Bible Reading Plan

Category: Ecclesiastes

  • Ecclesiastes 12

    Ecclesiastes 12

    Read Ecclesiastes 12

    12 Remember your Creator
        in the days of your youth,
    before the days of trouble come
        and the years approach when you will say,
        “I find no pleasure in them”—
    2 before the sun and the light
        and the moon and the stars grow dark,
        and the clouds return after the rain;
    3 when the keepers of the house tremble,
        and the strong men stoop,
    when the grinders cease because they are few,
        and those looking through the windows grow dim;
    4 when the doors to the street are closed
        and the sound of grinding fades;
    when people rise up at the sound of birds,
        but all their songs grow faint;
    5 when people are afraid of heights
        and of dangers in the streets;
    when the almond tree blossoms
        and the grasshopper drags itself along
        and desire no longer is stirred.
    Then people go to their eternal home
        and mourners go about the streets.

    6 Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
        and the golden bowl is broken;
    before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
        and the wheel broken at the well,
    7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
        and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

    8 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.
        “Everything is meaningless!”

    The Conclusion of the Matter

    9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.

    11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd. 12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.

    Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

    13 Now all has been heard;
        here is the conclusion of the matter:
    Fear God and keep his commandments,
        for this is the duty of all mankind.
    14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
        including every hidden thing,
        whether it is good or evil.

    Go Deeper

    At some point we all feel or, at least, hear that life goes by fast. It seems like the older we get, the faster life speeds up. When we were growing up, it felt like Christmas was forever away. But as the years go by, it seems like Christmas is always around the corner! Before we know it, the days, months, and years pass by and much of our life will be behind us. Solomon wants us to realize the speed of life. This perspective helps us make each day’s decisions for how we want our life to go tomorrow. Otherwise, he warns we’ll get so caught up in the pursuit of wealth, pleasure or fame that we will forget God in the process. Twice in this chapter he calls for us to remember our Creator, specifically in the days of our youth. In other words, Solomon is saying to remember God now so we do not get distracted. We can be so busy working and saving and spending that we forget to remember the Creator of it all.  

    While much of Ecclesiastes explains what doesn’t matter in life, the book finishes by telling us what does. “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.  For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (v. 13-14). In other words, remember, everything we do really does matter to God! Every single thing. Public things matter. Private things matter. They are all seen by God and will be brought into judgement.

    Even though we think the good life can be found in money, sex, and power, Solomon has proven otherwise. His search for the good in life has ended. The conclusion? Following God is what we’re made to do. We are called to fear God and keep his commandments. God’s commandments will lead us to an abundant life and will give us what the world cannot offer. Before life passes by, take time to sit back and consider what God is teaching us in Ecclesiastes about what we are made to do.

    Questions

    1. What do you think it means to “remember your Creator”?
    2. Why are verses 13 and 14 such an important close for the book of Ecclesiastes?
    3. What changes do you want to make in your life after reading Ecclesiastes? 

    Did You Know?

    The NIV translates verse 13 as “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.” That word “duty” is perhaps better translated as “all” or “purpose.” In essence, the purpose of mankind is to fear God and keep his commandments.

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  • Ecclesiastes 11

    Ecclesiastes 11

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    Invest in Many Ventures

    11 Ship your grain across the sea;
        after many days you may receive a return.
    2 Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;
        you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

    3 If clouds are full of water,
        they pour rain on the earth.
    Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
        in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
    4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
        whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

    5 As you do not know the path of the wind,
        or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,
    so you cannot understand the work of God,
        the Maker of all things.

    6 Sow your seed in the morning,
        and at evening let your hands not be idle,
    for you do not know which will succeed,
        whether this or that,
        or whether both will do equally well.

    Remember Your Creator While Young

    7 Light is sweet,
        and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.
    8 However many years anyone may live,
        let them enjoy them all.
    But let them remember the days of darkness,
        for there will be many.
        Everything to come is meaningless.

    9 You who are young, be happy while you are young,
        and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.
    Follow the ways of your heart
        and whatever your eyes see,
    but know that for all these things
        God will bring you into judgment.
    10 So then, banish anxiety from your heart
        and cast off the troubles of your body,
        for youth and vigor are meaningless.

