This morning I read 3 chapters of Ecclesiastes and when I got to the wonderfully poetic first verses of the third chapter, I heard the words of the Pete Seeger song "Turn, Turn, Turn". This is a song from my youth and is a part of my growing up experience. It may not be a part of yours though and I encourage you to listen to the song yourself. The words are the same as the King James version, Pete just rearranged them a bit to flow more poetically and he added one line: "I swear it's not too late". And this is where my thoughts were as I began to research this book.
First of all, Ecclesiastes is a book written by King Solomon in his latter years. King Solomon was a very interesting man and he lived an interesting life. He was the second son of King David and Bathsheba. After David's death, Solomon assumed the throne and did some amazing things.
The first thing the Bible records about Solomon's reign is his father David's words to him: "Keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways..." (1 Kings 2:3). As a young king, Solomon did follow his father's advice. It says in Chapter 3 that King Solomon loved the Lord and he wanted to honor him, so he sacrificed to God in a "high place" near Gibeon. God appeared to Solomon that night in a dream and told him that he would be granted whatever he asked for. Solomon asked for "a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" (v.9 NIV). God was pleased and said to him " I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings." (v. 12-13)
God's promise was fulfilled and Solomon did become a great and powerful king. Today the saying is "As rich as Solomon" for he is widely recognized, not only in Jewish history but secular history as well, as being a wealthy and respected king. His wisdom was well known too: "There came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth.." (ch. 4:34) And Solomon used his wisdom to rule fairly and he used his great wealth to build a Temple for the worship of the Lord God of Israel.
Solomon's prayer of dedication of the temple in 1 Kings 8 is a good indicator of what was in his heart at the time. It is well worth reading and thinking about. Solomon shows himself humble and concerned for his own spiritual growth and that of his people. He ends with a speech to his people and concludes with the reason for the temple that he built: "so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other"(v. 60).
But Solomon had a weakness... women. He loved women, all kinds of women. From all different countries and cultures. He married 700 of them!!! And he had 300 concubines. In chapter 11 it tells how "his wives turned away his heart after other gods". This man who had been so strong in his faith and who built a House for God so that all would know that "the Lord is God and there is no other" now began to worship idols as his wives did. 'Monkey see, monkey do' is the origin of many sins and it was Solomon's downfall. It was a mighty fall and a very, very public one. Worse yet, his people began to follow his example.
So in Ecclesiastes, Solomon makes a public confession of his sins to his people and to the world in general. He shows how being rich and respected can't make you happy. And how indulging in sinful pleasures can't make you happy either. The seasons come and go in your life, there are good things and bad things, happy times and sad times. There are times when you will be on top of things and times when things will get you down. Solomon says, "vanity, vanity, all is vanity". Everything seems to be meaningles to us at times. But Solomon's conclusion was that there is a greater meaning to life. "I know that everything God does will endure forever" (Eccl. 3:14) Perhaps everything seems like "vanity" to us, or meaningless, but God has bigger plans than we can see with our human eyes.
He concludes his confession with his last bit of earthly wisdom, of a wisdom gained from God. Don't let sin rule your life. When you find sin in your life, turn away. And turn again to God. The last chapter starts with this verse: "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”— " (Eccl. 12:1)
Solomon wants us to learn from his mistakes and to realize what it took him a lifetime to realize: That nothing this world can give us can be compared to life eternal and nothing is worth giving up our "eternal home" (v. 5)
Solomon ends his last book by saying:
"Remember Him—
before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher
is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns
to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns
to God who gave it."
I used a picture of a sunflower today to illustrate King Solomon's life. When a sunflower is a young plant it uses something called heliotropism to turn itself as the day passes to follow the warmth of the sun. As the seeds mature, the flower head gets heavier and it no longer turns to catch the sun's rays. Just as King Solomon stopped following God in his latter years. But we need to keep on turning to follow God's Son, we need to let His light shine in our lives so that we can keep growing. In reality, it is the only thing that will bring lasting happiness in our lives.
There is a time for everything in this world and there are changing seasons in our lives. However, even as we find ourselves in the midst of peace or war, in the midst of laughing or crying, in the midst of loving or hating, in the midst of youth, middle age or old age ...it is always the time for Turning to God and letting His light shine in us and through us. Doing this daily will afford us more contentment than all the wealth of Solomon ever could.
And if you find that the times and the seasons have drawn you farther and farther away from the Lord, then as the lost sheep that went astray, turn towards Home again. Don't wait till the end of your life like King Solomon did. As Pete Seeger said in his song "I swear it's not too late"!