Monthly Archives: September 2020

From Dust to Dust

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Reading the Word

Ecclesiastes 3:16–22 (ESV)
16 Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.
17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.
18 I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts.
19 For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.
20 All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.
21 Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth?
22 So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?

Understanding and Applying the Word

Once again, Solomon comments on his observations of life in this world. In the beginning of this passage he speaks of the prevalence of wickedness and the lack of justice and righteousness. He then goes on to observe that both humans and beasts suffer the same fate. They both die. Some may wonder what Solomon means when he says that “all go to the same place.” He is referring to the grave. In such a cruel world where death waits, Solomon surmises that people must find fulfillment in their work, for that is all there is.

The words of this passage seem terribly negative, but they reflect the reality of a life without God. The world becomes a cold, dark place without meaning. Even work actually becomes meaningless in such a world because whatever we are able to produce will eventually fade away and be forgotten. By contrast, in a world with God, we know that wickedness will be judged and that there is hope beyond the grave. Mankind is promised an eternity in the presence of God for all who will repent of their wickedness and trust in Jesus Christ.

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That We May Fear God

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Ecclesiastes 3:9–15 (ESV)
9 What gain has the worker from his toil?
10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live;
13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.
14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.
15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.

Understanding and Applying the Word

After observing the realities of life in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, Solomon now sets out to interpret these things. He asks, “What gain has the worker from his toil?” What is the purpose or meaning to it all? This is the question we all are faced with when we reflect on life.

As Solomon reflects on the meaning of life “under heaven” (cf. Ecclesiastes 3:1), he introduces a reality that he has not mentioned until now. Solomon speaks of God. In what may seem like an endless cycle of life, there is meaning. And there is meaning precisely because God stands behind it all. God has “put eternity into man’s heart” and also given mankind things in which to find joy. This is God’s gift to us. And God’s gift is meant to lead us to him that we might fear him. Life finds its meaning and purpose when we understand our proper place in the world. We are created by God for his glory and our lives are in his hands.

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For Everything There Is a Season

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Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 (ESV)
1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

Understanding and Applying the Word

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 all goes together with verses 1-8 making an observation about life and verses 9-15 giving us an interpretation of the observation. For today, we will simply look at the first part and visit the second tomorrow. It is important to understand that these verses are observational, not prescriptive. Solomon looks at life and sees that there are many contrasting, and even conflicting, realities to life in this world. In this poem, Solomon lists seven lines describing different times in life. Each of the seven lines lists two pairs of contrasting things (e.g. life and death, planting and harvesting, weep and laugh, etc.) for a total of fourteen pairs.

This passage is one of the most well known poems in Scripture. This is at least partly true due to the popular song by The Byrds. This passage does not give us instruction on how to live, but observes the realities of life. These verses echo the truths of Ecclesiastes 1:1-11, where we read of the endless cycle of life. We are left asking, “What is the purpose of it all?”

If you have lived long enough, you have experienced many of the things listed in today’s reading, both the positive and negative things. We all go through these things and we all are left wondering what this world is all about. We will look at the interpretation of these things more tomorrow, but to find any lasting meaning, we must look to Jesus Christ, the one who came into our world to give us hope of something greater. Through Christ, believers have the promise of a life where the pain and sorrow and suffering are no more. Are you looking for life’s meaning? Look to Jesus.

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The Vanity of Toil

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Shaped by the Word is a daily, Bible-reading devotional. I do not publish supplemental material on Sundays, but I do include a suggested Scripture reading. Please be sure to subscribe to this page to follow along every day. Thanks for reading!

Reading the Word

Ecclesiastes 2:18–26 (ESV)
18 I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me,
19 and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.
20 So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun,
21 because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
22 What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun?
23 For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,
25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?
26 For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Love

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Today’s post is part of our Psalm Saturdays series from guest blogger Robert Chamberlain. You can read his archives at www.roberlain.wordpress.com .

Psalm 136:1–26 (ESV)
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever;
4 to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever;
5 to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever;
6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever;
7 to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever;
8 the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever;
10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, for his steadfast love endures forever;
11 and brought Israel out from among them, for his steadfast love endures forever;
12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his steadfast love endures forever;
13 to him who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures forever;
14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his steadfast love endures forever;
15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, for his steadfast love endures forever;
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures forever;
17 to him who struck down great kings, for his steadfast love endures forever;
18 and killed mighty kings, for his steadfast love endures forever;
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites, for his steadfast love endures forever;
20 and Og, king of Bashan, for his steadfast love endures forever;
21 and gave their land as a heritage, for his steadfast love endures forever;
22 a heritage to Israel his servant, for his steadfast love endures forever.
23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever;
24 and rescued us from our foes, for his steadfast love endures forever;
25 he who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.

You can’t miss the main point of this Psalm! God is good all the time, all the time, God is good! And it’s all because of His love that we get to enjoy His goodness.

The preacher Paul Washer said God’s goodness is a scary thing, precisely because we aren’t good, and therefore deserve His condemnation. But thankfully in Christ, God’s goodness and love are reconciled. Through Him, bad people like us can be made good like God.

This Psalm gives us a sweeping view of the love of God for us. He created all things because He didn’t want to miserly keep His love all to Himself. He spoke, and it came into being, and He has made all things well.

