It's not until you fully understand the scope of this world's problems that you can fully appreciate God's good and perfect solution.
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Definitions of key terms in Ecclesiastes which make it much easier to understand.
Ecclesiastes 7 Summary
The Preacher stacks several proverbs up in this chapter that all have one thing in common: they pit the world's understanding of good with what is actually good.
The most famous of these proverbs comes in v2:
It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.
Certainly this doesn't seem to make sense. How could it possibly be better to enter into a room full of weeping and crying rather than a room filled with good food and fun times?
But it's through understanding these surprising contrasts that you'll actually be able to fully enjoy life. It's only when you realize how fleeting life is by going to the house of mourning that you will truly appreciate life's feasts.
Dig Deeper
The Preacher, a character based on the life of King Solomon, saw everything in life (v15) - he was able to do and experience things most people could never even dream of - and he tested these all of these things by wisdom (v23).
What he found was a sorry world that was full of hevel - the Hebrew word that we've read so often in Ecclesiastes, translated as vanity, emptiness, meaninglessness - hevel is like a wisp of smoke or steam that you can see and touch and feel, but can never really grab on to.
But why is this? How can a universe that God repeatedly described as being Good be such a meaningless mess?
The Preacher reports his ultimate conclusion in v29:
See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
The problem is that you and I and every other descendent of Adam has sinned. We sought out schemes rather than follow God's good and perfect law.
This is the ultimate message of Ecclesiastes. Stop chasing the wind (schemes), and find life's meaning beyond the sun in the perfect righteousness that you've been given in Jesus Christ.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father God made mankind good and upright;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the wisdom to see the world from God's perspective rather than the world's
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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