Author Topic: Solomon's World View (Read 2876 times)

Olde Tymer · « **Reply #13 on:** January 13, 2019, 08:04:10 am »

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● Ecc 2:24-26a . .There is nothing worthwhile for a man but to eat and drink and afford himself enjoyment with his means. And even that, I noted, comes from God. For who eats and who enjoys but myself? To the man, namely, who pleases [God] He has given the wisdom and shrewdness to enjoy himself;

A person's financial means can enhance their peace of mind and feelings of security. But to hoard wealth, to stock-pile it, being miserly and stingy, never doing something worthwhile with your means, never doing even yourself any good with it; is not wise. Some years ago, I heard about an elderly couple who died. When the house in which they had lived for many years was torn down, an amount of cash was found in the walls totaling about $40,000. The coroner's determination of cause of death? Malnutrition.

Money is a medium of exchange. Unless it's spent, it can do little or nothing for you. You can't eat money, but it will buy your food. It can't keep you warm, but it will buy your clothing and heating oil. Money is not a conveyance-- it can't be ridden like a magic carpet to transport you from point A on over to point B; but it will buy you a car, a bicycle, or a bus ticket. It can't chew your food, but it will pay a dentist to fix your teeth. Its possession doesn't make you a rock star, but it will buy you a ticket to an AeroSmith concert. Money has no scenic glaciers, but it will buy you a birth onboard a Princess Line cruise ship to Alaska.

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." (1Tim 6:17)

That verse reveals that all the opportunities this world has to offer are provided by God for Man's enjoyment. Therefore, it is absolutely not a sin to enjoy life. Some people feel guilty about success. But that is an unhealthy attitude. Others take vows of poverty in order to enhance their piety. But it isn't necessary to be poor in order to please God. Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, were all very wealthy men whose circumstances-- which enabled them to live high on the hog --were made possible by God's providence. Wealth isn't intrinsically sinful. It's how people use their wealth that matters.

● Ecc 2:26b . . and to him who displeases, He has given the urge to gather and amass-- only for handing on to one who is pleasing to God. That too is futile and pursuit of wind.

When him who displeases donates to charities, his contributions don't earn him any points with God whatsoever because one of Solomon's proverbs says, in so many words, that a bad person's gifts are detestable. (Pro 15:8)

I seriously doubt that it is God who personally urges a bad person to donate to charity. I just think it's the bad person's own conscience working on them. Well; seeing as how God created the human conscience, then I guess you could say "He has given the urge". Maybe that's how Solomon saw it; I don't really know; but it seems logical.

NOTE: The mention of a supreme being throughout Ecclesiastes reveals that the author, though quite philosophical, wasn't an atheist. He was what might be called a theist; roughly defined as someone believing in the existence of one god viewed as the creative source of the human race and the world, who transcends yet is immanent in the world.

The author's god is never once named, instead, referred to as 'elohiym (el-o-heem') which isn't a personal moniker like Yahweh or Brahma, rather, a nondescript label that pertains to all sorts of deities; both the true and the false, and the real and the imagined, plus the gods of myth, superstition, and tradition.

The three sacred names for the Bible's God-- Shadday, 'Adonay, and Yhvh --are nowhere in Ecclesiastes. The reason for that is quite simple. Solomon-- if indeed he's the author --refers to a supreme being in Ecclesiastes in a general sense; sort of like the common expressions: "Thank God nobody got hurt" and/or "God forbid!" There's nothing particularly religious in those kinds of expressions.
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Author Topic: Solomon's World View (Read 2876 times)

Olde Tymer

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