THE OUTER LIMITS: ECCLESIASTES-What God Do You Worship?

What God Do You Worship?

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

Actions Betray True Belief

Please use your imagination for this next part. I want you to think about the situation we are talking about. Solomon is now an old man, looking back on his life. Perhaps sitting in a room with many scrolls writing down what he knows. He was the wisest man in the ancient near east therefore, being wise, he wishes to write down what he knows. The key to wisdom is learning from what others have discovered.

And he is sitting with scroll on the table, quill pen in hand and as he looks back over his life he begins to write. He writes about what he knows to be true - life is fleeting. It passes quickly. He says that it is all Hebel - just a vapor. He's struggling; he wants to leave behind a legacy of wisdom but all that he sees, all that he remembers is that its hebel. He writes using his reasoning.

This is a frustration for such a wise man. This is all he has. Vapors. A breath. And then it is gone. He has completed the temple, which his father never got to see. A grand structure covered in gold. Tens of thousands of workers, both citizens and slaves were required to complete. Yet he knows that this too will pass away.

Yet he continues to write. He can't help himself. Maybe it was over the course of the night or maybe over the course of years. But he wrote what he knew the wisdom that God gave him.

But why this wisdom? Why not happiness? Why not satisfaction? Why is it hebel - a vapor?

I mean he hasn't been denied anything and he has had everything. He denied himself nothing in the search for meaning.

He was wealth was almost incomprehensible - listen to these numbers

Solomon - here are examples of his wealth

1 talent of gold was worth =

23,940 sheep
1596 slaves
399 houses

The queen of Sheba gave Solomon 120 talent of gold

2,872,800 sheep
191,520 slaves
47,880 houses
Or $4,788,000,000

Solomon brought 420 talents of gold from Ophir

10,054,800
670,320 slaves
167,580 houses
Or $16,758,000,000

Solomon's annual tribute 666 talents of gold a year for 39 years

15,944, 040 sheep per year
1,062,936 slaves per year
265,734 houses per year
Or =$1,038,960,000,000 from 39 years of annual tribute, this does not account for any additional wealth

His wealth was so great that 2 Chronicles 1:15 says:

2 Chronicles 1:15 (NIV 2011, Zondervan)

15 The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones,[1]

And he has found, even with this wealth, at the end, looking back over his life - the great accomplishments - he has found that it is like trying to grasp smoke. Everything disappears.

It becomes someone else's.

His life is slipping away and he realizes he can't even hold on to any of his accomplishments. His wealth won't go with him. And his wisdom does him no good.

Part of the problem is what he has done. Even though he was brought up knowing God and he was granted wisdom by God; he has not followed God.

He has not followed God's instruction. He has violated the law -

Listen to Deuteronomy 17:16-17:

Deuteronomy 17:16-17

16 “the king moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them.…

17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold” (Deut. 17:16–17).[2]

And what did Solomon do: He dealt in horses with Egypt and had a great number of them, he had 300+ wives (+700 concubines), and he had so much gold and silver that it was like stones. All against the clearly written law for the king of Israel.

Ink and scroll, line after line devoted to a vapor…and that’s where it ends or does it?

God granted Him wisdom and therefore this is what wisdom can be like. It can be a hard lesson. Maybe it is not comfortable.

And he keeps writing…and there is wisdom in this writing. But in this writing it is limited.

Remember what he says, "I've examined everything under the sun." That means everything limited to what he can see, think, and feel. His experiences, his reason.

So is it all meaningless? Is it all a vapor?

And Solomon pens the first verse of chapter 5; This is so much different than the previous chapters. Wisdom, pleasure, work, advancement, all hebel - meaningless.

But God has granted him wisdom and if all other things under the sun are meaningless, this is what is important. It is all about God.

Ecclesiastes 5:5

5 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

This is what he knows. At the end of his life, his reign as king, he has strayed far from God. But he knows that when you go to the temple it is about God not about man. Walk carefully. Watch your words. Listen for God, listen to God.

Because the sacrifice of a fool is one who thinks he can cajole God into granting a request. They think that it is about what their actions 'buy' God's acceptance.

Your heart. What is in your heart when you approach God? Is it religious behavior? Just an act? Or do you truly desire to be near Him? Is it about God or about you?

