Ecclesiastes 1-2
Dear RTB’ers,
Ecclesiastes is one of my favorite books in the Bible. In a sense, how could it not be? Proverbial. Entertaining. Spiritual. Challenging. To me, it’s the Proverbs and more! But for me, it goes further. When I returned to college after 4.5 years between my first and second year, I had an option to include an Old Testament / New Testament sequence in fulfillment of my Humanities requirement. I had no particular desire to read the great British and American literary works anyhow, especially when I could read and study the greatest book ever written. So when it came to my OT course, I did my semester paper on Ecclesiastes – all this in 1972, three years before I was born again in May 1975. So yeah, Ecclesiastes is special to me!
The Preacher. Who is he, really? The first verse tells us that “the Preacher” is Solomon, although he is not mentioned by name, but referred to as, the son of David, king in Jerusalem (Ecc. 1:1; see also Ecc. 1:12). But scholars disagree. An online source suggested that a wise, unknown author “…intended that the book should give honour to Solomon. And he wanted his readers to learn lessons from Solomon’s life.” But this book does not use Solomon’s name. (See, for example, Ecc. 8:2; 9:15, 10:20.)
Two verses capture the essence of today’s reading: And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. (vv. 2:10-11) See also additional occurrences of the word “vanity” in Ecc. 1:2, 14, and in today’s second chapter, Ecc. 2:1, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 26.
So, in vain we read on? NO! Absolutely not! We read the author’s words and ask God for His wisdom, to apply these words to our lives today. But also, let’s enjoy some lighthearted reading for this next week! Yes, ENJOY!!
Blessings!
See also: