The Pursuit of Worldly Pleasure_Ecclesiastes 2.pptx
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In Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 Solomon is convinced that he can run a dangerous experiment, safe-guarded by his great wisdom. The experiment is to explore every conceivable pleasure taken to inconceivable extremes and yet be unscathed. However, the experiment goes badly and leaves him jaded and empty. In the last three verses he finally allows a little of God's light to shine through. In this sermon we will contrast Solomon's life of empty pursuits with Jesus' balance life. He enjoyed the simple pleasures of life and set us an example of how to live beyond the "daily grind."
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The Pursuit of Worldly Pleasure_Ecclesiastes 2.pptx
- 2. Series Overview Trivial Pursuits •Worldly Wisdom •Worldly Pleasure •Meaning •Lasting Gain •Self-Sufficiency Meaningful Pursuits •God’s Timetable •Companionship •“The” God •The Fear of God •Obedience
- 3. The Pursuit of Worldly Pleasure Ecclesiastes 2:1-26
- 4. Sermon Outline A Dangerous Experiment A Strong Dose of Fatalism Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 Ecclesiastes 2:12-23 Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 A Journey from Despair to Delight
- 5. First Point Playing with Pleasure is Playing with Fire! Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 A Dangerous Experiment
- 6. הָח ְ מ ִׂ ש Simchah • Typically translated “joy”, not pleasure. • Simchah and the verb from which it comes, “samach”, occur 17 times in Ecclesiastes. • Often attached with the “joyful” feasts of the LORD.
- 7. •I built houses for myself… Solomon’s “Constructive” Experiments
- 8. •I built houses for myself… •I planted vineyards for myself… Solomon’s “Constructive” Experiments
- 9. •I built houses for myself… •I planted vineyards for myself… •I made for myself gardens and parks… Solomon’s “Constructive” Experiments
- 10. •I built houses for myself… •I planted vineyards for myself… •I made for myself gardens and parks… •I made myself pools… Solomon’s “Constructive” Experiments
- 11. Solomon’s Pools
- 12. Solomon’s “Dangerous” Experiments •I bought male and female slaves for myself…
- 13. Solomon’s “Dangerous” Experiments •I bought male and female slaves for myself… •I gathered for myself silver, and gold and tribute.
- 14. Solomon’s “Dangerous” Experiments •I bought male and female slaves for myself… •I gathered for myself silver, and gold and tribute. •I gathered for myself many concubines.
- 15. ֙ י ִ ל “Lee” For me, For myself
- 16. Solomon ran the experiment…
- 17. Second Point Hedonism is a fast highway that leads to Fatalism! A Strong Dose of Fatalism Ecclesiastes 2:12-23
- 18. Solomon further analyzes the data…
- 19. DEATH The Wiseman The Madman The Fool They all have the same short-term outcome…
- 20. They all have the same long- term outcome… ERASED
- 21. The Final Step Towards Total Despair! What if I leave everything I’ve worked for to a total fool?
- 22. Where does Solomon End Up?
- 23. Third Point Going from Surviving the “Daily Grind” to Finding Joy in the God’s Simple Blessings! Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 A Journey from Despair to Delight
Editor's Notes
- First Point: Playing with Pleasure is Playing with Fire! Before we read the text, I want to play a short video. Before I was a Religion Major in college, I was a Chemistry Major. For two years I spent a great deal of time in labs. Here is an experiment I observed in 1980, long before there were YouTube Videos. Play Video It really is a beautiful experiment. But it wasn’t beautiful that day. If you read the warnings on this experiment site, it says, use in a well-ventilated area. Typically, that means under the hood. However, a student in my lab did this experiment with a much larger amount of reagents… using the logic that more is better. And he did it in a back room of the lab – but not under the hood. A huge purple cloud poured out of that room into the larger room where we were all doing other experiments. Fortunately, my prof knew what produces a purple cloud and had us evacuate immediately so as not to get iron poisoning. That was a dangerous experiment with a disastrous outcome for that student. Never saw him in the lab again! In our opening text today, we will see that Solomon performs a dangerous experiment with Pleasure. Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 2 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.[a] 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,[b] 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. Right from the get-go, Solomon admits that his experiment was more than a bit crazy. Before we get into the specifics, let’s look at one key word. I have been finding that in this book of Ecclesiastes, with its very edgy topics, the proper definition of terms is very key.
- Solomon begins his experiment saying, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure, enjoy yourself.” The word that the author uses is שִׂמְחָה. This word is typically translated “joy”, not pleasure. This is a very key word in Ecclesiastes. Both the noun “simcha” and the verb from which it comes, “samach” occur 17 times in Ecclesiastes. This word is often attached with the “joyful” feasts of the LORD. However, it is a very broad word and in this book we will have to discern whether the author, whom I believe is Solomon, is speaking of joy or pleasure. He will use it both ways. In our text, he is describing an experiment with worldly pleasure. Notice, that in verse 3, Solomon believes that he has put safeguards around the experiment: 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.
- I built houses for myself… Dr. Walter Kaiser examined the account of Solomon’s life in 1 Kings and found out the extent of his building projects: In addition to building God’s House, Solomon “devoted thirteen years to building “the king’s house” (1 Kings 9:10). Then he built “the house of the forest of Lebanon” (1 Kings 10:17), and another house for his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter. He also built the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer, Beth-horon, Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness. A map of the Holy Land reveals that Solomon has placed these building projects at key defensive positions in his kingdom. Solomon was a master builder and a smart builder. But he was also concerned with aesthetics.
- I planted vineyards for myself. Since we have affirmed that Solomon is the author of Ecclesiastes, we can look at other biblical texts that specifically name Solomon. In Song of Songs 1:14, Solomon’s “beloved” writes: My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of Engedi. And in Song of Songs, or Song of Solomon if you prefer, the beloved says, in chapter 8, verse 11: 11Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers; each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver. 12 My vineyard, my very own, is before me; you, O Solomon, may have the thousand, and the keepers of the fruit two hundred. So we see that this was not just about aesthetics. Solomon’s vineyards were highly profitable.
- Solomon’s next experiment was gardening and horticulture. Look at verse 5: 5 I made myself gardens and parks and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. One interesting side note. The Hebrew word translated parks, “pardes” is a Persian loan word “pairi-daeza” from which we get our word “paradise” Flavius Josephus describes groves of palm trees cultivated by Solomon, probably drawing from an ancient tradition. Solomon’s next experiment was a work project that was necessitated by all his groves and gardens.
- In verse 6 we see his next experiment: 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.
- The biblical text does not tell us much about these pools. However, archaeological discoveries tell us a great deal about the magnitude of this project. Dr. Walter Kaiser says: “The pools of water used to irrigate his young trees may be the traditional pools of Solomon which are located several miles southwest of Jerusalem in the Valley of Artas, though not mentioned in Scripture as being built by Solomon. There, according to Robinson (as cited by Ginsburg), “Huge reservoirs built of squared stones and bearing marks of the highest antiquity” were set in a steep part of the valley. This picture is of the upper pool, the smallest of the three. The Upper Pool is 380 feet long by 236 feet wide by 25 feet in depth. The Middle Pool is 423 by 250 by 39 feet in depth. The Lower Pool is 582 by 207 at a depth of 50 feet. If you combine their capacity, these pools could hold 75 million US gallons! Solomon has been a busy boy. Up to this point, Solomon’s endeavors have been “constructive” experiments… pun intended. However, the last few become more concerning.
- Not only does Solomon brag about the many male and female slaves that he bought for himself, but he also says that many were born slaves in his household. Granted, we can’t always judge ancient people by 21st century standards. Slavery was common. But it always rubbed against the grain of God’s justice. We see how he looked out for slaves, whether the Hebrews, or Hagar or Joseph or many others. And we see throughout history that any country in which the gospel of Jesus has been proclaimed has been purged of slavery. Slavery is the most miserable of profits and spiritually it degrades the owner far more than the slave.
- Let me summarize the next verse. Solomon says, “I gathered for myself silver and gold and the tribute of many kings. Now, we’ve all been well taught. Is money the root of all evil? No! That’s a misquote of 1 Timothy 6:10: For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. Surrounding himself with so much money was a dangerous experiment. It’s a shockingly short journey from having lots of money to loving it. But that is the lesser danger. The greater danger is in how Solomon amassed all this money. It was tribute money, money paid to him by conquered kings. Solomon is amassing lots of silver and gold. He is also gathering for himself lots of enemies. We’ll skip the relatively innocuous singers that Solomon amassed and look at one more dangerous experiment.
- Of all of Solomon’s dangerous experiments, this was the one that did him the greatest harm. The biblical record tells us that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. His sensual appetite was voracious, to put it mildly. These concubines were the flip side of the tribute coin. Solomon amassed wealth through tribute. He procured peace through marrying into other kings families. Solomon became every kings son-in-law. But these were pagan kings and they turned Solomon’s heart away from the LORD. Before we leave this first point, I want share a major insight that I had when I looked at verses 4-8 in Hebrew.
- Did you notice how many times Solomon describes his “experiment” in gathering with the phrase “For myself.” You can’t miss it in English. However, you may have noticed that my bullets had more “for myself” statements than we see in our ESV Bibles. That is because in English, we seek to reduce redundancies. However, in Hebrew, the redundancies are left so that we don’t miss important insights. Solomon’s experiment in seeking pleasure in many different ways had a fly in the ointment. It was narcissistic. It was all about me. Think about Jesus, by way of contrast. Solomon was “me focused”. Jesus was others focused. The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Jesus didn’t amass slaves. He didn’t derive tribute, even though his power was invincible. Paul tells us that he emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant, being found in likeness as a man. Solomon was a gatherer. Jesus was and is a giver. And as we look at the next few verses, we will see that Solomon’s “wise experiment” was a colossal let down.
- Look at verses 9-11: 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. Solomon went to excesses that we could never attain. Wine… Women… Song… Everything he thought would bring him joy and peace. And what did he wind up with? Vapor that he couldn’t hold onto, wind that he could never catch up with and a cold sun that gave no warmth and provided no gain. He got nowhere spectacularly… what we would call an epic fail. Does your life look anything like this? Do you ever feel like you are working and working and getting nowhere? That was Solomon’s experiment. Constructive projects didn’t fill him up. Destructive endeavors emptied his soul further until he found himself living life under the sun… life devoid of Heaven, distant from God and His people. Which leads to my second point.
- Second Point: Hedonism is a fast highway that leads to Fatalism! Turn with me to Ecclesiastes 2:12-17. We’ll hit verses 18-23 in a few minutes. 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.
- Having run his grand experiment in pleasure, Solomon does what any scientist does next. He further analyzes the data. He considers three types of people, the wise man, the madman and the fool. Notice how he proceeds with great logic, using the scientific method. He seems to write off the madman and contrasts the wise man and the fool. He compares wisdom to light and folly to darkness and quickly concludes that wisdom is better. The wise man has eyes in his head… the fool is blind – he walks around in darkness.
- At this point Solomon takes one more step towards Total Despair. He asks himself the question, “What if I leave everything I’ve worked for to a total fool? Turn with me to Ecclesiastes 2:18-23: 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. One of the consequences of our decision that the mysterious Qoheleth, or Teacher, is none other than King Solomon, is that we can gain valuable insights from the story of Solomon’s life. Solomon expresses concern about who will inherit his kingdom and all the toil that he has invested in it. Anyone who knows the story of Solomon knows the story of Solomon’s crown prince… Rehoboam. Solomon’s worst fears would be not just realized but exceeded by the foolish King Rehoboam. In 2 Chronicles 10, we read: 10 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2 And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt. 3 And they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and said to Rehoboam, 4 “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” 5 He said to them, “Come to me again in three days.” So, the people went away. At this point, Solomon consults Solomon’s advisors. They give a very honest assessment in verse 7: 7 And they said to him, “If you will be good to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” But Rehoboam did not like this counsel. He was a vain man and likely a spoiled brat, so he took counsel with his peer groups, a bunch of noble brats. They appealed to his pride: 10 And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us’; thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father's thighs. 11 And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’” You may remember what happened. Jeroboam led a revolt. Ten of the twelve tribes of Israel split away from King Rehoboam. In no time at all, he lost all the tribes except Benjamin and Judah. The monarchy was divided for the next 250 years. Ultimately, the ten tribes become the ten lost tribes of Israel.
