Daily Ecclesiastes

Webers_Home · #1 13th October 2009, 12:49 AM

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Hello;

If you’ve come to the book of Ecclesiastes looking for enlightenment, you’re sure to be disappointed. Though Ecclesiastes was no doubt written by inspiration; it's not a book of revelation, but one of worldly wisdom and almost entirely philosophical; authored (according to tradition) by David's son Solomon, the brightest intellectual of his day.

†. 1Kgs 5:9-14 . .The Lord endowed Solomon with wisdom and discernment in great measure, with understanding as vast as the sands on the seashore. Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the Kedemites and than all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was the wisest of all men: [wiser] than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalkol, and Darda the sons of Mahol.

. . His fame spread among all the surrounding nations. He composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered one thousand and five. He discoursed about trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall; and he discoursed about beasts, birds, creeping things, and fishes. Men of all peoples came to hear Solomon's wisdom, [sent] by all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

The primary focus of Ecclesiastes is the brevity of life, and its aspects of futility. Those unaware of the purpose of the book of Ecclesiastes often don't understand why the author’s remarks, observations, attitudes, conclusions, and comments so often conflict with much of the rest of the Bible. Well, if one keeps in mind that Ecclesiastes is a collection of philosophical observations from the perspective of a man under the sun rather than the perspective of an enlightened man who's privy to knowledge beyond the limits of empirical evidence, then you'll appreciate Ecclesiastes much better.

One thing to keep in mind when studying a book like Ecclesiastes is that just because people’s words are recorded in the sacred text does not make them eo ipso true; for example Eve’s response to the Serpent’s question.

†. Gen 3:1-3 . . And he said to the woman: Indeed, has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent: From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said you shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.

Was Eve telling the truth? No. God forbad them to eat the fruit, yes, but He didn’t forbid them to touch it (Gen 2:16-17)

The Serpent’s response was untrue too.

†. Gen 3:4 . . And the serpent said to the woman: You shall not surely die!

Did Eve die? Yes.

So the conversation between Eve and the Serpent was no doubt recorded by inspiration, but there are untruths in their statements.

BTW: this is a devotional, not a debate; so please make sure your comments contribute rather than confront. I assure anyone who feels compelled to take issue with me here on this thread that they will get nothing in return but a wall of silence. Devotionals are supposed to be reflective, rather than reactive; so keep the peace, and leave your guns at home.

C.L.I.F.F.
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Webers_Home · #2 13th October 2009, 12:57 AM

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†. Ecc 1:1 . .The words of Koheleth son of David, king in Jerusalem.

Koheleth is apparently a nom de plume. The Hebrew word is qoheleth (ko-heh'-leth) which means: an assembler (i.e. lecturer): abstractly: preaching. An assembler isn't someone on a factory assembly line, but rather, someone who gathers a group together for a speech, a seminar, or lecture situation.

The preacher of Ecclesiastes obviously wasn't female because Koheleth was a son of David and a king in Jerusalem. Sons and kings are male.

Tradition accredits Ecclesiastes to Solomon because of the abundance of his God-given wisdom. None of the other descendants of David ever matched Solomon's intellect. He may not have been much of a soldier, but Solomon had no equals in matters of scholarship.

†. Ecc 1:2-3 . . Utter futility!— said Koheleth —Utter futility! All is futile! What real value is there for a man in all the gains he makes beneath the sun?

The author has a point. What does it benefit people "beneath the sun" to amass a fortune, build an empire, accumulate knowledge, possessions, education, and experience when they're only going to die and lose every single bit of it?

†. Ecc 1:4 . . One generation goes, another comes, but the earth remains the same forever.

Solomon didn't intend for anyone to take his comment to mean that the earth is eternal. No, within context, he only meant that the earth outlasts everybody.

It's quite humiliating to realize that a mindless lump of granite with an IQ of zero, and whose personal accomplishments amount to absolutely nothing, will easily outlive the finest minds and the most energetic movers and shakers who ever existed.

