Suggested Readings To Read Through The Bible In A Year
Friday June 12, 2009 1 Kings 9-10 & Ecclesiastes 1
Today we get to enjoy an interesting contrast in the life of king Solomon as we read the account in 1 Kings of his encounter with God and with the queen of Sheba against his writings in the book of Ecclesiastes. Verse one of Ecclesiastes one identifies the author – it is Solomon, the wisest man who has ever lived, with riches that would make Donald Trump look middle class . . . and yet the first thing he writes is
Eccles. 1:2
"Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless."
The KJV says “vanity of vanities”. The Hebrew word is hebel. The word is translated in other places as a wind, a breath, or a vapor. It is paralleled to phrases like “chasing the wind”, “no advantage”, and “nothing gained”.
I have often heard preachers say that Ecclesiastes is the writing of a disillusioned and backslidden preacher (because the King James Version begins verse one by saying “the words of the Preacher’) The writings of Ecclesiastes appear to be very pessimistic – which just happens to be one of the popular genre of literature in that era of time. I have heard teaching that said the only reason that Solomon wrote all these negative things and pessimistic view points is that he had walked away from God and lost touch with who he God is and what it means to be a child of God. I do not ascribe to that viewpoint. I believe that this book is written by a man very much in tune with the reality of who God is and what really is important in this world. The only thing that I believe is lacking on the part of the author is a full understanding of the resurrection of the dead and a place called heaven.
In our homes we go into the bathroom and turn on the bath tub faucet after setting the plug in the drain. We watch the water flow into that tub and at a certain point choose to turn off the water because if we did not it would overflow. Well, over the course of time, Solomon thought about the rivers that flowed from the mountains and went into the oceans – day after day, month after month, year after year – and yet the ocean does not seem to be any fuller than it was before . . .Solomon points out the fact that generations come and go but the planet on which we live remains pretty much the same – he points out the fact that the sun came up this morning and set in the evening – only to be played out again tomorrow with absolute predictability. There are cycles in this life that never change . . . .
So what is this book about? Solomon, in all his wisdom, is trying to get the reader to think about what really matters in this world. I know that it appears that he is saying nothing matters – that it is all a sham – it is all chasing the wind. But I do not think that is the case. He is saying that all of our human effort and our human wisdom falls short of anything that really matters – but before this book comes to its conclusion he is going to point out what really matters – what really gives significance to life. In a world where there seems to be this endless repetition of cycles, what is there that is going to have lasting value? That is the question he is pursuing in his musings about what he sees, hears and experiences on a daily basis – that is the question he answers before it is all said and done.
My challenge to you today is as we read through this book over the next few days is the to look for the positive conclusions that Solomon comes to about what really matters as we live out our lives on this planet. . . What has value that is going to last into eternity??? Why am I really here? Does my life really matter?
Suggested Readings To Read Through The Bible In A Year
Saturday June 13, 2009 1 Kings 11-12 & Ecclesiastes 2:1-16
Sunday June 14, 2009 1 Kings 13-14 & Ecclesiastes 2:17-26
Monday June 15, 2009 1 Kings 15-16 & Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
Tuesday June 16, 2009 1 Kings 17-18 & Ecclesiastes 3:16-22
