Ecclesiastes — Lesson 6

Ritualistic Religion in Ecclesiastes

Introduction

- The world is so completely engrossed in vain matters it would seem that all is vanity. How should one live a happy, prosperous, righteous life in such a world?

- Ecclesiastes is often said to be one of the most pessimistic books in the Bible. Pessimism does have its value -- the futility and vanity of life apart from God. Solomon tried this life and found it worthless.

- Gaining wealth, power, striving for achievement and personal recognition are useless -- striving after wind. "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!" Nothing new, worthwhile or lasting in a life apart from God.

- The aim of the book is to show that self-gratification and successful worldliness do not bring satisfaction or meaning to our lives. Rather, serving God and keeping His commandments brings meaning and satisfaction.

- Solomon shows in the book how the five toils of man -- experiments of everything under the sun -- lack the gain that man seeks from them.

- Wisdom

- Pleasure

- Power and riches

- Promoting social good

- Conventional or ritualistic religion

- Solomon has tried each of the five and found them wanting both in meaning and in happiness.

1. How does Solomon's practice of religion contribute to the theme of Ecclesiastes as depicting the vanity of life apart from God?

- Solomon has shown how his outward and secular life had been unable to secure happiness, satisfaction or meaning. Now the question that surfaces is whether popular religion can produce meaning in life.

- True religion would have been big enough to fill the hole in Solomon's heart. But apparently something had gone badly wrong with Solomon's conception and practice his religion.

Solomon's religion obviously had not been pleasing to God. The scriptures indicate that his service to God had become vain and meaningless.

- Solomon would have been taught all that the priests or prophets had to offer. He was charged with building the temple, which required seven and one-half years to complete. He fell from the loftiest height of his religious life to its lowest depth.

- Solomon's love for strange women turned his heart away toward their gods. He built rival temples to other gods in I Kings 11.

- I Kings 11:4 -- For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. Verse 6 -- And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.

- The strength of the nation of Israel rested on its unity, and its unity depended on its faith.

2. What indications are provided in Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 regarding the kind of religion that Solomon had apparently practiced?

- 5:1-7 -- 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. 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 thy hands? 7. For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.

- There's a dramatic switch here from Solomon's "I" passages to a series of admonitions to one addressed as "thou."

- He talks about how others should approach worship and service to God, not about his practice and attitudes in this regard.

- Verse 1 -- "Keep thy foot" is an idiomatic expression standing for one's entire pattern of behavior.

- Be careful about your conduct.

- Remember what you are about.

- Man's ordinary life transferred to his moral and religious life.

- What does this declare about acceptable worship?

- It's not merely an outward observance of religious duties, but includes a pattern of life honoring God's commandments.

- Paraphrase of verse 1 -- As you enter the temple, keep your ears open and your mouth shut.

- "Sacrifice of fools" - Reaction against the mere ceremonialism that marked the popular religion.

-- I Sam 15:22 -- Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

- Proverbs 15:8 -- The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Jehovah.

- Verses 2-3 -- "Be not rash with thy mouth."

- This is a warning against hasty and thoughtless words in prayer, words that go from the lips in a glib manner but not from the heart.

- It' not necessary to impress God with a multitude of words. Instead, keep the words to a minimum, because God is in heaven and you are on the earth. God in heaven is able to see what our needs are without hearing a lot of words from us about them.

- Why is the phrase "God is in heaven and you are on the earth" reason for us to measure our words carefully?

- This expresses the nature of God Himself.

- Heaven is an eternal sphere apart from and above time, earth and sense.

- We should not rank God with earthly rulers, but bear in mind His distinctness and superiority.

- As our Creator, He knows our emotions and wants.

- As our Lord and Judge, he knows our sins and frailties.

- As our Savior, he knows our penitence and faith. 4

- All of these would keep us from familiarity, rashness, verbosity and irreverence.

- Verses 4-6 -- Taking vows.

- A vow was a promise to dedicate something to God, on certain conditions, such as granting deliverance from death or danger, success in one's undertakings.

- One of the most ancient and widespread of religious customs. Jacob at Bethel in Genesis 28:18-22 -- after dreaming about the ladder from heaven, Jacob took a vow, saying that if God would be with him and enable him to come again to his father's house, the Lord would be his God.

- This admonition is closely related to the first. The sense is, "Don't make promises you cannot or do not intend to keep."

- Mosaic law regulated the practice.

- Vows were entirely voluntary, but once made, were regarded as compulsory.

- Evading the performance of vows was held to be highly irreligious. Numbers 30:2 -- (Moses) If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

- It was far better not to vow than to vow and then not to perform it.

3. What lessons can Christians today take from these cautions?

- 1. We too can become vain and irreverent in our approach to worship.

- Exodus 20:3 -- Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

- Matthew 4:10 -- Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.

- Isaiah 46:9 -- Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me.

- Isaiah 55:8-9 -- For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than our thoughts.

- Not only is the worship of wicked men an abomination of God, so also is the worship of any person who engages in it without regard to the proper understanding and intention of it.

- 2. Not only is the appropriate attitude necessary, we also must worship God according to the pattern we have in scripture. This is indicated by "Keep thy foot" in verse 1. John 4:24 -- They that worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

- Spirit -- refers to spiritual communion that takes place when our spirit joins with God.

