20/09/2013

PM Sept 20th Eccl 4


September 20th

Ecclesiastes 4

1: So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. 2: Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive. 3: Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun. 4: Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit. 5: The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh. 6: Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit. 7: Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. 8: There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. 9: Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. 10: For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. 11: Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? 12: And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. 13: Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished. 14: For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor. 15: I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead. 16: There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Ecclesiastes 5

1: Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. 2: Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. 3: For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. 4: When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. 5: Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 6: Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? 7: For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God. 8: If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they. 9: Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field. 10: He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. 11: When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? 12: The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. 13: There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. 14: But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. 15: As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. 16: And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind? 17: All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness. 18: Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion. 19: Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God. 20: For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.

Ecclesiastes 6

1: There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: 2: A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease. 3: If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he. 4: For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness. 5: Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other. 6: Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place? 7: All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. 8: For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living? 9: Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit. 10: That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he. 11: Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better? 12: For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

We are reading Ecclesiastes 4, 5 & 6. We read previously that from ch 3v10-4v16 we have the personal observations of Solomon which describe the labour of man that is fruitless and pointless. From v1-4 he speaks of labour for others. Then in verse 4,5 he speaks again of wisdom the sort of wisdom that men that are fools are without. Then in v6 he describes the pleasure of men which brings no satisfaction. From v7-12 again he speaks of labour, in v13,14 wisdom and v15,16 the pleasure which men seek but never obtain. He begins thinking about all the troubles and oppressions that come on men and of how there were no one to protect them and envied the dead. It would have been better to never have known these things. And when he thought of all the good things that are done he realised that it was all an empty thing. Then he thought of the fool who sits in laziness and eats his food. He thought it is better to have one handful of quite, than two hands full of trouble and strife. From v7 he speaks of vanity – pointlessness, again. He speaks of a man who has no wife or child or brother, yet he works all day long. He is not happy in wealth because he has no-one to share it with. His life seems to be pointless. Two are better than one person alone. If one falls then his companion will lift him up. But the man who falls alone has no-one to help him. If two lie together they mutually warm each other but how can a warm himself alone. If he is attacked who will help him? And a cord made of three threads is never quickly broken. Then he gives a proverb.. Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be corrected. Because he will come out of prison to resume his throne; whereas he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor and there is no-one to help him. In the closing verses of ch 4 he says I thought about all the people that live on earth and he concludes that it is all pointless and trouble of mind. In Ecclesiastes 5 Solomon speaks of all the things that men do – their works. We have a number of proverbs…

Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear,
than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.
Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God:
for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
For a dream cometh through the multitude of business;
and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.
When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it;
for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
Better is it that thou shouldest not vow,
than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error:
wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities:
but fear thou God.
If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province,
marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.
Moreover the profit of the earth is for all:
the king himself is served by the field.
He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver;
nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.
When goods increase, they are increased that eat them:
and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?
The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much:
but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

From 5v13 – 6v9 we have a number of personal observations of the foolishness of men.

There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun,
namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
But those riches perish by evil travail:
and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.
As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came,
and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.
And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go:
and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?
All his days also he eateth in darkness,
and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.

Then he describes good things…

It is good and comely for one to eat and to drink,
and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him:
for it is his portion.
Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth,
and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of
God.
For he shall not much remember the days of his life;
because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.

He continues the same theme right on down to v10 of Ecclesiastes 6. He says there is an evil that he has seen which is sadly common. A wealthy man in unable to enjoy all the blessings God has given him and another comes and enjoys the fruit of his labour. He says even if a man lives till he is a hundred years old and has many children, if his life is not full of good things and he is never buried then it would have been better for him to have been a miscarriage baby. He comes into life pointlessly and he leaves with nothing – even his name is forgotten. Even if he lived 2000 years yet if he had not had good things, he will still die! Men work all day to feed themselves yet they are never full. The wise man has no more food than the fool. Then from v 10 be begins a section that carries on to ch 12v12. But this time the theme is altogether more cheerful because he is thinking of what mans chief good is on the earth. He says who is to know what is good for a man because he spends his life like the passing of the shadow on the clock.

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