    Go Deeper

    After observing Ecclesiasties 11 we see two different themes. The first theme would be that we, as humans, have many limitations. The second theme the author paints a picture is that we have specific responsibility in this life. Today we want to take a look at the two questions that arise from the two themes. How does the author say we are limited? What does the author say are our responsibilities? We will pull directly from the text to look at these ideas.

    The first question we need to answer is “How does the author say we are limited?” Here’s what Solomon tells us:

    • We don’t know when or if our labor will return fruitful. (verses 1-2, 6)
    • Our future is fixed by God. (verse 3)
    • We don’t know how God does what He does. (verse 5)
    • We don’t know how long we will live. (verse 3, 8)

    The second question for us to answer is “What does the author say are our responsibilities?” Let’s see what our response should be: 

    • Be diligent in your work, don’t stop toiling (verse 1-2, 6)
    • Give away your days, unto Him. (verse 2)
    • If you are full, it is so that you will pour out. (verse 3)
    • Being overly critical will delay obedience. Be a person of action. (verse 4)
    • Rejoice in the days you have and look back with gladness on your life. ( verses 8-10)

    When we read these two questions, it can be easy to try and reconcile them in our own thoughts. We should reconcile them according to God’s word. We cannot say, “I am limited, therefore, I do not need to act.” We cannot say, “I hold all the power, I am to do whatever I wish.” The inspired word of God, in Ecclesiastes 11, wants to help us navigate this. Though we are limited, we have great responsibility and our actions matter. Though we do not get to control outcomes, God will carry out His will perfectly. There is a consistent theme throughout scripture that even though God doesn’t need us, He wants to use us.

    Questions

    1. How do you find comfort in the truth that you are limited and God is not?
    2. Are there any areas of your life you’ve been living in delayed disobedience? 
    3. What is something you need to trust God with the outcome now that you’ve acted?

    A Quote

    There’s an old Turkish proverb that says, “Do good and throw it into the water, if the fish does not know it, God does.” This exemplifies the Christian life and the idea of working for the approval of God alone (and not man).

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  • Ecclesiastes 10

    Ecclesiastes 10

    Read Ecclesiastes 10

    10 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
        so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
    2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
        but the heart of the fool to the left.
    3 Even as fools walk along the road,
        they lack sense
        and show everyone how stupid they are.
    4 If a ruler’s anger rises against you,
        do not leave your post;
        calmness can lay great offenses to rest.

    5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
        the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
    6 Fools are put in many high positions,
        while the rich occupy the low ones.
    7 I have seen slaves on horseback,
        while princes go on foot like slaves.

    8 Whoever digs a pit may fall into it;
        whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.
    9 Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;
        whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.

    10 If the ax is dull
        and its edge unsharpened,
    more strength is needed,
        but skill will bring success.

    11 If a snake bites before it is charmed,
        the charmer receives no fee.

    12 Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious,
        but fools are consumed by their own lips.
    13 At the beginning their words are folly;
        at the end they are wicked madness—
    14     and fools multiply words.

    No one knows what is coming—
        who can tell someone else what will happen after them?

    15 The toil of fools wearies them;
        they do not know the way to town.

    16 Woe to the land whose king was a servant
        and whose princes feast in the morning.
    17 Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth
        and whose princes eat at a proper time—
        for strength and not for drunkenness.

    18 Through laziness, the rafters sag;
        because of idle hands, the house leaks.

    19 A feast is made for laughter,
        wine makes life merry,
        and money is the answer for everything.

    20 Do not revile the king even in your thoughts,
        or curse the rich in your bedroom,
    because a bird in the sky may carry your words,
        and a bird on the wing may report what you say.

    Go Deeper

    Nobody wants to play the fool. Yet foolishness abounds nonetheless. In every arena of our lives, from work to politics to youth sports leagues, we can recognize fools. Oftentimes, we face the headwinds caused by their poor decisions. Today’s passage scans the land for the effects of foolishness and finds that it spares no class, no status, no ethnicity. We’re all susceptible to foolishness, be it from ourselves or those around us. While a truly wise man may be hard to find, a fool is not.

    Solomon takes a birds-eye view of his kingdom and sees foolishness as a kind of widespread affliction. The snake charmer is bitten. The prince is a drunkard. The quarry-worker unwittingly is smothered by stones. The rare alternative—and the evidence of wisdom in someone’s life—is simple: to walk humbly, to maintain composure, and to keep your mouth in check. Wisdom, like the love of God, is not set aside for a certain type of person. Rather, it is available to all. But that doesn’t make it any less rare.

