Ezekiel chapter 24

vs 1

So now we're onto a new analogy, and it's one we're far more comfortable with - cooking. This one came at another time which, I'm sure if I knew the dates and stuff, would be of some importance.

vs 2

Ahh, well, now I know why it's an important date. The ninth year, the tenth month, the tenth day, there you go.

vs 3

Now, obviously Ezekiel isn't going to go to Jerusalem in the middle of a seige and tell them this parable. But he is going to write it down, and they'll have it for all of history to ponder. It starts with a cooking pot.

vs 4

You might recall that earlier in Ezekiel Jerusalemites were referring to themselves as the best cuts of meat in the pot. Well... looks like they were right.

vs 5

Sounds like quite a stew.

vs 6

So first of all, the deposit won't go away - the idea being that you cook the carbon deposit off on a hot fire, much like self-cleaning ovens work, I'm told. Second of all, there is this reference to just plucking out the meat in whatever order it comes. I am sure this has a previous reference, perhaps to the priests and their eating of meat sacrificed? But I can't find it. This is how heresies start, so I'm not going to say any more on it till I can think of it.

vs 7

Jerusalem shed the blood of innocents, and did not even try to hide it. She did it in broad view of everyone - the people, the nations, and of God.

vs 8

So God repays in kind - she does not get punished in secret, but every nation will see Jerusalem smashed, blood spilt publicly.

vs 9

God is the one doing the cooking, he is the one piling the wood high, to make the fire hot, and big, to burn off the scum from a big, dirty pot.

Ezekiel chapter 23

vs 41

What a picture. It's a picture of riches, welcoming, openness, and deceit. Using the oils and incense that are supposed to be used in worshipping God to instead attract the attentions of other nations. Criminal, really.

vs 42

Sounds like a party, with a bunch of fairly seedy sounding guys turning up and lavishing attention on the two sisters.

vs 43

But this is a punishment from God. She is not a queen or a princess any more. She's just a prostitute. All she's good for is men to get their joys from, to be used.

vs 44

The assumption is that when a man sleeps with a prostitute, he's doing it for fun and enjoyment, not for love or children. He pays, gets his jollies, and then forgets her.

vs 45

Just because they are being treated like prostitutes, these nations will not escape the punishment for their treachery. They will be used, then they will be punished for their actions. It's a double punishment - firstly they will suffer the penalty for their perversion, and then they will suffer God's just wrath.

vs 46

I think it's cities that are given over to terror and plunder. And that's what happened to Samaria, and it's what will happen to Jerusalem.

vs 47

Yes, we're very much back to reality here now. God is going to strike down the inhabitants of his holy city, and they are going to suffer for betraying him. They will suffer a just punishment.

vs 48

And all women (cities) will look at Jerusalem and see that this is not how you should act - you should fear God, because he will bring down a firestorm of angriness on you.

vs 49

Consequences and punishment. When we disobey God, we both suffer the consequences of that disobedience, which is rarely actually enjoyable, and then we suffer the punishment we're due for disobeying. It's really lose lose.

Ezekiel chapter 23

vs 31

I think it's interesting that he links the two sisters back together, as if Jerusalem followed in Israel's footsteps. In fact, Jerusalem would have seen itself as so different from Samaria, because they were David's city, they had the temple, they remained under the kingly line. But they weren't different at all. Their heritage may have staved off their punishment a mite longer, but that's all.

vs 32

Am I the only person who reads this verse and things of 2 girls 1 cup? I haven't even seen it, but just the name of the phenomenon pops up here.

Cups are quite a common picture for God's wrath. No idea why. As good a picture as any, I guess. This is a pretty big and deep cup, so you can see God is not happy.

vs 33

So just as Jerusalem has made the same mistakes, so will they suffer the same punishment. And that's quite a hefty punishment. But Jerusalem can't say that God didn't make it clear it was coming - he did it to Samaria, now it will happen to them.

vs 34

Eating the cup of wrath shows just how completely they will suffer the punishment. It's a deep cup, but they drink it all, drain it, and then there is still so much of God's wrath left they need to eat the cup.

vs 35

Notice this verse, it is very carefully worded. It is not because of their lewdness and prostitution that they will suffer - if it were, they would have suffered long before this. No, it is because they have ignored God, put him behind their backs, that they suffer. God can forgive even the most heinous of rebellions and sins, but you have to accept him at it. Ignoring him is a good way to get judged for all your other sins.

vs 36

Now, obviously Ezekiel won't be confronting Samaria - they're already gone. So this confrontation is perhaps in the form of written condemnation - oh, look, chapter 23 fits that pretty well.

vs 37

The sacrifice of children to idols gets mentioned a fair bit. I think this is seen as one of the most heinous wrongs that they could have committed. Obviously it is detestable now, but even back then it was certainly frowned upon. It's incredible what you can do when you forget your morals though.

vs 38

God is taking it all personally. He gave them the temple, at their request (David's really). He gave them Sabbaths on which to rest and remember him. They've abused them, using his temple to worship other gods, and ignoring his Sabbaths, or perhaps whoring up on them.

vs 39

Had they come looking for forgiveness, had it been a wake up call to them, it would have been okay. But you can't sacrifice your child on Friday then come to temple on Saturday, as if they are two separate parts of your life.

vs 40

Back to the lewdness metaphor.

Ezekiel chapter 23

vs 21

It's as if God's people pined for their time in Egypt, which of course is crazy, because when they were there, they called out to God to save them. And yet, they are going to end up exactly in such a situation - far from home, and calling out to God to help them.

vs 22

Jerusalem's actions are coming home to roost. You can't play these sort of political games and expect to get away with it forever. But God despises even more the fact that they have played the game with him. It's betrayal. It's mutiny.

vs 23

I think we would find that many of these groups are now just under the one banner of Babylon, what with their huge empire and all.

vs 24

Heh, a wonderful bit of translation for people who want to know what the words were for all the different bits of armour and weaponry. But it also makes clear that God will punish his people by using another people, and interestingly, letting the punishment take place according to the ways of those people - so the burning out of the eyes of the leader, which is not really something sanctioned in the law, say - will be legitimised by God because he is using a people who will do that as a punishment.

In a way, though, God using another country to punish his people is merciful - he could have always held them up to his own standards, rather than to some barbaric country's standards.

vs 25

Having said merciful, it's still not going to be nice, as this verse makes clear. It is a truly scary verse, if you imagine that you were reading or hearing this and it hadn't yet happened, and it was aimed at you.

vs 26

Insult to injury - they can have my jewels if I can keep my ears, personally.

vs 27

This is what is called deterrence in the legal profession. The idea is that the punishment is so bad that people don't want to commit the crime for fear of the punishment. God uses this method, it seems.

