Solomon's Pessimism

  • Welcome to Christian Forums, a Christian Forum that recognizes that all Christians are a work in progress.

    You will need to register to be able to join in fellowship with Christians all over the world.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 8:9-13


Ecc 8:9 . . All these things I observed; I noted all that went on under the sun,
while men still had authority over men to treat them unjustly.


Solomon's venue throughout the book of Ecclesiastes is "under the sun". It's important
to always keep that in mind or risk getting the wrong impression from his sayings. His is
not a book of inspired doctrine; but rather of inspired philosophy from the perspective of
an earthy man rather than a heavenly man.

I have personally experienced Solomon's observation on several of the internet forums
I've been on in the last fifteen years. I have been given infractions by forum managers
for flaming based solely on complaints lodged by somebody whose nose got bent over
something I posted. I was summarily convicted of flaming without the prosecution first
establishing intent of malice. That is not only unjust, but it isn't even rational
jurisprudence in a land where the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
(emphasis upon proven).

Another unjust habit that internet forum managers have is that of construing the
language of their rules to mean whatever suits their purpose. Forum contributors don't
stand a chance against those kinds of arbitrary management practices.

Soviet leader Joseph Stalin eliminated threats to his power through Purge Trials and
widespread secret executions and persecution of his own fellow Soviet citizens. He left
behind a legacy of repression and fear as well as industrial and military power. Stalin rid
himself of all potential rivals in the party, first by having many of them condemned as
deviationists, and later by ordering them executed.

To ensure his position and to push forward "socialism in one country" he put the Soviet
Union on a crash course of collectivization and industrialization. An estimated 25 million
farmers were forced onto state farms. Collectivization alone killed as many as 14.5
million Soviet people, and Russia's agricultural output was reduced by 25 percent,
according to some estimates.

Stalin is only one example of the many oppressive rulers in the course of human history,
like Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, Robert Mugabe, Hosni Mubarak, and Kim Jong Il who
use and abuse their citizens; instead of managing countries for the country's good,
these kinds of rulers manage countries for their own personal good. Their citizens are
valued as commodities rather than fellow men.

Ecc 8:10a . . And then I saw scoundrels coming from the Holy Site and being
brought to burial


It is truly amazing how the wicked of the world have the nerve to attend church and
synagogue. Where's their conscience? And then their families have the chutzpah to
make sure the wicked get honorable, Church sanctioned funerals when they die!

Paul Castellano-- John J. Gotti's predecessor as boss of the Gambino clan --was denied
a funeral mass in 1985 based upon the notoriety of his background. The decision was
backed up by canon law, which prohibits funeral Masses that would engender public
scandal among the faithful.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Rome can deny a Mass of Christian Burial in
the case of those persons who have not lived in communion with Rome according to the
maxim which comes down from the time of Pope Leo the Great: (448) quibus viventibus
non communicavimus mortuis communicare non possumus
(We cannot hold
communion in death with those who in life were not in communion with us).

Ecc 8:10b . . while such as had acted righteously were forgotten in the city.

Many good people often live out their lives in total obscurity, never basking in any
limelight nor making a name for themselves. Their funerals? You won't see them on a
nationally televised broadcast and probably not in a newspaper's obituary column.

Ecc 8:10c-13 . . And here is another frustration: the fact that the sentence
imposed for evil deeds is not executed swiftly, which is why men are emboldened
to do evil-- the fact that a sinner may do evil a hundred times and his
[punishment] still be delayed. For although I am aware that it will be well with
those who revere God since they revere Him, and it will not be well with the
scoundrel, and he will not live long, because he does not revere God.


Justice is indeed slow, especially if the accused has lots of money because their
lawyers can tie up the courts for as long as ten years with appeals and continuances.


BTW: John J. Gotti died in 2002. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn finally did
permit a mass of Christian burial for Mr. Gotti but only after he was in the ground. Still it
just seems so preposterous to grant a man like that any kind of Christian burial let alone
one garnished with a high mass.

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 8:14-17


Ecc 8:14 . . here is a frustration that occurs in the world: sometimes an upright
man is requited according to the conduct of the scoundrel; and sometimes the
scoundrel is requited according to the conduct of the upright. I say all that is
frustration.


Nowhere is that principle more evident than in group discipline. The military commonly
punishes an entire platoon for the bad conduct of just one man. In that scenario, there is
no individual justice; but collective justice; so that the innocent suffer right along with the
guilty. The same effect occurs in group rewards. The people who performed well get no
more honor than the people who did poorly because the group as a whole gets the
credit; not the individual. Injustice of that nature is indeed frustrating; but nevertheless,
unavoidable under the sun.

Ecc 8:15 . . I therefore praised enjoyment. For the only good a man can have
under the sun is to eat and drink and enjoy himself. That much can accompany
him, in exchange for his wealth, through the days of life that God has granted him
under the sun.


There are some things in life; like injustice, that we just have to accept. To fret about it is
totally a waste of precious life and energy. It is far better to cope, to adjust, to adapt,
and to enjoy life as best as possible with what you have at hand to work with and within
the circumstances wherein you find yourself imprisoned.

Ecc 8:16 . . For I have set my mind to learn wisdom and to observe the business
that goes on in the world-- even to the extent of going without sleep day and
night--


Well; Solomon was one of the filthy rich and could afford to lose some sleep now and
then, but working men dare not deprive themselves of sleep. They need their rest; and
don't need to lay awake nights fretting over things in the world that are beyond their IQ,
and beyond their control.

Ecc 8:17 . . and I have observed all that God brings to pass. Indeed, man cannot
guess the events that occur under the sun. For man tries strenuously, but fails to
guess them; and even if a sage should think to discover them he would not be
able to guess them.


The View Point Inn, perched along the rim of the Columbia Gorge in Oregon, was slowly
sinking into financial ruin for lack of business. Then, out of the blue, the production
company of the first of the Twilight series of movies selected the inn for Edward's and
Bella's prom scene. Subsequently the inn became a popular tourist attraction, and co
owner Geoff Thomson said the inn's business improved 30 to 40 percent. You just
never know what a day will bring forth.

Chess masters can often see twelve moves ahead. But they cannot see into their
opponent's mind. Just when the master thinks he has the game figured out, his
opponent launches an unsuspected strategy and throws the master's calculations off
and he must begin to calculate a different twelve moves ahead than before.

Solomon may have been just a bit too superstitious in this regard. He seemed to think
that God's hand is in everything. Although that really isn't true, it is a pretty good way for
a philosopher to explain away things that we can neither control, alter, foresee,
understand, nor do anything about.

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 9:1-3


Ecc 9:1 . . For I have taken all this to my heart and explain it that
righteous men, wise men, and their deeds are in the hand of God.
Man does not know whether [it will be] love or hatred; anything
awaits him.


