I love this book it's so poetic Ecclesiastes and job are my favorite books and I think they go together very well they both teach us about spiritual law and human law for that matter and they both teach us about the fruits of our labor hard work and how everything we do or try to do is meaningless on its own because we will just perish but it also speaks about how in purely humanistic terms it is meaningless but when you add love and passion and family to it it adds meaning in all those things lead back to God because they all come from God
King Solomon is beautifully driving home the entire point of James 1:17 - Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. All forms of good comes only from God and without Him life is all in vain for it leads only to darkness. God is the only source of joyful peace and contentment.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SAYING THIS DUDE! I've been working on a mini-sermon over the prosperity gospel lately, and I can use this verse to demonstrate that prosperity preachers tend to forget where their prosperity truly comes from. Thank you so much, bless your heart!
Daniel Whitfield thank you for posting this recording. It brings me much joy to hear these words. Under the sun, all is vain, but from the invisible heaven where God reigns comes these words of truth and are more value than all the precious stones and minerals the earth has to offer.
WE GATHER HERE TO TODAY THROUGH THE LOVE OF OUR MIGHTY SAVIOR JESUS THE CHRIST OF ALL MEN. Father who lives in heaven by the spirit that lives in me david your beloved son who has put his faith into your arms comes to ask for your protection. protect us Father from evil hate and the ways of evil. protect over our hearts so we may be filled with your love. lead us O CHRIST AND SAVIOR to safety lead us JESUS away from the liars. fill our bellies with your water. fill our souls with your grace. show us how to be merciful as you are merciful. comfort our hearts so we may live with out fear. expose satan and his work so we your children may laugh at him as you do from your heavenly throne. lead us away from mockers for we all ask for our peace the peace only you can bring. we know Father you do not look at our sins but look for ways to rain your tender kindness on us who live in this world being ruled by death. we know hate will end one day and so will evil but your love is eternal and it lives in us we thank you JESUS for the power of our faith that lives in our heart thank you we love you now and forever amen!
I Speak as someone who doesn't accept any divinity. Ecclesiasties is one of my favorite philosophical tomes. reguardless of religion the bible is rich in basic philosophical thought.
Same, it is one of my favorite books, and I am not a beliver. And I like in the bible was a person who see the injustice of the life and what they thought him to believe, die is the same for good and bad people
WE GATHER HERE TO TODAY THROUGH THE LOVE OF OUR MIGHTY SAVIOR JESUS THE CHRIST OF ALL MEN. Father who lives in heaven by the spirit that lives in me david your beloved son who has put his faith into your arms comes to ask for your protection. protect us Father from evil hate and the ways of evil. protect over our hearts so we may be filled with your love. lead us O CHRIST AND SAVIOR to safety lead us JESUS away from the liars. fill our bellies with your water. fill our souls with your grace. show us how to be merciful as you are merciful. comfort our hearts so we may live with out fear. expose satan and his work so we your children may laugh at him as you do from your heavenly throne. lead us away from mockers for we all ask for our peace the peace only you can bring. we know Father you do not look at our sins but look for ways to rain your tender kindness on us who live in this world being ruled by death. we know hate will end one day and so will evil but your love is eternal and it lives in us we thank you JESUS for the power of our faith that lives in our heart thank you we love you now and forever amen!
It took me some time to truly understand the significance of the scriptures, of course there's much of learning to go. I was about 20 years old when I asked the question: Why ? (are we here). I really meant it. I saw Jesus's face instantly. All knees shall bend to Him.
I thank the creators of this record and also that who published it. I want to draw your attention to how you can understand the mysterious verses 3-6 of Chapter 12. "3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, 4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low; 5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: 6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern." Now I found out what it could mean : " In verses 2-6, with the help of a number of allegories, the old age of man is described. Keepers of the house - hands; strong men - legs; grinding women - teeth; looking out the window - eyes. Doors to the street - probably ears; also in this verse is spoken of the insomnia of the old people and deafness. Blooming almonds - white almond flowers symbolize gray hair on the head. Heavy grasshopper - slowness of the old people. Capers - berries and buds of this plant were used as a means of enhancing appetite and sexual desire. This phrase speaks about the lack of desire in old age. The paintings described in verse 6 symbolize death." I think, it is very wise allegories. Sorry if in my english there were any mistakes. I hope, they were not or a very few. Today I finished my reading of this book in english (2 variants of translation) and in original (hebrew, 1 variant) and listened this record with a huge pleasure.
