Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 Part 1

Shalom and welcome to via hafte yes Ryan a Hebrew phrase which means you shall love Israel we hope you'll stay with us for the next 30 minutes as our teacher dr. Baruch shares his expose Ettore teaching from the Bible dr. Baruch is the senior lecturer at the Zahra Avraham Institute based in Israel although all courses are taught in Hebrew at the Institute dr. Baruch is pleased to share this weekly address in English to find out more about our work in Israel please visit us on the web at love Israel you are G that's one word love Israel dot o-r-g now here's baroque with today's lesson I would invite you to take out your Bibles once more and look with me to the book called in Hebrew qohelet or as we would say in English Ecclesiastes and we saw last week as we began the study of this book that King that is King Solomon he was pursuing something now in one sense we could say he wanted wisdom but really what he wanted was satisfaction he wanted his life to mean something and here's the problem when we look for meaning in and of itself under the Sun meaning in this world were not to find it because this world is not going to endure as we talked about there's going to be a new heaven and new earth and what is that the kingdom of God so we should be people who are interested in pursuing in pursuing that which has eternal implications and we're going to see when we reach this final chapter several weeks from now chapter 12 of the book of Ecclesiastes we're going to see the key of experiencing a life of fulfillment one that satisfies one that has a lasting eternal significance but now chapter 2 of this book Solomon is still searching he's still looking for what he believes and what he hopes will bring him that inner satisfaction that peace that contentment and gives him a sense of mattering that is that his life really matters not just for the days he's on this planet not just into the future for a 50 year 100 year 500 years but he's seeking something that has eternal consequences so look with me as I said to the book of Ecclesiastes and chapter 2 were going to begin of course in verse 1 Solomon is speaking and he says I have said in my heart now heart is synonymous with a thinking organ so he's considered he's reflecting so we see that expression over and over that he has said in his heart he is trying through his own ability to determine something look again at verse 1 I have said in my heart come and then he says the word now which is a term of of besiegement he says and I will test you now he's speaking about wisdom he's still thinking perhaps wisdom might be the answer but another expression of wisdom not simply knowledge but wisdom in the experiencial realm not just knowing something but experiencing it you see in Hebrew and we talked about this tonight at our our study here in Israel we talked about the fact that there is two Hebrew words for knowing there is a word like ear and the word ladakh now what's the difference between them well the word lack here is to know something but but in a more distant manner for example you you may have never traveled outside the country that you live in and you may have heard of some other country you may know a lot about it you may have studied it in the books and you have great wealth of information you know about that country but you've never experienced that you've never been there so in that sense we would use the word lack here that you're acquainted with that you can recognize it but you haven't experienced it but when we come to that concept lait dot well that is to know by experiencing it having some degree of intimacy to it so King Solomon he wants to not just simply know things but now he says I want to experience them so he's going to still pursue wisdom but wisdom in an experiential sense not simply knowledge and what do we know about this what is he wanting to experience well look again verse 1 he says I have said in my heart come and I will experience you with with gladness the word is simcha now he sought after knowledge and being intelligent and knowing all types of information but now he wants to find gladness that which is gratifying that which is pleasing and not just to the brain but rather to his census so he's seeking pleasure in other words and he wants to have a knowledge of pleasure so he says here come I will test you with gladness and I will see what is good so now he wants to find out what's good is there in gladness making oneself be happy having pleasurable experiences now we can all say that being happy being glad having those things which are pleasurable in our life well that is a a meaningful thing at times but is it lasting can it truly satisfy if we just go from one pleasurable experience to another that's what he wants to know and what does he say well look now at the end of verse one that familiar expression Vahine a that means pay attention he's got something important to say and he says also it is Havel that is vanity so nothing has been changed in his life he has pursued wisdom pursuit knowledge wanting to have more and more information about various things and he said all of this was futile there was nothing of lasting significance in it and now he's telling us that when you pursue pleasure when you do those things to make yourself feel good to be glad well also this is empty he uses that word in modern Hebrew we have the word Hevel here it's just a different vowel but same significance and we've talked about that it means something that is here but is so temporary now one of the things we need to be remembering here is that Solomon is hinting over and over that the things that aren't lasting those things that are temporal they have no lasting