That was certainly true of Joseph. He was a very good boy; favored by God,
yet sold into Egyptian slavery by his own kin. Same with John the baptizer.
He too was a good, and wise, man-- the forerunner of Christ. Yet at the
young age of thirty, still in the prime of his life, he was beheaded at the
whim of a silly young girl whose dancing happened to please a tetrarch. God
did nothing to prevent it. Are any of us any safer?

Ecc 9:2-3a . . For the same fate is in store for all: for the righteous,
and for the wicked; for the good and pure, and for the impure; for
him who sacrifices, and for him who does not; for him who is
pleasing, and for him who is displeasing; and for him who swears,
and for him who shuns oaths. That is the sad thing about all that
goes on under the sun: that the same fate is in store for all.


Oftentimes when people contract fatal diseases, they whine: "Why me?"
Answer: Why not? Yes, why not because we're all just lobsters in one of
those fish tanks they have in sea food restaurants.. The cook gropes about
and the lobster he catches is just a matter of chance. And eventually he gets
them all, one by one.

It seemed to Solomon that good people shouldn't have to die. But actually,
death is merciful. What if people lived forever? They would continue to age
more and more till they were totally debilitated and looked like emaciated
mummies. They would have to be carried around like baggage, completely
dependent upon the young for subsistence; and forever enduring an
unbearable quality of life.

Ecc 9:3b . . (Not only that, but men's hearts are full of sadness, and
their minds of madness, while they live; and then-- to the dead!)


The word for "madness" is from howlelah (ho-lay-law') which actually means
folly; not insanity. Webster's defines folly as (1) a lack of good sense or
normal prudence and foresight, (2) criminally or tragically foolish actions or
conduct, (3) a foolish act or idea, and (4) an excessively costly or
unprofitable undertaking.

If we take the far view-- if we weigh the value of Man's thoughts and
endeavors against the depth of eternity --then nothing a man under the sun
does has any real meaning and purpose. After the earthly man lives out his
pointless existence, he dies and rots away like common road kill.

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 9:4-10


Ecc 9:4 . . For he who is reckoned among the living has something
to look forward to-- even a live dog is better than a dead lion--


As long as people are still alive, there's always the thought that one day
their ship might come in. But once you're dead, there are no more ships
other than the one that ferries people across the river Styx.

Ecc 9:5-6 . . since the living know they will die. But the dead know
nothing; they have no more recompense, for even the memory of
them has died. Their loves, their hates, their jealousies have long
since perished; and they have no more share till the end of time in
all that goes on under the sun.


On the face of things, those who have passed on experienced the final phase
of life; the last item on their bucket list: and now have nothing left to do.
They're all done. They were born (we all are) they lived (we all do) they died
(we all will). And everybody not only experiences the final phase, but most
everyone also experiences the common experiences of life-- love, hate, and
rivalry. Every generation goes through the very same things while they're
here.

Ecc 9:7-10 . . Go, eat your bread in gladness, and drink your wine
in joy; for your action was long ago approved by God. Let your
clothes always be freshly washed, and your head never lack
ointment. Enjoy happiness with a woman you love all the fleeting
days of life that have been granted to you under the sun-- all your
fleeting days. For that alone is what you can get out of life and out of
the means you acquire under the sun. Whatever it is in your power
to do, do with all your might. For there is no action, no reasoning, no
learning, no wisdom in Sheol, where you are going.


That's the first, and the only time in Ecclesiastes where the word "sheol"
appears. It's from the Hebrew words she'owl (sheh-ole') and/or sheol (sheh
ole') which are essentially equivalent to the New Testament's haides (hah'
dace) which was the ancient Greeks' world of the dead (usually
subterranean; viz: the netherworld)

Sheol is often interpreted "grave". That's a good choice of words for the man
under the sun, i.e. a rational man thinking to himself whose perception of
reality is moderated by what he can see going on around him in the physical
universe rather than what he cannot see going on under his feet in the non
physical sphere.

The man under the sun generally understands that he needs to squeeze
every drop of juice out of the orange of life before it's too late. That is both
sad and frustrating for many because circumstances will not permit them to
enjoy life as much as they would like. They will never achieve their highest
potential, never eat right, never dress right, never have a family of their
own, never be pretty, never be handsome, never be thin, never be rich,
never be intelligent, never be famous, never be popular, never have good
health, and never have a home of their own-- the grave ends any and all
dreams of ever achieving any of that.

Since a lifetime is so little time to enjoy life, it's tragic that the good life is
taken away from us so easily because there's simply not enough time in life
to make up for lost time.

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 9:4-10


Ecc 9:11a . . I again saw under the sun that the race is not
[always] to the swift, and the battle is not to the warriors, and
neither is bread to the wise, nor wealth to the discerning, nor favor
to men of ability;


Typically races are won by the swift, but if the swift should trip and fall, they
will lose the race in spite of their superior speed. Battles are usually won by
the valiant, not the timid. But again, not always. If the valiant are dunces,
then the timid with brains can outsmart them. Food and money are usually
plentiful in the homes of people who have a head on their shoulders; but
again, if the wise should suddenly lose everything by an economic
catastrophe; like the Wall Street collapse of 2008, then all the financial
know-how in the world won't buy them a single loaf of bread down at the
local Safeway.

The word "favor" is from chen (khane) which means: graciousness, i.e.
subjective (kindness, favor) or objective (beauty). For some strange reason,
nature allows only a relatively small percentage of beautiful people to have
any brains or develop any really useful, productive skills. Most of the
achievers in life, like chemists, astronomers, architects, mathematicians,
writers, movie makers, physicists, engineers, and designers et al; are
ordinary-looking people. The beautiful people are often dead wood (and
dead heads).

Whenever I look behind the scenes of really difficult movies like Inception,
Matrix, Avatar, and Monsters Inc.; I'm amazed at the rather unexceptional
looks of many of the makers of our favorite movies. They just don't appear
to be all that smart and creative.

I noticed the same thing in my job as a Federal civilian employee. The
headquarters in my district has a noticeable shortage of attractive men and
women because the government, as a rule, doesn't hire people in respect to
how well they fill out their clothes, but in respect to how well their minds
work.

Ecc 9:11b . . for time and chance overtake them all.

There are no guarantees in life. It's a gamble. I know of a clerk in Costco
who spent four years in college majoring in Sociology. There was plenty of
demand for people with that kind of a degree when he entered college; but
by the time he finished school, the demand had vanished and my graduate
friend had to get a job as a fry cook in a Mongolian grill.

Ecc 9:12 . . And a man cannot even know his time. As fishes are
enmeshed in a fatal net, and as birds are trapped in a snare, so men
are caught at the time of calamity, when it comes upon them without
warning.