This realisation actually made me really question the disciplinary (now called welfare) procedures that are done in Christian schools. God is not adverse to using negative reinforcement and deterrence, but schools seem to shy away from this now. Are we saying that God's ways don't work? Or that the models of justice that God institutes, say in his Law, were not supposed to be followed? I think that's pure balonium.

vs 28

Repetitive, but again, scary if you're about to cop it. And also makes you reflect on just how seriously God took this whole thing.

vs 29

Another win for the putting verses in weird places squad. God is actually dealing with them, not just in his own anger, but he will use the hatred of their enemies against them too. Even God's people's enemies think that his people deserve punishment for their betrayal, and so it's going to go quite pear shaped for them.

vs 30

God makes it clear why this is happening - they wanted powerful friends (that weren't God), and they were prepared to prostitute themselves to idols to get them. Their trust in God totally waned. Now God is going to show them just how powerful an enemy he can be.

Ezekiel chapter 23

vs 11

I guess you could always live in hope that if one group of your people does something heinously bad, and gets punished for it, that the other group will take stock and curb their idiocy. Too much to ask, apparently, because Jerusalem is, if anything, worse than Samaria.

vs 12

So Jerusalem actually chased Assyrian power in the exact same way that Samaria did. Strike one, guys - that's what we call making the exact same mistake.

vs 13

And this is not a mistake that God takes lightly - it is a direct betrayal of him. They have become traitors, almost going to other people asking them to free them from their God.

vs 14

And so the blue team gets replaced for the red team, the Babylonians.

vs 15

Once again their armies and leaders cut a pretty impressive figure, not to mention looking totally foreign.

vs 16

So basically, as soon as a new power was in town, Jerusalem wanted to be part of it, wanted to be aligned to it. Remember, Israel as a whole was a tiny little place when you compare it to empires like Babylon and Egypt. But they didn't, couldn't, trust God to keep them safe. So they play politics like all the other nations.

vs 17

This is really the kicker for Jerusalem. They go to Babylon, they whore themselves to Babylon, they actually end up a tribute nation of Babylon, and then they try and rebel against Babylon.

vs 18

This for God is just too much, if everything so far wasn't already. Not only had his people betrayed him, but now they were betraying the people they betrayed him for, and not even to come back to him!

vs 19

As far as God was concerned, all of the time with David as their king, all of the time they spent under Law, with the temple, with God as their first, was wiped - they were back to pre-Exodus times.

vs 20

So crude... basically meaning Israel loved power, wealth, prosperity, and so loved Egypt, and then Assyria, and now Babylon, and then Egypt again.

Ezekiel chapter 23

vs 1

Anyone who knew their Bibles knew this chapter was coming along eventually. I wonder if Ezekiel was quite expecting the word of the Lord to come to him in this fashion.

vs 2

These aren't really two women, but God explains it fairly well.

vs 3

Now, even right here in verse 3 we start wondering, "Who's doing the public Bible reading at church this week?" I don't think you could preach on this chapter without having read aloud - once all the kids are gone obviously - it is just too powerful, and in our church culture of not swearing or talking about such subjects at all, the strength of this language shows that God is serious.

Note that as far as God is concerned, it all traces back to Egypt. Israel was not an innocent victim in Egypt - they were idolators. Well, not just idolators - the sexual proclivity envisaged in the chapter seems to refer to idolatry and the aligning ones self to other foreign powers - which in fairness is also idolatry, because if you look to Egypt or Babylon to save you, instead of God, then that is idolatry.

vs 4

The names aren't super important. I can't remember what they mean, but trust me, you don't feel super enlightened when you hear it. Okay, so I went and looked them up, and Oholah means 'her tent', and Oholibah means, 'my tent is in her'. The idea is probably referring to God's tabernacle and temple in Jerusalem, and to Samaria's unauthorised places of worship. Why do I say that's unimportant? Well, because you already know that if you know that one is Samaria and one is Jerusalem.

I guess you could say it is important considering the tone of the whole chapter is about idolatry, and so that their names are related to where God is meant to be worshipped in them, and they do nothing of the sort, is rather damning.

vs 5

Ahhh yes, the Assyrians, who would come and crush them and take them away and disperse them, and they would be gone forever. Why does verse 6 start after the word 'warriors'? Crazy.

vs 6

The blue could be representative of many things, but since in this chapter Assyrians are dressed in blue and Babylonians in red, I think it's either cultural or just a good way to tell them apart.

We see that the political and military men are mentioned, and their strength and charisma are given as reasons for chasing after them.

vs 7

Did it actually start with chasing idols? No, it seems to have started with chasing a powerful friend. That friend says, "Hey, you know, we've got these idols," and so the northern kingdom jumps all over them. Because surely any god that made Assyria powerful is better than the two bit God of the divided kingdom, right? Right?

vs 8

Now you see, we get the idea, but God feels the need to go into sordid detail. Do you really want to feel ill about idolatry? Then think about it in these terms. Works for me. Remember that when the kingdoms split, God offered the king of the north the same relationship that he had with the king of the south - that he would still be their God. But the north turned its back on God, just like in Egypt.

vs 9

What you want, we got it! Possibly one of the biggest punishments God can give us is to just give us what we wanted. Ultimately, what we tend to want is freedom from God. So he gives it. Then you realise how pants that is. Sometimes it takes a while. Some people never realise.

vs 10

And so Samaria and the northen kingdom were destroyed by the very one she curried favour with. She was rebellious, terrible and deserving, and the punishment was not swift, but devastating, and could have even served as a lesson for Jerusalem.