The rock of Gibraltar, for example, was here before Plato, Alexander the Great, Darwin, Beethoven, Einstein, Eli Whitney, Edwin Hubble, and Jonas Salk; and the rock of Gibraltar was still here after they were all dead. It will still be here when you are dead too. Shakespeare once said: All the world's a stage. He was so right. Actors come and go, but the stage is always there; ready for a new cast of players.

It's just not fair. People are much smarter, more sophisticated, and far more valuable than anything on the planet. But the planet itself— mute, ignorant, and impersonal —endures forever; while people die and pass on all the time.

In the grand scheme of things, Man's tenure on the planet is but for a fleeting moment; then he's gone and forgotten; washed away. For the vast majority of people, it will be as though they were never here at all. The planet was doing just fine before they got here, and it will get along just fine after they're gone.

C.L.I.F.F.
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Webers_Home · #3 13th October 2009, 09:49 AM

†. Ecc 1:5 . .The sun rises, and the sun sets— and glides back to where it rises.

Sounds like Orphan Annie— "The Sun-ull come owwwwt too-maw-row. Betcher bottum doll-ler that too-maw-rohhhhh, there'll be Sun." (chuckle) Annie has it pegged. Maybe clouds block the Sun from view now and then, but the clouds can never stop the Sun from coming up; nor stop it from going down either.

†. Gen 8:20-22 . .Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking of every clean animal and of every clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. The Lord smelled the pleasing odor, and the Lord said to Himself: "Never again will I doom the earth because of man, since the devisings of man’s mind are evil from his youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living being, as I have done. So long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease."

God has made good on that promise. The Sun always comes up, and it always goes down— there's always day, and there's always night. In point of fact, if nature should ever stop acting that way, the Jews might soon disappear.

†. Jer 31:35-37 . .Thus said the Lord, Who established the sun for light by day, the laws of moon and stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea into roaring waves, Whose name is Lord of Hosts: If these laws should ever be annulled by Me— declares the Lord— only then would the offspring of Israel cease to be a nation before Me for all time. Thus said the Lord: If the heavens above could be measured, and the foundations of the earth below could be fathomed, only then would I reject all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done— declares the Lord.

Well, the Jews are still here, and the world keeps right on turning; just like it has always done and will continue to do so. (Muslim world; take note!)

†. Ecc 1:6 . . Southward blowing, turning northward, ever turning blows the wind; on its rounds the wind returns.

Solomon believed that winds are cyclonic; and he's right. The Earth's air currents don't move straight ahead like waves roaring in on the beach. No, they circulate. And they never blow just once. They keep coming back to blow all over again because warm air and cool air are constantly changing places.

Warm air from the equatorial regions expands towards the polar regions, and along the way gets cooled and subsequently moves back towards the equatorial region to be warmed all over again. Sometimes when warm airs and cool airs collide, they produce storms like hurricanes and typhoons.

Airs in the skies over the oceans are effected by sea water temperature. So when sea currents bring relatively warm water towards an artic region, it tends to keep the ice in check. If something should ever happen to lower the temperature of the currents of sea water in artic regions, the earth just might experience another ice age; so then, so-called global warming has at least one bright side to it.

†. Ecc 1:7 . . All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place [from] which they flow the streams flow back again.

Solomon was pretty doggone savvy about hydrology. It's true. All streams flow towards the sea (duh! gravity makes water flow downhill, and most landmasses are above the level of the sea), but the water doesn't stay there. It returns to the land masses again via evaporation and snow, and rain, and hail, in a perpetual cycle.

†. Ecc 1:8 . . All such things are wearisome: no man can ever state them; the eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear enough of hearing.

Science is fun. But there is just too much for one man to learn in his lifetime. Even those who specialize in only one branch, like astronomy, or biology, or chemistry, never really get it all. They are ever grasping for more knowledge, but it eludes them. Then they die and someone else comes along to pick up where they left off and continue the search.

