seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Ecclesiastes 5:1 [a]Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
2 Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
and you are on earth,
so let your words be few.
3 A dream comes when there are many cares,
and many words mark the speech of a fool.
4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? 7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.
8 If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. 9 The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
10 Whoever loves money never has enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
This too is meaningless.
11 As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners
except to feast their eyes on them?
12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
whether they eat little or much,
but as for the rich, their abundance
permits them no sleep.
13 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:
wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
14 or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when they have children
there is nothing left for them to inherit.
15 Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,
and as everyone comes, so they depart.
They take nothing from their toil
that they can carry in their hands.
16 This too is a grievous evil:
As everyone comes, so they depart,
and what do they gain,
since they toil for the wind?
17 All their days they eat in darkness,
with great frustration, affliction and anger.
18 This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person 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 someone 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 life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.
a. Ecclesiastes 5:1 In Hebrew texts 5:1 is numbered 4:17, and 5:2-20 is numbered 5:1-19.
I have to remind myself. The study of Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon. He was wise but he did some really questionable things. I mean 700 wives and 300 concubines.... well that's questionable. Building temples for the gods of his wives.... that was questionable. And now... Solomon is spouting off some of his wisdom concerning life on earth without God. People, according to Solomon, work their whole lives and then they die. Well it was true when Solomon was alive. Eternal life wasn't something Solomon could count on. As a matter of face, without God.... eternal life would be a sentence rather than a gift.
OK.... back to the commentary..... I read a bunch of commentary this morning.... this is from the easy English site.
The Teacher warns people about how they should approach God. ‘God’s house’ may mean the holy building that is called ‘the temple’. It is in the city called Jerusalem. Or it may mean any place where people go to worship God. ‘To listen’ means to take in carefully. And we must obey what we hear. People need to think carefully before they offer a gift to God. Then they will show that they really want to give honour to him. ‘To obey God is better. To give a gift to him is less important.’ People are stupid if they do not intend to obey God. Worship is foolish if it is only a custom. That kind of worship is not sincere. The people are just imitating other people’s ideas. They are not showing that they themselves really want to worship God. They may think that they are doing the right thing. But they may be doing something that is wrong.
Where there are many officials, it is very hard for a poor person. He cannot obtain a fair decision. He cannot afford to give money to the officials. He must wait while the officials make excuses. Maybe they do nothing. Or maybe they send him to another official. People should realise that this happens in the world. Each official watches the other officials and each official takes a part of the taxes.
There are three reasons why money cannot satisfy its owner.
1. Verse 10 People who have a lot of money often want more money. A man who earns a lot of money wants to earn even more money. Some people play games to gain more money. But what they gain does not satisfy them.
2. Verse 11 Money attracts other people who want to depend on wealthy people. Then the wealthy people have extra responsibilities. So there are more demands on the money. The owner has gained nothing for himself except something that he can look at. He cannot enjoy his wealth, because extra costs use all his money.
3. Verse 12 The poor man sleeps well at night after his hard work. Whether he has had enough to eat or not, he is free from anxious thoughts. But the rich man stays awake. He cannot sleep. Perhaps he has eaten too much and he has a pain in his stomach. Or perhaps he is worrying about his money and his possessions, so he cannot sleep.
The Teacher has talked about the wealthy person who was not aware of God. Here he describes the life that God has given to the wise person. The words ‘to eat and to drink’ mean ‘to be happy with friends’. A person can enjoy hard work too because it is God’s gift. God gives wealth to some people. Also he gives to them the power so that they can enjoy that wealth. People will enjoy things that they use wisely. But what they have depends on God.
IMHO, Solomon is warning people about putting on a show in church. Now.... everyone had to go to Temple.... they had to take sacrifices for the stuff they did. There was no praying for forgiveness in Solomon's day..... Jesus hadn't been to earth yet. They had to make the proper sacrifice for the sin. Now imagine.... what if the sins you committed that week required a bull but you wanted to be "big headed" about your piety..... so you only brought grain... then people would say.... "look... a pretty sinless person... only grain"..... That's promising God something and giving Him nothing. That guy would have been better off not going to Temple.A couple of the commentaries talked a little about hypocrites in the church..... one described a dad cussing all the way to church and then praying in front of the congregation without a contrite heart. How many horrible TV preachers have built crystal palaces and driven big cars because "God wants them to be rich"? I have a neighbor who thinks he's a preacher or a teacher.... and he posts horrible things on-line during the week.
The next good person Solomon took on in this chapter... is the governor. Everyone wants a cut of everything anyone has or does. Solomon says.... the more the government gets... the more it needs. OK... I'm not getting political here.... but look at the facts.... there are a lot of people who work for the government... and everyone has to be paid.... the people at the top need to be paid too.... so the guy who collects the taxes gets a cut... then his boss gets a cut... then his supervisor gets a cut.... then his director gets a cut.... someone has to pay the speaker.... and of course the king needs to put out the best china to impress the guy next door so they won't have to fight over anything. Opulence is a defense.
There are only so many sources of income for the government.... because there are only so many workers.... Now Solomon was right.... the workers slept good at night.... while the rich.... well some of that food and drink would be a little rough on a body that is inactive all day.... making only cerebral moves.
So.... that saying "Eat, Drink, and be Merry" wasn't a call to all drunks and druggies to party now because tomorrow may never come.....
Eat, drink, and laugh with your friends and neighbors.... because sometimes we need a break from hard work.....
Back in Solomon's day... there was no eternal life. Back when Solomon was writing, people were born and they died.... they became worm food.... that that was that.... if they didn't have kids... their earthly stuff was divided up and sold. If they had kids... the government took all their inheritance for taxes so their kids weren't going to get much anyway. The only thing someone could pass on after death... in the days of Solomon.... was their name... good or bad... their reputation was all that was left. So, Solomon says..... might as well enjoy it as best we can.
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