Episode 4: Ecclesiastes pt. 2
Tim and Jon describe the personified Ecclesiastes as someone you would not want to be friends with. He would always tell you the harsh reality of life. The Teacher basically bursts the bubble of everything we heard in Proverbs. He gives examples of three main things that we really need to think about to experience wisdom.
The first thing he discusses is death. All three concepts that Tim and Jon point out are heavy, but death, in general, always feels extremely difficult to discuss. First, my thoughts on dying have always been pretty positive, which I find strange because I have definitely been labeled a worrier. Of course, it makes me sad to think about not being with the people I love and the thought of my death causing others pain would make me hurt. But the worry of dying has never been in my top 10 worries. I believe when it is my time to go, it is my time to go and God already has me and that means I don’t have to worry or try to avoid things or be scared because of all the violence in the world. I just need to focus on the fact that I don’t know when that time is so I should truly cherish the time I have on the earth with the people I love. Now the death of others is harder to comprehend. It hurts because we have to experience it, but it is strange because it is a universal experience. We all experience loss at different times, levels, and in stages. We all grieve.
No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.
Ecclesiastes 1:11
The teacher makes this very apparent in the first chapter that we will all die one day. Our life is hevel, here today, gone tomorrow. No matter what we do in our lives, we will die. Depending on the way you look at that, it can be extremely discouraging. The Teacher also makes a point to say that animals die alongside humans and there seems to be no difference in our fates, from dust to dust.
Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?
Ecclesiastes 3:21
Tim and Jon definitely helped me decipher this verse. Basically, the teacher is saying all living creatures “go to the dirt” and we truly have no concrete proof of what happens after that. As Christians, we can interpret this line with other aspects of the Bible and Jesus’ rising from the dead. This is a candid take on the idea that there is everlasting life. It is easy to question that without faith in Jesus.
The next concept that the teacher discusses is time. I feel like this goes hand in hand with death. We have limited time, The earth continues on through time around us. Our perception of time is so interesting. We can understand time in a way that generations before us never had. In roughly 5 billion years it is predicted that the sun will die. Insane that we know that. The Teacher is only speaking in terms of his own experience 2500 years ago. He is basically saying that from our vantage point, nature, compared to humans, is steady and “ever-present”. It’s crazy to wrap our brains around time. My opinion is we are not supposed to. Our lifetimes on earth are so insignificantly small in comparison to the 5 billion more years that apparently the sun will be alive for.
1Remember your Creator
Ecclesiastes 12:1-4
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”— 2before the sun and the light
and the moon and the stars grow dark,
and the clouds return after the rain; 3when 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; 4when 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;
In chapter 12, aging is discussed. All our years of youth and enjoyment are hevel. We will all age and the teacher uses a honestly extremely depressing description of the final years of life to say that we should delight in our youth while we can. I am only 24 and as I age, I notice that each year goes a little faster and it feels like life is moving at a mile a minute and It gets harder and harder to stop and relish in the small things. I am young, I am independent, I am blessed. I am going to make it my goal to focus on these things moving forward.
The last concept that is discussed in Ecclesiastes is Chance.
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.
Ecclesiastes 9:11
Proverbs tells us that we can do all these things to live in a way that honors God and in turn, we should in turn be able to enjoy a life that is constantly full of blessings and love. Essentially Ecclesiastes is saying, especially in this verse, that this is not guaranteed. Tim and Jon talked about how this does not mean that God is not good. It just means that God has a way of orchestrating, allowing, and using everything in life that does not necessarily fit the Proverbs equation.
We as Christians are then left with the challenge to reckon with this fact. I know I am not alone in finding this extremely hard. What do you mean I can work very hard to do everything right and still not get everything that I want or even anything that I want?
I think this is what makes faith in God so absolutely wonderful and honestly necessary to not go insane. What I love about God is as I have been reading more of the bible and listening to these podcasts and going to church on Sundays, everything I hear and read connects almost exactly to what I need in that moment. I realized something two weekends ago that has brought me immense peace and it probably sounds crazy to people who know how anxious I normally am but it’s true.