A machinist employed by the Corps of Engineers here in Portland Oregon
where I once worked as a welder, volunteered to go and help out with the
rescue and clean-up operation in New York after the World Trade Center was
hit with airliners flown by Islamic extremists. On return, he remarked how
he was puzzled by parking structures near ground zero full of very expensive
autos like BMW, Corvette, and Lexus that were covered with dirt day after
day. He wondered why the people who owned those beautiful cars never
washed them.

Then he realized why. It was because those cars once belonged to
commuters who worked in the Trade Center-- commuters who were caught
by total surprise in the sudden destruction of not only their place of
employment, but also of their very lives. Whatever they had planned for that
day, was instantly canceled forever. The owners never dreamed that the
miles they drove to work that day would be their very last.

Sudden-death incidents like that happen all the time. Not long ago actor Bill
Paxton was in the hospital for treatment of an aortic aneurism when he
suddenly died of a stroke on the operating table. It took his life right out of
the blue like a stray bullet from a drive-by.

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 9:13-17


Ecc 9:13-16 . .This thing too I observed under the sun about
wisdom, and it affected me profoundly. There was a little city, with
few men in it; and to it came a great king, who surrounded it and
built mighty siege works against it. Residing in the city was a poor
wise man who might have saved it with his wisdom, but nobody
thought of that poor man. So I observed: Wisdom is better than
valor; but a poor man's wisdom is scorned, and his words are not
heeded.


A pity that the truly wise are not always famous nor widely respected;
whereas the boastful, the narcissistic, the achievers, and the ambitious
always seem to find ample public opportunity to express their opinions, and
ways to get them implemented.

Can you define the difference between a statesman and a politician? A
statesman has his country's, and his countrymen's, best interests to heart. A
politician has only his own and/or his party's best interests to heart. Very
few statesmen wield power in the USA. Judging by current events, and
recent political scandals, it's mostly the politicians who are running things.

Has a particular politician ever made you angry? Has a particular political
body ever made a decision that, to you, seems they have mental illness
and/or have forgotten to take their medication? Have you ever wished that
you were there to make that critical decision? Maybe there were some issues
that troubled you. Maybe the person holding office is voting in such a way as
to hurt your district, harm your state and/or ruin your country. If so,
perhaps you'd like to run for political office.

You might begin by reading every available article on local and/or state
government. You could also make a habit of catching the local evening news
so as not to miss a report on a particular bill or hot political topic. You could
also begin talking and discussing your political ideas with others every
chance you get.

However, unless you have access to millions of dollars, you can forget
running for either the US President, the US Senate, or State Governor. The
poor cannot run for office no matter how wise and capable they might be
because wisdom and ability do not count in politics. Political office is typically
only for the powerful, the influential, and for those who have very rich
friends and the support of very large special interests. Government and big
business may seem like strange bedfellows, but in this USA of ours, their
collusion is simply the way things are.

Ecc 9:17 . .The words of the wise heard in quietness are better
than the shouting of a ruler among fools.


Unfortunately, the words of the wise are all too often heard in private. They
seldom have a large public audience because the wise are neither popular,
nor charismatic. The masses want to be entertained by a silver-tongued
speaker of grand verbiage and a promoter of impossible social agendas.
Bombastic plans for the future seem to be the tried and true method of
every successful politician. They offer hope you can believe in; but in reality,
all they actually have to offer are impossible ideals.

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 9:18


Ecc 9:18 . .Wisdom is more valuable than weapons of war, but a single error
destroys much of value.


Although wisdom may have more value than a cruise missile, it isn't nearly as effective
as that weapon in its purpose. It should be noted that a cruise missile isn't launched
indiscriminately; but usually launched only after the wisdom of diplomacy has run its
course and left the wisdom of warfare no choice but to do its thing; and it's thing these
days can be the destruction of an entire city by just one bomb.

Equipment and munitions, no matter how sophisticated nor how destructive, are wasted
in the hands of those untrained and unskilled in their use. So wisdom and weapons of
war work together for a victory. But obviously wisdom is the more valuable of the two
because it is through wisdom that war materiel is employed to its best effect.

President John F. Kennedy once commented in a speech: Every man woman and child
is under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest thread, capable of
being cut at any moment by accident, miscalculation, or by madness.

In other words, geniuses figured out how to harness fission, but its application is
sometimes subject to the arbitrary discretion of fools and Murphy's law.

A really good example of a single error destroying much of value was a 1998 NASA
Mars robotic probe that failed to achieve its intended orbit around Mars due to ground
based computer software which produced output in non-SI units of pound (force)
seconds (lbf·s) instead of the SI units of newton-seconds (N·s) specified in the contract
between NASA and Lockheed.

As a result of that one software boo-boo; the spacecraft encountered Mars on a
trajectory that brought it too close to the planet, causing it to pass through the upper
atmosphere and disintegrate. All the ingenious designing and engineering that went into
constructing a perfectly good orbiter, and getting it out to Mars, went for naught.

Another good example was the Hubble Space Telescope flub. Nobody physically tested
the Hubble's optics before sending the machine into near-earth orbit because a
computer model convinced the telescope's makers that everything was okay as-is and
needed no testing. As a result, Hubble's initial data produced images little better than
those seen by an elderly person with cataracts. Ouch!

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 10:1-4


Ecc 10:1 . . Dead insects will cause even a bottle of perfume to
stink! Yes, an ounce of foolishness can outweigh a pound of wisdom
and honor.


Before the wonders of modern chemistry, perfumes were made (and many
still are) from animal and vegetable sources. Those, being all-natural, in a
day prior to modern preservatives, could spoil if the perfumer wasn't careful
to keep his product protected from exposure to temperature, insects, dirt,
moisture, and other contaminants. All the skills and patience and knowledge
exercised in the making of expensive scents could be completely annulled by
simply forgetting to put the cap back on a jar.

Anyway, Ecc 10:1 certainly rings true in this day and age as the Roman
Catholic Church's credibility steadily goes down the tubes because of its
ongoing pedophilia scandals aggravated by its deplorable cover-ups.

And we should give honorable mention to the sexual misconduct scandals in
the news of late involving heads of government agencies.

And law enforcement officers stepping out of character to take bribes,
commit murder, robbery, theft, kidnapping, assault, battery, and rape.

The media is very attuned to the principle of Ecc 10:1. There isn't a day
goes by that they don't grab every opportunity to criticize a US presidents
and/or their families in order to discredit a President and make Americans
lose confidence in his executive abilities.

Ecc 10:2 . . A wise man's mind tends toward the right hand, a fool's
toward the left.


The right hand is the most useful and dexterous of the two hands. (at least
for right handed people anyway). It swings hammers and it writes letters. It
pulls back the bow string, and it wields the sword and axe. It holds your cup
of coffee, and it stirs cake mix. So to put your mind towards your right hand
is to make your mind the leader in your efforts; in contrast to the fool who
doesn't bother taking time to think anything through before charging ahead.
The fool leaves behind him a wake of errors; and is always learning things
the hard way. His favorite (full time) university is the School Of Hard
Knocks. Pity, but it seems to be the only way he ever learns anything.

