Solomon's Pursuits

The book of Ecclesiastes can combat the humanist ideas of modern times.  This book was written by arguably the most intelligent man who ever walked the face of the earth, except one the Lord Jesus Christ.  King Solomon has a legacy of being the most privileged person that has ever set foot on this sod.  He was born into royalty (2 Sam. 12:24), and to two very attractive people (Bathsheba 2 Sam. 11:2-3, David 1 Sam 17:42).  He had a good example in his father, who was a very godly man (1 Sam. 13:14).  He was endowed with great wisdom; however, this wisdom was given to him by the Lord (2 Chr. 1:7-12).  The Lord one day came to Solomon and said, “Ask, and I will give you anything you want.” Solomon replied, “Give me wisdom.”  When Solomon asked for wisdom, he was given riches and wealth, and honor as well.  This man of privilege is the best example of the fact, that no matter who you are, you can lose sight of the Lord.  Heritage is very important, yet so is the desire to worship and fear the Lord, one can have all the trappings of a wealthy, healthy, godly upbringing and still walk away from the Lord.  His example teaches us to be humble.  Interestingly enough this wise man did write down some of his findings throughout his life.  This book of Ecclesiastes is a product of a wise man that has lived a full life.  As he thinks back to all of the things that he has done he says it is all vanities (Pro 22:8, Ecc. 1:2, 14, 2:11, 15,19, 21, 23, 26, 3:19, 4:4, 7, 8, 16, 5:10, 6:2, 12:8). 

Personal pursuits

In the book of Ecclesiastes Solomon, tell us all of the pursuits in his life.  The reason that it is important for us to look at Solomon’s pursuits is so that we understand their proper place in our life.  We as modern people often have many pursuits that fill up our life, yet the problem is not the pursuit itself, but is the preeminence of that pursuit.  I for example love watching college football, there is nothing wrong with watching football, it is a great and exciting past time, yet if my life is ruled by college football, then it is to preeminent in my life.  Solomon in away pursues all things for us, and then advices us where they should fit into our life.  In this short essay I want to look at four of those pursuits. 

Pursuit #1:  Mindset on wisdom

In Ecclesiastes 1:17, Solomon tells us that he has set his mind to know wisdom.  This is a very interesting pursuit, and in a way a very worthy pursuit.  In fact the scriptures tell us to pursue wisdom (Pro 1:2, 2:2, 6, 3:13, 21, 4:5, 5:1, 8:11, 16:16, 19:8, 24:14) notice that throughout the entire book of Proverbs Solomon exalts the pursuit of wisdom.  Yet, Solomon here in Ecclesiastes 1:18 says, “in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain (NASB).”  It is striking that here Solomon suggests that the pursuit of wisdom only increases pain.  It almost seems that Solomon is contradicting himself, but if we look much closer we see that Solomon is not.  In the book of proverbs Solomon is saying that the ‘fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.’  The knowledge or wisdom is that of a theological nature, yet the wisdom in Ecclesiastes is foolishness except when it acknowledges the Almighty.  See the vain pursuit of wisdom is just foolishness, in order for it to mean anything it must be wisdom that comes from the scriptures. 

Pursuit # 2:  Mindset on folly

It is clear that folly is the polar opposite from wisdom.  Yet, Solomon says, in 1:17, that he strove after folly.  Solomon immediately denounces this as ‘striving after the wind.’  That is an interesting way of describing folly that it is like chasing after the wind.  Therefore, it is a fruitless endeavor and will never amount to anything. 

 

Pursuit # 3:  seeking pleasure

When I was in High School, I read the book ‘The Portrait of Dorian Grey’ by Oscar Wilde.  In this book Dorian Grey pursued any type of pleasure, yet it must have been in small order compared to Solomon.  Solomon had the money, means, and the intelligence to partake in every type of pleasure.  He partook of fine wine (2:3) many concubines (2:8) whatever he wanted (2:10).  All of these things bring pleasure. 

Finer things

Notice that wine is the first thing listed.  In a way Solomon collected, tasted, and become a collector of fine wine.  He had a good time, and enjoyed the finer things in life.  There is nothing wrong with the finer things in life, they are great.  Yet, as Solomon points out there can be an unhealthy and misleading draw to this kind of pleasure.  That without the fear of the Lord this will never satisfy, thus by itself is vain. 

Physical pleasure

 The second on the list is many concubines, this is physical pleasure.  Though, this is in all accounts ‘adultery’ it is still pleasurable.  Today, society looks at multiple sexual partners as something that is okay and as one said, “good fun!”  We must remember that these very beautiful women caused Solomon to lose sight of the glorious God who gave him all things (1 Ki 11:3-4).  Just because it is fun, does not make it right. 

