Lessons From Ecclesiastes – Lesson 3
After the first verse that established Solomon as the writer, he then presented the stark, harsh, reality of a world view if it were true.
The people that believe that world view would try to deny that their world view is really just vanity. But Solomon showed the shocking truth that it is.
Obviously God wanted the vanity of that world view to be declared in an in your face shocking way. It gives the people who hold that world view a chance to wake up and see their error.
There is no hope in it and no purpose. It was you live and you die and no one remembers what you did and someone else gets all you worked for. And if you are wise you die and if you are a fool you die, there is no difference.
And Solomon when on like that for a while painting a vivid and the depressing reality of that world view.
The reality of what world view did Solomon present? They are alive and well and around in our day.
Solomon presented the reality of the world view of there is no God and no eternity.
This is the world view of the atheist. And it is the world view of the evolutionist. You are an accident and came from a monkey who came from something else who came from the ocean which came from a big bang which came from nothing.
There is no purpose to life, no hope, everything eventually comes to nothing. The vivid presentation of Solomon explains a lot about what we see in our world around us.
No morality, no care for right and wrong. If there is no God and no eternity, then I will do whatever I want and it does not matter. Their world view allows them to sear their conscience and sin and sin and sin. And hurt others and take and steal and bully and all the rest of it.
But having no future and no purpose and no hope also leaves a huge hole in their soul that God designed to be filled with Him.
Their world view also very often leads to despair and depression and even suicide.
Chapter 1 and 2 of Ecclesiastes actually explains a lot about how people behave in our world around us.
Solomon’s presentation of that world view should also affect us; it should make us thankful that the true reality, our reality is not like that at all. And it should make us want to see more people leave that terrible world view and come to the truth.
We live a life that has purpose, eternal purpose. Our reality is that every single thing we do is remembered by God. All the good that we do does have rewards laid up in heaven and will last for all eternity.
Since that is true for us we can sometimes forget how bleak and without purpose the atheist and evolutionist’s world view is. So the presentation of that world view at the beginning is also for us to read and think about.
And it should stir us to greater thankfulness, and a greater desire to rescue more people from it.
Solomon is writing in a type of writing that is the arrangement of thought. Sometimes two similar thoughts are set side by side and often it is contrasting thoughts set side by side.
He is now going to present the truth that there is a God and because of that things do have purpose.
First there is a God given time for everything
Ecc 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
That is heaven as in the throne of God. And heaven has purposes for things and certain times for certain things.
Ecc 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
Ecc 3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
Ecc 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
Ecc 3:5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
Ecc 3:6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
Ecc 3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
Ecc 3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Who determines when it is a time for what?
God does. He loves to use His almighty power in the circumstances of life. We are His children and He does move in our lives and He does bring different situations into our lives at different times in our lives.
He does bring times into our lives when we weep, and He does bring times in our lives to laugh. He has a purpose for our life and He uses different things at different times to teach us and build us and mold us and help us.
And for many of the things mentioned in this list God has given us His precious Word to help us for example; know when to keep silence and when to speak and how to speak.
And we have the Holy Spirit who speaks in the still small voice and who guides us.
The point is life if full of purpose and meaning and guidance. Because we have a great God this life can be navigated and in a way that pleases Him and brings eternal purpose and rewards.
The next thought presented is The God-Given Task
Ecc 3:9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
Ecc 3:10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
Ecc 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
Do you see purpose and the fact that God is working. He hath made every thing beautiful in His time.
God does work. And He is so far beyond us and above us and He has done so many things that no man can find out all the work that God has done from the beginning to the end. The last couple of chapters of Job goes into this.
God says Job where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth. Job you think that you know so much then tell me how this works or that. And God goes on a while until Job finally says that he is nothing and repents.
Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
The fact that God created is declared by the size and complexity of creation. And man cannot find out all that God has done.
And many do not want to. They do not want to think about God or acknowledge Him because they are still in their sin.
Ecc 3:12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
I know that there is no good in them. That is talking about the sin nature. Romans says for all have sinned and there is none righteous no not one.
Ecc 3:13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
And every man should enjoy the good of his labor. That goes for both the sinner and the child of God. And the ability to do that is a gift from God to all.
God sends the rain upon the just and the unjust. The atheist will deny that it is a gift from God but the truth is that it is a gift from God to everyone.
For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth to all generations. And God shows his goodness to all. One of the ways He does this to both the saved and the lost is by giving the gift of being able to enjoy the good of all his labor.
Ecc 3:14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
What a huge difference between the false world view of the evolutionist and the truth. There is an eternity. And what God does it shall be forever. And what God does cannot be taken away from or added to it.
The fact that there is a God and that He works and is keeping track changes things dramatically. It brings hope and comfort and purpose. The truth is that what you do is not forgotten. God remembers it all.
And while the false world view of the atheist says it does not matter what you do, you live and die and that is it, the truth is that it all does matter and that God sees it all and that God will judge it all.
Ecc 3:15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
God will require it as in everyone will have to give an answer and everything that a man does will be judged.
Ecc 3:16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
Ecc 3:17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
As you know there are 2 different judgments. Christians will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and this judgment is not about going to heaven or not. You are already saved or you would not be at this judgment.
The judgment seat of Christ is to judge how you lived for Him and your works are judged to be either hay wood and stubble and are burned away like you never did them, or they are judged to be gold silver and precious stones and for those you get eternal rewards.
The other judgment is for the lost. That will happen at the end of the 1,000 reign.
So God shall judge both the righteous and the wicked.
And that truth should make us want to see lost men see the error of their ways and see that they are sinners.
Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
Solomon wants God to manifest Himself to them and the truth to them so that they might see that they are beasts. A very descriptive word to use for lost men who have no eternal purpose who are sinners.
They are living like there is no God and no eternity. Their world view says they evolved from beasts and are not really different from beasts and they are living like beasts. And now comes a quick reminder from the false world view of the Atheist.
Ecc 3:19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
Ecc 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
That world view is so depressing and bleak. All is vanity. You are no better than a beast. You die and the beast dies and man is not above the beast. They both came from the same slime. So man has no preeminence over the beast.
The reality that there is a God and an Eternity and there is purpose is contrasted to the false world view of the Evolutionist. And there really is no comparison as they say.
The truth is infinitely higher and better and to be preferred than the bleak no purpose Evolution world view.
Then the declaration of the truth that there is a huge difference between the man and the beast.
Ecc 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
Man has an eternal soul. The beast does not. The spirit of the beast returns to the earth from which it came. The evolutionist view is that they are both the same, the truth is they are not the same. Man is different and higher than the beast.
There is a difference between the spirit and a soul. An animal feels anger and fear. He has emotions. The animal has a body and a spirit and both return to the earth from which he came.
The man is different the man has a body a spirit and an eternal soul.
Ecc 3:22 Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
All thru this book Solomon will switch back and forth between looking at things thru both world views.
He will be looking at things thru the lens of truth, that there is a God and eternity, and life full of meaning and purpose.
And then Solomon will switch and look at things thru the lens of the false world view of the Atheist and Evolutionist.
The contrast is shocking. This should wake anyone up to the truth and should make then want the truth.
It is important to know how to easily tell when Solomon is talking about the Atheist world view.
There are several things to look for. The first is the word vanity and the word vexation. They are only used together in connection to the false world view of the Atheist.
The second is when Solomon is looking thru the Atheist world view you will not see God mentioned and you will not see Eternity mentioned.
And when Solomon is looking thru the false no God world view what that view says will contradict other Bible verses. Of course it will because the Atheists world view goes against and contradicts the truth.
All of chapter 4 Solomon is again presenting how things look thru the lens of the wrong world view of the Atheists and Evolutionist. God and eternity will not be mentioned in Chapter 4.
Evil Under the Sun
Ecc 4:1 So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.
God is our comforter. God cares for us. Casting all your care upon him for he careth for you.
For God so loved the world that he gave. The comforter has come. We have the Holy Spirit. When you read Ecclesiastes you need to bring with you all you know from the rest of the Bible. God is love, He loves us, we are His dear children, He cares, He comforts, He never leaves nor forsakes us.
Bring all of that with you when you read this and it is very clear that Solomon is not talking about us in verse 1. We have an Almighty comforter.
Bring all you know from the rest of the Bible with you and this really helps you to see when Solomon is looking thru the wrong world view of the Evolutionist.
Ecc 4:2 Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.
Ecc 4:3 Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
Ecc 4:4 Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
Ecc 4:5 The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.
Ecc 4:6 Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.
Ecc 4:7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
The word vanity so Solomon is still looking thru that wrong world view. To get people to think and to show a side by side comparison of the true, correct world view that there is a God and what that means, to the vanity of the Atheist world view.
Ecc 4:8 There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.
Thing are really bleak if there is no God. At best you can have some temporary benefits in a few things. Like having help in doing some labor.
Ecc 4:9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
Ecc 4:10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
Ecc 4:11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
Ecc 4:12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
The lost can and do help each other sometimes and there is a little benefit to them from it, but in the end it was only temporary and is eventually forgotten.
Ecc 4:13 Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
Ecc 4:14 For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor.
Ecc 4:15 I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.
Ecc 4:16 There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
All thru that Chapter there is no God, there is no comfort, you live and you die and they that come after you shall not rejoice in you.
Everything is vanity and vexation of spirit.
In chapter 5 Solomon will switch back to the truth and present things thru the fact that there is a God and an eternity and there is purpose and life has eternal meaning and both you and what you do is remembered forever.
Old time preachers understood the principal that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and that God promised to preserve His precious word. And that God has magnified His word even above His name.
They understood that the Bible defines itself and that scripture is what you use to interpret scripture and that it all goes together and is all in agreement.
They understood that when you look at a section of scripture you bring everything you have learned from the rest of the Bible with you.
So it was easier for them to see what Solomon is doing here and that is contrasting two different world views side by side. He is switching back and forth between them to show the huge difference.
They understood that you need to bring the context of the entire bible with you.
I have told this before, but that faith based biblical view is not what many teach today.
When I took that preacher homiletics course with Dr Hardy and sat with all of those preachers he taught that number 1 you have to properly break the text.
What he means is you need to find where the topic starts and then find were it ends. And there is nothing wrong with that.
Then came the problem. They teach that to really understand a text you need to stay only in that text and you need to leave everything else and what you know from other parts of the Bible behind.
To really dive deep and really know what the text means you must only listen to what that text is saying.
That is totally wrong. That is not biblical at all. And that approach gets men off track and teaching something wrong. That can lead to confusion and contradiction.
If you took their approach to the first 2 chapters of Ecclesiastes you would have to teach that all is vanity and there is no purpose or hope as truth.
You know this is true, we have sat in churches for decades and watched many different preachers preach and they all preach the same books over and over and Ecclesiastes is one of the books that many younger preachers will not preach.
It tends to really confuse them.
The Bible way is much better. Bring all you know from the rest of the Bible with you when you look at any section of scripture.
And that Biblical approach makes it much easier to see that what Solomon is doing is presenting a look thru the false world view of the Atheist and setting next to that the correct world view that there is a God and there is Eternity and therefore there is hope and comfort and purpose.
See more lessons from Ecclesiastes