Ecc 10:3 . . A fool's mind is also wanting when he travels, and he
lets everybody know he is a fool.


For some strange reason, the average male doesn't like to ask for directions
when he travels. Women usually don't mind at all because they want to get
where they're going. The men want to get there too, but they don't want to
get there as wimpy men; they want to find their own way there as macho
men. They prefer to think of themselves as commandos, patrol leaders: map
and compass experts. So they often end up lost and turned around because
their male ego will not permit them to let somebody (especially wives and
girlfriends) help them find the way.

And then there are people who don't prepare for emergencies when they
travel. They don't bring a car blanket, no paper towels, no tarp, no flares, no
water, no first aid supplies, no flashlight, no food, their spare tire is flat, nor
have they a clue how to install their car's tire chains (that is; if they even
have a set) and they try to get by all year long on regular tires rather than
go to the trouble of purchasing and installing seasonal tires.

Ecc 10:4 . . If the wrath of a lord flares up against you, don't give
up your post; for when wrath abates, grave offenses are
pardoned.


It is amazing how time has a way of healing things, and making people's
anger dissipate. If your boss blows his top at you for something or other and
rakes you over the coals, don't lose heart and quit your job just yet. He'll
cool off after a while and soon be back to his old self again. Sooner or later,
the boss himself will trip up and do something stupid like sexual harassment
or creating a hostile workplace; thus putting himself in the awkward position
of owing you one. Then you'll be even, and can go on as if nothing ever
happened; and he'll be very glad you didn't do something rash like haul him
down to the Equal Employment Opportunity office and make an issue of his
professional conduct.

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 10:6-10


Ecc 10:5-6 . . Here is an evil I have seen under the sun as great a
an error committed by a ruler: Folly was placed on lofty heights,
while rich men sat in low estate. I have seen slaves on horseback,
and nobles walking on the ground like slaves.


That is more a contrast between the nature of two types of character than
actual estate. A good biblical example of what Solomon is talking about can
be seen at Acts 23:23-24:27; where Paul the apostle mounted his defense
against the accusations of his Jewish enemies before a Roman governor
named Felix.

Felix wasn't born into nobility. No, he was actually an emancipated slave
who worked himself up to rank by craftiness and cruelty. Felix ruled, not
with a nobleman's mentality, but with a slave's. Tacitus, Hist. 5, says this of
Felix: Per omnem saevitiam ac libidinem jus regium servili ingenio exercuit
-- "He used royal power with a servile genius, and in connection with all the
varieties of cruelty and lust."

Felix should have been judged by Paul, not the other way around. As Paul
discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix
became nervous and said: That's enough for now! You may leave. When I
find it convenient, I will send for you. (Acts 24:25)

Felix's wife, Drusilla, was a piece of work herself. Her father was Herod
Agrippa 1, the one who ordered the death of James the brother of John (Acts
12:2). Her great uncle, another Herod, ordered the Lord's cousin John
beheaded (Mk 6:27). And last but not least, her great grandfather was the
infamous Herod who ordered the slaughter of pre-schoolers. (Matt 2:16)

Ecc 10:8-9 . . He who digs a pit may fall into it, and a serpent may
bite him who breaks through a wall. He who quarries stones may be
hurt by them, and he who splits logs may be endangered by them.


Anyone who's ever chopped kindling, already knows how easy it is for sticks
of wood to fly up into your face from a blow of the axe.

One of the most dangerous jobs up here in the northwest is logging. There's
ten ways from Sunday to get yourself injured logging. Chain saws rip men,
loose boughs called widow-makers fall on their heads, cables called chokers
sometimes catch the men and crush their hands, tear them in half or pull an
arm or leg off their bodies; falling trees lurch and skid rearwards off the
stump to hit the logger if he forgets to stand off to the side. They are
constantly tripping and falling, getting scratched, bitten by bugs, yelled at,
cursed, and threatened by the Bull of the woods (their foreman).

Should men stop logging because it's dangerous? Should they stop digging
trenches for pipelines because sometimes the trenches cave in? Should they
stop tearing down old buildings for new shopping malls and apartment
houses because there might be a rattler, or a scorpion, or a brown recluse
spider in the rubble? No. All those hazards just quite naturally come with the
turf.

Blue collar men are constantly in danger. But a wise worker will pay
attention in safety meetings, and put into practice what's he's taught so he
doesn't inadvertently kill himself in the process of bringing home the bacon.
My boss always said: Cliff; I don't care if you get killed on the job just so
long as you do it safely. (chuckle) That's one of the paradoxes of the blue
collar world. Safe working practices save many lives and limbs; but none are
fool proof.

Ecc 10:10 . . If the axe has become dull and he has not whetted the
edge, he must exert more strength. Thus the advantage of a skill
[depends on the exercise of] prudence.


We have a saying in the blue collar world: Work smarter, not harder. Many
times a job can be facilitated by just simply taking the time to go and get
the right tool instead of struggling to make do with the wrong one. But men
can be stubborn; and are sometimes careless, lazy and/or in a hurry; with
predictable results.

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 10:11-15


Ecc 10:11 . . If the snake bites because no spell was uttered, no
advantage is gained by the trained charmer.


That continues the thought from verse 10; "Thus the advantage of a skill
[depends on the exercise of] prudence."

Trained snake charmers lose control over cobras when they fail to exercise
the snake charming skills they learned in training. Charmers can't just sit
there and do nothing. The snake might strike and end the show before the
charmer gets any money from his audience. That principle obviously applies
in just about any area of life where skills (and prudence) are required to
produce results; like driving a car, SCUBA diving, banking, typing, sewing,
cooking, rock climbing, welding . . whatever. Trainings and skills are only
valuable when they're applied and put to use.

Ecc 10:12-14a . . A wise man's talk brings him favor, but a fool's
lips are his undoing. His talk begins as silliness and ends as
disastrous madness. Yet the fool talks and talks!


There are some shows on television that I simply cannot endure because the
hosts are so rude and disorderly; for example The View, and Kathy Lee
Gifford and Hoda Kopb. Those people continually interrupt each other and
hardly let the others complete a sentence before blurting out their own
thoughts; and many times all are talking at once with a din that reminds me
of a chicken house with all the birds clucking and squawking in an incoherent
cacophony.

For some people, every conversation is either a filibuster or a monologue:
they do all the talking. I used to work with a young man who not only talked
very fast, but with a pretty fair amount of animated arm waving and head
tossing to go with it. He had a maddening habit of never finishing one topic
at a time. In mid sentence he would branch off to another; leaving the first
incomplete. His conversation was like that continually and the effect was
nerve jangling because your mind was constantly shifting gears trying to
keep up with each new train of his erratic thoughts.