    The call for us today, as Christians, is to be the wisest people in the room. We are to choose our words carefully, work hard, be diligent, and tell the truth in all situations. How differently would our city and world look if we lived out those virtues? There is enough foolishness in the world; what if we were different? Andy Crouch, a Christian author, says that Christians are to be people of wisdom and courage. We want to know what God would have us do in each situation (wisdom) and the boldness to do it (courage). Let’s be those people today.

    Questions

    1. What is a foolish decision you have made in the past?
    2. What is a foolish decision made by someone else in your life that has impacted you?
    3. In what ways do you allow for “a little foolishness” (v. 1), and what can you do to eliminate those things from your life?

    Try This

    Spend some time this morning thinking through a few of the wisest people you know, and write down some of their most noticeable characteristics. Consider their lives in contrast to those Solomon describes in this chapter. Spend time in prayer to thank God for these people in your life.

    Harris Creek Sermon

    Here is the sermon from Harris Creek’s Ecclesiastes series based on Ecclesiastes 10 & 11 “The Search for Meaning: Wisdom in Words, Work, and Worship”.

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  • Ecclesiastes 9

    Ecclesiastes 9

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    A Common Destiny for All

    9 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.

    As it is with the good,
        so with the sinful;
    as it is with those who take oaths,
        so with those who are afraid to take them.

    3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. 4 Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

    5 For the living know that they will die,
        but the dead know nothing;
    they have no further reward,
        and even their name is forgotten.
    6 Their love, their hate
        and their jealousy have long since vanished;
    never again will they have a part
        in anything that happens under the sun.

    7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

    11 I have seen something else under the sun:

    The race is not to the swift
        or the battle to the strong,
    nor does food come to the wise
        or wealth to the brilliant
        or favor to the learned;
    but time and chance happen to them all.

    12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:

    As fish are caught in a cruel net,
        or birds are taken in a snare,
    so people are trapped by evil times
        that fall unexpectedly upon them.

    Wisdom Better Than Folly

    13 I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: 14 There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 15 Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.

    17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
        than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
    18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
        but one sinner destroys much good.

    Go Deeper

    For Solomon, the worst part of life under the sun is that the same fate awaits every person.
    “All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not…this is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: the same destiny overtakes all.” (v. 2-3) Whether you are good or bad, either righteous or unrighteous, whether you offer sacrifices or you don’t, you will die. Death comes for us all. Therefore, since we are all going to die anyway, Solomon’s advice for the reader here is simple: make the most of the life you have while you have it.

    As the reader, it’s important to remember that Solomon was describing “life under the sun”—aka, life without God. Ecclesiastes is an apologetic work impressing the importance of faith by showing how meaningless life is without faith. So meaningless, in fact, that the way you live has no bearing on your end fate. And since the way you live doesn’t affect the fact that you will die, you might as well do whatever you want in the meantime. 

    This would be disheartening if, as believers, we didn’t know the other side of the story. Death might come for us all, but for those of us who are in Christ Jesus, we get to live forever with God in Heaven. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26) Jesus, by defeating death on the cross, gives believers the opportunity to live forever with Him, beginning now.

    Therefore, because Christ defeated death, how we live here on Earth matters. For starters, we must make the decision to believe in Christ; that decision affects everything. Once we become believers and know our future is secured, we are tasked with the mission of sharing this Good News with everyone around us. Our friends, family members, neighbors, and coworkers are living life with the depressing “under the sun” mentality. How exciting that God can use us to show others the meaning and joy that comes from living life with the Son instead! 

    Questions

    1. Jesus followed His statement in John 11 with the question, “Do you believe this?” An important place for us to start today is with that same question. Do you believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life?
    2. Contrast life lived “under the sun” and life lived “with the Son.” Besides eternity in Heaven, what does life with Jesus offer us in this life?
    3. Who around you is living with a fatalistic, “under the sun” mentality? Spend five minutes praying for them. How can you share the Good News with them this week?

