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Words of the teacher, Son of David

M

MatthewG

Guest
“These are the words of the Teacher, King David’s son, who ruled in Jerusalem.

“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”

What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?

Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.

The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again.

The wind blows south, and then turns north.

Around and around it goes, blowing in circles.

Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full.

Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea.

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.

History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before.

Nothing under the sun is truly new.

Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!”

But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.

We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.

I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem.

I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven.

I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race.

I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.

What is wrong cannot be made right. What is missing cannot be recovered.

I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me.

I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.”

So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly.

But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.

The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭1:1-18‬ ‭NLT‬‬
 
“I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure.

Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.”

But I found that this, too, was meaningless.

So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?”

After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness.

In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.

I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards.

I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees. I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves.

I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household.

I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me.

I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces.

I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines.

I had everything a man could desire!

So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me.

Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure.

I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors.

But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind.

There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.

So I decided to compare wisdom with foolishness and madness (for who can do this better than I, the king?).

I thought, “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness.

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. Both will die.

So I said to myself, “Since I will end up the same as the fool, what’s the value of all my wisdom? This is all so meaningless!”

For the wise and the foolish both die.

The wise will not be remembered any longer than the fool.

In the days to come, both will be forgotten.

So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling.

Everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned.

And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish?

Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun.

How meaningless!

So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world.

Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it.

This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy.

So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety?

Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest.

It is all meaningless.

So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work.

Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God.

For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him?

God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him.

But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him.

This, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭2:1-26‬ ‭NLT‬‬
 
@EarlyActs, From the words of the teacher, who was King David's Son, who was a ruler over Jerusalem.

Very profound, honest, there is wisdom to be found with-in and it is straightforward about all the things that the Teacher done and went through in the lifetime of the writer.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

A Time for Everything​

3

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:


2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What do workers gain from their toil?

10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.

13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.

14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

15 Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account.[b]

16 And I saw something else under the sun:

In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
in the place of justice—wickedness was there.

17 I said to myself,

“God will bring into judgment
both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
a time to judge every deed.”

18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.

19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath[c]; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless.

20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.

21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”

22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
 
@EarlyActs, you reminded me of something that would have been more important if I would have posted it as the introduction to the article before posting this, which I will do my best to make note of the next time I make a thread or topic if it is needed cause it does help to get some background information.

Ecclesiastes

who: Unknown (Solomon) - Some suggest Solomon
What: Wisdom
Where: Jerusalem
When: c 900s bc - 500s bc
Why: A search to discover truth.

Outline (Chapter)
The Meaning of Life (1-2)
Life is Not Always Fair (3-6)
Wisdom (7-8)
No One Knows the Future (9-10)
Obedience to God (11-12)

Key Verse : Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden things, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
 
So the end-result is that life is fair, but after the judgement of God.
 
Scriptures are helpful to increase faith and to increase ones knowledge about the truth.

It is easy to cut things down and short and it leaves out detailed information that is missed in short off-handed conversations.
 
ECC 4

1 Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:

I saw the tears of the oppressed—
and they have no comforter;
power was on the side of their oppressors—
and they have no comforter.

2 And I declared that the dead,
who had already died,
are happier than the living,
who are still alive.

3 But better than both
is the one who has never been born,
who has not seen the evil
that is done under the sun.

4 And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.


5 Fools fold their hands
and ruin themselves.

6 Better one handful with tranquillity
than two handfuls with toil
and chasing after the wind.

7 Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:


8 There was a man all alone;
he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
“For whom am I toiling,” he asked,
“and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
This too is meaningless—
a miserable business!

9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:

10 If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.

11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

​

13 Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning.

14 The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom.

15 I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king’s successor.

16 There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
 
“As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut.

It is evil to make mindless offerings to God.

Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God.

After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth.

So let your words be few.

Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool.

When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools.

Keep all the promises you make to him. It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it.

Don’t let your mouth make you sin.

And don’t defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake.

That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved.

Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities.

Fear God instead.

Don’t be surprised if you see a poor person being oppressed by the powerful and if justice is being miscarried throughout the land.

For every official is under orders from higher up, and matters of justice get lost in red tape and bureaucracy.

Even the king milks the land for his own profit!

Those who love money will never have enough.

How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!

The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it.

So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!

People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much.

But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep.

There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun.

Hoarding riches harms the saver.

Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children.

We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born.

We can’t take our riches with us.

And this, too, is a very serious problem.

People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind.

Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry.

Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life

God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. And it is a good thing to receive wealth from

God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God.

God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭5:1-20‬ ‭NLT‬‬
 
King Solomon prayed to God for wisdom. Unfortunately King Solomon married many other nations kings daughters.

As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. Thus starting the eventual fall of Israel.
 
Even so, as we are all sinners by nature, there is wisdom to be found in these writings, wouldn’t you say, @Bradley D.

Just reading them reassures me of the hope and rest found in Christ, over the many earthly delights that are hard to break free from.

Solomon was the richest man in the entire world and still would be considered so today if he lived on the earth. He sought after even seeking to understand madness and folly, still he states that there is nothing more for one to do than

Key Verse : Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden things, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
 
“There is another serious tragedy I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on humanity.

God gives some people great wealth and honor and everything they could ever want, but then he doesn’t give them the chance to enjoy these things.

They die, and someone else, even a stranger, ends up enjoying their wealth!

This is meaningless—a sickening tragedy.

A man might have a hundred children and live to be very old.

But if he finds no satisfaction in life and doesn’t even get a decent burial, it would have been better for him to be born dead.

His birth would have been meaningless, and he would have ended in darkness.

He wouldn’t even have had a name, and he would never have seen the sun or known of its existence.

Yet he would have had more peace than in growing up to be an unhappy man.

He might live a thousand years twice over but still not find contentment.

And since he must die like everyone else—well, what’s the use?

All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough.

So are wise people really better off than fools?

Do poor people gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of others?

Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have.

Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

Everything has already been decided.

It was known long ago what each person would be.

So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny.

The more words you speak, the less they mean.

So what good are they?

In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow.

Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭6:1-12‬ ‭NLT‬‬
 
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