Ecclesiastes

The speaker, Julie Callio, provides an overview of the Book of Ecclesiastes. She explains that the word "Ecclesiastes" means one who addresses an assembly and is considered wisdom literature. The book is traditionally believed to have been written by Solomon. Julie highlights the theme of meaninglessness and the contradictions within the book. She also discusses the importance of finding satisfaction in one's work, the passage about the seasons of life, and the need to embrace challenges. Julie concludes by emphasizing the fear of God and the importance of keeping His commandments. I am Julie Callio, your host, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If, by chance, you want to contact me, you can do that at dab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today we are doing a quick overview of the Book of Ecclesiastes. The English word is a translation of the Hebrew word koheleth, K-O-H-E-L-E-T-H, and sometimes it's spelled with a Q. That word means one who addresses an assembly. So it could mean a lecturer, a teacher, but many translators put preacher in its place. This word is found in the first verse of the first chapter, which says, The words of the teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem. This is also found in chapter 1 verse 12 and in the last chapter, 12 verse 8, with almost identical words, meaningless, meaningless, says the teacher, utterly meaningless, everything is meaningless. What is interesting in this word, Ecclesiastes, is it is in a feminine form, and some think that it's because in the Proverbs, wisdom is personified as a woman, so the teaching of the koheleth is considered wisdom literature. In the Christian Bible, Ecclesiastes is the fourth book of the books of poetry. Traditionally, it is viewed to have been written by Solomon, and that is the view I take because number one, verse one says that koheleth is the son of David, which we know he had many, but it also says king in Jerusalem. Now we know that Jesus in the New Testament was also the son of David, which means a descendant of David, and David did have many descendants who were kings in Jerusalem, yet the writer had to be wealthy enough to have tried everything his heart desired, chapter 2 verses 10 and 11, and there has only been one king of Jerusalem that had all the world had to offer, plus he was known for his wisdom, and that was Solomon, yet just note that his name is not used in the book. Since this is wisdom literature, and a book of poetry, we need to keep in mind when we interpret this book that this is not the saith the Lord, this is a wise man who has tried everything under the sun, and he is asking what is my purpose in life. Sometimes it seems that the writer contradicts himself, like in chapter 4 verse 2 he says, And I declare that the dead who had already died are happier than the living who are still alive. And then in chapter 9 verses 4 and 5 it says, Anyone who is among the living has hope, even a live dog is better than a dead lion, for the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, they have no further reward. Ladies, this is not scripture contradicting itself, this is a man who is struggling to make sense of his life and purpose, and I don't know about you, but I experience these kinds of contradictions all the time. I've shared before when my dad was dying, I prayed, wept, and cried out to the Lord to take my dad because of his suffering, and then the very next minute I have a wonderful conversation with my dad, and I turn around and pray, and weep, and cry out to the Lord, Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus for not taking my dad yet. Life is that way you know, this is what I love about wisdom literature and poetry in the Bible, it covers all the emotions, and sometimes it gives me words to pray when I have none of my own. Chapter 1 covers the meaninglessness of all this hard work, that there is nothing new under the sun, and all this toil is just chasing after the wind, verses 6-18 say, I thought to myself, look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me, I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge, then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this too is a chasing after the wind, for with much wisdom comes much sorrow, the more knowledge the more grief, this makes me think of a saying in our day, ignorance is bliss. With chapter 2 he covers various pleasures, such as laughter, foolishness, great projects, foolishness, great wealth, foolishness. Verse 11, yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done, and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind, nothing was gained under the sun. Chapter 2 continued with the realization that both the wise and the foolish, both have the same fate, Dr. Betts in Old Testament class said, death is the great equalizer. Solomon realized you can't take anything with you in death, it just goes to someone else, so why? Verses 24-26 say, 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 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 the one who pleases God, this too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Chapter 3 starts with a poem that is very well known and it goes like this, there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to care