significance they don't please in a long-term fashion now in one sense we can say that everything is temporal it's here today gone tomorrow if not tomorrow next week if not next week next year if not next year in a hundred years but eventually everything wears out it gives away but God the scripture says that he is the same yesterday today and forever now this is hemming to us that we should seek that which is enduring that which is eternal and the only place the only for that is with God now the scripture doesn't come out initially and say that but it's heading towards that as we speak move now to 2 verse 2 verse 2 is going to begin to share with us what King slowmo did in seeking pleasure because you may be of the mindset well maybe he didn't go about it the right way maybe he didn't experience truly those things that were enjoyable I mean really enjoyable maybe he didn't put his heart into it enough maybe he just went halfway and he didn't have all the experiences you know I'm very pleased with certain things I'm very happy certain things make me very glad and if I can just get enough of that and I can have a doe daily dosage of that I think I'll be happy I think that's enough for me well Solomon here is going to do something he is going to outline for us what he pursued how he pursued it what he did into the extent that he did it to justify - to give us a proper rationale for knowing that when we seek pleasure well that - in the end is vanity it has no satisfying experience within us for the long term so what did he do well look now at verse 2 this Hoke a Marty so the scope that is to to laugh to be happy in a very jovial sense so he began by simply seeking those things that made him less now not just something that was humorous but something that was satisfying to his census whether we're talking about his emotional census his intelligence or some sensual or or body some feeling experience he says that he pursued that and he says I said this is and he uses the word may allow which is madness so if someone is just subjected to that which is funny that which is happy that which is always always uplifting What did he say well and then that too is madness then he said something else he said and in regard to gladness literally simcha mazhai oh say he says in regard to gladness what does it really do I mean you may be happy but does it have any real efficiency to it does it produce anything does it assists does gladness really change that world we're living it I mean what is the point if everyone is just laughing if everyone's just glad I mean what's being produced and the answer is not really anything of any substance and that's why you know - laughs what did we learn well we learned that that only those things of an eternal standpoint have significance and laughing well we know something in the end I mean you hear the same joke over and over it loses its humor it's not so funny anymore and there's that law and this is for anything of diminishing return the more that's something you know pleases me and I'm happy with it when I come back to it tomorrow I'm gonna need a greater amount and after a week another greater amount so it doesn't have anything lasting it doesn't bring change to it look now to verse 3 so he pursued what we could say jovial happy funny experiences didn't satisfy now look at verse 3 he says here and my heart searched meaning it pursued it's the word that we get in modern Hebrew for scouting out something being a turdus tour tourists exploring something so he says my heart Lord and then we have them sure behind that is to be pulled and he's talking about later on his flesh his body his physical domain he pulled it with wine so that is an idiom what it's saying here is that he's allowing his body to be affected by wine now wine is just one form a very common form of alcohol today we could put all forms of alcohol also drugs and other things into this category so he says I I pulled my body I had my body come in contact with wine and the effects thereof and he says Bailey be no hag Bahama now he's saying my heart you know with wine didn't really satisfy it left me wanting more and in the end as I experienced and compared those things my heart as I thought through things my heart was what lead and that's what it really means led back to wisdom so now he's telling us you know when you compare alcohol and and wisdom knowledge information really there's something better in that wisdom rather than simply drinking or doing drugs or having something artificial try to stimulate you and and make you happy well it goes on and he says as well in this third verse and I grabbed or seized basic loot what's that well this is word folly and what is he saying here well what he's saying here is sick loot many of the commentaries point out this is simply filing the sense let's have a good time as a younger generation would say let's party on so now it's not so much you know seeking those things that make me happy or doing those things drugs alcohol and other devices that might make me feel good for a moment but now it is a pursuit of just those things just trying to party on trying to have all types of experiences just trying to live life from its fullness in a worldly sense and he says he did that notice what it says I share a as a total if Nodame he did that up to a point he did it up to a point until he says I see what is good for the sons of man what he should do or what literally they should do under and it's not the son but it says under the heavens with the number of days of their life so he realizes something our lives are limited here now that may not be a surprise to you we know that but see many people who are just partying on who are pursuing those things of just life