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Understand the Context (Eccl 3:1-4:6)

Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 and the early part of Chapter 4 establish the context for today’s study. Chapter 3 is divided into 3 Sections. The first section consists of verses 3:1-8 addressing the fact that God has a season and a time for everything under heaven.  The second section covers verses 9–13 and addresses God’s rewards for all the hard work of the people. Verses 14-15 discuss God’s setting of eternity in the hearts of humankind. Together, verses 1-15 form the focal verses of today’s study, “What Time Is It?”  

The remaining section in Chapter 3 contains verses 16-22 and cover Solomon’s consideration of the state of man and his final judgment. He sees the fact of God’s judgement on all humankind; both the righteous and the unrighteous. Note that the first observation relates to judgement “under the sun” which speaks to judgement on Earth. Solomon suggests that there is evil here, even in the courtrooms (vs. 16). But it drives a thought in his mind that all humankind will eventually (in their own time) be judged for their deeds, good and evil (vs. 17). This is certainly consistent with the combined judgement of sin on Christ’s cross (Rom 5:8; Col 2:13-14) , the Judgement Seat of Christ (Rom 14:10 & 2 Cor 5:10), and the Great White Throne of Judgement (Rev 20:11-15). He likens humans to the animals and mentions some similarities: both live and both die, both breath, both came from the dust and they shall return there (vss, 18-20). But then he comes to the spirit of man and asks who can say whether his spirit goes upward while the spirits of animals go downward (vs. 21)?  

He closes Chapter 3 with a standard thought many lost people have regarding the future of humans after death: “No one will bring us back from death to enjoy life after we die.” (vs. 22). Of course, there are numerous Scriptures which answer Solomon’s question about who will bring us back after death. For example, when Jesus was preparing for His death, He said, “2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also. 4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know” (John 14:2-4). At the Transfiguration, Jesus brought Moses and Elijah to the mountain and all three appeared in transfigured bodies (Matt 17:2-3 & Mark 9:1-4). Both Moses and Elijah lived hundreds of years before Christ, yet both were alive with Jesus. In Luke 16:19-31, we see the rich man and Lazarus both died and immediately entered their assignments after life. 

Chapter 4 begins with Solomon observing all the oppression taking place under the sun. He sees the tears of the oppressed and observes they have no comforter to help them in the oppression. The oppressor has power, but the oppressed do not. (Recall that Jesus told us He would not leave us comfortless, but would provide a Comforter that we knew because He was alongside us but now would be inside us (John 14:16-18)). Here, Solomon is lauding the dead because they no longer experience of oppression under the sun and the unborn because they are not subject to oppressors. It is the living who endure oppression and are without comfort or comforter. Their labor is long and hard but appreciated by his neighbors.  Solomon insists it is just more vanity and vexation.  

Time and Place (Eccl 3:1-5)

Many will recognize these verses as the lyrics for the 1965 hit song by the Byrds entitled, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” The message of the passage is that God has created the world and all that is in it, so that there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven (Eccl 3:1). Solomon establishes the context of God’s involvement in verse 2 by relating the period of performance of His involvement between man’s birth and his death. That encompasses everything for the human experience from its beginning to its end. 

Verses 2 – 8 drive home the point that God controls all and blesses greatly in the application of them. God has determined the time to be born by the gestation period of a baby from conception to delivery. He certainly determines the length of time we will live. Even so-called accidents are subject to God’s plan. Murder is sin because it happens when a person decides they can modify God’s plan, or said another way, they feel they can be God by ending the life God ordained to exist. Here, the point is focused on the time for a birth and a time for death. God sees them and has foreknowledge of each.  In the same way, God has set the times for planting and harvesting. To successfully harvest before Fall of the year, the farmer has to know how God set up the growth period before the harvest. Planting too late might allow a frost to come in and destroy the crop before it is fully grown. Harvesting too early denies full growth.

Time and Place (Eccl 3:6-8)

The list of couplets runs through verses 3:8 and details of the times and seasons in which God had Solomon include. It illustrates the detail with which God is involved in our lives and that involvement provides a direct measurement of how much God cares about every detail of our existence. 