and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. Verse 11 is a key verse, God has made everything beautiful in its time, he has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Dr. Vickers said this verse is key because Solomon could have anything he wanted yet in this world it only provides questions not answers. This verse shows us the sense of wanting to be fulfilled yet our world can't provide the answers and this should greatly help us understand unbelievers. He also said thankfully Ecclesiastes is not all of the Bible. Chapter 3 continued by saying that finding satisfaction and enjoying one's work in life is a gift from God. Solomon then said that whatever God does will endure forever and no one can add or take away from it and God did it that way so people will revere him. Chapter 4 covers oppression, envy which produces toil and non-contentment. He also thought that even if one advanced in his job the next people would not be impressed. This too is meaningless and chasing after the wind. Chapter 5 warns people they should approach God in awe, they should keep their word to him and may one's words be few but instead listen. Verse 6a says do not let your mouth lead you into sin. 5 continues with the meaninglessness of wealth. Verse 10 says whoever loves money never has enough. Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. He again stressed in verse 18 that the key is to find satisfaction in the toilsome labor of the few days of life that God has given us and this theme continues into chapter 6. With chapter 7 we have wise sayings. Verse 10 says do not say why were the old days better than these for it is not wise to ask such questions. Then verse 14 says when times are good be happy and when times are bad consider God has made the one as well as the other therefore a man can not discover anything about his future. Dr. Betts who is one of the older professors just a bit older than me which meant that I understood all of his jokes told our class these seasons are out of our control but we should seize the opportunities as they come. We should embrace every stage of life and recognize that there are challenges to every state as well as blessings and in fact these challenges are blessings. He challenged us to hold on to those challenges and not fight against where we are in our season of life for they are a part of life and we need to make peace with God's sovereignty in them. I am learning to lean into the challenges of life and to ask the Lord what does he want me to learn in them. Chapter 8 covers dealing with authorities both good and bad and the injustices in the world and then he said in verse 17 then I saw all that God has done no one can comprehend what goes on under the sun despite all his efforts to search it out man can not discover its meaning even if a wise man claims he knows he can not really comprehend it. He continues in chapter 9 that both the righteous and the wicked share the same destiny so the key is to enjoy life while you have it because no one knows when his hour will come verse 12 and then it goes into more proverbs in chapters 10 11 and 12. Chapter 10 verse 20 states do not revile the king even in your thoughts or curse the rich in your bedroom because a bird of the air may carry your words and a bird on the wing may report what you say. Chapter 11 verse 5 as you do not know the path of the wind or how the body is formed in a mother's womb so you cannot understand the work of God the maker of all things. Chapter 12 verse 1 remember your creator in the days of your youth before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say I find no pleasure in them. Then verses 2-7 give a picture image of getting older which I explained in last year's lesson entitled Ecclesiastes 9-12 which aired on June 14, 2023. Then verse 8 meaningless meaningless says the teacher everything is meaningless. Then verses 9-12 someone is talking about the teacher and his wisdom and then verses 13 and 14 give the conclusion to the book. Now all has been heard here is the conclusion of the matter fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man for God will bring every deed into judgment including every hidden thing whether it is good or evil. So ladies I don't know about you but there have been many times in my life that I have worked myself ragged and wondered is this meaningless? I have felt that way even when I was doing my best to serve the Lord fear him and keep his commandments. I find that I feel that way especially when I am exhausted or when I feel alone doing the work. As a wife, mother and daughter I have been a caretaker for everyone else and have neglected me and that is when I get resentful. Yet I will also say that now I look back and I am so thankful for those moments yet I would not want to go back because they were so hard. That's why I like what Dr. Betts said about accepting the challenges in each stage of life because there are hidden blessings. So let me ask you what about this stage in your life do you find contentment in it? Does it bring satisfaction? Is this a stage that you may need to lean into it a little bit? Are you living life in fear of the Lord and are you trying to keep his commands? Talk with him about it. He will listen and guide if you will hear him and obey. Until next time and thanks so much for listening.