The
Background Story.
King Solomon accomplished much in his
life not long after he was throned king the Lord appeared to him in a
dream and said "asks what I should give you" -1
Kings 3:5
"O Lord my God, you have made
your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a
little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And your
servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great
people so numerous they can not be numbered or counted. Give your
servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able
to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great
people?" It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked for this.
God said to him," Because you have asked for this, and have not
asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your
enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is
right, I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and
discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like
you shall arise after you. -1 Kings 3:7-12. Indeed there
was no one like Solomon his wisdom was known throughout the land and
many sought out his counsel. Solomon's wisdom also brought him a
great wealth, and with this he built a temple for the Lord. Now
the word of the Lord came to Solomon. "Concerning this house
that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes, obey my
ordinances, and keep all my commandments by walking in them, then I
will establish my promise with you, which I made to your father
David. I will dwell among the children of Israel, and not forsake my
people Israel."- 1 Kings 6:11-13. When Solomon had
finished building the house of the Lord and the king's house and all
that Solomon desired to build the Lord appeared to Solomon a second
time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. The Lord said to him, "I
have heard your prayer and your plea, which you made before me; I
have consecrated this house that you have built, and put my name
there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time. As
for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked,
with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that
I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, then
I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised
your father David, saying, There shall not fail you a successor on
the throne of Israel. If you turn aside from following me, you or
your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I
have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,
then I will cut Israel off from the land that I have given them; and
the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my
sight; and Israel will become a proverb and a taunt among all the
peoples ."- 1 Kings 9:1-7. Solomon had everything he could
want he had power, wisdom, and wealth, and God had told him twice
that if he would keep his commandments, and walk in integrity of
heart he would bless him and all his descendants, Solomon was happy.
But there is more to this story. King Solomon loved many foreign
women along with the daughter of pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite,
Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the
Lord had said to the Israelites, "You Shall not enter into
marriage with them, neither shall they with you; for they will surely
incline your heart to follow their gods"; Solomon clung to these
in love. Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three
hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For when
Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods;
and his heart was not true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of
is father David. For Solomon followed Astarte the goddess of the
Sidonians, and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon
did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father David had
done.( 1Kings 11;1-6)
Then the Lord was angry with
Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of
Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him
concerning this matter, that he should not follow other gods; but he
did not observe what the Lord commanded. Therefore the Lord said to
Solomon,"Since this has been your mind and you have not kept my
commandments and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely
tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. Yet for the
sake of your father David I will not do it in your life time; I will
tear it out of the hand of your son. I will not however, tear away
the entire kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake
of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have
chosen."- 1 Kings 11:9-13.
Now imagine with me King Solomon
standing on a balcony of his palace overlooking his kingdom. His
heart is heavy, his mind is troubled, he is desperately searching for
something. For what he does not know. All he knows is the emptiness
he feels, he asks himself how can I feel so empty, so alone, so
depressed when I have everything. I have everything anyone could ever
want a grand house, a large family, a kingdom, wisdom that has
brought me fame, and wealth. What more is there, what is it that I am
missing. What is the meaning of life. With these thoughts whirling
around inside his mind and heart, Solomon thinks back on his life,
and wonders where did it go wrong, what am I missing. Does life have
meaning, or is it simply a meaningless cycle, a cycle you cannot
escape. Vanity, all is vanity Solomon sighs. The Hebrew translation
of the word vanity is hebel meaning vapor, or breath, unsubstantial, meaningless, lack of value, emptiness, pointless. And
with this Solomon vows to find the meaning of life, and as the title
of this book states assembled an assembly to discover the meaning of
life.
The title Preacher (Ecclesiastes)
denotes a function or a profession. It literally means one who
assembles or one who gathers people together. Thus the word refers to
Solomon as a person who convened an assembly of the wise in order to
explore in a formal manner the meaning of life. - Nelson's compact
Bible commentary.
The meaning of life.