- Truth -- God-authorized acts revealed in scripture.

- John 17:17 -- Thy word is truth.

- Worship must include the right acts and the right forms.

- Matthew 15:8,9 -- This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

- In addition to teaching as doctrines the precepts of men, these people were insincere. Their hearts were far away from God.

- God doesn't accept worship unless it comes from the sincere inner spirit of a person. Psalm 51:16,17 -- For Thou dost not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; Thou art not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.

- Rashness in prayer is also possible. Our prayers can also be inconsistent with the thought that one is standing in God's presence.

- Matthew 6:5-7 -- And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

- The world is still suffering under the curse of countless words regarding religion that are totally without any value.

4. Regarding the taking of vows in Ecclesiastes 5:4-7, are

Christians sinless in the matter of keeping our promises to

God? In what ways are we guilty?

- "When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for He hath no pleasure in fools."

- Heb 13:8 -- Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.

- James 1:17 -- Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

- Our very baptism is a holy vow to love and serve God through Jesus Christ. Any failure to do this falls under the condemnation cited here.

- II Peter 2:20-21 -- For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

- Very nearly the same thing stated in Ecclesiastes with reference to the making of vows, i.e., that it would be far better not to vow than to vow and then not perform it.

- How will the fear of God in verse 7 influence our actions?

- This is the message of the entire reading.

- Worship and service of holy and righteous God is no flippant or casual business.

- Worship is weighted with eternal meaning and significance.

- The New Testament also urgently warns us in the same manner.

- Matthew 7:21 -- Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven.

- I Cor 11:27-29 -- Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

5. What is Solomon saying about the adversity of the righteous and the prosperity of the wicked in Ecclesiastes 7:15-18?

- Ecclesiastes 7:15-18 -- 15. All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness. 16. Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? 17. Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time? 18. It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all.

- In Solomon's experience of life, in the days of his vanity, he had seen the just perish despite righteousness and the wicked prosper despite their wickedness.

- Perplexing problem that often troubled the Hebrew mind.

- Abel died at the hands of Cain. Gen 4:8.

- Naboth, sons of Gideon, Josiah and other good people died untimely deaths.

- Evil men like Manasseh enjoyed one of the longest reigns of Israel's history.

- Theory that the good find their reward and the wicked their punishment in this life was not borne out by Solomon's experience.

- The passage confirms the general law, while citing exceptions to it. Exceptions to any valid principle do not negate it.

- Exceptions can be influenced by the activity of Satan, freedom of human will, primeval curse upon the earth because of Adam's sin, element of time and chance happening to all men, lack of wisdom sometimes on the part of the righteous (Luke 16:8), and the impartiality of natural disasters.

- Mark 10:30-31 -- But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

- What lesson does Solomon deduce from his experience? Verse 16 -- Be not righteous over much . . . Is he advocating a "middle course" between sin and virtue? Is it possible to be too righteous?

- No. The passage is a warning against going to extremes.

- It refers to the hypocritical righteousness like the Pharisees so severely condemned by Jesus. They specialized in trifles, and neglected the weightier matters of the law. Matthew 23:23 -- Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

- Parable of the Pharisee and publican in Luke 18:10-14 -- Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

- The Pharisee was not content with the good works commanded by the law of God; he must go beyond them.

- Pharisee claimed merit for going beyond the requirements of the Law. One fast day; he boasted fasting twice a week. Law commanded only to tithe the fruits of the field and increase of cattle; he tithed of all that came into his possession.

- This doesn't mean that we should ever compromise God's teachings in our actions and decisions.

- James 1:21-22 -- Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

- Verse 18 - He that feareth God . . .

- Fearing God, which is the beginning of all wisdom, will give ultimate victory, not only from the extremes mentioned here, but from sin and death, thus providing the servant of God with eternal life.

Conclusion

- Solomon has shown how his outward and secular life had been unable to secure happiness, satisfaction or meaning. Now the question that surfaces is whether popular religion can produce meaning in life.

- True religion would have been big enough to fill the hole in Solomon's heart. But apparently something had gone badly wrong with Solomon's conception and practice his religion.

- II Peter 1:3-4 -- According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

- Hebrews 11:6 -- But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

- Scriptures seem to indicate that Solomon's worship and service to God had become vain and meaningless. If he had continued to have faith in God and seek him, he would have been rewarded. One can only conclude that his faith dwindled greatly.

- So flawed had his religion become that Solomon apparently put his faith in the external requirements of religion as opposed to the "weightier matters of the law."

- His view of life became pessimistic to the point that he focused on the adversity that the righteous suffer and the prosperity of the wicked.

- In contrast, we know that we have the ultimate victory because of God's love that He manifested through Jesus Christ.

- I John 2:15-17 -- Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

- I Cor 15:57-58 -- But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.


ECCLESIASTES

1. How does Solomon's practice of religion contribute to the theme of Ecclesiastes as depicting the vanity of life apart from God?

2. What does Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 indicate concerning the kind of religion that Solomon had apparently practiced?

3. What lessons can Christians today take from these cautions?

4. Regarding the taking of vows in Ecclesiastes 5:4-7, are Christians sinless in the matter of keeping our promises to God? In what ways are we guilty?

5. What is Solomon saying about the adversity of the righteous and the prosperity of the wicked in Ecclesiastes 7:15-18?

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