This is sort of a mediating position in that it doesn't, it doesn't develop a very intricate structure, but it does recognize that there is some apparent thematic movement and progression in the book, which I think there is. You know, I do think that it's talking in the first half about the vanity of what we try to accomplish in our work, and then the vanity of what we can know, what we can understand, how limited our understanding is. That's not to say that the themes are not found in both parts, it's just a matter of emphasis. Okay, well what we want to do in this session, or at least for a good part of it, is to pull out the thematic overview of the book of Ecclesiastes that I gave you last time, and this will give us an opportunity to just sort of march through the content with Bibles Open, highlighting certain verses, reflecting on certain verses and certain themes that emerge, and allowing you to ask questions. You've just read the book about a couple of weeks ago at the most, and I want to know what struck you in this book. I want to know what questions emerged that are a practical concern to you, so that we can see really what we can derive from this book. We will then also then, in concluding that, we'll want to talk about what are the major themes, that's the final part of the outline. What is the message of the book? And so we'll ask some questions, but let's march through this first, and just see what we discover. Now, before we get started, let me say that this, again, is an inductive thematic overview, it's something that I put together just as I was reading through the book, saying, I know that people question whether there's any logical progression or structure, to what extent can I discover one? And so there was some of my own little sort of creative input going into this, not everyone would come up with exactly this, but it did seem to me that there is some kind of progression. It seems possible to outline certain areas of investigation as the writer investigated life under the sun. So the book begins with the superscription. It's motto in verse two, write up front, meaningless, meaningless, says the teacher utterly meaningless. Everything is meaningless. Did we talk last time about the meaning of that meaningless word, vanity, heaven? Did we talk much about that? We didn't. See, I'm teaching a Sunday school class on this, so I have to remind myself, did I talk about it in this class? Now, this is the normal place to do that. Well, what are some of your other translations say? Meaningless, meaningless, all is meaningless. What other translations do you have in front of you? Vanity, vanity, what does that mean? You're so vain? Doesn't mean that you're, what's a synonym for vain, aware of your good looks, conceited. Yeah. It doesn't mean that. So what, vanity and what sense? Empty. Empty. I did that in vain. You know, I did all that work and it was all in vain, in that sense. Feudal, okay? Useless? Useless? Useless? Absurred. Where did you get that one? Oh, the footnote version. Good. Absurred. Yeah, Michael Fox uses that in his writings on this book. Does anyone know what the original word actually means? Do you have a breath? Oh, good. Did we mention that last time? No, just sharp. Breath-like. It means it's a vapor. It's breath-like. It's ephemeral. Now, is a breath meaningless? Let's go without him for about five minutes here. And you'll see how meaningful breath is, but is the breath you took just now, is that of ultimate value? Not really. You could have skipped that breath, couldn't you? And done without it. And if you don't have another breath coming, then that last one is not going to do you a great deal of good. And so in that sense, it was so temporary, so ephemeral, that in an ultimate sense, it's meaningless. Meaningless, meaningless. Everything's meaningless. And then we get into what I like to entitle the endless round beginning in verse three. And then let me just read this poem that opens the book for us and kind of to catch the flavor of the book. What does man gain from all his labor or toil at which he toils under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south, it turns to the north, round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things are worrisome, more than anyone can say. The eye never has enough of seeing nor the ear it's fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, look, this is something new. It was here already long ago. It was here before our time. There is no remembrance of men of old. And even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow. What is this poem saying? How does the book begin? Well, the transience of man, certainly, where do you get the eternity of God in this? You think that's implied? Certainly from the expanse of the book, but in this one it's really focusing more just on the endless round. The fact that there seems to be no real progress. The rivers flow into the sea and yet the sea is never full. The water returns from which it came and it flows down again. The wind blows from the south, it goes back and blows again. There is no real progress. Look at verse 4. Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. What does that mean? Again, it means nothing changes. It is not talking about the permanence of the material world or its eternity or anything. It literally says, but the earth stands there. The earth stands. Doesn't really change. So the book begins with this note. And then the teacher begins to pursue wisdom. And his conclusion, his early conclusion in verse 18 of chapter 1 of his pursuit of wisdom, is that for with much wisdom comes much sorrow, the more knowledge, the more grief. Have you ever experienced that sort of thing? Probably experiencing that in this course right now. It's true. There is a sense in which ignorance is bliss. But it's also very dangerous. And the penalty can be even greater. But yeah, there's much truth in this. With much wisdom comes much sorrow, the more knowledge, the more grief. Now then, first let me ask, were there questions on this first chapter? I'm going to look particularly for hands that don't get raised very often. I'll come back to you, Cedric. Cedric, what was your question? Minotony? Yeah. The comment is that you get the sense when you're reading this, particularly this first chapter of the sense of the monotony of life. And it almost sounds like someone who's on the border on the verge of suicide. Maybe that's too strong to say suicide, but what is a more common human phenomenon? Depression. Midlife crisis. I know all of you are too young to have even anticipated that. But midlife crisis, depression, this sense of again, why do I get up on Monday morning? Nothing is changing. What is actually being accomplished? It all seems so meaningless in an ultimate sense. Well, then the writer begins to explore. And in chapter two, it seemed to me that he was exploring life's activities, the things that could be done in life. And he explores, first of all, pleasure. I thought, in my heart, now I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good. But that also proved meaningless. Remember, breath-like. Just so very temporary. Sure, it was fun for a while, but then I turned around and it was no longer fun anymore. But pleasure was so very temporary that it was meaningless. After I said his foolish and what this pleasure accomplished, I tried during myself with wine and embracing folly, my mind still guiding me with wisdom. He was experimenting here, trying to figure out what would work. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives. And so he tested pleasure that didn't work. He moved to building projects that didn't work. He began to amass property that did not discover the key to meaningful life. And he even in verse nine, I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. He also amassed power. Or you could say, prestige, if you want to keep all these P words going, pleasure, projects, property, power. Does that sound at all contemporary to you? Does it? Do you know anybody? Do you have a friend who goes after those things? Of course none of us in this room would be concerned with that. But isn't that tip? I mean, that is where human beings seek meaning, seek significance in life, under the sun. And different ones go at it in different ways. Some are very industrious and they take on the projects. Or they like the finer things of life. They go for the property. Or some just say, you know, are above that and say, hey, forget that. You know, life, slow down a little bit. Enjoy yourself. And they go for the pleasure. And then probably the ultimate temptation for those who can gain it is power. You can have power. And if you can't have power in a political sense, at least gain power over some other individual, become a controller. Now, these are real temptations. This is supposedly in pursuit of the good life, but the writer found it ultimately disappointing notice verses 10 and 11. I denied myself. Nothing my eyes desired. I refused my heart. No pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work. And this was the reward for all my labor, yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done, and what I had toil to achieve, everything was meaningless, I had been chasing after the wind. Nothing was gained under the sun. Now, is there a message there for us, for our acquaintances, for our friends? Of course there is. This writer has already been there and done that. So if we detect in ourselves this idea that, you know, if I could only build that dream house, or if I could only accomplish that, get that degree, finish that project, or if I could only gain some power in that corporate structure in which I'm working, then I'd be happy, then I'd be fulfilled. Well, remember Solomon was there first, and did it better. More than you or I will ever dream of accomplishing. And he tells us up front, when I surveyed all that my hands had done, and what I had told to achieve, everything was meaningless, it was temporary, it was vain, a chasing after the wind, don't go there. Why waste your time? Okay, so a part of the function of this book is to stop us from pursuing that which does not fulfill on that one handout that has Ecclesiastes 3. Look at that quote at the bottom. George, or George as Beremanos, says, in order to be prepared to hope in what does not deceive, we must first lose hope in everything that deceives. You'll find it eventually. I'll read it again. In order to be prepared to hope in what does not deceive, we must first lose hope in everything that deceives. Part of the purpose of this book is to deconstruct or destroy our hope in that which ultimately will disappoint us, to prevent us from chasing down the wrong trail. He turned then from the supposed good life, you know, made up of pleasure or property or project or power. He then turned to the life of the mind, the wise life, or at least it seems so to me, chapter 2, verse 12. Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the King's successor do than what has already been done? I saw that wisdom is better than folly. Just as light is better than darkness, the wise man has eyes in his head, while the fool walks in darkness. So far so good, but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both. Then I thought in my heart the fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise? I said in my heart, this too is meaningless for the wise man like the fool will not be long remembered in the days to come, both will be forgotten like the fool the wise man too must die. All that education, all that intellectual development, all that thinking that he did, yeah it's better to think than not to think. At least if you're thinking you have eyes in your head and you don't stumble over foolishly over things, but whether you're wise or foolish, you're going to die, that's what he says. And so again even that, the development of the mind which seems a little more virtuous than the amassing of property, even that he says is meaningless, ultimately meaningless. Then he turned to the work life beginning in verse 17 and I'm not going to read the whole book as you're probably anticipating. He's going to read the whole book to us. Now I'm not going to have time to do that, but just look at the headings there as they struck me. 17 and 18 say you can't take it with you. 18 to 21 point out that the one you pass it on to, your heir may be a fool. So you may be wise and you may work hard and you may amass quite a fortune, pass it on to that guy or that woman. You really want to do that? And so at the end in verses 22 and 23 he says the pain, grief and restlessness of it all are meaningless. What does a man get for the first 22? What does a man get for the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun all his days, all his days, his work is pain and grief, even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. Have you ever laid awake at night and you couldn't get your mind to go to sleep, couldn't get your mind to stop? God understands. Maybe our minds are sometimes gravitating toward the wrong thing. Maybe our minds sometimes are not adequately trusting the sovereignty of God to take care of us. I don't lose a lot of sleep. I probably should lose more than I do. I mean I lose a lot of sleep because I don't go to bed and then I have to get up real early but I don't lie awake, unable to sleep very often. But when I was trying to finish my dissertation I did a few times because I thought this will never be done. And my wife was wondering will this ever be done and I thought that's a very good question. It probably won't ever be done. It was just being caught up with anxiety about the completion of something that I didn't feel that I had the fortitude and the stamina to complete. Now the only thing that could get me to sleep was to turn my mind to God. Someone once told me to start quoting scripture and Satan will put you to sleep. Start doing something like that and it does have a calming effect. The other thing I could do to put myself to sleep was pick up the part of the dissertation I had written and start reading that directly. Now I saw a hand go up somewhere. Yes, I can't count on you too many times tonight, so choose it carefully. Yes. Oh, he's going to save it. I save it. Yes, Steve. Yeah. Right. Yeah. How would you answer that? I mean, I have an idea. I'm not just grasping for straws here. But how would you answer that, Steve? That was a safe answer. He says there's true wisdom here in this book. More. Right. I mean, it certainly, he's saying it is, it is cross-cultural. It's, you didn't say, autemporal, but I mean, it does, it does cross, it spans the centuries. The millennia does it not. The human condition remains the same. There is a little advance. You know, you go to the bookstore and you pick up a book on the ascent of man. It's more likely the decent of man, but probably there's not much change going on in the human condition. However, this book is remembered. What might be the difference between all those things that weren't remembered? Yes. Stay tracy. Well, okay, we're not sure who wrote it, so maybe he's not exactly remembered, but at least his words are remembered. What does he also say? Look at chapter 3, verse 14. I know that everything God does will endure forever. Maybe the fact that this book is remembered is because it's in God's book. You know, this was, this is something that God did if you understand inspiration. This was not just the cohellis or Solomon's reflections. This is God's work to us. So maybe that would be a partial explanation of why this one's remembered, and so many other people who sat there having their pity parties are not remembered. Well, anyway, we need to keep moving at the end of chapter 2. We have the first of one of those shafts of light where the cloud sort of part momentarily and some light streams down from heaven or to put it another way. The writer looks toward God and says, here is at least something hopeful. Now, if you read these carefully, sometimes there's a good bit of irony even into the hopeful glances heavenward, but he says this in verse 24, a man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God for without him who can eat or find fulfillment, find enjoyment to the man who pleases him. God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, chasing after the wind. What is that talking about? He says, this too is meaningless. What's he talking about? Possibly it's referring to that which immediately proceeds and that only gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to one who pleases God. That's meaningless. That's, again, futile effort working for that which you cannot keep. Or he could be using, again, that word translated meaningless in the sense of breath-like, ever so temporary, ephemeral, not permanent, not ultimately meaningful. So even when he says eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work, he may be saying, but that's very, very temporary. One recent paper I heard read was saying that struggling to find a way to translate this, he said, gas-like, I didn't please this all very much, but he was saying, you know, how gas is something that can be noxious, can be offensive is also very impermanent. Maybe it has that kind of connotation, I don't think that will make it into any modern translations and I have anything to do with. But it could be that he's saying that even about that positive glance having worked. It's only temporary this eating and drinking and finding satisfaction in one's work because that's not the ultimate answer to life. Yes, Mike. Smoke? Oh, in the