they forget that this life is temporal and he's giving us some wisdom because our life is temporal what does David say the father of King Solomon he says teach me O God to number my days see what he was doing in the first part of this verse he was just going out day after day trying to experience those things the fullness of this world party on let's live it up you only go around once in life let's grab all that we can well what he's saying is you know there's a temporal thing about this life and we need to order our days that's what God has given us to do he wants us to live wisely realizing the short span of time that we have and to see what we're supposed to do with this limitedness so people many times people live like there's no tomorrow they never think they're going to die but they are and we need to be ready and we need to make our life count for something now look at verse for he goes back and the pattern here is to reveal something that he's pursuing Benny says you know it really didn't satisfy and then he shows us you know what he's done and here again people might say you know what slow-mo you didn't do it right you didn't really live it up you didn't really pursue the things that really in my opinion would make a person happy would give them a sense of contentment would really solve their problems and lead them to be satisfied with their existence so now solomon is going to become very very specific he's going to outline for us exactly what he did and remember solomon he has as king of the most powerful empire on the planet at that time he has basically unlimited resources and what he doesn't have he's good to go out and inquire so notice a little bit about what he did and all of this is true we have historical documentation based upon solomon from other sources that says how great he was what he attained like no one else so notice what he says in verse four he says i increased or made large my deeds so now he's talking about those pursuits that he did in order to please him to satisfy him to make himself happy and he said i increased my deeds and what exactly did he do now he's going to tell us he says i have built for me houses now when someone's wealthy oftentimes they have multiple houses and for some reason that is either a status symbol or simply having multiple homes that you call your own that is usually seen as a desirable of pleasurable thing something of a that you have a home here in another home there and and such so Solomon says I built for me homes and I planned it for me vineyards now vineyards here again wealthy people people of means they oftentimes engage in wine what do we know well if you have a mansion or castle what usually do they have a wine cellar and they have all of these very very very unique wines so that's what's seen here he had homes and he had multiple vineyards and ordered that he could produce the finest wine remember we learned earlier that he says I pulled my body with wine meaning I allowed wine to influence me to come into my existence my being Who I am so now he's saying exactly what he did he built numerous homes he planted many many different vineyards look at verse 5 I made for myself gardens and orchards and I planted in them trees of every fruit now some time ago we were in France and we had a few days to to kill and we went to Versailles and there we saw palaces not just one Palace but there were several and not only palaces but they're also built additional homes in places and we see large gardens and what we find is not just there but other places people wanted to have in their possession the world what do I mean by that well there was a desire to plant multiple types of species of trees just like Solomon did to have all types of vegetation even those vegetations that's not natural for that area and so they would build greenhouses and they tried to have all the species of the world where they were now what was it trying to to show they wanted to have in their grasp the world the things of the world they wanted to experience everything so they had this large variety of trees and and gardens which had multiple different vegetation and such and that's what they did in France that what they have done other places in the world and that's exactly what Solomon did and we're gonna see that Solomon did it better than anyone else but it still didn't satisfy him so look again at verse five what does he say I made for me gardens and orchards I planted in them trees of every type of fruit and I made for me pools of water now this is not swimming pools but this was in order to make his gardens very very flourish and very lush and so he says here I made for myself pools of water in order to water them and he said a force for us how we can say so math a forest sprouted forth and it says with trees so here in the midst of Israel Solomon three thousand years ago he was planning forests of every different types of trees and he had to make an irrigation system for them I mean just think about the vast sums of money and labor that it would take to do what he's doing and it was a pursuit of what trying to make himself great believing that in a multiplicity of possessions and achievement there will be some lasting satisfaction well we've already saw that's not good to be the case so he had all types of trees and vegetation and fruit he had lush gardens from various species around the world and all of this he did and with us he says konnichi a Vadim now that word - to buy or it could be the word to acquire same word so he purchased or he acquired slaves and male slaves and female slaves and then it has an interesting expression whose neigh by it hi Ali which means children of the house I had now he's sparkly speaking about the fact that