WEBVTT 00:00:04.376 --> 00:00:08.349 Alright, we'll turn to your Bible, clesiastes chapter two, where you can read the entire chapter. 00:00:08.349 --> 00:00:09.660 No big. 00:00:09.660 --> 00:00:21.304 Clesiastes two, beginning in verse one, of course, says, i said in my heart, solomon, of course speaking, come now, i will test you with pleasure, enjoy yourself. 00:00:21.304 --> 00:00:24.307 But behold, this also was vanity. 00:00:24.307 --> 00:00:26.125 I said of laughter. 00:00:26.125 --> 00:00:28.411 It is mad and a pleasure. 00:00:28.411 --> 00:00:29.885 What use is it? 00:00:29.885 --> 00:00:39.472 I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine, my heart still guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold of folly. 00:00:39.472 --> 00:00:46.067 Tell, i might see what was good for the children of man to do under the heaven during the few days of their life. 00:00:46.820 --> 00:00:49.228 Verse four I made great works. 00:00:49.228 --> 00:00:51.929 I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 00:00:51.929 --> 00:00:57.439 I made myself gardens and parks and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:01.832 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 00:01:01.832 --> 00:01:06.959 I bought male and female slaves and had slaves who were born in my house. 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:14.507 I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 00:01:14.507 --> 00:01:20.939 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. 00:01:20.939 --> 00:01:26.798 I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines the delight of the sons of man. 00:01:26.798 --> 00:01:31.439 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. 00:01:33.162 --> 00:01:39.319 Also, my wisdom remained with me, and whatever my eyes desired, i did not keep from them. 00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:47.920 I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. 00:01:47.920 --> 00:02:03.846 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, it was all vanity and striving after the wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun Verse 12,. 00:02:03.846 --> 00:02:06.537 So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. 00:02:06.537 --> 00:02:08.647 For what can man do? 00:02:08.647 --> 00:02:10.115 who comes after the king? 00:02:10.115 --> 00:02:11.199 only what has already been done. 00:02:13.467 --> 00:02:19.319 Then I saw that there was in more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. 00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:30.699 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness, and yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. 00:02:30.699 --> 00:02:35.319 Then I said in my heart what happens to the fool will happen to me also. 00:02:35.319 --> 00:02:38.599 Why then have I been so very wise? 00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:53.074 And I said in my heart that this also is vanity For the wise, as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come. 00:02:53.074 --> 00:02:54.400 All will have long been forgotten. 00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:55.832 How the wise dies just like the fool. 00:02:55.832 --> 00:03:03.705 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity. 00:03:03.724 --> 00:03:07.282 And striving after the wind Verse 18,. 00:03:07.282 --> 00:03:24.459 I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool, yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. 00:03:24.459 --> 00:03:25.385 This also is vanity. 00:03:25.385 --> 00:03:43.251 So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes a person who is toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by the sun, must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. 00:03:43.251 --> 00:03:48.250 This also is vanity and a great evil. 00:03:48.250 --> 00:03:54.731 What is a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 00:03:54.731 --> 00:04:00.292 For all his days are full of sorrow and his work is a vexation. 00:04:00.292 --> 00:04:05.028 Even in the night his heart does not rest. 00:04:05.028 --> 00:04:07.645 This also is vanity. 00:04:08.040 --> 00:04:08.804 Verse 24,. 00:04:08.804 --> 00:04:14.568 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. 00:04:14.568 --> 00:04:17.425 This also I saw as from the hand of God. 00:04:17.425 --> 00:04:21.454 For apart from him, who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 00:04:21.454 --> 00:04:35.680 For to the one who pleases him, god has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to the one who pleases God. 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:40.279 This also is vanity and a striving after the wind. 00:04:41.687 --> 00:04:42.632 This is the word of God. 00:04:42.632 --> 00:04:47.459 Father, we are so grateful for your word. 00:04:47.459 --> 00:04:56.872 We are so grateful, father, that you preserved this word through the decades and the years and centuries since when it was written. 