June 20: Ecclesiastes 7-12

June 20, Ecclesiastes 7-12

Today, we have another guest blogger. It is my beloved wife, Dana Parriera. If you would like to follow Dana’s blog, please visit http://www.rebelliousbeauty.com 

Ecclesiastes 7 The Preacher continues with his sermon of reality. That there is a ‘contrast of Wisdom and Folly’. Notice here that they are capitalized. (In my ESV Study Bible anyhow.) And I think it is that way, because it reiterates the thought that Solomon touched on so much. And that was this idea of Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly in Proverbs 9 (As well as other chapters, like 2, 8.) But here, we are to remember that there are 2 ways to this life. Two roads if you will. Jesus, Himself, told us about these two roads. How one was wide and the other narrow, in Matthew 7:13-14. Just think of it like the same thing, with Lady Folly and Lady Wisdom, each holding signs - inviting you to travel down their own road. Lady Wisdom leads the way to the narrow road. And Lady Folly leads the way to the wide road. 

With all this in his mind, the Preacher, starts restating as he did in Chapter 1, about it the brevity of life. And how it is better to go to the junkyard and the graveyard, so that you can remember that life it short. That way, you will have a better grasp on reality. And will not get sidetracked with the busyness of life. Meanwhile, forget that life is short and without Hope in Jesus, is meaningless. 

Even with the thoughts swirling through the listeners mind, of understanding the ways between Wisdom and Folly and the two roads that they represent. One can not help but see the unfairness that swims all around. The imperfect life with imperfect people, and the love of sin. This love of sin, which entices men to the wide road of Folly. The Preacher can’t help but see the downfall of men, through some women. And then claims to be the wisest man, yet still can’t seem to understand all the men, or any women. Seriously, women aren’t that hard to figure out;) But in the end, the Preacher ends with the heart. And how deep down, this life is a battle not against the flesh, or trying to figure out the humanness of people. But instead, the heart. And how the struggle is really against Spiritual powers and the battle of the heart. 

Ecclesiastes 8 With thoughts of Spiritual matters, the Preacher continues and begs his listeners to heed all that he is trying to say. He tries to reason with the listeners, telling them that they can be wicked, have long lives, and fake worship at Church but they will still die. And when they die, if apart from God - who cares that they fooled everyone on this Earth? When it is the Lord Who will Judge them… 

Instead, we should Fear the Lord. When you Fear the Lord, you are to keep His Commandments. This sounds easy, but I assure you. That it will be the hardest thing you ever have to do throughout your life! But that you should Fear the Lord. And take it from the Wisest man on the Planet, that it is what you should choose to do.  

But the Preacher states, that even if you Fear the Lord and follow only His Ways. Don’t think that life will all of a sudden be peachy for you. Instead, know that nothing will change. Life will still be unfair. The wicked will still have long lives. And those that Fear the Lord, will still die. Those that Fear the Lord, will struggle with pain and suffering all the days of their life. This isn’t a Monopoly game. And you won’t get handed a ‘Get Out of Jail Free Card.’ Instead you have to have the right perspective. Knowing that all the good and bad things are from the Lord and that you would do well, to just eat and drink and be joyful:) 

We as humans, won’t be able to figure all these things out in life. Somethings will never make sense. We won’t be able to find all of the answers. We won’t be able to figure out why God does the things He does. But that doesn’t mean that we will go cray without knowing all of these things. Instead it means that we hand over our trust to God, and enjoy this crazy ride He has placed us on. To be faithful to Him, in all that we do. Whether we are given much or little. Whether we are given life or death. Whatever it may be. That we know in our heart. That God has got this… Even if we never get the answers or understanding we are looking for.

Ecclesiastes 9 If you are still not convinced. The Preacher reminds us that death will come to us all. This idea that we will cease from life. Cease from breathe. Cease from owning. Cease from influencing. Cease from actions. Cease from goals. Cease from dreams. Cease from doing evil. Cease from doing good. Cease from everything. And eventually. Cease from memory…

Do you remember your Great Great Great Grandparents name? 

Well. Do you? 

Chances are, probably not. Sad. Don’t you think? And if this is the case for you. What makes you think that your Great Great Great Grandchildren will remember your name? 

