17/9/21 Ecclesiastes Study 1: overview

 We start our study of Ecclesiastes today!

In this introductory session, we have asked ourselves:

1. Am I an optimist or a pessimist?

We generally felt that it was somewhat too simplistic to categorize ourselves as optimists or pessimists. We felt that we might have characteristics of both at different times in our lives, or at different times of our lives.

There is no doubt the writer of Ecclesiastes was a pessimist. Even his positive statements (e.g. 2:10, 24; 5:18-20) are enveloped in some sense of resignation that joy is not ultimate. He speaks as if to say. "Make the best out of a bad situation" rather than telling people to 'go out' and  'live life to the fullest'.

 I asked if it was possible to be a faithful Christian and a pessimist. I said that Ecclesiastes affirms that expectation of little in this life is fine. We know

2. Who wrote Ecclesiastes? What was his purpose?  

The book is named after the writer (Gk. Ekkleiastes). This individual is 'Qoheleth' in Hebrew, a word related to the word for assembly (qahal). It is likely a designation ('The" Preacher 12:8), not a proper name. English translations have used 'Preacher' 'Teacher' or even 'Philosopher' to represent his role.

Traditionally, Qoheleth has been identified with Solomon. He was "son of David, king in Jerusalem” (1:1) and someone who was surpassingly wise (1:16) and had a very prosperous reign (2:1–9; cf. 1 Kings 3–4).

However,  the phrase “son of David” could refer to any legitimate Davidic descendant, as it does in Matthew 1:20. Qoheleth also says many have preceded him as king in Jerusalem (e.g., 1:16; 2:7, 9—though these may include non-Israelite kings), that injustice and oppression are openly practiced (3:16–17; 4:1–3; 8:10–11), and that he has observed firsthand the foolishness of kings (4:13–16; 10:5–6) and their abuse of royal power (8:2–9). As with the earlier point about non-israelite kings in Jerusalem, Qoheleth may be making observations about non-Israelite kings that he knew as well.

Joseph also helpfully pointed out that 1:12 says that Qoheleth was 'king over Israel (perhaps the united kingdom) in Jerusalem - identifying him either with David, Solomon, or Rehoboam. So Solomon remains the strongest candidate for the writer of the book, although he never identifies himself specifically.

The book claims that its wisdom ultimately comes from the “one Shepherd” (12:11), i.e., from God (Gen. 48:15; Ps. 23:1; 28:9; 80:1).

His purpose is laid out in 12:13 "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." It is so that we learn to fear God in the midst of a confusing word where randomness seems to prevail.

3. What is the main theme of the book of Ecclesiastes? How do you react to this? 

 1:1-2 lays out Qoholeth's opening assertion and the the theme of the book: "Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. ³ What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?"

I think our reaction depends on our outlook in life - I find it easy to acknowledge that there is some truth in Qoholeth's perspective, but we would normally reject his implied conclusion that all worldly effort is pointless.

4.     What do I feel is the role Ecclesiastes plays in the Bible? What aspects of Ecclesiastes are covered in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New Testament?

The fear of God is the common theme of all the wisdom literature of the Bible. Qoheleth takes a different approach as he asks us to learn how to do this. There are some books of the Bible that are more raw in negative emotion (e.g. Lamentations, Psalms) or tragedy (e.g. Job) but none that explicitly shares the cool, cynical approach of Qoheleth. He takes a wide excursion into strange territory in order to teach us to learn the fear of God in a seemingly random and meaningless world.

The closest book in the NT to Ecclesiastes is James, which is also in the wisdom genre. The questions raised by Qoheleth reflect longing for meaning and fulfillment, found in God. And the NT reveals the fullness of God in Jesus Christ.

Ecclesiastes was likely written by Solomon at the end of his life. But  it contains more than a record of his experiences, failures and regrets. Qoheleth says that he"taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. ¹⁰ The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth." (12:9-10). Every line of the book was not a random recollection, but carefully planned. Qoheleth intended the book to be for our 'delight'. May we find this to be true as we go through the book together!

We spent some time before the session talking about the acceptability of the line in the song "What a Beautiful Name" (Hillsongs) It goes:

"You didn't want heaven without us,
So Jesus, You brought heaven down"

 

These lines express the love of our Saviour and His desire for us to be with Him in heaven. 

I'm not sure I did an adequate job expressing my objection to singing the verse of the song with the lyrics. So let me try again:

1. It seems to express that God needs us to complete His experience of heaven.

2. So it suggests that God created and saved people because He 'needed' man. 

3. The entire purpose of Jesus' incarnation and ministry was to save us for heaven (if you think about it, this is not true)

3. The song is therefore very man-centred, not centred on the sovereignty and glory of God. This quote from one of the blogs I saw says it well: "
"The motivation for Jesus coming to die to bring us to Him comes from the overflow of His utter satisfaction in God, not out of any loneliness in His heart."