ECCLESIASTES 2
God made life for enjoyment and investment (1 Tim. 6: 17–19), but Solomon decided to turn it into experiment.
He tested his heart with pleasure (vv. Ec 2: 1-3), works (vv. Ec 2: 4-6), and the acquisition of wealth (vv. Ec 2: 7-9), and he discovered that they did not satisfy.
These things can bring a certain amount of enjoyment while you are doing them, but when it is all over, you feel empty (vv. 10–11).
Enjoyment without God is only entertainment, not enrichment; you cannot live on entertainment.
At that point Solomon became cynical and hated life (vv. 12–23; see also Ps 34: 11-14; 1 Pe 3: 10-12). “Why bother to do all these things, ” he asked, “when I am going to die anyway? Who will remember me? ”
Paul’s answer is found in 1 Co 15: 58 and John’s in 1 John 2: 17. Instead of complaining about what you do not have, thank God for what you do have and enjoy it (vv. 24–26).
The Cynic Henry Ward Beecher described a cynic as a person who “never sees a good quality in a man, and never fails to see a bad one. He is the human owl, vigilant in darkness, and blind to light, mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game.”
ECCLESIASTES 3
Balance (1–8). When life is especially difficult, we are prone to see only one side of the situation. In these statements, Solomon reminds you that God is in control of life and keeps everything balanced.
You feel pain when there is bereavement, but you feel joy when there is birth. You are not always weeping, but neither are you always laughing.
Job knew this principle, and it gave him strength in his trials (Job 1: 21).
Beauty (9–17). It may not look like it now, but God will bring beauty out of all that happens (Ro 8: 28; Is 61: 1-7). No matter what the seed looks like, the flower will be beautiful, so give God time to work.
You were made for the eternal; in Christ, you now share eternal life, the life of God (1 John 5: 9–13).
Burial (18–22). Again, Solomon faces the fact of death, as he will several times in this book. Both people and animals die and are buried, and their bodies go to the same place: the dust.
The spirit of man goes to meet God (v. Ec 3: 21). One day, God will bring beauty even out of the dust (1 Cor. 15: 35–58)! Enjoy today and thank God for all He gives you.”
