00:00 Bible Reading with the Byrds

00:44 Overview of Ecclesiastes

01:45 Authorship and Context

03:18 Themes of Vanity and Wisdom

12:00 Life's Cyclical Nature

14:10 The Value of Companionship

15:29 Gratitude and Enjoyment

18:16 Conclusion and Prayer

Find out more about Compass Bible Church.

Learn more about our Bible Reading Plan.

Questions or Comments? Email us podcast@compassntx.org

Hey, do you remember that song that the bird sang?

2

Not the Bird's Out Your

Window, the Birds, B-Y-R-D-S.

3

They sang this song and

here's what they said.

4

To everything.

5

Turn turn.

6

There is a season turn turn, and a

time to every purpose under heaven.

7

A time to be born.

8

A time to die.

9

A time to plant.

10

A time to reap.

11

A time to kill.

12

A time to heal.

13

A time to laugh.

14

A time to weep to everything.

15

Turn turn.

16

Okay.

17

You probably know the song I just

quoted, and maybe you're singing

18

it at this point, but the point is.

19

This song is exactly

from our Bible reading.

20

This is what we're talking about here.

21

The birds.

22

Were inspired by the Book of

Ecclesiastes to write about the vanity.

23

This is the word that the

preacher uses of life.

24

I.

25

So let's dive into Ecclesiastes today.

26

In fact, we're gonna be in, in this

book both today and tomorrow, which

27

is a lot of territory to cover

in such a short period of time.

28

We're not gonna be able to spend as

much time in this book as I would

29

like, but there's so much in it.

30

There's just so much.

31

I know I say this all the time, but I

mean it, there's things here that you

32

gotta see and so I would love for you to.

33

At least stroll through it.

34

Maybe not speed read.

35

I know sometimes we have to get

the reading done and we don't

36

wanna shortchange ourselves,

and so we just get it done.

37

But this is one of those

books to spend time in.

38

There's so much wisdom here.

39

This is part of our wisdom literature.

40

In fact, the wisdom literature

is a section in the Old Testament

41

where the whole purpose was

to give wisdom to the reader.

42

And Ecclesiastes, even though

it's in the same genre as the

43

Proverbs reads very differently, it

comes across something of like a.

44

A kymera.

45

It's the opposite side.

46

It's the yin and yang.

47

It's the dark, contrasted to the light.

48

Now, even though the wisdom is the same

in that it's from God, it's a different

49

angle on the wisdom, and so it's important

that you read this with some awareness.

50

First of all, let's start with the title.

51

The Ecclesiastes refers to the preacher.

52

It's a title that comes from

the Greek, which also comes from

53

the Latin Vulgate, and it refers

to the person who's preaching.

54

And so you'll get that from verse

one here, the words of the preacher.

55

This is what the book is named after.

56

Who is the preacher?

57

It seems pretty clear that

the preacher is King Solomon.

58

He says here in verse one, the

words of the preacher, the son

59

of David King in Jerusalem.

60

And if you skip on down to verse 12,

it says here, I the preacher, have

61

been king over Israel and Jerusalem.

62

And if you move on to chapter 12.

63

Verse nine, in particular,

chapter 12, verse nine.

64

In the book of Ecclesiastes, it

says this, besides being wise.

65

The preacher also taught the people

knowledge weighing and studying and

66

arranging many proverbs with great care.

67

And so it seems based on the clues that

we have, that King Solomon is the best

68

suited to be the author behind this work.

69

Now, I'll tell you this, there's other

people that think we can't know for sure.

70

We don't know if it's Solomon

or someone who's just writing

71

in the tradition of Solomon.

72

There's guesses about who else it.

73

PO might possibly be, but it seems

easiest and most simple to say.

74

This is probably Solomon.

75

We have good reason to think that.

76

And unless we have something compelling

to the contrary, maybe we'd consider that.

77

But King Solomon is the best idea here.

78

Now it seems that King Solomon might've

written this sometime later in life.

79

Earlier in life.

80

He's young, he spry, he has

his kingdom ahead of him.

81

He's doing good things,

but then things change.

82

He lives life.

83

He has a couple years under his

belt, maybe a few gray hairs on

84

his head underneath his crown,

and now he's reflecting more

85

carefully about the way life works.

86

And this extended meditation in

the book of Ecclesiastes is his

87

thinking about how life is vain.

88

It's vanity.

89

The word itself means vapor,

but it has a richer meaning

90

than just one single approach.

91

In fact Dr.