00:04:56.872 --> 00:05:30.394 And, father, as we go into chapter two in Ecclesiastes, father, we're asking that you open the scripture up clearly to us, that the words that you preserve for us would be rightly read and rightly understood, and that, father, that we would walk away from here richer in spirit, convicted in spirit, and that, father, we would walk forward being edified by what you have to say and what you preserve for us. 00:05:30.394 --> 00:05:35.329 And so my prayers that all of us have opened the years to hear what you have to say to us. 00:05:35.329 --> 00:05:38.800 Pray this in Jesus' holy and righteous name, amen. 00:05:41.531 --> 00:05:48.875 Well, last week we began the sermon series in the book of Ecclesiastes because we wanted to find a nice, light, happy book to talk about during summer. 00:05:48.875 --> 00:05:52.108 Not I love this church for that, though. 00:05:52.108 --> 00:05:58.814 We just take a book and say if God put it in there, it must be for us. 00:05:58.814 --> 00:06:05.346 And so we're going through the book of Ecclesiastes, and Neil began the series by giving us some background on the book, and he went through chapter one, did a wonderful job, as always. 00:06:05.346 --> 00:06:17.372 And, by the way, if you missed that sermon, if you miss any sermons, these sermons really build on each other, and so I really recommend you go back and listen to them. 00:06:17.372 --> 00:06:25.019 You can find them on YouTube, on, of course, our website, and I can give you copies for $5 a piece if you would like to. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:28.920 So You know, the book of Ecclesiastes really kind of comes out of nowhere in the old testament. 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:29.541 Let's just be honest with it. 00:06:29.541 --> 00:06:35.370 I mean, let's you got the book of Psalms, which, by the way, in the Bible project, we're reading the book of Psalms now. 00:06:35.370 --> 00:06:38.004 It's really great, right, and it's a wonderful poetic literature. 00:06:38.004 --> 00:06:43.201 I mean, it's edifying, It's great, but it's also very real, right? 00:06:43.201 --> 00:06:45.290 So it's this beautiful, beautiful collection of Psalms. 00:06:45.290 --> 00:06:51.574 Then we're going to have the wisdom, the Solomon and Proverbs. 00:06:51.574 --> 00:06:52.858 I mean, wow, this is just it's. 00:06:52.858 --> 00:06:53.019 It's. 00:06:53.019 --> 00:06:54.562 There's so much material in there. 00:06:54.562 --> 00:07:00.755 You could make memes for your Facebook account for years out of that stuff in Proverbs, right? 00:07:00.755 --> 00:07:01.598 I mean, it's got all this stuff. 00:07:01.598 --> 00:07:02.120 Anybody ever done that? 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:05.488 Come on, come on, come clean. 00:07:05.488 --> 00:07:06.672 I'm the only one. 00:07:06.672 --> 00:07:27.074 I'm sorry, but then, after Proverbs 31, we turn the page and the car goes off the road and it goes screaming down the cliff and it crash lands into this dark wasteland of hopelessness and cynicism That is the book of Egliseastes. 00:07:27.074 --> 00:07:29.605 I mean, it's like whoa, where did this come from? 00:07:29.605 --> 00:07:32.560 And indeed it's a book that kind of shakes you up. 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:40.425 However, as Neil stated, the book actually does have a lot of hope in it, and it's something that I again, i believe. 00:07:40.425 --> 00:07:47.992 If God sovereignly preserved it, those 12 chapters in Egliseastes bear reading, and so we're going to go through that Now. 00:07:48.314 --> 00:07:53.435 Some scholars believe the book of Proverbs was written by King Solomon when he was at his peak, and that would make sense, right? 00:07:53.435 --> 00:07:55.482 A lot of tremendous wisdom. 00:07:55.482 --> 00:07:57.807 God is interlaced throughout, all of it. 00:07:57.807 --> 00:07:58.427 It's beautiful. 00:07:58.427 --> 00:08:07.593 And then they say that the same writer, of course, and there is some dispute about whether Solomon wrote Egliseastes. 00:08:07.593 --> 00:08:08.961 I, i personally don't. 00:08:08.961 --> 00:08:11.567 I mean, i read the arguments, i don't think they stand up. 00:08:11.567 --> 00:08:23.137 But but we have Solomon writing this book that contrasts so, so drastically with Proverbs So drastically. 00:08:23.137 --> 00:08:30.851 And we know from Scripture that at the end of his time on earth, solomon walked away from God. 00:08:30.851 --> 00:08:42.211 He started worshiping other idols And of course, we know why he did that, because Scripture says, because of his foreign wives that pulled him away and took his eyes off of Christ. 00:08:42.211 --> 00:08:50.432 And so that's the context that we walk into Egliseastes with is we see a man that is struggling with things. 00:08:50.432 --> 00:08:55.923 But, however, i want you to know that there's a lot of hope in here And we're going to read that as we get through this. 00:08:56.385 --> 00:08:57.813 I want to give a caution to all of us. 00:08:57.813 --> 00:09:04.913 By the way, i don't know what your response was when you first heard that we were going to go through a series on Ecclesiastes. 