message. Yeah, Eugene Peterson in the message uses the word smoke. That's not bad. I haven't heard that. I had not noticed that, but in the sense that smoke can be aggravating, can be painful is also something that blows away. You can't really get your hands on it and hold it. If you breathe it in, you'll get cancer. Well, let's keep moving. We'll pick up speed, but I want you to jump in with your questions. We're going to look at chapter three later tonight. We're going to do a bit of a project on chapter three. So let me just say that I think that it seems to me that one way to analyze the book is that he first looks at the activities of life, that first major section. He then moves to the seasons of life or the passages of life. Again, this is stretching a little bit to put an outline onto this book. But in chapter three, verse eight, he quotes the birds. Actually, I guess they were drawing on this. Those few of you who listen to the oldest station know that the birds had a song like this, and there are few of you old enough to even remember that. But he does. He quotes them and says, there's a time for everything under having a time for this and a time for that. These are all of life's stages, a time to be born, stage one, time to die, final stage. The best we can do, again, a glance heavenward in verse nine, enjoy life and work. And remember, God's deeds endure. Now, in this world of impermanence, it's kind of interesting that even the writer here knows that there is some permanence somewhere. God's work endure. Even though his doesn't, ours doesn't as far as he can tell, looking for it under the sun. Then chapter three, 15 and following talks about life's inequities, in the place of judgment, wickedness was there, in the place of justice, wickedness was there, the injustice of life that we all experienced from time to time. And then finally, life's end, that greatest challenge, 18 to 22, where he says, as for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Man's fate is like that of the animals. The same fate awaits them both as one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place. All come from dust and to dust all return. Who knows if a spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth? It's not real surprising that some people regard this book as the resident alien in the Bible. You know, what is this doing in the Bible? How do you take that? How would you explain that to someone? If they come and say, Yikes, I found a biblical book that denies the afterlife. What would you say in response? Mike, surpass her. He's got to have an answer. Okay, don't know that he's denying it. You can't get there through your own efforts or intellect. You have to take it by faith. But he does seem to be denying it in some sense when he says, all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals. Of course, then he goes and asks the question that shows that at least he's open to some other possibility. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth? Yes. What's your name? Mark. Yeah, Mark. Okay. Okay, good. It's a view that's purely from the flesh or what is the metaphor that the writer uses? What is the phrase he uses? Under the sun. Okay, this is the terrestrial view. This is the earthly view. This is the earth-bound view. And yeah, as the animals die, so do we. Under the sun, keeping our vision trained there. And again, that's something that we need to press on people who think that their strivings in this life and what they hope to accomplish and what they hope to become and what they hope to achieve is going to bring them, bring them, see, Freudian slip, is going to bring them meaning in life. You know, we could even talk to people and say, where do you hope, where do you hope to be in the next 20 years or 10 years? You're looking kind of old to me. We better stick with 10. Where do you hope to be in the next 10 years and hear what they say and they say, okay, and then what, what about 10 years down the road from that? And keep pushing them until they're old and in firm and on the brink of death and then say, now look back over your life. What is that all brought? Was that satisfying? It's better to think about that now while you can still do something about it than to get there and look back. I'm sure you've all heard people say that they've never encountered someone on the brink of death who looks back over his or her life and says, I wish I'd spent more time at the office. Now there may be some people that should have spent more time at the office. But at that point in their life, very few look back, wishing that they had, but rather they look back and they regret what they didn't do the time they didn't spend developing relationships within their family, the time they didn't spend really seeking to serve God, seeking to lay up treasures for themselves in heaven rather than on earth. All of life is heading toward death and we do people no favor to obscure that. Yes, Scott. Right. The question is, at this point, how clear an understanding would the Israelites, the people of God and the Old Testament, have had of the afterlife eternal punishment, have not very clear at all. They did seem to have some sense that there was more than just this life on this earth. They talked about Shio. They did understand that there was a continuation of some kind of afterlife and that would have been made sense in terms even of the broader culture, what would have been odd if they had no notion of an afterlife. But in the progress of God's revelation, he had not disclosed very fully to them the nature of what awaited them. They knew that the fate of the righteous was better than the fate of the wicked. Maybe this guy doesn't, at this particular time, but in terms of the overall teaching of scripture, there was a sense that there's a relative, the fate of the righteous is better. But how better in