Ecclesiastes Chapter Six - Solomon see's a common folly among men

Ecclesiastes 6:1 “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:”

Solomon is about to reveal to us an observation he has made; it is something he has observed and drawn his own conclusions (as you may suspect he has concluded wrongly that it is a vanity). This realm where we draw conclusions is an area where must take care; we must conclude what is true because to come to the wrong conclusion can set us off in the wrong direction. As we learned from Proverbs the actions of mankind follows a certain flow; first it begins in the mind, how one thinks then the lips, how one speaks then the action how one behaves. But it all begins in thoughts and opinions realm. Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he...”

2 “A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease”.

Here is his observation referred to in the previous verse: "A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth..." In this statement Solomon is obviously referring to himself, he had all that heart could wish for, however, because his ways did not please the Lord and his heart was focused on the wrong things the next portion clearly relates his torment "...yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease." If we follow the Lord with our whole heart, mind and strength then whether we are in need or we abound we will have peace and joy in our lot. If we are not at peace within ourselves we will not find it in the things around us. History is littered with the rich and famous who had all heart could wish for and yet they were miserable tormented and alone. Solomon was good at declaring why he was miserable; the thing that amazes us is that he knows what the cure is (the fear of the Lord) but he does not choose to pursue it and therefore remains in torment instead of turning his life around to enjoy the blessings he knows will come to those who fear the Lord. There is some force that prevents him; it is the power of the iniquity he has given himself to, he cannot break free from it so all he can do is complain about it. This is very instructive to us, especially to the young; you must choose the fear of the Lord when you are young because if one plays with sin then eventually it can take hold and drag you where you do not want to go.

David Wilkerson - a valiant soldier goes home

I was very sad to hear the new of the passing of David Wilkerson; I always considered him a man of integrity and one who was not afraid to boldly proclaim unashamedly the gospel of truth. I trust we are all praying for his widow Gwen who survived the crash but is in critical condition. I am including an excerpt from his blog posted the day of his death, it foreshadows the events that would follow his day...

WHEN ALL MEANS FAIL

To believe when all means fail is exceedingly pleasing to God and is most acceptable. Jesus said to Thomas, “You have believed because you have seen, but blessed are those that do believe and have not seen” (John 20:29). Blessed are those who believe when there is no evidence of an answer to prayer—who trust beyond hope when all means have failed. Someone has come to the place of hopelessness—the end of hope—the end of all means. A loved one is facing death and doctors give no hope. Death seems inevitable. Hope is gone. The miracle prayed for is not happening. That is when Satan’s hordes come to attack your mind with fear, anger, overwhelming questions: “Where is your God now? You prayed until you had no tears left. You fasted. You stood on promises. You trusted.”

Blasphemous thoughts will be injected into your mind: “Prayer failed. Faith failed. Don’t quit on God—just do not trust him anymore. It doesn’t pay!” Even questioning God’s existence will be injected into your mind. These have been the devices of Satan for centuries. Some of the godliest men and women who ever lived were under such demonic attacks. To those going through the valley and shadow of death, hear this word: Weeping will last through some dark, awful nights—and in that darkness you will soon hear the Father whisper, “I am with you. I cannot tell you why right now, but one day it will all make sense. You will see it was all part of my plan. It was no accident. It was no failure on your part. Hold fast. Let me embrace you in your hour of pain.” Beloved, God has never failed to act but in goodness and love. When all means fail—his love prevails. Hold fast to your faith. Stand fast in his Word. There is no other hope in this world.

Ecclesiastes Chapter Five conclusion... The Blessing of a Forgetful Memory!

20 “For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart”.

This gift is a great treasure indeed; this soul will not dwell on the toils and troubles of life because God gives him such peace and joy! It does not say he or she will not suffer, it says they will not remember it. God gives as a gift to the righteous the gift of forgetfulness so that he does not dwell on his difficulties. It is a sign of being right with God when a trial has concluded and with peace and joy we move on. Solomon admired this trait because he was a tormented man so he admired the man who had peace and joy in spite of his suffering.

It is a burden and in some cases even a curse to have a strong memory of events. You talk to people at times and they can recount with great precision and accuracy a negative experience; they can tell you how it made them feel and manifest terrible emotional and spiritual scars. Perhaps it was a betrayal, perhaps a persecution or they were cheated or mistreated in some fashion but their memory of the event grows with time. I believe that all of us can conclude one of the greatest trials that exist in the word of God is that of our dear brother Job. He suffered loss of loved ones, loss of wealth and possessions, he lost the support of his wife and his friends and was quite alone in his suffering (in fact the hardest part was the loss of the very presence of God in the midst of his trial). And yet, how does the story end? God moves upon him and he ends his days with the great blessing of God on his life and his confession is of how right, true and good God is.