00:09:04.913 --> 00:09:11.850 Some of you may have said oh, i know what the book of Ecclesiastes is about. 00:09:11.850 --> 00:09:16.950 It's about meaninglessness that comes from not walking with God. 00:09:16.950 --> 00:09:18.312 It's pretty simple. 00:09:18.312 --> 00:09:22.583 Scott, you really want to do a whole bunch of sermons on this book? 00:09:22.583 --> 00:09:32.548 I mean, come on, it's a pretty simple process And it would be really easy for us to tune out and say every week, one of those guys is going to get up and they're going to preach the same sermon with just different words. 00:09:34.321 --> 00:09:35.163 I don't believe that. 00:09:35.163 --> 00:09:44.447 I hope you don't believe that either, because I believe that if he preserved all 12 chapters of Ecclesiastes, that there's truth in every one of them. 00:09:44.447 --> 00:09:48.580 And, by the way, have you ever had someone tell you something and you didn't get it the first time? 00:09:48.580 --> 00:09:59.831 And then you get told again and again and again, and finally one day your eyes wake up and you're like, wow, my parents were smart Or I never saw it before. 00:09:59.831 --> 00:10:04.354 Sometimes we need to get hit with stuff multiple times. 00:10:04.354 --> 00:10:06.475 So I believe there's a purpose in this. 00:10:06.676 --> 00:10:18.729 So I have a title today's sermon Under the Sun or Under the Sun Now, under the Sun, the first Sun is S-U-N and under the Sun S-O-N. 00:10:18.729 --> 00:10:19.975 Of course that would be Christ. 00:10:19.975 --> 00:10:29.485 It's a catch little title, and but I did it because there's a phrase that Neil mentioned that's in the book of Pro or Ecclesiastes, called Under the Sun. 00:10:29.485 --> 00:10:33.553 That's a phrase that he uses 29 times in this book. 00:10:33.553 --> 00:10:39.373 Do you know that that phrase is not used anywhere else in the Bible, just in the book of Ecclesiastes? 00:10:39.373 --> 00:10:41.664 That's interesting and that should get her. 00:10:41.764 --> 00:10:44.351 Anytime you have an anomaly like that, that should get your attention. 00:10:44.351 --> 00:10:59.913 And really, what it is is that phrase talks about referencing kind of the cyclical nature of life, and in many ways it's the physical that's experienced without God. 00:10:59.913 --> 00:11:26.332 Without God is the foundation, it's what you can experience in this life in a non-spiritual way When I mean non-spiritual, i'm talking about without God, and he uses that phrase again and again and again, and I think it really bears a contrast for us to look at that, to look at what he experienced under the sun S-U-N and then for what we are called to experience under the sun S-O-N. 00:11:26.332 --> 00:12:06.404 So the purpose of today's message is to examine Ecclesiastes, to see what Solomon is saying regarding the meaningless of life That's, of course, experienced under the sun, the S-U-N, and then, of course, contrast that with what we're supposed to live, the life we're supposed to live, and then at the end, we're going to look at Solomon's conclusions and we're going to ask ourselves what does this mean for us as we live our lives as a Christian life, and how we interact with those in the world, those that are not transformed, because I think that's an important thing for us to do So now, before we get into chapter two, we're going to quickly rehearse this a little bit about chapter one Now. 00:12:07.809 --> 00:12:10.799 I'm not going to go through, of course, all of Neil's sermon, just a great sermon again. 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:12.820 If you haven't listened to it, do it. 00:12:12.820 --> 00:12:14.264 But he really. 00:12:14.264 --> 00:12:27.750 Chapter one there's five pursuits that Solomon talks about And they're pretty clear The labors of man, the pleasure of the eyes, the pursuit of fame, the vanity of seeking wisdom and the meaningless pursuit of folly. 00:12:27.750 --> 00:12:37.710 Those are all mentioned And, by the way, in chapter two we're going to, solomon's going to touch on those things again, but he's doing it slightly different in chapter two. 00:12:39.164 --> 00:12:58.014 And as I read chapter two again and again and again, something really stood out to me, and that was really what he says in verse one, because Solomon literally decided to do have us put together a systematic plan to try to find meaning without God. 00:12:58.014 --> 00:13:04.820 Does it surprise you, by the way, that the wisest, smartest man ever decided he was going to do a plan? 00:13:04.820 --> 00:13:07.307 He was going to put a plan together to do this. 00:13:07.307 --> 00:13:18.547 I find this fascinating because if you look at verse one, it says he says I said in my heart come now, i will test you with pleasure, enjoy yourself. 00:13:20.841 --> 00:13:24.130 Solomon didn't fall into these things. 