The Meaning of Life: Ecclesiastes 2

Solomon was a very manly thinker. Men have this ability to put things in boxes mentally, so that one thing does not touch another. So Solomon says that he tried to cheer himself with wine, wealth, and women. He embraced foolishness (2:3) while remaining under the guidance of wisdom. Now, I don't doubt the truth of the scripture, but I have to wonder if I am hearing some arrogance coming from a former human king of Israel. That takes some brass--to confess that you experimented with drinking and pleasure, but analyzed it with a clear mind. Sure, God could have blessed him with immunity from the impact of alcohol, and allowed him to explore the folly of drunkenness without ever loosing control. Or maybe Solomon simply explored folly, wake up with a splitting headache the next morning, and then analyzed the foolishness of it all. It seems like he tried to separate the physical and mental aspects of his personality here--analyzing with his mind while he put his body through all sorts of tests. I think in the end, he found out that you cannot separate the impact of the physical from the mental or spiritual. We are whole beings, and it is foolish to think that turning off your mind or feelings will allow you to do whatever you want with your body.

In the end, Solomon concludes, " I surveyed all that my hands had done, . . . everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind." (2:11)

He says the same about emphasizing the mind and reason over all other things. "I saw that wisdom is better than foolishness . . . but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both." (2:13-14). In other words, it doesn't matter how smart you are. Your wisdom is limited and cannot find a way to defeat death.

Even his hard work and wealth did not provide sanctuary. "A man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who had not worked for it." (2:21) "All his days his work is pain and grief." (2:23). In the end, his observations about his own life lead him to express "My heart began to despair over all my labor." (2:20)

So, what is the heart of life--the path to happiness? Solomon states that pleasure, wisdom, and work are all dead ends.

Yet, he leaves us with this one nugget of hope at the end of chapter 2. "A man can do no better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too I see from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases God, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God." In the end, Solomon sees the building of wealth as foolishness, because God will give it to those who please him. In other words, IT ALL BELONGS TO GOD, AND HE WILL MANAGE IT AS HE SEES FIT.

The hope resides in knowing God. Wine, women, wisdom, and work are all meaningless without God's presence. Knowing God brings real satisfaction and enjoyment. Also, finding contentment in the basics of life--working, eating, breathing--is essential because these are basic gifts of God to all of us. If we fail to enjoy God's basic provision, how can we enjoy anything this world has to offer?

Genesis 6:1-8: The failing of humanity

In order to understand the context of the story line, we must notice that Gen 6:1-8 completes the "account of Adam." The "account of Adam" begins in Gen. 5 and seems to be the story of Adam's line after the Fall. As we noticed in Gen. 4, things went from bad to worse, and the pride of man grew in the face of his sin. Now, in Genesis 6, we find things going from worse to absolutely bad. Everything that God intended has been twisted beyond recognition, and apparently even the spiritual and physical worlds have collided beyond God's intended purpose. The end result is that God is terribly upset with the results of sin in this world, and he has decided to put a stop to the decline before it gets beyond help.

What does the passage mean by "sons of God?" Well, it could mean 1) men of valor and great strength, 2) chiefs of the tribes of men, 3) angelic beings. The actual term here is "Nephilim," which is often used of angelic messengers. In the New Testament, there are indications that Jewish Christians (like Paul, Jude, and Peter) viewed these Nephilim as angelic or spirit beings (1 Cor. 11:10, 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6). So, we have Biblical precedence for understanding these giants to be spiritual entities that corrupted the intent of God further by not staying in their place, but by invading the human realm and adding to its problems.

The other options attempt to explain away the angelic invasion. But what to do with the New Testament interpretations? Either they are mistaken in the cultural portrayal, or there are some things that angels can do that we perhaps do not give them credit for.

Genesis 4: The Development of Humanity

The term "myth," as used here, is defined as a parabolic or hero-story designed to teach certain fundamental truths about a culture's understanding of the world.

We see in Genesis 4 an attempt to undertand how certain elements of Jewish culture came into existence. This is not to say that the stories did or did not happen. I am focusing on the purpose of the preservation of these stories.

First of all, we see that the sin of Cain (murder) and God's mercy on his life has led to further corruption of God's intended plan. Cain's descendants take more than one wife for themselves, and they follow in the footsteps of their ancestor with disregard for human life. They even take the next step in their "de-evolution:" bragging about their conquests and evil intentions. Pride in evil has now taken root in the human heart. At least Cain was shamed by his actions. We also see the development of nomadic herders, musicians, and metal workers--all valued skills in early cultures.

Did you notice the last portion of this chapter. "At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD." While Cain descendants suffered the separation that their father suffered, the descendants of Seth began to call out or proclaim the name of the Lord. So, early on we see the spiritual haves and have nots, so to speak. And whereas Adam and Eve could see and talk to God, their grand children were able to call out to God and tell of their knowledge of him. In spite of the difficult and changing human landscape, God made himself available to humanity. Those that called out to him presumably knew him.

Genesis 4: Where did these other people come from?