People's words are like pools of water. Some are very deep; yet so clear that
you can see all the way down. Others are shallow, but alas, so murky that
you cannot see even one inch below the surface.

Ecc 10:14b . . A man cannot know what will happen; who can tell
him what the future holds?


Well . . some people seem to know about everything. No matter what topic
comes up in conversation, they have something to share about it as if you
were the student, and they the master; and they are prolific with rash
predictions about this and about that.

Ecc 10:15 . . A fool's exertions tire him out, for he doesn't know
how to get to a town.


(chuckle) There's a modern colloquialism similar to that one: So and so is so
dumb that he doesn't know his right hand from his left. Or: He wouldn't be
able to find his nose if it wasn't attached to his face. That's the general
impression bucket-mouths make upon their victims.

"Sooner meet a bereaved she-bear than a fool with his nonsense." (Pro
17:12)

"A knowledgeable man is sparing with his words; a man of understanding is
reticent. Even a fool, if he keeps silent, is deemed wise-- intelligent, if he
seals his lips." (Pro 17:27-28)

It isn't necessary to be an aged wizard like Gandalf to be truly wise because
wisdom isn't really measured by a person's age. It's measured in good
sense. Frodo the Hobbit, although young and inexperienced, is wise in his
own way. Some of his friends are imbeciles. But not Frodo. Although he
enjoys a good time as well as any of his peers, Frodo is careful to avoid
stupidity. Because he exercises a considerable amount of self control, Frodo
is the only inhabitant of Middle Earth who can be trusted to bear the one
ring that rules them all.

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 10:16-19


Ecc 10:16a . .Woe to you, O land, whose king is a lad

It is a very sad time in a country's progress when the young are getting their
own way. God is known for punishing Yhvh's people by saddling them with
immature leadership and with disrespect for senior citizens. Some see
lowering the USA voting age to 18 as progress and a step in the right
direction. The Bible would see it as an evidence of America's decadence.

"He will destroy all the nation's leaders-- the heroes, soldiers, judges,
prophets, diviners, elders, army officers, honorable citizens, advisers, skilled
magicians, and expert enchanters. Then he will appoint children to rule over
them, and anarchy will prevail. People will take advantage of each other--
man against man, neighbor fighting neighbor. Young people will revolt
against authority, and nobodies will sneer at honorable people." (Isa 3:2-5)

Children's activities, like little league baseball and cub scouts, need adult
supervision. Kids, no matter how intelligent, just haven't the maturity to rule
either themselves or others. Management of lands and peoples requires a
degree of maturity, experience, and self discipline; which is why it's totally
stupid to lower the voting age instead of raising it especially when the new
21 in America is now somewhere around 26, and where civil disobedience is
thought to be patriotic, and where parent-demeaning sitcoms rate high in
television programming.

Ecc 10:16b-17 . . and whose princes feast in the morning. Blessed
are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at
the appropriate time-- for strength, and not for drunkenness.


The word for "princes" is from sar (sar) which means: a head person of any
rank or class-- captains, chiefs, generals, governors, keepers, lords,
taskmasters, monarchs, kings, magnates, barons, czars, foremen,
supervisors, etc.

A hearty breakfast of pancakes, fruit, and cereal wouldn't be considered
feasting. But a banquet, replete with alcohol, so early in the day, would have
to be construed as indulgence. Here in America, where we have so much,
overeating is a big problem. Many of us don't eat because we're hungry. No,
we eat for recreation: simply because we like food. You want to see true
hunger? Just look at the plight of the people of Afghanistan. Many of them
are eating grass, insects, and soil just to have something in their stomachs.

Overeating is not the same as gluttony. Real gluttony is where revelers stuff
themselves then regurgitate it so they can continue. But chronic overeating
can be evidence of the possible presence of other vices. There used to be an
old saying that chubby people are the happiest people. But we now know
that over-eating is often the result of psychological problems like depression
and anxiety disorders. Is that the kind of people we need in positions of
leadership? I seriously doubt it.

Ecc 10:18-19 . .Through slothfulness the ceiling sags, through lazy
hands the house caves in. They make a banquet for revelry; wine
makes life merry, and money answers every need.


People with vices often put a higher priority upon satisfying their appetites
for sex, food, substances, and gambling than taking care of business. Drug
addicts often lose their jobs for non-productivity and tardiness. Some lose
their friends, and their mental health. Gamblers risk the loss of their homes,
credit ratings, and bank accounts. Binge eaters risk heart attacks, strokes,
and hardening of the arteries. Smokers risk cancer, premature aging, and
high blood pressure. And addicts on meth risk losing their teeth. The best
time to break a bad habit is before it starts.

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 10:20


Ecc 10:20 . . Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse
the rich in your bedroom, because a bird of the air may carry your
words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.


The word for "revile" is from qalal (kaw-lal'); and basically means: to
belittle, vilify, despise or express contempt for someone. It can also mean to
wish (either in your heart or out loud) for someone's misfortune, or to hope
they experience some sort of harm, calamity, and/or injury.

Vilifying the rich is one thing; but vilifying those that employ you in their
business is quite another and can possibly lead to the loss of a promotion, or
even your job.

Solomon's advice on this point is extremely valuable; and the practice of
discretion is an outstanding social skill. It never seems to fail, that when
friends get together, some begin airing petty grievances against their
supervisors. Of course they wouldn't dare do this if any of the supervisors'
friends were around; but they make the common mistake of assuming their
friends are all loyal, and can keep a secret, and protect them from scandal.
But you just never know who among your friends might be wearing two
faces; and looking for an opportunity to curry favor with the very person you
just now ran into the ground.

Even the walls can quite literally have ears. Here's how. One year, we were
on vacation and staying at a friend's home in the town where we were. Well,
one evening as my wife and I were planning our itinerary for the next day, I
complained that the day would be ruined if our host wanted to come with us.
Guess what? Their home had central heating and every room was equipped
with a vent that connected to the main ductwork; which quite effectively
carried sounds to every room in the house like a tubular telegraph system.
Our host overheard everything we said.

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 11:1-2


Ecc 11:1-2 . . Send your bread forth upon the waters; for after many days you
will find it. Distribute portions to seven or even to eight, for you cannot know
what misfortune may occur on earth.


In Solomon's opinion; a well-rounded person is charitable. Altruism is one of those
characteristics that should be included in everyone's social résumé; and makes us a
better person for it. Nowadays, college aspirants have to put in some time benefiting
their communities in some way because it looks good on a college application.