All of us have had bitter experiences? Perhaps through the whip of taskmasters or the betrayal of those who were not true. Perhaps we have been cheated of wealth or freedoms at the hand of others or even at the hand of God as He dealt with a secret area of our life. My recommendation is that we come before His presence, confess our condition and ask for the blessing of a weak memory of the event. As we make this appeal to the Lord lets also make a conscious choice to release it to Him; it is not His desire that we should carry such things.

Ecclesiastes Chapter Five cont... Being Good in Gods Sight!

19 “Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God”.

We see in this verse that it is God that gives wealth and it is God that gives the power to enjoy the fruits of ones labor. There are several aspects to this verse we want to bring out. One is that every thing comes as a gift from God “...to whom God hath given riches and wealth...” There is, therefore, no boasting, everything man receives is from the hand of God. Secondly, the power to enjoy what God has given, as we have seen in the previous verse, is a separate issue all together "...and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor..." It is the gift God gives to the man or woman who pleases Him and is good in His sight (Ecclesiastes 2:26). Who is good in His sight? We should be very interested in who is good and we should seek to meet that criteria. We have a specific verse in Micah 6:8 which tells us who is “good” in the eyes of the Lord:

Micah 6:8 ”He hath shown thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God”

• To do justly – this is the thought of passing the right sentence or acting judiciously; in short, coming to the right conclusions and acting upon them. Job touched on this when he said: “…the cause which I knew not I searched out. And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth”. (Job 29:16-17). It is a painful thing to be misunderstood and to have either peers or those over you in authority come to the wrong conclusion; those who are in a position to judge must make sure they understand from an earthly and heavenly position what is going on before passing sentence. We are all held accountable for our decisions and it is a bitter thing indeed to misjudge someone, and so, the one who is just is good in Gods eyes!

• To love mercy – I like this description; it does not say to “be merciful” but rather to “love mercy”. This little nuance of being versus loving can separate one who is good in Gods sight from one who is not. Let me explain the difference this way; one may be wronged by another and because they know God is watching them and they are obligated to be merciful they may say, “well…I will be merciful this time” (although they are not very pleases to have to do so). This obligatory mercy does not appear before God as goodness. Now take another man or woman who loves mercy, who is truly satisfied in their heart with the fruits of mercy, when they say “I will be merciful” it brings them such joy to so, why? It is because they love mercy, it truly satisfies their heart to be merciful. This man or woman is good in Gods eyes, they delight His heart indeed. Being good in the eyes of the Lord is the difference between obligatory mercy and loving to be merciful.

• Walk humbly with thy God – humility is the exact opposite of pride. I would like to define pride in order for us to appreciate humility. The secret to understanding pride (and those who are proud) is found in the book of Job as God describes this creature leviathan. Job 41:34 – “…he is a king over all the children of pride”. God says a few things about this creature leviathan that actually instructs us (and warns us) about pride. Job 41:15-16 “His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. One is so near to another, that no air can come between them”. How does this relate to pride? It speaks to us of one whose flaws cannot be addressed; they have protected themselves from correction “shut together as with a closed seal”. You meet people (especially believers) who cannot be corrected; they huff and puff themselves and consider others to be unworthy of correcting them. They need correction from their leaders, from their brethren, from their family and even from their boss and co-workers and yet the will not receive it. It is pride that prevents them from receiving any correction. Remember the basic point we are highlighting, who is good in the eyes of the Lord, it is those who walk humbly that impresses Him (in this case those who receive correction). One who through pride cannot be corrected will not be permitted close to the Lord because the proud He knows afar off. How do the proud respond to correction? We are also instructed here so we can see vividly what we are to avoid:  Job 41:19-20 “Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron”.  This, almost comical, description of this creature gives us insight into the proud of heart, the Lord speaking about this creature says: “None is so fierce that dare stir him up…” (Job 41:10). The chief hallmark of the proud is their tongue, it is like a fire breathing dragon and none dare stir them up lest their wrath is kindled. Recently while talking with someone in authority who had to deal with another under their authority; they said that after they spoke with them privately that it went so badly that after the confrontation her hands were shaking. Is that the effect God wants us to have on those who are sent by Him to help correct us? He hath shown thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee…do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with thy God!

Ecclesiastes Chapter Five cont... The power to enjoy life!

18 “Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion”.

The power to enjoy life and to enjoy the fruits of your labor comes as a gift from God to men; God did not give this power to Solomon because he was not following the right path. This gift was something Solomon observed with his eyes and craved but it was not something he experienced; he himself was a tormented man who did not possess great wealth but rather his great wealth possessed him! Although he was a man who had everything heart could wish for he envied the little farmer who was just barely making a living with a small loving family. By day this farmer worked hard in the field and in the evening ate a modest meal with his loving family and at night had the sweet sound sleep of a laboring man, he had the gift of life from the hand of God. Solomon's life experience would have been much different than this poor farmer; it would have been one where every weakness was indulged and one where every whim and fancy fulfilled through an undisciplined life. This lifestyle, as was the case with Solomon, eventually leads to depression and apathy. The fruit of those who walk in the paths of the Lord and please Him is the gif of joy in the labors of life; let us then fear the Lord and be diligent in our labor.

