James & Ecclesiastes - What is Wisdom?

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Sipsey said:
“Remember your Creator” would seem to be a warranted continuation of the main thought continued from verse 1– especially since the Hebrew word for “remember”
implies a direct, emphatic call to action. •
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The KJV translators likely took a more literal approach to verse 6 because the entire poem ties back to the main thrust established right in the beginning to "Remember now thy Creator...." I still like the inclusion of that phrase in verse 6 because it reinforces the need to remember. I really like how you brought out that "remember" is not passive - it is an "...emphatic call to action."

I never realized how powerful the imagery of the silver cord and golden bowl are in verse 6. It seems to hearken back to the temple and the menorah where the silver cord held the golden bowl that contained the oil. If the silver cord breaks, the entire piece crashes to the floor just like our mortal lives end when the cord is loosed.
 
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SilverFox7 said:
The KJV translators likely took a more literal approach to verse 6 because the entire poem ties back to the main thrust established right in the beginning to "Remember now thy Creator...." I still like the inclusion of that phrase in verse 6 because it reinforces the need to remember. I really like how you brought out that "remember" is not passive - it is an "...emphatic call to action."

I never realized how powerful the imagery of the silver cord and golden bowl are in verse 6. It seems to hearken back to the temple and the menorah where the silver cord held the golden bowl that contained the oil. If the silver cord breaks, the entire piece crashes to the floor just like our mortal lives end when the cord is loosed.
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We agree. The depth and riches of His word are endless! They are hidden in plain sight, waiting till we are ready to understand.
 
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SilverFox7 said:
2 While the sun, or the light,
or the moon, or the stars,
be not darkened,
nor the clouds return
after the rain:
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Verse 2 begins the striking metaphors of aging and all the challenges that come with a deteriorating body and mind. Our eyesight changes and weakens, and the world literally becomes darker. The vividness of youth devolves into blurriness and shadows. I didn’t need glasses until I was in my 30s for longer distances, and then I had to transition into bifocals in my 50s. Now, even with the lens that magnifies, I’m struggling at 60 to read the fine print.

Illnesses and injuries are slower to heal as we age also. Where a serious virus may knock us down for a few days in our youth, it may take weeks to months to recover in our elderly years. The rainstorm may pass with fair weather clouds and sunny skies returning as a young person. As an “old person,” the rains may persist with no end in sight except the reaper looming in the billowy background.

Solomon warns about these “difficult” days where we can no longer feel pleasure in them. The joy is replaced with sorrow, and strength is replaced with weakness and pain. As much as I enjoyed fishing, hunting, and sports when I was in my “prime”, those activities don’t have the same zip today. I haven’t bought a fishing license in three years, and I haven’t missed it one bit. In my 30s, I started fishing in March and fished all the way into December some years.

I’m experiencing aches and pains in areas I have never had it, and my energy levels have depleted as well. After a full day’s work, often my wife and I are content relaxing at home for the rest of the evening and hitting the hay by 10pm. The weekends are a time to chill and catch up on rest as needed and where we would stay up until midnight on a Saturday night at least, I’m passing out in the chair by 10pm. My goodness, I didn’t make it to halftime during the Big 10 football championship last season. That would have never happened in my “youth!”
 
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SilverFox7 said:
Verse 2 begins the striking metaphors of aging and all the challenges that come with a deteriorating body and mind. Our eyesight changes and weakens, and the world literally becomes darker. The vividness of youth devolves into blurriness and shadows. I didn’t need glasses until I was in my 30s for longer distances, and then I had to transition into bifocals in my 50s. Now, even with the lens that magnifies, I’m struggling at 60 to read the fine print.

Illnesses and injuries are slower to heal as we age also. Where a serious virus may knock us down for a few days in our youth, it may take weeks to months to recover in our elderly years. The rainstorm may pass with fair weather clouds and sunny skies returning as a young person. As an “old person,” the rains may persist with no end in sight except the reaper looming in the billowy background.

Solomon warns about these “difficult” days where we can no longer feel pleasure in them. The joy is replaced with sorrow, and strength is replaced with weakness and pain. As much as I enjoyed fishing, hunting, and sports when I was in my “prime”, those activities don’t have the same zip today. I haven’t bought a fishing license in three years, and I haven’t missed it one bit. In my 30s, I started fishing in March and fished all the way into December some years.

I’m experiencing aches and pains in areas I have never had it, and my energy levels have depleted as well. After a full day’s work, often my wife and I are content relaxing at home for the rest of the evening and hitting the hay by 10pm. The weekends are a time to chill and catch up on rest as needed and where we would stay up until midnight on a Saturday night at least, I’m passing out in the chair by 10pm. My goodness, I didn’t make it to halftime during the Big 10 football championship last season. That would have never happened in my “youth!”
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As an avid fisherman and outdoor enthusiest, I can relate to the “slowing down” process as we approach the end of our earthly walk.

