TEXT:

‘So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned first-hand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind’ (Ecclesiastes 1:17 NLT).

When God told Solomon to ask for what he really wanted, he replied, ”Wisdom, so I can be a good wise king judging God’s people”.¹ His request pleased God and was granted. Solomon started off as a wise king and his kingdom excelled. People came from all over the world just to listen to his wisdom and knowledge.

Kind David wrote many of the psalms but his son Solomon was the author of Ecclesiastes and there is a fundamental difference between those books. Psalms is about worship but Ecclesiastes is about the goal to know wisdom. David had a heart experience about God but for Solomon it seemed to be head knowledge.

This comparison reminded me of when two people were asked to read Psalm 23 to the congregation. The first person pronounced every word faultlessly and spoke with perfect diction, whereas the other spoke every word with a heartfelt meaning. Someone remarked, “The first knew the psalm, but the other knew the Shepherd!”

Not content with relying on his God-given wisdom, Solomon turned his attention to understanding madness and folly. When we focus on the negative, we will end up fearful and cynical. If God is not in the centre, it’s easy to end up thinking, “What’s the point of living?”

Some key issues perplexed Solomon that should have been simpler to understand had he stayed focussed on wisdom. These are issues that still puzzle people today. Today’s Teaching considers some of them.

1. Everyone has the same departure point but not the same destination – ‘For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate’ (Ecclesiastes 2:14 NLT).

We all die in the same way in this respect, the body stops breathing and the heart stops beating. This is true whatever our status in life. What Solomon didn’t realise was that although death is the end of our life on earth, it’s not the end of our existence.

Jesus corrected the Sadducees (who did not believe in a resurrection and life after death) by reminding them of what God had said to Moses, ‘I am(not was) the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living’ (Matthew 22:32).

The fool says there is no God² but the wise realise we all have a divine appointment after death, standing before the judgment seat.³ We can have no better advocate than Jesus to represent us and save us from the wrath of God.

2. We cannot guarantee how someone will spend the inheritance we leave them, but we can ensure we honour God with our finances while we are living – ‘And I am disgusted about this—that I must leave the fruits of all my hard work to others. And who can tell whether my son will be a wise man or a fool? And yet all I have will be given to him—how discouraging!’ (Ecclesiastes 2:18-19 TLB).

The prodigal quickly wasted what his father had taken years to accumulate. ‘An inheritance obtained too early in life is not a blessing in the end’ (Proverbs 20:21 NLT).

A pig was complaining to a cow that nobody seemed to have a good word to say about him as they were only interested in his bacon when he was dead, but that cows had a much better reputation. The cow replied, “Perhaps that’s because we do our giving while we are living!”

How church finances would be transformed overnight if church members started giving regularly, rather than just responding to special gift days or leaving legacies!

3. We can focus too much on pleasure that cannot really satisfy – ‘I said to myself, “Let’s go for it—experiment with pleasure, have a good time!” But there was nothing to it, nothing but smoke. What do I think of the fun-filled life? Insane!’ (Ecclesiastes 2:3 MSG)

Solomon went into “excess” mode. He had everything he desired, for his great wealth meant he could afford it. He did what he wanted, tried everything but, ‘Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content’ (Ecclesiastes 1:8 NLT).

We can soon get fed up with doing what we always wanted to do, so we move on to something else. The truth is, trying to fill a God-sized hole in our life with anything other than God is doomed to failure.

4. There is a fundamental difference between mankind and animals – ‘For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity’ (Ecclesiastes 3:19)

Both were created by God, but God breathed into man and he became a living soul with an eternal spirit. Animal welfare is to the fore and rightly so, but Jesus did not die to save animals but humanity. Animals have no ability to worship. Whatever intelligence animals display, it has been put into them by a creative God or trained by man.

Millions believe the lie that mankind evolved from monkeys or some other species. The Bible is so clear on how it all happened. ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ (Genesis 1:1).

5. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom – ‘Here is my final conclusion: fear God and obey his commandments, for this is the entire duty of man’ (Ecclesiastes 12:13 TLB)

Reverence releases God into our lives and brings everything else into focus.

• We work hard, but wisdom says, ‘Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you’ (John 6:27).
• We prosper and accumulate wealth, but wisdom says, ‘Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven’ (Matthew 6:20).
• We want the latest gadget, but wisdom says, ‘So we should be well satisfied without money if we have enough food and clothing’ (1 Timothy 6:8 TLB).
• We overlook or make excuses for our faults and failings, but wisdom says, ‘People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy’ (Proverbs 28:13 NLT).
• We think our good deeds will be enough to secure a place in heaven, but wisdom says, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, and your entire household’ (Acts 16:31 TLB).

Endnotes:

¹ 2 Chronicles 1:7        ² Psalm 14:1                ³ Hebrews 9:27