Ezekiel chapter 22

vs 21

God's wrath is apparently hot, and his people are apparently melty. Still, at least this is a picture of refining - although refining dross seems to get you mostly nothing, so it means lots of people will be burned away.

vs 22

Again, this will be done so that they know that God is Lord. He is going to line up so many things, going to punish them so resoundingly, that they will have no option but to accept that the Lord is doing it to them.

vs 23

Lots of words in this chapter.

vs 24

So now Ezekiel has to talk to the land? In front of people? And he tells it that it hasn't been cleansed or rained on, which I am guessing is bad.

vs 25

This sounds like the leaders were taking other people's stuff, and killing them to get them out of the way if necessary. We know this happened - Naboth's vineyard is a good example. Obviously, killing a woman's husband, and then stealing her land, to make her both poor and helpless, is not something God is fond of.

vs 26

The priests are, well, pretty much not teaching God's truths. They are teaching things totally wrong, and not following his ways. This isn't what priests are for.

vs 27

Officials seem to be taking a leaf out of the book of the princes, and doing the same things as them. It makes Israel sound like a really awful, despotic nation at this point.

vs 28

So you see, the prophets are complicit, because they say what the rich pay them to say, or what the powerful want to hear. Thus we see the princes, the priests, the officials and the prophets are all corrupt and useless to God. Since God measures his nation greatly by what its leaders do, it's not looking so healthy.

vs 29

God also measures his nation by how the lowest people are treated - the foreigner, the needy, the poor. And they're not doing well. They're being oppressed, mistreated, and denied justice. Even I'm angry at that thought - imagine how God feels that it's his prized people doing this.

vs 30

Ezekiel might feel bad about this, but then he's not in Jerusalem. And as God has said that this is the time for judgment and nothing will stop him, perhaps he didn't find anyone becuase he didn't put anyone there.

vs 31

Without intercession, they will suffer. And God has forbade intercession. So they will suffer. They won't just suffer because God doesn't like what they've done. They will suffer because they require punishment for all their wrongs. That's how God rolls.

Ezekiel chapter 22

vs 11

Yeah, that's all pretty foul. Can I just point out that the women are not blamed in any of those scenarios. It's the man who gets the active verb. I may be pointing this out in advance of the next chapter.

vs 12

The extortion, the usury, the bribes and the bloodshed, it's all terrible, but it ends with a mammoth blow - you have forgotten God.

Lucky for them, God is good at jogging people's memories.

vs 13

This whole idea of striking hands together - Ezekiel did it himself at some point in time, if I recall. I don't quite get it, but I guess a loud clap could be a shocking sort of movement, and probably had some special meaning back then.

vs 14

Another rhetorical question, the answer to which I thinks is clearly 'no' this time. Cleverly counterpointed by the clear 'yes' by God about his judgment coming.

vs 15

Two of these are punishments - the putting an end to uncleanness, I suppose could be seen as a punishment (killing them would still leave them unclean, as corpses, but they don't have to worry about it so much), but it's also a renewing thing. God's punishment will refine them, like the proverbial fire.

vs 16

But they have to be fully defiled first, it seems. It's going to be quite a defiling.

vs 17

Once again, the word comes!

vs 18

So not silver, mind you, only the dross that you melt away to get to the silver.

vs 19

Why is God gathering them all into Jerusalem? You'll see.

vs 20

I know nothing about smelting, but apparently you gather a bunch of stuff into a pot. Being melted by God does not sound fantastically comfortable. Especially being melted by his anger and wrath. Those are not happy melting powers.

Ezekiel chapter 22

vs 1

Ahh, good old word of the Lord. I've missed you.

vs 2

Of course, Ezekiel is quite far away, so this confrontation is perhaps going to take some time.

vs 3

Better known as Jerusalem, but you can see why God uses the long title.

vs 4

Now, a lot of this verse is just repeating what he said in the verse before. But the punishment is an interesting one - becoming an object of scorn and a laughingstock. The thing is, of course, that we will read in a few chapters that if the countries around actually do mock Jerusalem, God will smite them. So... how does that work?

vs 5

Well, perhaps this clears it up. Perhaps God sometimes cracks jokes that we're not allowed to laugh at, because if we do he'll smite us. Of course, doing things we're not allowed to do is really the only thing humanity is good at, so God can be pretty much guaranteed that some nations will get together and mock Israel as part of its punishment. He can deal with those nations later.

vs 6

Obviously I can't see it, but I will happily take God's word that it happened. He certainly seems upset by it.

vs 7

There's a long list coming, I can feel it in my bones. The really interesting thing is to look out for all of the hearkenings back to the deuteronomic law. So treated father and mother with contempt, that's against one of the ten commandments. Oppressing the foreigner and mistreating orphans and widows - once again, a very strong part of the law. Also, not two things that you would think are the first things on God's list against his own princes. We I think would take these as of secondary importance - I am tempted to look at our current political campaign and see how many of our candidates are seeking to 'oppress foreigners' and have treated their parents with contempt.

vs 8

The sabbath is a huge part of the law. Just huge. It pervades so much of it. And the holy things is pretty much what Leviticus is all about. So we're talking big sections of law being disobeyed here. It's funny to think that Jerusalem wasn't following sabbaths, or passover. The Jews today do it so religiously (ha - get it?) but back then, they were just so far from God. I'magine going to a church and people saying, "Oh, yeah, we don't have service times as such, and we don't have preaching, and we don't do communion."

vs 9

All bad things. Eating is obviously not against God's law, but doing it at shrines dedicated to idols is. I don't think we need to dig deep into lewd acts and shedding blood to find something wrong with them.

vs 10

But apparently we're going to dig and find out what sort of lewd acts have been going on here. Now the interesting thing about these lewd acts of course is that not only are they possibly sexually immoral, but they break other laws too - so one dishonours your father, while the other makes you ceremonially unclean - which is what the Israelites should be avoiding at all costs, because it means they can't approach God!

Ezekiel chapter 21

It's been a while, I'm actually behind in the Bible study reading schedule now because of the sermons. So this is going backwards for me a little. When we last left our hero, he was being told to make a sign and put it on the road, so that the king of Babylon could find his way to Jerusalem with his army.

vs 21

All various ways of telling the future or looking for answers. "I see great battles, many people killed, and... I think that's a spleen."

vs 22

I'm not sure why he sets up battering rams twice. Perhaps it sounds good to repeat it. Perhaps the first is building them, and the second is putting them to the doors. In any case, he will be told by his augury to go attack Jerusalem. Of course, auguries are not as a rule a good way of asking God what to do, but thankfully he has control over them and can just make you do what he wants.

vs 23

Not sure who this is talking about - is it talking about Jerusalem themselves? Or his other followers? In any case, while some people will see it as false, it will very much truly happen.

vs 24

Open rebellion against Babylon? Or open rebellion against God? I think the point is that, when you have to ask "Which open rebellion am I being punished for?" you know what sort of person you are.

vs 25

Oh dear, not exactly terms of endearment there for the prince.

vs 26

Focusing particularly here on the exalted being brought low. Some lowly person may take his place ruling over rubble, I guess.

vs 27

Can you say Jesus? I mean, I don't know that Israel ever has a 'king' again, more governors and the like. Sure, Herod calls himself a king I think, but really he was just ruling in place of Caesar.

vs 28

So are we now reading a prophecy against Ammon? Because they are making fun of Jerusalem getting squished? That would fit, but doesn't that come in chapter 24? I guess we'll see.

vs 29

The sword comes on all who need judging, on all who are wicked. It might not be coming on Ammon yet, but it will get there in good time. For the moment, Jerusalem needs punishment, because alas, they too are wicked.

vs 30

This is definitely talking about Jerusalem - they will return back to Chaldea, back to where Abram lived, and there they will be judged. Unless Ammon also comes from there... but anyway, the idea of Israel losing their land and going all the way back to Babylon is a hugely powerful picture, to me anyway.

vs 31

Good to know that brutal men skilled in destruction have their place in God's plan. Not so good to know that their place is to come and punish you for your wrongdoings. Erk.

vs 32

Now see, this sounds like Ammon, being remembered no more. Because God won't forget Israel. So in fact, this particular last few verses, I am now convinced, is all about Ammon. Which, well, is bad for Ammon. That's what you get for making fun of God's people... in the end. I doubt the Greens are going to have that happen immediately - but perhaps in the end. Still plenty of time to repent!

