Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 Verse 1

 This entire chapter is about the “sacrifice of fools,” which is to live

life like this life is forever. That what you have and what you do and

who you’ve built yourself to be in your life is all there is and that it is

forever. It’s not.

 The sacrifice of fools does definitely talk about folks coming and

worshipping and giving in ignorance. The sacrifice is their time and

their treasure, yet, there’s a far more intricate message Solomon is

trying to get across. The sacrifice of fools isn’t what they bring, it’s

what they do not bring.

 To live unaware on the facts of the rest of this chapter, that naked you

came into this life and naked we will all depart this life (as in we

brought nothing and will take nothing), to live like this life is forever

and all we amass and possess will be ours forever, to live for yourself

rather than experiencing your life lived to worship God, you sacrifice

the version of life God intends for you to have. One filled with

warmth, generosity, cheerfulness, enjoyment, levity, and ultimately

being rich in the life to come. To miss all of that for the sake of

material and worldly things is to sacrifice yourself and to lose so much

in life to foolishness.

 So, walk prudently when you come into the house of God. With ears

open to hear and to understand that this world and all that is in it will

one day pass away. That life doesn’t consist, (you don’t actually find

life), in the money and success and possessions gained in this world.

This is what Jesus said in Luke 12:15, “Take heed and beware of

covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the

things he possesses.”

 Listen to Luke 12:16-21, “Then He spoke a parable to them, saying:

“The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought

within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store

my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and

build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I

will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many

years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” But God said to him,

‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will

those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up

treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.””

 The point is not just for the life to come but even in this life, the rich

man would have been happier to NOT build greater but to realize the

temporal nature of this life and to ensure he was rich towards God.

This is the point of Solomon’s plea in this chapter. To beware the

sacrifice of fools, and their sacrifice is actually their own selves.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 Verses 2 – 3

 Do not be rash with your mouth speaks of being alarmed, disturbed or

in a hurry. Anxious, afraid, dismayed… Which is exactly what you

will constantly be focused only on the things of this world. Worried

about this matter and that matter which are secondary at best in light

of eternal matters.

 God is in heaven; I am on earth. Very very VERY different

perspective. His will endure. Mine will not. God is mindful of my

current state and cares, AND, He is far more concerned with my

holiness than my happiness. Why? Because happiness doesn’t

necessarily lead to holiness, but holiness always leads to happiness.

This is to live as an eternal wise child of God rather than a short-sided

foolish believer.

 A fool’s voice is known by his many words speaks loudly for some of

us… Proverbs 12:16 says, “A fool’s wrath is known at once (because

he lets everyone know), but a prudent man covers shame.” Proverbs

10:19, “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who

restrains his lips is wise.” Being a fool is one of if not the worst thing

a man or woman of God can be Biblically. Because the fool misses the

prize, what’s important, the gain, the profit. The fool flies right by the

profit and hastens to loss…

 So, think before you speak. We never knew how important that

kindergarten correction really is in this life. My mouth, your mouth,

can make the difference between if we will attain the prize of wisdom

or the prize of the fool in so many circumstances!

Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 Verses 4 – 5

 A repeated principal found in the Bible is to be a person of your word.

To let your yes be yes, and your no be no. If you say you’re going to

do something, then you fulfill what you have committed. Especially

when your vow is to God.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 Verses 6 – 7

 Interesting how Solomon links the fortune of your work with your

faithfulness to God. The implication here is that sometimes things

don’t go your way, tough day at work, car won’t start, product isn’t

selling, progress isn’t being made, and Solomon implies here that he

sees something maybe we don’t. That it could be the Lord slowing you

down or causing you cost so that you might rethink your faithfulness

to Him… Stop being foolish…

 Verse seven makes us see the inverse of the statement that vanity is

working faithfully for yourself while being flippant about your

faithfulness to God, and then he says, “but fear God.” Which

intrinsically implies that fearing God is NOT vanity and therefore is

profitable. Don’t want to be the fool? Fear God.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 Verse 8

 This is the system we are faithful to? We give our best self to gain

popularity and power in a world that hated, rejected and killed a

perfect man? This is the point that Solomon is making. Don’t be

surprised when you give your best self to the world and it gives you

back oppression and injustice. Better to give your best self to the One

who will honor and treasure you!

Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 Verse 9

 The status we carry is an obvious fantasy! Whether you are Bill Gates

or John Doe, we all gotta eat. Strip away all the things this world

bolts on to our identities and we are actually all quite the same.

Solomon knows that because he’s at the top…

 Folks think people who have all the things have something they don’t.

But the people at the top know they are just regular people. And they

are searching just like everyone else is for meaning and purpose. It

never fails, no matter how high I rise in my career field, I never feel

like I thought I would when I would think about getting to where I’ve

gotten! HA!

Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 Verses 10 - 11

 How many folks did Solomon see that would look him in the eyes and

not want to know him, invest in him, care for him, but wanted to get

something from him? Wow, right? Solomon is saying, (just for a

moment step into his perspective), does anyone actually care about

you when you have it all? When you had nothing, no question… But

now that you are something, are they there for that or are they there for

you?

 And then the added burden of their eyes of need, and their eyes of less.

The guilt and burden he must have carried as people would suffer with

hunger because they wouldn’t work or because they were criminals

and locked up, and he couldn’t help them lest he hurt them, and yet, he

had the means to help them… That is a special kind of burden!

 Solomon urges us to understand that he longs for simpler days and

while we all long to have all he has, he asks us to wake up to the fact

that what we already have is enough to make us as happy as we truly

want to be…, but it takes pursuing holiness rather than happiness.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 Verses 12 – 15

 Putting it all into perspective for us! We are going out just as we came

in, so why so serious, Batman? This is a “severe” evil, he says. He

only uses that word twice in all his writings and both times they are

right here in this chapter. So, pay closer attention to this one than

others…

 The word means to make someone weak or sick or make someone feel

weak or make someone feel sorry or grieved, this is the foundation

where all that comes from…, that you and I don’t understand to the

point that it makes all the difference…, that we are just passing

through here. Your spouse, your kids, your friends, your parents, your

job, your church, your ministry, it’s all only for a time and all that we

do to serve ourselves, in the end, turns out to honestly be a waste of

time… Riches kept for their owner…, to his hurt.

 And interesting, just throwing this out there again because it is

thematically presented throughout the Bible and even here in verse 14,

that living a life with faith priority out of whack, faithful more to me

than to God, faithful more to my bank account than to God, faithful

more to whatever than to God…, then even what you do have will

somehow slip from your hands like trying to hold tight to sand….

Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 Verses 16 – 17

 Second use of the word “severe” and this is two of two in all of

Solomon’s writings. May want to really look into this one… What will

it all be in the end when it perishes with this world? Man, and in the

midst of the mess, trouble… Solomon says sorrow, sickness and anger.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 Verse 18

 “As God gives him,” is the key phrase. Here’s the answer, live the day.

Live today with eternity in mind. Hold lightly to the things of this

world and steward them well to the benefit of others and to the glory

of God…, and these types of words show up in you and in your life,

“good, fitting, enjoy, life, gives, heritage.”

Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 Verse 19

 Love this! Solomon is giving us some really really incredible keys

here to the code of creation…, to those who have riches, to those that

are benefiting and profiting from their work, God will give you

increasing enjoyment of it all, if you manage it not as yours to hoard

or yours as a result of your awesome self, but if you manage it as it

truly is when all the dust settles, a gift from God… How do you do

that? Worship! Honor God with it all! Simple as that!

Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 Verse 20

 Do you want to be kept busy BY GOD with joy in your days? Here’s

how you do it. This is so simple and its right there and yet so many, in

fact most to almost all, miss it… And not always because they don’t

understand this… Oddly, the miss will be because their internal

hangups of not being good enough or proving themselves or seeking

the approval of others because as some point it was withheld and

hurt…, that is valued more than personal joy. That pain is known…

To live for it is to walk by sight, to walk by what is known. The joy of

the Lord is not… If it was known, everyone would choose it. So, you

have to believe God, and choose it by faith!

 God has a completely awesome and days busy with joy design and

plan for you and for me that begins with the cross. Understanding your

value as displayed by God in how much you are loved and treasured

by Him, so much so that He gave His life for you. Then the

affirmation need in you closes… And you stop sleeping around. You

stop hoarding your numbers on the screen of your accounts. You stop

being so angry and critical of others as you settle into not needing

them to convince YOU you are a good person…, those things begin to

fade.

 God heals your deepest wounds and meets your deepest needs…, that

you are trying to heal and meet through relationships, progress, power,

purse, all that… And you finally live for the first day in your life…