and nowhere else. When you've got
stuff in your head like bad memories, regrets, inner conflicts, a poor self
image, or low self esteem and feelings of failure, inferiority, inadequacy, and
futility; nothing on earth can remedy that: not therapy, not pills, not dope,
not anything-- nothing short of starting life all over again can get that stuff
out of your head.

/

 

[Webers_Home]

-
Ecclesiastes 2:8b-11


● Ecc 2:8b . . and I got myself male and female singers,

Makes you wonder what kind of music a brilliant, sophisticated guy like
Solomon preferred. Rock? Jazz? Pop? Chorale? Rap? Country? Classical?
Folk? Blue Grass? Opera? Broadway? Ballads? Spiritual? Barber Shop? New
Age? Techno? Lady Gaga? Since electricity had not yet been harnessed in his
day, the music available was somewhat primitive, and it was all live and all
natural: nothing recorded, nothing electronic, and nothing amplified.

● Ecc 2:8c . . as well as the luxuries of commoners-- coffers and
coffers of them.

"coffers and coffers of them" is apparently a colloquialism similar to "oodles
and oodles" or "a ton of 'em" or "a boat load of them" Actually the phrase
"as well as the luxuries of commoners" is literally "luxuries of the sons of
men." Which could easily be paraphrased "every luxury known to man."

Webster's defines luxury as: 1) a condition of abundance or great ease and
comfort; 2) sumptuous environment; 3) something adding to pleasure or
comfort but not absolutely necessary; 4) an indulgence in something that
provides pleasure, satisfaction, or ease.

No doubt a filthy rich guy like Solomon, seeking the meaning of life, and
seeking the best way to pursue life, indulged his every whim in an effort to
find out what truly makes life worth living. The man was totally livin' large.

● Ecc 2:9 . .Thus, I gained more wealth than anyone before me in
Jerusalem. In addition, my wisdom remained with me:

That was fortunate; the part about retaining his wisdom. Some people go so
far overboard in Hedonism that they mess up their minds. Curt Cobain, the
driving impetus of the punk rock group Nirvana, at the peak of his success--
wealthy, married, living in a beautiful home, and everything going for him
ended his life with a shotgun at age 27 because of deep emotional problems.
That's awful. If only he had kept his mind in all of his success. They say a
mind is an awful thing to waste. Well, a mind is an awful thing to lose too.

● Ecc 2:10-11 . . I withheld from my eyes nothing they asked for, and
denied myself no enjoyment; rather, I got enjoyment out of all my
wealth. And that was all I got out of my wealth. Then my thoughts
turned to all the fortune my hands had built up, to the wealth I had
acquired and won-- and oh, it was all futile and pursuit of wind;
there was no real value under the sun!

Some of us would no doubt be very pleased to obtain all the enjoyments
money can buy, but Solomon felt enjoyments aren't adequate; something
was missing. It would seem that wealth should obtain for its owner more
than just luxury, and entertainment, and property, and homes. It should at
least make us feel content with life. But for some people it doesn't. So
you've got to wonder: just exactly what works? What's the secret to
contentment? What really does make life worth the living? What really does
make life more than just a pointless human experiment? If only Hutchence
and Cobain had known some satisfactory answers to those questions, maybe
they'd still be here.

Curly, the tough 'ol leathered trail boss in the movie City Slickers, said the
meaning of life is just one thing. When asked what that one thing was, he
replied; "That's what you've gotta find out."

You see; that one thing is not the same one thing for everyone. You have to
find out what that one thing is for you because until then, your life-- a life
with no purpose --is quite pointless.

/

 

[Webers_Home]

-
Ecclesiastes 2:12a


● Ecc 2:12a . . What more can the king's successor do than what
has already been done?

Many of the kings of the Davidic dynasty did pretty much the same thing
Solomon did. They initiated building programs and public works, built
themselves nice homes, accumulated wealth, built harems, and lived in
luxury. None of them ever equaled Solomon's grandeur, but they all did
pretty much the same things he did. Solomon recognized that he wasn't an
unusual king; just one more doing the things that kings typically do; and
when he was dead and gone, the next king would do pretty much what he
did. Because of that, as a monarch, he felt predictable and unremarkable.
Even though practically everything the man did was on a grand scale, he
was still a foregone conclusion.