what sense was not always very clear, ever very clear, Old Testament, became increasingly clear as you get into Daniel and to the later time periods. Oh, I see. So yeah, I see that alternate translation. So it removes the weather or the if who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and is asserting then that the spirit of man rises upward and the spirit of animal goes downward. Yeah, that would be a possible rendering of what would be in the Hebrew text here. But contextually, I think this one, what is in the text is probably preferred by those translators, and probably as a matter, because the whole issue of who knows what is a big thing in this book, the vanity of human understanding, who knows what will come after. Okay, well, let's move on to life's vexations, life's activities, then seasons, then life's vexations. The powerlessness of the oppressed is something that's obvious to all of us. As we look watch the news and such, we are aware of those who are oppressed around the world and how they are powerless and we feel for them. Maybe we're not as cognizant of what we read in verse four, and remember, this is the experience of the cohele of the teacher here. So we don't want to absolutize it. But in his experience, he says, and I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, assacing after the wind. Sort of an important self-check. Why do we seek to achieve? Are we seeking to achieve, really because we need somehow to, as males, I've learned recently, that males are very bent on proving their adequacy. Women are more concerned with developing strong relationships, men are concerned to develop their adequacy. Are we seeking to prove ourselves and to achieve out of envy for our neighbors? I don't think we'd want to absolutize that because I do think that in this day, as Christians, there is a higher calling than that. But we do need to ask ourselves that question. Is that what's motivating? That was his experience as he looked around him and he said, that's meaningless. It's a chasing after a wind, trying to achieve more than so and so, so what? What did that really accomplish? The loneliness of the driven sounds like a country song. Chapter four, beginning in verse seven. There was a man all alone. He had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil. Yet his eyes were not content with his wealth for whom am I toiling and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment? This too is meaningless, a miserable business indeed it is. Then it gets to that very famous verse two are better than one because they have a good return for their work. To be driven and to sacrifice relationships, maybe this is a message to me and I have a very sad situation in my extended family where one of my brother-in-laws has so devoted himself to his work that he has left his family and by his own admission he says, I'm not happy, but that's what I do. I work, I'm a good worker and I'm going to do it 24 hours a day if I can and sometimes he does put in like 18 hours in the office and he sacrificed all his relationships with his two children, with his wife. And where is that going to take him? You know, say, where do you want to be in 10 years? Where do you want to be in 20 years? What when you can no longer work? What then? There is this, there is this drivenness that people feel and we need to say, look God understands that you're feeling but where is that going to take you? What will that accomplish and challenge people with it? And then the chapter ends with the faithfulness of followers. I wish I could remember the quote I was reading recently about this particular section but it was something to the effect that this section will call all interpreters to weep and despair of figuring out what it means. I don't think it's quite that hard. It's talking about the poor but wise youth who is to be preferred over the old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning. What is that talking about? Someone who has grown so big that they can't learn anything from anyone else. Again, that is an attempt that we all face in some context where we think I can't learn, remember when we were looking at the book of Proverbs we talked about the importance of being teachable and that it's the man of wisdom or the person of wisdom who learns even from a word of rebuke, learns more than what a fool learns from a hundred blows on his back. The wise youth is to be preferred to the foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning. That's sort of a traditional saying but then cohaleth goes on to say the youth may come from prison to the kingship or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. I saw all who lived and walked under the sun, followed the youth, the king's successor. There was no end to all the people who were before them but those who came later were not pleased with the successor. See how that kind of reminds us of the endless cycle that we read in chapter 1. The old guy gets old and unteachable and an ordinary and the young guy comes along and everyone rallies around the young guy but you know the young guy gets old and before you know it he simply replaced the man he replaced. That was topologist wasn't he simply become that which he earlier replaced and there needs to be another young person to come and replace him because he is no longer teachable. That's meaningless. That's the endless round. Well then chapter 5 and stop me if you have a question but I'm going to keep moving on some of these until I want to stop. Chapter 5, we read in this chapter about the oppression of the poor. That's obvious to us. I don't think we need to elaborate on that that the poor are in positions of oppression but did you know that the rich are also oppressed? That's what kind of grabbed me in this chapter beginning in verse 10, 10 and 11, 10 and 11 and 12. We see that they are oppressed in a sense by their own desires. Whoever loves money never has money enough. Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. We know that's true. Is there anything wrong with having money? No. Is the love of money wrong? Oh yes. Because you'll never have enough. The best way to have enough is to not care too much about it and then you have enough. As goods increase so do those who consume them and what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them. The sleep of the laborer is sweet whether he eats little or much but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep. Again, this same brother-in-law that I just mentioned at the time when we were having sort of one of our many recessions, I who had very little was sleeping very peacefully because I didn't have a whole lot to safeguard. And he was not sleeping very well at all. He was quite concerned in fact of how to hold on to that which he had worked so hard to gain because he had a lot to lose in a time of recession. A laborer's sleep is sweet. Again, that should maybe be a lesson to us in terms of setting the objectives that we have in life. Where do we want to be in ten years but we want to be financially far better off? Well, at what cost? It may not be all that good for us. So the rich themselves are oppressed by their own desires for more they are oppressed by misfortune. They can't stave it off. They cannot guarantee that misfortune will not strike them. Again, this same brother-in-law made what should have been a very sound investment in a savings and loan. And if you know recent history, you know what happened to the savings and loan and this was a solvent savings and loan. It was a very good savings and loan made a very sound investment. And yet when the government sort of came down and took things over, took that one over as well even though that was a good one. Miss Fortune struck. He couldn't have known that. Couldn't have guarded against it. That was oppressive. And then of course, finally, the rich, no matter how much they amass, are oppressed by life and death. 16 and 17. This too is agreeable as a man comes so he departs and what does he gain since he toils for the wind. All his days he eats in darkness with great frustration, affliction and anger. That is true. And then again, as so often as the case, he turns from this reflection on the desperation of life under the sun. Trying to find what makes life work, finding the key to life, finding meaning in life. He turns and says, then I realized it was good and proper for a man to eat and drink. So you see, there's this he's torn by this tension of the meaninglessness he feels and yet a sense that there is something more and somehow it's found with God. But he can't really put his hands on. He can't really describe it. And he said, I realize that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink and define satisfaction in his toils and labor under the sun. During the few days of life, God has given him for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives man any man wealth and possessions and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work, this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart. Now, even in this positive section, see, this is one of those so-called pious, positive insertions. They're not insertions, but that's what some people regarded them as. In this positive section, how positive is it really? Did you catch the irony there toward the end? It's a gift if he seldom reflects on his life. He's referred to his, the few days of life God has given him. He seldom reflects on the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart. So even in this positive statement of, yeah, there's some pleasure. There's some joy to be found there. He turns and says, you know, but really, if you sat back and thought about it and reflected on it and realized where it was all heading, even that would turn sour. I knew I had a friend as a teenager who was a very bright young man and his problem was he thought too much. He was not a Christian, but he wasn't shallow. And the best thing to be, if you're not a Christian, at least be shallow. You know, don't think too much because if you think too thoroughly outside of Christ, life is very depressing. As my father has said several times so wisely, the thing about depression is it's so sad. Thanks dad. Now, then we come to chapter 6 and we have, it seems to me as we're coming to the end of this section here and I would change my outline a little bit and end at verse 9. I think now if I were to redo this, but as we come to this section, it seems that he's sort of drawing the threads together, talking about the meaninglessness of life in total. He's talked about life's activities, life's seasons, life's vexations, life's oppressions, poverty or wealth, both being oppressive. And then he begins to kind of draw that together in chapter 6. Wealth possessions and honor without enjoyment. That's meaningless. Love, long and prosperous life without enjoyment, meaningless. He seemed to me, I may be stretching a little bit, but it seems to be reflecting life's activities, life's seasons, labor and wisdom without advantage meaningless. And so then in chapter 6, verse 10, which is sort of transitional to the second half, he says whatever exists has already been, has already been named and what man is has been known. No man can contend with one who is stronger than he, the more the words, the less the meaning and how does that profit anyone? For who knows what is good for a man in life during the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? Who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone? And I think that is the transition then to the next stage. He's explored all of life as best he can, trying to find something to hold on to that's meaningful, under the sun, and then he comes to a point of saying who knows? And that will become then the theme as he goes on into the second half of the book and begins to talk about life's inscrutabilities, life's inequities, life's inevitable. Again, I'm kind of foisting this outline on the book, although it does seem to break down in something like this kind of fashion thematically. Now let me pause there just a minute and see what questions or comments anyone may have up to this point.
