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- [00:05]
A
Hey, you're listening to A Year in the Bible with Daily Grace. This is Shelby and Paul. We're going to be in Ecclesiastes 7 through 9 today. If you learned something in this episode, leave us a review, Leave us a comment. We'd love to know what you learn or what your takeaway is. Paul, Ecclesiastes 7 through 9, what's going on in these chapters?
- [00:25]
B
Yeah, well, we're returning to some of the same themes that we've seen in Ecclesiastes 1 through 6, but we're getting kind of an even stronger emphasis on simply enjoying life with God. And we kind of have this question about the unrighteous having prosperity in life. Come up here. And so the teacher in 5:15, he says, in my futile life I have seen everything. Someone righteous perishes in spite of his righteousness, and someone wicked lives long in spite of his evil. And later in chapter 8, verses 12 to 13, he observes that although a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, I also know that it will go well with God fearing people, for they are reverent before him. But he immediately turns back to acknowledging that there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. So he spends some time trying to kind of reconcile that, but he still ends up in this place where he, he says, you know, despite the fact that he spent his whole life trying to figure out this conundrum, he says, how much man may toil in seeking, that is, seeking to understand why the world would work this way under God's hand, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know he cannot find it out. So it's this question of like, where does that leave us if death's going to come for us all and righteousness doesn't determine our life's outcome. And you know, we can't really even understand how God works in the world. What are we supposed to do? But the Teacher gives us the thing that we can come back to. And he says, go eat your bread with pleasure and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works. Let your clothes be white all the time and never let oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your fleeting life, which has been given to you under the sun all your fleeting days, for that is your portion in life. And in your struggle under the sun, whatever your hands find to do, do with all Your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going. So really, we're just getting a further emphasis that the basic gifts of God are where meaning in life is found.
- [02:38]
A
Yeah. And I think that can be really encouraging, right. That just the simple things that we find before us each day are gifts from God and we can enjoy those. And we don't have to, like I said, toil and toil and toil to find. Find, like, maybe some deeper meaning in all things. Okay. What does this mean for us today? How do we specifically apply these to our lives?
- [03:01]
B
Yeah, I think the emphasis is really on two things, and they are balance and simplicity. I think if we look at Ecclesiastes on its own, without the rest of the Bible, it is a bit reductionistic. And as the word I've used before is cynical, it can be a bit cynical for us. But we do have the full canon. And so we have Proverbs, as I've mentioned, kind of not opposite, but alongside, parallel to Ecclesiastes. You know, there are some seasons of my life where I might be kind of living foolishly and I need to be called back to maybe more wise decisions. And that's when I can read Proverbs. But then there's other seasons of life where I feel kind of exhausted, weary, confused. Like you mentioned, maybe the mundane aspects of my life don't have any meaning. And that's when I can come back to Ecclesiastes to remember that the simple pleasures that God gives us provide meaning in life. And so that's kind of the balance that I see in these verses. But then again, I mentioned simplicity. And so the simple things in life, relationships, hard work, good food, good drink. And not overemphasizing these things, but viewing them in their rightful place as, again, a gift from God. And I think back to Ecclesiastes 3, where it talked about there's a time and place for everything. Right. So there are times in my life when I need to go deep with God and I need to, like, try to figure things out and really solve complex problems. But then there are other times when I just need to come back to the simple things that God has given me and recognize that they are good because he provided them.
- [04:35]
A
Yeah, really great encouragement. And that is my takeaway from this, is that I'm just gonna pause and notice those simple joys. One of those for me is, you know, often after school, my kids will play outside. And lately the weather has been at the perfect temperature. So I've been sitting outside, and there's kind of trees behind our neighborhood that I'm looking at, and I'm watching my kids, not always, but a lot of the time play joyfully. And there's just so much to enjoy in that moment. It's really simple. And so I want to notice those simple things and thank God for the joy to be found in them. All right, thanks, Paul. We're going to wrap up the book of Ecclesiastes tomorrow, so we'll hope people will join us for the final few chapters tomorrow.