NASA launched the New Horizons robotic spacecraft to Pluto in January of 2006 and it’s expected to arrive there in July of 2015. Why did NASA do that? Because scientists want to know more about the Kuiper Belt and the little dwarf planet itself. What for? Only because Man's eyes never have enough seeing, and his ears never have enough hearing. He presses on for more and more knowledge because he just has to know. The quest for knowledge becomes the entire reason and motivation for missions like the one to Pluto. NASA is going there simply for the purpose of discovery.

C.L.I.F.F.
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Webers_Home · #4 14th October 2009, 10:40 AM

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†. Ecc 1:9 . . Only that shall happen which has happened, only that occur which has occurred; there is nothing new beneath the sun!

Solomon noticed that nature has yet to reinvent itself; and yet to break it's own habits. The tide always comes in, and it always goes out. The sun always rises and it always sets— there's always a day followed by a night. The wind blows past us, and eventually returns to do it again. In the Spring, leaves appear on trees, and in Autumn, they die and drop off— every year. In the Winter it's cold, in the Summer it's hot— always. It rains one day, it clears; and another day the rains return to do it all over again. Every year in the woods, little frogs lay eggs in vernal pools. Their pollywogs grow into more frogs who in turn will lay their own eggs in the very same vernal pools the following year.

Every 27.3217 Earth days the moon completes one of its own sidereal days, and every 29.5307 Earth days it completes one of its own lunar months; the meanwhile always showing us the very same face; never the other side. For twelve months, the Sun appears to travel along the ecliptic through each of the constellations of the Zodiac. When it gets back to the Vernal Equinox, does it then change course and take a new path? No. It will go right back through every one of those very same twelve signs all over again.

While my wife and I were gazing at a planetary alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Mars, and Mercury, it occurred to me that I was looking up at a universe virtually the same as the one that the Egyptians looked up at during construction of the Pyramids. They saw the very same stars, and the very same five naked-eye planets more than 4,000 years ago. Political climates, wars, disease, economic ups and downs, death and life— none of that has influenced the circuits of those five planets. They methodically, silently, and religiously go about their business indifferent to Man's problems; constantly circling the sun and haven't changed their behavior one single bit since the day the Bible's God hung them out there.

Through our Nikon FieldScope, we saw four of Jupiter's largest moons: Io, Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede. Those very same four moons were circling Jupiter on the night that Galileo discovered them with his crude 20x telescope in 1609 AD. Can you guess what those moons were doing 400 years ago back in Galileo's day? The very same thing they are doing now: orbiting Jupiter. And can you guess what Jupiter was doing in Galileo's day? That’s right; the very same thing it does now: orbiting the sun. Nature is truly in a rut.

†. Ecc 1:10-11 . . Sometimes there is a phenomenon of which they say: Look, this one is new! — yet it occurred long since, in ages that went by before us. The earlier ones are not remembered; so too those that will occur later will no more be remembered than those that will occur at the very end.

When Man discovers something new in nature, it’s best to keep in mind that the new thing he discovered didn't come into existence the day he found out about it. No, it was there all the time. He just didn't know about it yet. Like coal and uranium. Did Man invent those? No. Did he invent petroleum? No. Did he invent tectonic plates? No. Did he invent galaxies? No. Did he invent quasars? No. Did he invent genes? No. Did he invent DNA? No. Did he invent electromagnetic waves? No. Did he invent electricity? No. Did he invent gravity? No. Did he invent magnetism? No. Did he invent molecules? No. All those things are discoveries, not inventions.

It’s true that Man often manipulates nature to create things like super sweet corn, lasers, penicillin, plastic, cardboard, aluminum foil, gasoline, and nitroglycerine. But left to itself, nature won't produce anything new because if there’s one thing nature dearly loves; it's routine.

C.L.I.F.F.
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Webers_Home · #5 15th October 2009, 09:21 AM

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†. Ecc 1:12-13a . . I, Koheleth, was king in Jerusalem over Israel. I set my mind to study and to probe with wisdom all that happens under the sun.

