The Book of Ecclesiates is the book every aspiring or dedicated Christian needs to thoroughly study...and absorb
Nov 20, 2019 20:32:07 #
The subjects of Ecclesiastes are the pain and frustration engendered by observing and meditating on the distortions and inequities pervading the world, the uselessness of human deeds, and the limitations of wisdom and righteousness.
"Vanity of vanities. All is vanity" That is the most devastating condemnation and insightful look at humanity. Our soul is the Betrayer of spirit, and its agent. "We got this" we think, and sometimes we do...and then we fail. And fail again. Bad luck we tell ourselves. Next time. But over the years the message repeats: our unaided will is simply not up to the task, almost any task than tying our shoes.
The psychological needs of the soul--acceptance, survival, belonging, respect, country, and so forth--are blocks to the spirit of God. This is why it is so terribly difficult to separate soul from spirit. All those basic instincts and needs seem right and just, sacrosanct to life on earth. And they are, but not to the life in spirit.
God wants us to know security, to rest in the Lord; the soul projects a facsimile of that and takes it as God's will that we buy and have guns, security systems, guards. It emphatically proclaims all the actions of man to be inherently "hevel" (a word meaning "vapor" or "breath", but often interpreted as "insubstantial", "vain", or "futile").
Thomas Wolfe wrote:
"[O]f all I have ever seen or learned, that book seems to me the noblest, the wisest, and the most powerful expression of man's life upon this earth—and also the highest flower of poetry, eloquence, and truth. I am not given to dogmatic judgments in the matter of literary creation, but if I had to make one I could say that Ecclesiastes is the greatest single piece of writing I have ever known, and the wisdom expressed in it the most lasting and profound."[1]
The Conclusion: "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind." And this from a man who literally had everything. I would pay attention.
"Vanity of vanities. All is vanity" That is the most devastating condemnation and insightful look at humanity. Our soul is the Betrayer of spirit, and its agent. "We got this" we think, and sometimes we do...and then we fail. And fail again. Bad luck we tell ourselves. Next time. But over the years the message repeats: our unaided will is simply not up to the task, almost any task than tying our shoes.
The psychological needs of the soul--acceptance, survival, belonging, respect, country, and so forth--are blocks to the spirit of God. This is why it is so terribly difficult to separate soul from spirit. All those basic instincts and needs seem right and just, sacrosanct to life on earth. And they are, but not to the life in spirit.
God wants us to know security, to rest in the Lord; the soul projects a facsimile of that and takes it as God's will that we buy and have guns, security systems, guards. It emphatically proclaims all the actions of man to be inherently "hevel" (a word meaning "vapor" or "breath", but often interpreted as "insubstantial", "vain", or "futile").
Thomas Wolfe wrote:
"[O]f all I have ever seen or learned, that book seems to me the noblest, the wisest, and the most powerful expression of man's life upon this earth—and also the highest flower of poetry, eloquence, and truth. I am not given to dogmatic judgments in the matter of literary creation, but if I had to make one I could say that Ecclesiastes is the greatest single piece of writing I have ever known, and the wisdom expressed in it the most lasting and profound."[1]
The Conclusion: "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind." And this from a man who literally had everything. I would pay attention.
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