And Solomon continues in verse 2:

Ecclesiastes 5:2

2 Do not be quick with your mouth,

do not be hasty in your heart

to utter anything before God.

God is in heaven

and you are on earth,

so let your words be few.

He knows this to be true. A wise person listens before God the creator. Man is merely creation. Solomon knows that rather than telling God what to do and what we want we should be listening more than talking.

Yet his concern or frustration shows in the second half - God is in heaven, you are on earth. In other words Solomon is saying - God is so far from us of what concern are we to Him?

Does He care?

Of course we need to remember why Solomon is even thinking this. He has let the beliefs of his foreign wives effect his belief in the true God

Perhaps it is fear, the knowledge of how far he has strayed. We don't necessarily know.

And verse 3 falls on the scroll:

Ecclesiastes 5:3

3 A dream comes when there are many cares,

and many words mark the speech of a fool.

Over thinking and over thought plague the man who is not attentive to God and His ways. “As a dream is accompanied by many worries, so a fool’s speech comes with many words.”[3]

When a person has many concerns they scheme and dream of solutions to these concerns. Worry plagues them. It is almost as if Solomon is saying why waste the time worrying - God is so distant and all that we are and do is just a vapor, meaningless.

As Solomon continues to write. There is not just hebel, a vapor. But something of grave importance. Something that he wants to pass on. And verse 4, 5, and 6 are penned:

Ecclesiastes 5:4-6

4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow.

5 It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.

6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?

God's ways are not our ways. Therefore we should not take our words before God carelessly. And if you do make a vow before God make sure you follow through. Solomon has seen this many times. It was common for a man to make a vow or a pledge of money or self so that God would give him something in return. (in fact in these days there would be a person in the temple that would follow up on vows that you made).

The mouth must be kept under control, or it can lead us into sin when our actions fail to be consistent with our words (cf. Prov. 10:14; 13:3; 14:3; 15:28, for general emphasis on control of speech as an aspect of wisdom).[4]

And verse 7b is the heart of the wisdom that Solomon writes:

Ecclesiastes 5:7b

7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God. [5]

This is the goal of all of Solomon's writing - Fear God. He has seen the way people act towards God. Treating the creator of all like a wish granter. Yet he sees the heart of the matter. Fear and awe of God.

Regardless of Solomon's (man's) incomplete knowledge of the meaning of life - God is still God and worthy of fear and worship.

When Solomon was truly following God he wrote Proverbs, and Proverbs 1:7 says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and in Proverbs 3:7,8 he states - do not be wise in your own eyes but fear God and shun evil for this will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

Solomon knows that this is the answer. Saying - 'I may not understand why things are like this but I know this - Fear God.'

But God is so distant from Solomon, especially now, with his actions.

God is in Heaven we are not.

Solomon knows the stories of God saving his people.

He knows the miracles that were performed

And he knows how God blessed his own life.

And when he looks back at his life and all that he has observed this is what he finds to be most important. Fear God.

Solomon knows from what he has seen, not only in other people but himself, that people are religious and will worship anything.

He has seen the difficulty in his own life of following the god's of his wives.

Yet he comes back to this thing - life is hebel, a vapor, and it is meaningless. The only meaning he can find is to fear and worship God the creator.

But as we leave Solomon in is his study we need to remember one thing - Solomon only has part of the picture.

The only thing he could rely on was the worship and fear of God. The thing that he knew to be true.

He doesn't see what we see.

The New Testament answer

It can look like a vapor to Solomon. Remember he doesn’t have much of an idea of resurrection
He doesn't see what we know
He desires a savior but doesn’t even know how to say the word or what it means
To him this is all there is - live and die
But he can sense in his bones that there is more
God has given us the answer to the seemingly meaningless nature of life

Because life is only meaningless apart from God
Because everything that is done for the love of God somehow makes its way to the new heaven and the new earth

It is not lost. The answer is found it Christ.