They say charity begins at home. From there, it moves on out into the neighborhood,
and ultimately into the world: foreign aid for example. Some people object to foreign aid
because it drains American resources badly needed on the home front. But drain or not,
it's a good policy. Not only is it humanitarian, and therefore morally right; but you just
never know when America herself will be down and out and the very people who were
down on their luck that we assisted with weapons, food, technology, and medicine,
might one day reciprocate and help us out in some way.

"I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you
will be welcomed into eternal dwellings." (Luke 16:9)

America is sometimes accused of buying friends with foreign aid, and no doubt some of
that is true. But not always. And even if it were 100% true; so what? You don't need to
love people to be charitable. It makes good sense to build yourself a base of good will
just in case you need a favor some day. People you have helped are more inclined to
help you back than those you ignored; and in this big bad world, you need all the friends
you can get.

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 11:3-8


Ecc 11:3-6 . . If the clouds are filled, they will pour down rain on the earth; and
if a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will stay where it falls. If one
watches the wind, he will never sow; and if one observes the clouds, he will never
reap.

. . . Just as you do not know how the life-breath passes into the limbs within the
womb of the pregnant woman, so you cannot foresee the actions of God, who
causes all things to happen. Sow your seed in the morning, and don’t hold back
your hand in the evening, since you don’t know which is going to succeed, the
one or the other, or if both are equally good.

Just about any mention of a "God" in the book of Ecclesiastes is superficial rhetoric, and
has nothing to do with genuine faith.

What Solomon is saying is: If people waited until all the conditions were just right, life
would pass them by. In other words: Life is a risk. Take it.

Ecc 11:7-8 . . How sweet is the light, what a delight for the eyes to behold the
sun! Even if a man lives many years, let him enjoy himself in all of them,
remembering how many the days of darkness are going to be. The only future is
nothingness!

We know from the revealed portions of scripture that the future is definitely not darkness
and nothingness. But from the point of view of the man under the sun, people's
existence on earth is relatively brief in comparison to their non-existence in the grave.
Philosophically then, it's stupid to deny one's self the pleasures this life has to offer
when death is so inevitable.

In the movie Moonstruck; Olympia Dukakis' character asks Danny Aiello's character
why men chase women. He suggested that men chase women because they fear
death. Well, if not the moment of death, then surely they fear the aging process that
gets men to the moment of death; which is the root cause of the so-called middle-age
crisis. The aging process then, is a sort of world-wide pandemic for which there is no
known cure; and the condition thus far has always been terminal.

/
 
Last edited:

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 11:9-10


Ecc 11:9-10 . . O youth, enjoy yourself while you are young! Let
your heart lead you to enjoyment in the days of your youth. Follow
the desires of your heart and the glances of your eyes-- but know
well that God will call you to account for all such things-- and banis
care from your mind, and pluck sorrow out of your flesh! For youth
and dark hair are fleeting.


I let my past go too fast
No time to pause.
If I could slow it all down,
Like some captain whose ship runs aground,
I could wait until the tide comes around
(RUSH: Time Stand Still, 1987)

Life can't be put on hold, nor can one pause and savor the moment because
moments are momentary. The instant moments happen, they become fixed
in the frozen sea of the past. People who think to save themselves for
marriage for example, can do no such thing. One cannot save life as if it
were possible to put life in storage. No, life goes on. When people try to save
themselves for later; they only end up letting themselves go to waste
because youth isn't static; no, youth is left behind like the treads of a rope
bridge crumbling off behind you for every step taken as you cross over to
the other side; ergo: the time to live life is while you have it; not wait to live
it later after you've gone to seed.

Young people should enjoy a young person's life to the fullest while they
have the chance; but of course not to excess because any reasonable sense
of justice expects a day when a supreme being will call everyone into
account. But nevertheless; there is a lot to life that can be fully enjoyed only
while we are young. Age takes the pleasure out of many things in life that
were once fresh and exciting.

Take Disneyland in Los Angeles for example. Walt's park was built in the
1950's, completed just three years before I became a teen-ager. Oh; how I
yearned to go there and ride the Jungle Cruise, a boat ride on the rivers of
the world-- and we lived in San Diego, only a measly ninety miles from
Anaheim. Well, my mom and dad never did take us; and I didn't go on my
own until I got out of the Army; but by then it was more of a curiosity than a
pleasure. You know why? Because I wasn't a kid anymore. So don't let youth
slip through your fingers. Don't put off kid things till you are older; because
when you are older, kid things won't be near as much fun nor will they be
nearly as interesting either.

There was a time when I had 20-20 vision and could gaze at the stars with
my naked eyes and see them all crisp and sharp, even the really tiny ones.
Then one day I started noticing birds with four wings. Astigmatism had crept
up on me and there was nothing I could do about it except start wearing
glasses.

In later years, I developed cataracts; which make it difficult to drive at night
because the headlights of oncoming cars are like looking at flares through an
oily window and make it really hard for me to see the white lines. Even in
bright daylight, cataracts prevented me from reading street signs till I was
very close and then of course too late to safely turn on the one I wanted. So
now I have artificial lenses in both eyes to go along with the artificial joints
that I already had in both knees.

Romance especially is dulled by age. When you're young, love and romance
take your breath away, you can't sleep for the excitement of it all, and all
you can think of is being with your lover. Well, when you get older, it's not
like that. And I don't mean real old either. People in only their mid thirties
and forties no longer feel the same rush any more.

As a case in point, I dated a little in high school. Afterwards, during three
years of active duty in the Army I avoided girls and did no dating at all. After
discharge, I dated a girl when I was 21 and then completely lost interest in
dating till I was 32. But guess what? That decade of celibacy rendered me
almost completely frigid. I could feel very little chemistry with girls; they
were simply people of a different gender. The only reason I married at all is
because of the aging process. One day while shaving, as I looked in the
mirror I noticed my face beginning to sag and my hair thinning and
receding. It was a wake-up call. I realized the time of life for starting a
family was rapidly slipping away where before I gave it no thought at all.

Life is one of those things that you cannot go back and do over. You're only
young once; and you feel the feelings of the young only once too; and that's
for a relatively brief time compared to the remainder of your life.

I was once asked, in the 6th grade, by a sadistic male school principal who
caught me acting silly in the cafeteria: "Aren't you ever going to grow up?" I
answered; "I don't want to grow up." He was immediately indignant, and
demanded to know why. I replied; "Because grown-ups are unhappy."

He was annoyed by my answer; but no doubt knew in his heart I was right. I
never saw that man happy. He was always irritable and upset at the
students for one thing or another and everyone feared him. You know,
looking back, I don't think that man was even 35 yet; and just look how
much of the exuberance of youth he had already lost even by the time of
that relatively early age.

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 12:1-3c


Ecc 12:1 . . So appreciate your vigor in the days of your youth,
before those days of sorrow come and those years arrive of which
you will say: I have no pleasure in them.