The phrase "all that happens under the sun" is limited to exactly that. Ecclesiastes is a book of earthly wisdom; the kind of wisdom that's available to anyone with half a brain, and the ambition and the wherewithal to go after it.

Albert Einstein’s mind could reason that gravity has an effect upon the path of light much the same as the mediums of water, glass, and air but he was a moron in respect to spiritualities because Heaven’s wisdom is other-worldly and can't be discovered by reason and experiment; no, it's a kind of wisdom that has to be revealed; and its custodian is God's spirit.

†. 1Cor 2:6-15 . . And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

. . Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are whole; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written: Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.

. . For God revealed them to us through The Spirit; for The Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men comprehends the thoughts of a man except by the human intuition which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one comprehends without the intuition of God.

. . Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by The Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But an earthly man does not accept the things of the spirit of God; for they are absurd to him, and he cannot make sense of them, because they are spiritually discerned.

†. Ecc 1:13b-15 . . An unhappy business, that, which God gave men to be concerned with! I observed all the happenings beneath the sun, and I found that all is futile and pursuit of wind: a twisted thing that cannot be made straight, a lack that cannot be made good.

Solomon's philosophy of life bears a remarkable resemblance to the opinions of today's brightest scientific minds. Nobel Prize winner, author of several best-selling books, and recipient of at least a dozen honorary degrees, Physicist Steven Weinberg (who views religion as an enemy of science), in his book, The First Three Minutes, wrote: The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it seems pointless. But if there is no solace in the fruits of our research, there is at least some consolation in the research itself . .The effort to understand the universe is one of the very few things that lifts human life a little above the level of a farce and gives it some of the grace of tragedy.

What a dismal appraisal. To a brilliant man like Mr. Weinberg, the human experience is an exercise in futility; languishing somewhere between a farce and a tragedy. The universe? It's devoid of meaning— just a great big three-dimensional mural that people find fascinating and interesting: cosmic amusement; so to speak.

Solomon's impressions were no different. He too felt that it's futile to attempt to assign any real meaning to life— just as there are some things that simply cannot be fixed; such as a tree twisted and gnarled so badly that it's lumber is beyond hope for use in a new home, or a five-foot man trying to meet a six-foot height requirement. It is impossible for him to ever meet it no matter how hard he tries. His is a "lack that cannot be made good."

That's Mr. Koheleth's preface to Ecclesiastes; and from here on, Solomon will elucidate his reasons for being so negative about all that goes on under the sun.

C.L.I.F.F.
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Webers_Home · #6 16th October 2009, 11:44 AM

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†. Ecc 1:16 . . I said to myself: Here I have grown richer and wiser than any that ruled before me over Jerusalem, and my mind has zealously absorbed wisdom and learning.

Solomon wasn't what you might call a warrior king like Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan. He was more like Jacob (who had far less concern for outdoor adventure than his brother Esau). Solomon enjoyed a peace-time economy and generally good relations with his political neighbors. War was rare during his tenure on the throne, the state-of-the-union was tolerable, he was financially independent, comfortable, and had plenty of opportunity to devote himself to self improvement in the study of liberal arts; which are defined as: the studies (such as language, philosophy, history, literature, abstract science) in a college or university intended to provide chiefly general knowledge and to develop the general intellectual capacities (reason and judgment) as opposed to specific professional or vocational skills.

Webster's defines wisdom as: sagacity, insight, sagaciousness, sageness, sapience, shrewdness, sound judgment, and good sense.

Learning is defined as: knowledge, education, scholarship, erudition, science, and facts.

Obviously, learning does not eo ipso make one wise; nor does a sheepskin eo ipso prove one's maturity.

Solomon's desire to improve his mind isn't uncommon among the idle rich; after all, who better can afford higher education than they? They say a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Well, plenty of poor and middle class minds are going to waste simply for lack of funds. Some have managed to break the chains of ignorance through scholarships or great personal sacrifice on the part of themselves and of their families.