00:13:24.130 --> 00:13:24.692 That he did. 00:13:24.692 --> 00:13:26.380 He didn't. 00:13:26.380 --> 00:13:28.105 All of a sudden, oh man, i can't believe. 00:13:28.105 --> 00:13:33.131 I'm trying to find meaning in this, or I'm trying to find meaning in what I'm building, or whatever. 00:13:33.131 --> 00:13:34.779 He didn't say that. 00:13:34.779 --> 00:13:39.591 He literally says I'm stepping into this, he willingly stepped into this. 00:13:39.591 --> 00:13:45.926 And I find this fascinating as I read that, because I'm like it's like a study, it's like a scientific study. 00:13:45.926 --> 00:13:47.650 Well, this is a social experiment. 00:13:47.650 --> 00:13:50.424 He really wanted to test this. 00:13:50.485 --> 00:13:51.789 He walked into this purposely. 00:13:51.789 --> 00:14:00.216 Many of us fall into these traps just because we're weak, we're not strong or we have a moment of weakness or whatever. 00:14:00.216 --> 00:14:00.820 We fall into these things. 00:14:00.820 --> 00:14:01.967 He didn't. 00:14:01.967 --> 00:14:03.820 He walked into it in a meaningful way. 00:14:03.820 --> 00:14:14.245 He was fully aware of what he was doing, and so he literally said he was going to systematically attempt to find meaning and lasting happiness from three different areas, and that's what chapter two covers. 00:14:14.245 --> 00:14:21.698 The first one is self-indulgence, the second one is toil, meaning the works of his hands, and the third was actually wisdom. 00:14:21.698 --> 00:14:24.820 Again And again these themes were talked about in chapter one. 00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:30.820 They're going to be talked about in other chapters to go, but this one he kind of focuses on those three things. 00:14:30.820 --> 00:14:32.184 So let's take a look at them. 00:14:32.820 --> 00:14:34.385 So the first one is self-indulgence. 00:14:34.385 --> 00:14:39.779 And, by the way, when he jumps into this he holds nothing back. 00:14:39.779 --> 00:14:42.568 Okay, he says I'm going after it. 00:14:42.568 --> 00:14:44.727 And so let's just read some of this one. 00:14:44.727 --> 00:14:46.105 So alcohol was the first one. 00:14:46.820 --> 00:14:48.577 And verse three, the first part of verse three. 00:14:48.577 --> 00:14:52.630 He says I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine. 00:14:52.630 --> 00:14:58.820 Okay, he said, okay, i'm going to drink And I'm going to try to cheer my heart with wine. 00:14:58.820 --> 00:15:05.820 And, by the way, i can fully imagine that he did cheer his heart with wine a few times, but it was never lasting. 00:15:05.820 --> 00:15:07.466 Remember, we're going to find out about that. 00:15:07.466 --> 00:15:09.626 So the second one was folly. 00:15:09.626 --> 00:15:24.711 And the end of the second part of verse three says my heart's still guiding me with wisdom and how to lay hold on folly till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 00:15:24.711 --> 00:15:26.144 I thought it was interesting. 00:15:26.144 --> 00:15:28.089 there was sons of man and then children of man. 00:15:28.820 --> 00:15:38.811 But the Hebrew word for folly is really defined as this, and check this out That which lacks prudence, wisdom and insight, showing a lack of understanding. 00:15:38.811 --> 00:15:44.820 It's the exact opposite of who Solomon was, because he was given all this wisdom supernaturally. 00:15:44.820 --> 00:15:47.726 He said I'm going to try to do the opposite. 00:15:47.726 --> 00:15:53.395 That wisdom is, excuse me, isn't that strange? 00:15:53.395 --> 00:15:53.820 you think about it? 00:15:53.820 --> 00:15:56.820 He literally said so I've experienced wisdom. 00:15:56.820 --> 00:15:58.547 I'm going to do the opposite. 00:15:58.547 --> 00:16:02.630 Now I don't know what that was, what that looked like. 00:16:02.630 --> 00:16:04.820 It could have been like meaningless entertainment. 00:16:04.820 --> 00:16:10.820 You know, maybe he had gestures and he had stand up comedians of the time trying to make them laugh and whatever. 00:16:10.820 --> 00:16:16.008 I don't know what it was, but it was silliness It was. 00:16:16.008 --> 00:16:17.820 There was no meaning or purpose to it. 00:16:17.820 --> 00:16:19.739 He just said entertain me, entertain me. 00:16:19.739 --> 00:16:21.820 And that's really what folly was. 00:16:21.820 --> 00:16:22.965 It had no purpose. 00:16:24.082 --> 00:16:25.820 The third was amassing great numbers of slaves. 00:16:25.820 --> 00:16:30.631 In verse three said I bought male and female slaves and had slaves that were born in my house. 00:16:30.631 --> 00:16:47.594 We know slavery has been part of the human condition for years, i mean ever since man became man, we've had slavery And in this time, in ancient Israel, this was how you were wealthy in many ways. 00:16:47.594 --> 00:16:49.326 All the nations around, they had slaves. 00:16:49.326 --> 00:16:52.168 And he had said he bought slaves. 00:16:52.168 --> 00:16:55.528 A lot of times people were made slaves when their land was conquered. 00:16:55.528 --> 00:16:56.722 Remember Solomon. 