Category Archives: The Ten Commandments

Ecclesiastes, Hope, Judgment, Sanctification/holiness, The Ten Commandments

Ecclesiastes 12 – The Sum of Wisdom

Discussion question:

What difference does knowing Jesus make?

Read Ecclesiastes 12

Context

We are in the final Chapter of Ecclesiastes. The book opened with the Teacher introduced (nameless) and then his resolve to test everything under the sun and come to a conclusion. His endeavour has been to find comprehension of everything. He hoped to find meaning. His conclusion is: meaningless! Everything is utterly meaningless. The book has explored the corners of knowledge that he went to in order to see that his conclusion is logical.

But we’ve seen along the way, as receivers of the full book of God that he does not have the whole picture. We see Jesus and Jesus has shown us the hope for the future – a life beyond this life under the sun.

The Teacher has talked about the toil of labour and the certainty of death and how we cannot know what goes on after us. But we have more knowledge of the future than he does. We know the resurrection and the promise of eternity without toil. The Teacher of Ecclesiastes has taken us so far, but the Ultimate Teacher has taken us to the end and beyond.

Chapter 11 ended with the advice to enjoy life while it lasts but ‘know that God will bring you into judgement’.

Observation

Structure

  • 1-7 Remember your Creator
    • In your youth (1)
    • Before old age (2-5)
    • Before death (6)
  • 8 End of the Teacher’s message
  • 9-14 Regarding the Teacher

1-7 Remember your Creator

Verses 1-7 bring the Teachers teachings to an end with a poem about the fear of the Lord. In all of the meaningless toil under the sun, do whatever you want (see Chapter 11) but be mindful that God will bring everything to account. This is the motive behind these Verses in Chapter 12 now.

In your youth (1)

“…in the days of your youth…” When you are young and full of vigor (11:10). These are days classed by the Teacher as able to enjoy the good things of this life.

“…before the days of trouble come…” He speaks of aging. The inevitable process of diminishing enjoyment !? Rather than the trouble being about enemies or world disasters, it is the universal experience of aging. The final phrase in Verse 1 gives us this insight. ‘When you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”. The ‘before’ in this Verse is echoed again in Verse 2 and 6 thus the breakdown of the poem.

Before old age (2-5)

“Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark…” Verse 2 picture everything gloomy like a persistent overcast day/evening. Not bright lights and beauty but veiled by cloud and perhaps even sight. The sun, moon and stars appear a number of times together in the bible to demonstrate the glory and power of God. When they are darkened in Revelation 8:12 they coincide with the trials of humanity (ie, life on earth under the curse). I am not intending to draw a direct line to Ecclesiastes 12 but it is worth listening out in the bible for familiar phrases. The poetry of Ecc 12 is pointing us to the end of life that is, according to the Teacher, full of trouble.

“…the keepers of the house tremble…the strong men…” Verses 2-5 provide poetic imagery of old age. It is best to soak in the poetry rather than having each phrase decoded. The grinders is literally a grinding mill where grain is ground into flour but is perhaps a metaphor for the grinding of teeth and the teeth are wearing out. The whole picture is of an aging house and the interaction with the world is becoming scary and faded. The grasshopper no longer has spring in its legs to get to the blossoming tree.

“Then people go to their eternal home…” There is a destiny after death which is final but not described. Life goes on after the dead are buried.

Before death (6-7)

“Remember him before…” It is too late to consider God after the grave. The poetry of Verses 6 and 7 are of things that once shined and worked that are broken.

“…the dust returns to the ground…” A recalling of Genesis 3:19.

“…the spirit returns to God who gave it.” There is a salute to humans being more than just dust or animals. See Ecc 3:21. Does the Teacher know what goes on beyond the grave?

8 End of the Teacher’s message

“Meaningless!” Empty. Futile. Misty. The curtain closes on the life of a person and that’s all folks. The final act is not thrilling. The conclusion is not inspiring. What does the editor of this book, Ecclesiastes, say about the teacher…

9-14 Regarding the Teacher

“Not only was the Teacher wise…” The voice we hear now is not the Teacher but the compiler of this piece. 

“…but he also imparted knowledge to the people.” This analysis of the Teacher was shared with others. He voiced his understanding so that others would benefit. The Teacher would want others to grasp some understanding without the need to do the hard work of investigating.

“…the right words…upright and true.” The statements of Verses 9 and 10 simply state that the Teacher intended to speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It was to be considered, prepared and delivered with meaning. This is a good statement about the whole bible. But has he been successful on another front: helpful.

“…like goads…like firmly embedded nails…” The goad is a long stick with a pointy end used to push an animal in the direction you need them to go. The words of the Teacher are intended to push us and are fixed in place. They are not to be trifled with. They are not whimsical words but words of instruction, teaching and warning.

“…given by one shepherd.” It is not conclusive to declare this shepherd as the LORD. The rulers and elders of Israel were referred to as the shepherds of Israel. The book named the Teacher as the king in Jerusalem. This book contains the wisdom of one such king over Israel. But the book begins and ends with ambiguity about the teacher. While he is a king in Israel and a son of David, which one? And while he is described as the one shepherd, is he really speaking the full wisdom of God in this book? Or is the book proclaiming the best an earthly shepherd of Israel can do? The One True Shepherd is Jesus. He does not use a goad to direct us but his words (John 10:27).

“Of making many books there is no end…” The weariness of knowledge is reminiscent of Ecc 1:18.

“…all has been heard; here is the conclusion…” The conclusion from all that has been said is this: “fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.” This statement certainly comes from all that the Teacher has said. He has shown depression, frustration, limitation, exhaustion, beauty and humility but has consistently remembered the judgment of God and never questioned His authority. Keeping the commandments has not been clear from the Teacher. Fear God, yes, but keeping God’s commandments is a new feature in this book! 

“For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” How does that feel as an end to the book? The Teacher has certainly instructed us to beware of God’s judgment and that He will judge us according to what has been done. This very chapter has been a call to remember the Lord before your life fades away. This final statement is to be applied to all humanity, even the king in Israel. With his mission to explore everything and not withhold from himself anything that his eye desires. There is only one king and wise person under God who will stand up to the benchmark of full righteousness.

Suggested questions for running this study.

Q1. Chapter 12 begins with a poem (carried over from the last chapter). Take time to soak in the imagery. What is the Teacher describing?

Q2. Verse 8 closes the instructions from the Teacher in a similar way to its beginning in Chapter 1 Verse 2. Do you have a fuller sense of what he means after finishing his observations?

Q3. How is the Teacher described in Verses 9-11? Has he been a good Teacher? Discuss.

Q4. How does the compiler of this book summarise the teaching in Verses 13 to 14? Is it a good summary?

Q5.  Use Ephesians 5:1-20 to critique the conclusion of the book (Ecc 12:13-14) as well as the method the Teacher has used to get us there. You may like to use the Application section to flesh this out.

Meaning

The Teacher has served us well in highlighting the limits of life under the sun while calling on us to remember the Lord. The brightness of this life will fade for all but the wise person will keep their minds attentive to God. This has been the Teacher’s goal. The life we live is meaningless as it cannot be captured and kept. But the eternal home for us all will be decided by the judgment of God. This conclusion is right and true. No further study will reverse it. But a future king can bring the matter to an assured end. Life in Christ is full of meaning. The shadows of this world will give way to the brighter glory of eternity. Wisdom comes from listening to the words of the True Shepherd who does not direct us with a goad but by his voice.

Application

Challenge#1 The goad of the gospel

Ephesians 5:1-2 talk of following God’s example in Jesus. This Good Shepherd does not poke us with a stick but gave himself up for us. We are directed to walk in love. Fear gives way to joy as we understand the love that God has for us. This takes the ignorance of the Teacher of Ecclesiastes and gives us certainty of forgiveness when we listen to the voice of the One Shepherd.