92

MacArthur in one of his writing

suggests that there's three meanings

93

of the word vanity life under the sun.

94

And he says, number one,

the word can mean fleeting.

95

That is something that's here

for a moment and then gone for

96

a long time, maybe forever.

97

So fleeting, the first one.

98

Secondly, the vanity of life

in a fallen world or life

99

under the sun can mean futile.

100

In other words, it's pointless.

101

You're trying to do something,

but it doesn't change anything.

102

So fleeting, futile.

103

And finally, the last

one it's full of mystery.

104

Yeah, so the vanity of life in a

fallen world means that things are

105

fleeting, futile, and full of mystery.

106

It's hard to understand what God is doing

in all the ways that life plays itself

107

out in life and death, and riches and

poverty and all the things in between.

108

I.

109

An honest person will look at life

and say, man, things are so complex.

110

It's hard to make sense of how life works.

111

And it's hard to discern God's hand as he

navigates through all of human history.

112

God is always and everywhere operating

actively in the lives of all of his

113

people, not to mention the life of

everybody who lives on planet Earth.

114

He governs the trees and

the rocks and the birds.

115

He governs the weather patterns.

116

He governs every single atom and molecule

that exists down to the smallest cork.

117

We don't know.

118

All that God is doing.

119

At any given moment, we might be aware

of a few things, but Ecclesiastes

120

extends that idea and says, man,

if God's always doing these things,

121

how can we ever know anything?

122

How can we know what God's up to?

123

How can we know what is

gonna happen in the next day?

124

Much less the next year?

125

And so vanity of vanities is his cry,

and he is saying, we can't know what's

126

happening in life, and therefore, because

there's so many twists and turns and

127

so many unpredictable circumstances,

the challenge then is not to let it.

128

Causes to be cynics, but instead

to respond the right way.

129

And that's what this whole book is about.

130

How do I respond to the vanity of life?

131

And that's what's exciting about this

because he gives us so much great wisdom.

132

It's so rich, it's so powerful.

133

I've been reading through it with you.

134

Obviously I'm a little bit ahead of

you, but I've been reading through

135

it and I've been refreshed by what

I've been reading and I've been

136

encouraged by what I've been reading.

137

The book breaks down into roughly

three parts, which I think are helpful.

138

First in chapter one,

verses one through 11.

139

What we have here is basically a prologue.

140

It is his thesis statements.

141

He's making an observation and he's

making an A statement, an assertion

142

about how he understands life to work.

143

He says, the problem is

basically everything is vanity.

144

Everything is full of futility, it's

fleeting and it's full of mystery.

145

We can't understand, we

don't know what God is up to.

146

That's part one.

147

Part two is the proof.

148

These are all the proof statements.

149

That all is vanity.

150

And so chapter one, verse 12, all

the way through chapter six, today's

151

reading is basically his observations.

152

It's his thinking about how things end up

being vain, how it all ends up, showing

153

that everything is essentially vanity.

154

And finally in part three,

which you'll read tomorrow,

155

is chapters seven through 12.

156

This is the prescription where everything

leading up to it, he alludes to his point,

157

chapter seven through 12 is him giving

you an extended teaching about how to

158

live with vanity, how to respond to it.

159

But I'll point out to you all the

ways that he leads up to that in the

160

first six chapters, six chapters.

161

Okay, so with that said, let's

make our way briefly through these

162

first six chapters, chapter one.

163

Most of it is his thesis statement

about the fallenness and the

164

brevity and the vanity of life.

165

He says here in verse two, vanity

of vanities says the preacher

166

vanity of vanities all is vanity.

167

What is man gain by all the toil

at which he toils under the sun?

168

In other words, everything that you do is

eventually just gonna go into the ground.

169

It's all for Naugh.

170

Ultimately you and I

know that's not the case.

171

We're not laboring for life under the sun.

172

And I guess, let me, this is important

for you to hear at the front end of this.

173

He's talking about life under the sun,

life in a fallen world, and even a

174

lot of this is him focusing on life

apart from the influence of God.

175

And so he's making an

as an assertion here.

176

Life without God is drab.

177

It's vain, it's pointless.

178

It's futile.

179

And he says, there's

nothing new under the sun.

180

This is how life has always been.

181

This is how life is gonna continue to go.

182

And this is the problem that he asserts

to us and we need to deal with that.

183

Is this really the best

way to look at life?

184

And so he says all his

vanity, this is the problem.

