The Eight Experiments of Man The Eight Experiments of Man ❖ A Commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes Pastor Robert R. Mclaughlin Copyright © 2007 by Pastor Robert R. Mclaughlin. Library of Congress Control Number: 2007901303 ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4257-5572-0 Softcover 978-1-4257-5558-4 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner. Unless noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, For certain key passages, the author has provided his own corrected translation in the English from the Hebrew or Greek text. Corrected translations are by Pastor Robert R. McLaughlin. This book was printed in the United States of America. To order additional copies of this book, contact: Xlibris Corporation 1-888-795-4274 www.Xlibris.com [email protected] 36600 Contents Preface ...................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 1 Autobiography of an Eightfold Failure (Ecclesiastes 1:1-11) ......11 Chapter 2 The First Experiment: Anthropocentric Academic Speculation (Ecclesiastes 1:12-18) .............................. 24 Chapter 3 The Second Experiment: Seeking Happiness in Pleasure (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11) .................................31 Chapter 4 The Third Experiment: All in the Family (Ecclesiastes 2:12-24) ..... 42 Chapter 5 A Brief Flash of Insight (Who Can Have Enjoyment Without Him?) (Ecclesiastes 2:25-26) ....................... 47 Chapter 6 The Fourth Experiment: The Philosophy of Time Orientation (Ecclesiastes 3:1-9) ......................................53 Chapter 7 Life Changes with God’s Perspective (Ecclesiastes 3:12-15) ....... 87 Chapter 8 Back to Cynicism(Ecclesiastes 3:16-22) ........................................ 95 Chapter 9 Success and Wealth (Ecclesiastes 4:1-8) ..................................... 110 Chapter 10 Friendship (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12) ..................................................117 Chapter 11 Fate of the King and the Instability of People (Ecclesiastes 4:13-16) ...................................................................127 Chapter 12 Proper Worship (Ecclesiastes 5:1-7) ........................................... 131 Chapter 13 The Fifth Experiment: Money (Ecclesiastes 5:8-20) ..................147 Chapter 14 A Self-portrait (Ecclesiastes 6:1-12) ............................................ 165 Chapter 15 The Sixth Experiment: Building a Reputation (Ecclesiastes 7:1-24) .....................................................................177 Chapter 16 The Seventh Experiment: Sex (Ecclesiastes 7:25-29) ................221 Chapter 17 Leadership and Authority (Ecclesiastes 8:1-9) ...........................248 Chapter 18 Life’s Mysteries (Ecclesiastes 8:10-17) ........................................ 262 Chapter 19 Four Facts of Life and God’s Response (Ecclesiastes 9:1-10) ......... 271 Chapter 20 The Eighth Experiment: The Hero Image (Ecclesiastes 9:11-18) ...................................................................282 Chapter 21 Fools (Ecclesiastes 10:1-20) ......................................................... 296 Chapter 22 Be Bold (Ecclesiastes 11:1-10) .................................................... 322 Chapter 23 Remember Your Creator (Ecclesiastes 12:1-14) .........................336 Consider the following before you begin your study: If you are a born-again believer, you are commanded to be fi lled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18b Be fi lled with the Spirit. How? 1 John 1:9 If we acknowledge [name and cite] our sins, He is faithful and righteous, with the result that He forgives us our sins [known sins] and purifi es us from all unrighteousness [unknown sins]. If you are an unbeliever, the issue is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You must be born again. John 3:3 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” How? Acts 16:31 “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved.” Preface The book of Ecclesiastes is proof of how much God the Father loves the lost. This book contains much of the thinking of God’s enemy, and to allow that to appear in such measure among the sixty-six books that are His testimony to the world is, on one level, inexplicable. Why would God do that? The answer is because He knows that is the only way to reach so many where they live right now. The point of reading Ecclesiastes is to recognize your lost self somewhere among the ramblings of the foolish side of King Solomon. This book is particularly for young people. The sad sage Solomon stands at the edge of eight lengthy dead-end trails, and having traveled down each of them, he shouts to the passersby, “Beware!” A young person asks him, “What can I expect if I head down the road of sex, or money, or fame, or reputation?” God allows Solomon to tell them, “Failure, regret, and deep pain.” Solomon is saying, “Don’t make the same mistakes I made.” That’s why God allowed this book, He had no better messenger than the richest, most powerful, most gifted (humanly speaking) ruler in the ancient world, King Solomon. In the end, we will see what Solomon’s conclusion is: Happiness is not found anywhere else but in God. Remember Him, respect Him, and guard His commands, for that is the only way to become a complete and mature spiritual person. 9 Chapter 1 Autobiography of an Eightfold Failure (Ecclesiastes 1:1-11) We all desire happiness, but the problem is that most individuals today are on a frantic search for it, looking for it in all the wrong places. Fortunately, as with most questions that people have, the answer to how to fi nd true happiness is found in the Bible. There are many illustrations found in the Word of God that are written for our instruction. We are told in Romans 15:4, “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” First Corinthians 10:11 says, “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” In this book, we are going to look at a man named Solomon. Solomon was a man who started out as a great ruler; he was a ruler as a matter of inheritance, and therefore wanted to become an achiever. His father, David, was also a ruler, also an achiever, and the greatest soldier of his day. But during Solomon’s reign there were no wars, his father had seen to that under the principle of freedom through military victory. There was peace in Solomon’s time for forty years thanks to the tremendous military victories of his father, King David. So Solomon had to look for a different fi eld to achieve in and he selected many areas. For example in business, as a businessman Solomon was the most successful, he was the wealthiest man in the world. In Second Chronicles 9:13-14, we are given a glimpse of his wealth, “Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold [that’s $20,500,000 from one source of income alone] besides that which the traders and merchants brought; and 11 12 Pastor Robert R. Mclaughlin all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.” Now, what are you going to do with all of that money? Well, you start to make things with it, as in Second Chronicles 9:15 “And King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, using 600 shekels of beaten gold on each large shield.” The ancient Greeks had a custom of converting a large accumulation of gold into shields and spears or other paraphernalia, so he made shields out of his gold. “He made 300 shields of beaten gold, using three hundred shekels of gold on each shield, and the king put them in the house [palace] of the forest of Lebanon” (2 Ch 9:16). The forest of Lebanon was one of his out-of-town hunting lodges. Second Chronicles 9:17 “Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold.” Now remember, the man about whom this is written was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the most glamorous king that the Jews ever had. While we do not know exactly when he alienated himself from God, there are several passages of scripture that give us some indication. One reference is obvious from this verse, an ivory and gold throne was not for comfort. Anyone who demands for himself an ivory chair overlaid with gold does so for one reason only—for a status symbol to satisfy the ego. Second Chronicles 9:18 “There were six steps to the throne and a footstool in gold attached to the throne, and arms on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the arms” In other words, if you were that close to Solomon, you were there by kneeling. The footstool was for people to kneel in front of him. Second Chronicles 9:19-21 “And twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for any other kingdom. And all King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the palace of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon. For the king had ships which went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.” The apes and peacocks were the ultimate in status symbols; the fi nal touch in Solomon’s extravaganzas. They were an expression of the frantic search for happiness in the details of life. In the ancient The Eight Experiments of Man 13 world, apes and peacocks represented the principle of entertainment.