For Winston:

Genesis 4:17 says "Cain lay with his wife." Excuse me. Where did Cain get a wife? And where? Was it his sister? Or did God make him another? Or did God create several individuals like Adam and Eve, and we see the offspring of another of these created ones with Cain?

Unfortunately, the Bible does not clarify this issue, and the Hebrew people didn't see much need to clarify it either. Even the Jewish Rabbis seem to avoid the issue. In my research on the subject, the best answer seems to be to accept the existence of the written record and move on.

Either Adam and Eve had many offspring not recorded in the Genesis account. Since their DNA was "undiluted," one could reason that marrying brothers or sisters would not compromise the gene pool.

The other choice seems to be that God created humanity as he saw the need, and the Genesis account is one example of the creating God did throughout the world. The variety of human settlements all over the globe could support this type of theory, although the Bible does not speak to this type of multiple-creation.

Interesting question. Any thoughts?

Genesis 2:20-25: Male and Female He created them

Male and Female as the Image of God

Genesis 1:27 says, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

God created us in his own image. And he also made male and female. So, I assume that both male and female are in the image of God. However, is there a connection between the image of God and the fact that we are male and female? I think that thereHere is my reasoning.
1) God is perfect and complete.
2) Humanity is not complete (even in the garden). We need something outside of ourselves to be complete.
3a) In the context of the Garden of Eden, God provided for the limited nature of humanity.
3b) He provided himself to walk with humanity in the Garden. Even in the garden, humanity still needed God's presence and stability. Without God, humanity cannot fulfill the created purpose provided by God. We need God.
3c) Genesis 2:20 says "But for Adam no suitable helper was found." So God made Eve to complement Adam and "complete" him in his humanity.
4) Therefore, being in God's image, among other things, can mean "being complete." Thus, male and female is not just a statement of design in nature, but also an illustration that we were made for community--with God and with humanity. We are made complete by other people, and we function in his image by acknowledging both the male and female in our existence.

So, here are some questions based on the above logic:
1) Is this aspect of completeness a reflection of the Trinity, where God has three persons who make One God? Can two "who become one flesh" reflect the depth and mystery of the Trinity?
2) God is unlimited by time or space. However, humanity is limited by time and space. So, is it through male and female (procreation) that humanity reflects the ability of God to expand in, impact, and relate to the universe?

I use the term "reflect" because I think that , even though we share the image of God, we can only reflect his glory, like the moon for the sun. The sun is fundamentally different from the moon, as are we different from God.

Genesis 1:26-31: The Image of God

What does it mean to be made in God's image? And why is this so important?

In the image of God can be 1) as duplicate--"mini-me"; 2) baring certain characteristic and likenesses, but not a complete copy.

By definition, a created being cannot be the creator. So, option 1 is out.

Therefore, we are made in some sort of likeness to God Almighty--a truly humbling concept. But in what way are we the image of God? Is it physical? Is it mental? Is it spiritual? Is there another way that we can be in God's image?

For me, the primary way were are made in the image of God is spiritual. We are able to commune with God in a way that no other part of his creation can. This spiritual nature impacts our mental and physical function to a degree. But for me, the spirit separates us from the rest of creation.

Many will disagree. I know that we as humans we are able to reason. Some say that this mental capacity to reason is a part of God's image in us. I don't have a problem with this line of thinking. I just wouldn't separate our mental abilities from our spiritual nature. I think the two go hand in hand.

Some would also argue that our bodies, our physical form, is much like God's form. I think this is much less likely, seeing that God himself needs no physical form to exist (OK, that just blew my own mind). Jesus came in human form, which was totally different from his normal existence. Many people will try to take anthropomorphisms from the Bible (like the Hand of God) and use it to argue that God has a human-like form. I don't think this has to be the case. We use human descriptions to try to capture the essence of God, and they will always fall short of a true description of his majesty and glory. This does not meant that it is wrong to use human descriptions to express our understanding of God. The fact is, it is just the best we can do.

Others say that God is man-like because of the vocabulary of the Bible (God is "he," or "father.") Again, I don't think these vocabulary terms do justice in describing the greatness of God. Think of this: God made us men and women for the purpose of pro-creation. Does God need to pro-create? Absolutely not! He is forever and does not need to increase his dominion by having children. So, he does not need to be male nor female. His is God, Creator of male and female. Male and Female are incomplete without each other. God is complete in and of himself. He needs no helper. So, to say that we are in his image physically is to limit God and exalt humanity (men in particular). God made us limited so we would recognize our need for him. Even in the Garden of Eden, sinless Adam and Eve walked with God and learned from him. We are in his image so that we might know him through our spirits.

So, for me, the image of God in humanity is a spiritual essence that impacts our whole being. Why is this important? So that we might relate to God in a personal relationship, recognizing our need for him and then coming to him for blessings and his glory.

Many people miss out on the point of life because they ignore this inherent need for God in our hearts. We were created to know him and need him. We ignore this need to our peril, especially now that the Garden of Eden is a distant memory and our sinful life pulls us farther and farther from a relationship with the One who created us.