But not Solomon. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and inherited all the money one could ever possibly need, and then some. Finding the money for an education was the least of Solomon's concerns; and so, having nothing better to do with his time, he went to school.

Education and prosperity make life a whole lot more bearable; there is no denying that. Health care, privilege, job security, food, clothing, connections, a good neighborhood, and a roof over our heads are all great advantages. But there is no guarantee education and prosperity will bring people things like peace of mind and less stress.

Solomon had everything in life you could possibly want. He was a genius, he was educated, he was wealthy, he was politically powerful, he was comfortable, and had all the women a man could hope to love. But none of that made him any happier than before— in fact, he was disappointed because all of that only made him less content and he soon realized that he had put too much value upon the pursuit of knowledge.

Many a privileged youngster has thrown away four perfectly good years of their life in college. They typically enroll in a liberal arts program, not really knowing what they want in life, often change their major, and come out of school four years older than when they first enrolled with no marketable skills, and no idea on earth how they will support themselves. All those tuition dollars, and all that time out of their life— puff; up in smoke, frittered away; gone.

Adults seem obsessed with telling young people not to worry too much about things like career, marriage, family, and retirement because they have their whole life ahead of them yet. No. They don't have their whole life ahead of them. By the time a kid is out of four-year college, at least twenty-two of the best years of their life are gone forever and they are now in a third decade; rapidly approaching an age when they will be old enough to die of natural causes.

Time and tide wait for no man; with time being the one asset men can least afford to liquidate at bargain prices. You can always catch another tide, but no one yet has caught another youth.

C.L.I.F.F.
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Webers_Home · #7 17th October 2009, 10:25 AM

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†. Ecc 1:17-18 . . And so I set my mind to appraise wisdom and to appraise madness and folly. And I learned that this too was to pursue the wind: For as wisdom increases, vexation increases; to increase learning is to increase aggravation.

Sometimes it just doesn't pay to be too smart. People who never ponder the mysteries of life— existing in oblivion day to day —seem far more content than sages and philosophers who vex themselves trying to justify the human existence. Live and let die is the motto of the simple person. But the philosopher just can't let it go that easily. He agonizes, ponders the mysteries of life over and over again for the Nth time, and sometimes can't sleep because of it. David didn't let those kinds of questions bother him.

†. Ps 131:1-2 . . O Lord, I am not better than others, nor am I stuck up; I do not aspire to great things or to what is beyond me; but I have taught myself to be contented like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child am I in my mind.

Weaned children no longer nurse at the breast; but still benefit from a mother's hugs. Children who grow up with mothers who never hug them, become emotionally handicapped with a psychological problem known as Reactive Attachment Disorder which produces human beings who live out their lives with perpetual feelings of abandonment. Sincerely believing themselves to be outcasts and untouchables— confident that they neither count nor matter —RAD victims simply cannot bring themselves to trust other human beings to be faithful friends.

Denied the security blanket of a hugging mother in the developing years of early childhood, RAD kids go on to adulthood feeling all alone in the world, and insecure in human relationships. Some of them become sociopaths, trampling on people's feelings like the fallen leaves of Autumn. Other RAD victims become reclusive and withdrawn, painfully reticent in groups because they believe they have nothing of value to contribute in the way of intelligent conversation.

David was content in his own mind. He didn't suffer with intellectual insecurities, and never felt he had anything to prove. Some people go to war over their opinions, but David didn't. He knew what he knew, and wasn't provoked to rivalry by somebody else who knew more. Intellectuals, on the other hand, are forever debating and quarreling with others over their opinions because they just can't stand it when somebody proposes to know more than they do; or worse, when somebody tries to prove that what they know is either dumb or obsolete.

There's really nothing inherently wrong with pondering the meaning of life. But when people limit their search to finding an explanation under the sun─ that is: to empirical evidence ─then they end up perplexed; and life makes no sense.

