Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22; Romans 3:9-31
Thought from Today’s Old Testament Passage:
To correctly understand any book of the Bible, it
is important to know the purpose for which it was written. We need
to back off and get a perspective of the book. We need to put down
the telescope on the Word of God before we pick up the microscope.
The necessity for this is more evident here [in Ecclesiastes] than
in many of the other books of the Bible.
This is human philosophy apart from God, which
must always reach the conclusions that this book reaches. We need to
understand this about Ecclesiastes because there are many statements
which contradict certain other statements of Scripture.
Actually, it almost frightens us to know that this
book has been the favorite of atheists, and they have quoted from it
profusely. Voltaire is an example. Today we find the cynic and the
critic are apt to quote from this book. And it is quite interesting
to note the number of cults that use passages from this book out of
context and give them an entirely wrong meaning.
Man has tried to be happy without God; it is being
tried every day by millions of people. This book shows the absurdity
of the attempt. Solomon was the wisest of men, and he had a wisdom
that was God-given. He tried every field of endeavor and pleasure
that was known to man, and his conclusion was that all is vanity.
The word vanity means "empty, purposeless." Satisfaction in life can
never be attained in this manner.
God showed Job, a righteous man, that he was a
sinner in God’s sight. In Ecclesiastes God showed Solomon, the
wisest man, that he was a fool in God’s sight.
J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary [computer file],
electronic ed., Logos Library System (Nashville: Thomas Nelson)
1997, © 1981 by J. Vernon McGee