    Pray This

    Father, thank You for giving me hope and a future. Thank You not only for saving me and providing me an eternal home with You in Heaven, but also for giving me an abundant life here on earth. Please help me to make every minute of my life here on earth matter for Your Kingdom’s purposes. Help me show those around me what life lived with You looks like. May they experience You and be drawn into a relationship with You so that their lives have meaning and joy. Help me not keep this Good News for myself. I love You, Amen.

    Harris Creek Sermon

    Here is the sermon from Harris Creek’s Ecclesiastes series based on Ecclesiastes 8 “The Search for Meaning: Live Like You’re Dying”.

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  • Rest Day 2

    Rest Day 2

    Rest Day

    Today is a Rest Day. There is no new Bible reading to do. Today, the goal is simple: rest in the presence of God. Maybe you need to use today to get caught up on the reading plan if you’re behind, maybe you want to journal what you’re learning so you don’t forget what God is teaching you, or maybe you want to spend time in concentrated prayer–do that. Above all, just spend time in God’s presence. Each Rest Day, we will also introduce a memory verse for the week. Meditate on this week’s verse and begin to memorize it.

    Memory Verse

    11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.

    Ecclesiastes 3:11-13

    Memorization Tip

    Use community as a tool to help you in your Scripture memorization journey! Pick a few friends, or your Life Group, with whom to memorize Scripture. Practice together, hold each other accountable, and encourage one another as you work together. Remember that the best way to stick with a challenge is to not go at it alone!

    Worship with Us

    Join us at 9a, 11a, or 7p in person or online at harriscreek.org/live. We’d love to worship with you! We also desire to connect everyone with a local church body where they can thrive in community and use their gifts to serve. If you’re following our Bible Reading Plan from outside of Waco and are eager to get connected with a great local church, email us at [email protected].

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  • Ecclesiastes 8

    Ecclesiastes 8

    Read Ecclesiastes 8

    8 Who is like the wise?
        Who knows the explanation of things?
    A person’s wisdom brightens their face
        and changes its hard appearance.

    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 person may be weighed down by misery.

    7 Since no one knows the future,
        who can tell someone else what is to come?
    8 As no one has power over the wind to contain it,
        so no one has power over the time of their 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.

    11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. 12 Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. 13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

    14 There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. 15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.

    16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night— 17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.

    Go Deeper

    There are benefits and limitations to wisdom. Wisdom allows us to apply our knowledge in a way that leads to right living whereas the fool continues in the folly. We see that in the first part of the chapter where Solomon tells us to obey the king because when the fool revolts, there are consequences for their actions. Verses eight and nine are the hinge point for this chapter. “No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.“ 

    We are ruled by governing authorities and God. A lot of the Christian life is learning humble submission to authority. There is so little in life that we actually have control over. For some, this can be a discouraging thought, but when we have the wisdom that God is sovereign we can express the confidence in verse 15:

    “And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.” 

    In our time in Ecclesiastes we have seen how much of life is vanity (Hebrew: hevel). While everything has a time as we read in chapter three, we are given a glimmer of hope in the midst of a heavy book. That the best thing we can do is to enjoy the gifts of common grace that God has given us. We should all be aware of the things that help us love God more and we should do more of those things to the glory of God. A hot shower, a great meal, a sunrise or sunset, nice weather, or even a warm fire with good friends. It is wise and right to enjoy the simple things in life.  

    Questions

    1. What makes you love God more? 
    2. What do you try to control in life? 
    3. Why is it so hard to grasp how little control we truly have?

    A Quote

    Dr. Thomas Constable, a former seminary professor and scholar, said this about this passage: “Solomon again recommended the enjoyment of life, not in a pleasure-mad way but in the sense of enjoying the fruits of one’s labor (cf. 2:24; 3:12-13; 5:18-19). This joy will make labor more enjoyable. We should receive each day’s joys as God’s good gifts and rejoice in them.”

    Harris Creek Sermon

    Here is the sermon from Harris Creek’s Ecclesiastes series based on Ecclesiastes 8 “The Search for Meaning: Submitting to Authority”.

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  • Ecclesiastes 7

    Ecclesiastes 7

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    Wisdom

    7 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 everyone;
        the living should take this to heart.
    3 Frustration 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 the rebuke of a wise person
        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 person 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:
        Wisdom preserves those who have it.