these slaves both male and female slaves produce children so now he had a large household and we're talking about something that went over generations so Salman just didn't pursue these things and just think for a moment building such orchards and gardens and making these homes and doing all the things that he's doing the irrigation all of this takes time so this phrase here about children of the house was to me it's a way of saying that he was fertile in all types of things not just in the trees but also in the members of his household and all of this all of this shows something of great importance not only did he have the multiplicity of human beings but also he says cattle and the flocks meaning sheeps and goat many of them was to me and he says it was to me more than all that were before me in Jerusalem so Solomon he achieved more than anyone else ever who ruled over Israel meaning he surpassed his father but but many scholars see this as Jerusalem as a capital as any capital so Solomon achieved more than anyone else and we're still talking about him today but the question is just being remembered for all of these things planting trees planting vineyards having many slaves being able to achieve many homes and palaces and such is that really going to to satisfy now someone might say well Solomon he took all of his wealth and he invested it in these things and maybe he went broke well that's not the case why do I say that well look now to verse 8 in verse 8 we read something addition while he was spending all this money in order to build these homes and palaces in the States planning these vineyards and orchards doing all the things that he was doing with these gardens and such he says and also I gathered to myself silver and gold now this is not just the the money that he's speaking to but also treasures keep reading he says loosing woodlot Malathi now what does this tell us well he was having success not just in this building program and this large vegetation program that he was doing making force and such but there's also something else and what is that he was going out to war he was conquering Kings and taking their treasures taking their wealth so he was spending a lot investing a lot but also there was a large cash flow coming in of silver and gold from Kings and also it says MIDI note which probably here is translated providence provinces meaning this he not just took at this time many kings were like city-states meaning each city had a king that ruled over it and large cities would rule over a greater area but there was also a Providence and he says here this is kind a of a unity a confederation of many kings and what did he do he also was able to take their wealth from them and he said I made for myself male singers and female singers so a lot of people they like possessions they like achievement but they also like music and what he's saying here is that he added to himself also male singers and female singers and all type look at the next part of a tano goat Binet ha da the pleasures of humanity so Solomon he is experiencing everything to its fullness and what he wants us to know is this as he's expanding his kingdom as he's building as he's exerting a lot of expenses in doing these things he's got a very large cash flow coming in he lacks nothing and he's achieving more than anyone else in Jerusalem and he's also what he's indulging in what it says here the pleasures of humanity and scholars point out that it's usually tie nube is a word pleasure is in the singular but here it's unique it's in the plural so he is encountering and experiencing a wide variety of things that give pleasure to individuals now notice the last part of this verse verse 8 it says here she'd uh they she don't now if you go through and look at various translations you may have in your home several Bibles of different types of translations look at them you can go online go to different places and see a multiplicity of translation Bible different Bibles and they give you a wide variety of meanings to that and some go in a place that I'm now going to even mention but there's really no basis for such a view what I believe that this is saying if you were to ask any Israeli to Israeli today what is a she died they would say well it's like a a cabinet it's like a dresser so what he's saying here is she'd of a she don't he's talking about a wide variety of of possessions that he had it's kind of like we say King of Kings he had a just a way of storing many things so you'd go to his palace or palaces and you see one little cabinet after another full of different things things that he could take out and and show people now some of the interpreters point out that many people like collections and so this may be referring to all the places that he had his collections the collections of his various different possessions that he was able to acquire from being in various different places sending his armies out sending individuals to bring back things and we know something Solomon had Confederacy's with many other empires so he whether he himself traveled or whether he sent ambassadors so to speak he was able to acquire things from a wide variety of places look now at verse 9 now he began earlier on in this section saying how he increased his deeds and now he's saying this very same thing again look at what it says verse 9 he says I increased and I added to now what does he mean here well there were things that that he had that that he inherited that the nation possessed and he did what he increased that but also something else he also added to meaning he increased what he had and he also added new so Solomon on every front he was extremely successful in other words we can say this when we look at individuals