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#Post#: 4090--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: Olde Tymer
Date: February 23, 2019, 9:26 am
---------------------------------------------------------
.
● Ecc 12:1 . . So appreciate your vigor in the days of
your youth, before those days of sorrow come and those years
arrive of which you will say: I have no pleasure in them.
Most people cope pretty well with middle age, and old age too--
as long as they're in good health, their mind is sound and, they
have the right attitude. But nobody does good with advanced age.
Your bowels won't work right, you'll be incontinent and smell
bad; diverticulitis causes blood in your stools, your skin will
be thin and easily torn, blue veins pop out on your legs and on
the backs of your hands, you won't see things unless they're
right under your nose, your sense of smell will be weak right
along with your sense of taste. Savory foods will taste like
cardboard and your stomach can't deal with them anyway.
No more hiking, no more bicycle rides, no more airplane trips,
and very little travel. Walking, if you're able to walk at all,
will really be little more than a shuffle of slow, flat footed,
jerky little short steps rather than a brisk fluid stroll.
● Ecc 12:2 . . before sun and light and moon and stars
grow dark, and the clouds come back again after the rain:
Often, as people get older and their health begins to fail,
friends will ask: Hey, how's ol' so and so doing? And someone
will say: Oh, he has his good days and he has his bad days.
Well, eventually ol' so and so will have only his bad days and
no good days ever again.
● Ecc 12:3a . .When the keepers of the house become shaky,
Keeping house requires the use of one's hands for mopping,
dusting, and doing laundry and dishes. Aged people's hands
tremble. They can't hold anything steady. In fact, they have so
little strength and dexterity left in their hands that they
can't grasp anything securely; so they drop stuff a lot.
● Ecc 12:3b . . And the men of valor are bent,
Those in advanced age, even if they were once proud Olympic
athletes, can't stand up straight and keep their shoulders back
anymore. Older people get bent and hunched. They shrink too, and
some practically curl over like a fish hook.
My mother-in-law really loved birds. But her back was so bent
over that she couldn't look up to see them, and unless they were
only a few yards away, she couldn't even lift her head high
enough to see the ones down low on the ground. I could've gotten
her the finest Leica optics money can buy, but it would just be
throwing money out with the recycle. She couldn't use them on a
birding trip, nor could she even go on one. And if that weren't
enough, she lost the use of one eye because of glaucoma.
● Ecc 12:3c . . the grinding ones stand idle because they
are few,
Before the advent of dentures and professional dental care,
people commonly lost their teeth from decay and gum disease. As
they got older, people lost more and more teeth until the day
came when there finally weren't enough teeth left in their mouth
to bite off food and chew it. Foods like grains, meats, and many
crispy fresh fruits and vegetables were simply out of the
question; so they had to eat mushy foods, foods that were
overcooked; or that didn't require a lot of biting and chewing.
There's still a lot of that in third world countries.
_
#Post#: 4100--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: Olde Tymer
Date: February 24, 2019, 10:16 am
---------------------------------------------------------
.
● Ecc 12:3d . . and those that look through the windows
grow dim,
Cataracts are a common ailment among the aged. It's a cruel
condition because it clouds the eye's lens thus preventing full
passage of light to the retina. When I had my own cataracts
treated, I was amazed. Not only was the world a whole lot
brighter, but colors were more vivid too. But back in Solomon's
day, there was no treatment for cataracts; so people's eyesight
just waxed worse and worse as time went on to the point where
they could no longer even get around on their own or even so
much as recognize familiar friends.
● Ecc 12:4a . . And the doors to the street are shut--
The doors are shut because aged people get chilled easily by
drafts. Riding on a city transit bus once, in the dead of summer
in San Diego, some senior citizens shut my window because the
air blowing in was making them cold even though the rest of us
on board were broiling in the heat.
● Ecc 12:4b . . with the noise of the hand mill growing
fainter, and the song of the bird growing feebler, and all the
strains of music dying down;
I've lost some of my hearing in the higher and lower ranges.