    13 Consider what God has done:

    Who can straighten
        what he has made crooked?
    14 When times are good, be happy;
        but when times are bad, consider this:
    God has made the one
        as well as the other.
    Therefore, no one can discover
        anything about their future.

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

    the righteous perishing in their righteousness,
        and the wicked living long in their 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.
        Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.

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

    20 Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,
        no one 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.

    23 All this I tested by wisdom and I said,

    “I am determined to be wise”—
        but this was beyond me.
    24 Whatever exists 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 created mankind upright,
        but they have gone in search of many schemes.”

     

    Go Deeper

    At first glance, this chapter might feel long and wordy. Like most chapters in Ecclesiastes, there are several themes that Solomon is driving home. Let’s look at a few. When we first read verses 1-4, it can feel confusing and sobering. Solomon says that it is better to grapple with one’s mortality than to be fooled into thinking that one lasts forever. Think about how countercultural this message is–especially for our culture. We do not like sad things, so we constantly look to escape. “Do whatever makes you happy!” But, if you are a believer in Jesus, there is a great joy that comes from knowing one’s mortality. Just think about it: One day we will die and there will be an end to all toil, weariness, and sin and we will be eternally satisfied in the presence of Jesus Christ. Joy doesn’t come from avoiding sad feelings, but from the eternal hope we have in Jesus in the midst of them.

    The chapter ends in verse 29 by saying, “God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes” (v. 29). The point Solomon is making here is not that people have simply turned to sin, but that they have sought out many other explanations of what God is doing around them. Here, Solomon was talking about God’s plan–they were struggling to see how God was at work (or even believe that He was working). They lacked the faith necessary to trust that God’s ways were better than their own. 

    So what are we to take away from a passage like this? Seeing the end makes the things that are under the sun not bad, but far less important than we think they are. On the flip side, knowing God is far more important than we grasp it to be. This life was given as a gift from God and is not to be used as a vessel of wrath, but of righteousness. True wisdom is trusting the One that is wiser (God) in the day of prosperity and in the day of adversity because God has made the one as well as the other. We have the opportunity to trust God in faith and know that He is working all around us at all times, regardless of if it feels like it or not. 

    So today, do not be discouraged, but remember God’s character in all situations. Remember the call that he has given us as Christians to go and make disciples of all nations, and hold all things in this life loosely because God is working all around us.

    Questions

     

    1. What characteristic of God stands out to you today that will be constant in all your circumstances today?
    2. How are you going to keep the end in mind when it comes to temptation and hard times?
    3. Who is someone in your life that you can share what you learned from Ecclesiastes 7 with today?

    By the Way

    We have the benefit of reading the end of this passage with Romans 8:28 in mind:

    “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

    Harris Creek Sermon

    Here is the sermon from Harris Creek’s Ecclesiastes series based on a different part of this chapter “The Search for Meaning: A Wise Perspective in Problems”. 

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  • Ecclesiastes 6

    Ecclesiastes 6

    Read Ecclesiastes 6

    6 I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: 2 God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.

    3 A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. 5 Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man— 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

    7 Everyone’s toil is for their mouth,
        yet their appetite is never satisfied.
    8 What advantage have the wise over fools?
    What do the poor gain
        by knowing how to conduct themselves before others?
    9 Better what the eye sees
        than the roving of the appetite.
    This too is meaningless,
        a chasing after the wind.

    10 Whatever exists has already been named,
        and what humanity is has been known;
    no one can contend
        with someone who is stronger.
    11 The more the words,
        the less the meaning,
        and how does that profit anyone?

    12 For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?

    Go Deeper

    We strive and we toil and we pursue, yet King Solomon once again reminds us that this is a striving after the wind. He clearly communicates that this pursuit of wealth, honor, and possessions is just another evil under the sun that will weigh heavily on us, while only a relationship with God can fulfill the desires of our heart.  Solomon provided this wisdom around 900 years before Jesus was born, yet the struggle has persisted.  We see it affecting the disciples when Jesus reminds them: What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? (Matthew 16:26). And now, over two thousand years later, here we are.  Still striving after the wind. 