Visible pleasure

The third in the list is whatever he saw.  If it was on his mind then it was in his hands.  Solomon had the wealth and the knowledge to do all of these things.  If we took a survey, would you rather look at an ugly object or an attractive object, most sane people would choose the attractive object.  Solomon did that he surrounded himself with healthy, wealth and beauty, yet, like the other things this by itself is vain.  In summary, he did anything that brought pleasure through, taste, sensation, or by sight. 

Pursuit # 4:  building wealth

He built his own personal wealth.  Solomon suggested that he underwent many building projects, these projects including building houses, ponds, vineyards, gardens, buying servants, flocks of animals, and much treasure.  These pursuits can make one happy, or fulfilled.  However, if that is all that life is about it is empty.  It must serve a great purpose, it must look outside of the here and now, and past the beauties of gardens and architectural masterpieces.  As Solomon acquired things that built his personal wealth it seems that he still views these things as foolish and worthless. 

Conclusion

We have seen the four pursuits of Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes, and all of them are vain, unless they have the background of fearing the Lord.  Jonathan Edwards once said, “Love God and do what you want.”  In a way that is the message of Solomon that you can do what you want, yet in the midst of what you are doing love God.  Clearly this I am not suggesting that one goes out and commits sin, but if one wants to build a house, he should be able to build a house, yet he must love God in the midst of that building.  He should be reminded of the fact that no matter what they do they are held accountable before God.  We also see another emerging theme, which is nothing without God or fear for the Lord is worth anything.  The mundane tasks that we perform have no value to anyone unless they are presently conscience of the Lord watching them.  Those activities have no meaning unless one fears the Lord.

The Faithful God: part I

Why does God do anything?  This is the question that I am going to attempt to answer this morning.  It is a question of His intentions.  It is a question of what is the motivating force behind the actions of His divine will.  When we look at our own endeavors we have an intention, a purpose, and a goal for that particular task.  If I set out to build a house I must first have an intention for swinging the hammer, whether for profit, subsistence, or recreation.  So I want to search out why does God do anything? 

I want to suggest to you that reason behind everything that God does is for His own glory.   His actions are designed to bring Himself honor.   Everything designed or allowed by God has the intention of bringing God the ultimate glory.  This idea is clearly seen in Isa. 48:9-11.

Isaiah 48:9-11

For the sake of My name I delay My wrath

From this text it is clearly seen that God’s actions are for His own sake.  In fact, this passage even suggests that God is zealous for His own glory.  That in the delaying of His wrath was for the sake of His name.  Not for the sake of the one who was to receive the wrath, but for the sake of God’s name. 

      But what is in a name?  I believe that there are three things that go along with a name: one’s identity, reputation, and attributes.  Thus, God makes Himself known, and shows that He does exist and that He is the one true God (2 Chr. 15:3, Jer. 10:10, Jn. 17:3, 1 Thes. 1:9, 1 John 5:20).  He also makes His reputation known by what He does (Ps. 23:3, 83:18, Neh. 9:10, Rom 9:17).  We also see His character in His names (God who sees Gen 16:13, Almighty Gen. 17:1, Provider Gen 22:14, Self-existent Ex 3:14, Jealous Ex 34:14, Holy Isa. 57:15).  This is why Idolatry is such a big offense; it attempts to portray God with a different identity, reputation and attributes, than what is presented in the scriptures.

And for My praise I restrain it for you, In order not to cut you off.  ¹⁰ "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. 

Thus, His delay was meant for His praise.  His loving providence, towards Israel is for His praise.   Even though God has tested them, and made sure of their quality, it was for His own praise.

11    "For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;

This repetition is very important.  It suggests that this is the reason behind any of the actions of God.  It is according to His glory.  He reveals that this is the only reason why He acts.  The action that God will do will also be according to the way it makes His name look.  It will also show His true Identity, perfectly display the reputation that He wants, and capture the full essence of His perfection.

For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.

I see a close connection with the profaning of God’s name and the giving of glory to another.  This verse suggests that God will only do something that truly honors His name.  God will not be little Himself to be named amongst a made up god, or share His glory with a mere man.   Thus, the profaning is giving the glory to another; God is indeed, zealous for His own Glory.  And, why should we not be as equally zealous for His glory? 