Is our writer cynical? Good question. We're going to talk generally. Once we get through the whole thing we're going to talk a bit about is he cynical? Is he a pessimist? What is going on in this writer's mind? So we'll save that question and pull it together at the end. Okay, well let's keep moving. I'm going to go for another few minutes, probably for another seven minutes or so, and just see if we can't get through most of the rest of this outline so that we're free to talk about meaning when we come back and do our little group interaction. In the second half, when he gets into begins in chapter seven, talking about life's inscrutables, again, they're the kinds of things that we would expect. He looks to the future and says, who knows the future? Who can understand that? Of course the future is inscrutable, but notice that he does begin to say, so trust God, trust God's sovereignty and be patient. Verse 13, consider what God has done. Who can straighten what he has made crooked when times are good be happy, but when times are bad, consider God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore man cannot discover anything about his future. But there is the implication that God knows what God has done, what God has made crooked no one can straighten. God is, there is this notion that God is sovereign, and so implicitly we're called upon in our lack of understanding nevertheless to trust him. And not only can the writer not understand the future, he can't even understand the present as it goes on in fifteen in following. In this meaningless life of mine, I have seen both of these, a righteous man perishing in his righteousness and a wicked man living long in his wickedness. As I look around me, there's just too much that I don't understand, too much that is a completely baffling for me. So what does he, what does he commend to the reader then, sixteen and seventeen? Do not be over righteous. Neither be over wise, why destroy yourself, do not be over wicked and do not be a fool, why die before your time. It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other, the man who fears God will avoid all extremes. Notice that extremes is supplied there, could be the man who knows fears God will do them both or follow both. Not let go of the other, hold on to one but not let go of the other. What is being said here? Can you imagine your teenager someone saying, I want to quote a Bible verse to you, Dad, do not be over righteous. What does that mean? What did you take that to mean when you were reading it? Can a person be over righteous? Okay, Karen, what do you think? What way can a person be over righteous? She didn't raise her hand, she shook her head, that's very dangerous as light can be. Okay, good, yeah, she's been hanging around with the Douglas family, I think they're learning about grace and are not mariting things with God. I think in this context, it's probably talking about don't be self-righteous, don't be over righteous in the sense of thinking, I can establish my standing through my righteousness. Don't be over righteous, neither be over wise. Okay, that's astonishing to hear that if it's really saying don't be wise because this is a wisdom book. Now again, question of whether he's become cynical about that wisdom is a very real question, but don't go to extremes in these directions, particularly not in a self-righteous or a self-wise way. But neither be over wicked. In other words, avoid both extremes, find the middle ground. I don't think that means be half wicked and half wise, necessary. But it's just saying don't think that you're going to find the meaning you're looking for, the key you're looking for by moving into an extreme form of outward piety or something or an extreme form of libertinism. Hold on to the one, don't let go of the other, experience your freedom, but don't let your freedom become a license to sin. Yes? Yeah, you've moved me to the end of the New Testament there. The scripture that, how would you tie that together with the idea of not being either hot or cold? Sorry, being either hot and cold, don't be lukewarm. I think we're talking about two different things. In fact, that passage from the book of Revelation is often I believe misunderstood. I'm trying to remember what Don Carson was saying when I heard him speak about this. We tend to take that passage about being either hot or cold as saying you should either be antagonistic toward the gospel, or hot in favor of the gospel. But don't be lukewarm, don't just be bland. I think what Don Carson was saying is taking it in the context of the church to which it was spoken, where there were springs that the hot springs were valued and the cool springs were valued, but the tepid springs were not valued. So, that spiritualizing interpretation we give, that may or may not be on target. The long answer was just given. The short answer to your question is, I wouldn't tie that together with this. I think this is talking about something else. I think it's about moderation. And more than that, a reticence to try to find yourself in what you do and what you become. You're the pious one or you're the wicked one, don't think you're going to find it there. Okay, let's see. I guess I'd better rush here. At any rate, life's inscrutable. He goes through the future of the present, and then at the heart of this, he'll hit the present again and then the future. But at the heart, 7, 23 to 29, that's what we looked