Let's read through a very precise and insightful summary of the book of Ecclesiastes, all while we dig in to the very first chapter of this book. Take it for its face value and lets try to decipher what King Solomon was reflecting on at the end of his life - Keyword is TRY!

All right, everyone, welcome back

to another episode of I Cans.

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He Can.

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My name is Rai and I am your

host, and today we are starting

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a brand new Sound Minds series.

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We are going to be reading through the

book of Ecclesiastes, and as you guys

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know, I have not read the Bible in full.

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Okay.

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I started, as I mentioned, probably

in the beginning of the podcast.

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I started with Genesis all the way

through Deuteronomy, and then I slowly

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made my way into different books as

I started doing Bible studies with my

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old church and with several friends.

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So now that I have ventured off

into different books, you guys know

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that we went through Ephesians.

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I did Philippians, with one of my.

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Friends, ISIS who was

doing her own Bible study.

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and thereafter I read I think

maybe one or two other books

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I'm currently reading, Joe.

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And I just finished Ecclesiastes,

obviously, but I really enjoyed this book

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even though I read it about three times

because it was very, very confusing to me.

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I wanted to make sure that I did.

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Bring it to your attention, and I want you

guys to actually read it for yourselves

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just because one of the biggest points of

life, in my opinion, is what King Solomon

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is talking about in this very book.

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So I find it very, very, very

interesting, um, the way that it was

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written, the things that he says,

the experiences that he shares.

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And I truly hope that you guys go

into it for yourselves and that

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you're able to decipher a lot

of the things that he's writing.

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'cause in my opinion, he's a

very poetic writer, which is

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extremely different than Paul.

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And you know that in Ephesians,

everything was pretty straightforward,

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pretty easy to understand.

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So that's not really the case with

Ecclesiastes, and I think that's

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in part why I truly did not have

an easy time understanding it.

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But I don't want that to make you guys

not read it because at the end of the

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day, the message that is in this book

is probably thus far the most relatable.

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And the most accurate current day

piece of wisdom that you guys can

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have and take in keeping your arsenal

of, bible verses and, and all of that.

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So I do wanna share this with you.

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Um, and before I begin.

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I need to read the summary for you guys.

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because this book was a bit confusing to

me, I think you guys could benefit from

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a summary of what the book is about and

how it's written, or at least how most,

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um, you know, Bible scholars interpret it.

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So I really think it's important

to read the introduction

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and so that you guys know.

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I'm actually going through

my Bible here, so if you hear

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the pages, that's what it is.

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My bible is the Thomas Nelson, NKJV,

new King James version, and it's

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the word study, reference Bible.

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So I'm not plagiarizing anything.

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I'm not claiming any of.

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Introduction as my own.

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I am simply reading it straight from the

book because it is very useful and I think

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you guys can truly, truly benefit from

listening to what this book is about.

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So the book of the Ecclesiastes

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The in summary says,

Ecclesiastes Chronicles.

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What happens when a person goes

through life with disregard for God?

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Honestly, sharing how the

experiment unfolded and ended.

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Then it continues to say

how to study Ecclesiastes.

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Now this is very important.

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I know I read this, but I truly didn't

pay too much attention to it, so I really

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hope that you guys can benefit from this.

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And it says.

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It is either the greatest social

experiment ever or the most

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depressing diary ever kept.

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Either way, Ecclesiastes gives us

pictures of life's meaninglessness

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if we travel it without God.

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And it also reveals how meaningful

all pursuits become when we put God.

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In the driver's seat,

rather than go it alone.

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Ecclesiastes is so

mysterious and misunderstood.

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It truly is.

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It's difficult even to classify, including

it in the category of Bible books.

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Labeled wisdom seems like a cruel

joke, but Ecclesiastes simply

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gives truth from the sad side.

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It's very, very true.

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You guys will come to see that

very quickly in this book.

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The tradition tells us that Solomon wrote

Ecclesiastes evidence includes the author

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identifying himself as the son of David

in chapter one, verse one and referencing

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quote, more wisdom than all who were

before, and quote, and descriptions

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of pursuits that match Solomon's life

seemed to make it match from him.

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And I have this next sentence circled

on here 'cause I found it truly helpful.

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And it says, but certain phrases

such as chapter one verse 16,

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implying many kings before when

only David and SA preceded Solomon.

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Make some linguistic scholars debate

whether Solomon could be the author.

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So apparently some scholars seem

to think that he may have not been

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the author, he was the author.

