Acts 242 on Ecc. 2
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Solomon was looking for meaning and purpose of life independent of God and he had the resources and means to seek whatever his hearts desire.
Solomon also had the wisest mind to seek all this.
What would he conclude after seeking this?
What would he conclude after seeking this?
~All is vanity!
If I can only have ____ my life would be fulfilled - this is all a lie!
If we are not able to process our knowledge through God our hearts will only fill up with grief and sorrow.
Wisdom outside of God will only bring sorrow.
Starting in the study -
1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity.
2 I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”
3 I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.
17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
1 Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them”:
8x’s in this book Solomon uses the word pleasure.
2 sources pleasure he used was laughter and alcohol.
and 10
At the end of his seeking pleasure he realized that it all lead to him knowing it was all meaningless
Vs. 3 - Solomon searched with his heart
We live in a pleasure driven world apart from God. - Nothing wrong having fun but it is when pleasure is what you are seeking. Pleasure seeking is self seeking! The pleasure seeker puts his things in his life above the people in his life.
People are more important than things and pleasure.
Pleasure only has a shelve life so pleasure seeker are never content
Sad result is desire without satisfaction!
Solomon was trying to find something that was not to be found because it was just not there - pleasure without our Creator!
True fulfillment is only found in His purpose for my life!
10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
4 I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards.
5 I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
6 I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove.
7 I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me.
8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds.
9 So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.
10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor.
11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.
In each of Solomons projects he was seeking fulfillment and they were all disappointed him.
Ecc
1 Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun: And look! The tears of the oppressed, But they have no comforter— On the side of their oppressors there is power, But they have no comforter.
2 Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead, More than the living who are still alive.
3 Yet, better than both is he who has never existed, Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
4 Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
5 The fool folds his hands And consumes his own flesh.
6 Better a handful with quietness Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.
7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun:
8 There is one alone, without companion: He has neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his labors, Nor is his eye satisfied with riches. But he never asks, “For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good?” This also is vanity and a grave misfortune.
9 Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor.
10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up.
11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
13 Better a poor and wise youth Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.
14 For he comes out of prison to be king, Although he was born poor in his kingdom.
15 I saw all the living who walk under the sun; They were with the second youth who stands in his place.
16 There was no end of all the people over whom he was made king; Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
1 Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.
2 Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few.
3 For a dream comes through much activity, And a fool’s voice is known by his many words.
4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed—
5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.
6 Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands?
7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God.
8 If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter; for high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them.
9 Moreover the profit of the land is for all; even the king is served from the field.
10 He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.
11 When goods increase, They increase who eat them; So what profit have the owners Except to see them with their eyes?
12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, Whether he eats little or much; But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.
13 There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun: Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.
14 But those riches perish through misfortune; When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.
15 As he came from his mother’s womb, naked shall he return, To go as he came; And he shall take nothing from his labor Which he may carry away in his hand.
16 And this also is a severe evil— Just exactly as he came, so shall he go. And what profit has he who has labored for the wind?
17 All his days he also eats in darkness, And he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.
18 Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage.
19 As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God.
20 For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.
1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:
2 A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires; yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil affliction.
3 If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or indeed he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he—
4 for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.
5 Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man,
6 even if he lives a thousand years twice—but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one place?
7 All the labor of man is for his mouth, And yet the soul is not satisfied.
8 For what more has the wise man than the fool? What does the poor man have, Who knows how to walk before the living?
9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
10 Whatever one is, he has been named already, For it is known that he is man; And he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he.
11 Since there are many things that increase vanity, How is man the better?
12 For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?
1 A good name is better than precious ointment, And the day of death than the day of one’s birth;
2 Better to go to the house of mourning Than to go to the house of feasting, For that is the end of all men; And the living will take it to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter, For by a sad countenance the heart is made better.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise Than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6 For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, So is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.
7 Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason, And a bribe debases the heart.
8 The end of a thing is better than its beginning; The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9 Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
10 Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.
11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance, And profitable to those who see the sun.
12 For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense, But the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.
13 Consider the work of God; For who can make straight what He has made crooked?
14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider: Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.
15 I have seen everything in my days of vanity: There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness, And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.
16 Do not be overly righteous, Nor be overly wise: Why should you destroy yourself?
17 Do not be overly wicked, Nor be foolish: Why should you die before your time?
18 It is good that you grasp this, And also not remove your hand from the other; For he who fears God will escape them all.
19 Wisdom strengthens the wise More than ten rulers of the city.
20 For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin.
21 Also do not take to heart everything people say, Lest you hear your servant cursing you.
22 For many times, also, your own heart has known That even you have cursed others.
23 All this I have proved by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise”; But it was far from me.
24 As for that which is far off and exceedingly deep, Who can find it out?
25 I applied my heart to know, To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things, To know the wickedness of folly, Even of foolishness and madness.
26 And I find more bitter than death The woman whose heart is snares and nets, Whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God shall escape from her, But the sinner shall be trapped by her.
27 “Here is what I have found,” says the Preacher, “Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason,
28 Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find: One man among a thousand I have found, But a woman among all these I have not found.
29 Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes.”
1 Who is like a wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, And the sternness of his face is changed.
2 I say, “Keep the king’s commandment for the sake of your oath to God.
3 Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.”
4 Where the word of a king is, there is power; And who may say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment,
6 Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, Though the misery of man increases greatly.
7 For he does not know what will happen; So who can tell him when it will occur?
8 No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, And no one has power in the day of death. There is no release from that war, And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.
9 All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.
10 Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity.
11 Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him.
13 But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.
14 There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.
15 So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.
16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night,
17 then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.
1 For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them.
2 All things come alike to all: One event happens to the righteous and the wicked; To the good, the clean, and the unclean; To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner; He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath.
