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.
