Silly Old Bear

[PART 12 OF 12]

Let’s review what we have discovered from the book of Ecclesiastes. What have we learned by following Solomon’s quest for meaning and purpose?

The first outside piece of the Oreo cookie, the first half of Solomon’s philosophy of life, is the idea that “everything is meaningless!”

The Double Stuff filling is all the stuff he waded through in his search for meaning and purpose, and the resulting conclusions concerning each endeavor:

• Money – meaningless;
• Wisdom – meaningless;
• Hard work – meaningless;
• Achievement – meaningless;
• Life is good;
• There is a time for everything;
• Injustice is all around us.

And now, finally, we come to the conclusion, the other outside piece of the Oreo, the other half of Solomon’s philosophy of life. After all his searching, after all his attempts to find meaning and purpose, after all the frustration of coming up empty-handed again and again, here is what it all boils down to.

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[PART 11 OF 12]

As Solomon chronicles his quest for meaning and purpose in his life, he makes an interesting observation regarding sorrow and joy.

“It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools. Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless.”
(Ecclesiastes 7:2-6)

Huh? Sorrow is better than laughter? That doesn’t make sense! A sad face is good for the heart? Doesn’t that contradict Proverbs 17:22?

“A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
(Proverbs 17:22, which, by the way, was also written by Solomon)

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[PART 10 OF 12]

Solomon continues his quest for meaning, and in doing so uncovers some more frustrations.

“And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment — wickedness was there, in the place of justice — wickedness was there.” (Ecclesiastes 3:16)

“Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed — and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors — and they have no comforter.” (Ecclesiastes 4:1)

Solomon is frustrated, as many of us are, at the injustice and oppression that he sees around him.

It was Martin Luther King, Jr., who said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

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[PART 9 OF 12]

The Byrds had a chart-topping song in October 1965 entitled, “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season)“. The song was written and composed by Pete Seeger in the 1950′s, who released the song on his album “The Bitter and The Sweet” on Columbia Records in 1962. The lyrics were taken almost verbatim from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, King James version. [Source: "Turn! Turn! Turn!", from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia]

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

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[PART 8 OF 12]

Solomon set out to find meaning and purpose in life. He was one of the richest and wisest men alive during his time. Yet money and wisdom left him feeling empty. “It is all meaningless,” he said. Even hard work and achievement didn’t provide the sense of purpose he so desperately sought.

Solomon grew frustrated and weary in his quest. He repeatedly made statements like, “Everything is meaningless” and “It’s all just chasing after the wind” and “I hate life!”

But in the middle of all this frustration and confusion and depression (because of everything being meaningless), there is something very interesting that Solomon throws into the mix, just out of the blue.

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[PART 7 OF 12]

In Solomon’s quest for meaning and purpose in life, money was not the answer. So he continued his search.

“Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom.” (Ecclesiastes 2:12)

That’s got to be worth something, right? I mean, pursuing wisdom and knowledge, that’s not even materialistic! Learning is good. Knowledge is power. Information is the industry of the future.

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[PART 6 OF 12]

King Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes to chronicle his quest for meaning and purpose in life. What is it that makes life worth living? What is out there that is worth waking up for every day?

How about money? Wealth and riches are powerful forces in our world. People have lied for money, cheated for money, betrayed their country for money, even killed for money.

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[PART 5 OF 12]

Read carefully the following words from wise King Solomon as he begins explaining his quest for meaning and purpose in life.

“What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.” (Ecclesiastes 1:3-11)

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[PART 4 OF 12]

King Solomon and the Oreos. Sounds like a 60′s doo-wop group!

Let’s review. As Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, he developed the entire writing around a central, recurring theme. Think of Ecclesiastes like an Oreo cookie with Double Stuff cream filling. The two parts of the central theme are placed at the beginning and the end, with a lot of stuff in-between.

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[PART 3 OF 12]

Solomon begins the book of Ecclesiastes by introducing himself to us.

“The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:” (Ecclesiastes 1:1)

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