Challenge#2 Find out what pleases the Lord

Rather than seeing what can be done and finding joy in this life under the sun, Ephesians 5:10 challenges us to find out what pleases the Lord. The answer is not about following the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see! (Ecc 11:9). The fear of the Lord is not merely the keeping of the commandments but it is relational. Wisdom is about comprehending the days that we are in and living accordingly. The sun is setting on this world and so investing in eternity is wisdom.

Challenge#3 Live wisely

Ephesians 5:15-20 challenges us to be single minded in our walk in this world. ‘Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything…’ That is a commitment to seeing this world through the lens of God the Father and through Christ. Life is a gift from God. That was taught to us by the Teacher in Ecclesiastes. So living life with a thankful heart but also a thankful mouth. This world has meaning – to live life through Christ and bring glory to God through Him.

anxiety, Faith, Kingdom of God, Money, sin, The Ten Commandments

Commandment #10 – Do not covet

Opening Question

Name 3 things that you already have and are thankful for.

Exodus 20:17

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

In the beginning (5 mins)

Once again we turn our minds to Genesis 1-3 and consider what is there that speaks to covetousness. What do we see is our focus in life?

Genesis 1:31-2:1 – God made everything very good. It was complete and full of life.

Genesis 2:7-9, 15-18 – God continued to bring everything into being. He made man from the earth and gave him everything to enjoy. He was not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The big idea here is that mankind did not create, establish or struggle for existence and plenty. God created and gave generously.

Genesis 3:6 – they took and ate after they looked and considered how good it looked. They wanted what was not theirs to take and what they did not need.

*God created all things to be dependent on him and to live in harmony with his order and will. Life is not defined by objects but by relationships, especially to God and his will

The command to Israel (5 mins)

What is listed as things to potentially covet in the 10th commandment?

House, wife (or husband), slave (or Jim’s lawnmowing service), ox or donkey (or VW Tiguan), or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

Israel’s history (10 mins)

Read Psalm 49. What is the conviction of this Psalmist? See also Ecclesiastes 2:1-11.

Wealth may look appealing but it will not defeat the grave. Note verse 16 tells us not to be in awe of the rich and verse 18 warns us against being seen by others as successful. You can’t take it with you. What is most valuable, according to this Psalm is understanding.

The Gospel (10 mins)

Jesus warned against giving our hearts to riches on earth that are stolen and fade in Matthew 6. He did so also in Luke 12. Read the following and discuss how easy it is to be living like the rich fool (12:20) and pagans (12:30)!

  • Luke 12:13-21
  • Luke 12:22-34

The command is to not covet. What is the cause of coveting according to Verse 32? 

Fear. Jesus said, ‘do not worry’ in the Matthew 6 account. 

What do we replace coveting (or fear) with according to Luke 12:28,31,32?

God has already given us the kingdom. We already have everything we will ever need. For today, we will need to exercise our faith and trust him. In this life, we may see others with more and apparently easier lives (a lie) but our hope is not for heaven right now. We have a Father who loves us, a Lord who gave his life for us and a kingdom prepared for us and promised. 

Christian Living (15 mins)

We know that God created life and everything in it. We know that turning to Christ is about receiving a kingdom that can never perish spoil or fade. And we know that our greatest test is to put our trust in God (faith) and live for the kingdom. 

The New Testament throws reason after reason to stop hoping that this world will deliver and turn our hearts to God who has promised us everything we need. Either read through the following three passages and turn them to prayer or focus on 1 Timothy 6:6-12a.

Ephesians 1:3-10 lists out how much we have received in Christ!

1 Peter 1:3-9 reminds us that we have been given new life into a living hope through the resurrection. The time of struggling is only or this world and is there to mature us as we learn to lean on God and love him more and more.

Read 1 Timothy 6:6-12a and turn it into prayer. Being the final week on the 10 commandments, it might be appropriate to consider how we need to repent and turn back to God and live our lives for him.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 

11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life.

sin, The Ten Commandments

Commandment #9 – Do Not Lie

Opening Question

What are some ways that we can break the 9th commandment?

