Okay so we don’t have Pastor Todd, but we do have someone else with plenty of life experience, Solomon.
I mean, what didn’t he experience? Here’s a man who not only had it all but could buy and sell everyone else who even came close to him. At his peak as the king of Israel, Solomon had more money than most other nations. This is just one man! He’d make Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates look like bums.
Okay he had lots of money but so did David, what’s different?
Now this isn’t to encourage such behaviour, but I must say Solomon had a thousand ladies – seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines.
What does he do with so many? I’m just a kid, I don’t know. But he could’ve added to that number with a snap of his fingers at any time.
We haven’t even gotten into his career. Solomon was a king of a great kingdom. He was that guy. The top dog. Once you make it to king, you really can’t go any higher. Okay so he had a lot of items and success but there’s more to life. He was probably another foolish and arrogant king. Well actually, Solomon was also given wisdom beyond what anyone before or since has possessed.
Okay, okay. So Solomon must’ve written about how great his life was.
Actually, it was the opposite. Solomon gave us a book telling us how empty and worthless he found his life to be.
Isn’t this supposed to, you know, motive us. Well, like everything, it’ll depend on your perspective.
“When writing a book, you should always leave the introduction to the end. It’s the most important part”
Honestly, I think Solomon must’ve been the first to say that because the beginning of Ecclesiastes 1 is an A* example for introductions. Let’s even look at verse 1 (NIV). Solomon names himself “the Teacher”, so you already know there’s a message coming; with “son of David, king in Jerusalem” being almost like a disclaimer, something to put to the side. Already, we can see that Solomon puts more value in what he brings to the life of others than any rank or heritage.
Now let’s get into it.
2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.” 3 What do people gain from all their labours
at which they toil under the sun?
Wait. What is he talking about? Solomon has basically walked in, sat down and announced, “The topic of our lecture is: The Nothingness of Everything”. The man with everything wants to talk about nothing.
Okay, its only the first 3 verses, let’s see what else he has to say.
4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
Hmm. Okay you’ve lost me.
If you read on from verse 5-11 you will probably get the vibe of “It is what it is”, “what is meant to be will be “or “same old same old”. So, what do we have here? The man at the top asking the same questions as everyone else: “Is this all there is?”
Isn’t that how it usually goes. Look at kids, they get a new toy for their birthday, play with it, and after a week it becomes just another toy, it served its meaning. In fact, look at some of our friends and family. They get a new car, the car they saved up ages for. They drive it and they’re elated. It’s got that new look, with the fresh car smell. They feel a sense of power and significance just from driving it. But as months go by, the smell fades, the leather wears out, and it just becomes a toy. The significance is gone and suddenly, they’re in the market for a new toy.
This is just how Solomon felt as he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. At this point of meeting, he’s not the same man who started off so close to God, he had already lost his way. He had become disillusioned with the world. It takes some time, but I think God really uses Solomon journey to teach us about the true meaning of life.
My Sunday Skl 