3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
4 But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
5 For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun.
7 Go, eat your bread with joy, And drink your wine with a merry heart; For God has already accepted your works.
8 Let your garments always be white, And let your head lack no oil.
9 Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.
11 I returned and saw under the sun that— The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.
12 For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, Like birds caught in a snare, So the sons of men are snared in an evil time, When it falls suddenly upon them.
13 This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me:
14 There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it.
15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.
16 Then I said: “Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, And his words are not heard.
17 Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war; But one sinner destroys much good.”
1 Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment, And cause it to give off a foul odor; So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor.
2 A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, But a fool’s heart at his left.
3 Even when a fool walks along the way, He lacks wisdom, And he shows everyone that he is a fool.
4 If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, Do not leave your post; For conciliation pacifies great offenses.
5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun, As an error proceeding from the ruler:
6 Folly is set in great dignity, While the rich sit in a lowly place.
7 I have seen servants on horses, While princes walk on the ground like servants.
8 He who digs a pit will fall into it, And whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent.
9 He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, And he who splits wood may be endangered by it.
10 If the ax is dull, And one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength; But wisdom brings success.
11 A serpent may bite when it is not charmed; The babbler is no different.
12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;
13 The words of his mouth begin with foolishness, And the end of his talk is raving madness.
14 A fool also multiplies words. No man knows what is to be; Who can tell him what will be after him?
15 The labor of fools wearies them, For they do not even know how to go to the city!
16 Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, And your princes feast in the morning!
17 Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles, And your princes feast at the proper time— For strength and not for drunkenness!
18 Because of laziness the building decays, And through idleness of hands the house leaks.
19 A feast is made for laughter, And wine makes merry; But money answers everything.
20 Do not curse the king, even in your thought; Do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom; For a bird of the air may carry your voice, And a bird in flight may tell the matter.
1 Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days.
2 Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.
3 If the clouds are full of rain, They empty themselves upon the earth; And if a tree falls to the south or the north, In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.
4 He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap.
5 As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.
6 In the morning sow your seed, And in the evening do not withhold your hand; For you do not know which will prosper, Either this or that, Or whether both alike will be good.
7 Truly the light is sweet, And it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun;
8 But if a man lives many years And rejoices in them all, Yet let him remember the days of darkness, For they will be many. All that is coming is vanity.
9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; Walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your eyes; But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.
10 Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, And put away evil from your flesh, For childhood and youth are vanity.
1 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, because he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had always loved David.
2 Then Solomon sent to Hiram, saying:
3 You know how my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which were fought against him on every side, until the Lord put his foes under the soles of his feet.
4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence.
5 And behold, I propose to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spoke to my father David, saying, “Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house for My name.”
6 Now therefore, command that they cut down cedars for me from Lebanon; and my servants will be with your servants, and I will pay you wages for your servants according to whatever you say. For you know there is none among us who has skill to cut timber like the Sidonians.
7 So it was, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly and said, Blessed be the Lord this day, for He has given David a wise son over this great people!
8 Then Hiram sent to Solomon, saying: I have considered the message which you sent me, and I will do all you desire concerning the cedar and cypress logs.
9 My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; I will float them in rafts by sea to the place you indicate to me, and will have them broken apart there; then you can take them away. And you shall fulfill my desire by giving food for my household.
10 Then Hiram gave Solomon cedar and cypress logs according to all his desire.
11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand kors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty kors of pressed oil. Thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year.
12 So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.
13 Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty thousand men.
14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge of the labor force.
15 Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone in the mountains,
16 besides three thousand three hundred from the chiefs of Solomon’s deputies, who supervised the people who labored in the work.
17 And the king commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones, and hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the temple.
18 So Solomon’s builders, Hiram’s builders, and the Gebalites quarried them; and they prepared timber and stones to build the temple.
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Solomon overseen the temple building and it was not fulfilling (1 Kings 5)
“All was vanity”
If he thought it would bring him pleasure he bought it or built it!
Solomon had more wealth, power, influence and wisdom that any of us could even imagine and he was not ever satisfied.
There can be joy in projects if it is submitted to the LORD. The journey can bring you joy.
“Success can bring you enjoyment until you get it”
Are we free from pursuing the next thing?
Think of the freedom of time, people, and finances there would be if man put the all that into the kingdom instead of pleasures
1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John
2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples),
3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.
4 But He needed to go through Samaria.
5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?
12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’
18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
27 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”
28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men,
29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”
33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!
36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
37 For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’
38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.”
40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.
41 And many more believed because of His own word.
42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
43 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.
44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.
46 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.
47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”
49 The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!”
50 Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.
51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!”
52 Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”
53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and his whole household.
54 This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.
Story of the woman at the well ()
15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
The joy that we can take out of material things is when we see them as gifts of God and we hold on lightly to them and use them to bless others.
We only enjoy the blessings of God with Him not without him.
& 5 “The Writing on the Wall”
Success brings loneliness
12 Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly; For what can the man do who succeeds the king?— Only what he has already done.
13 Then I saw that wisdom excels folly As light excels darkness.
14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, But the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived That the same event happens to them all.
15 So I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, It also happens to me, And why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This also is vanity.”
16 For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? As the fool!
17 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
18 Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
19 And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
20 Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.
21 For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
22 For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?
23 For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
Ecc. 2:12-23
Vs. 12 - 17 - He looks at everything differently - in the context of death
Wisdom is greater than folly
Life seemed futile and meaningless at this point of life
No Spiritually healthy mature christian will hate life.
10 For “He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Vs.19 -20 - We cannot protect our material things past death
24 Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.
25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?
26 For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
6 conclusions in this book. 1st of these conclusions (Thank God for what you do have and enjoy it to glory of God)
17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
***The Idolatry of money*** We are living in a world that supports this.
What am I or who am I pursing?