Ted’s Response:

Ecclesiastes is a very interesting and remarkable book. I've even known atheists and agnostics who have said that Ecclesiastes is their favorite book in the Bible. I think this is the case because it shows such a "worldly" side of Solomon.

Solomon commonly is considered to be the wisest man ever (1 Kings 4:29-34). Believers, of course, know that Jesus was infinitely wiser; but the world at large might give that title to Solomon. I believe, though, that (besides Jesus) Solomon was the wisest man with worldly knowledge. He was tremendously productive, exceedingly wealthy and prosperous, and extremely "world smart" (Ecclesiastes 1:4-9).

I also think he is a very good example of how "absolute power corrupts absolutely." Initially, not only was Solomon someone who loved God, but he also obeyed God's statutes (1 Kings 3:3) and acknowledged God's greatness and faithfulness (8:22-61). The Lord even appeared to Solomon twice (3:5, 9:2). However, Solomon intermarried with foreign women, against God's command; and these wives led him astray to follow other gods, angering the One, True God (11:1-10).

In his old age, Solomon's wealth, power, being immersed so deeply in the ways of the world, and disconnection from God caused him to think like the world does. He came to depend on his own power and wisdom to run his day-to-day life. When anyone comes to do that exclusively, which we all need to struggle against doing, disappointment and failure are inevitable.

Many Christians scratch their heads when reading Ecclesiastes, wondering how such a blessed "man of God" as Solomon could write a book with notable undertones of hopelessness and even despair. I feel that God had him write it at a point in his life when Solomon was more captivated by the world than he was with God.

Ecclesiastes illustrates how vain, meaningless, and empty—a "chasing after the wind"—the ways of the world become even for someone like Solomon who, from the perspective of others, "had everything that the world had to offer." This is the rule, rather than the exception, for those whose gods, for all intents and purposes, have become

• themselves,
• other people,
• money and wealth,
• possessions, and
• other attractive, appealing, and alluring things of the world.

In Solomon's fallen state, and without the absolute knowledge of a Messiah who later would come to redeem him, all that he could perceive and comprehend was the repetitive, cyclical nature of the world. It had become virtually his entire focus. Of course, his foundational knowledge of God, along with his constructive relationship with Him earlier in life, enabled Solomon to know that God really is in charge of everything. The Lord God is the one who has created a pattern here on earth, which everything follows over and over again, ad infinitum; and He calls everything into account and judgment (Ecclesiastes 3:15).

Ecclesiastes actually used to depress me, on some level, until I came to the following conclusions about God (with which many may disagree):

1) I believe that God wrote an original "script," prior to the creation of all things, and everything is predestined to follow that script in the greatest "theatrical production" of the ages (of which He is the Author, Producer, Director, and main Actor). It is impossible for anyone to deviate from the original script. Even God follows His own script precisely.

2) The "script" seems very random and arbitrary to all of us, but it isn't. In fact, it is so perfect, realistic, and convincing that most of us have no clue that all of the things that happen on the earth and in the universe, including everything we speak and the actions we perform, have been predetermined from the beginning of time. In essence, I think this is what the first part of Ecclesiastes 3:14 is saying.

What makes it all so credible and compelling to us is that our minds have been exquisitely "programmed," by God, to believe that we, all by ourselves, are choosing to say and to do all of the things that we say and do. And in the one-dimensional, uni-directional time frame through which we are moving—which has a beginning (2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2) and which will end when the present heavens and earth pass away (Revelation 20:11, 21:1)—we actually are making decisions and choices. But since God's predestination (the "chicken") came before our free will (the "egg"), then predestination supersedes all of our free will choices. I think that it is just too humbling for most of us to accept that.

3) Since we, like Solomon, are "stuck" on this very limited time line, and are unable to change even one moment prior to the present, nor can we know, with certainty, even one moment yet to come (other than through biblical prophecy), it is difficult to perceive anything outside of that narrow time line. I see everything outside of it as "eternity."

Solomon was able to conceive of eternity (Ecclesiastes 3:11)—a multi-dimensional time frame existing in all directions at once—but his primary focus was on the one-dimensional time line through which he was moving. I distinguish between "forever" (which will end when this thin, restrictive, transitory time line ends) and "eternity" (which is infinitely wide, boundless, and endless).

Thinking about events from this present, temporary frame of reference, the things of this present world and creation—all destined for a fiery destruction (2 Peter 3:7,10,12)—are gloomy, dreary, and hopeless. As Solomon implied, they are vain, meaningless, and empty.

However, viewing things from an eternal frame of reference, as I tend to do (see old and new Creations), the overall "script" is like a stunningly beautiful, intricately woven tapestry with a virtually infinite amount of colors and textures, full of hope and promise. It is saturated with the endlessly magnificent facets and characteristics of the awesome Creator, who wrote the immensely complex "script," and of the glorious, faithful, and true Messiah who will govern this world for 1,000 years. This will take place before everything that we see and know passes away, and a brand new, pristine, eternal Creation appears (2 Peter 3:10,12,13; Revelation 20:11, 21:1,5).

Had Solomon been thinking about things from this perspective, he might not even have written the book of Ecclesiastes. On the other hand, he had to write it because it was in God's "script" to do so, probably to show us the despair and hopelessness that happens to people who disobey God and who follow, in utter futility and vanity, the false gods of this world, which is passing away. The best formula that will have the greatest likelihood of enabling you to be content and happy in this world is

• to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind [which includes obeying Him because you love Him], and
• to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40).