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So there is some confusion on

there, but based on what I know in

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reading Proverbs and Psalms, I'm

pretty sure that he is the author.

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That's just my opinion.

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But anyway, we continue on and it

says, Ecclesiastes isn't a book

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that can be taken at face value.

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I clearly.

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I clearly skipped over the sentence

because it says again, Ecclesiastes isn't

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a book that can be taken at face value.

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I think that's probably why I struggled

so much, because I was taking everything

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so literal, being used to reading Paul's

letters I was so used to that penmanship

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that when I started reading Ecclesiastes,

it really was like I got hit by a train.

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It was so hard for me to understand,

so I really did not pay attention

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to that one sentence here.

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Ecclesiastes is a book that

can be taken at face value.

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It must be read in

context without context.

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Certain statements are true.

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Some have true and some out of

context are downright false.

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Of course, the book is true, but God's

truth comes through most clearly.

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When you understand

the nature of the book.

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Consider the following points

to prepare you to glean the

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life lessons from Ecclesiastes.

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So this is one of the points.

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The main message is at the end.

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Okay, so today we're gonna read

chapter one, and there are about,

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there are actually 12, I'm sorry.

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There are 12 chapters in this book.

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So it says here.

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That the main message is at the end.

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So we're going to read chapter one, and

you guys are not gonna have the main

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message until all the way in chapter 12,

but I'm pretty sure that by chapter two or

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three you guys are going to understand the

big picture of what Solomon is trying to

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say here and then this continues and says.

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No, you cannot skip to the last chapter

before you read everything else.

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Well, you can, but you'll

miss the full picture.

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Just know that the majority of the

book, particularly the first half,

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is often dreary and depressing.

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However, this ultimately brings

more richness to the book's

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concluding message, then it says.

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Consider this an old man

looking back on his life.

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You know how sometimes things that seemed

fun at the time turn around to be a huge

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mistake or a total collapse of judgment?

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Assuming the author is Solomon, as

many do, it makes sense to picture old

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Solomon ready to record his completely

honest year after the fact open

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book assessment of his flawed past.

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You'll probably see someone who you

know in this book, maybe yourself.

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the author, had it all,

money, time, power, prestige,

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intelligence, and unending bravado.

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Nobody told him what to do or how

to do it or that he shouldn't do it.

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If they did, he didn't listen and he

gave himself fully to every single thing.

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The world Promise would bring joy, but

none of that worked out as promised.

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So I think you guys should pay

attention to that one sentence.

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And he gave himself fully to every

single thing that the World's

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promise would bring joy, but none

of that worked out as promised.

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Very important key point there.

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Then it continues to say,

this isn't Proverbs, take two.

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Assuming Solomon wrote both

books, we might expect to see

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similar expressions of wisdom.

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We don't.

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A few of the passages will remind

you of Proverbs, in my opinion.

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They actually remind me a lot of Proverbs.

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So it continues to say Proverbs

provides straight to the point, no

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holds barred honesty about what is wise.

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Ecclesiastes takes you along the

winding path of life before bringing

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you to the wise point at the end.

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Keep in mind that Solomon recorded his

life, his thoughts and his ideas, from

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a time when he wanted to test what God

said against what he personally wanted.

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If you cherry pick from Ecclesiastes,

you may well find yourself

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believing some things that don't

line up with the rest of the Bible.

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As with every verse and book of the

Bible, pay close attention to the context.

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Very important here, continues to

say, the writer asks many questions,

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but comes up with one answer.

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Who am I?

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What do I do with my life?

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What am I here for?

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What's the meaning of all of this?

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These ageless questions are at the

center of the author's search, and

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by the end, you too will understand

the one truth that answers them all.

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You'll be wiser for reading, studying,

understanding, and applying Ecclesiastes,

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maybe not after five minutes.

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I certainly did not feel wiser.

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After five minutes of reading, I

was even more confused than I had

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ever been reading the Bible, but.

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It is totally worth it and it continues to

say you'll be wiser by reading, studying,

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understanding, and applying Ecclesiastes.

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Maybe not after five minutes, but if you

walk through this book, realizing a little

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earlier than the author that this life

we have is not worth living without God.

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And I actually have that circled

is not worth living without God.

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You'll experience everything differently.

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This is a learn from My

Mistakes type of book.

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It surely is you guys truly, truly, truly

is a learn from my mistakes type of book.

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This is a been there, done not

wish I hadn't type of book.

