There Is Nothing Better

Solomon was the wisest man of his time in 1 Kings 4:29–30 “God gave wisdom to Solomon and very great discernment, as well as breadth of understanding … greater than the wisdom of all the people of the east and more than all the wisdom of Egypt.” and he describes himself in Ecclesiastes 1:12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. Yet he describes the greatest satisfaction in life simply in Ecclesiastes 2:24–25 “There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and find delight in his toil. For I also realized that this is from the hand of God! 25 For who can eat, and who can enjoy life apart from him?” For Solomon, it seems that a persons profession or their education wasn’t the most important thing, it was much more important that they delight in expressing and in being who God made them to be.

Why, Yahweh, God of Israel, Has It Happened

Judges 21:1–12
Israel laments what has happened to Benjamin but is now restrained by the oath they have made in

Judges 21:1 The men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, saying, “None of us will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.”

and their requirement that every tribe, every city of Israel must be involved in

Judges 21:5 And the Israelites said, “Who in the assembly has not come up from all the tribes of Israel to Yahweh?” For a solemn oath was taken concerning whoever did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah, saying, “He will certainly be put to death.”

Yet they use this to kill every man and woman of Jabesh-Gilead, sparing only their virgin daughters who they sent to Benjamin.

Seize For Yourselves A Wife

Judges 21:13–25

What Does A Person Gain In All His Toil

Ecclesiastes 1:1–9

What Is Twisted Cannot Be Straightened

Ecclesiastes 1:10–18
There is a truth here that every generation is born new into their world. They must learn and be educated by those around them. What we learned as children is what our parents thought to teach us and some we glean from the world around us. So, as it says in

Ecclesiastes 1:10 There is a thing of which it is said, “Look at this! This is new!” But it already existed in ages past before us.

So, it is also true that we must seek to know and understand and it is a challenging task as in

Ecclesiastes 1:13 I applied my mind to seek and to search by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. It is a grievous task God has given to humans to be busy with.

And, it is also true that we come into positions of leadership and authority in the world, not just through gaining knowledge, but through wisdom in

Ecclesiastes 1:16 I said to myself, “Look! I have become great and have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has preceded me over Jerusalem. I have acquired a great deal of wisdom and knowledge.”

It is also true that there are some things that “cannot be straightened” in Ecclesiastes 1:15 and I think here of trees on the windswept plains that are bent overtime or the orphaned infant that was never nurtured so matures lacking the ability to bond in relationships. In this natural world, there are needs that “cannot be counted”.

Come! I Will Test Whether It Is Worthwhile

Ecclesiastes 2:1–9

Wisdom Has An Advantage Over Folly

Ecclesiastes 2:10–16
The key to gaining wisdom is to seek it everywhere and to enjoy getting it, to rejoice in the effort it takes to understand in

Ecclesiastes 2:10 I neither withheld anything from my eyes that they desired, nor did I deprive any pleasure from my heart. My heart rejoiced in all my toil, for this was my reward from all my toil.

There is value in wisdom in the joy of discovery and also in the joy of knowing but in this world, things happen to everyone the same.

Ecclesiastes 2:13–14 I realized that wisdom has an advantage over folly, just as light has an advantage over darkness. 14 The wise man can see where he is walking, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also realized that both of them suffer the same fate.

Everyone faces sickness and disease. Everyone faces the dishonest and thieves and the abusive. Everyone faces the uncertainty of calamity that can come to the wise as easily as the fool.