THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES

This is one of the most misunderstood books in the Bible. However, before going into the depth of this very important book in the Bible, we must look back at how King Solomon became King. His father King David – the only person in the entire Bible God called “a man after His own heart.” We must always try and remember that God is infinite, and that we are finite, and that God is the only being in existence that was never created, He is the great “I AM” as He told Moses, He is from everlasting to everlasting. Thus it is my personal opinion that it is virtually impossible and incomprehensible for the finite being to fully comprehend the Infinite Being, so long as we are living in a “mortal world and in a mortal body.” For me, my belief is that we will never be able to fully comprehend God until we return to Him when our sojourner’s life is completed and we take on the form of “Immortality” as Jesus Christ did when He rose from the dead!

Returning to King David, he had seventy sons during his lifetime. But King Solomon was the only child he had with Bathsheba. King David who was carrying the seed of the “Messiah” and was a man after God’s own heart, he was still just a man, a human being that God knew had weakness and strength. King David’s affair with Bathsheba the wife of Uriah, one of David’s men who were in battle at the time was one of the most revealing things about “mankind!” Idle time conjures wanton thoughts, and wanton thoughts leads to exactly what King David did. He was supposed to be in battle with his men, but he decided to stay at home in his Palace. That evening he went on the roof-top of his Palace and he saw through a window a woman with the drapes opened taking a bath. He sent for this woman (Bathsheba) and they had an affair. It would not be long after that Bathsheba sent David a message that she was with child! David so concerned about what people would think about his indiscretion rather than what I consider one of David’s most egregious machinations, against God who had taken him from tending sheep and made him King.

So, being human and being concerned about his reputation he send and had Bathsheba’s husband brought from the battlefield to his Palace. I wasn’t there but I would imagine apart from what the Scripture reads in 2 Samuel Chapter 11 – David must have made convenient small talk with Uriah. He sat him at the Kings table and fed him and gave him wine. Then he told Uriah to go and spend the night with his wife and return to the battle field the next day. To David’s surprise he found out that Uriah spent the night in the King’s Court yard with people who slept in the open. When David heard the news he sent for Uriah and asked why did Uriah disobey him? Uriah’s response must have cut through David’s heart like a hot knife through butter. Uriah explained that he could not in good conscience go and enjoy a night with his wife while his men were dying in battle. Like any other fallible human beings that we all are, David was still obsessed as to how he is going to get out of the pregnancy that he created when he slept with Uriah’s wife. He must have thought that if Uriah had spent the night with his wife the pregnancy would have been covered up. Unfortunately, we can fool ourselves and try to fool others, but Almighty God who made us knows even the number of hairs that is on our head, so how can he not know what deceit is in our heart. Well, since David came face to face with a man of integrity he had to conceive even a greater evil. Imagine, just imagine, David wrote a note, sealed it with the King’s seal (his ring) and gave it to Uriah. His instruction to Uriah is to give it to David’s general – Joab. The note read “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.” (2 Samuel 11:15)

Imagine King David a man that said was a man after His own heart has gone from adultery, trying to scheme his way out of vanity he indulged with, and wrote a death sentence to Uriah the Hittite who was one of David’s mighty men, and gave the note to him to take it with David’s full knowledge that he ordered the death of Uriah to cover his own Apostasy! The name Uriah means “Flame of the Lord or “The Lord’s Light.”

Well, in short Uriah was killed later that day in battle and after the mourning period David married Bathsheba and she bore him a son. David, no different that the inexplicable human beings we all are, must have breathed a breath of relief, but as we would see that was only going to be short lived.   2 Samuel 11:27 reads “But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.” There is a lesson here in all of this for all of us, it does not matter what we do in the dark, how perfect we may think we can scheme and plan the perfect cover-up, the One who made the eyes, and does He not see? It would be good for you to read Chapter 12 in the Book of 2^nd Samuel for as you would see, God send one of His Prophets, Nathan who confronted David with the wrong he had done. The difference between David and some of us is that, David was imperfect and he knew it, so when ever he failed God, with all his heart, all his soul, his entire mind, he repented, and that repentance is what lead David to write one of the Greatest Prayer of Repentance, Psalm 51. Seven days later the baby died. Some may question where was God mercies in all of this, but the fact of the matter is when a baby dies, that child is returned unto God.

Now as we return to the main topic of this message, King Solomon and his writing of the Book of Ecclesiastes and how it is so misunderstood. Keep in mind that of the seventy sons David had with many different wives, Solomon who became King, was the second and only child God gave to David and Bathsheba. During David’s last days on earth he blessed Solomon and gave him the Throne. At the time Solomon became King he thanked God and God asked King Solomon to ask what ever he desires and it will be granted to him. King Solomon response was he wanted God to give him “wisdom” so that he would judge the people fairly! This answer pleased God and God said to him, “I will give you wisdom more than any other man before you, and in addition I will bless you with riches and all the desires of your heart” So King Solomon accepted God’s gift and began a very dedicated life to God and it is because of how Solomon was born and his direct interaction with God, that people question the sanity of this Book of Ecclesiastes – One of the only Books in the Bible that is so full of wisdom and knowledge, capricious minds find it very difficult to comprehend. But like anything in the Bible – the Word of God, one can only ascertain the true meaning and the value of it, but not by leaning on their own understanding or that of other human understanding, but only with the direct help of the Spirit of God. Thus I will endeavor to continue where I began – This is one of the most misunderstood books in the Bible. Believers have tended either to ignore the message of the Book of Ecclesiastes, or to regard it as the testimony of a man living apart from God. This is unfortunate, for the book asks relevant, searching questions about the meaning of life, and it declares the utter futility of an existence without God. Like all Scripture, the Book of Ecclesiastes benefits and edifies God’s people.

Negative descriptions such as “cynical,” “fatalistic,” or “existential” do the Book of Ecclesiastes justice. There is too much evidence of robust cheerfulness throughout its pages. “So I commended enjoyment” (8:15) is a recurrent theme in Ecclesiastes. The underlying mood of the book is joy; finding pleasure in life despite the troubles that often plagues it. Those who fear and worship God should experience this joy, they should rejoice in the gifts God has given them.

Purpose:  Solomon probably wrote this book toward the end of his life, after he had repented of idolatry and his pursuit of foreign wives. Thus the Book of Ecclesiastes is both a monument to Solomon’s recommitment to the living God and a guide for others through the pitfalls of and perils of life.

In fact, Solomon might have written this wisdom book as a track for other nations. That would explain why he did not write about the Law, and why he used the divine title Elohim, meaning “Exalted God,” instead of the covenantal name Yahweh in the book of Exodus 3:14-15. Solomon had entertained many dignitaries from other nations, including the queen of Sheba. The queen’s questions concerning the basic meaning of life might have prompted him to write Ecclesiastes to teach the Gentiles about the living God and their need to worship only Him. Centuries before, Moses had called for this type of treatise to the pagan nations (Deut. 4:6-8). The nations that had heard of Israel’s success needed to know about the living and exalted God who had blessed Israel with wealth and wisdom.