Today’s passage: Ecclesiastes 9:1-6

Helpful thoughts:

• This passage is the beginning of the end for this book.  Solomon begins to write the conclusions and recaps the content to drive it all home.
• The first truth: Death comes to all and we do not have control of its arrival or its timing.
  • The righteous do not guarantee the postponement of death.
  • The wicked are not sure to die earlier than the righteous.
  • All will become distant memories and even forgotten eventually under the sun.  All that will be known is what was done, recorded and kept…and even then only the perception of others will be what remains.

Questions to consider:

1. Why do we all die?  What is the root cause?  Is it unfair that any of us die at any time at all?
2. When we call death unfair, what plain are we operating on, the horizontal or the vertical?  With whom are we comparing people?  Who is forgetting the past?  Where is our popularity fading?
3. Who doesn’t forget anything?  Who is the One who takes away the sting of death for all those who believe?
4. How does living with the reality of death, eternal life with Christ, and God’s sovereignty affect the way we would live today?

Today’s passage: Ecclesiastes 8:10-17

Helpful thoughts:

• Doing good or doing evil does not automatically result in an easier or harder (Or longer or shorter) life under the sun.
• Joy is possible whether life is easy or hard.
• All that God does and why He does it is beyond our comprehension.  There will always be some mystery under the sun.  God is too big for us to completely grasp…and that’s a good thing.
  • We can know all what He has revealed to us, and He will always operate within His character and His promises.
  • But, He is above our comprehension.  We know what we do because He has revealed it to us.  We cannot know God as thoroughly as He knows us.

Questions to consider:

1. In what ways is it “well” for those who fear God?  In what ways are things better for us under the sun, and after this life?
2. If a Christian can have joy in good times and bad because of God, what is the cause of the sinner’s sorrow?  At the root level, what are they missing out on?  What do they need?
3. Does it bother you that God is bigger than we can handle?  If so, why?  What are some reasons we might feel uncomfortable not having total comprehension of all that He is?  What might that reveal from within our own hearts?

Today’s passage: Ecclesiastes 8:1-9

Helpful thoughts:

• Solomon learned some of these lessons the hard way (“While applying my heart to all that is done under the sun”).
• You never have power over your sin’s consequences.
• The wise see the bigger picture even under the authority of certain “kings”.  The fool gets caught up in the moment and in every detail.

Questions to consider:

1. In what way(s) would wisdom cause a person’s “hardness of face” soften?
2. How does this passage help us to respond well and respect those who are in authority over us in government, even when we disagree with them?
3. How would you best apply a passage like this with our system of government?  What trends do you see in our culture related to our government that we should avoid?

Today’s passage: Ecclesiastes 7:15-29

Helpful thoughts:

• You can be overly righteous (pious) and pursue wisdom to a fault.
• Wicked people may live longer under the sun than a righteous person. But, there is wickedness that leads to an early death.
• No one is righteous but one… (The Messiah)
  • In verse 28, Solomon eludes to the one among a thousand he has found. Read Job 33:23 for another reference of the one out of a thousand.
  • Jesus is the only possible “one” that Solomon could have found. He even says so in verse 20.
• Cursing and traps are the work of men and women. God made man upright in the beginning.  Man destructively schemes in the present.

Questions to consider:

1. How can a person be overly righteous? What would have to be the motivation for that righteousness?  How does that contradict the message of the Gospel?
2. Will it always hold true that the righteous have it “better” than the wicked under the sun? Why should that not discourage us?
3. Where must all of your confidence lie concerning righteousness? How does the truth of the Gospel humble us in the best of ways?

Today’s passage: Ecclesiastes 7:1-14

Helpful thoughts:

• Death can be a great teacher for us if we are willing to learn from it.
• We cannot change what God has decreed. He is sovereign and good.  But that doesn’t mean everything that happens will be easy or immediately enjoyable.  God has made some things to be “crooked”.  Satan is not overpowering Him when “bad” things happen.
  • “Bad things” are not sin, but they are a consequence of the curse.
  • “Bad things” are not even bad things when God is in it. We tend to call whatever makes our lives uncomfortable and inconvenienced, “Bad things”, while God calls them “sanctifiers.” (See Romans 8)
• People try to escape the reality of death or suffering by:
  • Chasing after money (Even at the cost/hurt of others)
  • Impatience (Always chasing after something new, never finishing)
  • Anger (If I can’t control it, I will yell at it)
  • Nostalgia (Fond memories of the past can’t change, and the evils can’t get any worse when stuck in time)

Questions to consider:

1. How can death teach us more than birth? How does the reality of death cause us to number our days and to keep eternity in view?
2. Why do we call hardships “bad”? What is the cause of our anger at God during hardships?
3. Which of these methods of escapism are you most prone to participate in? Are there others you might have run to in the past?

Today’s passage: Ecclesiastes 6:1-12

Helpful thoughts:

• This chapter is a continuation of the second half of chapter 5.
• It is quite possible to have everything you could ever want and still be unsatisfied.
• The three conditions for a perfect life in that time were wealth, many children and many years.  Solomon mentions all three.
• No matter how much wealth, power, life, etc. any one of us may have, no one under the sun compares to the One who has “Named” all things, knows man and is “Stronger than he.”

Questions to consider:

1. If man’s words are vanity, then whose words hold value?
2. If nothing under the sun satisfies, then where should our greatest enjoyment lie?
3. If I cannot change the destiny of mankind, then who should I trust?

Today’s passage: Ecclesiastes 5:8-20

Helpful thoughts:

• Governments focused on self-interest will hurt it’s people (Which will not go unnoticed by the Lord).  Governments busy working for the good of productivity in the land will be a blessing to all.
• Focus on money/riches does not satisfy, whether you possess much or little.  Laboring can be joyful and lead to rest, whether you possess much or little.
• Some will be wealthy.  Some will not.  Both can accept what God has given them, continue to work hard and enjoy living.
  • Both the rich and the not-rich can enjoy their work.
  • Both the rich and the not-rich who won’t work will have nothing to enjoy.
    • The lazy rich will not be satisfied with their leisure.
    • The lazy poor refuse to accept their “lot” because they are only focused on what they don’t have.

Questions to consider:

1. In what ways is servant leadership beneficial, even in government?
2. How does the love of money hurt both the rich and the poor?
3. Why is it right to view work as a gift from God?  How could you show thankfulness for your job?  How does your salvation in Christ make this possible?

Today’s passage: Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

Helpful thoughts:

• In this passage, the Preacher reiterates the great commandment, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
  • Israel was told to “Hear”.  Solomon tells the reader to “Listen”
  • The Lord is one (Undivided) and He requires our undivided love.
• A person with a seared conscience is able to do religious “Good” works without repentance.  This is not pleasing to God.  It is not undivided love.  But the doer will feel like he has a clear conscience.
• God is real and He really hears and interacts with your prayers.  He is actually grieved when you fail to follow through with your vows or fail to obey His commands.
  • His grief is a loving grief!  God’s commands give life.  He wants you to have life and joy!

Questions to consider:

1. When read and considered along with Ecclesiastes chapter 4, is it possible to do religious things out of envy and only for your own personal consumption?  What will that result in? In those desires and actions, who is truly being worshiped?
2. How do you know whether you have a seared conscious or a clear conscience if both of them feel the same?  What outside source of information and authority do you have to consult for the right answer?  Why is the study of God’s Word the only right way to train your conscience and your thinking?
3. Why do you think we are so prone to stray from our commitment or our focus on God when our trials and suffering are alleviated? How is our view of God deficient when we respond that way?