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It's something you should read and

believe before you're old enough to make

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the terrible choices the author made.

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This is a book that should be re-read

by those old enough to know better.

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Save yourself the money, the broken

heart, the disappointment and the

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exasperation of trying the experiment.

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Solomon tried Learn from Ecclesiastes.

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It will lead you straight to God and

to delight in the life that he created.

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Amen to that you guys.

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Amen to that.

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So like I said, we are

going to read chapter one.

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I'm going to highlight

a few things that I had.

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Underlined circled little notes

that I made, but overall, I truly

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hope that you guys read this for

yourself because it is truly, truly a

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confusing but very deep and wise book.

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At the end of the day, this is

all information that we should be

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retaining, that we should be consuming

because we spend so much time making

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bad decisions and bad choices.

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So if we only knew then what we

know now, we would definitely,

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definitely avoid a lot of problems.

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Save ourself, the heartache,

the headaches, all of the above.

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and so let's start with today's

chapter one of Ecclesiastes verse one.

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The words of the preacher, the son of

David, king of Jerusalem, verse two,

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vanity of vanities says the preacher,

vanity of vanities all is vanity.

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I'm already gonna stop for a moment

there you will hear vanity of vanities.

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All is vanity a thousand

times in this book.

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And I will say, just like

the introduction said.

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You need to take things at face value.

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If you are understanding what

you're reading as vanity and

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whatever the definition of it

is, then that's what it is.

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But if you are understanding vanity, being

something evil, or being arrogance or

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being, gluttony or just, wanting to party

and do all these things that, you know,

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Solomon explained, then that's what it is.

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Take it for.

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How they are explaining what vanity is.

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Don't read too much into it.

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If you do, you are definitely

gonna go ahead and derail the

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exact same way that I did.

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So let's continue.

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Verse three.

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What prophet has a man from all his

labor in which he toils under the sun?

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Verse four, one generation passes

away and another generation comes,

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but the earth abides forever.

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I recall speaking about something

similar to this with David a few weeks

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ago, and our conversation was something

like, how we don't really know.

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Or seem to know our ancestors or maybe

just four or five generations from

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before us, and what they did, what their

names were, what their life was about.

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And when I read this, it reminded

me of that conversation because we

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don't remember any of these people.

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And it's actually saying here in

verse four, one generation passes

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away and another generation comes,

but the earth abides forever.

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So the earth continues.

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We are going to pass away.

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Another generation is going to be

born and it's just a revolving door.

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they don't really seem to remember

us just the same way that we don't

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remember those old ancestors.

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So if you think about it that way,

that it's not going to matter too much,

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maybe four generations down the line,

then that will probably change the

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way that you look at life nowadays.

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So I digress.

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And let's get back to verse five.

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The sun also rises and the sun goes down

and hastens to the place where it arose.

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Verse six, the wind goes towards the

south and turns around to the north.

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The wind whirls about continually

and comes again on its circuit.

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Verse seven, all the rivers run into

the sea, yet the sea is not full to the

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place from which the rivers come there.

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They return again.

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Verse eight.

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I have this verse completely underlined

and circled, and this is what it says.

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Verse eight.

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All things are full of labor.

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Man cannot express it.

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The eye is not satisfied with seeing

nor their ear filled with hearing.

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When I read that the first time, the

little notes that I wrote on here

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say, all we do is work and we are

still not satisfied, and it's true.

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Because the eye is not satisfied

with seeing nor the ear filled

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with hearing a lot of the time.

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Like I said, we just focus on work, work,

work, and it's all about the money and

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every other Friday when we get paid,

and that's what we're focusing on, and

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again, it's just a revolving door of

things that are not going to matter.

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Continuing on to verse nine, that

which has been is what will be.

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That which is done is what we will be

done, and there is nothing under the sun.

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Verse 10.

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Is there anything which it

may be said, see, this is new.

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It has already been in

ancient times before us.

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In verse 10 is basically saying to me

that there is nothing under the sun

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that we can do, say, come up with, that

hasn't already been thought of by our

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ancestors and people from before us.

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And it's true If you come to realize

even outfits and clothing and just things

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from, for example, in our day and age,

the sixties, seventies, eighties, all

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these things come back in style and that's

just to kind of keep it surface level.

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But it's so true.

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There's nothing that we are

coming up with that is original

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that hasn't been done before.

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Verse 11.

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There is no remembrance of former

things, nor will there be any remembrance

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of things that are to come by.

