The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Ecclesiastes 4:2-3,
"I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. But better than both is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun."
Here is a jarring, disagreeable and discordant perspective on life, "under the sun"! Is it true? Was Solomon (the author) just having a bad day?
The last question is one I cannot entertain as I believe all the Scriptures were written by men "carried along by the Holy Spirit" and spoke from God, 2 Peter 1:20-21. This is a perspective Solomon gave as he was inspired by God to do so. So what is meant by this jolting perspective, that the dead are happier than the living, and, in an analogous figurative sense, better yet that one was never born?
The message of Ecclesiastes is not a perspective of seeing things through rose-colored glasses, but the cold and harsh view of seeing life as it really is, the context of a world that is lost and fallen from God. Sinful and estranged from him, mankind has a knack at seeing things other than they really are. People distract themselves from this gloomy truth with the various facades Solomon points out such as wealth, possessions, music, houses, vineyards and various projects, all kinds of things.
Solomon speaks of this life "under the sun" (he uses the phrase 27 times!) and from this we are hopefully prepared to look past the distractions that hide the hideous truth about living in this lost and fallen world to look for deliverance and freedom from it.
Ecclesiastes should motivate us to seek something much more grand, something that is in view in many passages of Scripture. A place where beauty reigns supreme, where true justice exists, where God's kingdom resides!
"I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death" or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:2-4.
As the sons of Korah wrote,
"I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. But better than both is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun."
Here is a jarring, disagreeable and discordant perspective on life, "under the sun"! Is it true? Was Solomon (the author) just having a bad day?
The last question is one I cannot entertain as I believe all the Scriptures were written by men "carried along by the Holy Spirit" and spoke from God, 2 Peter 1:20-21. This is a perspective Solomon gave as he was inspired by God to do so. So what is meant by this jolting perspective, that the dead are happier than the living, and, in an analogous figurative sense, better yet that one was never born?
The message of Ecclesiastes is not a perspective of seeing things through rose-colored glasses, but the cold and harsh view of seeing life as it really is, the context of a world that is lost and fallen from God. Sinful and estranged from him, mankind has a knack at seeing things other than they really are. People distract themselves from this gloomy truth with the various facades Solomon points out such as wealth, possessions, music, houses, vineyards and various projects, all kinds of things.
Solomon speaks of this life "under the sun" (he uses the phrase 27 times!) and from this we are hopefully prepared to look past the distractions that hide the hideous truth about living in this lost and fallen world to look for deliverance and freedom from it.
Ecclesiastes should motivate us to seek something much more grand, something that is in view in many passages of Scripture. A place where beauty reigns supreme, where true justice exists, where God's kingdom resides!
"I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death" or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:2-4.
As the sons of Korah wrote,
"Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked." Psalm 84: 10.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked." Psalm 84: 10.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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