Creation of the cosmos brings him glory

With this zealousness in mind, we must begin to notice that everything that has happened and that which will happen is either created or allowed to take place for God’s ultimate glory.  This eliminates the notion of accidents, as Paschal said, “God does not play dice with the cosmos.”  Thus, from the creation of the world God’s glory should be clearly understood and recognized. 

·                     “Psalm 19:1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David. The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” 

·                     “Psalm 148:3 Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! ⁴ Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens!” 

·                     “Psalm 150:1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse. ² Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.” 

·                     “Romans 1:19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” 

The creation itself screams out the glory of God.  Any person who honestly looks at the world around them should marvel at the awesome glories of God, from the complexities of DNA to the grandeur of the stars above, all are expositing the glories of God.  They, if properly listened to, should echo His power, love, wrath, and providence, which in turn cause the human to bow down and give Him credit. 

Creation of Man brings him glory

Now if God is zealous for His own glory, and creation proclaims His glory, man also has a unique privilege amongst creation, to not only echo His power, love, genius, but also His image (Genesis 1:26).  Just like the existence of the cosmos exults God, so too, does the mere existence of man.  Yet, the glorification that comes from mere existence is not enough, man by design is meant to actively glorify the Lord.  Dwight Pentecost says, “The greatest theme with which the mind and the heart of the child of God can be occupied is the theme of the glory of God… God’s method of revealing His glory is to take lowly things, and use them as instruments to reveal His glory so that He may be glorified.”[1]

·                      “Psalm 95:6 Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. ⁷ For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice.” 

·                     “Isaiah 43:7 Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made."”  

·                     “Colossians 1:16-19  ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him.  ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.  ¹⁸ He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.  ¹⁹ For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him.” 

Man’s rebellion that attempts to rob God’s glory

Man was created to honor and worship the Lord, but we as humans turned from our design and sinned against the Lord.  This act of rebellion was on the heels of the tempter saying, “you will be like God” meaning that man’s rebellion was and still is an attempt to rob God of His glory. 

·         Romans 1:21-23   ²¹ For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools,  ²³ and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

·         “Romans 9:30-32   ³⁰ What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith;  ³¹ but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law.  ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.” 

·         “John 5:44 "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?” 

John Calvin called the human heart an idol factory, meaning that humans can produce many idols that we will bow down to and worship.   Yet, without fail the greatest idol that man has every created is the notion of his own sovereignty.  It is the assumption of the creature to be godlike and possess the power to determine what is right and what is wrong.  The question that might pop into your mind may be, “What does it look like when we glorify or worship ourselves?”  Well it looks like this:

·         I worship myself when I have sexual immorality in my life. 

·         I worship myself when I have impure motives. 

·         I worship myself when I live without any biblical restraint. 

·         I worship myself when I misrepresent God in my actions, thoughts, or words. 

·         I worship myself when I look to some magic pill to make my life comfortable.

·         I worship myself when I have animosity towards any other person. 

·         I worship myself when I compare myself with others. 

·         I worship myself when I am more zealous for my own name, than that of God. 

·         I worship myself when I have a steady flow of outbursts of anger. 

·         I worship myself when my vocational job trumps God's call. 

·         I worship myself when I care more about my personal wants than anyone else's needs. 

·         I worship myself when I enjoy creating a fight than sitting back and watching. 

·         I worship myself when I act on my jealousy and launch personal attacks. 

·         I worship myself when I care more about feeling good, comfortable, and having fun than living for the Lord. 

·         I worship myself when I care more about the parties here on earth than I care for the one in heaven. 

Man’s salvation brings God Glory

Now, God in seeking His own glory for His own name, devised the best plan to not only redeem us from the slave market of sin, but to bring Himself glory.  From God’s point of view, the gospel has more about bringing glory to Himself than us being saved from destruction.  Here is a list of scriptures that show that God redeems us for His glory:

·                     Psalm 25:11  ¹¹ For Your name's sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

·                     Psalm 44:26  ²⁶ Rise up, be our help, And redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.

·                     Psalm 79:9  ⁹ Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; And deliver us and forgive our sins for Your name's sake.

·                     Psalm 106:8  ⁸ Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name, That He might make His power known.

·                     Psalm 109:21   ²¹ But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for Your name's sake; Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me;

·                     Isaiah 37:35  ³⁵ 'For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David's sake.'"

·                     Isaiah 43:25  ²⁵ "I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.

·                     Jeremiah 14:7  ⁷ "Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for Your name's sake! Truly our apostasies have been many, We have sinned against You.

·                     Jeremiah 14:21  ²¹ Do not despise us, for Your own name's sake; Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory; Remember and do not annul Your covenant with us.

