Shade Tree wisdom 7/12/08 On Reading Ecclesiastes

Now the heat and humidity are making the morning walk less joyous, but I am still doing it. After all, it’s July, and August is still to come, and there is so much to ponder on.

Here is a man who is suing both Zondervan and Thos Nelson, both Bible publishers, because they printed Bibles that refer to homosexuals as ‘sinners’. This has caused Mr. Fowler untold anguish and suffering. It all refers to 1 Corinthians 6,9.

The question of Satan to Adam and Eve was “Did God Say?” With the question he tempted them to question truth. If God, the Creator, can’t be trusted, where do we find truth? And since the Fall, the human race is always wondering, always doubting, always questioning. It is our sinful nature. Recall Psalm 14,1.

Now consider the times in which we live. The idea of one truth, an absolute truth, is foreign to our thinking, “You have your truth, I have mine.” Let’s leave it at that.

And it is ironic in this day when absolute truth is almost universally denied, we still long for it. For without a guiding star we become confused, uncertain, and bewildered at the different messages we receive. Just look at the mess our world is in today.

There is a verse written by James Russell Lowell, which is true.
“In vain we call old notions fudge,
And bend our conscience to our dealing.
The ten Commandments will not budge,
And stealing will continue stealing”.

But God is no cynic. He has sent us Truth in His Son, Jesus Christ, who assures us that “Thy Word is truth’ John 17,17.

With that as background, read Ecclesiastes. Everything we try looks promising at first. Then, at the end, the writer finds it all “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”. Nothing ever seems to amount to much, nothing seems to satisfy. We try harder, we look farther, but it seems the harder we work, the less we get out of it.

The Book is famous in exposing this futility. The author sees man in mad pursuit of one thing, then another, but ever laboring to some dead end. It’s all "meaningless", a "chasing after the wind".

And the secret to understanding the Book is to realize that he is talking about the person who leaves God out of his life. He speaks of living ‘under the sun’, this means he does not regard God as needed to life and its enjoyment.

Ecclesiastes challenges the optimism that sets goals and leaves God out. The Book clears the air. And finally, in the end He writes, “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every hidden into judgment, whether it is good or evil”.

Psalm 14 is right, ‘The Fool has said in his heart, there is no God.” Then the psalmist gives the conclusion: They are corrupt, their deeds are vile, there is no one that does good. Will evil doers never learn?” . Ps. 14, 1.,4.

The book of Ecclesiastes simply emphasizes the futility of the man who tries to live without the sure word of God leading his life and giving him sure direction and guiding. Maybe that is why it leaves us with such a hopeless and empty feeling. It is to turn us to God, Who is The Truth.

GPD 7/12/08