After a lot of searching, questioning
and testing Solomon found his answer, he discovered the meaning of
life. Upon finding his answer he realized the need to tell his
kingdom, for his discovery open his eyes to what was happening in his
kingdom, it gave him new eyes to see with, and he saw how the people
in his kingdom where living the same way he was. They were a people
use to wealth, and fine things, they were wasting life.They were living a meaningless life. Solomon did not simply want to tell
them the meaning of life and risk such an important discovery being
forgotten he wanted this important discovery to be remembered for
generations to come. This discovery had brought Solomon to his knees
in repentance for the destruction he had brought upon his kingdom,
because of his disobedience. So Solomon wrote it all down in the book
we now know as Ecclesiastes.
Solomon begins by expressing that all
is vanity. The word vanity appears thirty- seven times to express
the many things that cannot be understood about life. All earthly
goals and ambitions lead to dissatisfaction and frustration when
pursued as ends in themselves apart from God. - Nelsons compact
Bible Handbook Here Solomon does not just mean that life is
meaningless but that it is quickly passing by life does not last
forever. But life is a gift from God, and it is something to be
treasured and enjoyed with him. Next Solomon tested wisdom he
discovered that wisdom is not something to be hoarded away for
personal use but that it is a gift from God meant to be used and
shared with all.Then Solomon tried pleasure, laughter, hedonism,
wine, ect. But these things do not bring lasting satisfaction, or
happiness, These things do not give life meaning they only bring a
tired emptiness. Next Solomon turned to work, women, and wealth. But
these also only brought fleeting pleasure, followed by a
meaningless,empty life. These are all things of the world they are
only things we will have in our short existence here on earth, they
are not things of the eternal kingdom. After all earthly things did
not die on a cross for you, they did not shed blood for you. It is
only when we use these things to bring God's kingdom here on earth
that we will find a meaningful life. Think about it have you ever
seen the joy or heard the laughter of a new citizen of the eternal
kingdom. Have you ever felt the joy of sharing your wealth with
someone in need. Have you ever found more satisfaction or joy in work
other then work done for/with God for his Kingdom. Partnering with
God in this fleeting life he has given us is the only way to give
life meaning or value. Solomon also looked at oppression, rivalry, covetousness, power, formalism, empty prayer, and vows. You are
probably saying of course these things do not bring happiness, and
meaning to life, and you are right. But God still has a place in all
of these. If you understand who God is and his steadfast love for you
then many of these things will not have a place in your life. But you
may be thinking what about oppression, this is something that may
even drive people away from God. We find ourselves in pain,and
suffering and we are quick to blame God. We ask God why are you
letting this happen to me, Why, why, why. The truth is why questions
very rarely have answers. So stop asking why questions and start
asking where are you God. God is always with you he lives life with
you, he feels what you feel he knows your oppression and suffering.
So instead of asking why God, look for him, seek him out, and let him
help you. Let him comfort and strengthen you.
You are probably starting to see what
Solomon discovered in his search for the meaning of life, but there
are a few more things I would like us to look at. First I found this
contrast in the book as I was studying it and I think it points out
the point of the book. For there is no enduring remembrance of the
wise or of fools, seeing that in the days to come all will have been
long forgotten. - Ecclesiastes 2:16. I know that whatever God does
endures forever; nothing can be added to it nor anything taken from
it.- Ecclesiastes 3:14. Here Solomon is pointing out that all we
accomplish will soon be forgotten, because things of this world do
not last. You may gain fame, wealth, or accomplish some unimaginable
feat. But these things do not last forever, unless they where gained
through God and proclaim his character, and love to the whole world
then they are of God and will be remembered forever.
There are two more things Solomon
pointed out in his writing the first is to enjoy life. Yes life is
short and pleasure does not give life meaning, but that does not mean
that God wants us to live a joyless life. Remember what I said earlier about life being a gift from God, well he wants us to enjoy
this gift, he just asked that we enjoy life with him, let him be a
part of it, and celebrate with him.
The last thing I want to point out is
to fear God, Solomon emphasized this several times throughout the
book. What does this mean, what is it that Solomon is asking us to
do. He is saying be in awe of God. We cannot do this unless we
understand who God is, his love, his mercy, everything he is, he is
all powerful, all knowing, relational, he is Emmanuel, God with us,
he is our eternal hope. This is what gives life meaning, this is
the important discovery that Solomon wanted his kingdom to know, and
to treasure always, for generations. We will only find the meaning to
life when we look above the world to the creator of the world, the
creator of life, our source of life, and seek to understand him.That
is where we find the meaning and value of life.
