In our senior men's group, we are studying Ecclesiastes. I consider this book of the Bible the last part of Solomon's spiritual memoir as he reflects back over his life and realizes that everything he did "under the sun" in the natural realm was vain, meaningless, and futile – because he abandoned the very God who had given him unmatched wisdom to rule His People. All the material possessions, all the wealth – everything Solomon did and acquired – ended when he died, because he could not take any of it with him. And, his sons would squander what he left behind. In fact, after Solomon died, God's People divided into the Northern Kingdom (which eventually abandoned God and died) and the Southern Kingdom (which worshiped God and survived some 700 more years – until God's People rejected His Son Jesus, and the Romans crucified Him and destroyed The Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D.).
We discussed Solomon's life through the lens of Worldviews: How Solomon initially had a personal relationship with God who blessed him with wisdom, as recorded in the 1,000 Proverbs he wrote (Theism). How Solomon began to rely on his own earthly wisdom as he became more self-sufficient and self-reliant, because his personal relationship with God became impersonal and distant (Deism). How Solomon disobeyed God's command and married foreign women and encouraged worship of their gods, while doing-his-own-thing in the natural realm (Naturalism/Humanism). How Solomon ultimately experienced life as totally meaningless and void, preferring that he had not been born (Nihilism). How Solomon concluded: "Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
My own life journey, as discussed in my Spiritual Memoir, followed a similar descent: from Theism to Deism to Naturalism/Humanism to Nihilism. Until I Became Born Again because of my saving faith in Jesus and personal relationship with Him as my Lord and Savior! I'll discuss this in my next blog.
[Click on this sentence to read excerpts from Chapter 3 where I examine Worldviews.]
We discussed Solomon's life through the lens of Worldviews: How Solomon initially had a personal relationship with God who blessed him with wisdom, as recorded in the 1,000 Proverbs he wrote (Theism). How Solomon began to rely on his own earthly wisdom as he became more self-sufficient and self-reliant, because his personal relationship with God became impersonal and distant (Deism). How Solomon disobeyed God's command and married foreign women and encouraged worship of their gods, while doing-his-own-thing in the natural realm (Naturalism/Humanism). How Solomon ultimately experienced life as totally meaningless and void, preferring that he had not been born (Nihilism). How Solomon concluded: "Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
My own life journey, as discussed in my Spiritual Memoir, followed a similar descent: from Theism to Deism to Naturalism/Humanism to Nihilism. Until I Became Born Again because of my saving faith in Jesus and personal relationship with Him as my Lord and Savior! I'll discuss this in my next blog.
[Click on this sentence to read excerpts from Chapter 3 where I examine Worldviews.]
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