It's natural and to be expected at my age which, to date, is 75.
Hearing aids help a lot so we don't have to yell so loud at aged
folks in order for them to hear us. Just imagine not being able
to enjoy your favorite music; or straining to hear ordinary
conversation.
● Ecc 12:5a . .When one is afraid of heights
We can fall aplenty when we're young and get away with it. Our
joints are tight and strong, our ligaments are taught and
springy, our bones are solid and tough, and we can handle all
the bumps and bruises life throws at us. But not so when we
reach advanced age. Falls, even little ones, are extremely
hazardous; and can even be fatal.
Every now and then the news runs a story of an aged person who
stumbled and fell at home and broke a hip; and couldn't even
reach the telephone to call for help; sometimes laying there for
days until the landlord or relatives checked in on them. I knew
an aged lady who's broken hip actually caused her death. Her
body was so weak already from fighting cancer that the broken
hip put it over the edge.
● Ecc 12:5b . . And there is fear on the road.
Back in Solomon's day, people didn't move about cocooned in the
safety and comfort of a shell of metal and glass like many of us
do today in modern motorized vehicles. Well; they didn't have
inoculations for pneumonia back then so the aged were always in
danger of literally catching their death outdoors due to
exposure to wind, rain, cold, and dampness.
Back in 1966, I drove up to Oregon from San Diego all alone in a
VW and slept in the car at night rather than pay for a motel. I
was only 22 years old then and totally unconcerned for my
safety. Today, at 75, I would not even think of such a venture;
too risky, any number of things could go wrong which, back then,
I wouldn't have given a second thought. I may be older and wiser
now, but I'm not all that daring anymore either.
_
#Post#: 4149--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: Olde Tymer
Date: February 26, 2019, 8:51 am
---------------------------------------------------------
● Ecc 12:5c . . For the almond tree may blossom, the
grasshopper be [gravid], and the caper bush may bud again; but
man sets out for his eternal abode, with mourners all around in
the street.
Nature isn't dismayed by the passing of a human being. Flowers
continue to bloom, bugs continue to multiply, and fruit
continues to appear on vines, bushes, and trees; and birds
continue to migrate. When people drop dead, the world doesn't
drop dead with them. Trees and flowers go right on budding and
blooming, fish go on swimming, birds go on flying, bees go on
buzzing, the Earth goes right on turning, and the Moon goes
right on shining as usual just like nothing ever happened.
The world was doing just fine before any one of us came along,
and it will go on doing just fine after we're all gone. When
those 2,829 people died in the 2001 terrorist attack on the
World Trade Center, and another 200,000+ were killed in the 2010
Haiti earthquake, and another 169,752 were killed in the 2004
tsunami in Indonesia, and yet another 25,000 killed and/or went
missing in Japan's tsunami in 2011 --nature felt neither pity
nor remorse; and the stars in their courses didn't even blink.
And funerals? What a joke. Standard funerals are anti-Green. The
figures below represent chemicals and construction materials
consumed on account of, and/or buried with, America's dead in
just one calendar year.
• over 30,000,000 board feet of hardwoods
• over 100,000 tons of bronze, steel, and copper
• over 1,000,000 tons of concrete.
• over 1,000,000 gallons of formaldehyde
• over 2,000,000 acres of land have been clear-cut and made into
cemeteries good for nothing else which have to be maintained
with pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and petro-chemical
fertilizers which all eventually leach into the soil and into
our water supplies.
We are literally killing the planet to honor our dead. And the
irony of it all-- the sublime irony --is that the reason half of
us go to funerals is to pay our respects to people we couldn't
be bothered with when they were alive.
● Ecc 12:6 . . Before the silver cord snaps and the golden
bowl crashes, the jar is shattered at the spring, and the jug is
smashed at the cistern.
Well; you know what they say about Humpty Dumpty: All the
king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty back
together again.