There can be entertainment and satisfaction in the doing of great projects;
but what happens when the task is finished? Oftentimes there's a feeling of
let-down; like when finishing a long, complicated, quest-type video game
and/or when New York City's sand hogs completed Water Tunnel #3 after
thirty-eight years of boring, drilling, and blasting. There's a sudden feeling of
emptiness; a feeling of being adrift, and of discombobulation.

Solomon found delight "in" all his efforts, but afterwards, when they were all
done, and he leaned back to appreciate his accomplishments, he was
disappointed because he felt so empty. So he would begin a new project
because it is in the doing of the work where a satisfactory sense of
achievement is truly found. Henry Ward Beecher once said: "Success is full
of promise; until men get it, and then it becomes last year's nest from which
the birds have flown."

During my youth, growing up, I heard a lot about the so-called "work ethic"
which Webster's defines as: a belief in work as a moral good. Well, there is
nothing wrong in work per se, but what about workaholism? Is that really a
moral good? Is that really beneficial to one's mental health?

I have a friend who can't relax. He has to be doing something productive all
the time; even during mealtime. Oftentimes he’ll prune his roses while
eating a sandwich for lunch because he feels that sitting down to eat is
wasteful. He never goes to the movies; nor even watches TV unless it is on
while he does the dishes or vacuums the carpet. He has never read any
books other than the ones everyone had to read in school. He gets TIME
magazine in the mail, but rarely bothers to glance at any of its articles.

He can't take drives in the country because he feels he could better use the
time to mow the grass around his rental properties. He arrives at work a full
hour early, and volunteers for all the overtime. Some years ago, he bought a
computer; but it's still in the box because he was afraid he might spend too
much time on it. That was prior to color monitors-- the very first version of
Windows wasn't even on the market yet. Now he can't buy software for his
computer because it is so obsolete. My friend is a true workaholic.

Work, for work's sake, can't satisfy the human heart no matter how
successful the endeavor may be. This helps to understand why so many
achievers are basically unhappy people. A single achievement is not enough.
Achievers cannot sit back on their laurels. They have to keep finding new
things to achieve. When Alexander the Great fought his last battle, it is said
that he sat down and wept because he had no more kingdoms to conquer.
The poor man was despondent because he had nothing to live for. People
like Alexander have a very narrowly defined reason to live. Take it away,
and they're adrift.

When workaholics retire, they often feel useless, and sometimes die from
lack of meaningful activity. Well; Solomon came to the conclusion that work
is okay when it's kept in perspective. But work alone can't provide lasting
satisfaction. Looking over his works, Solomon felt very unfulfilled; and
contentment continued to evade his grasp

/

 

[Webers_Home]

-
Ecclesiastes 2:13-16


● Ecc 2:12b-13 . . My thoughts also turned to appraising wisdom and
madness and folly. I found that wisdom is superior to folly as light is
superior to darkness;

Light has always been superior to darkness. Light cannot be dispelled by
introducing darkness into a lighted room because darkness is not something
that can be produced. It's simply a default condition in the absence of light.

Science and engineering has given us a flashlight, but has yet to invent a
flashdark. You simply cannot shine a beam of darkness like you can shine a
beam of light. Light is energy. Darkness is totally inert.

Solomon found that wisdom is superior to folly, which Webster's defines as:
(1) lack of good sense or normal prudence and foresight (2) criminally or
tragically foolish actions or conduct i.e. evil and wickedness; especially lewd
behavior.

So in the end, after careful consideration, and personally testing both styles
of life, he found that it is far better to behave prudently than to act stupid,
which is the default in the absence of good sense. I guess that all goes
without saying, but sometimes intellectuals are prone to overstating the
obvious.

● Ecc 2:14a . . A wise man has his eyes in his head, whereas a fool
walks in darkness.

Silly people just naturally get themselves into trouble all the time because
they don't stop and think. We could create a huge list of dumb things that
silly people are famous for doing. For example: If you've noticed, many of
the advertisements on television target silly people. Why? Because Madison
Avenue knows that most viewers of certain kinds of programming don't shop
intelligently. They often buy impulsively, guided by their emotions rather
than by their better judgment. Silly people are typically sensual rather than
sensible; for example:

Studies show that the average voter typically selects a candidate based upon
how they feel about the candidate; and then use their intellects to fabricate
a defense for their choice. A case in point is America's past US President. Did
people vote for Mr. Obama because of his executive ability? No, the man
was no more qualified for US President than Hollywood actor Arnold
Swarzenegger, the ex governor of Cawleefornyah.