Romans 8:18-21

I consider our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
For the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.[6]

Frustration found through false gods

Money, sex, power
All lead to the hebel, the vapor, the meaninglessness

Whereas Solomon saw God as distant
God came to earth to be with His creation and what did this do
(John spoke about Ephesians 2:1-4 last week)
Listen to this passage in Colossians

Colossians 1:15-23

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—
if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.[7]

This is the answer
Jesus solves the wrong thinking of meaninglessness for meaning is found through Him
He is the one that holds all of creation together
(raising Lazarus)
He is the one who rejoins us to Him

As a result, Christians can experience deep significance precisely in those areas where Qohelet felt most oppressed. Jesus has restored meaning to wisdom, labor, love, and life. After all, by facing death, Jesus conquered the biggest fear facing Qohelet. He showed that for believers death is not the end of all meaning, but the entrance into the very presence of God.[8]

In fact the proof of the meaning is the fact that Jesus came to redeem it
It is seen in the beatitudes
(The idea is presented there that Jesus Christ is the ultimate answer to Qohelet’s conclusion of meaninglessness under the sun. Jesus emptied himself of his divine prerogatives to subject himself to the world “under the sun” in order to free us of the chaos to which God subjected the world after the fall into sin.)[9]

Remember the temple vow - I will do this for you God and you will do this for me.

That is the problem with religion - the false picture. You see that it says that since I have done for you God there is a limit to what you can ask of me. But in reality since God has done all for us there is no limit to what He can ask from us.

Conclusion

This is a passage that points to and is about God.

Solomon struggled - God was seemed so remote, so far away. God is in Heaven and we are here.

A lot of Solomon's problems were the result of him going directly against God's desires for our lives.

Ie - his wives from other lands would cause him to worship their false gods

Solomon knew who God was; although he made many mistakes in letting other religions influence him.

But we see and know the solution. For God so loved the world that He sent His Son (of which we will celebrate in a few days)

God was no longer remote, He came.

Man broke the relationship and He fixed it.

The temple was no longer the place of worship

For we are the temple

But here is the problem

I know that Jesus is Lord of All, before everything He was

And I know that I should seek Him for everything but…

I was instructed in the way to live and to worship God and fear him

Much like Solomon I have allowed another god to enter my life

Although I did not trade horses with Egypt I have let another God enter my life.

This is my lord - (showing Credit Card)

This provides me provision everyday

I can by food,

Get money,

Take care of my health

All with this little piece of plastic.

It is constantly with me and when I need something I reach for the plastic.

Rarely do I pray for the provision that I truly need.

I've said that Jesus is Lord of my life, yet when I need something I reach for the card

I'm making an oath to God yet I'm relying on another god.

I have prayed and talked much but my actions betray my true god.

I want to rely on Jesus but my life is just so comfortable.

Not only is the card controlling my life but do I fear God?

Sometimes God does feel like He is in Heaven and I am here

Sometimes…

But this is the way of our fickle nature

It infects us when:

When we don't read the bible

When we don't pray

When we don't meet together (Hebrews 10:25)

When we don't remember that Christ is the answer

When we don't remember the Cross

And that it was completed on the Cross

And through that Cross and the empty tomb He has repaired our relationship with Him

Galatians 3:3

3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?[10]

Just like it happened to the Galatians it is so easy to fall back to the ways of the world

Back to counting on the credit card now and God only when things go really sideways

But how much better would it be to wake up every morning and thank God and pray for His provision

To pray to know Him more

To know the risen Christ.

To cling to the Cross.

To find meaning in the risen Christ our Lord and Savior this Christmas season.

The New Version. (2011). (2 Ch 1:15). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. ↑
Richards, L., & Richards, L. O. (1987). The teacher’s commentary (p. 349). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. ↑
Matthews, V. H., Chavalas, M. W., & Walton, J. H. (2000). The IVP Bible background commentary: Old Testament (electronic ed., Ec 5:3). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. ↑
Provan, I. (2001). Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (p. 117). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. ↑
The New International Version. (2011). (Ec 5:1–7). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. ↑
Longman, T. (1998). The Book of Ecclesiastes (p. 39). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. ↑
The New International Version. (2011). (Col 1:15–23). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. ↑
Longman, T. (1998). The Book of Ecclesiastes (p. 40). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. ↑
Longman, T. (1998). The Book of Ecclesiastes (p. 284). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. ↑
The New International Version. (2011). (Ga 3:3). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. ↑