He also solves some of the dilemmas of our time showing that there really is a time to kill. The Hebrew word for kill is harag and includes both English words “kill” and “murder” in the definition. Does that speak to capital punishment? How about the right to life? It certainly applies to killing in war and provides further strength to that argument in verse 8, “A time of war, and a time of peace.” It is difficult for man to exclude some of these terms (kill, war, etc.) when God’s Word includes them here and says there is a time for them.  

Enjoy Life (Eccl 3:9-13)

Ecclesiastes 3:9 seems to take us back to Solomon’s earlier theme of “vanity, vanity, all is vanity and vexation of man’s spirit.” The wording of the question of “what profit has he” suggests he believes there is none. The profit of “working in that wherein he labors” is demonstrated in the physical, emotional and spiritual impact of refusing to work. From the physical perspective, a person who does not perform work loses body tone, muscles begin to deteriorate and ability to return to the level once achieved is reduced with every week of not working. 

And the damage is not only inflicted on physical capabilities of humankind but on the emotional and spiritual ways, also. From the emotional side, humankind learns through their work and other opportunities for socialization how to handle various challenging interactions with other members of the species. The capability to react with maturity, self-control and wisdom sours quickly when a person is denied adult interaction. In technical fields of work, both scientific skills and routine responses to technological challenges become less sharp and precise without regular challenges. And last, the spiritual aspects of a person’s life begin to dissipate as well.  The judicial or theological aspects of a person’s being dwindle in terms of the relationship between knowledge and wisdom; that is, the learned portion of a person’s relationship with God remain more constant as the applications-oriented aspects, the reason why we believe what we believe, become less astute with time away from regular interpersonal challenges. The Bible speaks of “being ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you the reason for the hope that is in us” (1 Peter 3:15).  Wisdom is the application level of knowledge and will lose sharpness without the regular challenges we have at work. These are “the profits” one receives by labor and the associated socialization. 

Verse 10 documents Solomon’s acknowledgement of the travail God has given to the sons of men to be exercised in work and that it was made a beautiful thing in His time (vss. 10-11). God has set man’s partial understanding of the world in his heart, but even so, man cannot fully comprehend the whole way of God’s working from beginning to end. Solomon’s comment here, “I know that there is no good in them” sounds a lot like Paul’s statement that “there is none righteous, no, not one” (vs. 12 & Rom 3:10). Nevertheless, it is good for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. The rejoicing is in man’s acceptance of his relationship with God and the blessings accompanying a right relationship with Him. In this sense, a man can eat, drink and enjoy the good of his labor (vs. 13). Solomon adds that this level of joy is a gift of God to humankind.  

Understand the Context (Eccl 7:1-8:17)

Solomon set up the context of this study in the previous chapter to this one, Ecclesiastes 6:12. There Solomon writes, “For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow.” His tone in asking this question implies frustration with it, that is, “How can anyone provide good advice to a person on how he should live his life?” He continues by revealing why it is difficult, “All our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on earth after we are gone?” (Eccl 6:12, NLT). So, Solomon wants to be able to provide counsel to those living their lives that will make those lives more valuable to those living it and those who reap the benefits of it. Given that Solomon has already revealed his attitude of life being vanity and full of vexations of the spirit of man, we know he believes that life is somewhat meaningless from the beginning. He states in the second half of verse 12 that life is like a shadow, so it is almost meaningless to guess what will take place either during our time here or after. The style of this kind of response is proverbial and practical. It is proverbial because Solomon builds on his previous distaste for the apparently meaningless feel to life and practical because he provides wise advice in finding the right balance for preparation whether life is long or short. So, the wise person prepares for both and as he discovers which outcome is more likely, he can react in that direction. Preparing for both outcomes allows the wise person the option of correcting choices as life unfolds. Selecting either the long-life option or the short-life option will lock in the decision and deny the option of mid-life adjustments.