00:16:56.722 --> 00:17:01.337 His wisdom and his fame spread throughout the known world. 00:17:01.337 --> 00:17:07.799 At the time People came to him to hear his wisdom, i imagine they brought slaves and he said I want, can I buy those slaves? 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:18.925 I got lots of gold, which we'll see in a minute, and so he acquired all these, these slaves which, by the way, that was of course a sign of of wealth, it was a sign of prestige and power. 00:17:21.080 --> 00:17:24.651 Large numbers of livestock's verse seven, the end of verse seven. 00:17:24.651 --> 00:17:30.892 I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 00:17:30.892 --> 00:17:36.819 No kidding, do you remember when the temple was dedicated? 00:17:36.819 --> 00:17:40.325 And we just read this through in the Bible project Remember the temple was dedicated? 00:17:40.325 --> 00:17:45.084 Second Chronicles seven, four through five. 00:17:45.084 --> 00:17:54.974 It says Solomon's sacrifices that he made were 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. 00:17:54.974 --> 00:18:08.487 I just can't even imagine how long that would take, but that is a lot of, that's a lot of mutton, that's a lot of animals. 00:18:08.487 --> 00:18:18.511 It also says, by the way and I remember reading this again through going through the Bible project that he had stables for 4,000 horses. 00:18:18.511 --> 00:18:20.819 4,000 horses. 00:18:20.819 --> 00:18:23.107 Can you imagine cleaning those stables up? 00:18:23.107 --> 00:18:26.608 This is huge, this was huge. 00:18:26.608 --> 00:18:27.320 He was. 00:18:27.320 --> 00:18:30.510 There was nobody that was near as wealthy as he was when it came to that. 00:18:31.363 --> 00:18:34.819 And, of course, speaking of wealth, amazing riches, the great quantities of gold. 00:18:34.819 --> 00:18:40.131 In verse eight he said I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. 00:18:40.131 --> 00:18:44.288 You know, not just kings but whole provinces. 00:18:44.288 --> 00:18:46.204 Right, i mean, it's like country. 00:18:46.204 --> 00:18:48.637 He had all this wealth. 00:18:48.637 --> 00:19:01.345 In fact, if you want to read this, if you haven't been going through this in Second Chronicles eight and nine, just read it And it'll astound you at the wealth that Solomon had, absolutely astound you. 00:19:01.345 --> 00:19:07.240 It says that Solomon had so much gold that silver was of no value. 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:12.097 You just can't, it's hard to even wrap your head around. 00:19:12.097 --> 00:19:17.518 Then The other another one was that he had the best singers and musicians. 00:19:17.598 --> 00:19:24.140 In verse eight He said I got singers, both men and women, and, by the way, you can imagine if he got singers, he got musicians as well. 00:19:24.140 --> 00:19:28.461 I mean, this guy had the top 40 right there with him. 00:19:28.461 --> 00:19:31.277 They're entertaining him anytime he wanted to. 00:19:31.277 --> 00:19:32.961 He could have the best of the best. 00:19:33.991 --> 00:19:39.313 And then, finally, sexual gratification in the form of many wives and concubines In verse eight. 00:19:39.313 --> 00:19:44.681 In the part of verse eight it says And many concubines, the delight of the sons of man. 00:19:44.681 --> 00:19:50.082 And we know from scripture that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. 00:19:50.082 --> 00:19:57.999 Now you're probably waiting for me to make some joke about that, but I'm not going to, because I have a good marriage and I want to keep it that way. 00:19:57.999 --> 00:19:59.977 So I'm not going to say anything about 700 wives. 00:20:01.392 --> 00:20:06.920 Listen, anything he wanted, anything his eyes put on. 00:20:06.920 --> 00:20:09.763 Anything he, he did it. 00:20:09.763 --> 00:20:11.692 He took it Anything. 00:20:11.692 --> 00:20:13.496 His heart lusted after anything. 00:20:13.496 --> 00:20:15.922 He decided to try, he went after it. 00:20:15.922 --> 00:20:19.156 Self-indulgence, it was rampant. 00:20:19.156 --> 00:20:23.300 He partied like there was no tomorrow, basically. 00:20:24.573 --> 00:20:30.178 Now let's look at the second category, which is the work of his hands, and he and the ESV calls it toil. 00:20:30.178 --> 00:20:32.577 And by the way, i will tell you we preach out of the ESV. 00:20:32.577 --> 00:20:38.538 It's fairly close to the, of course, as close to the original text, although sometimes a little harder to read. 00:20:38.538 --> 00:20:42.320 This would be really good in the new, new living translation in LT. 00:20:42.320 --> 00:20:46.681 If you want to try to read this, it says it a little bit easier. 00:20:46.681 --> 00:20:49.598 But but the work of his hands, or toil. 00:20:49.598 --> 00:20:53.458 In verses four through six he said this. 00:20:53.458 --> 00:20:55.782 He said I made great work, great works. 