Easter for the Disillusioned
14 The wise man has eyes in his head, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both. 15 Then I thought in my heart, "The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?" I said in my heart, "This too is meaningless." 16 For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool, the wise man too must die!Toil Is Meaningless
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. 24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Author: Solomon
Son of King David and Bathsheba. Solomon was not the oldest son of David, but David promised Bathsheba that Solomon would be the next king. When David’s elder son Adonijah declared himself king, David ordered his servants to bring Solomon to the Gihon spring where the priest anointed him while David was still alive. Solomon inherited a considerable empire from his father.
Solomon accumulated enormous wealth. He controlled the entire region west of the Euphrates and had peace on his borders. Kings I states that he owned 12,000 horses with horsemen and 1,400 chariots. Remains of stalls for 450 horses have in fact been found in Megiddo. Solomon strengthened his kingdom through marital alliances. Kings I records that he had 700 wives and 300 concubines, although some regard this number as an exaggeration. He had a large share in the trade between northern and southern countries. He established Israelite colonies around his province to look after military, administrative and commercial matters. The empire was divided into twelve districts, with Judah constituting its own political unit and enjoying certain privileges.
Although Solomon was young, he soon became known for his wisdom. The first and most famous incident of his cleverness as a judge was when two women came to his court with a baby whom both women claimed as their own. Solomon threatened to split the baby in half. One woman was prepared to accept the decision, but the other begged the King to give the live baby to the other woman. Solomen then knew the second woman was the mother.
People from surrounding nations also came to hear Solomon’s wisdom. He composed 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. He wrote the Song of Songs, the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Solomon.html
Perspective
Solomon was born into a household of immense power and wealth. Although he had a great example of how to live a godly life in his father David, I feel he was missing an important part of the human experience, groundedness. He was given the finest teachers of the known world and from all indications ruled in a way that elicited love from most of the Israelites. However his constant thirst for gaining knowledge and wisdom seems to have come from an inherently selfish place in his heart. With all of the works of wisdom he compiled over his lifetime, one still gets the feeling that Solomon felt those answers applied to those of a lower stature than himself. In reading the verses above one gets the feeling that he felt his teachings on happiness as included in Proverbs might somehow be added to an elusive prize of worldly wealth and stature. I believe in the end he was able to at least see that God’s message on happiness didn’t require any additional money or power, in fact the money and power were corruptions and roadblocks.
Key words for discussion…
Independence- Can this word be a two edged sword?
Happiness- Were there people in Solomon’s kingdom who had less wealth and more happiness?
Humility- Was there a way for someone in the highest position the earth had ever seen, to be humble?
Arrogance- Does arrogance automatically manifest itself in negative ways, or might it just be a quiet limitation?
Gratitude- Can gratitude be the antidote for arrogance and offer it’s own type of groundedness?
How this relates back to Easter?
I feel that God in his wisdom always knew the roadblocks we as humans would have in an independent life. In the garden everything was provided for us and all of our needs would be met, including happiness. Somehow the serpent was able to draw Eve to the one thing that would bring down that blissful scene… self knowledge, or the knowledge of good and evil. In the life, death and resurrection of Christ we have a path established back to the original intent of the garden. If we are able to see the level of Gods love for us it will elicit a natural response of gratitude. That grateful relationship can be so powerful it overcomes any selfish need we may want to express, overwhelmed by the thankfulness for the unbelievable gift we have been given in this personal relationship, one on one, fully sacrificed, with the creator of the universe. The message of Christ is simple, “Believe in me…”. We continue to act like Solomon and attempt to add to the equation, to our distress.