People with money, like king Solomon, had fancy lighting in
their homes. Chandeliers made of ornate bowls overlaid with
gold, containing oil or candles, were suspended from the ceiling
by metal contraptions made of silver. Ancient bowls, and jars,
and jugs were fragile. Once broken, they weren't repaired, but
discarded and replaced with a new unit. Man is like that-- just
an expendable vessel; and death destroys him beyond repair like
one of Solomon's terracotta dishes.
● Ecc 12:7a . . And the dust returns to the ground as it
was,
Man's body is composed of mother nature's physical elements. She
wants them back. But the power that makes things alive doesn't
consist of mother nature's elements. The power of life is
divine; and God (or the gods, whatever) wants it back after
you're done with it.
● Ecc 12:7b. . and the life-breath returns to God [or the
gods; whatever] who bestowed it.
In other words; man's life is a short-term loan.
● Ecc 12:8 . . Utter futility-- said Koheleth --all is
meaningless!
Well, there you have it-- an objective evaluation of the human
experience. It's fragile, brief, subject to termination without
the benefit of even so much as a moment's notice, and punctuated
with misery. Is it any wonder then that from the perspective of
a man under the sun; the human experience is completely
pointless?
_
#Post#: 4171--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: Olde Tymer
Date: February 27, 2019, 8:07 am
---------------------------------------------------------
.
● Ecc 12:9-10 . . A further word: Because Koheleth was a
sage, he continued to instruct the people. He listened to and
tested the soundness of many maxims. Koheleth sought to discover
useful sayings and recorded genuinely truthful sayings.
Solomon's argument smacks of circular reasoning in that he
regards his own personal philosophy as "genuinely truthful
sayings" solely because he believes himself to be wise. That's
hardly a novel approach. Many bright people are deeply offended
when those of lesser IQ reject their (sage) opinions. However,
we're inclined to give Solomon the benefit of the doubt and go
along with his self-evaluation because we are, after all, Bible
students who, for the most part, don't know any better anyway.
● Ecc 12:11a . .The words of wise men are like goads,
Goads were used by mule skinners and such who drive oxen and/or
horses to pull plows and wagons. The device is a bit like the
pointed tool that workers use to pick up trash along roadways: a
long stick whittled to a sharp point at one end. A fancy goad
might include an ornate metal prod at one end. When the skinners
want an ox to get moving, they just poke its rump.
Anyway; wise people are difficult to oppose without coming
across as obtuse because everything they say makes sense to
those of us with a lesser IQ. Even when the wise are wrong they
sound right so there's nothing to gain by matching wits with
them. they'll just keep sticking it to you.
● Ecc 12:11b . . and masters of these collections are like
well-driven nails;
The word for "nails" is from masmerah (mas-mer-aw') which
actually isn't a nail but a peg. Ecclesiastes is the only place
in the entire Old Testament where masmerah is located. Small
pegs can be used to build furniture. Large ones can be used as
fence posts; and other sizes can be used to hold a tent in
place. A husky peg on a tug boat can be used as a tow bit. So
peg has lots of meanings and one that we can easily apply in
this passage is that the person who takes the words of the wise
seriously, supposedly becomes a solid, stable individual.
● Ecc 12:11c . .they are given by one shepherd.
If you asked twenty people to draw a crooked line; you would get
twenty different-looking lines. Wisdom is like a straight line.
If you asked those same twenty people to draw a straight line,
all twenty lines would look the same. They might have different
lengths, and they might be of different thickness, but they
would all conform to the well known geometric axiom that a
straight line is the shortest distance between two points.
Straight lines don't zig nor zag nor kink nor sag nor bow nor
bend like a crooked line. All straight lines look the same
because straight lines go in only one direction; viz: the words
of the wise must be consistent if they're to be taken seriously.
A wishy-washy philosopher is just a blow-hard.
● Ecc 12:12 . . But beyond this, my son, be warned: the
writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to
books is wearying to the body.
Back then I'd imagine that prolific authors wore themselves out
what with no machines like typewriters to work with. In our day,
writing is a snap with computerized word processing.
