Habitual evil can not only last for a person’s life but can become generational.

The ‘if I just had this’ mentality is never correct.

What words do we use routinely? Do they reflect biblical attitudes?

• Hebrew – Qoheleth – assembler, convener
• English word from Greek ‘ekklesia’

• Part of the Hebrew canon at the time of Christ
• In Septuagint translation
• Josephus lists it as in the Hebrew canon (AD 37)
• Quoted/alluded to in NT
• Written by Solomon (Ecc 1:12)

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”:

Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of men—many concubines.

1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— 2 from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.

3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.

Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.

• Epigenetics refers to the study of factors which influence gene expression and are inheritable but are not part of the actual DNA sequencing of a person
• Epigenetic modifications are chemical ‘tags’ which alter how a gene is expressed – turn it ‘on’ or ‘off’
• Epigenetic inheritance – means that a parent’s experiences, in the form of epigenetic ‘tags,’ can be passed down to future generations

• Addiction is a disorder of the brain's reward system which arises through . . . neuroepigenetic mechanisms and occurs over time from chronically high levels of exposure to an addictive stimulus (e.g., morphine, cocaine, sexual intercourse, gambling, etc.). Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance of addictive phenotypes (behaviors) has been noted to occur in preclinical studies.

• 2^nd son of David and Bathsheba
• David had 7 wives, 19 sons and 1 daughter
• David’s eldest son Amnon raped Tamar
• Amnon later killed by another son, Absalom
• Absalom openly challenged David for the throne in battle, later killed

• 17-18 years old when he became king
• Greatest extent of Israel territorially
• Vision from God – I Kings 3:5-14
• Wealth beyond imagination
• I Kings 4:20-24, 29-34

The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,

18 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round at the back; there were armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. 20 Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom. 21 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.

Idols – sexual rites and child sacrifice

• Ashtoreth
• Milcom
• Chemosh
• Molech

• Vanity – 38 times
• Profit – 10 times
• Labor – 23 times
• Under the sun – 29 times
• Vexation – 7 times

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”:

After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.