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Take a breath, find your place, and read deeply. Discover the joy of reading God’s word with the Immerse New Living Translation (NLT) Bible.
This daily Bible podcast will take you through the Bible in a year following the Immerse Bible Reading Experience. So grab your family and small group and go through the Bible in a year together with Immerse. Each of the 6 volumes is available online or at your favorite Christian bookstore.
Henry: Welcome To Immerse: The
Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day three hundred and 10.
Immersed in Ecclesiastes.
The books of the Bible come together
to tell the overarching story of
God, the world and the way back to
life and blessing after humanity's
rebellion against the Creator.
We don't live in a world where everyone
follows the wisdom of God's good ways.
Many things have gone terribly wrong.
Therefore, our experience
is a deep mystery.
We know creation and life,
but also brokenness and death.
There is one place in the Bible
where this mystery is a addressed
headon, the Book of Ecclesiastes.
Here, the author recognizes that
things are more complex than the simple
pattern generally found in Proverbs.
Do good and good things
will happen to you.
The more probing wisdom of
Ecclesiastes acknowledges hard truths.
What is wrong cannot be made right.
What is missing cannot be recovered.
This somber statement proclaims
that life is inscrutable and
unpredictable in many ways.
Ecclesiastes sets out to look at the
experience of life as it is really lived.
Rather than trying to rationally explain
everything, it relentlessly explores
what actually happens under the sun.
That is it, the world as we know it.
Ecclesiastes contains the reflections
of a man known as the teacher,
traditionally associated with Solomon.
Who should be respected because he
was considered wise and he taught
the people everything he knew.
He listened carefully to many Proverbs
studying and classifying them.
The teacher knows all about the helpful
and compact wisdom sayings of the
sages, yet he is clearly frustrated by
his experiences of life's injustices,
absurdities, and impermanence.
The thing that is so hard to find in our
world is good and fulfilling, meaning that
lasts beyond a lifetime or even a moment.
Often we find that significant portions
of life are unfulfilling and superficial.
The achievements and benefits of
prolonged hard work can be quickly
lost by unforeseen disasters and
the poor stewardship of others.
Even gaining wisdom itself doesn't
necessarily help us have success in life.
So what then is the point of it all?
The teacher shares his insights
over the course of seven
reflections in these reflections.
He carefully observes various aspects
of life on this earth and meditates
on what he sees alternating between
poetry and prose in his explorations.
On the surface, these reflections
seem casual and rambling, mirroring
life in a world where one never
knows what to expect next.
But the book of Ecclesiastes presents
them all inside an elegant framework.
Prologue the words of the teacher theme
statement, everything is meaningless.
Poem seven Major reflections.
Poem, theme statement,
everything is meaningless.
Epilogue the words of the teacher.
Ecclesiastes seems to offer
two conclusions to its musings.
One immediate, and one more.
All ultimate in the short term,
given the crookedness and futility
that marks so much of life.
The teacher declares that it makes sense
to find enjoyment in the present moment
through the small pleasures of the day.
As he says, there is nothing better
than to enjoy food and drink and
to find satisfaction in work.
These pleasures are from the hand of
God, but at the book's end, we find
a bigger, more important lesson, even
though we cannot always see the deeper
meaning of life in how things work out.
It is crucial to know that God is watching
and working in ways that we can't discern.
Indeed.
One day he will make everything clear,
bringing all our actions to light.
As we learn later in the Bible's
story on that day, the creation's
futility will come to an end and
all things in heaven and on earth.
We'll find their full restoration.
The book of Ecclesiastes.
These are the words of the teacher,
king, David's son who ruled in Jerusalem.
Everything is meaningless,
says the teacher.
Completely meaningless.
What do people get for all
their hard work under the sun?
Generations come and generations
go, but the earth never changes.
The sun rises and the sun sets
then hurries around to rise again.
The wind blows south and then
turns north around and around
and goes blowing in circles.
Rivers run into the sea,
but the sea is never full.
Then the water returns again to the
rivers and flows out again to the sea.
Everything is weary.
Some beyond description.
No matter how much we see,
we are never satisfied.
No matter how much we hear, we are not.
Content.
History merely repeats itself.
It has all been done before.
Nothing under the sun is truly new.
Sometimes people say, here is
something new, but actually it is old.
Nothing is ever truly new.