"My son" doesn't necessarily refer to Koheleth's kin; but can
also refer to his students. The teacher then, is the student's
father, in an academic sort of way. There's a number of
incidents in the Old Testament where Bible students are called
sons of the prophets. Compare 2Kings 2:12 where Elijah's
apprentice Elisha, called his master "my father".
_
#Post#: 4198--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: Olde Tymer
Date: February 28, 2019, 10:03 am
---------------------------------------------------------
.
● Ecc 12:13a . .The sum of the matter, when all is said
and done:
Solomon has discussed how life is out of balance; viz: its
unjust and unfair; cruel and punctuated with misery-- youth is
only temporary, happiness is fragile, joy is fleeting, and
entertainment provides only momentary relief.
Life traps us in circumstances beyond our control and we're
often dominated by unscrupulous people. Life is pointless, much
too brief, and everyone, both the good, the bad, and the ugly,
are faced with old age and the inevitability of death. So . .
since that is the case; what is the use of life anyway? If life
is such a dead-end, a pointless pursuit, then why should we take
it seriously; if at all?
● Ecc 12:13b-14 . . Revere God and observe His
commandments! For this applies to all mankind: that God will
call every creature to account for everything unknown, be it
good or bad.
Wouldn't it be sad if we only lived and died like insects and
fungi? I mean, what would be the point of it all? What real
advantage is it to have a beautiful mind if it's only going to
die and stop working after many years of learning and
experience? And what real value is it to the minds of the
present to make the world a better place for the next generation
of minds if the minds of the present don't live to see it?
By believing in a supreme being, your life means something after
all. It counts in some way when there is a God; and it gives
people a hope for the future after they're destroyed by old age
and death. Wouldn't it be far better to perceive yourself part
of a grand scheme instead of walking across the stage of your
all too brief life as an insignificant speck in a pointless
cosmos?
The Bible's God has another Genesis in the works for mankind.
Yes, a whole new earth and a whole new universe minus all the
negative aspects of the current one.
"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the
former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." (Isa
65:17-25)
"According to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a
new earth, in which righteousness dwells." (2 Pet 3:13)
"I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and
the first earth passed away" (Rev 21:1-6)
As my wife and I decline and wax older and older, we feel
sadness for the loss of our youth. There was a time when we were
both bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and could get by with very
little rest. The skin on our face, and under our chin, was
tight, and our middles were lean and defined. Today we're
sag-bottomed and flaccid.
The great cowboy artist Charles Russell once commented that time
traded him wrinkles for teeth. Me too. I've lost teeth, some are
capped, and my gums have receded. The teeth that remain have
become so brittle that I have to be careful when eating my
favorite hard candies.
Believing that there is a supreme being, and a future world,
lifts our spirits and strengthens us to cope with aging and the
onset of death. We have promise of a great, eternal future out
ahead in a world where youth is the norm, and no one dies or
gets sick.
Even if we are totally wrong in our belief, my wife and I are
far better off than "the man under the sun" who has resigned
himself to futility; to live out his pointless existence with no
more importance than an alley cat or a feral dog; to die and be
recycled back into the matrix from whence he came; the meanwhile
suppressing a gnawing anxiety in the back of his mind that there
just might be an afterlife after all.
"I have never seen what to me seemed an atom of truth that there
is a future life . . . and yet . . .I am strongly inclined to
expect one." (Mark Twain)
-- The End --
#Post#: 4568--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: guest8
Date: March 23, 2019, 2:34 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: Olde Tymer link ---
>
> .
> ● Ecc 12:13a . .The sum of the matter, when all is said
and done:
>
> Solomon has discussed how life is out of balance; viz: its
unjust and unfair; cruel and punctuated with misery-- youth is
only temporary, happiness is fragile, joy is fleeting, and
entertainment provides only momentary relief.
