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ECCLESIASTES – LESSON FIVE
I. PROVERBS REGARDING RELIGION AND RICHES (Chapter 5)
A. Exhortation to approach God to hear than to offer the sacrifice of fools (5:1)
B. Warnings against thoughtless words or hasty professions (5:2,7)
C. Much activity and words do not guarantee substance and wisdom (5:3)
D. Warnings concerning making vows (5:4-
1. You must fulfill your vows.
2. Better to not vow than to vow and not pay.
3. No excuses will suffice – beware, God will bring judgment upon you.
E. Don’t despair over injustice in high places for one higher is watching (5:8).
F. The profit of the earth is for all – even the high king is fed from the lowly earth (5:9).
G. The evils involved in the pursuit and possessions of wealth (5:10-
1. Obtaining riches will bring contentment to those who love riches (v. 10).
2. Goods are to be partaken of – otherwise all you can do is look at them (v. 11).
3. With wealth comes worry and loss of sheep (v. 12)
4. Wealth hoarded can be suddenly lost by adventure, and nothing left for one’s heirs (v. 13-
5. Man comes into the world naked – he will in like manner leave – empty handed (v. 15-
a. What profit is there in obtaining wealth?
1. Striving after wind
2. Eating in darkness – uncertainty of the future
3. Sore vexed – sorrow
4. Sickness
5. Wrath
H. The good to do regarding riches (5:18-
1. Partake of and enjoy the fruits of your labor
2. God’s gift: partaking of the fruits of one’s labor – not just obtaining it.
a. Produces joy that overcome the sorrows in life.
QUESTIONS:
1. Is our offering or what we sacrifice unto God the most important thing in our religious activity before God?
2. What thought and attitude should cause our words to be few?
3. When we make a vow before God, what must we do? Any exceptions?
4. What should cause us not to ring our hands in despair when we see injustice occurring in high places?
5. Who should NOT be concerning over what occurs on farms?
6. I may believe that being rich is the greatest goal of life. What points can you offer to help me see that such a goal is foolish?
7. What constant fear is in the heart of the man who has spent all his life in pursuing and
obtaining wealth?
8. What is a good thing to do regarding the things we may possess? Why is this good?
ECCLESIASTES – LESSON SIX
I. PROVERBS REGARDING THE GOOD IN LIFE (Chapter 6)
A. The evil of having riches from God, but God gives the power to partake of them to an alien (6:1-
B. One stillborn is better than a man who begets many children, lives many years, but does not enjoy the good things from his labor, and has no burial (6:3-
1. The stillborn comes and goes in darkness – has rest.
2. No rest for the man who lives many years, but does not enjoy good from his labors.
3. Both go to the same place – the grave.
C. Man’s desire is insatiable, so one should enjoy what he can see (6:7-
1. All men: wise, foolish, the poor who lives uprightly before men all have insatiable desires.
2. “Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire.”
D. The vanity of man who contends with mighty God who knows man – his past and future (6:10-
1. “Who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?”
QUESTIONS:
1. In what two ways is God in control of our blessings?
2. What three blessings does God give? Did Solomon enjoy these three?
3. What did Solomon say is an “evil disease”?
4. Why is it that a man who begets many children and lives many years is worse off than one who is “stillborn”?
5. Where is the one place all go?
6. Why does one labor?
7. What is never filled?
8. Why is it a wise man and a poor man who lives properly before his fellow man have no advantage over the fool?
9. What is better for us to do knowing the reality of the wandering of desire?
10. Who is behind the naming of things before they come into being, and knowing man as he is?
11. How is it that man lives his life as a “shadow”?
12. To whom should we therefore look to for guidance in living our life under the sun?