Sermon: Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14

So, preaching two weeks in a row, especially with less warning than I'd like for the second week, does mean I haven't posted up here much. But I have been working hard on my Ecclesiastes sermons, and here is the second one for your perusal and enjoyment.

Eccl 11:7-12:14 sermon

* Life doesn't last forever. In fact, every day you live is a day closer to the day you die.

* Everyone faces that same reality – they grow old, and then they die.

* Meaning cannot be found in anything that humanity can do.

* Meaning belongs to God alone. But that means that meaning can be found!

* Living for God does not preclude enjoyment of life, wisdom, pleasure, wealth, political power.

* Only God can give meaning to all these things for us.

New Testament allusions

- Without resurrection, there is no hope for Christians.

- Salvation comes by God's grace.

- Work for eternity is all that holds true meaning.

Stuff

Life is better as a Christian. The Christian life should be desirable, people should be jealous of us. Old people who become Christians should wish they'd become a Christian earlier so they could have lived more of their life this way.

Words

Last week, I described the book of Ecclesiastes and its search for meaning in life like a man in the desert trying to find an oasis. Just as a man dying of thirst in the desert will discard everything he owns as he searches for a drink of water, so does the author of Ecclesiastes discard all the things that clutter up life as he searches for meaning in a desert of meaninglessness. He has discarded pleasure, possessions, wealth, religious observance, wisdom, power, and any skills or talents he may possess, as being insufficient to bring meaning to life. All of these we have seen discredited in the last four weeks. They are good things, yes, but ultimately unsatisfying in the quest for meaning. In fact, last week what we saw was that there is nothing a person can do, nothing you or I or anyone can do, to bring meaning to our lives. Our lives, as Ecclesiastes tells us over and over again, are in and of themselves meaningless.

Just let me stop for a moment here, and welcome you to the belief of the outside world. What I have just described is the beginning and end of reality for a lot of Australians. As far as they are concerned, they are just freakish living beings in a dead universe, they live for 80 or 90 years if they're lucky, then they die, and that's it, there is nothing more. Most will be remembered by their families for at least a generation or two. Some very lucky few might be remembered for a couple of hundred years, perhaps one or two for a thousand, and there would be little hope of anything better than that. Certainly there is not much in the way of hope in heaven, or any sort of eternal life. Some would think that on the cosmic level, they are just such a small, tiny, insignificant part of the universe, that nothing they do really ultimately matters. Others might think that meaning is subjective – that is, that life has no more meaning than what they themselves give to it. So they might try and live a good life, or they might just try and maximise their pleasure, or make the biggest impact on history, or make the most money, or become the most powerful person, or learn as much as they can, raise and look after a family, depending on what they think will give their life the most personal meaning before they die.

For them, the message of Ecclesiastes is not just a philosophical quandary, it is their ultimate reality – nothing they do will ever have any objective significance. There are even scholars who read the book of Ecclesiastes this way – who see its entire message as one of depression, desperation, and ultimate futility. I thank God that it's not like that, and if you've been sitting through these sermons learning about meaninglessness, meaninglessness, meaninglessness, and thinking, “Yeah, but I know Jesus is at the end”, then you should thank God for that, because any comfort you find in that thought comes entirely from God, and it is a comfort that many people in our country simply don't grasp.

As I said, Ecclesiastes doesn't end that way. As we saw last week, and as we've seen in previous weeks, the book as it unfolds gives tantalising tastes of hope in amongst its oceans of futility. Yes, we are told that everything we do, whether it be making money, spending money, gaining pleasure, becoming wise, reaching for power, or even just working day by day, has no ultimate meaning. But the author says, “Keep doing it. Live your life, enjoy what you have, do your work, learn wisdom.” Our inability to give our own lives meaning should not prevent us from living and doing all the things that people across the world do every day. You see, every time the author of Ecclesiastes has discovered a truth about life, it has been not only that the thing he was pursuing – pleasure, wealth, wisdom, whatever – is in and of itself meaningless, but he has also come back to a truth that seems inescapable to him: that to have a life to live, to have work to do, food to eat, wisdom and knowledge to ponder, wealth to spend, and the ability to enjoy these things and be glad – all these things only come from God.

He says this again and again as the book progresses – in 2:24-25 he says, “People can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?

In 3:12-13, “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.”

In 5:18-20 he says, “This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for people to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. 19 Moreover, when God gives people wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. 20 They seldom reflect on the days of their lives, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.”

In 7:14 he says, “When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other.”

In 8:15, “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.”

Finally, in 9:7-9 we read last week, “Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.”

And so as the book of Ecclesiastes comes to an end, and we find ourselves here in chapters 11 and 12, we shouldn't be surprised that this idea of enjoyment in life coming from God should appear again. In these last two chapters, in fact, we find the two finishing ideas, the wrap up, the two conclusions of the book in its search for meaning.

The first conclusion is about life, and how we should live it in the face of our inability to bring meaning to it ourselves. In chapter 11, the young are told to find joy in their youth, to follow their hearts and to pursue whatever they want - but in the knowledge that God will bring judgement on them for whatever they do. I think there is a strong idea in our culture that your youth is a time for experimentation, trying new things, getting into trouble and up to mischief, before you settle down and grow up and stop enjoying life. Our society seems to just accept that young people will get drunk, young people will indulge in anti-social behaviour, young people will die in car accidents, they will do stupid and reckless and irresponsible things. Well, Ecclesiastes says that there is nothing wrong with enjoying the days of your youth, but that you should still remember that God will hold you in judgement for what you do, even when you are young. Society might not have high expectations of you, but God does. How many of us made mistakes when we were teenagers or in our early twenties that we wish we could go back and change? Probably all of us.

