{"id":28165,"date":"2023-10-04T22:00:47","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T05:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ecclesiastes-2_12-16-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-09-12T14:18:13","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T21:18:13","slug":"ecclesiastes-2_17-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ecclesiastes-2_17-26\/","title":{"rendered":"This is a Gift from God"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ecclesiastes 2:17-26 \u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Ecclesiastes 2:17-26.\u00a0 In case you\u2019re wondering, since I believe that Qohelet, known as the \u201cTeacher\u201d and the main speaker in Ecclesiastes, is best identified as Solomon, I will refer to him interchangeably as Qohelet or Solomon.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 2:17-21 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 17-21:\u00a0 In the book of Proverbs, a younger Solomon was all about investing in the next generation.\u00a0 Proverbs in many ways was Solomon\u2019s attempt to prepare his son for life.\u00a0 Solomon was so eager to see his son thriving for the long-term.\u00a0 Yet here in Ecclesiastes, Solomon seems resentful that he has to leave his wealth to his successor.\u00a0 Rather than being comforted that the next generation will be well provided for or excited at what the next generation after him could do in the future, Solomon seems to resent the next generation for taking from him what they didn\u2019t earn and work for.<\/p>\n

Where did the shift in Solomon\u2019s attitude begin?\u00a0 The Bible does not give us many details about the relationship between Solomon and his children.\u00a0 However, one could guess that with 700 wives and 300 concubines, Solomon probably had many children that he didn\u2019t know at all and who were practically and emotionally estranged from him.\u00a0 I would submit that the shift in Solomon\u2019s attitude began when Solomon married more wives, took on more concubines and in turn begat more children than he could manage.\u00a0 Eventually, rather than seeing those children as close and dear to him, Solomon may have seen them as strangers who wanted a piece of the royal pie.\u00a0 If Solomon had respected God\u2019s design for marriage, he wouldn\u2019t have had so many wives, concubines and children to provide for.\u00a0 If he had focused instead on raising a family God\u2019s way and really preparing his next generation for the future, perhaps Solomon would not have felt this way.\u00a0 Sometimes our biggest problems are ones that we unwittingly create for ourselves.<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 2:22-25 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun?
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God,
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 22-25:\u00a0 In verse 24 we get a nugget of truth directly from Solomon\u2019s words: it is a gift from the hand of God when we are able to eat, drink, find satisfaction in our work and enjoyment in our life.\u00a0 As James 1:17 says, every good and perfect gift comes from above.\u00a0 The sad thing is that, very likely, given his complaints about work so far, Solomon is likely saying this not as one who is personally experiencing satisfaction and enjoyment from God, but as one who sees that satisfaction and enjoyment from a distance, who misses that satisfaction and enjoyment and wishes he could find it.\u00a0 It goes to show that money, power and fame are no guarantee for happiness.\u00a0 Solomon had more money, power and fame than anyone, and yet he was miserable.<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 2:26 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 26:\u00a0 Why does Solomon say that this situation in verse 26 is meaningless?\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s because Solomon finds that he does not identify with \u201cthe man who pleases\u201d God (v26a).\u00a0 We can already see that happiness has in many ways eluded Solomon.\u00a0 And we have just read that Solomon laments having to give all the wealth he has accumulated to someone who didn\u2019t work for it.\u00a0 So there\u2019s a good chance that, rather than seeing himself as one who pleases God in verse 26a and who is blessed with happiness, Solomon sees himself more as the sinner in verse 26b who gathers and stores up wealth only to hand it over to someone else.\u00a0 And that is why he calls this situation meaningless.<\/p>\n

But is the way Solomon feels inevitable for all of us?\u00a0 Not necessarily.\u00a0 Keep in mind that this older, jaded Solomon is speaking from a mindset that life on earth is all there is.\u00a0 Who knows if there is heaven or eternal life, the olded, jaded Solomon wonders?\u00a0 And so Solomon does not find comfort in knowing that God will reward those who have been faithful with what God gave them, or that a life of peace and joy in eternity awaits him.\u00a0 When you have no hope of eternity, life becomes hopeless and meaningless.<\/p>\n

Father, thank You for all the times when I have been able to eat, drink, find satisfaction in my work and enjoy the life You have given me.\u00a0 All of that is a gift from You.\u00a0 Thank You that to the One who pleases you \u2013 i.e. Jesus \u2013 You give wisdom, knowledge and happiness.\u00a0 That happiness might not always be instant or immediate, but it is eventual and eternal.\u00a0 And thank You that because my life is hidden in Christ, that eventual and eternal happiness is mine as well, all because of Your grace and mercy.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Ecclesiastes 2:12-16.\u00a0 In case you\u2019re wondering, since I believe that Qohelet, the main speaker in Ecclesiastes, is best identified as Solomon, I will refer to him interchangeably as Qohelet or Solomon.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 2:12-16 (NIV)
\n12\u00a0\u00a0Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done?
\n13\u00a0\u00a0I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.
\n14\u00a0\u00a0The wise man has eyes in his head, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both.
\n15\u00a0\u00a0Then I thought in my heart, “The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said in my heart, “This too is meaningless.”
\n16\u00a0\u00a0For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool, the wise man too must die!
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 12-16:\u00a0 In the book of Proverbs, a younger Solomon was so sure that wisdom was supreme and worth chasing after, even if it cost everything a person have.\u00a0 As verses 13-14 say, Solomon saw that \u201cwisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.\u00a0 The wise man has eyes in his head, while the fool walks in the darkness\u201d.\u00a0 Yet here an older Solomon is now struck by the realization that both the wise and the foolish die just the same, \u201cthe same fate overtakes them both\u201d (v14).\u00a0 Both will be forgotten one day (v16).\u00a0 So why bother being wise, older Solomon wonders? (v15)\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28167,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28165"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28168,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28165\/revisions\/28168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}