Ecclesiastes 1:1 The book of Ecclesiastes is a dramatic biography, in which Solomon not only records, but re-enacts, the successive scenes of his search after happiness, a descriptive memoir, in which he not only recites his past experience, but, in his improvising fervour, becomes his former self... [ Continue Reading ]
Ecclesiastes 1:1 The search for the _summum bonum_, the quest of the chief good, is the theme of the book of Ecclesiastes. Naturally we look to find this theme, this problem, this "riddle of the painful earth," distinctly stated in the opening verses of the book. It is stated, but not distinctly. F... [ Continue Reading ]
Ecclesiastes 1:2 I. This passage is the preamble to the book; it ushers us at once into its realms of dreariness. It is as if he said, "It is all a weary go-round. There are no novelties, no wonders, no discoveries. The present only repeats the past; the future will repeat them both." From such vex... [ Continue Reading ]
Ecclesiastes 1:4 It is the manifest intention of the Divine Spirit, as shown in the sacred writings, that we should be taught to find emblems in the world we are placed in to enforce solemn instruction upon us. I. The character of permanence in objects we behold may admonish us of the brevity of o... [ Continue Reading ]
Ecclesiastes 1:4 I. It is universally acknowledged that the circle is the archetype of all forms, physically as well as mathematically. It is the most complete figure, the most stable under violence, the most economical of material; its proportions are the most perfect and harmonious: and therefore... [ Continue Reading ]
Ecclesiastes 1:12 I. Solomon found no rest in pleasure, riches, power, glory, wisdom itself. He had learnt nothing more, after all, than he might have known, and doubtless did know, when he was a child of seven years old; and that was simply to fear God and keep His commandments, for that was the w... [ Continue Reading ]
Ecclesiastes 1:12 I. Solomon's first resource was philosophy. He studied man's position in this world. His appetite for knowledge was omnivorous; and whilst hungering for the harvest, he was thankful for crumbs. The result was satiety with satisfaction, or rather it was the sober certainty of "sorr... [ Continue Reading ]
Ecclesiastes 1:17 There are two ways of arriving at the knowledge of the truth respecting the importance and benefit of holiness and goodness. These two ways are one the experience of what is good, the other the experience of what is bad. These are the two kinds of moral experience we see in the wo... [ Continue Reading ]
Ecclesiastes 1:18 The declaration of the text may be considered as the expression of a soul that seeks satisfaction in mere earthly knowledge. I. Mere earthly knowledge is unsatisfactory in its nature. Take as an illustration of this the field of creation. The knowledge of facts and laws can emplo... [ Continue Reading ]