    It is interesting to read and study this book at this particular time. In a world of COVID, increasing costs, and hardships around the world, things are feeling unstable and uneasy. Anxiety is on the rise and many of us are realizing in various ways that our “stuff” isn’t quite as valuable as we have thought it to be. Doesn’t it feel as if God is saying something? Look again at verse 2: We might have every possession we want in this world, but God is the One who will grant whether we even enjoy them! As the Creator of all things, perhaps God, as our loving Father, is using the current struggles of the world to remind us to return to what is important—the only thing that can truly fulfill our soul’s desire. 

    Our time here is fleeting and very little of what we think is important or worth our worried thoughts even matters in the end. When it comes down to it, we already have what we truly need. Let’s pray that we can shift our focus to the One who gave it all to us, trusting His plans and direction and submitting to His will. That may not be easy while we are here under the sun, and God knows that, too.  He is just asking us to focus on the promise of eternal glory with Him. 

    Matthew Henry once said, “The desires of the soul find nothing in the wealth of the world to give satisfaction. Let us return to God, trust in his mercy through Jesus Christ, and submit to his will. Then soon shall we glide through this vexatious world, and find ourselves in that happy place, where there is fullness of joy and pleasures for evermore.” Let us reflect on that truth today! 

    Questions

    1.     What do you strive after harder than anything else?
    2.     If your answer is something other than a deeper relationship with Jesus, spend time today doing something that stirs your soul for Him and make that a daily habit.
    3.     Pray today asking God to make your soul satisfied in Him alone.

    Did You Know?

    This chapter is the ninth and final time that Solomon uses the phrase “striving after the wind.” Solomon begins and ends the first six chapters of Ecclesiastes teaching us that the things we strive after on earth will never make us happy apart from a relationship with God.

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  • Ecclesiastes 5

    Ecclesiastes 5

    Read Ecclesiastes 5

    Fulfill Your Vow to God

    5 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

    2 Do not be quick with your mouth,
        do not be hasty in your heart
        to utter anything before God.
    God is in heaven
        and you are on earth,
        so let your words be few.
    3 A dream comes when there are many cares,
        and many words mark the speech of a fool.

    4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? 7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.

    Riches Are Meaningless

    8 If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. 9 The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

    10 Whoever loves money never has enough;
        whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
        This too is meaningless.

    11 As goods increase,
        so do those who consume them.
    And what benefit are they to the owners
        except to feast their eyes on them?

    12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
        whether they eat little or much,
    but as for the rich, their abundance
        permits them no sleep.

    13 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:

    wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
    14     or wealth lost through some misfortune,
    so that when they have children
        there is nothing left for them to inherit.
    15 Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,
        and as everyone comes, so they depart.
    They take nothing from their toil
        that they can carry in their hands.

    16 This too is a grievous evil:

    As everyone comes, so they depart,
        and what do they gain,
        since they toil for the wind?
    17 All their days they eat in darkness,
        with great frustration, affliction and anger.

    18 This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. 19 Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. 20 They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.

    Go Deeper

    What if there was a way for marriages to be strengthened, parent-and-child relationships to be healed, and for employees and employers to have a healthy relationship? If a solution existed that could heal and strengthen all these relationships and much more, then wouldn’t we all want it? The wisdom from Solomon in Ecclesiastes 5 provides just the solution we’re looking for. We need to learn to shut our mouths, open our ears, and let our words be few.

    In v. 2 Solomon tells his readers, “Do not be quick with your mouth.” We see the same admonition in James 1:19: “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry….” We are to be quick to listen and slow to speak. We typically do the opposite—most are quick to speak and slow to listen. We want to win and be right so we make sure to get our point across by speaking. Instead, do not be quick with your mouth. Today, let’s ask God to help us be quick to listen.

    He then tells us in v. 2 that “God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” His divine wisdom is always greater than ours. We don’t get to tell God what to do or how things should happen. Trying to instruct God is like a 5-year-old telling his parents how to drive or pay their taxes, except there’s an infinitely larger gap between our wisdom and God’s wisdom. We’re fools if we approach the Lord and tell Him what to do! Come to God with open ears to listen.

    Lastly, we need to let our words be few. In v. 3 Solomon says, “Many words mark the speech of a fool.” This theme is similar to what Solomon said it Proverbs 18:2 says, “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.” When we run our mouths without regard to listening or understanding, we earn the title of “fool.” One reason why marriages struggle, many walk around with wounds from their parents, and relationships in the workplace often struggle because we use too many words.

