Livro de Eclesiastes

Welcome to another encounter with the

Word. This is a study of the entire

Bible; we have already reached the poetic books, and

the second of them, written by Solomon, is

called the book of Ecclesiastes, which

means "the preacher." In fact, the

entire book is a sermon, hence its name.

Solomon preached this sermon to the

young people of Israel when he was already old. Do you

remember that in Psalm 127 Solomon said

that it is possible for us to worry in

vain? Do you remember that it is possible for

someone to work hard and in vain, and that it is

possible to build in vain, and even

build things that are not worthwhile,

wrong things? This was the essence of Solomon's sermon

called Psalm

127. In this Psalm, Solomon reflects

on his life; he felt that he had

worried about things that were not

worthwhile, that he had worked too hard and

that he had built wrong things. The

book of Ecclesiastes is an expansion of

Psalm

127, summarizing what Solomon is

saying to the young people of Israel. In the

book of Ecclesiastes, I would say, "I tried to

find the purpose and meaning of

life..." I tried to do this in three

different areas of my life. First,

I sought the purpose of life in

material wealth. I dedicated myself to accumulating wealth and

became the richest man who ever

lived. In this study of

Solomon's sermon to the young people of Israel, you will see that

no one ever sought the meaning of

life in riches as much as

Solomon did. I despised all the things for

which I had toiled under the

sun, because I must leave them to the one

who succeeds me. And who can say whether he

will be wise or foolish? Yet he will have dominion

over all that I have accomplished with my

work and with my wisdom under the

sun. Solomon's son was a

fool. Solomon was probably

thinking of his son when he came to

this

conclusion after becoming the

richest man in the world. Solomon pondered

his wealth and inevitable death and

said, "There is a grievous evil that I have seen under

the sun: riches hoarded for the

misfortune of their possessor." He also

says, "A man comes naked from his mother's womb,

and as he comes, so he goes; from all the labor

in which he has labored he will take nothing with him."

When Solomon realized that riches were

not... These are purpose and meaning of

life. He set out to seek wisdom

again. He said, "I have become famous and

surpassed in wisdom all who

ruled Jerusalem before me.

Indeed, I have acquired much wisdom and

knowledge. Therefore, I have striven to

understand wisdom as well as

folly and madness. But I learned that

this too is chasing after the wind."

Just as he found no

purpose or meaning in life in

riches, he also found no

purpose or meaning in life in the

pursuit of wisdom. He concluded that the

purpose of life was not in

riches because he could not take his

riches with him into life. Beyond

culture, he also found no purpose

or meaning in life in wisdom

because he discovered that wisdom does not

lead to

happiness. Have you seen the sculpture "The

Thinker"? The Thinker is not the image of

a happy person. The sculpture has an

apathetic and

bored appearance. Solomon explains the logic of

his conclusion: the greater the wisdom, the greater

the suffering,

and the greater the knowledge, the greater the

displeasure. Therefore, a doctor or an

intellectual will not necessarily be the

person who will have happiness to give.

When I was in college, I had a

doubt. I was majoring in two areas: the

Bible and... I was studying Psychology and I had difficulty

balancing these two subjects. I

had Bible and Psychology classes

all day, and at night, as a shop assistant, I

studied human behavior. I

asked one of

my professors so many questions that one day he told me, "You

know what you need to do? You have to

travel to the countryside. When you

see a herd of cattle, stop the car and

approach a cow. Stand face to

face with a cow, looking into its

eyes. It will do you good to look into

a cow's eyes because cows are very

happy and

content. They even put a picture of a

cow in a milk carton as a symbol of

satisfaction—the type of satisfaction

known as bovine satisfaction.

Bovine satisfaction is based on

ignorance. The cow doesn't know that the world

is politically and religiously divided.

It has no knowledge of

democratic and terrorist forms of government,

nor does it have any knowledge of

nuclear weapons that could end

the human race. The cow knows nothing of this,

and that's why it's happy and content. So go for a

walk. Find a cow. Look into

its eyes and relax," said the

professor. When I thought about it,

I decided that I really needed to relax,

but I didn't want to be like a cow. I didn't

want contentment. The satisfaction

based on ignorance. I told you all

this to say, will this search for

wisdom make you a

happy person? Years ago, I met a

high-ranking military officer who was

representing his country at a

conference on the arms race

between Russia and the United States

during those famous years of the

Cold War. He was becoming somewhat

unbalanced because he saw what

thermonuclear weapons could cause. For me, it

was a realization that

knowledge does not bring happiness.