00:20:55.782 --> 00:20:58.930 I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 00:20:58.930 --> 00:21:03.561 I made myself gardens and parks and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 00:21:03.561 --> 00:21:07.681 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 00:21:07.681 --> 00:21:11.734 So we know that Solomon was a great builder And, what's the greatest thing? 00:21:11.755 --> 00:21:14.276 that he built The temple. 00:21:14.276 --> 00:21:15.179 That's right. 00:21:15.179 --> 00:21:19.540 And the temple was known again across the known world. 00:21:19.540 --> 00:21:21.355 People came to see the temple. 00:21:21.355 --> 00:21:27.002 He much of what was to the temple the gold was he got from other other nations. 00:21:27.002 --> 00:21:29.258 I mean, the temple was a magnificent. 00:21:29.258 --> 00:21:30.171 I'll tell you. 00:21:30.171 --> 00:21:32.298 Everybody says, can you go back in time? 00:21:32.298 --> 00:21:32.960 What would you want to do? 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:36.638 Well, one of the things I'd want to do is give me a three hour tour of the temple. 00:21:36.638 --> 00:21:39.349 I said three hour tour. 00:21:39.349 --> 00:21:39.770 That's. 00:21:39.770 --> 00:21:45.094 My daughter likes to watch Gilgames Island And I guess that's where that came from. 00:21:45.094 --> 00:21:49.579 Can you imagine, just walking through the temple, the majesty of it all? 00:21:49.579 --> 00:21:51.233 It would have been amazing. 00:21:51.233 --> 00:21:52.411 But it wasn't. 00:21:52.411 --> 00:21:53.615 That's not the only thing he built. 00:21:54.613 --> 00:21:57.109 In First Kings 9, we read about Solomon building palaces. 00:21:57.109 --> 00:21:59.297 He even rebuilt entire cities. 00:21:59.297 --> 00:22:01.233 Okay, he was a builder. 00:22:01.233 --> 00:22:11.721 And what's really interesting is he also worked on infrastructure And you know it talks about the pools which to water the forest, like the trees. 00:22:11.721 --> 00:22:19.617 It sounds like he actually had engineering products like, or projects like, aqueducts or pools, irrigation or whatever. 00:22:19.617 --> 00:22:22.498 I mean, as smart as he was, you can imagine that's something he could do. 00:22:22.498 --> 00:22:23.932 So he did all that as well. 00:22:23.932 --> 00:22:26.510 He had it all. 00:22:28.150 --> 00:22:30.284 But what does he say about the things he did with his hands? 00:22:30.284 --> 00:22:31.130 in verse 11? 00:22:31.130 --> 00:22:36.781 He says that I consider all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it. 00:22:36.781 --> 00:22:42.898 I was cold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. 00:22:42.898 --> 00:22:51.417 In verse 18, he says I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun. 00:22:51.498 --> 00:22:57.457 Seeing that, i must leave it to the man who will come after me And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool. 00:22:57.457 --> 00:23:02.009 We can answer that, can't we? 00:23:02.009 --> 00:23:03.755 Who is his son that kind of took over from him? 00:23:03.755 --> 00:23:08.076 Ray Abom, right, was he wise or was he a fool? 00:23:08.076 --> 00:23:11.798 I think he falls in that fool category. 00:23:11.798 --> 00:23:21.756 Remember when one of their slaves or whatever, came and said hey, we need a break, you're working us too hard. 00:23:21.756 --> 00:23:23.957 And he decides to get counselors. 00:23:23.957 --> 00:23:28.949 He has these wise, older counselors say just help them out, whatever. 00:23:28.949 --> 00:23:37.759 And then he had all his buddies, his entourage came And they said oh man, double, it really hit him. 00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:38.721 We want to live it up. 00:23:38.721 --> 00:23:45.380 And of course that was the beginning of the split of that, one of the things that caused the split in the kingdom. 00:23:45.380 --> 00:23:52.150 So he did not find any lasting satisfaction in what he did with his hands. 00:23:52.570 --> 00:23:56.160 So let's talk about wisdom, the third and final category that he talks about here. 00:23:56.160 --> 00:24:04.365 And I just want to acknowledge something, though It's really important for us to understand Solomon could choose to indulge or not indulge. 00:24:04.365 --> 00:24:05.048 Right, he could choose. 00:24:05.048 --> 00:24:06.635 That, he said he did. 00:24:06.635 --> 00:24:11.799 He could choose whether he wanted to build something or not build something. 00:24:11.799 --> 00:24:16.560 He could not choose not to be wise. 00:24:16.560 --> 00:24:19.150 Right, think about it. 00:24:19.932 --> 00:24:22.544 He was given that amazing gift of wisdom. 00:24:22.544 --> 00:24:24.150 He couldn't turn that off. 00:24:24.150 --> 00:24:26.762 So this was his default setting. 00:24:26.762 --> 00:24:28.150 Basically, right, it was his default setting. 00:24:28.150 --> 00:24:30.093 This is what God had given him. 00:24:30.093 --> 00:24:36.742 But he said I'm going to try to find meaning in this, in this wisdom, without God. 00:24:36.742 --> 00:24:46.682 Now, what really should tell you something about this, and it should tell me something about this, is I don't give a rip how smart you think you are. 00:24:46.682 --> 00:24:50.317 You are not as smart as this dude. 00:24:50.317 --> 00:24:52.675 You're not. 00:24:52.675 --> 00:24:57.339 So if you think about that, just take it through this logical course. 