People voted for Mr. Obama on the basis of just two elements of his
persona: his charismatic speaking and the color of his skin. (Ironically,
voters elected a candidate who campaigned as a Black man; but had a
Caucasian mother; i.e. in reality, Mr. Obama is neither black or white; he's
mulatto. Mr. Obama's skin is actually coffee rather than black; and he's no
more an African American than the pop singer Mariah Carey.)

● Ecc 2:14b . . But I also realized that the same fate awaits them
both.

uh-oh! Now we're getting to the heart of the matter: the brevity of life.
Solomon is looking ahead to the reality of death; and death is the great
equalizer after all isn't it?

● Ecc 2:15-16 . . So I reflected : The fate of the fool is also destined
for me; to what advantage, then, have I been wise? And I came to
the conclusion that too was futility, because the wise man, just like
the fool, is not remembered forever-- for, as the succeeding days roll
by, both are forgotten. Alas, the wise man passes on just like the
fool!

Who's ever heard of Hannes Alfvén? He won a Nobel prize in 1970 for
discoveries in magneto-hydrodynamics. Wow! Yeah, okay; wow. Or how
about Georges Lemaître? He proposed that the universe is expanding in all
directions before Edwin Hubble figured it out. But how often do Alfvén's or
Lemaître's names come up in conversation around the average dinner table?
Probably never; in most homes. They might be well known among those
who share their interests in astronomy and magneto-hydrodynamics; but
Alfvén and Lemaître might just as well have been two nameless, homeless
bums sleeping under an overpass for all the fame they have among
everyone else.

Most educated people know who Mozart was. But where is the great maestro
today? He's gone. He's just as dead as all the people of his day who had no
more talent for music than an ostrich. What lasting good did it do him to be
a genius if it couldn't give him immortality? Mozart composed something like
600 pieces of music, but the composer of it all was washed away long ago
one month short of his 36th birthday.

/

 

[Webers_Home]

-
Ecclesiastes 2:17-23


● Ecc 2:17 . . And so I loathed life. For I was distressed by all that
goes on under the sun, because everything is futile and pursuit of
wind.

The "loathing" Solomon felt wasn't hatred, but rather, just plain old cynicism
born of disillusion. When you're young, life is exciting and promising: you're
optimistic and ready to roll into the future full speed ahead. But as the years
go by, life loses its luster and becomes a drag, and as we get ever older and
more debilitated, life becomes something to just get through and get over
with.

Just about the time you really get set in life, and have a few things figured
out, and start to enjoy it, the aging process moves in to spoil your fun. One
of my biggest gripes about life is that youth is wasted on the young. It's us
oldsters who need youth, not the young because youngsters fritter away
their youth on air-headed nonsense.

One morning on television, Kelly Rippa, of Live With Regis & Kelly, said her
little boy was in a hurry to be older. He was only 5 then and wanted to skip
the next two years and go straight to 7. See? That's what I'm saying. Kelly's
boy was too young to appreciate how valuable youth is. He wanted to shed
youth because in his immature mind, older is better.

It's not until our youth is gone that we can fully appreciate it's worth; but by
then it's too late. In all of our young, self absorbed stupidity, we carelessly
squander away the treasure of youth on meaningless pursuits and
sometimes foolishly tempt fate in extreme sports because when we're
young, it's all too easy to perceive ourselves suspended in some sort of
time-stasis where we'll be forever 21. To our immature minds; older people
appear to be born that way and we fail to comprehend that every time we
encounter someone older, we are looking at our own futures.

"Time is the fire that consumes us all"
Dr. Soran, Star Trek: Generations

● Ecc 2:18-21 . . So, too, I loathed all the wealth that I was gaining
under the sun. For I shall leave it to the man who will succeed me--
and who knows whether he will be wise or foolish?-- and he will
control all the wealth that I gained by toil and wisdom under the
sun. That too is futile. And so I came to view with despair all the
gains I had made under the sun. For sometimes a person whose
fortune was made with wisdom, knowledge, and skill must hand it
on to be the portion of somebody who did not toil for it. That too is
futile, and a grave evil.