- Where does Solomon End Up? He’s back to grasping smoke, chasing the wind and languishing under a dark sun. To repeat our main point, Hedonism is a fast highway to Fatalism. Once we reach the point where nothing tastes and nothing satisfies, all we can see is doom and despair. Solomon relives for the listener, his harrowing into Fatalism. I would like to say that this journey is over. However, Solomon will approach this topic like a jeweler with a diamond. He will turn it and show us the many facets of living life under the sun, living life on our own terms untethered from God. However, throughout this book of Ecclesiastes, there will be some shining moments. These are the moments when Solomon steps out of the role of Qoheleth the Cynical Preacher, and lets some sun shine in. Which leads to my third point.
- Third Point: Going from Surviving the “Daily Grind” to Finding Joy in the God’s Simple Blessings! Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 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. At this point Solomon takes us out from “under the sun.” Notice that God is back in the equation of life. He speaks of God giving two important gifts. The first gift is the gift of the simple pleasures that are attached to honest labor. The ability to eat good food and enjoy good drink. However, the second gift is the one that has eluded the cynical character Qoheleth, the Preacher. It is the ability to enjoy these simple pleasures. Sidney Greidanus makes an interesting connection, a bridge back to Genesis: The Fall into sin destroyed God’s good design: “Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.… By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread” (Gen 3:17, 19). Work became toil without much joy. But toil was not entirely futile: it still provided food to eat. God commanded Israel, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work” (Exod 20:9). And God could still make toil enjoyable. Israel prayed, Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.… Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands. (Ps 90:14, 17) When we consider Jesus’ life and ministry, we see the perfect example of one who enjoyed God’s simple blessings. We see him sharing meals with His friends frequently, even after His resurrection. He exhorted his disciples and listeners to consider the birds as a testimony to God’s faithful provision. He drives home his point by saying that not even Solomon, in all his glory, was arrayed as beautifully. As we observe the gospel records of His ministry, we can’t miss the frenetic pace. Jesus lived through more of a daily grind than we experience, but he wasn’t ground down. He still found time for outcasts. He spent time with the Samaritan woman at the well and gave her hope and a purpose. He called Zacchaeus down from a tree and delivered him from his personal bondage to materialism. If there is anyone who can teach us how to make this journey from despair to delight, it is our Savior. Solomon ends this chapter by taking note of unequal outcomes. He sees how God gives wisdom, knowledge and joy to the one who pleases him. But to the sinner he gives the business of gathering and collecting. He ends even this bright section on a sour note and takes us back to vapor and chasing wind. It is here that I will challenge Solomon’s conclusion. Is it possible that he wants us to challenge him? There are unequal outcomes, eternally speaking. For the believer in Jesus there is a promise of salvation. In Christ we are ultimately delivered from the daily grind, and we enter God’s kingdom, a place of eternal rest and fellowship and joy. Those who reject Christ go to a place of eternal separation from God – a place called Hell whose daily grind of regret is soul-crushing. But Solomon makes it sound like God favors some and constrains others to endless gathering and collecting. In drawing this portrait, he misses human responsibility. God is not capricious, favoring some and ignoring others. In 1 Timothy 2:4 the apostle Paul tells us that God desires that all people will be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. There is no defect in God’s desire. There is a choice before us, to accept salvation through Jesus, or to reject the gift of God’s favor and blessing and continue to grasp at smoke, chase wind and continue the endless cycle of pointless accumulation, endless empty experiences until death takes us.