00:24:57.339 --> 00:25:06.367 You can't, you can't just brush off what he's about to tell us because you say, well, i'm, yeah, I'm pretty smart. 00:25:06.367 --> 00:25:07.109 No, no, no. 00:25:07.109 --> 00:25:08.756 He was smart. 00:25:08.756 --> 00:25:11.759 So remember that was we get to this? 00:25:12.351 --> 00:25:15.980 And he tells that in his own words, that this incredible gift couldn't be turned off. 00:25:15.980 --> 00:25:19.150 In fact, he says this in verse three, and I find this interesting. 00:25:19.150 --> 00:25:25.877 He said I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine, my heart still guiding me with wisdom. 00:25:25.877 --> 00:25:28.556 Okay, that's interesting. 00:25:28.556 --> 00:25:31.818 I'm going to get drunk a lot, but I've got wisdom. 00:25:31.818 --> 00:25:33.094 I'm still being guided. 00:25:33.094 --> 00:25:35.333 Verse nine he says so. 00:25:35.333 --> 00:25:39.982 I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. 00:25:39.982 --> 00:25:42.817 Also, my wisdom remained with me. 00:25:42.817 --> 00:25:45.454 You can't turn that gift off. 00:25:45.454 --> 00:25:48.296 It was given to him, it was there. 00:25:48.296 --> 00:25:49.980 You could not turn that wisdom off. 00:25:49.980 --> 00:25:51.936 But what did he say about wisdom? 00:25:51.936 --> 00:25:55.557 Well, in verse 12 through 17,. 00:25:55.557 --> 00:25:56.818 This is longer than verse. 00:25:56.818 --> 00:25:58.722 Just read through 14 to begin with. 00:25:58.722 --> 00:25:59.651 He says so. 00:25:59.711 --> 00:26:02.095 I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. 00:26:02.095 --> 00:26:05.480 For what can the man do who comes after the king? 00:26:05.480 --> 00:26:07.384 only what has already been done. 00:26:07.384 --> 00:26:09.336 Then I saw that there was. 00:26:09.336 --> 00:26:15.180 There is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. 00:26:15.180 --> 00:26:18.150 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. 00:26:18.150 --> 00:26:19.798 He's remember. 00:26:19.798 --> 00:26:22.150 He's doing all this without God, right? 00:26:22.150 --> 00:26:24.150 And he says there is an advantage. 00:26:24.150 --> 00:26:26.150 And would you not agree with that? 00:26:26.150 --> 00:26:32.782 You might have a next door neighbor or a loved one, somebody who's not following God, but they're doing wise things. 00:26:32.782 --> 00:26:42.109 They're not committing adultery on their wife or their husband, they're working hard at their job and being rewarded for it. 00:26:42.109 --> 00:26:44.130 That's all wisdom, right? 00:26:44.130 --> 00:26:52.602 So even if you're not, even if you don't have God in your life, wisdom will still benefit you, because it's just a logical principle, right? 00:26:52.602 --> 00:26:58.150 But it didn't give true meaning to him. 00:26:58.150 --> 00:27:08.109 That's what he points out In verse 14, the end of verse 14, and on he says And yet I perceive that the same event happens to all of them. 00:27:09.054 --> 00:27:12.150 Then I said in my heart what happens to the fool will happen to me also. 00:27:12.150 --> 00:27:15.419 Why then have I been so very wise? 00:27:15.419 --> 00:27:18.311 What's that event? 00:27:18.311 --> 00:27:24.003 Death, rather than we are all on a trajectory. 00:27:24.003 --> 00:27:30.059 We're all on a trajectory to that point in time where we take our last breath. 00:27:30.059 --> 00:27:31.444 We're all in that. 00:27:31.444 --> 00:27:46.689 So I don't care if you are the most famous movie star or a famous politician or a billionaire, i don't care who you are or if you're somebody that lives in a shack, unemployed. 00:27:46.689 --> 00:27:51.359 You're all in the same trajectory, and that is we're all gonna die. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:28:00.098 And that's what really hit him, is he realized we're all going to this, we're all gonna meet at that same place, that's where we're gonna meet. 00:28:01.954 --> 00:28:06.461 Verse 16, for all the wise, as of the fool, there is no enduring remembrance. 00:28:06.461 --> 00:28:12.260 Seeing that, it is like, excuse me, seeing that in the days to come, all will have been long forgotten. 00:28:12.260 --> 00:28:16.345 How the wise dies, just like the fool. 00:28:16.345 --> 00:28:19.278 Everyone's going to die. 00:28:19.278 --> 00:28:21.278 And he realized that. 00:28:21.278 --> 00:28:24.767 What lasting thing do I leave behind? 00:28:24.835 --> 00:28:30.840 Now you might say well, scott, i mean, he wrote these books, he built these great things or whatever. 00:28:30.840 --> 00:28:34.377 Well, last thing, last time I checked, the temple was destroyed. 00:28:34.377 --> 00:28:38.101 The first one was destroyed and the second one was destroyed. 