Bible: 5 Poetic Books

Lesson 6: The Book of Ecclesiastes: An age-old question!

The BIG Picture: Lessons learned from Solomon's mistakes! 1-4

Here then, are the BIG lessons we can learn from Solomon's struggle to find the meaning of life--10 ways to make our "meaningless" life on earth a bit better:

1. Make the best of the choices you can. (Ecclesiastes 7:1-12)

Ecclesiastes 7

Wisdom

1 A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. 2 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. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. 5 It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke than to listen to the song of fools. 6 Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless.

7 Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.

8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. 9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.

10 Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.

11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. 12 Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.

2. Avoid extremes. (Ecclesiastes 7:15-22)

Ecclesiastes 7 15 In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:

a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness. 16 Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise- why destroy yourself? 17 Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool- why die before your time? 18 It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes .

19 Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city.

20 There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.

21 Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you- 22 for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.

3. Be wise. (Ecclesiastes 7:23-8:1)

Ecclesiastes 7 23 All this I tested by wisdom and I said,

"I am determined to be wise"- but this was beyond me. 24 Whatever wisdom may be, it is far off and most profound- who can discover it? 25 So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.

26 I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.

27 "Look," says the Teacher, "this is what I have discovered:

"Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things- 28 while I was still searching but not finding- I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all. 29 This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes."

Ecclesiastes 8 1 Who is like the wise man? Who knows the explanation of things? Wisdom brightens a man's face and changes its hard appearance.

4. Submit to authorities. (Ecclesiastes 8:2-10)

Ecclesiastes 8

Obey the King 2 Obey the king's command, I say, because you took an oath before God. 3 Do not be in a hurry to leave the king's presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. 4 Since a king's word is supreme, who can say to him, "What are you doing?"

5 Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. 6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a man's misery weighs heavily upon him.

7 Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come? 8 No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death. As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

9 All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt. 10 Then too, I saw the wicked buried-those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.

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