I ran across this from Chuck Swindoll and thought of your post:

Chuck Swidoll

The years take something from us. No one denies that. But they also give... perspective, peace, the slow settling of what actually matters. A confidence that doesn't have to prove itself anymore.

"Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life." — Proverbs 16:31 (ESV)

The exchange isn't a loss. It's a deepening. And the people watching you walk through it are often hoping to learn how it's done.

You don't have to take yourself so seriously. Just take the Lord seriously, and let him work out his purpose through you, and sometimes in spite of you.
 
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Sipsey said:
The years take something from us. No one denies that. But they also give... perspective, peace, the slow settling of what actually matters. A confidence that doesn't have to prove itself anymore.
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Amen. There is no doubt that my perspective has changed, and I'm learning what really matters - serving God and others. That's what brings the peace. Everything else just fades into the background.

The question I will be addressing soon is did Solomon learn that lesson? Did God lead him to repentance and turn his heart to Him during his final days?
 
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SilverFox7 said:
3 In the day when the keepers of
the house shall tremble,
and the strong men shall bow
themselves,
and the grinders cease because they are few,
and those that look out of
the windows be darkened,

4 And the doors shall be shut in the
streets,
when the sound of the grinding is
low, and he shall rise up at the voice
of the bird, and all the daughters of
musick shall be brought low;

5 Also when they shall be afraid of
that which is high,
and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree
shall flourish,
and the grasshopper shall be a burden,
and desire shall fail:
because man goeth to his long
home, and the mourners go about
the streets:
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Verses 3-6 of chapter 12 continue with imagery of nature and community activities tied to what happens in the “golden years.” One gentlemen I know in his 80s who has had one health issue after another describes the golden years as “fool’s gold!” Pain runs to the core of the bones, and memory vanishes, especially short term.

Teeth break, vision fades, hearing is a strain, and muscles weaken. I have a fear of heights now where my knees numb looking down from a long staircase or standing at the edge of a cliff.

Life can feel like an unending “burden,” and “desire shall fail.” It can all seem so pointless and empty, and death is much more present as we edge closer to our “long home,” the grave.

For me, if I didn’t have faith, a relationship with the Lord, and hope in a much better life after this one, it would be unbearable. It’s an important phase of life for me – a time to reflect on the past, enjoy every moment of the present, and look forward to life in the Kingdom forever without sickness, pain, and deep sorrow.
 
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Solomon wraps up this beautiful poem by reinforcing his central message that is laid out in the beginning of this thoughtful masterpiece, Ecclesiastes, the "teacher" and "preacher":

Ecclesiastes 12:7-8
King James Version

7 Then shall the dust return to the
earth as it was:
and the spirit shall return unto
God who gave it.

8 Vanity of vanities, saith the
preacher; .
all is vanity.

How true, this life and this present age is vanity – temporary. Our ~6000 year experiment of living our lives apart from the One who created us is a tragic failure. By partaking of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, ultimately the consequences are death (Gen. 2:17). But, the dastardly devil is quite cunning in his deception techniques. “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’” (3:4-5).

Satan is a liar, and he is also a murderer. He is the one primarily responsible for that fateful fall in the garden, and Jesus exposes who he truly is. “…He [the “serpent”] was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). Satan lied to Adam and Eve, and he continues his lies to the present day.

In essence, the serpent’s message to Eve is that God is holding us back and not revealing everything to us. By partaking of that fruit, our eyes are “opened,” and we know good and evil. And that’s exactly what we have been experiencing – like Solomon, we chose a life of experimentation. We think we don’t need God, and we want to control our lives and make choices on our own. It’s the classic Burger King mentality; “have it your way.” We don’t need God to tell us what to do. We decide what’s right and wrong. How has that worked out for us as a race?
 
SilverFox7 said:
7 Then shall the dust return to the
earth as it was:
Click to expand...
The root cause of vanity can be traced back to the fall of man in the Garden. “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust” is our fate as mortals, and we chose death over life. When Adam and Eve were busted, Adam blamed God and his wife (“The woman whom You gave to be with me” 3:12), Eve blamed the devil (v. 13), and God cursed the “serpent” (v.14). The ultimate penalty for us was “For dust you are, And to dust you shall return” (v. 19).

The serpent entered Judas, who led the mob to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, he is our arch enemy today as Christians and really humanity as a whole, and Death is one of his best allies. At Jesus’ return, John refers to Satan as “the dragon, that serpent of old” who will be bound for a thousand years (Rev. 20: 2). And his ultimate fate along with Death will be getting tossed into the lake of fire (vs. 10, 13).

That’s the good news, folks. The author of death will himself experience a higher level of death in the end. Life will reign forever in the Light because the only true life there is comes from our Creator. I’m not sure Solomon understood that like his father, David, did.
 