Leaving a supreme being out of their quest for the meaning of life is a serious error for those of high intellect. In mathematics, there is usually at least one constant in the formula from which the solution is derived. The existence of a supreme being is just as valid a constant as the value of pi.

Leave out the existence of a supreme being in your deliberations about the meaning of life, and one’s conclusions will always, every time, be wrong.

But even then, even with a supreme being factored in, there are many questions that can never be answered: Why do little children die before they even have a chance to live? Why do the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? Why do the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer? How big is the universe? Stuff like that. Pondering those kinds of questions a little too seriously can render a person somewhat disturbed.

C.L.I.F.F.
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Webers_Home · #8 18th October 2009, 10:56 AM

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†. Ecc 2:1-2 . . I said to myself; Come, I will treat you to merriment. Taste mirth! That too, I found, was futile. Of revelry I said; It's mad! Of merriment; What good is that?

The only problem with a natural high is that it's so transitory. Joy and excitement are emotions, and emotions can't be sustained for very long before they need rest. Sometimes after a very pleasurable experience like a big night on the town, a great victory, an exciting movie, a day at Disneyland, or a wedding; we feel run down because the merriment wore us out. It's not uncommon for people to actually feel very depressed and let down after a round of excitement. They don't have a mental problem; no, their emotions are just wore down.

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with entertainment and excitement. Solomon's focus isn't upon the morality of fun— his focus is upon the value of it. Unfortunately, fun has no lasting value. It's value is temporal. Fun is only good for now, not for later. And things that are fun for the moment, often become boring after a while. I mean, picnics are fun, but who wants to do them every single day? And movies? I love movies like Matrix, Lost in Translation, and School Of Rock. I've watched them at least six times on DVD and VHS. But you know what? I can't watch just those same three movies all the time. I need variety because fun things lose their fun value when you do them too often.

From a practical point of view, entertainment is only profitable for an entertainment vendor. The patron derives no profits from fun. Take a chess game. Chess for some people is very entertaining, and quite relaxing. But there is no profit in a friendly game of chess; only a temporal pleasure. That's Solomon's point. Fun is good if you keep it in perspective. Have fun for fun's sake; but don't expect it to gain you anything of long lasting value— and for pete's sake, don't let yourself feel guilty about having fun because amusement has a legitimate place in the human existence. Though fun has no eternal value, there's really nothing of eternal value to gain by asceticism either.

†. Col 2:20-23 . .You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the evil powers of this world. So why do you keep on following rules of the world, such as; Don't handle, Don't eat, Don't touch. Such restrictions are mere human teaching about things that are gone as soon as we use them. These restrictions may seem wise because they require strong devotion, humility, and severe bodily discipline. But they have no effect when it comes to conquering a person's evil thoughts and desires.

†. Ecc 2:3a . . I ventured to tempt my flesh with wine, and to grasp folly, while letting my mind direct with wisdom,

The word for folly is from cikluwth (sik-looth') and from sikluwth (sik-looth'); which mean: silliness. Late night comedy like Saturday Night Live, David Letterman, and Jay Leno would fit into that definition.

Late night comedy isn't for everyone. Solomon, for example, was just far too sophisticated to enjoy something crass like that. He did give it an honest try though and thoroughly analyzed comedy's potential just in case there might be something he was missing. But comedy bounced right off Solomon. He could recognize humor, but he couldn't enjoy it. He was one of those guys who can sit through episodes of Jerry Seinfeld, the Simpsons, and/or watch a romantic comedy like Made Of Honor and wonder what people see in them.

What Solomon was searching for was something to cheer himself up. He was an incredibly brilliant man, but his intellect only made him gloomy. So, along with comedy, he tried alcohol. But alcohol presents its own problems because your body gets used to it. Pretty soon, you have to imbibe larger and larger doses to get a buzz. And then when it wears off, you might have a hang-over. Same with narcotics. Users need larger and more frequent doses, and when they come down they often become blue and irritable; and sometimes so ill that they die.