Most people cope pretty well with middle age, and old age too-- as long as
they're in good health, their mind is sound and, they have the right attitude.
But nobody does good with advanced age. Your bowels won't work right,
you'll be incontinent and smell bad; diverticulitis causes blood in your stools,
your skin will be thin and easily torn, blue veins pop out on your legs and on
the backs of your hands, you won't see things unless they're right under
your nose, your sense of smell will be weak right along with your sense of
taste. Savory foods will taste like cardboard and your stomach can't deal
with them anyway. No more hiking, no more bicycle rides, no more airplane
trips, no more travel at all. Walking, if you're able to walk at all, will really
be little more than a shuffle of slow, flat footed, jerky little short steps rather
than a brisk fluid stroll.

Ecc 12:2 . . before sun and light and moon and stars grow dark,
and the clouds come back again after the rain:


Often, as people get older and their health begins to fail, friends will ask:
Hey, how's ol' so and so doing? And someone will say: Oh, he has his good
days and he has his bad days. Well, eventually ol' so and so will have only
his bad days and no good days ever again.

Ecc 12:3a . .When the guards of the house become shaky,

The Hebrew word for "guards" is shamar (shaw-mar'), the word used of
Adam when God tasked him with taking care of the garden in Gen 2:15; and
here in Ecclesiastes it refers to the use of your hands in homemaking and
gardening. Aged people's hands tremble. They can't hold anything steady. In
fact, they have so little strength and dexterity left in their hands that they
can't grasp anything securely; so they drop stuff a lot.

Ecc 12:3b . . And the men of valor are bent,

Those in advanced age, even if they were once proud Olympic athletes, can't
stand up straight and keep their shoulders back anymore. Older people get
bent and hunched. They shrink too, and some practically curl over like a fish
hook.

My mother-in-law really loved birds. But her back was so bent over that she
couldn't look up to see them, and unless they were only a few yards away,
she couldn't even lift her head high enough to see the ones down low on the
ground. I could've gotten her the finest Leica optics money can buy, but it
would just be throwing money out with the recycle. She couldn't use them
on a birding trip, nor could she even go on one. And if that weren't enough,
she lost the use of one eye because of glaucoma.

Ecc 12:3c . . the grinding ones stand idle because they are few,

Before the advent of dentures and professional dental care, people
commonly lost their teeth from decay and gum disease. As they got older,
people lost more and more teeth until the day came when there finally
weren't enough teeth left in their mouth to bite off food and chew it. Foods
like grains, meats, and many crispy fresh fruits and vegetables were simply
out of the question; so they had to eat mushy foods, foods that were
overcooked; or that didn't require a lot of biting and chewing. There's still a
lot of that in third world countries.

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 12:3d-5b


Ecc 12:3d . . And the ladies that peer through the windows grow
dim,


In some communities; women often wave to each other out their kitchen
windows and share gossip, and chat. Well, the aged women can't see well
enough to recognize their neighbors anymore and so their social life suffers.
To make things only worse; younger people are impatient with aged folks
and tend to treat them like children; and tune them out.

Ecc 12:4a . . And the doors to the street are shut--

The doors are shut because aged people get chilled easily. Riding on a city
transit bus once, in the dead of summer in San Diego, some senior citizens
shut my window because the draft was making them cold even though the
rest of us on board were broiling in the heat.

Ecc 12:4b . . with the noise of the hand mill growing fainter, and
the song of the bird growing feebler, and all the strains of music
dying down;


I've already lost some of my hearing in the higher and lower ranges. It's
natural and to be expected, even at my age; which, to date, is only 68.
Hearing aids help a lot so we don't have to yell so loud at aged folks in order
for them to hear us. Just imagine not being able to enjoy your favorite
music; or straining to hear ordinary conversation.

Ecc 12:5a . .When one is afraid of heights

We can fall aplenty when we're young and get away with it. Our joints are
tight and strong, our ligaments are taught and springy, our bones are solid
and tough, and we can handle all the bumps and bruises life throws at us.
But not so when we reach advanced age. Falls, even little ones, are
extremely hazardous; and can even be fatal.

Every now and then the news runs a story of an aged person who stumbled
and fell at home and broke a hip; and couldn't even reach the telephone to
call for help; sometimes laying there for days until the landlord or relatives
checked in on them. I knew an aged lady who's broken hip actually caused
her death. Her body was so weak already from fighting cancer that the
broken hip put it over the edge.

Ecc 12:5b . . And there is terror on the road.

Back in Solomon's day, people didn't move about cocooned in the safety and
comfort of a shell of metal and glass like many of us do today in modern
motorized vehicles. Well; they didn't have inoculations for pneumonia back
then so the aged were always in danger of literally catching their death
outdoors due to exposure to wind, rain, cold, and dampness. They risked
heat stroke and exhaustion too because none of those old-time conveyances
came factory-equipped with AC; subsequently, aged folk didn't travel too far
from home in those days; they were too much at risk of not only brigands
and muggers, but mostly the elements.

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 12:5c-8


Ecc 12:5c . . For the almond tree may blossom, the grasshopper be
[gravid], and the caper bush may bud again; but man sets out for his
eternal abode, with mourners all around in the street.


Nature isn't dismayed by the passing of a human being. Flowers continue to
bloom, bugs continue to multiply, and fruit continues to appear on vines,
bushes, and trees; and birds continue to migrate. When people drop dead,
the world doesn't drop dead with them. Trees and flowers go right on
budding and blooming, fish go on swimming, birds go on flying, bees go on
buzzing, the Earth goes right on turning, and the Moon goes right on shining
as usual just like nothing ever happened.

The world was doing just fine before any one of us came along, and it will go
on doing just fine after we're all gone. When those 2,829 people died in the
2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, and another 200,000+
were killed in the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and another 169,752 were killed in
the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, and yet another 25,000 killed and/or went
missing in Japan's tsunami in 2011 --nature felt neither pity nor remorse;
and the stars in their courses didn't even blink.

And funerals? What a joke. Standard funerals are anti-Green. The figures
below represent chemicals and construction materials consumed on account
of, and/or buried with, America's dead in just one calendar year.

• over 30,000,000 board feet of hardwoods

• over 100,000 tons of bronze, steel, and copper

• over 1,000,000 tons of concrete.

• over 1,000,000 gallons of formaldehyde

• over 2,000,000 acres of land have been clear-cut and made into
cemeteries good for nothing else which have to be maintained with
pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and petro-chemical fertilizers which all
eventually leach into the soil and into our water supplies.

We are literally killing the planet to honor our dead. And the irony of it all--
the sublime irony --is that the reason half of us go to funerals is to pay our
respects to people we couldn't be bothered with when they were alive.

Ecc 12:6 . . Before the silver cord snaps and the golden bowl
crashes, the jar is shattered at the spring, and the jug is smashed at
the cistern.