185

And verses 12 through the end of

chapter one, he says, basically, I

186

set myself on a mission to discern how

to deal with all this and how to deal

187

with the business that God has given.

188

Man.

189

He says in verse 18, for in much

wisdom is much vation and he who

190

increases knowledge, increases sorrow.

191

He says, the more you learn, the more

you realize there is more to learn

192

and it doesn't resolve your problems.

193

Learning more, becoming more wise

doesn't necessarily make life easier.

194

In fact, in many cases it makes

life harder because you know

195

more and you understand more.

196

And with all of that, learning

and understanding, it creates a

197

heavier burden for you to bear.

198

There's a reason why only God

knows all things at all times

199

because man could not handle it.

200

It's good to be learned.

201

It's good to be wise.

202

It's good to pursue greater understanding.

203

But he says here, you gotta be careful

because if you think that's gonna resolve

204

your problems, you're sadly mistaken.

205

In chapter two, he details his

experiences with pursuing pleasure.

206

He details his per her

pursuit of pursuing stuff.

207

And he shows that at the end of

it all, he's got the cars, he's

208

got the house, he's got all of the

great, he's got the lake house.

209

By the Prestige.

210

He's got the lake house by the nice lake.

211

He's got the women, he's got everything.

212

He's got everything modern

man would ever dare want.

213

And he's saying at the end of the

day, I find that it's pointless.

214

It doesn't help, it doesn't satisfy.

215

He says, ultimately, I've gotten

everything I've ever wanted

216

and I don't want any of it.

217

It does not scratch the itch.

218

And so he says in verse nine, I

became great and surpassed all

219

who were before me in Jerusalem.

220

And also my wisdom remained with me.

221

That is, I'm not doing

it in an unhinged way.

222

I am pursuing growth and acquiring

possessions with all my wisdom intact.

223

I'm doing so with full eyes open.

224

He said, whatever my eyes

desired, I did not keep from them.

225

I kept my heart from no pleasure,

from my for my heart, found

226

pleasure in all my toil, and this

was my reward for all my toil.

227

Then I considered that all my hands

had done and the toil that I expended

228

in doing it and behold, all was vanity

and a striving after wind, and there

229

was nothing to be gained under the

sun, and that's the brutal calculus.

230

The solution that he came to

was, this is not worth it.

231

And so then he interests into his strange

section about the vanity of living wisely.

232

You'll see that in your ESV heading,

and here's what he's getting at.

233

Look at verse 14.

234

The wise person has his eyes in

in his head, but the fool walks in

235

darkness, and yet I perceived the

same event happens to all of them.

236

The same event happens to the

wise and the foolish, which is

237

something that we have to confess

even for all of his righteousness.

238

This is not guarantee.

239

That you won't experience the kind of

hardships that all people experience.

240

Death happens to everybody.

241

Bankruptcy can happen to anybody.

242

The death of a spouse

can happen to anybody.

243

Everything happens and God is

orchestrating all these things and

244

Solomon is trying to rely on wisdom

to safeguard him against these things.

245

And he's recognizing wisdom

doesn't get you all that far, at

246

least when it comes to preventing

the major catastrophes of life.

247

He looks at work and he realizes

that work has his benefits.

248

But here's one of his

takeaways here in verse 21.

249

He says, now, because sometimes a person

who has toil with wisdom and knowledge and

250

skill must leave everything to be enjoyed

by someone who did not toil for it.

251

In other words, what am I doing

earning all this money and acquiring

252

all these goods if I just end

up having to give it all away?

253

Verse 24.

254

Here's something that he says that

is actually prescriptive and helpful.

255

He gets into more of this in the second

half of the book, but here's what he says.

256

There's nothing better

for a person than that.

257

He should eat and drink and

find enjoyment in his toil.

258

And this also I saw is from the

hand of God, for apart from him

259

who can eat or have enjoyment

for the one who pleases him.

260

God has given wisdom and knowledge

and joy, but the to the sinner,

261

he has given the business of

gathering and collecting only to

262

give it to the one who pleases God.

263

One of Solomon's major takeaways that

you would be wise to hear right now

264

is that it's good to be thankful and

to rejoice in what you got right now.

265

You might not have everything you want.

266

In fact, you might be limping,

you might be sick, you might be

267

suffering with the loss of some major

thing, and yet Solomon would say,

268

man, be grateful for what you got.

269

Enjoy what you have.

270

Take pleasure in the life

that God has given you.