†. Ecc 2:3b . . to the end that I might learn which of the two was better for men to practice in their few days of life under heaven.

Well, which is the better of the two— alcohol or comedy —is a matter of opinion. Some people would prefer not to make a choice between them but to keep both. You could watch Leno with a night-cap or a glass of wine just as easily as not. And actually, those two are a pretty good way to end your day. Leno makes you laugh at the world, and the booze is relaxing so you can sleep better. The key to enjoyment in life is to do all things in moderation. A little wine is okay, but a lot is bad. A little silliness here and there is okay too; but a whole day of it every day all day long would not be a good idea.

†. Ecc 2:4a . . I multiplied my possessions.

Even the poor have this opportunity— to multiply their possessions —and some are pretty good at it in their own way. It's not unusual to see a homeless person with a shopping cart or a bicycle piled high to the sky with things they've accumulated. And many low-income folk here in America have at least two televisions and one car; and sometimes a gun too.

Here in Oregon we have a colloquialism that goes something like this: When the weather gets bad, it's time to go shopping. (chuckle) Who doesn't enjoy buying something new? A new possession can cheer you up; even little doo-dads and trinkets that cost only 49 cents. Whenever we go to the mall, I stop by the LEGO store and check out the key rings and now have four Star Wars related rings attached to my backpack and a few more around the house. One is attached to the pull chain of desk lamp in my computer room. A new LEGO key ring always cheer me up. No doubt Solomon would just shrug.

I'm always thoroughly amazed at how lifted my wife's spirits become whenever she buys herself a new top, or a trendy lipstick. Multiplying possessions is good for the mood; like rich chocolate. True, it's only a temporary high, but it's a good high and I always enjoy buying things, even if it's only second-hand at Good Will or Salvation Army.

C.L.I.F.F.
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Webers_Home · #9 19th October 2009, 11:16 AM

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†. Ecc 2:4b . . I built myself houses

The filthy rich never seem to be satisfied with just one home. No; they have a house in Bel-Air, and another out on The Hamptons. They have Summer cottages, and they have Winter cabins. They build custom homes costing in the millions of dollars and when they tire of those, they sell, move out, and build another custom home.

†. Ecc 2:4c-6 . . and I planted vineyards. I laid out gardens and groves, in which I planted every kind of fruit tree. I constructed lakes of water, enough to irrigate a forest sprouting with trees.

It isn't unusual for governments to build parks and initiate beautification programs in their cities. What the heck, why not when you can use someone else's money and don't have to pay for it yourself? Solomon received tribute from all his neighboring kingdoms: from the borders of Egypt clear on over to the Euphrates river. It was actually a time of great peace and prosperity in Israel according to 1Kgs 4:20 and 1Kgs 5:5

Of course Solomon himself didn't do a lick of the work. He purchased slaves and conscripted his own citizens to accomplish his expensive ambitions. David his father conscripted foreigners, but Solomon went him one better with a national draft board that inducted his fellow Jewish men into government service. There was no danger of war at the time. He just needed manpower in the labor camps.

30,000 were conscripted to work with Hiram's axe men up in Lebanon logging for the new Temple, and he had another 70,000 general laborers, plus 80,000 men working in stone quarries— and not to forget 12,000 horsemen. All his construction projects were very labor intensive because of the lack of machinery and power tools in those days.

†. Ecc 2:7a . . I bought male and female slaves, and I acquired stewards

The Hebrew word for stewards is ben, which were children born of slaves he already owned. So the bens cost him nothing all the while that his purchased slaves multiplied among themselves since in that day, the children of slaves were slaves too.

People like Solomon, born with silver spoons in their mouths, typically don't take into consideration the feelings of others less privileged than themselves. They are often totally self absorbed. Those below them exist only as cannon fodder; lackeys to serve their every wish as if that were somehow the natural order of things.

