As I prepared for this lesson, reading, and contemplating all that it might mean to us today, my internet became sketchy. I need to check a few other things and then I needed to write, paste in scripture, while the internet in my house flickered in and out. Frustration, anger, despair all mingled into one big emotional bag. Perhaps one that fit the picture presented by King Solomon depicting the utter futility and waste our lives may seem at moments. There in those pages he, the wisest man to ever live (concerning human things) admits himself a fool. No wonder he used the pseudonym of Preacher instead of King Solomon. Or some says the translation is better philosopher. That name would fit as well. Certainly, today I too felt more the desperation of a fool.
Life if filled with constant change, yet all the same emotions of highs and lows. We seek for eternity, goodness, peace, joy, and hope. Yet, it seems for every step forward, there are rocks or even boulders in our way. Our hearts, hands, and bodies racked with pains we never thought would come. Scars that dig deep within. Perhaps, we too could feel these words penetrate deep within our own souls as well. We battle against the inevitable aging. The whole human race running toward something, only to find nothing there. That is nothing there apart from Jesus Christ. Indeed, we long for that which we cannot fully comprehend. Our desires are for eternity with God; although all too often we fail to recognize that truth and try to fill that longing with everything else.
The Wisest Man
J. Vernon McGee wrote:
“the wisdom God gave Solomon was a little different from what we think it was. We imagine that he was given spiritual insight; but Scripture does not tell us that he even asked for that. He had prayed: ‘Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?’ (I kings 3:9).
Apparently, God gave him what he asked for: wisdom to rule. He was wise in political economy and probably did a marvelous job of ruling the nation. He brought in a era of peace. Other nations of the world went there to study and to behold the wisdom of Solomon. He gave a testimony for God thought the temple with the altar where sacrifice was made for sinners. These were some of the things that the Queen of Sheba learned when she came from the ends of the earth. But in the area of spiritual discernment, Solomon was probably nil.”
This was something I had wondered about before. How did the wisest man to ever live, make such foolish decisions spiritually? But is that not always true of human wisdom? It will always fall short of God’s wisdom. Perhaps that is why 1 Corinthians 1:27 says, “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty,”
The Wisest Man And Fatalism’s Cry
To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
2 A time [a]to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
4 A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
7 A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
8 A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace. Ecclesiastes 3 NKJV
Solomon wrote this as a fatalistic ideology that nothing mankind does can ever matter. However, these words have been embraced since then by philosophers and even became a popular song sung by The Byrds during the time of the sexual revolution and hippie movement. Drugs, alcohol, self-fulfillment of desires with no inhibitions was the thought. Since we have no control of tomorrow, might as well get the most pleasure out of every moment today with no thought of tomorrow. Sadly, sometimes I see this same ideology rampant today throughout our world. This monotony and powerlessness should cause us to look to God. Instead of running so far from Him, we should run to Him instead. For it is God who placed the desire of eternity within our hearts and He only can satisfy the longings of our hearts.
The Wise Man (with human wisdom) is Truly the Fool without God
J. Vernon McGee so nailed it when he wrote:
“Man has tried to be happy without God; it is being tried every day by millions of people. This book (Ecclesiastes) shows the absurdity of the attempt. Solomon was the wisest of men and he had a wisdom that was God-given. He tried every field of endeavor and pleasure that was known to man, and his conclusion was that all is vanity. The word vanity means ‘empty, purposeless.’ Satisfaction in life can never be attained in this manner.
God showed Job, a righteous man, that he was a sinner in God’s sight. In Ecclesiastes God showed Solomon, the wisest man that he was a fool in God’s sight.”
Then Why Try?
9 What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? 10 I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:
If we cannot find it, then why? Ah, but you see really we can. For God said,
29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in [a]distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice Deuteronomy 4
12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; ( Jeremiah 29)
Psalm 145:
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
9 The Lord is good to all,
And His tender mercies are over all His works.
10 All Your works shall praise You, O Lord,
And Your saints shall bless You.
11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom,
And talk of Your power,
12 To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts,
And the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all [f]generations.
14 The Lord upholds all who fall,
And raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
And You give them their food in due season.
16 You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways,
Gracious in all His works.
18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them.
20 The Lord preserves all who love Him,
Concluding Thoughts
The wisest man is but a fool without God. Our wisdom is futile unless we turn our lives and hearts over to God Himself. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. Let us seek Him with all our hearts. As Paul spoke in Athens, as recorded in Acts 17
24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one [j]blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’
29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
DO YOU KNOW CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR AND LORD?
If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord: I urge you to go to my page titled How to Be Saved by clicking on this link. There is nothing more important than this; because He is the way, the truth and the life. Therefore, I urge you to seek Him today.
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©Effie Darlene Barba, 2021
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. Furthermore, I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned except for my own books. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
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