Vanity

[C.A.B.L]

vanity! vanity! all is vanity!

The above quote is from Ecclesiastes. It was uttered by a man who was the wealthiest, wisest, and greatest ruler in the history of the world. Sometimes we think to ourselves "If only I had more money, my problems would go away; if only I were smarter I would be better off; if only I had more power, I would be satisfied" Listen, Solomon had all of that! He had riches beyond any mans dreams, he was smarter than 50 Albert Einsteins, he had power that most men fantasized about. Yet, despite all of these things, he cried out "VANITY, VANITY, ALL IS VANITY!" -- the truth of the matter is, these things don't matter at all. No matter how much we have in this world, problems will always appear. For example: The rich man has more to fear than a poor man. The rich man will never have to worry about bills, or payments of any kind. He will never have to worry about anything concerning money, but what about friendship? what about the safety of his children (being kidnapped)? what about going bankrupt? wealth had and lost is worse than never having it at all. Solomon is warning us, you can almost hear his voice "Listen to me! I've got it all, wealth, power, smarts, and it's created more problems for me than solutions!" Every goal acheived, every decesion made has consequences. Some of them are worthy of the consequences, but many, many of them are not.

Paul said "I've counted everything as loss except knowing Christ and Him crucified (paraphrased)" true wealth and happiness for a Christian, is only found in doing God's work. Stop and read that again. Let it sink in. Proverbs says "There is a way that SEEMS RIGHT TO A MAN" how many times do we end up suffering for something we thought was the right idea? What does the Bible say? Money is the root of some evil? No it doesn't say that. It says "Money is the root of ALL evil" it has a dark side. Solomon knew this. I challenge you all to be cautious of your decisions. Jesus said "In this world you WILL have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world" we will always have problems, but don't bring problems on yourself by trying to attain things that don't matter. I hope this post didn't offend anyone. Riches are not sinful, if God blesses you with it, then He does. But allow Him to GIVE it to you, don't try to attain it yourself.

In Christ,
Matt

 

[Endure2]

i completely agree with you, good post.

but have you ever thought that maybe solomon was wrong in some of what he said in ecclesiastes? im not trying to disagree with you, i dont.
but this bugs me.
i think solomon was basklidden living a sinful life while he wrote that book, alot of what it says is true, but some of he says there just seems so far from the nature of God displayed in the rest of the book.
all is vanity? how is that true? when paul said we reap what we sow. and david cried out to his brothers "is there not a cause?"

solomon said that he had seen all the works that have been done under the sun and surely he hadnt, and he said there is no new thing, and surely there are, with God there are always new things. there was alot solomon didnt know. lots of animals and wonders of nature that he hadnt seen becuase he only lived in a certain part of the world. he had never seen of the things we have, experienced the luxuries we have.

he said all is vanity and vexation of spirit... no, that is not the life God has given us, david didnt live that way and Jesus didnt talk that way.

he said you cant make the crooked uncrooked... but so much of the life we have now, only came becuase people did not believe that, refused to believe that, and they changed things, and we are in their debt.

i wont go on and on, but solomon said in this book that to have much wisdom is have much grief, and to increase in knowledge is to increase in sorrow. no, the rest of the bible doesnt teach that, the rest of the bible doesnt teach that to know wisdom is vexation. solomon himself said in proverbs that if you get anything or have anything, let it be wisdom!
he once called in a great grand thing, he called it jewelry and diamonds and gold, better to be had than riches, marrow to our bones, peace to our lives... but now in ecclesiastes, he calls it vexation and sorrow..... why?

it seems his understanding now vexs him becuase it only shows him the error of his ways and refuses to numb to conceinse and is a constant reminder that he is wrong walking the wrong path. but thats just my opinion.

i know this is off subject, im not trying to argue with you, but have you thought this before?

i think God did have some purpose for the book, but there are somethings in it that i cant make sit with me. i dont believe God said those things.

solomon said he gave himself to know madness as well as wisdom, and i believe this is madness.

and its all just from chapter 1.

 

[Endure2]

well i guess you could say he was talking of the vanity apart from God...
but he condemned wisdom itself.
i dont know.

 

[C.A.B.L]

You've brought up some very valid points, in taking some of the statements of Solomon in the book of proverbs and comparing them to ecclesiastes, there is a very notable difference, almost as if two totally different people wrote them. I believe that the wisdom Solomon is condemning and even says causes vexation and sorrow is human wisdom, wisdom that is attained by human means. In some instances in scripture we can see people who have Godly wisdom, influenced in a negative way when encountering human wisdom. Let me illustrate my point: Say there is a wise missionary in a foreign country preaching and spreading the Gospel to a people that have never heard it. One day he encounters a young girl who believes in the words the missionary says "That Jesus can heal her of her disability" (for the sake of the story, lets say her affliction was the inability to walk) Now the missionary, who has Godly wisdom, knows that God is able to heal this little girl, but his formal education (worldy wisdom) is more of a hindrance than it is a help. Solomon judging by his words in this book, was backslidden severely. Also, you said that solomon said in this book that to have much wisdom is have much grief, in a sense that can be true only of earthly wisdom.

 

[IKTCA]

I would like to share with you what has been puzzling about Solomon and Ecclesiastes. It is basically the repetition of what you have already said.

I can understand very well the words in Ecclesiastes if I assume that Solomon was a wise man but didn't know the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But I sense there is something more in the book. It is too great a wisdom to be of all human origin. There is much wisdom from above in the book.

Solomon experienced God more than once. He was certainly not an all flesh man. And his writings cannot be of all human nature.

But again, when I read Ecclesiastes, I can tell that Solomon was not Paul. My bottom line question is how should I read Ecclesiastes? What makes it more complicated (as far as I am concerned) is some passages seem to be rather directly from above.

Rupert

 

[Endure2]

cabl

well thats certainly one way to look at it.

ikta
i dont know, just take what feels right and pray about the rest i guess.

 

[IKTCA]

Brother Lee,

I like your simple answer: take what feels right and pray about the rest. How true.

Rupert

 

[HoT-MetaL]

Absolutly brilliant post. I had never thought about Solomon in that way, it is a stark and humbling reality.

I would like to make one correction though.

1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

The bible never described money as the root of all evil, it is the LOVE of money.

God Bless, metall