So the first point of Ecclesiastes is this: Enjoy life! It is a gift, it only lasts so long, and there is no reason not to enjoy it and be glad in its living. This is not the sort of message I think we expect to hear from the pulpit. And to be honest, it's not the sort of message a lot of people expect to be in the Bible either. There is some strange feeling we get about following God, as if he desires us to not enjoy ourselves or have fun or be glad. It's not a new idea either. The Jews when reading this message in Ecclesiastes, even before Christ was born, would argue and question whether this was a godly idea, and whether Ecclesiastes should even be in the Bible, because it encourages so much enjoyment of life. And I think most non-Christians today would have similar feelings about Christians stopping people from having fun and enjoying life. “Why can't I have sex outside of marriage? Why can't I get drunk and take drugs and watch pornography, perhaps at the same time? Why can't I experiment with human embryos? Why can't I live my life selfishly for myself? You Christians don't have any fun, and you just want us to be miserable too.” We'll come back to these people later.

Here comes the second point Ecclesiastes is making - that life and its enjoyment come from God. It doesn't come from anything we can do. It doesn't come from being young – those people who think only young people can have fun and enjoy life, read verse 10, “So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.” No, enjoyment of life comes from God, both for the young and the old. Enjoyment of life is a gift from God that we should acknowledge as coming from him.

The very next verse, chapter 12 vs 1, says it clearly, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them"”. In the following verses it describes, quite poetically, the process of aging and getting old. Earlier in chapter 11 life is described as “being in the light”, and of course the whole book has referred to life as being “under the sun”. But now it describes the clouds coming over, bringing darkness and gloom as we age – the light of life fades. It describes the body as a household wearing down: the keepers of the house tremble (trembling hands), the strong men stoop (the bones bend and become fragile with age), the grinders cease and become few (thought to be the teeth), and those looking through the windows grow dim (thought to be the eyes), the doors are closed (thought to be the ears), and so the sound of grinding work fades. As people grow older, they wake up earlier, with the birds, but they struggle to hear their song. They become afraid of heights, and of dangers on the road. The almond tree blossoms (that is, the hair goes white), and the grasshopper drags itself along the ground and desire is no longer stirred. (Whether this is talking simply about the lack of appetite as one grows old, or is being rather more euphemistic, I will leave you to ponder for yourself.) But the truth is, for all of us, that we all age, and then we die - we go to our eternal home as it says in verse 5. The reader is urged to remember God before this happens. Verse 6, Remember God before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken (referring to the falling of a rich lamp, the light again representing life, and death is the falling and breaking of the lamp). Remember God before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well (so now life is represented by water, which is quite common, and death by the inability to get that water).

God gives you this life, and eventually he will take it away again. Ecclesiastes has made no secret of the fact that life has its good times and its bad times, its light and its darkness. And it has made no secret of the fact that both the good times and the bad come from God. Now it's interesting that so many people look to God when times are tough, and say, “God, why do you let this happen to me? Why are these bad things happening? Surely there cannot be a God, when so many bad things happen to people.” But how many people, when times are good, when life is enjoyable, when having fun, how many people look up to God and say, “God, why do you let this happen to me? Why are all these good and enjoyable things happening? Surely there cannot be a God when so many good things happen and people enjoy life so much.” They don't, do they? Ecclesiastes says that God brings both, the good times and the bad. Chapter 11 vs 8 says, “However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all. But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many. Everything to come is meaningless.” For people whose lives have been basically good, with lots of fun, friends, food and enjoyment, it's only when things change and something bad happens – sickness, poverty, sudden death of a loved one – that they look up and say, “Why did you let this bad thing happen, God? My life was so good, and now it's been tainted by death and suffering and badness! There is no God!” The message of Ecclesiastes is not that God will only bring good into people's lives. It is that both the good and the bad of this life are eventually meaningless. It doesn't take much of a shift of mindset to realise just how freeing and comforting this truth is. When the storm clouds come over, when pain is present, when things are bad, when we are suffering, when evil seems to be winning, when we want to ask “Why?”, God says that you can look at these times and say, “It's okay. At the end of the day, this suffering and evil is ultimately meaningless.” It's not how we're used to thinking, but there is comfort in that knowledge. We can look at the good times, and the bad, and remember God our creator in them both.

The first conclusion of the book of Ecclesiastes was that we should enjoy life as much as we can. The second conclusion of Ecclesiastes is that life, in both its pleasure and pain, comes from God, and just as God controls when we live or die, when we are happy or sad, when good things and bad things happen, so does he control whether life has meaning. This is great news! It means that life has meaning! The search for meaning in life is over! We may not have control over it, and so that can sometimes make it seem meaningless. But God has control, and he will determine its meaning.

But how does this truth affect our lives? Okay, so we should enjoy life, but we don't actually have control over whether we enjoy it or not, God does. Good and bad things happen, but at the end of the day, God controls them. Our lives have meaning, but God is what gives life meaning. So what should we do with our lives? What should our response be to this truth? To find the answer, we have to go the very last verses of the book of Ecclesiastes. Before we get there, we are reminded of just how wise and true the sayings of this book are. The sayings of the Teacher, the Preacher, the Leader of the assembly, who wrote these words, we're reminded of how wise he was. We're told that we should let the truth of this book impact our lives, it should prod us like an ox goad, it should move us in the right direction, it should guide us like a shepherd. Then we are told, in verse 13, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the [duty] of every human being. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”

This is the wisdom of Ecclesiastes. The confronting truth is that you have no way of giving meaning to your life. You don't even have control over whether you can enjoy food or not. When you look at this reality, and see that only God can control whether your life has any meaning, what other option is there but to fear him, and to obey his commands? What option do you have but to trust God, to give up your illusion of control, and to just trust that he will do the right thing? Given no more information but that you have no control, God has all the control, and that the only way you will enjoy life, the only way that your life will ever have meaning, is to trust God, to fear him, to obey his commandments, what do you do? And so this is the conclusion of Ecclesiastes, given no more information than that. Enjoy life, fear God, obey his commands, and trust that he will gift your life with meaning.

We don't need more than that. The rest of life can remain a mystery. But it doesn't. No, it doesn't, for God in his grace has revealed to us so much more about life, and meaning, through his son Jesus. When you look at the gospel after having read the book of Ecclesiastes, you cannot help but see just how closely it mirrors the truths that the wise writer of Ecclesiastes came to hundreds of years before Christ was even born. Because the gospel says that living for pleasure, for wealth, for possessions, for wisdom – all of these are not what life is about. The gospel says that no matter what you do, you will not ever reach meaning in your life. The gospel says that all that we can do in this world in our own strength and by our own hand is ultimately futile. The gospel says that life has hope, but that death has no hope. And the gospel says that God can give your life meaning.

