Ecclesiastes: Week Two ~ Day Three

March 29, 2016

Week 2, Day 2

Read: Ecclesiastes 2:20-23

SOAP: Ecclesiastes 2: 20-21

S:

“Therefore I began to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor in which I had labored under the sun.  For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet he shall leave it for his portion to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.”

O&A:

Caused: סָבַב cabab - to turn oneself – to a person or place, or from which we turn away

Despaired: יָאַשׁ ya'ash – cast down in spirit

Fruit/Labor: עָמָל `amal – heavy, wearisome labor

Wisdom: חָכְמָה chokmah – skill, dexterity à piety towards YHVH à ascribed to a ruler, king

Knowledge: דַּעַת da`ath – intelligence, understanding, wisdom - discernment

Skill: כִּשְׁרוֹן kishrown – success, prosperity

Legacy: חֵלֶק cheleq – the lot (portion) of a man in his life/the allotment designed of YHVH

Vanity: הֶבֶל hebel – “vanish more quickly than a breath”

Evil: רַע ra` - hurtful à wicked – of the manner of thinking and acting; displeasing to Elohim

Shlomo says he began to cause his heart to despair.  I don’t even want to get into his specific despairs, but focus on the action of causing his heart to despair.  He made the choice to enter into this cast down in spirit demeanor.  He was thinking, and focusing, on things that he knew would lead him further down the rabbit trail of despair.  In hindsight, we know from Scripture how all of this turns out, but when we are in the midst of this thing called “stinkin’ thinkin’” (thank you, Pastor Manuel, lol), we sometimes don’t realize we are ‘choosing’ to dwell on the thoughts that lead us further into darkness.  Shlomo was choosing to feed into this, and it was drawing him away from Abba. 

I’m not by any means diminishing the effects of depression.  I think it’s called that for a reason, because as the word implies, it’s a sinking down: the act of pressing down, or the state of being pressed down; a low state.  It can also be the act of humbling or abasement, like the depression of pride.  It’s also a sinking of spirit, or a state of sadness, and can be want of courage or animation. 

I’m, unfortunately, all too personally familiar with each of these definitions.  When my middle son died, I was absolutely depressed.  I was the one who ministered CPR to his breathless body while I waited for EMS to arrive.  In the periods of time following, I was practically void of life, except that my heart kept beating, and my lungs kept filling with air, and my brain kept sending the life-giving vital information for the organs to keep operating and the blood to keep flowing, sometimes against my will, because the pain was so great.  What does this have to do with Shlomo?  I didn’t put any effort into the state of depression I was in.  It was almost like a means of survival, keeping everything to a minimum just to survive.  Very different from when I don’t get my way, and get upset about it, and choose to focus on my upset.  Or, as Shlomo stated, when I cause my heart to despair. 

If I skip to the last portion of the passage, it says, “This also is vanity and a great evil.”  That vanity is something we’re hearing a lot of in this study.  It’s the meaningless, void, empty things.  The great evil he speaks of comes out to this: hurtful à wicked – of the manner of thinking and acting; displeasing to Elohim.  So he acknowledges that this wicked, hurtful way of thinking and acting is displeasing to Elohim. 

Oy vey.  May I just take a moment to say that reading Ecclesiastes in this timed fashion is really, and I mean so seriously, causing me to examine my own thoughts and actions and purposes???  Here I am getting upset with Solomon, the Kohelet/Preacher for voicing some of the very thoughts I have had, and then Abba is dealing with me about it.  (Like, come on, Shlomo, why do you have to put into words the vain thoughts I have had?  It makes me think of how irritating it can be, as a parent, when I hear my sons repeat certain things I have said ((usually to one another)).  It brings things to the light.  I baruch/bless Abba for shedding light on the areas in me and my life that need His touch!  May I/we always be willing to allow the Potter to shape us, mold us, and change us according to His good purpose!)

Long story short (might be too late for that), we have but this one life. What will be the legacy of my life?  Will it be for YHVH’s glory, bringing the besorah/the Good News of the gospel of Yeshua to the nations?  Will it be that Abba’s allotment for me will be fulfilled for His purpose?  Or will I try to have control over my life, and end up in despair?  Will I choose YHVH’s purpose and meaning over the meaningless and purposeless actions, thoughts, words, etc., that I could turn to? 