Chapter 7 provides more information on why life is an enigma; a mystery, paradox or conundrum. Solomon looks at the people around him as those supporting the claim that life is vanity or vexation. He sees great people who die young and evil people who live long.  He misses the significance of the plan for justice in it all. Whether good or bad, people seem to simply dedicate themselves to living the choices they have made despite the apparent cosmic injustices. I would ask Solomon, “What other choices do we have?” We all know that God has a clear and clean purpose in everything and all people who live their lives. We know of His love and His plan for us (John 3:16 & 10:10). There is no room for doubt once the statement is made, so we live life in light of these truths. Paul said to the church at Philippi, “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phil 1:21). So, we live life as if it will never end and when it does end, we are blessed even more. Sounds full of wisdom to me.

Understand the Context (Eccl 7:1-8:17, Cont.)

Solomon, with his eyes fixed fully on God, warns that we should not see God’s apparent slowness in punishing those we think should be punished as His standing up for injustice. God still has a master plan to accomplish and is certainly permitted to use good or evil people to get that plan done. It is God who has the authority to let the wicked live or the just die too soon. We can resent it, tolerate it or appose it, but it remains God’s singular responsibility to chose how to “make all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28). Solomon seems to resign himself (finally) to the truth that the bodies of the just and the unjust, alike will return too the dust from which they came. Our spirits, however, will open their eyes in either Paradise (in that day’s context) or Hell in the instant that we close our eyes here (Luke 16:19-31 & 23:43). So, while money, power and personal ideals are useful for setting goals and measuring achievement, they are of little value beyond this short existence we have here.  

Accept It (Eccl 7:11-14)

Beginning today’s study in Ecclesiastes 7:11, we find a statement very easy to accept, “Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun.” In today’s language, Solomon would have said, “Wisdom is even better when you have money. Both are a benefit as you go through life” (Eccl 7:11). It is much easier to be wise in decision making when one does not have to worry about daily survival being impacted by a mistake. It makes wisdom look more wise when error costs less. Solomon goes on to say that both wisdom and money are defenses (vs. 12). But he separates their values by saying that while both can buy one almost anything, only wisdom can save your life. Wisdom tends to cause a person to make better decisions and will generally lead to a more fulfilling life.  Money has no capability to influence correct decision making or impact a person’s real quality of life. It can only cushion the errors made. 

Verse 13 triggers a switch between the philosophical and the theological. The trigger is seen in the introduction of “God” into the otherwise secular conversation. The word “consider” is a direction to “look at,” that is “look at the work of God.” When God makes something a certain way, the only way it can be undone or corrected is for God to change it. Neither man’s wisdom nor his money can undo what God has done. Solomon’s implied suggestion is to accept what God has done and work within the parameters resulting from that decision. He continues in verse 14 that we should accept God’s decision for what it is and celebrate the days of prosperity as His gifts to us. But when adversity strikes, recall Lynda Randle’s song, “The God on the Mountain is the God in the Valley; the God of the good times, is still God in the bad.” Regardless of how we feel about God’s way of doing business, He is still God, and He establishes the environment within which we are directed to work. Solomon’s suggestion is to accept it and move on. 

Find Balance (Eccl 7:15-18)

The natural question at this point becomes, how can I live a life within the boundaries of God’s established environment. The answer is to Find Balance. Solomon begins in Verse 15 testifying that in his life, he has seen good people die young and wicked people live to be very old. It seems that somehow God would always reward the righteous and punish the unrighteous. That is, why should an unrighteous person ever have a long life? Why should not long life and prosperity be reserved for the obedient? Our two favorite verses for the study of Ecclesiastes apply here. John 8:28 tells us that, “All things work together for good” and 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “There is no temptation given to us that is not common to man and God will not allow anything to happen to us that He has not prepared us to handle unless He provides an escape.” As God allows various things to influence our lives and prepare for future battles, He wants us to experience those things in order to prepare us to handle the bigger, more important things. So, Solomon advises that we do not focus so intently on righteousness that we miss God’s lessons, nor does he want us to focus solely unrighteousness in our lives. Rather, he suggests we establish balance in our ministries so that we understand both. He says in verses 16 and 17 that we should not be so righteous or so wise to destroy ourselves either way. In other words, do not make a life of focusing on the extremes.