After Satan and everything associated with him is removed from the divine drama, we will enjoy a new heaven and a new earth where “…God will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21: 4). Solomon’s latter years of pain and sorrow are among those “former things” that are long forgotten. They are nothing but “dust in the wind.”

Now that we know the end of the story, let’s work our way back to our very beginning to hopefully gain a better understanding of the final words from Solomon in Ecclesiastes. Let’s make a pit stop along the way in Psalm 103. Whereas Solomon expressed more of a pragmatic and scientific view of life, David has a much more poetic perspective:

Psalm 103:11-13
New King James Version

11 For as the heavens are high
above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward
those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the
west,
So far has He removed
our transgressions from
us.
13 As a father pities his children,
So the Lord pities those who
fear Him.

David understood God’s mercy. Even before Christ, God revealed how He has removed our sins from us. He has pity on his beloved children, and the Lord “pities those who fear Him.” How interesting. Doesn’t this tie in nicely with “…the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments” (Ecc. 12:13). Hmm, maybe Solomon did remember some of his father’s teachings?

Look at this beautiful verse that ties into this one side of mortal life – we are dust; this life as we know it ends for all of us who dwell in these temporary tabernacles. “For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Ps. 103:14). God understands our state better than anyone. And, how much does He love us?

Psalm 103:8-10
New King James Version

8 The Lord is merciful and
gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding
in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with
us,
Nor will He keep His anger
forever.
10 He has not dealt with us
according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to
our iniquities.
 
Let’s do a comparison/contrast with Solomon’s powerful lament/longing,

Then the dust will return to the
earth as it was,
And the spirit will return to
God who gave it. (Ecc. 12:7)

to the creation of Adam:

And the Lord God formed man
Of the dust of the ground, and
Breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a
living being. (Gen 2:7)

Solomon was a philosopher, and he was also a theologian. One of his key closing thoughts in Ecclesiastes goes all the way back to our beginning. God made man out of the dust of the ground, and because of the fall, man suffered death, and returned to the earth as it was.

So, why didn’t Adam and Eve “die” the moment they ate the forbidden fruit? God told Adam explicitly, “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (v. 17). The way this is translated, it seems God knew what the choice would be – free will, yes; the temptation to be like God, too strong of an appeal.

More to come on this idea…
 
“You shall surely die” can be looked at from different vantage points. “Surely” can mean that eventually the temporary mortal existence they had would end, not at that particular moment they made the choice to disobey God. I’m really gravitating more to the concept of spiritual death here.

The instant they chose that forbidden fruit, they were separated from God. There eyes were opened to a whole new reality where they still had existence, but it was an existence where they now had the knowledge of good and evil – they could decide if they wanted to pursue goodness, and they could also pursue evil which has its passing pleasures. But ultimately, the death is spiritual in nature, separation from the Source of true Life.

Without God, we do not have life. What may seem like a cruel response to the individual who wanted to go and bury his father before following Jesus, “Let the dead bury their own dead…” (Luke 9:60), Jesus was referring to where true life, eternal life really is – it’s in Him and preaching “the kingdom of God.”

Jesus made it very clear that He is “…the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and He leads into this with many “I am…” references that He is the great “I Am” who revealed Himself to Moses as the Eternal, the beginning and end.

Unlike us, God is life. He wasn’t born, nor will He ever die – He always has been and always will be. The tree of Life was there in the garden for the first couple to partake from, but that would have meant complete oneness and unity with God. With the serpent’s seductive appeal, however, his tree was more enticing. It offered "life" on their terms.

Martha and Jesus had a powerful conversation after her brother, Lazarus, had died:

John 11:23-26

New King James Version

23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

If we live and believe in Jesus, we shall never die because we are at one with Him. Life is in the Lord. Anything apart from that is merely a temporary existence of vanity, emptiness, and the hollow shell returning to the dust from whence it came.

Ok, enough of the depressing talk about death. Next, we’ll get into breath of life and “spirit” God gave to us.
 
Then the dust will return to the
earth as it was,
And the spirit will return to
God who gave it. (Ecc. 12:7)

And the Lord God formed man
Of the dust of the ground, and
Breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a
living being. (Gen 2:7)

Solomon used the Hebrew word, ruach, as that which returns to God at death. It is translated as “spirit, wind, and breath.” Here is the glimmer of hope that I believe shows through in Solomon that while the dust he inhabits is temporal, his “spirit” will return to God. What did he have in mind here?

It really goes back to the “breath of life” that God infused into Adam – and all people who have lived and are alive today. The Genesis verse above uses the Hebrew word, neshamah, which also means “breath” and “spirit”. Ruach and neshamah are kissing cousins that point to that which God has given to humanity – the breath of life, which is the essence of life within us.

