UNROLL
Early morning on broad stone steps: one man climbs alone, seen from behind, his hands empty, toward the plain temple small in the pale distance.

The search

Ecclesiastes 5

What did you promise God the last time you were scared?

20 verses≈ 4 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1Everything is futileThe Teacher states his case
  2. 2–6The searchPleasure, work, time, power, wealthChapter 5
  3. 7–8What wisdom can and can't doNo one can find out what is coming
  4. 9–11Live while you liveDeath comes to all, so take the gift
  5. 12Remember your CreatorFear God and keep His commandments

Approaching God with Fear

The Teacher

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God.

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For God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few.

As a dream comes through many cares,

so the speech of a fool comes with many words.

The Teacher
The Teacher

When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.

Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not tell the messenger that your vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands? For as many dreams bring futility, so do many words.

Therefore, fear God.

Reflect

The promise you let slide

Is there anything you told God you would do and have let slide? What would keeping it look like this week?

The Futility of Wealth

The Teacher
On a threshing floor a thin farmer stands with empty hands while a man scoops his grain into sacks, another weighs it, and a seated official watches from the shade.

If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them. The produce of the earth is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

The Teacher

He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.

Ecclesiastes 5:10

When good things increase, so do those who consume them; what then is the profit to the owner, except to behold them with his eyes?

The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.

Question

Quick question

The Teacher has watched what money does to people.

What does the Teacher say money does for the one who loves it?

The Teacher
The Teacher
The Teacher

Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.

Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God.

This is a gift from God.

For a man seldom considers the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.

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Ecclesiastes 5

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A verse to carry with you

He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.

Ecclesiastes 5:10

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