Have you ever sat down and compared the lifestyle of the “workaholic” over against the “lazy person” over against the “easy-going” or relaxed person who will work but not too hard? In the verses of ECCLESIASTES which we are looking at today, that is what Solomon does. He is still looking at work from the […]
Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 forms a section all by itself within this book and this section of the book. It is the only place in which Solomon looks at the vanity of false religion. Here he is looking at people who realize that there is a God but who fail to love God and His righteousness and […]
Usually, it is not necessary to retranslate a passage of Scripture to understand it. The Word of God is clear and understandable for the average Christian who will but take the time to study it and who approaches the study by faith in prayer. Some passages, however, do demand study of the original languages to […]
Some people do realize that there is no reward in laboring for the favor of other people and so they react by saying, “Okay, forget others. I’m living for myself! Me for me!” Now, within this group of self-centered people there can be a large variety of personalities. All three groups of people from the […]
To get us back to where we are today, let’s review. (1) The whole book of ECCLESIASTES has as its purpose to evaluate all labor in life apart from God in order to lead us to labor for God alone. (2) We finished the INTRODUCTION (chapter 1) and also Solomon’s PERSONAL EXPERIENCES (chapters 2-3) along […]
Let’s briefly get back into perspective with the whole book as far as we’ve studied it. ECCLESIASTES (“The Preacher”) Theme: Search for Meaning in Labor and Life CHAPTER 1: Introduction CHAPTERS 2-2: Personal Experiences CHAPTERS 4-6: Counteracting Errors As the outline shows, this third section is the one in which Solomon attempts to counteract various […]
“God has made everything beautiful in his time.” “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” {Good is…} “for a man to rejoice and do good…” We read those statements and something in us joins the cynic who rebels and says, “Nonsense! A purpose for everything? Nonsense! […]
Today we will try to finish Ecclesiastes 3:1-15, the second of the three parts in which Solomon responds to his own search for meaning by saying that there is meaning but that it is found only in God. You will remember that we already went through the main idea of these fifteen verses, spending two […]
I know this letter will be long enough just covering today’s material and so I’ll get right down into the heart of today’s Bible study: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. Since I already introduced the idea of the section in the last letter, I’ll assume this letter is a continuation of that one and not introduce the idea […]
I would suspect that you have at one time or other heard the parable of the weaver. As he wove his rug, he weaved into it many colors, some ugly and dark, even using blacks and grays, some colors bright and startling, some soft and soothing. To the person observing his work for only a […]