Well, Solomon was finding out that sometimes the natural order of things works against those who are very intelligent, and against those who are very rich, and against those who are very powerful. Contentment and fulfillment eluded his grasp. No matter how he exercised his advantages in life, Solomon couldn't find peace of mind. He found that for men like himself, life is pointless. The more he sought fulfillment, the more he felt like he was wasting his time trying.

An episode in 1Kgs 12:1-14 reveals that Solomon's people sorely resented the labor camps. He delighted himself in the public works that they accomplished with their own backs and the sweat of their own brows while he laid back in his palace and thought up more things for them to do.

†. Ecc 2:7b . . I also acquired more cattle, both herds and flocks, than all who were before me in Jerusalem.

It's interesting Solomon should mention he was a bigger cattle baron than all who were before him. What was he doing? Competing? Can you imagine? He wasn't content with enough. No; he had to have more than enough— larger herds than all before him so that he became the champion rancher; literally the King Ranch of Israel. For some people, like Solomon, it isn't enough to win; no, all others must lose. Does being number-one really bring contentment? Well, it might for some, but it didn't for Solomon.

C.L.I.F.F.
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Webers_Home · #10 20th October 2009, 07:58 AM

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†. Ecc 2:8a . . I further amassed silver and gold and treasures of kings and provinces;

Solomon really cleaned up!

†. 1Kgs 10:10 . . [The Queen of Sheba] presented the king with one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a large quantity of spices, and precious stones.

†. 1Kgs 10:11 . . Moreover, Hiram's fleet, which carried gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a huge quantity of almug wood and precious stones.

†. 1Kgs 10:14-23 . .The weight of the gold which Solomon received every year was 666 talents of gold, besides what came from tradesmen, from the traffic of the merchants, and from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the regions.

. . King Solomon made 200 shields of beaten gold— 600 shekels of gold to each shield —and 300 bucklers of beaten gold —three minas of gold to each buckler. The king placed them in the Lebanon Forest House.

. .The king also made a large throne of ivory, and he overlaid it with refined gold. Six steps led up to the throne, and the throne had a back with a rounded top, and arms on either side of the seat. Two lions stood beside the arms, and twelve lions stood on the six steps, six on either side. No such throne was ever made for any other kingdom.

. . All King Solomon’s drinking cups were of gold, and all the utensils of the Lebanon Forest House were of pure gold: silver did not count for anything in Solomon’s days. For the king had a Tarshish fleet on the sea, along with Hiram's fleet. Once every three years, the Tarshish fleet came in, bearing gold and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. King Solomon excelled all the kings on earth in wealth and in wisdom.

Solomon's personal fortune, in adjusted dollars, must have easily exceeded Bill Gates' in that day. But wealth and luxury just didn't satisfy Solomon. I think many of us commoners would be happy not to work another day for the rest of our lives. Or would we? You just never know. Riches don't seem to protect the rich from despondence, boredom, depression, and feelings of failure and futility.

In 1997, Michael Hutchence, the lead singer of a really cool rock group called INXS, had a pleasant dinner with his dad and then went back to his hotel room and hanged himself with a leather belt. He was 37 years old. What the heck was that all about? Hutchence was young, healthy, wealthy, successful, popular, and doing well on the music charts. At dinner with his dad, he had expressed concern about the band's popularity and its future.

What is that saying? Hutchence's happiness was all bound up in music? So his concern over the band's possible decline in popularity made him despondent enough to end his life? It just doesn't make sense. So what does it really take to make some people happy? Well, for Solomon, it wasn't wealth and success; and, apparently for Hutchence, wealth and success didn't do it for him either: nor did youth, fame, nor popularity because real peace is psychological, and nowhere else. When you've got stuff in your head like bad memories, regrets, a history, inner conflicts, a poor self image, or low self esteem and feelings of failure, inferiority, inadequacy, and futility; nothing on earth can remedy that: not therapy, not pills, not dope, not anything─ nothing short of starting life all over again can get that stuff out of your head.

C.L.I.F.F.
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