We don't remember what happened in the
past and in future generations, no one
will remember what we are doing Now.
I, the teacher was king of
Israel and I lived in Jerusalem.
I devoted myself to search for
understanding and to explore by wisdom,
everything being done under heaven.
I soon discovered that God has dealt
a tragic existence to the human race.
I observed everything going on
under the sun, and really it is all
meaningless, like chasing the wind.
What is wrong cannot be made right.
What is missing, cannot be recovered.
I said to myself, look, I am
wiser than any of the kings who
ruled in Jerusalem before me.
I have greater wisdom and
knowledge than any of them.
So I set out to learn everything
from wisdom to madness and folly.
But I learned firsthand that pursuing
all this is like chasing the wind.
The greater my wisdom, the
greater my grief To increase
knowledge only increases sorrow.
I said to myself, come
on, let's try pleasure's.
Look for the good things in life.
But I found that this too was meaningless.
So I said, laughter is silly.
What good does it do to seek pleasure?
After much thought, I decided to cheer
myself with wine, and while still seeking
wisdom, I clutched at foolishness.
In this way, I tried to experience
the only happiness most people find
during their brief life in this world.
I also tried to find meaning by
building huge homes for myself and
by planting beautiful vineyards.
I made gardens and parks filling
them with all kinds of fruit trees.
I built reservoirs to collect the water
to irrigate my many flourishing groves.
I bought slaves, both men and women, and
others were born in into my household.
I also owned large herds and flocks
more than any of the kings who
had lived in Jerusalem before me.
I collected great sums of silver and gold.
The treasure of many kings and provinces.
I hired wonderful singers, both men and
women, and had many beautiful concubines.
I had everything a man could desire,
so I became greater than all who
had lived in Jerusalem before me,
and my wisdom never failed me.
Anything I wanted, I would take.
I denied myself.
No pleasure.
I even found great pleasure and hard
work, a reward for all my labors, but
as I looked at everything I had worked
so hard to accomplish, it was all so
meaningless, like chasing the wind.
There was nothing really
worthwhile anywhere.
So I decided to compare wisdom with
foolishness and madness for who can do
this better than I the king I thought.
Wisdom is better than foolishness.
Just as light is better than darkness for
the wise can see where they are going.
But fools walk in the dark.
Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish
share the same fate, both will die.
So I said to myself, since I
will end up the same as the fool,
what's the value of all my wisdom?
This is also meaningless for
the wise and the foolish.
Both die.
The wise will not be remembered any
longer than the fool In the days
to come, both will be forgotten.
So I came to hate life because everything
done here under the sun is so troubling.
Everything is meaningless,
like chasing the wind.
I came to hate all my hard work here
on Earth for I must leave to others.
Everything I have earned and who
can tell whether my successors
will be wise or foolish.
Yet they will control everything
I have gained by my skill
and hard work under the sun.
How meaningless.
So I gave up in despair, questioning the
value of all my hard work in this world.
Some people work wisely with
knowledge and skill, then must
leave the fruit of their efforts to
someone who hasn't worked for it.
This too is meaningless, A great tragedy.
So what do people get in this life?
For all their hard work and
anxiety, their days of labor
are filled with pain and grief.
Even at night, their minds cannot rest.
It is all meaningless.
So I decided there was nothing
better than to enjoy food and drink
and to find satisfaction in work.
Then I realized that these pleasures
are from the hand of God for who can
eat or enjoy anything apart from him.
God gives wisdom, knowledge,
and joy to those who please him.
But if a sinner becomes wealthy,
God takes the wealth away and
gives it to those who please him.
This too is meaningless, like
chasing the wind for everything.
There is a season, a time for every
activity under heaven, a time to
be born and a time to die, a time
to plant, and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down
and a time to build up.
A time to cry, and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve, and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones,
and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search, and a
time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.
What do people really get
for all their hard work?
I have seen the burden
God has placed on us all.
God has made everything
beautiful for its own time.
He has planted eternity in the
human heart, but even so, people
cannot see the whole scope of
God's work from beginning to end.
So I concluded there was nothing better
than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as
long as we can, and people should eat
and drink and enjoy the fruits of their
labor for these are gifts from God.
And I know that whatever
God does is final.
Nothing can be added
to it or taken from it.
God's purpose is that
people should fear him.