at last time, where remember there was this concentration of his, of this word, to find, to discover, to find out as he kind of comes and sums things up and says in verse 27, looks as the teacher, this is what I have found. This is what I've discovered. What did he find? What was his one certainty that women were bad? No, that was not what we found. No one said that by the way. What did he find out? One single certainty, a theological certainty, God did it right. We blew it. That's all he's learned so far. He's learned where the path of meaning doesn't lie, and he's very uncertain about most things, but he is certain about this one thing. He doesn't understand much. He doesn't even understand his fellow human beings. Maybe one man and a thousand women continue to baffle him, but he does know one thing, God got it right, and we blew it. Everything else is quite inscrutable to him, this wise man. Then in chapter 8, verse 9 and following, he begins to talk about life's inequities, but he continues to contrast this with God's justice. You see, on each of these points, the preceding one, and this one as well, even when he looks at what life throws up to him and how frustrating it is, he does glance and say, but God is in control, but God is just. There's inequitable power, there's inequitable punishment, there's inequitable reward. Life does not seem fair, but don't forget God is in control. The wicked will be buried. God's judgment will come, so we can enjoy life and work. It's given by God. And then in chapter 8, he comes to life's inevitable, which is death, that which he had anticipated much earlier. So enjoy life and work, family, work, et cetera, because life will soon be over. And notice the irony of that. Enjoy it. It's going to be gone soon. And then another of life's inevitable's time and chance, and then people who disappoint. That's a modern message, isn't it? If you ever heard anyone say, don't put your trust in people, don't look to people to be your resource. Everyone you entrust, if you're looking for people to be your resource and to sort of fill you up and fill your tank, people will disappoint us. That's not where real life is to be found. It doesn't mean we're not to develop relationships, but don't invest in them, our ultimate quest for meaning. And then in chapter 10, it seems that there is a transition. Again, there's debate about this, but it seems that there's a transition to saying that wisdom is better than folly. Whatever else the writer has been saying, he now turns and says, still, there is a relative value to wisdom over folly. And so in chapter 11, it may be, and this is hard to say for sure, it may be that he begins to turn in a more positive direction and says, okay, so live courageously, that very enigmatic verse, cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. It won't be very edible if you're talking about real bread, but it's the sense of invest, most people think that this involves invest in shipping. That's what most people think this means. So for in many days, you will find it again. In other words, even though life is inscrutable, even though there's no ultimate meaning that you can discover under the sun, that doesn't mean that you should become reclusive, depressed, forget it, sit back, don't do anything. Live courageously. Go ahead and live. Go ahead and invest. Go ahead and give it a shot. Who knows? In many days, you may find it again. That which you invested will come back and you'll reap a reward. Verse 2, give portions to 7, yes to 8. For you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. Live courageously. Beginning in verse 7. Live joyfully. And then in chapter 12, very famous passage, remember your creator in the days of your youth before the days of trouble come in the years approach when you will say, I find no pleasure in them. The writer from his perhaps vantage point of great old age turns to those much younger and says, don't wait until you get where I am to understand what I'm saying. I've taken you on this little journey, save yourself the trouble, remember your creator in the days of your youth. Now again, how does the book like this apply in our day and age, in our situation? I've known people, there was a guy in my class named Michael Gantt several years ago who said, I shouldn't give his name on tape. But let's call him Michael. There was a guy in my class, let's call him Michael who said that he was first drawn to the Bible and drawn into the faith through this book. I don't know Jerem Barr's story well, but I know that Jerem Barr has said that he was first attracted to scripture by this book. Why is that? Yes, Terry. I have to keep translating because they won't get this. The guy who wrote this is at the end of himself is ripe for the gospel. He's at a turning point. He talks about not having wisdom and yet to be able to see life this realistically is really to see, to have a great deal of wisdom. Right, he may not have found the key to life, he may not have the meaning that he is searching for, but he is indeed wise. Right, he knows good, he knows where it's not, he may not know where the answer is to be found, but he knows where it's not to be found. Again, I think that is extremely useful in our own lives if we need to hear it, but in the lives of other people who are climbing that ladder, whatever that ladder may be, to say, you have to read this book, get depressed a little bit about where you're going. Another use for this is for people who are already depressed, for people who are in midlife crisis, who have already thought all these thoughts, who have thought, what is the point of it all? You know, I built up that nest egg and misfortune swept it all away. Hey, God knows that that happens. People can find a point of contact here that can then bring them earlier to a turning point, we'll talk about that when we come back.