Life Lesson (Ecclesiastes 8)

- Parents have a huge and lifelong role is training their children in godly wisdom and transitioning them to God’s Word as their source of wisdom.
- Training in God’s Word should be life-long for all Christians.
- Getting God’s Word in our hearts takes deliberate effort keeping in mind that we have limited time.

Life Lesson (Ecclesiastes 8)

Knowing we’re going to see Jesus Christ face-to-face at any moment spurs us on to live a Christian life with the right priorities and with urgency.

Life Lesson (Ecclesiastes 8)

We can take comfort that this world is not our home and earthly death is not our final destination. We will see our loved ones again and there will be ‘no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.’ Rev. 21:4

Verse 1 - Who is like a wise man?... A man’s wisdom makes his face shine,
Verse 5 - And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment,
Verse 16 - When I applied my heart to know wisdom . . .
Verse 17 - moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.

“the word denotes the acquisition of the habit of wisdom”

• Knowledge of God first then...
• Discriminating between right & wrong
• Receiving instruction
• Exercising correct judgment

behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.

And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

21 My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you, . . .
5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
And find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
Equity and every good path.

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

Ben – son (bath - daughter) – from a verb, banah, ‘to build’ (builder of the family name)
Jeled – newborn – from the verb, jalad, meaning ‘to bear young’
Jonek – suckling; from verb janak, to suck
Olel – suckling, from a verb meaning ‘to suckle’ but also from usage, asking for bread (i.e. solid food)
Gamul – weaned one (occurred in Hebrew culture at 2 years and celebrated by a feast); from a verb, ‘to complete, to wean’
Taph – used in singular form in Hebrew but usually refers to children/families; comes from verb ‘to trip, take short steps’ such as the ‘tripping’ gait of children
Elem – becoming firm and strong
Naar – one who shakes himself free; from a verb meaning ‘to tumble about’ which also has a homonym verb (word with the same pronunciation but different meaning) meaning ‘to growl’

• Genesis 22:5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the ^[a]lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”

This use of this Hebrew word indicates Isaac was a young man when this record occurred.
Bachur – ripened one; from a Hebrew verb meaning ‘to try’ (as in assess or evaluate), and then ‘to choose’ (because something has passed the assessment or evaluation)

• Ruth 3:10 Then he said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich.

The use of this word here indicates that Boaz was not a young man in the Ruth record because of the contrast he makes between Ruth seeking him out vs. ‘young men’.

4 We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
5 For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children;
6 That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
7 That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
 

6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit,
And no one has power in the day of death.
There is no release from that war,
And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.

Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the difficult days come,
And the years draw near when you say,
“I have no pleasure in them”:

54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O Death, where is your sting?
      O Hades, where is your victory?”

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.

There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

1 Truly God is good to Israel,
To such as are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
My steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the boastful,
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no pangs in their death,
But their strength is firm.

5 They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride serves as their necklace;
Violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eyes bulge with abundance;
They have more than heart could wish

11 And they say, “How does God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the ungodly,
Who are always at ease;
They increase in riches.
13 Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain,
And washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued,
And chastened every morning.

16 When I thought how to understand this,
It was too painful for me—
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their end.

18 Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24 You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.

17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

• Prayer
• Worship
• Reading/study
• Discipleship/Evangelism
• Giving
• Serving
• Fellowship/Family

And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.