I had my annual physical yesterday, and the nurse placed a device on my index finger that measured my pulse rate. There was another figure on the screen that registered 98%, which the nurse said is “good”. I asked what that represented, and the nurse said that’s the level of oxygen in my blood. Breathing brings in life-giving oxygen that is carried throughout our bloodstream – rivers of life flowing within us.

Solomon had the awareness that the breath of life, his spirit, that God gave to him would return to God when he died. That which God gave ultimately returns back to Him. So, Solomon’s “spirit” is with God. It’s not clear how Solomon felt about this concept, and his bemoaning throughout Ecclesiastes certainly doesn’t reflect the faith of his father David. Yet there had to be some measure of comfort that his life essence, not the dead bones he inhabited, returns to God.
 
So, what is this “spirit” that returns to God? The best analogy I’ve heard is a computer. Our physical bodies and minds are the hardware – the circuits, CPU, monitor, and storage devices. Without software, we can turn the device on, but until there are inputs and software, the computer is nothing but a blank screen with a blinking cursor. “The lights are on, but nobody’s home.”

It’s the programming inputs and software that bring our computers and smart devices to life. That’s how the breath of life, the spirit functions within our lives. We are given consciousness, intellect, emotions, and talents, and then we grow and develop through our education and experiences. That’s the gift God has given to all humans who bear his image.

At death, that spirit returns to God. Back when I was introduced to this theory, the analogy used was a floppy disk that contains a record of who we were as an individual. The disk is stored in a library or archive in heaven and then it is retrieved at a resurrection to be used in another body.

For those who never merged their spirit with God’s, the vast majority of people in Old Testament times, they will be raised from the dead during the general resurrection (Rev. 20:5). Ezekiel has a powerful prophecy related to this that we will look at next time.

While Solomon perhaps has some hope for his future through his spirit returning to God, there is no indication that he had hope in the resurrection and an afterlife unlike his father, David. I asked Google AI the question, "is there any indication in the Psalms that King David believed in a resurrection"?

Yes. While the Old Testament primarily emphasizes God's deliverance in earthly life, scholars and theologians agree that several Psalms hint at a belief in an afterlife and physical resurrection. These passages were later understood by New Testament writers to prophetically point to the ultimate resurrection of the Messiah. [1, 2, 3]
The clearest indications include:
  • Psalm 16:9-11: David writes, "my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption". In the Book of Acts, the Apostles Peter and Paul point out that David eventually died and his body decayed, meaning David was speaking prophetically about the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
  • Psalm 17:15: David concludes his prayer with the anticipation, "As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness." Many scholars interpret the phrase "when I awake" as a reference to an awakening from death.

  • Psalm 49:15: The psalmist expresses confidence that "God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave [Sheol], for He shall receive me."

  • Psalm 71:20-21: David speaks of God bringing him up "again from the depths of the earth," which commentators often view as a messianic prophecy pointing directly to the resurrection of Christ. [1]
 
Ezekiel 37 and all of Ezekiel for that matter is a powerful text, and the great prophet was given some remarkable visions “in the Spirit of the Lord” (Ezek. 37:1). Ezekiel was brought to a vast valley filled with bones, and God asked him, “Son of man, can these bones live?” (v.3). God put the bones together “bone to bone” (v.7), and the “sinews and flesh came upon them…but there was no breath in them” (v.8).

What happens next is remarkable and miraculous. Like Genesis, a new Genesis, God breathes into this vast multitude of lifeless flesh the breath of life:

Ezekiel 37:9-14
New King James Version

9 Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ”

10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

13 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ”

The whole house of Israel is resurrected from the dead, given renewed life, and brought back into the land of Israel. This second chance for life, eternal life ultimately, will be in the redeemed Israel where the Lord is King, and the people don’t have to worry about foes from other nations trying to destroy them, and the devil and his band of bandits are out of the picture as well.

More importantly, they will not just have the spirit of life, their consciousness and individuality of who they were the first time. God promises, “I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live.” What was incomplete in their life of vanity under the sun initially will be rectified in their resurrected life after Christ returns and the millennial age is finished (Rev. 20:5).

Just prior to this overwhelming spectacle of God’s beloved nation of Israel standing before Him again, God promises this time that their lives will be complete because He will be an intimate part of it:

Ezekiel 36:26-28

26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
 
The hreatest wisdom zOf The Lord ZKing Don of man Glorified is To Parah Ruach is word be mostly found in the Gospel in orig text in One word better to Parah & Ruach This covers every commandment in All The Good Fruit Blessing of The Lord God.this is basically the One command the apostles asked of greatest commandment !
.You can not parah without love and the ,9 nine attributes of the Holy Spirit then the seven fruits of the spirit and then on the gifts of the Spirit and I probably mix the numbers up ,it don't matter what matters is the command to Parah Ruach This Is
God Is Love!
 
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