With this in mind. The Preacher notes that the only thing that will be remembered is their love or hate. Again leading back to Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly. But we will go back to this in a minute…

Right after this. The Preacher gives us some Hope. He reminds us that there is more to this life then just what we see. But instead, there is Hope in Jesus and living a life of obedience to God. The Preacher states in verse 8, “Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head.” Both of these references are to that of a Spirit lead life in Jesus, towards God the Father. The white garments refer the to the good and righteous deeds of the Saints as in Revelation 19:8. As well as the oil represents the pouring and the symbol of having the Holy Spirit. As in Matthew 24:24-51.(As well as many others.) And gives Hope in something greater than this life. And that is… Yahweh.

Then, right after. The Preacher hits a couple of things that he noticed when trying to figure out men. Remember when he was studying man, he noticed in Chapter 7, how the main downfall of men, was through women? (Ecc 7:25-26) Well. The Preacher gives an answer to the problem most men might have. And that is that of a wandering eye, as well as body and heart, to women who don’t belong to them. To give men a solution to their most common problem of seeking the forbidden woman. And that solution. Is to have a wife of your own, and to accept her as a gift from the Lord and to enjoy only her. To enjoy only the wife, that you are given.

Then the Preacher reiterates his love of identifying good verses evil. Right verses wrong. And that is through the eyes of Lady Wisdom verses Lady Folly. And starts explaining the difference between them. (Now remember. Solomon who is the Preacher. Also wrote Proverbs. So it makes perfect sense that he is reiterating his own previous thoughts on this.)

Lady Wisdom makes Herself known right away, what she is all about. Proverbs 9:10a states, “The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.” But what is the Fear of the Lord? Well there are two answers. But I have one that is my favorite. The first is stated in Proverbs 14:27, which states that the Fear of the Lord is Eternal Life with Him. But another, that helps us out a bit more, on how to live in this life. Is pointed out in Proverbs 8:13, which is the Fear of the Lord is the hatred of evil… Lady Wisdom who points to Jesus and His Communion of bread and wine, in Proverbs 9:5. Also points to love, which we are called to act in. 

Which only leaves Lady Folly and her Wide Road of hate. As in Proverbs 14:29b, which states, “But he who has a hasty temper exalts Folly…” And if Lady Folly is the opposite of Lady Wisdom. Then we also know that Lady Folly is foolish. Lady Folly is the way to Eternal Life without Jesus, which we call Hell:(… Lady Folly who points the way, away from Jesus. And Lady Folly who also loves evil. 

So the Preacher ends with the wisdom in following Lady Wisdom in this life. 

Ecclesiastes 10 Still preaching about the difference of Wisdom and Folly. The Preacher states, that this life won’t make sense. But that our foolishness will be revealed in our behavior, whether we like it or not. And those who are following Folly, still might make it big in our world. But that in the end, we will reap what we sow. And we aren’t just talking about this life. 

But even then, those that follow Folly might hit the Million Dollar Jack Pot. Those who follow Folly might become a famous Actor or Musician. That those who follow Folly might be in a position, that isn’t deserved for what they are inside, whether wise or a fool. But this all makes sense when life isn’t fair. Right? But again. We will reap what we sow. And even our thoughts will give away the answer of who we are following. As we know that the Lord can read the thoughts of man (Matthew 9:4, Luke 11:17, ect) and so we won’t be judged just by our actions. But by the very thoughts we contain in our own mind. And that is why the Lord tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to take our thoughts captive, as we are responsible for those as well…

Ecclesiastes 11 The Preacher states that since we are all dependent upon the Lord. There is only so much we can do. But we can do what we can. Share what food you have to others. (Cast your bread to the waters) Share what the Lord has given you with others. Since you don’t, the eternal ramifications of your kindness and of following Wisdom, you might as well take comfort and delight in the good days. But also know that bad days are always to come. Be ok, with not understanding all the things of the Lord. But that doesn’t mean you should ever stop studying them. But have the mentality that we will die soon, and all that matters is that if we are Loving the Lord or not. And that judgment will come at the end of all of this. So be generous with what you have. And love the blessings that God has given you. Because you might not have them tomorrow…

Ecclesiastes 12 So. If you are choosing to be Wise and follow the ways of Lady Wisdom. Enjoy the memories of innocent childhood, before you knew that people were evil. Enjoy the memories of getting married and children. And try to remember the blessings that the Lord has given you. As there will always be bad things in life, but you can spend your time being joyful in the Lord and knowing that it was only He, that gave you the things that you used to cherish. It was only He, that gave you the things that you do cherish. It is only He, that gives you the things that you will cherish. 