>
> Life traps us in circumstances beyond our control and we're
often dominated by unscrupulous people. Life is pointless, much
too brief, and everyone, both the good, the bad, and the ugly,
are faced with old age and the inevitability of death. So . .
since that is the case; what is the use of life anyway? If life
is such a dead-end, a pointless pursuit, then why should we take
it seriously; if at all?
>
> ● Ecc 12:13b-14 . . Revere God and observe His
commandments! For this applies to all mankind: that God will
call every creature to account for everything unknown, be it
good or bad.
>
> Wouldn't it be sad if we only lived and died like insects and
fungi? I mean, what would be the point of it all? What real
advantage is it to have a beautiful mind if it's only going to
die and stop working after many years of learning and
experience? And what real value is it to the minds of the
present to make the world a better place for the next generation
of minds if the minds of the present don't live to see it?
>
> By believing in a supreme being, your life means something
after all. It counts in some way when there is a God; and it
gives people a hope for the future after they're destroyed by
old age and death. Wouldn't it be far better to perceive
yourself part of a grand scheme instead of walking across the
stage of your all too brief life as an insignificant speck in a
pointless cosmos?
>
> The Bible's God has another Genesis in the works for mankind.
Yes, a whole new earth and a whole new universe minus all the
negative aspects of the current one.
>
> "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the
former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." (Isa
65:17-25)
>
> "According to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a
new earth, in which righteousness dwells." (2 Pet 3:13)
>
> "I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and
the first earth passed away" (Rev 21:1-6)
>
> As my wife and I decline and wax older and older, we feel
sadness for the loss of our youth. There was a time when we were
both bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and could get by with very
little rest. The skin on our face, and under our chin, was
tight, and our middles were lean and defined. Today we're
sag-bottomed and flaccid.
>
> The great cowboy artist Charles Russell once commented that
time traded him wrinkles for teeth. Me too. I've lost teeth,
some are capped, and my gums have receded. The teeth that remain
have become so brittle that I have to be careful when eating my
favorite hard candies.
>
> Believing that there is a supreme being, and a future world,
lifts our spirits and strengthens us to cope with aging and the
onset of death. We have promise of a great, eternal future out
ahead in a world where youth is the norm, and no one dies or
gets sick.
>
> Even if we are totally wrong in our belief, my wife and I are
far better off than "the man under the sun" who has resigned
himself to futility; to live out his pointless existence with no
more importance than an alley cat or a feral dog; to die and be
recycled back into the matrix from whence he came; the meanwhile
suppressing a gnawing anxiety in the back of his mind that there
just might be an afterlife after all.
>
> "I have never seen what to me seemed an atom of truth that
there is a future life . . . and yet . . .I am strongly inclined
to expect one." (Mark Twain)
>
> -- The End --
>
--- End Quote ---
This is really good way to bring people to Christ...
]You said: "Even if we are totally wrong in our belief, my wife
and I are far better off than "the man under the sun" who has
resigned himself to futility; to live out his pointless
existence with no more importance than an alley cat or a feral
dog; to die and be recycled back into the matrix from whence he
came; the meanwhile suppressing a gnawing anxiety in the back of
his mind that there just might be an afterlife after all."
[shadow=blue,left]
What they need to do is find Jesus Christ through His gospel (1
Cor 15:1-4). This mumbling about well maybe there is an
afterlife, etc. is Ludicrous' and borders on herasey
Blade[/shadow]
#Post#: 6664--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: patrick jane
Date: June 29, 2019, 10:56 am
---------------------------------------------------------
What would Solomon say today?
#Post#: 6922--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: patrick jane
Date: July 11, 2019, 5:43 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: patrick jane link ---
>
> What would Solomon say today?
>
--- End Quote ---
Indeed.
#Post#: 15832--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: patrick jane
Date: August 4, 2020, 1:33 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
yes
#Post#: 17799--------------------------------------------------
Re: Solomon's World View
DIR By: patrick jane
Date: September 21, 2020, 3:50 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: patrick jane link ---
>
> yes
>
--- End Quote ---
maybe
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