THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2012
Ecclesiastes and the Death of Solomon
Today’s brief passage marks the end of both Ecclesiastes and our look into the life and wisdom of King Solomon, bringing closure to the history of a unified Israelite kingdom.
After recounting that life’s pursuits, including worldly wisdom itself, are largely meaningless, the Teacher points out that life’s purpose comes mainly in recognizing its center and focus, God Himself. While the world may try to exalt human achievement as central to the universe, we know that any one’ person’s impact on the earth will be fleeting and relatively small.
Yet, God “has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (3:11) God has created humans in His image in a special manner unique from all other creatures. God has placed within us a longing for the eternal, for a greater purpose. He has given us the facility to worship, but, in many cases, we choose to worship the created rather than the Creator. Indeed, the world’s restlessness often stems from this hunger for the eternal and the dissatisfaction that comes from seeking its fulfillment through temporal people or things. The eternal nature of God and His Kingdom provides a backbone of meaning for our daily activities in this temporary sphere: that they might have a value and impact beyond the temporary.
God carries out His will to draw people unto Himself. When we reflect on what God has done, we are drawn to His eternity, which gives life purpose: “I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.” (3:14)
So, the Teacher goads the young: “Remember your Creator/ in the days of your youth... “ (12:1) Knowing God and living in obedience to His commandments will bring true and lasting joy. He has revealed Himself, but we must continue to seek Him out. In his book The Pursuit of God, A. W. Tozer writes:
“I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate [in 1948]. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present[,] or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted....
“The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or, if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things[,] he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose[,] he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately and forever.”
QUESTIONS
- How has God revealed Himself to you this week? How can you give thanks for that?
- When life appears like a grind, how can you step back to recognize the greater purpose of value of God’s eternal purpose?
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