What is happening now has happened before
and what will happen in the future has
happened before because God makes the
same things happen over and over again.
I also noticed that under the sun
there is evil in the courtroom.
Yes.
Even the courts of law are corrupt.
I said to myself in due season,
God will judge everyone, both
good and bad for all their deeds.
I also thought about the human
condition, how God proves to people
that they are like animals for people,
and animals share the same fate.
Both breathe and both must die.
So people have no real advantage
over the animals, how meaningless.
Both go to the same place.
They came from dust and
they returned to dust.
For who can prove that the human
spirit goes up and the spirit of
animals goes down into the earth.
So I saw that there is nothing better for
people than to be happy in their work.
That is our lot in life, and
no one can bring us back to
see what happens after we die.
I, again, I observed all the oppression
that takes place under the sun.
I saw the tears of the oppressed
with no one to comfort them.
The oppressors have great power
and their victims are helpless.
So I concluded that the dead
are better off than the living.
But most fortunate of all are those who
are not yet born for, they have not seen
all the evil that is done under the sun.
Then I observe that most people are
motivated to success because they
envy their neighbors, but this too is
meaningless, like chasing the wind.
Fools fold their idle hands leading
them to ruin, and yet better to have one
handful with quietness than two handfuls
with hard work and chasing the wind.
I observed yet another example of
something meaningless under the sun.
This is the case of a man who
was all alone without a child or
a brother yet who works hard to
gain as much wealth as he can.
But then he asks himself,
who am I working for?
Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?
It is all so meaningless and depressing.
Two people are better off than one
for they can help each other succeed.
If one person falls, the other can
reach out and help, but someone
who falls alone is in real trouble.
Likewise, two people lying close
together can keep each other warm.
But how can one be warm alone?
A person standing alone can be
attacked and defeated, but two can
stand back to back and conquer.
Three are even better.
For a triple braided cord
is not easily broken.
It is better to be a poor but
wise youth than an old and foolish
king who refuses all advice.
Such a youth could rise
from poverty and succeed.
He might even become king,
though he has been in prison.
But then everyone rushes to the side
of yet another youth who replaces him.
Endless crowds stand around
him, but then another generation
grows up and rejects him too.
So it is all meaningless,
like chasing the wind.
As you enter the house of God, keep
your ears open and your mouth shut.
It is evil to make
mindless offerings to God.
Don't make rash promises and don't be
hasty in bringing matters before God.
After all, God is in heaven
and you are here on earth.
So let your words be few.
Too much activity gives
you restless dreams.
Too many words make you a fool
when you make a promise to God.
Don't delay in following through.
For God takes no pleasure in fools.
Keep all the promises you make to him.
It is better to say nothing than
to make a promise and not keep it.
Don't let your mouth make you sin
and don't defend yourself by telling
the temple Messenger that the promise
you made was a mistake that would
make God angry and he might wipe
out everything you have achieved.
Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other
useless activities fear God instead.
Don't be surprised if you see a poor
person being oppressed by the powerful.
And if justice is being miscarried
throughout the land, for every
official is under orders from higher
up and matters of justice, get
lost in red tape and bureaucracy.
Even the king milks the land for
his own profit, those who love
money will never have enough.
How meaningless to think that
wealth brings true happiness?
The more you have, the more
people come to help you spend it.
So what good is wealth?
Except perhaps to watch it
slip through your fingers.
People who work hard sleep well, whether
they eat a little or much, but the
rich seldom get a good night's sleep.
There was another serious
problem I have seen under the sun
hoarding riches, harms the saver.
Money is put into risky
investments that turns sour and
everything is lost in the end.
There is nothing left to
pass on to one's children.
We all come to the end of our
lives as naked and empty handed
as on the day we were born.
We can't take our riches with us, and
this too is a very serious problem.
People leave this world no
better off than when they came.
All their hard work is for
nothing like working for the wind.
Throughout their lives,
they live under a cloud.
Frustrated, discouraged, and angry.
Even so I have noticed one
thing at least that is good.
It is good for people to eat, drink,
and enjoy their work under the sun,
during the short life God has given
them and to accept their lot in life.
And it is a good thing to receive
wealth from God and the good
health to enjoy it, to enjoy your
work and accept your lot in life.
This is indeed a gift from God.
God keeps such people so busy
enjoying life that they take
no time to brood over the past.
This concludes today's
Immer Reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.