Rather, focus on this one truth: anyone who fears God will naturally avoid both extremes. In Verse 18, Solomon says our love, respect and honor of God will keep us from experiencing the extremes on either side. Remember by the time we get to the last Chapter of Ecclesiastes, we will want to summarize just as Solomon did and say, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: For this is the whole duty of man” (Eccl 12:13). Live with an open ear toward the Lord. Surrender means we don’t need worry about the extremes of behavior or the proper application of every jot and tittle of the Word. When we know God and His Son, we will continue to fashion our lives to be more like Christ’s.  

Understand the Context (Eccl 12:1-14)

King Solomon opened his search for the real meaning in life after examining the value of everything that seemed to fill his current existence. His routine, according to Solomon, was vanity and vexation to the human spirit. The Hebrew word used for vanity here is hebel and means empty, meaningless, transitory or unsatisfactory. Some would say Solomon believed his routine was simply a waste of time. The term “vexation of spirit” is comprised of two Hebrew words pronounced, reh-ooth’ which means to draw upon or drain, and ree’-akh, which means breath or breeze. Jesus often referred to the Holy Spirit as a wind or breeze when explaining His characteristics (John 3:8). So, the combined words means something that draws upon or depletes the spirit or strength of a person. Taken together with vanity, the subject is something that is useless, meaningless and depletes or uses up the spirit of a person. As Solomon sought for the true meaning of life, he discovered most of what he saw was vanity and a vexation of the spirit of man.

But there were ten solid statements of value that Solomon discovered which will help him and us find the true meaning in life. The first three are on this slide. Item 1 is “Human accomplishment has no eternal significance and tends to fade away almost as quickly as it occurs.” Item 2 is “Only what God does has lasting impact.” As humankind takes on his response to God’s calling and influence, he is doing God’s work, and therefore, has lasting significance. For example, planting and/or growing a church changes the lives of many. Leading a person to Christ and/or discipling a person after their conversion lasts.  Think of the person who led Billy Graham to Christ (Dr. Mordecai Ham). Doctor Ham’s action changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, yet at the time, it was just his routine way of dealing with people needing a Savor.

Items 2 and 3 are similar to Item 1 in impact for life’s real meaning. Item 2 says “The wise person finds meaning in life through faith in God.” If anything, this is an understatement. Humankind has no power nor inclination for doing God’s work without the converting faith in God. Paul said it best in his letter to the church at Philippi, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil 4:13). Without the power of the Holy Spirit which indwells a person upon his surrender to Christ, nothing of real value can be done by that person. 

Item 3 states that “Time is a gift from God.” When I was born again, I was a senior pursuing an electronics engineering degree. I committed to God that I was going to read the Bible through in my first year after salvation. I consulted with my Pastor early in that effort telling him I just could not seem to get both done. He advised that I give a set time each day to God and see what happens. I started giving God the first hour of my study time every day. God actually multiplied my time. For example, as I struggled with a problem of multipath propagation of electromagnetic energy for hours, I set the work aside and asked God to work the problem for me. The next time I solved the problem after more than a dozen failed attempts, I got the correct answer. If you do not have enough time, give some to God and watch what He does.

Understand the Context (Eccl 12:1-14, Cont.)  
Item 4 is on the next slide and presents a solution to a problem in which many people get caught. We frequently get tied up in repeating learned practices, certain prayers, religious rituals that God called us to do at one time but not as a repetitive task that had long since lost its significance. When Jesus was teaching the Apostles how to pray, He said, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking” (Matt 6:7). Prayer is a conversation with God regarding a specific task at hand, not a memorized repetition using words which have lost their meaning over time. 