It's bad enough that the wealthy have to leave their fortunes behind, but
even worse when foolish relatives end up with it and fail to appreciate the
toil and conscientious effort put into accumulating that wealth and the
vigilance required to keep it. The dumb ones start living it up, not taking into
consideration that money spent is money gone forever. What will be left for
the next generation if the first wastes the primary inheritance and fails to
invest for the future?

Some people try to write their wills and trusts in such a way that their
estates can't be wasted; but don't always succeed. In spite of the instruction
and good example they may give, fathers and mothers have no way of
knowing what their posterity will do with the wealth and property they
worked so hard to accumulate during their lives.

● Ecc 2:22-23 . . For what does a man get for all the toiling and
worrying he does under the sun? All his days his thoughts are grief
and heartache, and even at night his mind has no respite. That too is
futile!

One of the disadvantages of striving to gain wealth is the sleep that's
sometimes lost over it. Solomon observed that a rich man's abundance won't
permit him to sleep (Ecc 5:12) for example: Michael Jackson and Elvis
Presley, the most popular youth-oriented male singers ever to record music,
shared a common malady: both had trouble sleeping. In contrast, I'm an
obscure retired welder whose wife complains falls asleep too easily. Well, the
difference is, I have peace of mind; whereas those two guys didn't.

"People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many
foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For
the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for
money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many
griefs." (1Tim 6:9-10)

Managing an empire is no picnic. There's long hours, employee disputes, tax
problems, investment risks, OSHA, EPA, legal hassles, Federal interference,
lawsuits, deadlines, time pressure, accounting errors, loan calls, and all that
sort of thing; not to mention debt. Haw! debt is the the Grim Reaper for
quite a number of mega businesses like the auto industry. Debt is what
ultimately toppled the energy giant ENRON; wiping out 1.2 billion dollars in
retirement funds, and 2 billion dollars in pension funds.

You know what else befalls empire-builders? Broken homes. Ray Kroc, the
McDonald's mogul, was on his third marriage when he passed away. Jesus
once said that you can't serve God and mammon. Well; you can't serve
money and family either. Wealth-seekers generally serve the money and
leave their families to more or less sink or swim.

/

 

[Webers_Home]

-
Ecclesiastes 2:24-26


● Ecc 2:24-26a . .There is nothing worthwhile for a man but to eat
and drink and afford himself enjoyment with his means. And even
that, I noted, comes from God. For who eats and who enjoys but
myself? To the man, namely, who pleases [God] He has given the
wisdom and shrewdness to enjoy himself;

A person's financial means can enhance their peace of mind and feelings of
security. But to hoard wealth, to stock-pile it, being miserly and stingy,
never doing something worthwhile with your means, never doing even
yourself any good with it; is not wise. Some years ago, I heard about an
elderly couple who died. When the house in which they had lived for many
years was torn down, an amount of cash was found in the walls totaling
about $40,000. The coroner's determination of cause of death? Malnutrition.

Money is a medium of exchange. Unless it's spent, it can do little or nothing
for you. You can't eat money, but it will buy your food. It can't keep you
warm, but it will buy your clothing and heating oil. Money is not a
conveyance-- it can't be ridden like a magic carpet to transport you from
point A on over to point B; but it will buy you a car, a bicycle, or a bus
ticket. It can't chew your food, but it will pay a dentist to fix your teeth. Its
possession doesn't make you a rock star, but it will buy you a ticket to an
AeroSmith concert. Money has no scenic glaciers, but it will buy you a birth
onboard a Princess Line cruise ship to Alaska.

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to
put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God,
who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." (1Tim 6:17)

That verse reveals that all the opportunities this world has to offer are
provided by God for Man's enjoyment. Therefore, it is absolutely not a sin to
enjoy life. Some people feel guilty about success. But that is an unhealthy
attitude. Others take vows of poverty in order to enhance their piety. But it
isn't necessary to be poor in order to please God. Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob, were all very wealthy men whose circumstances-- which enabled
them to live high on the hog --were made possible by God's providence.
Wealth isn't intrinsically sinful. It's how people use their wealth that matters.

● Ecc 2:26b . . and to him who displeases, He has given the urge to
gather and amass-- only for handing on to one who is pleasing to
God. That too is futile and pursuit of wind.

