The Attributes of God:

Finding Enjoyment in life. Ecclesiastes 2:24-26   “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.”               How do we find joy in a disjointed and broken world?  So far in our study of Ecclesiastes, Solomon has led us down a dark and foreboding path that seems hopeless.  Yet even as he challenges us to take an honest look at life, one that confronts us with all the absurdities of a fallen world, he does not lead us to despair and hopelessness.  Having shown the futility of our labors, he reminds us that we can still find enjoyment in our work.  Even though our work does not provide ultimate meaning, that does not mean that it is without purpose and merit.  Instead, we are to still recognize the gift of life and work.  Even in a fallen world, God still gives us this life to e...

Evaluating our Career “For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun?” Ecclesiastes 2:18-23               In creation, God assigned the responsibility to care for the garden to Adam and Eve.  Part of God's purpose for humanity was to explore, create, and develop the garden He prepared for them.  The responsibility to labor and work is part of the “It was good” of God’s creative plan.  Rather than work being a struggle, it was God’s design for humanity.  Proverbs point out that part of living within the context of God’s moral order  (which is the essence of wisdom) is working diligently with our hands (Provers 12:11, 6:6-11). However, when humanity rebelled against God, one of the effects was that our work became corrupted and distorted. It is plagued by the futility that characterizes all aspects of our life because of sin....

The Limits of Wisdom Ecclesiastes 2:1-17 “And I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.”               If following God does not protect us from the hardships of life, then what is the point?  Sometimes, our circumstances seem to contradict the hope God promises us.  So, how do we reconcile the promises of God with the broken world we live in?  This is the question that Solomon confronts us with.  In the book of Proverbs, we repeatedly find the assurance that God blesses the wise while bringing hardship upon the wicked. We see the same promises in the New Testament.  Paul reminds us that “all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28).  However, in Ecclesiastes, Solomon sees a different world in which the righteous suffer the same hardships as the wicked.  Death strikes both.  So, what is the point of purs...

The Futility of Pleasure “I said to myself, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure.  So enjoy yourself.’ And behold, it too was futility.” Ecclesiastes 2:1-11                           In his pursuit of meaning and purpose in life, Solomon embarked on a journey that would take him down many paths.  However, these are not just the paths a person takes when they are unhappy, but the paths that all people take as they seek to find the significance and happiness of life.  In his pursuit of meaning, he embraces different avenues representing all people.  As we read the book of Ecclesiastes, we must see ourselves.  The pursuits of Solomon serve as a mirror to reflect our pursuits in seeking to discover meaning, purpose, and contentment in life.             The...

The Endless Pursuit of Wisdom Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 “And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after the wind.” You do not know until you know that you don’t know! In the pursuit of becoming the “expert” of anything, there is a process that we often go through. We start to study a particular field of research and gain an initial knowledge of the topic so that we soon begin to feel we understand it. At this stage, we might even describe ourselves as an “expert.” Yet, as we continue to learn, we soon realize that the more we know about the topic, the less we know. The actual experts are not the ones who feel that they know everything about a subject; they are the ones who have begun to understand how much they do not know. During COVID-19, with all the controversies around it, a friend told me that they had done internet research and had a pretty good idea of how the immune system functioned.   However, when I would ask my so...

Finding Meaning in the doldrums of life. Ecclesiastes 1:3-11 “What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the Sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.” We all know the drudgery of life with its endless pursuit of the American dream. It seems the more we earn, the less we take home. The harder we labor, the more the debts pile up. The rat race becomes an endless jog on the treadmill where we are forever running but remaining in the same place. This is the reality that Solomon reminds us of. After our life we end up with the same thing we started: nothing. The rich, the poor, the powerful, and the forgotten all end up in the same pine box. All the works and achievements of man are transitory. We are confronted with the question, “What advantage does it give us to labor and spend our whole life pursuing what this world has to give us?”      No matter how many advances we make, we still find ourselves back i...

Finding Lasting Purpose in Life Ecclesiastes 1:1-2 “Vanity of Vanities! All is vanity.”               For the modern reader, the book of Ecclesiastes remains perplexing and confusing.  How do we understand a book that, at first glance, borders on unremitting depression?  The sage (undoubtedly Solomon) shocks the modern reader with his initial statement summarizing his view of life, “Vanity of Vanities! All is vanity.”  This enigma is seen in the translations, which point to a hopeless view of life.  The English versions of the Bible translate the word as “vanities, absolute utilities, everything is meaningless, completely meaningless, everything is nonsense, life is useless, all useless, everything is pointless.”  This would lead one to conclude that Solomon was on the verge of a complete mental breakdown.            ...