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Those who will come after.

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Again, I put there that

that was important.

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Same thing.

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We're not going to remember

anything from the people before

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us, and the people that are soon

to come are not gonna remember us.

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And again, it's just a revolving door of.

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Time and things that we are doing

that are being wasted because none

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of it is going to be remembered

years and years down the road.

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It's kind of sad just how the introduction

said, it's very sad when you think of

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it about it that way, but is it true?

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It's a hundred percent true.

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So let that sink in.

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Verse 12, I, the preacher was king over

Israel in Jerusalem, Verse 13, and I set

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my heart to seek and search out by wisdom

concerning all that is done under heaven.

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This burdensome task God has

given to the sons of man, by

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which they may be exercised.

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So he actually is saying that he

did try to seek things that were

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done under heaven because it was a

task that was given to him from God.

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And not just him, but man

themselves, meaning everyone.

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And he said that it was something that was

very burdensome, but again, it was given

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to us for us to do and to be exercised.

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So key word here is they may be

exercised again, God gives free will.

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So that, was just a small little tidbit

that he dropped there to remind us

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that, hey, it's a choice that we have.

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Verse 14 says, I have seen all the works

that are done under the sun, and indeed

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all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

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You guys are going to

hear that many times.

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All is vanity as well as

grasping for the wind.

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Now again, take everything at face value.

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If you imagine that you're grasping

for the wind, things are what?

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What is happening to your hand?

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Just imagine if you stick your hand

out right now and you feel like you're

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grasping for the wind, you're not grabbing

anything, you can't take it with you.

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So just hold on to that thought

as you continue reading.

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Ecclesiastes, Verse 15, what is crooked?

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Cannot be made straight and what

is lacking cannot be numbered.

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I absolutely love this.

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If you bend a fork or a spoon and you

try to put it back how it was before, you

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are never going to be able to do that.

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And that's kind of like

what it's saying here.

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Something that is crooked

cannot be made straight anyway.

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Verse 16, I commune with my heart

saying, look, I have attained greatness

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and I have gained more wisdom than

all who were before me in Jerusalem.

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My heart has understood

great wisdom and knowledge.

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Verse 17, and I set my heart to know

wisdom and to know madness and folly.

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I perceived that this is also

grasping for the wind, and again, I

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have that entire verse underlined,

verse 17, because he is saying there.

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That he set his heart to

know wisdom, and he did.

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He was the king of Jerusalem.

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He had many great things, including

wisdom and knowledge, and even so

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after he set his heart to know it

even more, he chose madness and folly,

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like just pure craziness in his life.

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Just trying to live both ways

with the wisdom that God gave

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as he mentioned here in verse.

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13, the burdensome task that

God has given the sons of man.

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But he also wanted to use the

wisdom and knowledge that he had.

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So verse 17 again says, and I set my

heart to know wisdom and to know manness

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and folly, wisdom and madness and folly.

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What a mix continues to say.

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I perceived that this also

is grasping for the wind.

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Again, he says that there he wanted to

know knowledge and wanted to know madness

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and folly, and he perceives meaning.

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He thinks that that is also

like grasping at the wind.

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What are you going to gain

from doing all of those things?

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Probably nothing.

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Verse 18.

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Foreign much wisdom is much grief and he

who increases knowledge, increases sorrow.

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And that's true because when you change,

you see like Jesus, you truly do.

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And that really opens up your

eyes to see how bad and how

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horrible and crazy the world is.

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Why?

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Because you are increasing your knowledge.

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You're increasing the way that

your eyes are perceiving things.

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And when you see things in the

way that Jesus saw the world,

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it's going to make you sad.

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There is no way that you

can truly change your heart.

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And not feel that way.

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So that concludes chapter

one of Ecclesiastes.

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They're relatively short hope

and I pray that you guys go

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back and read it for yourself.

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'cause there is definitely

a lot to grasp from this.

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However, like I said, we

won't get the answer until.

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Chapter 12.

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But if you hang tight and if you stick

it through and you read it and you take

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the words of Solomon at face value,

it will all click and make sense.

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You guys, I promise this is something

that is so relatable to today's

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day and age that it is a must read.

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Once you understand it,

believe me, you will apply it.

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So anyway, my friends, I

hope this has blessed you.

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I thank you guys for listening and

tuning into another episode of the Sound

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Mind series, the Book of Ecclesiastes.

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I love you guys.

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See you guys here again next week.

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Take care.