You see, Ecclesiastes paves the road to Christ without even knowing the name of Jesus, only by knowing God, knowing life, and knowing wisdom. Then we learn in the New Testament that the son of God comes not as a king dressed richly, living in mansions and palaces, but that he comes in poverty, born in a food trough in a stable. We learn that he does not attract to himself the wisest, the smartest, the most intelligent - but fishermen, tax collectors, uneducated men. He does not crave wealth or desire money, but instead teaches that you should pay your taxes, he gives food to the poor, he helps the sick, the despised, the marginalised. And we see that he does not live his life seeking the highest pleasures of his body, but he actually suffers pain, and indignity, and death on a cross. The New Testament tells us that there is nothing we can do in this life, by our own strength or talent or skill, that can bring meaning, and that by ourselves we are by nature objects of God's wrath, because we can't even obey his commands. But God, who holds all things in his hand, including meaning, says that it is by grace you have been saved from his wrath, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not from works, so that no-one can boast.

The New Testament tells us that this life is ultimately meaningless, but that where there is life, there is hope – and that the true hope is to be found in eternal life, in a resurrection from death with Christ Jesus. Paul says, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all others. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.” The New Testament tells us that through service to God, what you do in this life can have eternal meaning. Jesus tells us, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. ” We cannot achieve anything on our own, but with God with us, we can change eternity for people. Wow. God can make our lives go from meaninglessness to meaning, and he even tells us the kind of impact we can have.

Now here's the kicker. Do you remember those people who say, “Christians are only out to make everyone not have fun and not enjoy themselves”? They couldn't be more wrong. The truth of the gospel is that a life spent serving God, fearing God, and obeying his commandments, is more enjoyable. The truth of the gospel is that life as a Christian is a better, more enjoyable life, because it is not sex, drugs or rock and roll that bring pleasure. I know, right? Are you as surprised as me? That lie sold to us by the world really turns out to be not true! All pleasure, enjoyment and gladness doesn't come from money, it doesn't come from stuff, it doesn't come from being smart or pretty or cool. All the pleasure, enjoyment and gladness in the world comes from God. So that means you can live without drugs, without alcohol-fuelled parties, without promiscuity, you can live without mansions and millions, and still have joy, because joy comes from God.

So let me ask you this today. Does your Christian life reflect that truth? The Christian life is better. The life of obedience to God and hope of eternal life is so much better, brings so much more contentment, enjoyment and gladness, that people without it will be jealous! They should look at us and say, “What is it that they have that I don't?” Do they look at you and think that? Now obviously we can't control what people think. But look at your life, and ask yourself – is the reason my life is so good, is the reason I am so joyful, is the reason I have gladness in my life because I am a Christian, because God is in control and he gives me enjoyment of the things I have? Or am I really only happy because I have a big house, or a large family, or a good job, or lots of friends? I won't pretend that I have that one sorted out. Sometimes I get miserable because I don't have a full time job, and it's so easy to see yourself and your value and your happiness as tied up in your employment, or in your wealth, or in how popular you are. But that's not how life works. All that stuff is meaningless. Only God is in control, only God brings you joy. Now let's all get out there and live our lives knowing that, and make people jealous for God. Let's get out there and follow God's commands, and make disciples, and realise the real meaning of life.

Amen

Sermon: Ecclesiastes 9:1-11:6

So, I have been working on this sermon for the past couple of weeks, and got it done. Now, I'll probably read a few chapters of Ezekiel (but not comment on them just yet) because I've got ANOTHER sermon on Ecclesiastes to do for next Sunday. Better than not preaching at all! And I do love Ecclesiastes. See what you think of my sermon. I think it's going to be on the long side, but my brief was also pretty long, and these are not easy chapters of Ecclesiastes to preach on - it's like preaching on two chapters of Proverbs!

Ecclesiastes 9-11:6

Main points

* The great equaliser of death – death inescapable, regardless of righteousness, wickedness, wealth, poverty, religious, irreligious.

* Life is better than death, but only because where there is life there is hope.

* Wisdom is better than folly, but it's incredible how a little folly can undo so much wisdom.

* Wisdom is better than folly, but wisdom unheeded is worthless, and this happens often.

* Wisdom is better than folly, but the wise and the fool both end up dead, and no-one can see what will happen tomorrow.

* So get out there and live, take risks, don't let life's uncertainty stop you.

* Something about politics... (9:13-18 [wisdom not heeded/remembered], 10:5-7[improper people as rulers], 16-17 [improper actions of rulers], 20 [power of rulers against people])

Fact: Life will ultimately end in death. Temporal things are therefore meaningless. There is no certainty to life.

Question: So what is the meaning of life if we all die and there is no certainty?

Application: The fact of uncertainty should not lead us to despair or desperate clutching to pleasure. It should drive us to acknowledge life for what it is, and strive to enjoy life as gifted to us by God.

Words

In 1949 on Edwards Air Force Base in the United States, an engineer was working on Project MX981, which was a deceleration track designed to see how much sudden deceleration a person can withstand in a crash. One day, the engineer found a transducer that had been wired improperly, and cursed the technician responsible, saying, “If there is any way to do it wrong, he'll find it.” That engineer's name was Captain Edward A Murphy. A doctor by the name of Colonel John Paul Stapp, who rode the sled on the deceleration track and survived a stopping force of 40Gs, gave a press conference and said that their good safety record was due to a firm belief in Captain Murphy's Law, “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”, and in the necessity to try and circumvent it.

Of course, Captain Murphy merely put words to a law that has been known by mankind for all time. I found online a list of sublaws to Murphy's Law, which are born out of the experiences of people all over the world, and I'm sure they will resonate with you. They include such things as:

If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong – at the most inopportune time, and it will be your fault, and everyone will know it.

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the FIRST to go wrong.

When something goes wrong, things will be damaged in direct proportion to their value.

After you bought a replacement for something you've lost and searched for everywhere, you'll find the original.

No matter how long or how hard you shop for an item, after you've bought it, it will be on sale somewhere cheaper.

When a broken appliance is demonstrated to a repairman, it will work perfectly.

The file you are looking for is always at the bottom of the largest pile.

Your best golf shots always occur when playing alone.

The worst golf shots always occur when playing with someone you are trying to impress.

Traffic is inversely proportional to how late you are, or how late you're going to be.

Paper is always strongest at its perforation.

Mud that won't come off on a doormat immediately adheres to carpet.

You will find an easy way to do something, after you've finished doing it.

Wind velocity increases proportional to the cost of your hairdo.