    Today, our challenge is to heed the wisdom of Solomon and apply these words to our own lives. 

    Questions

    1. How can you work on listening more and speaking less? 
    2. Do you ever find yourself questioning God and telling Him how something should turn out? Why do you think you do this? 
    3. When is the last conversation you were in where you were the “fool” because you talked more instead of listening more?

    Pray This

    God, we pray we would be different from the pattern of the world and the patterns of the fool. While most people are slow to listen and quick to speak and get angry, help me to be the exception to the rule. Help me to be someone who is known for being wise because I choose to listen. Help me to not be a fool in my relationship with others. And help me to let my words be few before You. Help me to humbly listen to you, trust you, and always remember you are in Heaven and I am on earth. Amen.

     Harris Creek Sermon

    Here is the fifth sermon of Harris Creek’s Ecclesiastes series based on a different part of this chapter “The Search for Meaning: The Curse and Blessing of Wealth.”

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  • Ecclesiastes 4

    Ecclesiastes 4

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    Oppression, Toil, Friendlessness

    4 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.
    2 And I declared that the dead,
        who had already died,
    are happier than the living,
        who are still alive.
    3 But better than both
        is the one who has never been born,
    who has not seen the evil
        that is done under the sun.

    4 And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

    5 Fools fold their hands
        and ruin themselves.
    6 Better one handful with tranquillity
        than two handfuls with toil
        and chasing after the wind.

    7 Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:

    8 There was a man all alone;
        he had neither son nor brother.
    There was no end to his toil,
        yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
    “For whom am I toiling,” he asked,
        “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
    This too is meaningless—
        a miserable business!

    9 Two are better than one,
        because they have a good return for their labor:
    10 If either of them falls down,
        one can help the other up.
    But pity anyone who falls
        and has no one to help them up.
    11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
        But how can one keep warm alone?
    12 Though one may be overpowered,
        two can defend themselves.
    A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

    Advancement Is Meaningless

    13 Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning. 14 The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. 15 I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king’s successor. 16 There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

    Go Deeper

    King Solomon continues to explore the meaning of life. We’ve seen so far that searching for meaning in wealth, success, power, or education, will fail us. And Ecclesiastes 4 uncovers a few more places that yield no meaning: oppression, achievement, isolation, and advancement. Nothing under the sun has any ability to ever satisfy us. 

    Isolation and loneliness are probably not places we’re trying to get to, but sometimes they are the places in which we find ourselves. This is right where the enemy wants us – alone, isolated, and vulnerable to believing his lies. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book Life Together, puts it this way, “Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from the community. The more isolated a person is, the more attractive will be the power of sin over him, and the more deeply he becomes involved in it, the more disastrous is his isolation.” 

    One of the best ways to beat the devil’s schemes is by surrounding yourself with other believers – people who know God and love you and love God and know you. Christian community can remind us of truth when it’s hardest for us to believe. That is a gift. And though it takes effort – community is forged, not found – there are many real and practical benefits to living in community with others. Let’s look at some that Solomon outlines for us:

    • Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor (v. 9)
    • If either of them falls down, one can help the other up (v. 10)
    • If two lie down together, they will keep warm (v. 11)
    • Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves (v. 12)

    God declares, in the midst of creation, that it is not good for man to be alone. In His infinite wisdom, God created us with a need for connection. There is a safety that comes with being in community. Throughout the Proverbs, we see this idea repeated. Proverbs 11:14 (ESV) says, “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” Solomon got it: Isolation is a danger and community is a safety, both physically and spiritually.

    Questions

    1. Do you have community around you? Pray for them. Are you feeling isolated? Pray that God would provide godly people to surround you. 
    2. How has your community surrounded, supported, and encouraged you in difficult times?
    3. Who is someone in your life that could use some encouragement today? Take a moment to reach out to them.

    A Quote

    “But God has put this Word into the mouth of men in order that it may be communicated to other men. When one person is struck by the Word, he speaks it to others. God has willed that we should seek and find His living Word in the witness of a brother, in the mouth of a man. Therefore, the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself, he cannot help himself without belying the truth. He needs his brother man as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation.”

    Dietrich Bonhoeffer

    Harris Creek Sermon

    Here is the fourth sermon of Harris Creek’s Ecclesiastes series “The Search for Meaning: Better Together & Awful Alone”.

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