King Solomon was the most successful but he's going to tell us something despite all of this success success in every area whether we're talking about collections whether we're talking about music whether we're talking about possessions whether we're talking about conquering people and ruling Solomon he had no par on his level but what do we know well this was not a means of accomplishing what he truly was looking for inwardly so he says look again verse 9 I increase and I added to more than all that was before me in Jerusalem but there's a very important way that this verse ends look at the end of verse 9 it says I want to read it in Hebrew because many times people just take the translation that they're given we got to be very careful I mean good Bible study involves work and you know what the most important part of Bible study is time poring over not necessarily looking at a multiplicity of books and what other people have said but poring over that individually looking at that praying waiting for the Holy Spirit to reveal to you and what it says in Hebrew we read off Hoke mighty um duh Lee now this word off is oftentimes understood with the Hebrew I checked it out and one of the best Hebrew dictionaries and it can be also understood as a word God which can be also or even what is revealing here is something I guess we could say an outcome a result of all what was done previously so I've done this and also this came about it is a a conjunction and he says here what happened he says my wisdom and then it says I'm da um does the word comes from the Hebrew word la mode which means to stand or it can have kind of an idiom as stop so as he was pursuing these things and concentrating you know what happened his wisdom his understanding his knowledge see it stopped he didn't grow anymore meaning something that these things did not happen this is what the scripture is trying to tell us at the end of verse 9 these things did not have a positive effect upon him when we pursue pleasure it is going to stun us when we go after those things that the light our flesh and that's what our life is based upon what we invest ourselves in is going to have a stunting effect upon us we're not going to grow we're not going to mature spiritually and we're not going to understand things as we said it's going to put us in a immature status it is going to have an adverse effect on every aspect of our life does that mean that that pleasure and having some some good happy experiences or bad didn't say that but when that is what you're pursuing and that's what you're driven for it everything that you have you're investing in that it is not going to have a positive effect on your life look now to verse 10 now verse 10 is kind of a summary statement he wants the reader to understand completely what his method of of operations were what he did and what he says is so significant fact this is one of the most important verses in chapter 2 he says look at verse verse 10 and all that my eyes asked now this is what he's saying you know we go and we scan we look around for things we we see something and it's through the eyes that what happens well that we begin to covet or want we see where does this go back to well the book of Genesis remember what it says about Eve that she saw that the fruit was good now what does that mean she saw how can seen a piece of fruit know that it's good or not see that's just deceit that's just her rationalizing something something believe in what she wants to believe so what Solomon is saying here is this he said all or whatever whatever my eyes asked meaning whatever my eyes desired and I wanted he says I did not stop it from me I didn't restrain it from me I didn't put on the brakes if you you know Hebrew well you know why I said this he says I didn't in any way restrain myself from these things I did not prohibit my heart from all meaning every expression of gladness now here again it's a summary statement about first of all he pursued wisdom that didn't satisfy him and now that same word simcha he's pursuing every form everything that he could think of everything that his I saw that might make him happy he didn't prohibit it from him from himself and he said and in all this gladness for my heart was glad from all of my toil and he says and this was my portion from all of my labor all the toil that he did and what was that he's saying here is the sum total of when someone pursues simply pleasure whether it's the pleasure of possessions the pleasure of wealth and they're not the same thing because for example Warren Buffett I heard a very interesting interview from his wife now this was taken several years ago but but she in speaking about her husband he doesn't like to buy things he doesn't acquire things he's not about having all these things that he can show people you know numerous cars come into my my garage that I had to build and it has a hundred cars in it or come into my art collection or go to this place where I have this collection none of these things interest him he's not about possessions he doesn't want money to do something with that money no from what his wife said he likes wealth for the sake of wealth so what King Solomon is saying here is this that nothing that is I could conceive as pleasurable did he withhold himself and from everything that he labored all of this that he thought would be good he says this basically is the sum total of it look at verse verse eleven what does he say he says and I turn with every deed all the deeds which my hands did and in all the labor that I labor and what was done so he says everything that I achieved with this pursuit of pleasure this pursuit of gladness just wanting to make myself happy living in the fullness that this world