Strength to become a true child of God comes from His grace

John 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” Last night in prayer I was seeking the Lord, just seeking Him that we would experience a new victory in Him; during this time the Holy Spirit impressed upon me this verse: "...to them gave he power to become the sons of God" To them gave He the power to be produced into a son or daughter of God; this power is the same word used in John 19:10-11 where Pilate said to Christ I have power to crucify you and power to set you free and Jesus replied that he had no power at all except it had been given him from God!  This power is the strength, ability and the authority to become a true son of God. It is the strength and the ability to shake off the power and trappings of the world; the ability and the power to put to death the old man and his deeds.

 Do not take this power for granted; it is only by His power (“ex-oo-see'-ah” – ability, mastery, authority, right, strength.) that this is attainable.  God works in us by the Holy Spirit and by faith to produce that son or daughter of God; seek Him for it and yield to the drawings and dealings of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 9:25 - "And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things..." This is what we are talking about, striving for the mastery; this means a global temperance in every area. When John 1:12 says "...to them gave he power to become the sons of God." one of the truths contained is; to them gave He power to      be temperate in all things

John 1:13 “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”. This verse, for clarity sake can be reduced to this "Which were born of God", this is the privilege we have when we believe on His name and are born again! Being born of God is Christ and the Holy Spirit coming to be born in us. This is where the power to become the son's of God comes from.

John 1:14-16 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.  John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace”. When we are born of God, Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit come to live in us and if we are baptized in the Holy Spirit He comes into us in an even greater measure... That is true but the work they seek to complete when they come in is to completely "Fill us up" which is what this statement "of his fullness have all we received" means. It is the idea of "displacement". In other words it would be as if one had a glass of water that was black from dye, undrinkable. Then one would begin to pour in clean fresh water and as they continued to pour in that clean fresh water it would displace the black dyed water; if one continued to pour in the clean it would eventually displace the black until it was clear and drinkable. This is the idea of being filled with His fullness; it is to displace what is already there (the dark characteristic of the old Adam and our former lifestyle). The one's who receive this work of 'displacement' are the one's who receive power to become the son's of God.

"Grace for grace" Grace an element as important as faith itself - (Grace, “khar'-ece” The divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life, being acceptable, finding favor, being made worthy). This 'grace for grace' is the thought of an abundance of grace (Rom 5:17). Grace begets grace but what is the secret of receiving the abundant grace? The secret of this growing grace is to appropriate what God has already given; do not prefer the bondages of the old Adam over the drawings of the new. That is like preferring the water dyed black (using our illustration from the above paragraph) over the crystal clear water Christ can bring. One of the great secrets to going on in God is hating the former deeds and former lifestyle. Let us spend time in God's presence asking Him to make us like Job "One who fears God and esheweth evil"  (Escheweth, “soor, soor” - A primitive root; to turn off (literally or figuratively), to depart from, to put (away, down), to rebel against, to revolt, to turn away, to withdraw) and God in His mercy will bestow His grace upon us.

Ecclesiastes Chapter Five cont...Focus on Christ, not the things of this world

16 “And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind”?

Here we come once again to one of Solomon's pessimistic statements; it is a cross section into his thinking. He placed a very high value on wealth, fame and things; as a result it depress him that none of these things were going with him. As true men and women of God we should fix our gaze upon the Lord and the eternal, the keeping of and the propagating of the commandments as well as living for His pleasure. Solomon was full of idolatry and vice and illustrates for us what happens to someone who makes other things, instead of the Lord, their focus. At best they are headed towards emptiness and disillusionment and at worst severe depression. The only thing in this world, which brings true peace and joy, is walking in the righteousness of Christ (Romans 14:17).

17 “All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness”.

"All his days also he eateth in darkness..." Solomon, obviously speaking from personal experience, demonstrates to us that though a man be very rich and have a household capable of sustaining thousands yet he can be very lonely and in the dark. This reminiscent of some of his earlier Proverbs (Proverbs 15:16; Proverbs 16:8; Proverbs 28:6)

"...and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness." Sorrow anger and sickness. One in pursuit of other things who has not made the Lord their pleasure will be compassed with many dark moods. Depression, frustration, anger, sickness etc... While the righteous will suffer for sure they, unlike the unrighteous, will be delivered from them all (Psalm 34:17; Psalm 34:19)