A valuable falling in a hard to reach place will be exactly at the distance of the tip of your fingers.

If a valuable falls in a hard to reach place at a distance shorter than the tip of your fingers, as soon as you try to reach it you'll push it to that distance.

The more urgent the need for a decision to be made, less apparent becomes the identity of the decision maker.

Behind every little problem there's a larger problem, waiting for the little problem to get out of the way.

If anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway.

Murphy's law is a way of stating a truth that we all know – life has one certainty: that it's full of uncertainty. And then you die. But a couple of thousand years before Captain Edward Murphy, the author of Ecclesiastes put this very idea down on paper, and we find it in the Bible, expressed very strongly in chapters 9 and 10, and over into chapter 11 as well. Over the last few weeks, Martin has been taking us through the thought patterns of Ecclesiastes, showing us what it has to say about some of the biggest contenders in the contest for the question What Is Life All About? Is life all about pleasure? The answer appears to be no. Is it about money, possessions, or religious observance? Seems not. Nor is life merely a question of fate, or about living a life of balance. All of these things seem to end up being meaningless, or vanity – insubstantial, ultimately unsatisfactory.

The traveller on the road of Ecclesiastes, still heading towards an answer to the question 'What is life?', has left a lot of stuff by the wayside. When the author started on this road, he had everything a man can have. But, like a wanderer in the desert searching for an oasis, as the sun gets hotter and the day gets longer, he discards those things which are meaningless to his search. Golf clubs, massage machine, mp3 player, plane tickets to Las Vegas – the pleasure they bring is fleeting, useless on his search. Cash, credit cards, keys to the Ferrari, title deed to the mansion – his money and possessions , what good are they in this desert? His church song book, his tithe, his cross pendant, the years of attending church at Christmas and Easter – his religious observances don't sate the thirst. Things have been discarded left and right, leaving a trail behind him as he searches desperately for the cool oasis of meaning in the desert of meaninglessness. Now, in chapters 9 and 10, the author looks at what he's got left – his own mind, and life itself. As he tramps slowly over another sand dune, he thinks about his life, and what he has done. And he realises, “All that I've done, all that anyone has done - “the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. As it is with the good, so with the sinful; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them. All share a common destiny. This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.” That's verses 2 and 3 of chapter 9.

You see, in the end, everybody dies. Bad people die, good people die. Everybody dies. All share a common destiny under the sun. The traveller on the road to meaning might think, “Well, if that's the case, why bother even walking this road?” - that's the futility of fatalism that Martin spoke of a couple of weeks ago. But no, we've discarded fatalism on the side of the road too. There is hope in life, says Ecclesiastes in chapter 9 verse 4, “Anyone who is among the living has hope – even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!” So life, he thinks, holds some hope. And considering what life is not about, there are only a few options left to choose from. So he now turns his mind to power, politics and to wisdom. These topics are hard to disentangle from one another. Perhaps life is all about gaining authority over others, or gaining wisdom, knowledge, intelligence, learning, and using it to lead others? Reaching the pinnacle of knowledge and wisdom, and using it to attain the highest positions of political leadership, that must be the answer.

And so the author casts his mind about, thinking as he often does about the absolute pinnacle of this new path. For surely if wisdom is the path to meaning in life, if wisdom is what it's all about, then those who are the wisest in the land will be those who have found meaning. And surely the wisest people are the leaders, whose words and actions seal the fate of whole nations of people, hundreds of thousands, millions of lives at their disposal. But the more this idea is explored, the more it shows itself to be just another failure. He looks about, and he sees that first of all that the wrong people so often end up in positions of leadership. Chapter 10 vs 5, “There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that arises from a ruler: Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones. I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.”

Back in these days, kings and rulers were chosen usually by hereditary links – that is the son of the last ruler - or otherwise by whoever had the strongest army or the most money. In the eyes of Ecclesiastes, this does not mean that the best person gets the job. You might have a good king whose son goes off the tracks, or who just isn't very good at leading. Or you might have a powerful person who doesn't have any children, and all their inheritance, including their position, falls to their slave. Abraham was worried about this when he had no son. You might have someone with a huge army, or a big bank account, and they don't want a wise or strong leader, they want a weak leader they can push around, someone who will always say yes to them, regardless of how bad their decisions are. Now today ,we don't choose leaders based on family – instead, we vote them in based on how popular they are, and how well they will pander to the desires of the majority, and how much they can spend on advertising. “We'll stop refugees from coming to Australia!” “Yeah, well we'll stop them faster, with bigger guns!” Or, as we've seen lately, we don't vote them in at all – it's actually the political parties that choose who their leader is. And they don't choose the smartest, brightest, wisest, fairest, most even-handed person, most fit to be leader. No, they choose the person most likely to win them the next election, most likely to get them to power or keep them in power.

However, not only does Ecclesiastes' author realise that the wrong people so often get into power, but he also sees that when they get into power, they make foolish decisions and act improperly. He says in chapter 10 verse 16, “Woe to the land whose king was a servant and whose princes feast in the morning. Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time – for strength and not for drunkenness.” Now you might have noticed here that this is the second time the author has said that a slave or servant shouldn't be in power, and that it should be left to people of nobility or the social upper class. This was common thinking for several thousand years, and shows the author to be a person of his time. But this verse also shows that the attitude was not baseless, or based purely on discrimination against the low classes. The fact was that those who sprung suddenly to power from poverty, who suddenly went from slavery to sovereignty, were very likely to waste their time in the new-found pleasures of their station – eating, drinking, throwing parties, hobnobbing with important people and celebrities – rather than taking seriously the responsibilities of their rule. Feast in the morning, and you're drunk all day, and useless. Eat at the proper time, and you are seeking to make yourself strong, to help protect and serve your people – one of the fundamental responsibilities of political leadership.

In Australia you might think we're miles ahead of Ecclesiastes when it comes to recognising the futility of political leadership. We have an inbuilt distrust for politicians. We instantly assume they're lying, or spin-doctoring, or telling half truths. When Tony Abbott came clean and said that not everything he says can be taken as “gospel truth”, one prevailing attitude in response by voters was that it was refreshing to have a politician admit it for a change – the assumption being that they all lie, whether they say so or not. But what the author of Ecclesiastes is getting at is how can political power and leadership be the meaning of life, if there are so many instances of political leaders being the wrong people, in it for the wrong reasons, making the wrong choices? No doubt this lesson was also painfully clear to the people of Israel, who had seen that even their best leaders – like David – had not been perfect, and their work could not last forever. Eventually, they would be overtaken by another, and there was no way of knowing whether the next ruler in line would be a good king or an evil king.