has to offer I mean he was living the life of the rich famous beyond any rich and famous person ever could and he says look at the last part of verse 11 what does he say Vey he nae now I hope by now that you are familiar with that word whenever that word and I know I repeat this often but whenever that word appears it is communicating with us how important how important what is going to follow what is written in the next passage is so he says here behold everything is vanity everything that I did in pursuing pleasure the gratification of my flesh whether it was sensual whether was things that stimulated whatever sense that I might have various senses he says all of that was what vanity and then he gives that familiar and is gonna be something that we hear over and over as we move on in this book of qohelet the book of Ecclesiastes he says it was heavy Fane vanity futile he says an route would Ruach now what do we learn about this well for those who weren't with us last week this phrase Road Rua can mean three different things and I believe it's not simply that it's this one or this one or this one but it's a word that really reveals all three of these this word road can be friendship it can be eating something with a sense of pursuing that is devouring pressing on and what did you say well he says when you live a life based upon the desires of your flesh a pursuit of joy gladness following after and not withholding anything that your eyes might covet when you do that it's about as satisfying as having a friendship with the wind it is about as satisfying of making a great feast a banquet out of wind and how many Bibles translated it's like chasing after the wind I mean you there's nothing there once you grab hold of the wind if you can do that there's nothing there it's empty he has achieved nothing of his pursuit that's what he's telling us so we need to be real careful about how we order our life and remember as we go through this book of ecclesiastes we're gonna see throughout each chapter Salman is going to give us great words of wisdoms things that we need to learn and apply to our life so that we can get to that final chapter and understand not just what he says there but understand all those things that lead up to that so that we can integrate them together and live a life that here's a key that is pleasing to the Lord God Almighty what we oftentimes like to say living a praiseworthy life and it's only in a life that's praiseworthy before God are you going to have true satisfaction so look again at what he says end of verse 11 behold everything is vanity as pursuing the wind there is no advantage here he says under the Sun nothing so in this world if we're looking for something that is going to be advantageous in a last theme and eternal way we're not going to find it now that could cause you to to to think in one of two ways one is just to become overwhelmed with depression and despair and thing I'm living what's the phrase oh what a world what a world what a world from The Wizard of Oz and they look at this and say what a wretched place that we're in well we're here for a purpose and that purpose is always has eternal ramifications that purpose is not for the world but for the world to come the kingdom and what is the instruments the vessel what are the things that we can possess that have eternal ramifications eternal consequences well that's what Solomon is going to reveal to us in the weeks to come in that final glorious chapter at the end of that book on what is the sum total of living a life of lasting eternal significance so my hope is that you would stay with us as we press on in this book of qohelet Ecclesiastes and let me close with a few thoughts first of all even though it's called in English by the Greek Ecclesiastes meaning assembly the Hebrew word qohelet which is also related to assembly but most scholars believe this term qohelet has to do with the preacher the one who speaks and in the end what we're going to find is this that Solomon was a spokesman for God Solomon tells us in the end what came down to us from heaven what God wants us to apply to our life so that truly we can be transformed from this temporal being that we are into eternal creatures and it's only that message that is going to lead us to an experience that truly is satisfying truly brings contentment to us so let's wrap up with a word of Prayer father God we are grateful for your word we're grateful for the revelation of King Solomon who experienced so much so that we won't have to that we don't have to make those same airs take those same roads that lead to vanity and futility and a lack of that which satisfying thank you for supplying us this book so that we can learn true wisdom for you from you so that we can be individuals that build up a life that has eternal in other words kingdom significance we thank you for your provision to us of your word of your son by whom we have salvation that transforms us from earthly beans into Kingdom beans for all these things we thank you and that blessed name of our Lord and Savior Messiah Yeshua well we hope you will benefit from today's message and share it with others please plan to join us each week at this time and on this channel for our broadcast of love Israel org again to find out more about us please visit our website love Israel not bow RG there you will find articles in numerous other lectures by Beru these teachings are in video form may download them or watch them in streaming video until next week may the Lord bless you in our Messiah Yeshua that is Jesus as you walk with it Shalom from Israel

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Length: 50min 25sec (3025 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 12 2018