Ecclesiastes 2:4 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

Navigator

Ecclesiastes 2:4

Comments

In 1 Kings 7 & 9 Solomon describes his great building projects. He used his creative skills to the full, employing huge workforces to transport the very best of materials to Israel from other lands (1 Kings 5:1-18). He had the ability to do this because of his unique position as a powerful and prosperous king. He was able to do these works exactly as he wanted using all his skill to design and implement beautiful pieces of architecture on a grand scale which would be the admiration of all the surrounding nations. He didn’t have to accede to the wishes of anyone else or respect any regulations, but could exercise his imagination to the full and was free to try out any ideas he wished. As king he had a labour force which was ready to do anything that they were asked no matter what the cost. Solomon could use materials that would endure long beyond his time on earth and he had available to him the greatest craftsmen of his day. He tasted to the full the pleasure of being admired for these works and taking the credit for conceiving and actualising them.

Application

For many, such opportunities would be a lifetime ambition which they never succeed or fulfil. For Solomon, this was just one of many directions which his experiment took him in. He got to the end of these projects and stood back and considered what he had done. Did this fill him with a deep sense of satisfaction so that he could take something permanent away with him, and say, this is true happiness? No, he got to the end and he realised that he had been deceived in thinking this could give him what he was looking for. How many never see this clearly because they do not arrive at their goal and convince themselves that their sense of unease arises from not completing their task? How many fail to diagnose the disease of covetousness that lies buried in their hearts? Let us wake up and see the nature of the treadmill that this world puts us on and get off it before we spend the whole of life going nowhere.

Questions

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

Ecclesiastes 2:4 Commentary and Bible Study