When him who displeases donates to charities, his contributions don't earn
him any points with God whatsoever because one of Solomon's proverbs
says, in so many words, that a bad person's gifts are detestable. (Pro 15:8)

I seriously doubt that it is God who personally urges a bad person to donate
to charity. I just think it's the bad person's own conscience working on them.
Well; seeing as how God created the human conscience, then I guess you
could say "He has given the urge". Maybe that's how Solomon saw it; I don't
really know; but it seems logical.

/

 

[Webers_Home]

-
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8


● Ecc 3:1 . . A season is set for everything, a time for every
experience under heaven.

This next section smacks of fatalism and predestination, but actually it only
speaks of events that are quite normal and commonplace under the sun.

● Ecc 3:2a . . A time for being born and a time for dying,

Those two events are open ended and their precise moments aren't chipped
in stone. Every person experiences a birth, and each will experience a death
too. Birth and death are like appointments. As soon as a women senses that
she has conceived, she knows it's only a matter of time before she gives
birth to a child so she has to begin planning for its arrival. Same with death.
We all know we're going to die some day; it's just a matter of time.

But the problem with death is its stealth. We're young only till somewhere in
our mid thirties and then to our horror begin to gradually wither. One of the
biggest surprises of Billy Graham's life was age. He always believed he
would die some day, but Billy wasn't prepared to get old first. His is not an
unusual case. Most of us readily anticipate death; but seldom anticipate
losing form and function.

● Ecc 3:2b . . a time for planting and a time for uprooting the
planted;

Farmers are constantly cultivating, planting, harvesting-- and then tilling
what's left after the harvest to prepare for the next crop.

● Ecc 3:3a . . a time for slaying and a time for healing,

A rabid dog has to die. But when your pet is hit by a car, you take it to the
vet.

● Ecc 3:3b . . a time for tearing down and a time for building up;

My dad worked many hours with his bare hands building us a home when I
was a kid. He sold it when I was 11 years old. Twenty-three years later, all
of dad's hard work was torn down and hauled off to make way for an RV
storage lot; and the property denuded of trees and scraped bare by
bulldozers. It's like we were never even there.

● Ecc 3:4a . . a time for weeping and a time for laughing,

Sometimes people laugh and weep all at the same time; like at a wedding.

● Ecc 3:4b . . a time for wailing and a time for dancing;

In a war, the victors celebrate and the vanquished mourn-- like in
professional sports. The cameras always show the winners elated, jumping
up and down, clapping themselves on the back, emoting for the press, and
pouring ice water on the coach; but over on the other side, the losers are all
glum and silent and dragging themselves back to the locker room.

● Ecc 3:5a . . a time for throwing stones and a time for gathering
stones,

It would be nice if the Palestinians would follow that and pick up after
themselves when they're done pelting Israeli soldiers.

● Ecc 3:5b . . a time for embracing and a time for shunning
embraces;

Sometimes lovers and friends need to make up and settle their differences
before they hug.

● Ecc 3:6a . . a time for seeking and a time for losing,

In other words: A time to search and a time to give it up for lost.

● Ecc 3:6b . . a time for keeping and a time for discarding;

Today's hot couture is tomorrow's Good Will donation.

● Ecc 3:7a . . a time for ripping and a time for sewing,

When doctors need access to an injured patient's body, they often cut
clothing off with scissors rather than fussing with buttons and zippers. The
very same clothing can be repaired later by needle and thread.

● Ecc 3:7b . . a time for silence and a time for speaking;

They say silence in golden, but sometimes it's yellow; know what I mean?

● Ecc 3:8a . . a time for loving and a time for hating;

A time for love might be when your friends come over for dinner-- through
the front door. However, if they sneak in the back way while you're out, and
steal your 50" plasma TV so they can sell it for meth; that might be reason
enough to dump your friends for new ones.

● Ecc 3:8b . . a time for war and a time for peace.

Peace is much to be preferred to war. But sometimes war is necessary to
procure and to preserve peace. We live in a big bad world where there are
people more than happy to oppress you, abuse your human rights, control
your movements, restrict your speech, clamp down on dissent, take away
your wealth and possessions, destroy your home, separate you from your
family, and put you to work in a gulag where you'll be underpaid,
malnourished, constantly hungry, politically indoctrinated, and poorly clothed
for the rest of your life.

/