I love this readings of scripture.. I just cant do distractions such as music! Which is noise with the sWord.. God bless y'all who can.. Wait this one has no noise🙉. Oh it does.. Thanks readers.. God bless you💯
FYI Who say this is not Solomon, Solomon said at Proverbs and teach the Balance, Doing good get a good result and vice versa But in ecclesiates, It's King Qoheleth who said that. (From wiki) And teach randomness and vanity in the world... i dunno why, i love this book
It seems the theme of Ecclesiastes is slipping into the modern pop songs. The words of Mike Posner the teacher Vanity of vanities said Mike Posner I took a pill in Ibiza To show Avicii I was cool And when I finally got sober, felt 10 years older But **** it, it was something to do I'm living out in LA I drive a sports car just to prove I'm a real big baller 'cause I made a million dollars And I spend it on girls and shoes But you don't wanna be high like me Never really knowing why like me You don't ever wanna step off that roller coaster and be all alone You don't wanna ride the bus like this Never knowing who to trust like this You don't wanna be stuck up on that stage singing Stuck up on that stage singing All I know are sad songs, sad songs Darling, all I know are sad songs, sad songs I'm just a singer who already blew his shot I get along with old timers 'Cause my name's a reminder of a pop song people forgot And I can't keep a girl, no 'Cause as soon as the sun comes up I cut em all loose and work's my excuse But the truth is I can't open up I took a plane to my home town I brought my pride and my guitar All my friends are all gone but there's manicured lawns And the people still think I'm a star I walked around downtown I met some fans on Lafayette They said tell us how to make it 'cause we're getting real impatient So I looked em in the eye and said
you know why there is no Amen because King Solomon do not Know if you affirm or not in fact He Has a warning in His Conclusion and at the same time He (King Solomon is inviting every person Hear the coclusion
Ecc 12:10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. Ecc 12:11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. Ecc 12:12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. Ecc 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Actually Ecclesiastes has some of the more sensible idea in the Bible. ch3 v18 Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath, man has no advantage over the animal. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth ? So I saw that there is nothing better for man than to enjoy his work.
Would it make more sense if it said "There is nothing worse for man than to hate his work?" You spend more time at your work than anything else in your life. It is truly the best thing that you enjoy it. If you don't, you will have a miserable existence.
Rocco Marotta Yes, but there are so many people that can't enjoy their work. Are they all supposed to be feeling like failures? God wouldn't want that, he said we will earn our existence in sweat. That's like hearing -it is best if you have an attractive wife, to a guy who doesn't have one. In fact , this book has a lot of this man-made notions and philosophies. One of them is about how best thing in life is having a wife that you want...not bad, but is that a word of God, if it causes turmoil in heart...
if you get & gain,strictly 4 u..then it becomes VANITY..but, if u build, wit a reason bigger than u.. it can be a blessing. but, when we love creation above Creator..it is vanity..ballance..strategic building..& living..in Him..if we'd find our purpose & ballance there..what if u build to leave for the betterment of others..then maybe we wont grieve as he did..thoughts.. just sayin...wisdom is nummy ummy ummmy... heheheh
Ecclesiastes...But.. back then, robots had not been made.. there was no internet, no information technology.. compared to the events of past, aren't some things actually new? yes, humans still gather information, communicate etc, yet the ways we do it - arent they completely new?
if you are worried what comes after you, if you are worried that after you comes a fool, isnt that your duty to make sure that the next person isnt a fool?
Solomon was an old man (also this book wasn't only written by Solomon) at the time and he spent a lot of his life pursuing things that weren't God...running after every pleasure he could grasp and trying to fill emptiness and store up wealth. It appears to have made him bitter at times, but there's much wisdom to be gathered in the ways that he, as having lived a long life, speaks. As for nothing new under the sun I believe he means the ways of man. Humanity is cyclical and often what's been done before will be done again, even if it's in a different way. The methods may change, but the heart of the matter is still the same. Perhaps in a way, but the wise man dies the same as the fool. It rains on the just and the unjust alike. All are created equal and we die equally...the death of the body no different than that of the animals. I believe what he's getting at is that there's no point in storing up riches, building an empire, amassing wealth and working yourself to death just to inevitably die and not have any control over what happens to your life's work. I think he is referencing the stupidity of it all since we are only temporarily on this earth, yet we strive after the wind. We always want more and more and this is nothing new as well. Yeah, but how can you teach everyone? I find most often that people will generally follow their own way. They truly believe their way is the right way to do things and in professing to be wise they become fools. Hardly will anyone take wisdom from someone that has experienced it or had a long life full of good and bad decisions. That's how it seems these days, anyway and I'm willing to bet it was the same back then. These are my interpretations of your questions. I'm sure there's plenty of people more learned and more intelligent than I am, but these are what I gathered.
