[Darris McNeely] I'm going to begin with this BT Daily a series on the book of Ecclesiastes
in the Old Testament.
Ecclesiastes is one of those books that, quite frankly, a lot of people are not familiar
with.
And in fact, sometimes when people read it they walk away with a rather negative feeling
because it's not as uplifting perhaps as certain other sections of the Bible.
In fact, it can be rather depressing and even discouraging, and leaving some to wonder,
"Why is it in the Bible?"
I had a friend that, a few years ago, who didn't like to teach from the book of Ecclesiastes
because he just felt that it was a real downer.
And I volunteered to say to him, I said, "Well, you know what, I love to teach it all the
time.
It is one of my favorite books, one that I try to read at least once a year and to go
through, because of what it teaches and what it says."
So we're going to start a series on the book of Ecclesiastes and take a few of these Dailies
to go through and to talk about exactly what is in this book, and some of the lessons that
we can apply to our own life.
The book starts off by making a statement that's rather startling.
It says that everything is meaningless, completely meaningless – which gives you the idea,
well, it can be a bit depressing, it could be a bit pointless in that one sense.
It says, "What do people get for all of their hard work under the sun?
Generations come, generations go, but the earth never changes.
The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again.
The wind blows from the south and turns around, rivers run into the sea and the water returns
to the rivers, flows out again to the sea."
Life is rather cyclical.
"Everything is worrisome beyond description."
He goes on to say that history merely repeats itself; it's all been done before (Ecclesiastes
1:1-18).
This is from chapter 1, and the first few verses of the book of Ecclesiastes, which
speaks to really an approach and an observation that life, if you just look at it for what
it is at times and what it appears to be, it might be indeed vanity or meaningless,
or sometimes rather empty and without purpose and without meaning.
And though the book starts like that, one of the things to keep in mind is that this
book is really a very realistic approach to what life often is, not always what we would
hope and even achieve in our life.
And I think we all have to recognize that we must deal with life as it comes to us,
life as we see it, and sometimes it may look a bit futile.
That doesn't mean that it has to end up that way and it would be for us.
It has long been accepted by the Jewish scholars who put together the Bible that the book of
Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon, son of David, who is identified within the first
few verses of the book as King David's son, who ruled in Jerusalem.
Take it for what it says, without a lot of the other analysis that critics can put upon
the book.
I think it's best just to look at this book and take it as it is indeed a book written
by Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, the son of David, who was a king in Jerusalem,
and with what it says it can teach us a great deal about how a king looked at life in the
ancient world, but drew lessons that apply to us in this modern time and in this modern
place.
There's a key to understanding the book of Solomon – or the book of Ecclesiastes written
by Solomon, one a very important key.
I'm going to come back in part 2 and tell you what that key is that I think will help
you and I, and any of us that take the time to sit down and study the book, to understand
the wisdom and the application for our own life that can be found there.
That's BT Daily.
Join me next time.