Fun with Ecclesiastes
Fun with Ecclesiastes
Here's some more good news. We don't have to agree with everything in the Bible. That's good because some "wisdom" writers...like the one claiming to be Solomon in Ecclesiastes... occasionally sound a little over the edge and off the wall. Whoever actually wrote that book says it's the story of his journey to find the Meaning of Life...why we humans exist. Naturally, he begins buy conducting this very logical scientific experiment:"I decided to drink a lot of wine and make bad decisions—as part of a scholarly study. I wanted to know the best way to spend the short time we have in life: as the rascals or the righteous." (Ecclesiastes 2:3)The point of this video is to remind us to think about what we're reading. Not everything in the Holy Bible is holy or wise. The Bible reports the stories of both those who got it right and those who got it wrong. Job's comforters, for example. They brought no comfort and only bad advice. Ecclesiastes gets it right sometimes and wrong other times. That's because the writer is telling the story of his journey. He's not preaching. Or if he is, he shouldn't.
Watch on
YouTube or Vimeo.Ecclesiastes 1
WHATEVER WE DO, IT’S A WASTE OF TIME
1David’s son, the Scholar and King of Jerusalem, offers these observations. 2It’s a pitiful waste of time, the Scholar says. It’s all worthless and meaningless. 3What do people get for all their hard work, For spilling their sweat under the sun? 4A generation dies and another is born, But it makes no difference to the everlasting earth. 5The sun rises. The sun sets. Then it races all night to rise again. 6The wind blows north. The wind blows south. The wind blows round and round. It follows its route, comes back home, Then it starts all over again. Read More.Having fun with Ecclesiastics
Solomon’s Jerusalem
Solomon's Jerusalem
Solomon's Jerusalem
King Solomon's Jerusalem sat on ridge and stretched about one kilometer (3/4 miles) from the Temple Mount on the top of the ridge, down to Lower Jerusalem called the City of David. King David's Jerusalem was about half as big. Solomon added the Temple and surrounding area later. Kings after Solomon began extending Jerusalem to the west. The Jerusalem of Jesus, during the Roman occupation of Israel, was much larger...until Rome crushed a Jewish revolt and destroyed the city in AD 70. That was the last Temple the Jews ever had. Arab invaders conquered the land and 1400 years ago built a Muslim shrine on the Temple Mount. It's now Jerusalem's most famous landmark: the Dome of the Rock. For another angle on Jerusalem, see the map with Nehemiah 7. Here's a sampling of King Solomon's unusual writing, which many scholars say was written centuries later by a writer borrowing Solomon's name.WHATEVER WE DO, IT’S A WASTE OF TIME
1David’s son, the Scholar and King of Jerusalem, offers these observations 2It’s a pitiful waste of time, the Scholar says. It’s all worthless and meaningless. 3What do people get for all their hard work, For spilling their sweat under the sun? 4A generation dies and another is born, But it makes no difference to the everlasting earth. 5The sun rises. The sun sets. Then it races all night to rise again. 6The wind blows north. The wind blows south. The wind blows round and round. It follows its route, comes back home, Then it starts all over again. 7Rivers and streams flow into the sea But the sea always has room for more. So, water returns to the streams where it came from And the streams flow back to the sea. 8Everything is exhausting, Too exhausting for words. What we see isn’t satisfying. What we hear isn’t good enough. Ecclesiastes 1:1-8, Casual English BibleKing Solomon's Jerusalem