This question deliberately gets to the application because, in some ways, it is not hard to read this commandment and brainstorm ways of lying – we are very good at it! The study takes us from the lies of the Serpent in the garden to the lies of the religious leaders at the courtroom on Good Friday. We need to confront the idea that deception is the key ingredient of sin. The study ends being directed to confess that we are sinners that need saving. Having this question at the start of the study enables things like gossiping and cheating to be laid out on the table straight up.

Exodus 20:16

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.”

In the beginning (5 mins)

Compare Genesis 2:16 with Genesis 3:1-4. What can you make of the first interrogation recorded in the bible? See also John 8:44.

The serpent twists the emphasis of God’s message: from “eat freely except one tree” – to – “you cannot eat freely!”

Eve adds to God’s message by saying that they cannot even touch it.

Both are giving a false account of what was said by God. A twist and an addition or alteration. The differences are subtle but made a huge impact on the future of mankind!

The command to Israel (5 mins)

The command has been summarised in the heading as “do not lie” but this may cloud the importance of this order. Read and discuss the following references. What is at stake when this law is ignored?

Exodus 20:16

Exodus 23:1-8

The wellbeing of others, especially the weak, are at stake. Unlawful suffering and injustice is at the heart of this command. Cheating, self gain, gossip, injustice and stealing through lies are all in view here. Who wants to live in a world where we cannot trust one another? Well, this is our reality.

NB: your group may pick up where our study is headed when seeing this passage. If the injustice to Jesus comes up, let it flow. Better to allow your group to see things for themselves than to squash inspiration for the sake of the leader’s agenda!

Israel’s history (10 mins)

Jeremiah laments and weeps over his country because their lying tongues have turned them away from God. Read Jeremiah 8:4-12 and Jeremiah 9:1-9. How much like our own society does this sound? Where does it challenge us?

  • Jeremiah 8:4-12
    • The attack here is a national one. Israel are charging away from God and ‘they cling to deceit.’ They are lying to themselves as if they are doing what is right. God wants repentance. They do not call the people to repent but declare that all is well. Their lying means no salvation.
  • Jeremiah 9:1-9
    • The attention here is at the ground level. No one in the land can be trusted. Each of them speaks deceit. Israel is the land of deception. In their deceit they refuse to acknowledge Yahweh. Sound like home?

The Gospel (10 mins)

Read through these references in John’s gospel to hear the gospel account through the theme of truth.

  • John 1:14,17; 4:23-24; 7:18; 8:32, 44-46; 14:6, 17; 16:13; 17:17; 18:37-38; 19:35

We can also look at three accounts in Mark’s gospel to see how much people will embrace a lie and reject the truth.

  • Mark 7:14-23
    • The problem of this world is not the things that we do but why we do them. The problem is our hearts that are deceived and live for ourselves rather than for God. Deception is fundamental to sin because we deceive ourselves about what makes us right.
  • Mark 12:13-17
    • The scheme of the Pharisees and Herodians was to ‘catch [Jesus] in his words. They identified that Jesus is a man of integrity and is not swayed by people. Jesus sees that their flattery is a trick – they come to him showing respect but they hide their intentions. “But Jesus knew their hypocrisy”. Jesus’ response was effectively to be transparent and give to whomever is owed. Don’t appear to live for God but really be living for yourself.
  • Mark 14:53-65
    • The people loved lies greater than truth. The truth offended them. They accepted anything as true as long as they got what they wanted: Jesus crucified.

Christian Living (15 mins)

Commandment number 9 is simple: do not lie. But the truth of the matter is that this world loves to lie – to live the lie and even kill for the lie. The epistles challenge us to stop lying to one another. We can focus on the symptoms of a lying attitude such as cheating, stealing, gossip and slander, hypocrisy and such. Or we could read 1 John 1:5-10 and be encouraged to put off all falsehood at its core and live as saved sinners.

1 John 1:5-10

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.