271

Because the times change and just as

we saw from the birds who sang the song

272

about a time to live and a time to die,

that's where chapter three takes us.

273

There's a time for

everything under the sun.

274

There are seasons, and we

notice this as we get older.

275

Seasons come and seasons go, we see

some patterns, although things tend

276

to change a little bit at least.

277

But he notices there's a season

for everything in this world, a

278

season to live, a season of die, a

season to weep, a season to laugh.

279

All the things.

280

He says, this is the way life

works, and this is the vanity

281

that he's talking about.

282

It's this idea that things

progress over and over again.

283

There's a cyclical nature to life, which

means it's futile, it's fleeting, as we

284

said before, and it's full of mystery.

285

It's hard to understand,

even though there's patterns.

286

The patterns don't always

remain precisely the same.

287

There's always differences

in those things.

288

In verse 11, he says, this is 11

chapter, verse 11, chapter three.

289

He has made everything

beautiful in its time.

290

Also, he has put eternity into man's

heart, and this is another major takeaway.

291

Solomon is pointing to the fact that even

though this life presents plenty of joy,

292

and God is generous with the joy that he

gives us, he's pointing to the fact that

293

because those things don't satisfy, it

shows us that we're actually not meant

294

for this life alone, that we're meant for

the next life, that there's a bigger and

295

better pleasure that awaits us, and it's

not found in acquiring stuff here and now.

296

As good as those things are.

297

In chapter four, he continues making his

observations and in chapter four, starting

298

at verse four, here's what he says.

299

Then I saw that all toil and

all skill and work come from

300

a man's envy of his neighbor.

301

This also is vanity and is

striving after the wind.

302

He notes that many of us are

motivated not by doing good.

303

Even though good is sometimes

there we do good wanna save for our

304

kids' education or we want to build

a house that can host ministry.

305

You want to buy cars that are

reliable to utilize them for

306

ministry events or whatever It says.

307

Many people are motivated.

308

I.

309

By envy, they're keeping

up with the Joneses.

310

That's what Solomon is identifying here.

311

There's a cyclical nature to mankind

in that we look at other people

312

and say I want what they have.

313

I want the same car.

314

I want the same house.

315

I want a bigger house.

316

I want a nicer house.

317

I want nicer clothes.

318

And on it goes.

319

And he says, man, that kind of comparison

is a trap that puts you in a cycle of

320

vanity futility that will hurt you.

321

You don't want to do that.

322

That's not the kind of

life that you should live.

323

In verse nine, he says two are better

than one because they have a good

324

reward for their toil, for if they fall.

325

One will lift up his fellow, but woe

to him who is alone when he falls

326

and has not another to lift him up.

327

It talks about how good it is to have

someone to co-labor with you to have

328

someone who can walk beside you in life.

329

We talked about friendship yesterday.

330

You want someone who

stabs you in the front.

331

That's not precisely his point here,

but there is wisdom and discerning

332

that life is better with people.

333

Loneliness and isolation.

334

Self-inflicted isolation

is so bad for the soul.

335

It shrivels us.

336

We are made for companionship

and we need that.

337

He doesn't say it explicitly

here, but man, relationships,

338

friendships are what make life rich.

339

Chapter five, he says here in

verse one, guard your steps

340

when you go to the house of God.

341

To draw near to, to draw near to

listen is better than to offer.

342

Sacrifice the sacrifice of fools.

343

For they do not know the

evil that they are doing.

344

This is where he makes the case that you

ought to be careful in how you approach

345

God, that you should not presume upon

him, that you should not come with

346

many words, but that you should listen

to what God is saying to you Before

347

you dare offer, speak a word, un.

348

On your behalf.

349

This is the kind of mentality that

says we want a hive view of God.

350

Solomon commends a hive view of

God, a recognition of his loftiness

351

and of our comparable loneliness.

352

And in doing so, it'll help us approach

him rightly, and that's a good thing.

353

He notices I.

354

Second half of chapter five.

355

One of the things he says that I think

is important for you to see here is in

356

verse 18, behold, what I have seen to be

good and fitting is to eat and drink and

357

find enjoyment in all the toil with which

one toils under the sun, the few days

358

of his life that God has given him for.

359

This is his lot.

360

Wherever you are, the food that you have

in your refrigerator, the kind of car you

361

drive, the clothes that you're wearing,

whatever that is, take enjoyment in that.

362

Thank God for the gifts that you have.

363

You have more than a lot of other people.

364

You have so much more than

many people, the world over.