P:

Mighty Elohim, King of the Universe, You are so incredible!  I bless You, Abba, and I bless the works of Your hands, the desires that You have for Your children, and the words that You speak to us.  Abba, I am so desirous of Your discernment, and wanting to learn more about how to not cause my heart to despair.  It has always been too easy to listen to the voices that say I’m not good enough, that I’m not smart enough, that I’m not doing it right enough… which has always given me ample fuel to cause my heart to despair.  Father, I pray that I will always remember what You spoke to me, that I am YOUR cegullah bachar.  Your chosen treasure.  You chose me, and now I have chosen You.  I pray that I/we will gain from this study in Your word Your wisdom, Your understanding, Your discernment, and grow in skill so that the legacy I/we leave behind will be a living testimony to You, and not vanity, as Shlomo feared.  I pray that when we turn, as Shlomo mentions, we turn to You, and not from You; that if we have turned away from you in any area of our lives, that there will be a teshuvah, a RE-turn to You!  Let this study continue to open spiritual eyes, and cause spiritual stirring to the ways of life that we may have accepted to be the norm, and revitalize us, in Yeshua’s precious and Kodesh/holy name!  Amein.

Ecclesiastes: Week Two ~ Day Two

March 29, 2016

Week 2, Day 2

Read: Ecclesiastes 2:18-19

SOAP: Ecclesiastes 2: 18-19

S:

I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who comes after me.  Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?  Yet he will have rule over all of my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun.  This also is vanity.”

O&A:

Hated – to hate, or enemy

Labor – heavy, wearisome labor à the produce of labor

To leave behind anything to anyone, spoken of a person dying à like leaving a will

Wise – to be wise/to become wise à to judge, hence to rule

“I hated all my labor, seeing that I must leave it to the man who comes after me.”  In other words, “All my hard work goes to the next guy.”  He finally says that this next guy, whether wise or foolish, will have rule over all the labor he put in, and in the areas he has shown himself wise… yet it is also vanity, or meaningless.

The ‘leaving behind’ makes me think of leaving a will.  Usually a person will do that for their loved ones to have something to remember them by, or to enjoy after the will-er’s death, but not Shlomo!  Over a year before my Papa (grandpa) died, he made out a detailed list of everything he had that would go to his family, and he asked us to take what we wanted from the list (furniture, books, family heirlooms, etc.).  He wanted to see us enjoy his possessions.  Shlomo is mad that someone else will reap the rewards of his labor, and that this person may gain from the harvest of his own hard work.

There’s a parable that Yeshua tells about the workers.  The man hiring the workers is the one paying the workers.  He tells them from the beginning that everyone will get the same wage, no matter how long they work, and the workers agree to it.  So one man works for 8 hours, and gets paid the same wage as the man who only worked for one hour.  The one who had worked longer thinks it’s unfair, that he should get paid more because he has worked longer, yet he knew from the start what his reward would be.  In today’s passage, Shlomo is like the first guy who is mad that everyone gets the same reward, instead of being thankful for the reward, and thankful that others are able to access the reward! 

Spiritually, our reward is in the salvation of Yeshua the Messiah, so I can’t help but wonder what it would be like if we tried to keep our saved-ness to ourselves..?  If the works we are called to do while we’re here died with us, simply because we didn’t want someone else to come behind us and continue in YHVH’s will doing those works, what would the world look like?

A pastor at a church we used to attend in Louisiana once spoke about some people being tillers, some planters, some nurturers, and some harvesters.  He said that there was a couple that he and his sweet wife had ministered to time and time again, and they just knew they would get to see the harvest of all their labor.  But then a visiting pastor came, it was him and his wife who were there when the couple gave their lives to Yeshua!  And our pastor said they were glad for it!  He didn’t want the “credit”!  Like that person would get the glory, instead of YHVH.  The glory is of YHVH!  So if we would let Abba have his way in these matters, how much more could there be for His harvest?

