Ecclesiastes 1-2 Notes

Notes from Jack Abeleen's sermon.

"The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem." -Ecclesiastes  1:1

Preacher
qôheleth
ko-heh'-leth
Feminine of active participle from H6950; a (female) assembler (that is, lecturer); abstractly preaching (used as a ‘nom de plume’, Koheleth): - preacher.

Why study Ecclesiastes?
1. Remember: It's how the world outside the church often views life.
2. Remember: Solomon with all of his assets fell.

Solomon---drifted from God despite wealth and wisdom, he became a philosopher of sorts, an observer
He's an observer without factoring God in.

It's not about how much you know but how much you will incorporate into your life. If your head is full of knowledge of God but your life is not, you are the fool.  He played the fool.

Biblical principle: That which is your greatest asset can become your greatest problem.

Person--strength--weakness
Noah--purity--but became drunk
Abraham--faith--but lied and didn't trust
Moses--patience--lost temper.
Peter--loyal to fault--he bailed under pressure
Paul--determined/fearless--2nd missionary journey going to wrong places

Solomon--head filled with knowledge but ignores it all.  Tried everything and ended up with nothing.  Let his problem be your correction.

Solomon's favorite words:
vanity--37 times in this book, futile, empty, meaningless,
He was the extreme pessimist.
under the sun--29 times--horizontal plane, just the earth and life without God.
God--40 times Elohim--bigness of God, untouchable impersonal, he never uses Jehovah (personal)

We have life IN the Son, not under it.

In the first chapters, here are Solomon conclusions:

1. Nothing changes.  We are making a commotion but not a promotion.  The sun hastens....chasing his own tail.  Jeremiah views the sun totally differently.  Solomon views life as painfully routine...like the laundry cycle.  The work of the businessman drones on year after year.

labor--amhal--labor until I drop from exhaustion, 11 different words for labor
Moses used it "saw our labor"

2. Nothing new.  Without God, we always look for what's new.  Look for new things.  Entertainment. Clothing, Auto industries all depend upon this.  Restlessness.

Moody--
true--not new
new--not true

"All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing." Ecclesiastes 1:8

Ecc 3:1 "God has placed eternity in our hearts."

The creation of God was subjected to futility---Romans--Paul
God made us so that we cannot be satisfied with what's around us.  God fashioned us for eternity

We think things are new because we refuse to read the minutes from the last meeting...we forget the past.

There's no life, except the one given by the Lord.

Vanity--hebel, emptiness, what's left when everything else is gone.

He starts with his conclusions and then moves to the research data.
He argues deductively---puts his conclusions up front

Three areas:

1. Education, v 12-18
2. enjoyment
3. employment

1. Solomon the Thinker, the Scholar, the Educator--seeking and searching out by wisdom

Apart from God, he sees life as a burdensome (hurtful) task to exercise man (wear him out, afflict him).
Life is just a big hurtful difficult experience that will wear you out.

It was not this way before the fall, but after the fall yes, so Solomon was right.

His kingdom was one of great wealth. He had people from all over in his court.  (Queen of Sheba)  He had at his hands sources of worldly wisdom.

He was looking inside for wisdom:

"I set in my heart," "I communed with my heart,"  "I searched in my heart."

His attitude about wisdom is wrong--he's not the smartest guy  on the block because he's failed to listen to what God has given him to know.  Wisdom doesn't come from years of study and a keen mind; it's something that God grants them.

Smart people are typically arrogant.
Paul: knowledge will puff up but wisdom will edify.

What is crooked cannot be made straight.  What is lacking cannot be numbered.
Learning comes up short against our greatest needs.  We can't make a crooked heart straight.
With all the legislation, you can't legislate righteousness.
God alone can get to the heart.  With us, there is no way.   "That which is born of flesh is flesh...."

We are born with a bent in our nature...it's who we are.  The more you know, the sorrier you get. Increased knowledge brings increased sorrow.  Education is useful, but it's not the answer to life.

Daniel--many will run to and fro, knowledge is increased...

2. Solomon the Pleasure Seeker, Mirth

The Jewish calendar has festival and celebrations built into the year.  God is not anti-pleasure.

Pleasure seeking has a law of diminishing returns

3. Solomon the Business Man and Builder

I made myself great....the pursuit of the road of gain. Solomon lost himself in the building. God is a Creator, so creating is good, but it's not the end all, where God wants you to stay.