00:28:38.101 --> 00:28:42.760 Now, this was preserved for us here, but like the Old Testament does. 00:28:42.760 --> 00:28:47.663 That's why I get a big chuckle when people say well, you know, the Bible is just a made-up set of stories. 00:28:47.663 --> 00:28:58.278 You know, the Bible is the only ancient document that's been found that literally talks about the failures of everybody in it, everybody in it. 00:28:58.278 --> 00:29:03.340 Moses did great things, didn't get to go on the Promised Land, right? 00:29:03.340 --> 00:29:05.622 Abraham did great things. 00:29:05.622 --> 00:29:07.201 Oh, by the way, he tried to sell his wife. 00:29:07.201 --> 00:29:08.740 He gave his wife out, you know to. 00:29:08.740 --> 00:29:12.022 He was scared and didn't believe. 00:29:12.022 --> 00:29:15.323 And Hagar, i mean, listen, there's just a litany of mistakes. 00:29:15.323 --> 00:29:28.221 The only ancient book that's preserved that shows all that stuff right, and we're seeing right here Solomon's great mistakes and the fruitlessness of what he tried to do. 00:29:30.035 --> 00:29:40.364 So, in the conclusion that he came with through this little social experiment of his is that following the path of self-indulgence, toil and wisdom was not a good thing. 00:29:40.364 --> 00:29:54.561 In fact, he says in verse 17, so I hated life because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all his vanity and a striving after the wind. 00:29:54.561 --> 00:29:57.359 By the way, have you ever tried to catch the wind? 00:29:57.359 --> 00:30:10.961 It's kind of cute when our granddaughter Emmy, when she was younger, we'd blow bubbles, right, and it's so cute watch the little kids go after bubbles Like the bubble's gone, oh, there's another bubble, it's gone. 00:30:10.961 --> 00:30:13.122 It's the same thing. 00:30:13.122 --> 00:30:15.223 You'll never grasp it. 00:30:15.223 --> 00:30:17.199 You'll never grasp it. 00:30:17.199 --> 00:30:22.174 It was all meaningless And I think it's really important that we remember that. 00:30:22.496 --> 00:30:33.858 He didn't just go hmm, okay, so self-indulgence and working hard and building stuff and all my wisdom, it just really doesn't make me happy and doesn't give me meaning. 00:30:33.858 --> 00:30:35.619 That's really interesting. 00:30:35.619 --> 00:30:38.662 That is not what he says. 00:30:38.662 --> 00:30:42.295 He was disturbed by this. 00:30:42.295 --> 00:30:50.894 So, just in case you think you wanna jump into this and maybe, oh, i'm gonna try this social experience, don't do it, because he said he was disturbed. 00:30:50.894 --> 00:30:53.905 He said he hated life. 00:30:53.905 --> 00:30:57.335 It brought him to a point where he hated life. 00:30:57.335 --> 00:31:00.394 The guy that had everything hated life. 00:31:00.394 --> 00:31:05.734 In fact, he even says this and when he talks about grievous, it being grievous. 00:31:05.734 --> 00:31:09.779 That word grievous literally means evil. 00:31:09.779 --> 00:31:12.407 Evil. 00:31:12.407 --> 00:31:15.291 That's the result of what he did. 00:31:15.291 --> 00:31:15.694 That's what he said. 00:31:15.694 --> 00:31:18.855 He was not in good shape after this experiment. 00:31:18.855 --> 00:31:23.894 He was in bad shape emotionally, mentally, of course, not to mentor spiritually. 00:31:25.202 --> 00:31:32.855 Now there is a philosophical term for a life that is believing that there is no meaning to life, and that term is nihilism. 00:31:32.855 --> 00:31:51.099 A lot of you have heard that term before nihilism, and it's a philosophy, it's a viewpoint, and basically I'll just read the definition Philosophy or a viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and useless, or you could say, meaningless. 00:31:51.099 --> 00:31:57.143 When someone has the worldview informed by nihilism, they believe there is no true meaning in life. 00:31:57.143 --> 00:32:02.164 I found a really, really inspiring poem written by a nihilist. 00:32:02.164 --> 00:32:02.917 You guys wanna hear it? 00:32:02.917 --> 00:32:04.737 It's really good. 00:32:04.737 --> 00:32:06.857 You'll be so edified by this. 00:32:06.857 --> 00:32:14.742 This is the poem I fear no man, i fear no God. 00:32:14.742 --> 00:32:16.478 I seek no heaven. 00:32:16.478 --> 00:32:17.701 I fear no hell. 00:32:17.701 --> 00:32:20.923 I have no heroes, i have no faith. 00:32:20.923 --> 00:32:22.919 I bow before no one. 00:32:22.919 --> 00:32:24.243 I am a nihilist. 00:32:24.243 --> 00:32:47.079 Death to philosophy, death to God, death to government, death to ideology, death to many, death to love, death to morality, beyond right and left, beyond right and wrong nihilism Wow, now that's edifying. 00:32:47.079 --> 00:32:48.180 You read that every morning. 00:32:48.180 --> 00:32:51.136 What hopelessness. 00:32:51.136 --> 00:32:53.904 What hopelessness and meaningless. 00:32:53.904 --> 00:32:56.902 But I wanna say something and make it real clear. 00:32:58.115 --> 00:32:59.480 Solomon was not a nihilist. 00:32:59.480 --> 00:33:11.191 He tried the nihilistic viewpoint for a while and he came to the nihilist understanding that there was no meaning. 00:33:11.191 --> 00:33:25.214