I do not have to worry about anything in life.
Truly, worrying does not benefit me in any way because no matter how much I worry or cling to an idea or hope for something, that does not mean it is going to happen. Yes, to a degree I make my own decisions, but as long as I am making these decisions with God at the center of my life, why would I stress? Everything is in His hands. I am not in control at all. Right after I had this realization, I had two meetings at work that didn’t go well. Did I cry and feel disappointed, of course, but I didn’t let these things ruin my day. I was able to recognize that God prepared me for these last two weeks and I was going to be okay, no matter what because my faith is in Jesus.
My goal moving forward is to let go of any situations that are out of my control and instead lean more into my faith. I can’t tell you how at peace I feel. I am not worried about if someone wants me in their life because if God has decided they are going to be there then they will. If I am meant to be hired for a job, it is going to happen, and all I need to do is continue applying. My only job is to do my best to make God-centered decisions and trust that He has the rest taken care of. How beautiful is that?
15Everyone 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. 16This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind? 17All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger.
Ecclesiastes 5:15-17
This is very much an Eastern piece of literature and as Tim and Jon discuss it is so interesting that all of these ideas discussed are framed in this way “We are all gonna die and everything is hevel and we work so hard but have no guarantees in the way our life goes” This can be seen in verses 15 through 17 in chapter 5 above. Then the teacher completely changes tone and says “So enjoy your life” which you can see below in verse 18.
18This 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.
Ecclesiastes 5:18
It is so necessary to take both of these perspectives and hold them with each other to be able to appreciate and make it through life. This is our lot, we have been given life and breath from God, we have no control and we should sit in the recognition that these things we take for granted mostly in times of hardship are such giant blessings. I don’t think this means we can’t be upset or sad about our life circumstances. I believe that it allows us to have fear and humility for God and his decisions and choices that we usually do not understand.
“We scarcely ever think of the present, and when we do it is only to take light from it to arrange the future. The present is never our end. The past and the present our means. The future alone is our end. And so we truly never live but rather hope to live. And as we are always preparing to be happy, it is inevitable that we should never be so.”
Blaise Pascal
We need to take the time to stop and focus on the present. This quote actually reminded me of something Jeremiah said at the 11 am service at Seven Mile Road this weekend. He quoted Kosuke Koyama talking about how love moves at 3 mph.
“Love has its speed. It is a spiritual speed. It is a different kind of speed from the technological speed to which we are accustomed. It goes on in the depth of our life, whether we notice or not, at three miles an hour. It is the speed we walk and therefore the speed the love of God walks.”
― Kosuke Koyama, Three Mile an Hour God: Biblical Reflections
He said this to relate to how we are all struggling with our own things and if we just slowed down and recognized that we could all love each other more and better. I think this can also relate to slowing down and being in the present. I am sure I could say more about these ideas but I truly just wanted to connect them and recognize the theme of slowing down.
At the end of Ecclesiastes, the author comes back in and discusses the Teacher’s words.
9Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 10The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.
Ecclesiastes 12:9-12
11The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd. 12Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.
Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.
Tim and Jon, discuss how the author wants to acknowledge that this was painful to hear, but just as much as it was painful, it was also necessary. The author also warns us not to take these thoughts any further or lean into the existential crisis of these thoughts. Almost like leading us to a cliff, telling us this is the end, but telling us not to jump over the cliff, because it will destroy us.
13Now all has been heard;
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
14For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
In the conclusion of Ecclesiastes, the author says this in the last two verses. No matter what has been said, God is using us for good. We are accountable for our actions even though they may not have a guaranteed outcome in our lifetimes. However, our main takeaway from this book is to fear God and even though life is hevel now, God will remove the hevel, and make all things clear in His time.
Next week we are going to look at Job, who sits in the same place as Ecclesiastes, but examines what these things mean about God rather than what it means for us. Excited to keep learning more about this.
Thank you for reading!
Who Invited Sarah? 
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