Solomon's search for wisdom led him to the

same

conclusion. In the introduction to this

Bible course, I said that knowledge is not

a virtue, but the application of

knowledge is. Now I would like to

add that knowledge is not

wisdom; the correct application of

knowledge is wisdom. In this second

search for the purpose and meaning of life,

Solomon concluded that he would get nowhere

because knowledge is not

the right path to happiness.

Solomon concluded that wisdom leads to

suffering and knowledge to

sadness. Solomon tells the young people of Israel

in this sermon entitled Ecclesiastes that

he tried a third path in the search for the

purpose and meaning of life; he

dedicated himself to knowing the extravagances

and futilities of... Life, he says, was spent

seeking all the pleasures the world

could offer. I said to myself, "

Come, experience joy, discover the

good things in life." Sometimes I look at

rich people and see the things

they have thanks to money. Then I think,

if I had all that money,

I would show them what to do with it. I've thought to myself, "

It's a shame

they have so much money and don't know

how to enjoy it. They don't know how to

take advantage of what they have. I would know what to

do with all that

money." Solomon says he had money and

knew how to enjoy it. "I decided to indulge in

wine and

extravagance, but keeping my mind

guided by wisdom. I denied myself

nothing with my eyes that my

eyes desired." What a statement!

No one ever sought amusement and

self-gratification like Solomon.

However, Solomon says that while he

indulged in amusement, he wondered

what the point of it all was and what

he was really

achieving. I always found it interesting

that John Kennedy's brothers, Jack and Bob

Kennedy, received $1 million

when they turned 21,

tax-free and with investors available

to make financial investments. They did

n't... They had to work to get

that money; they didn't need to

work anymore if they didn't want to. I think

people like the Kennedy brothers, who

enjoyed so much,

could give this testimony about where to

find the purpose and meaning of

life. We weren't born to have fun. We weren't born

to chase pleasure

night after night. When Solomon

dedicated himself to discovering the pleasures of

life, he discovered that he had

an inner need to find the

purpose and meaning of life. He knew he

was on this earth for a purpose

and that parties were not the purpose

for which God had placed him here. That's what he

concluded after searching for

the purpose and meaning of life in the

playboy circuit. When Solomon reaches the end of

this sermon to the young people of Israel,

his conclusion was based on these three

areas: wealth, wisdom, and pleasures. He

concluded with the following theme: "Believe in God and

obey his commandments, for this is

essential for man, for God brings

what was made, including everything that is

hidden, whether good or evil." To fear God

means to believe in God and obey

his commandments. This means obeying the word

of God. The logic behind

Solomon's conclusion... The Hebrew origin is

because ISO will make you a

complete man in God, and obeying His word

will make you the complete man God

planned you to be. That's where

you will find purpose and

meaning in life; that's where you will

find fulfillment as a human being.

According to Solomon, the obedient and God-

fearing man is the glory of God. This was his

message to the young people of Israel. Another

reason for Solomon's conclusion is

that there will be a judgment. Solomon has

much to say in the book of Ecclesiastes

about the injustices of life. Faced with

these great injustices, Solomon

simply concludes that one day there will be

judgment. This future judgment is an

important part of Solomon's logic

for finding the purpose and meaning of

life, which are only found when

we believe in God and obey His

word. This is the essence of Solomon's sermon

given to the young people of Israel. When

you read the book of Ecclesiastes, you

discover a dual system of truth. At

certain times Solomon doubts, and at

others he questions. At certain times

Solomon challenges everything, at others he is

not even receiving revelation from

God. That is why the book of

Ecclesiastes is the book... Preferred by

many skeptics and unbelievers, many

of these skeptics and unbelievers adore the

book of Ecclesiastes because in it God

allowed Solomon to express all

the doubts he had. Solomon was a

brilliant man who questioned and doubted a

great deal. Solomon became very pessimistic,

almost to the point of being philosophically

defeated. When Solomon sought Revelation

and God gave it to him, He transmitted beautiful gems

of Wisdom. Some of these gems from the

book of Ecclesiastes are even more

precious than those in the Book of Proverbs.

We'll stop here for today. God bless you.

This is a study written by Dr.

Dick Woodward, narrated by Pastor Edson

Bruni.