365

And yet for us, so many times, our

hearts are driven by a desire to

366

acquire more and not all of that is bad.

367

Solomon is making the point though,

that if you want to enjoy the good life,

368

recognize you already have it, and that

God has given you far more than what

369

you deserve and therefore you ought

to enjoy the gifts that God has given.

370

Chapter six continues the thought.

371

It says this, there is an evil

that I have seen under the sun

372

and it lies heavy on mankind.

373

Verse two, A man to whom God gives

wealth, possessions, and honor so that

374

he lacks nothing of all that he desires.

375

Yet God does not give him the power to

enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them.

376

This is vanity.

377

It is a grievous evil.

378

And so he's saying, look, again, the

point remains if you want to have the

379

good life instead of striving for more.

380

Enjoy the less that you presently

have, because there is a kind of

381

person who does acquire more and more.

382

They get all the goodies, they get all

the things that they want, and yet they

383

don't enjoy the things that they have.

384

It's almost like they're on a hamster

wheel of acquiring things and yet

385

still never finding it enough,

never being satisfied in the things

386

that they do have is, goes back

to that old that, that old quote.

387

Of John d Rockefeller, when he died,

they asked him they asked his family

388

members how much did he leave behind.

389

And to that, somebody answered all of it.

390

He left all of it behind.

391

There's nothing to take with you.

392

Did he enjoy it?

393

Did he take pleasure in the

wealth that God had given him?

394

John d Rockefeller, as you might

know, was a large contributor

395

to liberalism and Christianity.

396

And so in that sense, it really

wasn't all that good for us.

397

But the point being here, that

there's the kind of person who

398

acquires and doesn't enjoy.

399

And I'd love for you

not to be that person.

400

I'd love for you to be the kind

of person who, wherever God has

401

lift given you wherever God has

placed you, you enjoy those things.

402

The amount of kids that you have the kind

of kids that you have how tall you are,

403

how shapely you are, you know what kind of

food that you have in your refrigerator.

404

Again, whatever it is

that God has given you.

405

Would you please just take a few

moments to thank God for those things.

406

If you've got a spouse,

thank God for your spouse.

407

If you have nice shoes on your feet

right now, you got some comfortable

408

sandals on as you're listening to this.

409

Thank God for those things we could

stand to have a lot more gratitude

410

and joy in the things that God

gives us rather than always and only

411

perhaps striving for the next thing.

412

I've said so much about this, and I

thank you for spending time with me to

413

go through these first six chapters.

414

There's a lot here, a lot that we didn't

talk about and can talk about, but I'd

415

love for you to again, spend some time

stroll through the Ecclesiastes and

416

try to take in what he's talking about.

417

There's so much fun, exciting,

and very interesting points of

418

wisdom here that I would love for

you to ingest and to understand.

419

Okay?

420

That's all I got.

421

I know yesterday I didn't pray.

422

I'm so sorry about that.

423

Let me pray for you now as you make

your way throughout the rest of the day.

424

And God, please help us to understand

the vanity of life the fallenness of

425

life, the futility, the fleetingness,

and the full mystery that life brings.

426

Help us not to be jaded by these things

or to be cynical, but to be grateful, to

427

be a thankful people who see life and give

you honor for that, give you thanks, and

428

that we recognize how good we do have it.

429

Even if life is bad right now, we

still wanna render Thanksgiving to you

430

because that's right and that's good.

431

We thank you for all these things.

432

God, please help us to see you as you are,

to see you as the most valuable treasure

433

that we can possibly own and understand.

434

We ask all this in Jesus name.

435

Amen.

436

Thank you so much.

437

I am honored to do this with you.

438

Thank you for doing this with me.

439

I appreciate it.

440

I appreciate that you tune in.

441

I appreciate that you listen and I

appreciate that you come to our church.

442

In fact, you are part of our church.

443

Thank you for being part of this church.

444

I find it a great joy to be leading

you in this thing called life.

445

With that said, thank you for today.

446

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

447

God willing.

448

Hopefully we're all still here for another

edition of the Daily Bible Podcast.

449

You have a great day.

450

I'll see you then.

451

PJ: thanks for listening to another

edition of the Daily Bible Podcast.

452

This is a ministry of Compass

Bible Church in north Texas.

453

You can find out more information

about ourChurch@compassntx.org.

454

We would love for you to leave a

review to rate to share this podcast

455

on whatever platform you happen to

be listening on, and we will catch

456

you against tomorrow for another

edition of the Daily Bible Podcast.