Ecclesiastes

General Christian Theology
lesterb
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Re: Ecclesiastes

Post by lesterb »

Wisdom is a Choice (ECC 12:13, 14)
Let’s look at Solomon’s conclusion. After all the twists and turns we have taken in this book, the conclusion seems rather over-simplified.

Fear God and keep his commandments.

Why? He gives two reasons. First it is the duty of man to do this. And second, judgment is coming, and God will examine your every act, whether good or bad, and whether people have seen them or not. So, get out your Bible and make a list of everything God wants you to do or not do. Follow that list to a tee and you’ll be fine. Right?

People like lists and formulas. Then they don’t need to think for themselves. That is why legalism is so common. It takes the stress out of life because either God or the preachers have done your thinking for you and all you need to do is follow the instructions. It helps the church leaders too, because all they need to do is read the applicable rule to you. As a friend of mine says, it really cuts down on the late nights for them!

Well, I hope you recognize that for the sarcasm it is intended to be. Life just isn’t that simple. So, let’s look at this conclusion a little closer.

What does it mean to fear God? Serving God has always been a choice. It is a choice that has consequences, but the person who obeys the rules simply because of the consequences doesn’t really understand what God wants. First, such people seldom have any loyalty to the authority that they “obey.” In fact, if they were certain that they wouldn’t be found out, they would often have no compunction against disobeying.

When God first created man, it appears that He wanted someone He could fellowship with. Someone who would be His friend, and be loyal to Him. Yes, God made some rules, but God put them in place for man’s protection, not to be a hardship.

God is still looking for this kind of a relationship with men and women. He must be very disappointed when people try to serve him from a checklist, or set of rules, rather than trying to get to know Him and understand what He wants of them. I believe that the idea of fearing God goes much beyond being terrified of him or scared that he will punish you if you take a misstep.

We’ve already introduced what it means to keep His commandments. No matter how hard you tried, you could never be perfect enough or obedient enough to work your way into heaven. Jesus said, in the New Testament, that the greatest of the commandments was to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.” The second commandment was similar, He added, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” In fact, “on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” In other words, these two commandments summarized all the rest.

Love is one of those things that you can’t fake. You’ve either got it, or you don’t. If you don’t, you can’t really fear God and keep His commandments. I don’t know if Solomon understood that or not. Maybe the Holy Spirit revealed the words to him and he wrote them down.

I hope he did understand. I hope you do too.
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Josh
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Re: Ecclesiastes

Post by Josh »

lesterb,

I feel like I've gotten a book from you for free! This has been really great stuff. I hope you keep writing.
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lesterb
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Re: Ecclesiastes

Post by lesterb »

Another quote...
From Solomon's perspective, creation was stuck in one gigantic circle of meaningless cycles. Someone, once upon a time, had flipped a switch that started the universe in motion, then left it to its misery. Unless the universe malfunctioned or wore out, nature and man would continue forever, caught in a senseless, meaningless, perpetual motion machine with no escape route but death.
Does this remind anyone else of evolution?
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lesterb
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Re: Ecclesiastes

Post by lesterb »

No, Josh, I'm not going to give you the whole book for free. 8-)

I'm just trying to whet your appetite. Hopefully you'll want to buy it if I can get it published. Right now I'm talking to the Canadian branch of this publisher.
So, in this passage, Solomon points out the uselessness of creativity, something that he especially enjoyed. Do you want to write a book? It’s already been written by someone else, and he’s done a better job at it than you ever could. Besides, that book has already been forgotten and so has its author. The same thing will happen to you. It’s no use trying to create something new or beautiful. No one will appreciate it. You’re just wasting your time. You’re just a part of the meaningless cycle the universe is stuck in.
That's my "paraphrase" of Ecc 1:9-11.
I'm working my way through one last edit of the entire project.
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lesterb
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Re: Ecclesiastes

Post by lesterb »

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Bootstrap
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Re: Ecclesiastes

Post by Bootstrap »

In modern everyday German, lassen means "to let something go", gelassen means "having let it go", and Gelassenheit is the quality of having let it go - both dictionaries I looked at translate this as coolness, calmness, composure.

Trust requires letting it go, letting God decide, "your will be done". And trust also chooses to believe that God exists and rewards those who earnestly seek him - God will not betray our trust. Because we can trust God, we can "let it go" and obey, leaving it in his hands. And that leads to calmness and composure that we don't have when we try to keep everything in our own hands.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon has let it go.
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Is it biblical? Is it Christlike? Is it loving? Is it true? How can I find out?
lesterb
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Re: Ecclesiastes

Post by lesterb »

Just in case anyone is interested....

I just got a call from CFP and they have accepted my manuscript on Ecclesiastes. They would also be very interested in seeing more of my work. :clap:

This will be sort of a trial run to see how self-publishing works out for me.
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Bootstrap
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Re: Ecclesiastes

Post by Bootstrap »

Congratulations, Lester! If your posts in this thread are any indication, this is a book I will want to read.
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Is it biblical? Is it Christlike? Is it loving? Is it true? How can I find out?
lesterb
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Re: Ecclesiastes

Post by lesterb »

Bootstrap wrote:Congratulations, Lester! If your posts in this thread are any indication, this is a book I will want to read.
Thanks, I'll post a link once we get that far.

I'm playing around with a personal web site. You can check it out here. It's not finished, as you will notice. I'm using dreamhost's remixer to build it and it's pretty basic, but at least I can get something up and running.
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MaxPC
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Re: Ecclesiastes

Post by MaxPC »

Good news indeed, Lester. :up: :clap:
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Max (Plain Catholic)
Mt 24:35
Proverbs 18:2 A fool does not delight in understanding but only in revealing his own mind.
1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God
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