Item 5 says that wise people trust God and His sovereign will as quoted from Ecclesiastes 7:11-14. First, unlike friends, relatives and coworkers, God is always faithful to keep His word and His promises. As early as Deuteronomy 7:9. Moses says, “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.” God’s commitments are absolute, final and reliable without question. One frivolous discussion people get involved in is the sovereignty of God. They might ask, “Since God is God can He not do anything He wishes to do?” The answer is of course God can do anything He wishes but He WILL NOT lose His own integrity, He will continue to be “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb 13:8), and He will maintain His covenant and love with those who love Him for 40,000 years (a thousand generations). Let me give a specific example from a question asked of me several times, “Could Christ have sinned?” They will say that since Christ is God and God is sovereign, Christ had the power to sin. I respond to them that Christ could certainly do anything He wished, but if He chose to sin, He would not have been qualified to represent the final sacrifice for man’s sin on the cross. The sacrificial system required that every sacrifice and the priest offering that sacrifice must be without spot or blemish because any flaw in the sacrifice represented sin and disqualified that sacrifice. Further, the Bible exhorts us that we must be holy because our God is holy. Holiness is defined as sinlessness. So, there is no question that Christ is God and God is sovereign, however, Christ could not have sinned and remained worthy of dying on the cross to take away the sin of all humankind (John 1:29, 36). 

Item 6 speaks to God’s feelings about man’s most sincere efforts to achieve his own righteousness. This reveals a valiant but flawed understanding about personal righteousness. Paul had the best statement on this in his letter to the church at Galatia, “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law (works), then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal 1:21). Likewise, other forms of works to gain righteousness are just as frivolous. King David understood what God wanted when he wrote his response to the Prophet Nathan’s revelation that he was guilty of gross sin. David said, “16 For thou (God) desirest not sacrifice; else would I give [it]: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Psa 51:16-17). David had just been told by Nathan that he was guilty of adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband, Uriah the Hittite. Further, he would lose the life of his new born child due to this personal sin. Instead of making excuses and stating his false idea of righteousness, he humbled himself and repented, fully. When God called David the man after His own heart, no doubt He remembered David’s heart at this particular time (1 Sam 13:14). Those of us who have received Jesus Christ as our Savior need to recall that we have no claim to anything but Jesus and Him crucified. The righteousness we wear is the blood of Jesus Christ that covers all sin. When Jesus said “it is finished” (Greek tetelestai) and all sin, past, present and future was defeated forever. Paul said, “There is therefore, now no condemnation to those in Jesus Christ” (Rom 8:1). Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!!! We have no hope of personally achieving what Christ has already purchased for us. 

Item 7 looks closely at our internal feeling or opinion regarding the relationship between wisdom and recognition of our personal sin (that is, not the state of sin on all humankind, but our specific and personal sin). Almost every person I have led to Jesus Christ started with the prospect rejecting the idea that their specific and personal sin guilt had separated them from a relationship with the God who loves us. It was that sin that resulted in the great chasm between them and Jesus. 

Recognizing that truth establishes the personal need for help in the prospect’s heart. David said in Psalm 51, “1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin [is] ever before me. 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done [this] evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, [and] be clear when thou judgest. that he, and he alone had committed this terrible sin” (Psa 51:1-4). Admitting personal sin and speaking of your personal need for help is what Jesus wants to hear; not excuses, not your feeling of relative holiness, but a simple and humble statement of need. Surely, if the reigning King of Israel could humble himself, than you and I can do the same. And, when we realize how far Jesus had to humble Himself to suffer and die to pay for our sin, it requires that we pray and show kindness to sinners who have not yet realized that need. Further, it requires that we care for and try to reach them for Christ. 

Understand the Context (Eccl 12:1-14, Cont.) The last of these introductory slides contains Items 8 through 10. Items 8 and 10 reference a part of todays study, so we can address them within the detailed slides to follow. Item 9 states that wise people enjoy life and the blessings that the Lord gives us as a part of that life. It seems that Solomon sets up his own paradox in these topics. That is, on the one side, he claims that what he has discovered is that the true meaning of life is elusive. It is nothing more than a frivolous pursuit of nothing worthwhile. His most often characterisation of his findings are vanity, vanity, all is vanity and all is nothing more than a vexation of the human spirit. On the other side, however, he continuously returns to the idea that humankind should love life and enjoy all its blessings. The goods news is that today’s study has the solution for that paradox. It is true that the meaning of life is elusive; it is hard to find. But when one finds a relationship with God throught Jesus Christ, life takes on a new meaning centered on learning more about about serving the Son of God. In that context all of life has great value.  