So the quest for power is meaningless. But what of wisdom? Surely wisdom, knowledge and learning are valuable, so perhaps they alone are the key to meaning in life? This belief is very strong in the world today. “If only we can educate people better, then all of our problems will be solved,” is the catch cry of many people, usually university educated themselves, and perhaps unsurprisingly usually working in the field of education. Whether it's sicknesses that need cures – educate more doctors! - or problems with climate change– educate more environmental scientists! - or even social problems like discrimination and war – just educate people more, teach them more about their enemies, and they won't fight any more! There are lots of people saying “just a bit more education, and everything else will sort itself out.” I suppose we shouldn't be surprised when we hear these same people saying, “Just educate people a bit more, and they'll realise they don't need God or religion any more!” Because of course if education is the solution to every problem, then suddenly we don't need God, because we've solved the problem ourselves.

And yet even Solomon, wisest of all men, could not be trusted to lead God's people according to God's will. This doesn't bode well for wisdom being the meaning of life, does it? What the author of Ecclesiastes has discovered, in fact, is that there are some good things about learning, and wisdom, and knowledge. Just as he has come to the conclusion that wealth is better than poverty – but that doesn't make wealth the meaning of life; and that pleasure is better than pain – but that doesn't make pleasure the meaning of life; so he discovers that wisdom is better than foolishness – but that doesn't make wisdom the meaning of life. Wisdom - like pleasure, like wealth – is limited in what it can achieve. So we are told in Ecclesiastes first of all that wisdom is better than foolishness – but only if it is heeded. Look at chapter 9 vs 13, “I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. So I said, "Wisdom is better than strength." But the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded. The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.”

Already we find that wisdom is stronger than political power, because a wise man can defeat a powerful man and his army. But the problem with wisdom is that so often people don't listen to it, or they don't remember it! The old saying is that “history repeats itself”, and the reason it does is because we don't learn from our mistakes. Humanity on the whole seems to be unteachable, or at the very least has no long term memory. Second of all, we are told that wisdom is better than foolishness – but it's amazing how even the greatest wisdom can be undone by just a little bit of foolishness. As we keep reading from chapter 9 verse 18, and into chapter 10, we see this stated, “Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left. Even as fools walk along the road, they lack sense and show everyone how stupid they are.”

Have you noticed this in life? No matter how much good people do, no matter how smartly something is done, all it takes is one foolish thing, and it can bring a whole stack of good deeds and works tumbling down. There's a saying that goes, “It is impossible to build something that is foolproof, because fools are so ingenious.” Think about trust in a relationship, like a marriage – years of marital faithfulness can be destroyed in a single instant of adultery. You don't say, “Oh well, that's okay. We'll give you three strikes, and that's your first one.” One slip up is enough to destroy the trust built up over years.

Later on in verse 15 it says, “The toil of fools wearies them; they do not know the way to town.” Even when fools try and smarten themselves up, even when they try and do the right thing, try and work hard and live right and follow wisdom, the fact is that they're still a fool. The effort just wearies them, and at the end of the day, they still can't even find their way home.

The author freely acknowledges that there is hope in life, but he says that it won't come from any skill or talent that we have. He says in chapter 9 verse 11, “I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.” No matter how well we prepare, no matter the skill and proficiency we may have, whether we are prime minister or the wisest man on earth, we cannot control our own destinies. There are always things out of our control, and evil times can befall even the greatest person, and even the wisest man may die. He says in chapter 10 vs 8, “Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them,” showing just how dicey life can be, even in what were everyday activities.

Col Stapp, who rode Captain Murphy's deceleration sled, was famous for his own saying, known as Stapp's ironical paradox, which says “The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle.” And it is this statement, interestingly, that reflects exactly the attitude that the author of Ecclesiastes comes to after making these discoveries that neither political power, nor wisdom, nor any skill or talent of humanity ultimately contends for the meaning of life.

We find our wanderer standing, baffled, in the desert, the oasis of meaning still tantalisingly out of sight. He's ditched pleasure, wealth, possessions, religious trappings, power, wisdom, or anything that he can possibly accomplish, and left them on the hot sands of the desert of meaninglessness. There are only two options left to him. Does he simply sink onto the sand and die? No, he can't – such fatalism he has already discarded into the sands. He can only continue forward, hoping that the oasis of meaning awaits him, that each step he takes will lead him to his destination.

This is the position that we find ourselves in at the end of Ecclesiastes 10 and the beginning of Ecclesiastes 11. The author has found the mystery of life still unsolvable, but that does not cause him to tell us to sink to the ground, to just give up and die. No, rather, he says this in chapter 11 verse 1, “Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return. Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie. Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.”

The fact is that things happen that are out of our control every day. Whether it's the weather, or some sort of natural calamity, or a man-made catastrophe, we usually can't even predict that it's going to happen. We can't even predict with accuracy whether a tree will fall to the north or the south. And even if we can predict it, there's not really a lot we can do about it. If you wait for the perfect time to do anything, all you will ever do is wait. The important thing, then, is to get out there and do things, to be active, to live the life that God has given you, and to leave things that are out of our control in his control. We cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things, but we can actually achieve things and live a full life, if we accept that God has it in his hands to make our work fruitful.

In chapter 9 verse 7 it says, “Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. (those are both signs of enjoyment, you wore white and anointed yourself with oil on festive occasions.) 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun — all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.”

We only have one life to live. When you think about it, we are lucky to even have that. It is only through God's grace that we are alive at all. So we should live the life we have to live, as long as we've got to live it.

But what of our wanderer? He's just discarded all his wealth, his possessions, his pleasure, his power, his politics, his wisdom and his wherewithal, as all are unable to answer the question What is Life. With this discovery that there is nothing he can do but live his life, what does he do? Does he turn back from the oasis, pick all these things back up again, and just accept that life is meaningless, that this is as good as it gets, that he should just enjoy what he's got while he's got it? No, that's not what he does at all. In fact, as his eyes widen, he begins to scramble forward, running, because now, with all of these things behind him, he has finally caught a glimpse of what he is looking for. He has seen, shimmering in the distance, the cool waters of the oasis of meaning. For our wanderer has discovered that, through the discarding of all those things which did not bring ultimate satisfaction, through the pursuit of meaning and the discovery that it is outside his reach, he has glimpsed something of the answer to what life really is about. Because he has discovered that although he cannot know what happens in his life, God knows. He has realised that even though he cannot even determine whether he will gain pleasure or enjoyment out of the things of life, God can determine it. He has found that while he does not have any control over what happens in his life, God does have control. In these discoveries, we see the shimmering of hope of an answer to the meaning of life. And we will look at it in its completeness next week.