The Strand Study Bible

ECCLESIASTES ECCLESIASTES leave it to those who did not earn it. Note Solomon’s thought concerning this (vs 22-23): “If labor cannot provide man with the key to what really profits, where then may a man look?” The answer to Solomon’s question is found back in Gen. 4:1-9/ Heb. 11:4 . 2:24 In chapter 1 Solomon warns us not to get too caught up in toiling over the temporal. In chapter two he explains why: 1. You can’t take the temporal ($) with you (vs 15-17). 2. You’ll probably end up leaving the temporal ($) to some foolish relative who will misspend it (vs 18-19) To leave the fruit of one’s labor to one who may well “waste the accrued profits” constitutes one of life’s most bitter disappointments; and although Solomon himself never “enjoyed” what he attempted to teach us here (Eccl 2:9-11), still, he urged us to embrace it. NOTE - Because Solomon worked his entire life just to live better, he never “enjoyed” his work, i.e., the fruit of his labor. God wants us to learn to pause and to enjoy the moment that our labors bring us (Eccl 3:13,22 & 5:12,18-19 & 8:15). According to God, man should be motivated by the brevity of his own life and thus learn to enjoy the day at hand (Psa 90:9-12). And what’s in a day? What you eat and drink, of course. Paul reminded us in I Timothy 6:8: And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. According to Ecclesiastes 9:7, God approves of the enjoyment of life, as long as it’s one day at a time and you’re trying to help people around you (Acts 20:34-35 and Eph 4:28). If you knew that all you had was today, would you care about tomorrow? James put it this way in James 4:14-16: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. If we are to learn to live before its time to die, then we need to learn to enjoy the day (the fruit of our labor), not the dollar . 2:25 Solomon said that nobody had more freedom to eat or hasten hereunto more than he did (more than I). 2:26a Ungodliness is its own punishment ( but to the sinner he giveth travail ). 2:26b When God allows wicked men to prosper, it is with design ( that he may give to him what is good ) that He does so. 3:1a God has a sovereign design behind all events ( every thing ), especially the significant ones (vs 2-8). The reason God gets involved in allowing storms (every other event in life is a storm – a time to die, a time to kill, a time to break down, a time to weep and mourn, a time to lose, a time to rend, a time to hate, a time of war ) into a person’s life is because He has a “purpose” for everything He does (Check out Laura Story’s song called ‘ Blessings ’). 3:1b According to God, life is “seasonal.” Sometimes it’s warm and fuzzy while other times it is cold and hostile. Like the changing seasons of the year, our LORD comes with showers of blessings only to quickly depart and leave us with the dryness of difficulties (Deut 26:5). Although His faithfulness to us never changes, His seasons do. God’s people would be wise to recognize that. Paul reminded Pastor Timothy in II Timothy 4:2: Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season (in other words, “Don’t change”)… Timothy was not to allow the different seasons of life to affect his service for God. Christians who have learned not to be affected by the seasons of life have learned to become “season-less” Christians. Again, life at best is seasonal and humans put far too much stock in this life. James said in James 4:14: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life ? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. Everyone knows someone who worked hard all their life just so they could retire early and enjoy the rest of their life. Then, without warning, they died, leaving their “hard earned” life behind them for someone else to enjoy (Lk 12:16-21). God longs for us to learn to enjoy living, not life. He wants us to learn to accept the life He’s given us, not the life we want to give ourselves. Solomon failed to accept the life God gave him (and God gave him a pretty good life). However, Solomon always wanted more than what he was given, and the more life he wanted the less he really lived. By the end of his life Solomon realized the mistake he had made, but it was too late. Unlike the Apostle Paul who had learned to live the life God gave him (Phil 4:11-13 and II Cor 11:24-30), Solomon was not content with just living. No matter where we find ourselves in life, its not life we should be striving for, but living. THE ADAGE IS TRUE: We are to celebrate living, not life NOTE - If we are to learn to live before its time to die, then we need to learn to be content with the life God’s given us. 3:1c According to Solomon, time (vs 1) and the seasons (vs 2-8), which are governed by time , affect our activities. Thus, any sense of control that we might think we have here on earth is simply an illusion. Why? Because God controls time and time controls us. According to its definition, time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects. 1 Simply put, time is what clocks measure. Lee Iacocca, the 18th greatest American CEO of all time, who also engineered the Ford Mustang, once said: If you want to make good use of your time, you’ve got to know what’s most important and then give it all you’ve got. 2 In other words, we don’t want to count every hour in the day; we want to make every hour in the day count. And if we are wise, we will spend it for something that will outlast it. C.S. Lewis in Screwtape Letters notes: 1011

THERE IS A LEGEND about Satan and his imps planning their strategy for attacking the world that’s hearing the message of salvation. One of the demons says, “I’ve got the plan, master. When I get on the earth and take charge of