·                     Daniel 9:19  ¹⁹ "O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name."

·                     Acts 15:14 "Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name

·                     Romans 1:5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake

·                     Romans 14:7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; ⁸ for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

·                     1 Corinthians 6:19-20  ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?  ²⁰ For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

·                     Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

·                     Titus 2:14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds

·                     1 Peter 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

·                     1 John 2:12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake.

It is almost impossible to read the Bible and NOT see that our redemption is for His glory.   In this we see that throughout the entire biblical narrative God has been faithful to glorification of His name.

Why does God do anything?  For His own glory.   The Bible presents this truth with such clarity that the word ‘fool’ does not even begin to describe the person who misses it.  The pages of the book unfold for us that even our salvation is a product of God seeking His own glory.  Thus, we could say that God is faithful to His eternal purpose.   I leave you with this question, “if he is so faithful to his own glory then shouldn’t we be also faithful?”

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960,1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1988, 1995. Used by permission.

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[1] Designed to Be Like Him by Dwight Pentecost pg.11

The 15 deadly sins of Bible study that lead to suppository preaching (Because the sermons really stink)

Do you know what a suppository is?  It is a type of medicine that inserted into your rectum that serves many purposes, most commonly as a laxative.  Gross I know.  It is with this in mind that I say many sermons are suppository in nature.  These sermons are painful spiritual laxatives of the mouth that perverts the true intention of the Bible[1].  Ouch! That sounds painful, not only for the pastor but for the congregation.  Christians should not stand for suppository sermons within the church.  But these types of sermons still happen.  Why?  I believe that it is simply because they commit one out of the 15 deadly sins of Bible study; these sins restrict the ability of the Christian to see the text authentically.  These 15 sins are normally called ‘eisegesis.’  If your pastor commits eisegesis on a regular basis he is not an expositor - he is a suppositor!

·         Reading my experience into the text:  This is allowing your experience to trump the authority of the text, and determining the meaning of any given text by what has happened to you. 

·         Too much trust in a particular English translation:  This happens when the student falls short of due diligence in study and blindly accepts the wording of one translation as being the only rendering of the text. 

·         Acceptance of someone else’s interpretation:  This happens when someone takes the word of a given theologian, pastor, friend, scholar, church, etc. instead of searching the scripture on one’s own. 

·         Reading my culture into the text:  This is when I read my particular cultural views into the text.  For example, my cultural view of slavery into another cultures view of slavery.  

·         Reading my philosophical axioms into the text:  When I take my philosophical axioms and make the text form to them. 

·         Misreading of the text:  This happens when the student skims the text and simply miss-reads what the author is saying. 

·         Failure to read the context:  This is when the student reads a verse and not the surrounding verses, and then makes the surrounding verses conform to that one particular verse.

·         Protecting a position or a sin:  When a student has a sin or a theological position and makes a text as a justification of their views. 

·         Loving to entertain “New Ideas”:  This happens when a student is only interested with something that has never been heard before. Thus, the new trumps the old without serious consideration.  This also happens when someone changes theological persuasion or attempts to make profound interpretations. 

·         Wanting to be a mystic:  A mystic is someone who receives intuitive revelation from God, thus, a student can easily allow that ‘intuitive’ voice inside to influence the meaning of any text. 

·         Arrogance:  This happens when the student thinks too highly of himself, and assumes that every word written was written specifically for him.  They completely disregard the original author, audience, and intent of the text.  This also exhibits itself when someone assumes that they always see the text correctly and is never willing to challenge their interpretations with the context. 

·         Seeking application:  This happens when the student does not care about what the text means, only an easy how-to manual to live their life.  For example, looking at the ten plagues in Egypt and asking, “What are the plagues that I need to overcome in my life?”

·         Lost in the particulars:  This happens when a student gets lost in the individual words and they forget the entire context. 

·         Laziness:  This happens when a student does not want to do the due diligence needed to understand the text, so they simply don’t try. 

Seeing a theme that is not there:  Many exegetes commit the sin of seeing a theme that threads itself throughout the entire Bible, and then interprets every text with that theme in mind.

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[1] As you can tell I think a lot about how we as Christians understand the Bible.  I am suggesting that understanding the text is one of the highest priorities of the church; not the only priority but is one of the biggest.  Yet, I am so amazed at the sermons that pass for being “biblical.”  And I suppose that in a way, really bad bible study can lead to some dynamic sermons.  How else do we attribute the growth of Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, and their friends?  I am not one to rock the boat, but if we are heading down a waterfall I will warn the skipper.  I believe that the church is about to fall off the waterfall!