Billy Graham once said, “The three most important questions humankind has to answer are these: Where did I come from? What am I doing here? and Where am I going?” He maintains the answer to all three is God. We came from God, we have come here to discover and serve Him, and we are on our way to join Him in a place created by Him for our everlasting life with Him. Now, we can finish the list of 10 items by studying Items 8 and 10 as presented in Ecclesiastes 12:1-14.    

The Twilight (Eccl 12:1-8)

Notice that this first section of today’s study encompasses the second half of the reference for Item 8 in the Understanding the Context Section above. It states, “Wise people live lives of proper mortal perspective, realizing that life is precious & opportunity short-lived” (Eccl 11:7-12:8). Verse 12:1 sets the focus on remembering, specifically, to remember the Creator while we are young and before the evil days come. The evil days mentioned are the latter days of life as our physical, mental and emotional prowess decrease. Looking forward in Chapter 12 sets a mood of living into the advanced years of age when various functions of the body begin to lose their sharpness. The reference to the onset of evil days suggests that we set our vision Godward before the challenges of age overtake the joys of living, i.e., “When you will say, I have no pleasure in them.” Solomon encourages us to remember and honor the Lord in those earlier days while we still have the earlier days. 

Verse 12:2 amplifies the latter days Solomon referenced in verse 12:1. We are to remember and honor the Lord before our eyes begin to dim and the glories of the sun, moon and stars are not as clear as they once were. That darkness or dimness of our aging eyes is somewhat like the darkness of the skies as the clouds come and cover the brightness of those celestial wonders God put in place. Verse 12:3 continues Solomon’s less-than-encouraging description of aging. He says the keepers of the house (our legs) begin to tremble and our shoulders weaken, causing us to stoop as we walk. He mentions that our grinders (teeth) stop their grinding because there is far less of them, and our eyes go dim as we look out through aging lenses. Solomon is certainly driving the depressing point home.

The Twilight (Eccl 12:1-8, Cont.)  
Unfortunately, he has not finished describing what happens in aging as we approach Verses 12:4-8. He suggests we remember the Lord before the door of life’s opportunities closes and the sounds of the workers in the street becomes faint. He says that today (in our youth) we rise even before the birds start their chirping, but as the years go by, even their beautiful song will grow faint. Verse 5 adds to the list of the signs of aging in Solomon’s reminders to focus on God and His blessings while we still can. Here he says we must honor God before we become afraid of falling and the dangers found in the streets. We must remember God before our hair turns as white as the almond tree in bloom, and simply walking along becomes a labor like a dying grasshopper, and the desires of youth begin to fade, and humankind heads toward the grave and the mourners weep for us.  

By now Solomon’s description of aging is becoming humorous. Verse 12:6 adds comparisons of aging to the broken silver cord of life snapping, the golden bowl breaking, the water jar is smashed and the pulley on the wheel at the well is worn and broken. For then, he says, the dust of the physical body shall return to the dust from which it came, and the human spirit will reunite with God who gave it. Solomon finishes this section of scripture and Item 8 by returning to his own observation about life being meaningless and full of trials for the human soul (Vanity, vanity, all is vanity). He could have saved a lot of ink if he would have just said, “Remember God before age makes it too hard to do.”  

The Truth (Eccl 12:9-11)

In verses 12:9-11, Solomon reminds us that he (the teacher) was considered wise and taught all the people he knew. He listened very carefully to many proverbs and studied intently to make sure he classified them in the right order for the best teaching experience for the learners. He worked hard to find the best and most acceptable words to present what he learned very clearly. Solomon desired to learn and present his findings of truth in the best words possible.

Verse 12:11 shows us that Solomon had full understanding that the truth of his teachings might be received as goads used to control farm animals as they plowed – they were painful but necessary to get the plowing done more perfectly. His words might be received as the sheep received the nail-studded poles the shepherds used to move them in the correct directions. Solomon recognized (as we have experienced) that his words could be painful to hear and understand, but his intent was to provide the guidance needed to get a full understanding of his findings and suggested applications for better living in the faith.