Then the Psalm zooms in on Israel’s redemption story. Even in judging Israel’s enemies, God displayed His love. Similarly, in judging His Son in our place, God has supremely showcased His love.

God enabled His people not just to escape Egypt, but also to enter the promised land of Canaan. Similarly, God is delivering His new covenant people from slavery to sin to bring us safely to the new creation. God remembers how lowly and helpless we are without Him.

The Lord provides our every need. He gives us our daily bread. He is worthy of all our thanks and praise.

“King of kings and Lord of lords, You are good and Your love endures forever. Please keep us in Your love now and always, for Jesus’ sake, amen.”

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The Fate of the Wise and the Fool

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Ecclesiastes 2:12–17 (ESV)
12 So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.
13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.
14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.
15 Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity.
16 For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!
17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

Understanding and Applying the Word

There are advantages to living wisely in the world. The Book of Proverbs speaks to many of those advantages. However, even with those advantages, there is an undeniable fact: the fate of the wise is no different than the fate of the fool. The wise dies just like the fool and before long, both are forgotten.

There are many things we can pursue in life to find meaning and purpose. Solomon has already shown us that some of the very things we pursue today are simply vanity. They leave us empty. The things we have seen so far include wisdom, knowledge, and pleasure. The reality of death undoes anything we hope to find lasting purpose from in this world. If there is to be any true meaning, there must be something more. Thankfully, we know that there is more because God has revealed himself through his word and through his Son, Jesus Christ. God’s word and the life and works of Jesus tell us that death is not the end and there is hope for all who trust in Christ. There is an eternity waiting and it is filled with purpose.

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The Vanity of Pleasure

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Ecclesiastes 2:1–11 (ESV)
1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.
2 I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”
3 I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.
4 I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.
6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.
7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.
8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man.
9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.
10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.
11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Understanding and Applying the Word

In today’s reading, Solomon explored whether pleasure-seeking could give his life the meaning he was looking for. Solomon would be the person to answer this question because, as king, he had great power, wealth, and many wives. What was his answer? He tells us that he set out to find fulfillment in pleasure, but concluded “all was vanity and a striving after the wind.”

The pursuit of pleasure may be the most common way people attempt to find fulfillment in life. Yet, as Solomon found, pleasure-seeking is fleeting and temporary and leaves us empty. Eventually, the pleasure goes away and we need more. Whatever gives us the initial joy ultimately fades or goes away and we need something else. It is truly a striving after the wind.

Augustine once said, “You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in Thee.” We are God’s creation and his image-bearers. We were created to have an intimate relationship with our Maker. We can try to find satisfaction and fulfillment in many ways and with many things, but nothing will satisfy except a deep relationship with God. Have you sought him?

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The Vanity of Wisdom and Knowledge

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Reading the Word

Ecclesiastes 1:12–18 (ESV)
12 I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.
14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”
17 And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
18 For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

Understanding and Applying the Word

Solomon was king in Israel after taking the place of David, his father. Solomon was known for his great wisdom (1 Kings 3:1-28). In today’s reading, Solomon tells us that he set forth to make sense of life through the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge. He concluded that such pursuit only resulted in vexation and sorrow.

Why would the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge be a dead end road? Because wisdom and knowledge does not change reality. This is Solomon’s point in verse 15 when he says, “What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.” When we gain wisdom and knowledge we only become more aware of the pain and sorrow of living in this world marred by sin and death. It leads only to greater sorrow.

Of course, there is wisdom and knowledge that does free us. It is the wisdom and knowledge of Jesus Christ and the salvation he gives all who believe in him. Do you know Christ? Make knowing him your highest pursuit.

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The Endless Cycle

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Ecclesiastes 1:3–11 (ESV)
3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.
7 All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.
8 All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us.
11 There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.

As Solomon reflects on the meaning of life, he observes the world around him. He asks, “What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” What is to gain from all of our efforts? The world goes on and on in its constant cycle. The sun rises and goes down and then it does it all over again. All of nature does its thing over and over again. There is nothing new. In fact, Solomon says, “There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.”

If we stop to consider life and the world around us, we can easily come to the conclusion that it is all meaningless. Everything is just an endless cycle. Day after day and year after year, things come and go, including people. And the things that happen today will be forgotten tomorrow. What is the point?

Remember that Solomon is asking his questions about the meaning of life from a humanistic perspective. Life without God leaves us with a life that is ultimately meaningless. We are here today and gone tomorrow and all of us are soon forgotten. It is because God does exist that we know there is hope and purpose to it all. What a wonderful truth!

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All Is Vanity

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Reading the Word

Ecclesiastes 1:1–2 (ESV)
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

Understanding and Applying the Word

The Book of Ecclesiastes was written by one who calls himself “the Preacher”. He was the son of David, which leads us to ascribe these words to Solomon. In this book, Solomon looks at life through the eyes of a naturalist and tries to find meaning in it all. What does he conclude? “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher. “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”

What does Solomon mean when he says that everything is vanity? The word means “a breath” as in something with no real substance like a vapor. It is something that is meaningless. This does not sound encouraging. Why would Solomon say such a thing about the meaning of life? That is what we will be looking at in the days ahead. I hope you will join us in reading through this book.

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