Eureka!!!  So maybe Shlomo was wanting the glory of his works, instead of attributing the glory to YHVH!  He had stopped glorying in YHVH and began to glory in the things of this world, and his own possessions – he began to love the things of this world in stead of loving YHVH, and this is why he saw everything as empty, meaningless… as vanity.

Personally, I can understand Shlomo’s stance (in a way), but it also makes me want to shake him!  Before Papa died, he began to wonder about how we all (his family) would be without him.  He knew his time was coming.  The Parkinson’s disease was taking over his body, but HalleluYah, not his spirit!  Thankfully, Papa didn’t consider his works, his labors, as patriarch of our family to be vanity.

P:

Abba YHVH, I praise You, and I praise Your works!  I thank You for allowing us to see in Ecclesiastes the intimate and candid thoughts of Shlomo.  So far, this has been a wake-up call to me about pity parties, and feeling sorry for myself, and opening my eyes, spiritually, to how I perceive things.  Abba, I pray that the seeds my husband and I plant in our sons of Your word, and Your goodness, and Your holiness will not only take root in our children, but will last through the generations.  I pray that You continue to teach us from this study, and from Your word how we can better glorify You in all that we do.  Help us to be better tillers, and planters, and nurturers, and harvesters, in Your timing, not our own.  Help us know when to keep tender seedlings (new believers, children, etc.) safe from the elements, and when to transplant them into the garden when they gain stability, and will be sustained, not ruined.  Thank You for helping me to find Your glory in obscure places and situations, and allowing me to serve You.  In Yeshua’s name, Amein.

Ecclesiastes: Week Two ~ Day One

March 28, 2016

Week 2, Day 1

Read: Ecclesiastes 2:12-17

SOAP: Ecclesiastes 2:12-13

S:

"I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly: for what can the king's successor do? Just that which has been done long ago. Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness."

O&A:

wisdom - various learning, skill, shrewdness, prudence

madness - madness, folly

folly - folly, foolishness, silliness (want of understanding)

prudence - wisdom applied to practice

Wisdom EXCELS folly and light EXCELS darkness. The greater is of YHVH, and He overcomes! The blog post asked this question: "Where in the details of your life have you left YHVH out of the equation?"

So often, we try to be in control of every aspect of our lives, and we fight Him to be in control. In those areas, it's clear when I submit to His authority, and when I struggle to relinquish my desire (need) to call the shots.

Wisdom is greater than foolishness. It excels - over and above - everything we can hope for, because Abba is wisdom. Just as His light dispels darkness, His wisdom overcomes our (my) folly.

Noah Webster's dictionary defined prudence as: wisdom applied to practice. It implies more caution & reserve than wisdom; is exercised more in foreseeing AND avoiding evil than in devising and executing that which is good.

Brings to mind 1 Corinthians 13, "When I was a child..." Our witness was that of immature measure. More folly, or foolishness, or want of understanding. A few weeks ago, my youngest son was asking me to "trust him" for something. It was like, "If you let me ___ this time, I won't ask again." Well, had this conversation never been had before, I *could* trust. I asked him, "Which should I believe? Your word? or your witness?" I want this life to be a witness of the goodness of my Abba, of His glory, and of the change He brings as I mature in my walk with Him.

I don't want to become embittered by the things of this world, much less people see THAT (the bitterness in me) as the witness I offer for my faith and belief in YHVH! The blog stated that "When YHVH is left out, our wisdom becomes worldly, our witness suffers, and our souls are left longing." I concur.

P:

Abba, reach into the depths of my soul, into my heart, and cast Your light into the murky areas, so that I may be more diligent in giving, especially those areas You illumine, over to You. Abba, I like to be in control TOO MUCH! Help me to trust in You with EVERY area, every aspect, every detail of my life, and help me to submit to Your authority. I pray that Your wisdom will excel my folly, and Your light will excel every and any darkness that is affiliated with my life, with my being, with my witness. I pray the same for my family, so that we can be true worshippers, and true testimonies of Your greatness. In Yeshua's name, Amein.