To keep things in perspective. That the Lord God of the Universe loves you. And that should be enough for us, to accept this cycle of life that He has put us on. The references to the cycle of life, in its ups and downs. Its pleasures and pains. Its positives and negatives. All have their place. But it is our responsibility to know that it is the Lord who has done this. 

I think it was some dead Preacher in the 1800’s who stated something like: the Lord has chosen for this world, to be the arena of our faith. 

It reminds me, that it is like we are thrown into an arena. Whether we like it or not. But we are here. So we must pick up our sword. We must choose our side. We must fight to the death, in whatever we are called to. Whether for the Lord or adjacent the Lord. Hopefully, for the Lord. To grow in the Faith of Christ. As we will not get out of the arena alive. And knowing that… will make us stronger and more wise. 

The Preacher ends with the point of life for a Believer. I have always heard that the Westminster Confession being spoken. Which is - The chief end of man is to Glorify God and Enjoy Him forever. (Chief end of man means - what is the purpose of man. What is his duty on this earth.) 

What is it again? Oh right. It is - The chief end of man is to Glorify God and Enjoy Him forever.

But can I say “Gag!?!” (Sorry, I am not bitter or anything:) But. Who stated that? Where is that in the Bible?? How is one simple person suppose to live that? It feels like it just stops short! It feels like it is just not enough... I am not stating that we should not Glorify God. Obviously we should do that. And we should also Enjoy Him. But why don’t we pick something out of the Bible that clearly states what we are to do and how we are to live? Something that God wrote through man to us? Something easy to understand and to do… Wouldn’t that make more sense? Wouldn’t that make more sense to quote all the time something understandable? Something tangible. Something that we didn’t just memorize? And say words to?

Instead. We should lean on the words of the Preacher. 

What is the chief end of man? What is the purpose of man? What is the duty of man throughout this life? Ecclesiastes 12:13 tells us what to do. So if I may. I would like to change the Westminster Confession… :) And change it to this, that people should quote all the time. 

“What is the chief end of man? To Fear God and keep His Commandments. For this is the whole duty of man...”

And what does this mean? Well, it is gonna take the rest of your life, to learn. To obey and submit. To surrender the flesh. To die to the old self. To learn to hate evil and to love wisdom. To see God through the eyes of a servant. To accept Jesus the Savior, who is an Amazing God. To know Jesus died for you. And for the thankfulness that fills your heart, you are willing to take up your own cross of self sacrifice and follow him. To learn love and to show love. 

To Fear God. 

To Obey God. 

To Thank God. 

To Live for God. 

To Love the way God Loves. 

To spend your entire life to Know Him. The Way that He deserves to be loved. 

In Holiness.

Well. That’s it...

To sum it all up (From me, Joshua!):

• Don’t be so busy making a living that you forget to have a life. If you are not careful, life will pass you by. Jesus is calling you to live your life to its fullest, now. I am not talking about ‘your best life now’ or anything of the sort - I am talking about living every moment to the fullest and hitting life head on with intent. 
• Are you pretending to be a Christian? Stop it - you are only fooling yourself, even if you think you have everyone fooled. Hanging out with Christians and singing some songs on Sunday doesn't mean you're really one, except that you are a phony. 
• Dana made a great point about remembering your great great grandparents name. We live our lives thinking that we are sooooo important, but in reality, we are only truly important to God and that is who we should be living for, because that is who we will eventually be living with. 
• Who or what are you following? God? Self? Pleasure? Ideas? Only you can answer this and if you are not following God, you are on the wrong road… in the words of the famous rock band AC/DC, “…on a highway to Hell.”
• Even though I disagree a little bit with Dana on her passion about the shorter Westminster Confession of Faith, she makes a very valid point - in order to Glorify God and enjoy Him, we must fear Him and obey what He has called us to. I don't think that we should throw out the Confession, but we need to understand that there is some requirements in order Glorify Him. It is not about us, it is about Him!