Well; you know what they say about Humpty Dumpty: All the king's horses
and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty back together again.

People with money, like king Solomon, had fancy lighting in their homes.
Chandeliers made of ornate bowls overlaid with gold, containing oil or
candles, were suspended from the ceiling by metal contraptions made of
silver. Ancient bowls, and jars, and jugs were fragile. Once broken, they
weren't repaired, but discarded and replaced with a new unit. Man is like
that-- just an expendable vessel; and death destroys him beyond repair like
one of Solomon's terracotta dishes.

Ecc 12:7a . . And the dust returns to the ground as it was,

Man's body is composed of mother nature's physical elements. She wants
them back. But the power that makes things alive doesn't consist of mother
nature's elements. The power of life is divine; and God (or the gods,
whatever) wants it back after you're done with it.

Ecc 12:7b . . and the life-breath returns to God [or the gods;
whatever] who bestowed it.


In other words; man's life is a short-term loan.

Ecc 12:8 . . Utter futility-- said Koheleth --all is meaningless!

Well, there you have it-- an objective evaluation of the human experience.
It's fragile, brief, subject to termination without the benefit of even so much
as a moment's notice, and punctuated with misery. Is it any wonder then
that from the perspective of a man under the sun; the human experience is
completely pointless?

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 12:9-12


Ecc 12:9-10 . . A further word: Because Koheleth was a sage, he
continued to instruct the people. He listened to and tested the
soundness of many maxims. Koheleth sought to discover useful
sayings and recorded genuinely truthful sayings.


Solomon's argument smacks of circular reasoning in that he regards his own
personal philosophy as "genuinely truthful sayings" solely because he
believes himself to be wise.

That's hardly a novel approach. Many bright people are deeply offended
when those of lesser IQ reject their (sage) opinions. However, we're inclined
to give Solomon the benefit of the doubt and go along with his self
evaluation because we are, after all, Bible students who, for the most part,
don't know any better anyway.

Ecc 12:11a . .The words of wise men are like goads,

Goads were used by mule skinners and such who drive oxen and/or horses
to pull plows and wagons. The device is a bit like the pointed tool that
workers use to pick up trash along roadways: a long stick whittled to a sharp
point at one end. A fancy goad might include an ornate metal prod at one
end. When the skinners want an ox to get moving, they just poke its rump.

Anyway; wise people are difficult to oppose without coming across as obtuse
because everything they say makes sense to those of us with a lesser IQ.
Even when the wise are wrong they sound right so there's nothing to gain by
matching wits with them. they'll just keep sticking it to you.

Ecc 12:11b . . and masters of these collections are like well-driven
nails;


The word for "nails" is from masmerah (mas-mer-aw') which actually isn't a
nail but a peg. Ecclesiastes is the only place in the entire Old Testament
where masmerah is located. Small pegs can be used to build furniture. Large
ones can be used as fence posts; and other sizes can be used to hold a tent
in place. A husky peg on a tug boat can be used as a tow bit. So peg has
lots of meanings and one that we can easily apply in this passage is that the
person who takes the words of the wise seriously, becomes a solid, stable
individual.

Ecc 12:11c . . they are given by one shepherd.

If you asked twenty people to draw a crooked line; you would get twenty
different-looking lines. Wisdom is like a straight line. If you asked those
same twenty people to draw a straight line, all twenty lines would look the
same. They might have different lengths, and they might be of different
thickness, but they would all conform to the well known geometric axiom
that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points. Straight lines
don't zig nor zag nor kink nor sag nor bow nor bend like a crooked line. All
straight lines look the same because straight lines go in only one direction;
viz: the words of the wise must be consistent if they're to be taken seriously.
A wishy-washy philosopher is just a blow-hard.

Ecc 12:12 . . But beyond this, my son, be warned : the writing of
many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying
to the body.


It's quite natural to feel that scholars and book worms are somehow above
the rest of us. But they really aren't. They're just absorbed; that's all.

/
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
-
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14


Ecc 12:13a . .The sum of the matter, when all is said and done:

Solomon has discussed how life is out of balance; viz: its unjust and unfair;
cruel and punctuated with misery-- youth is only temporary, happiness is
fragile, and joy is fleeting. Life traps us in circumstances beyond our control
and we're often dominated by unscrupulous people. Life is pointless, much
too brief, and everyone, both the good, the bad, and the ugly, are faced with
old age and the inevitability of death. So . . since that is the case; what is
the use of life anyway? If life is such a dead-end, pointless pursuit, then why
should we take it seriously; if at all?

Ecc 12:13b-14 . . Revere God and observe His commandments! For
this applies to all mankind: that God will call every creature to
account for everything unknown, be it good or bad.

Wouldn't it be sad if we only lived and died like insects and fungi? I mean,
what would be the point of it all? What real advantage is it to have a
beautiful mind if it's only going to die and stop working after many years of
learning and experience? And what real value is it to the minds of the
present to make the world a better place for the next generation of minds if
the minds of the present don't live to see it?

By believing in a supreme being, your life means something after all. It
counts in some way when there is a God; and it gives people a hope for the
future after they're destroyed by old age and death. Wouldn't it be far better
to perceive yourself part of a grand scheme instead of walking across the
stage of your all too brief life as an insignificant speck in a pointless cosmos?

The Bible's God has another Genesis in the works for mankind. Yes. A whole
new earth and a whole new universe minus all the negative aspects of the
current one.

"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall
not be remembered, nor come into mind." (Isa 65:17-25)

"The day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass
away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and
the earth and its works will be burned up." (2Pet 3:10)

"According to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth,
in which righteousness dwells." (2 Pet 3:13)

"I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first
earth passed away" (Rev 21:1-6)

As my wife and I decline and wax older and older, we feel sadness for the
loss of our youth. There was a time when we were both bright-eyed and
bushy-tailed and could get by with very little rest. The skin on our face, and
under our chin, was tight, and our middles were lean and defined. Today
we're sag-bottomed and flaccid.

The great cowboy artist Charles Russell once commented that time traded
him wrinkles for teeth. Me too. I've lost teeth, some are capped, and my
gums have receded. The teeth that remain have become so brittle that I
have to be careful when eating my favorite hard candies.

Believing that there is a supreme being, and a future world, lifts our spirits
and strengthens us to cope with aging and the onset of death. We have
promise of a great, eternal future out ahead in a world where youth is the
norm, and no one dies or gets sick.

Even if we are totally wrong in our belief, my wife and I are far better off
than "the man under the sun" who has resigned himself to futility; to live out
his pointless existence with no more importance than an alley cat or a feral
dog; to die and be recycled back into the matrix from whence he came; the
meanwhile suppressing a gnawing anxiety in the back of his mind that there
just might be an afterlife after all.

-- The End --


/