Laslow Greene thanks for the reply, i really appreciate it. However, the way we can spread information nowadays helps us to teach many. Take youtube example. Millions of people watch videos, *depending on the video* it can be very beneficial. As for learning from others, my father once told me wise words: Usually children dont listen to their parents. But if they hear it from another neighbor saying the same words they actually listen. Its a lot about who says what and when and the way it is presented. People can learn. Its more about guiding them to the information that helps benefit future generations. Us humans most important mission is not to die out. Same is for every live being. Thats what i believe.
No problem :) Those are just what I gathered from it when I read it the other day. Bummer...I had typed a bunch of stuff and then when I hit backspace it moved me off of the page and deleted it all. Essentially it was along the lines of how you were right that RU-vid can be a good medium of teaching. I cant tell you how many times I've fixed my car from a video off of youtube or learned a cool camping trick. We do, as humans, tend to revert back a lot though. They're remaking old shows like the $10,000 pyramid and stuff. Just kind of reminded me of that "nothing new under the sun" thing. We just forget, I think. I mean...I'm only 30 so I never really watched the old show, but it's coming out again and kids these days wont ever remember the old one so it's easy to just make something "new". I believe the purpose of our lives is to show God's glory off through how we live our lives and treat humanity...the low, the homeless, the poor and the widows and the orphans and everyone else. It's our responsibility to impart wisdom we learn on people. Jesus often spoke in parables and ended it with "he who has ears let him hear". Sometimes people would get it and sometimes they would walk away confused. It's not any different now. Getting godly wisdom from God's word is a gift of the Holy Spirit and sometimes you'll get something out of it that seems very different than how someone else would interpret it and it doesn't mean either of you are wrong. You may read that same verse later and come to the same conclusion. They call it the Living Word partially because it can tell you different things at different stages of your life. That being said, there's been times I've read this book and didn't understand something. It confuses the crap out of me sometimes, but I just have to pray that God will give me understanding for His word. It was written for people thousands of years ago that lived in a completely different culture than us and it doesn't always make sense. Dang...sorry for the novel
The reader is trying too hard to emote, but it would still be okay except for the loud and distracting "music." I'll find another recording of Ecclesiastes.
actually id disagree vanity implies that men take the profits and glory from the works yet pointless implies that there is no change to the works performed for something to be "vanity" or "vain" means its man centered so to take the book under this context we can see that nothing is pointless when GOD ordained and CHRIST centered and within these boundaries there is no vanity.
Ecclesiastes is wise and beautiful, in part, but reference to a god, who demands you fear him and other pagan thoughts, are distracting. Omar Khayyam excels without demeaning humanity.
+ken thomas whoever Omar Khayyam is, he sounds like the kind of guy who would find such observations pointless. Would you care to elaborate? Why did Salomon feel the need to come up with such 'pagan' thoughts? Can you see analogies beyond those words but the thought process behind them?. Greetings :)
Eleazar Meza You should look up Omar Khayyam. There is no evidence that King Soloman ever existed. www.sidneywoolf.com/ though there are fruitless attempts to prove the myth true. All of the books of the Old Testament are fictions written to elevate the stature of the Jewish people.
2 Samuel 12:24 says that he was born: "24 Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he[a] called his name Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, " Essentially what it comes down to is "Do you believe the Bible?" and if the answer is no then I guess whether or not Solomon existed should make no difference in your life. If you'll toss something like that out then you're essentially creating your own Bible, but there's not really a need to since it already exists. It's like when people say "Well, if God is love surely He wouldn't punish sin or send people to Hell" when Jesus Himself said exactly the opposite and that without Jesus being your ambassador to the Father then you will definitely be punished for sinning against a perfect, holy and just God. It's like when a father punishes his son for doing something wrong. It's not because he doesn't love his kid, but he disciplines him through his love. The same goes with God. He disciples us to break us of sin when were are with Him. If we are against Him (which is our natural state) then He will surely punish sin because He is a righteous and good judge. A judge on this earth wouldn't let a murderer, a thief or a rapist go free if he was a good judge...so why would we expect God to let people get away with sinning? Without acknowledging that someone has already taken the place for those sins you will surely bear the weight of your sins on your own. In summation, God is wiser than we are and He has given us an opportunity to know Him and His characteristics through the Bible. Don't allow yourself to be deceived by pretty words. People tend to glean things here and there in the Bible and toss out the rest. Really the entire book has value and sometimes you just won't agree with it, but you have to understand that God's way are higher than ours. Perhaps He knows a little more about the history and the ways of this world than someone on the internet.
