Songs In The Night

²⁹ See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. – Ecclesiastes 7:29

Indictments

Although the main objective of the Bible is to reveal the character of God, there are no shortage of passages exposing the foolishness of mankind. Today’s text is just one such indictment, and although they can be “painful” to read, I believe it is important to ponder them carefully considering what they tell us about the heart of God.  After all, God is concerned much more about your soul than your feelings, and as we study the heart of God we learn the true worth of our souls.

Before God judged the world with the universal flood, Scripture exposed the depravity of mankind.  ⁵ The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶ And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart (Genesis 6:5-6). 

Later when God was contending with His chosen people, He explained the source of contention.  

¹¹ Has a nation changed its gods,
    even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
    for that which does not profit.
¹² Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
    be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord,
¹³ for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
    the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
    broken cisterns that can hold no water. – Jeremiah 2:11-13

In the Book of Ecclesiastes, the Preacher (Quholoth) was looking for meaning “under the sun”.  In his attempt to find meaning in wisdom, he arrived at the indictment we see in today’s text.

God made man upright, but man has sought out many schemes.  Not content with the fountain of living water, we decide to dig our own wells.

Upright

When God created our parents, Adam and Eve, He created them upright.  They were created in His image for the purpose of representing Him.  Adam and Eve, with a “spark” of the Divine, were given the ability to think, communicate and create.  As moral and emotional beings they could fellowship with their Creator.  We cannot imagine their bliss as they walked through the Garden with God without need of a mediator.  Their fellowship was not (yet) corrupted by sin’s fallout.

Adam and Eve were not created holy, but they were created innocent; untainted by sin but capable of it.  When God placed the forbidden fruit in the Garden, He knew the “chance” He was taking.  He knew the fruit was only an arm’s length away.  But although innocence may have been their “birth-rite”, obedience had to be their choice.  The same God who created Adam and Eve upright, placed a forbidden fruit in their path.  It is an obstacle we are too familiar with as we journey down the path of life.

But

When Quholoth comes to his condemning statement, he gives us just one more contrast between a Righteous Creator and upright man.  The Holiness that is inherent in God stands in stark contrast to the pride of man that rejects Him.  God in His wisdom made man to represent Him, BUT man in his foolishness seeks out many schemes to replace Him.

When Adam and Eve reached for the forbidden fruit they turned their backs on God.  They sought wisdom apart from Him, but the juice on their lips betrayed their foolishness.  Their innocence gave way to guilt and any claim of a Divine “spark” was extinguished.

Innocence was gone and sin became the new resident and master of their souls.  God’s grace was spurned for the fruit of disobedience.

How many other “schemes” were growing on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil along with the forbidden fruit?  Only time would tell.

Eternity

You and I were not born with the innocence that Adam and Eve once knew.  Nor are our lives distinguished by a Divine “spark”.  To the contrary the Bible tells us that we are all sinners.  In fact, we are born in sin.  But this sin nature in our inner beings has a twin.  Eternity.

Before the Preacher makes the indictment about seeking many schemes, he reminds us of our birth rite.

¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart… – Ecclesiastes 3:11

In our sinful souls God has placed eternity, an innate awareness that there is more than this transient world in which we live.  Or as Quholoth would remind us, there is more than what we see “under the sun”.  When He placed eternity in our hearts, God granted us an awareness that there is more to life than merely “existing”.  Every person deep in his soul knows this to be true.  Somewhere, sometime, we can experience a fulfillment this vain world doesn’t offer.

The question is, how many schemes must we exhaust before we come to this realization?

Many Schemes

In his quest for meaning, Quholoth pursued learning, self-indulgence, toil, wealth and honor.  But as stated at the beginning of his book, all was vanity, a chasing after the wind (Ecc. 1:2).  We may not have an unlimited amount of resources to pursue everything Quholoth did, but too often we go down the path of seeking out many schemes.  God has created us to represent Him BUT perhaps more often than we would like to admit we try to replace Him.

When the eternity in your heart yearns for “more than existence”, where do you turn for fulfillment?

My challenge for all of us is to honestly evaluate how we spend the resources God has blessed us with.  What do we do with our time?  How do we spend our money?  What do we feed our minds?  How do we instruct our children?  At what level do we interact with those around us?

One Solution

Thankfully, the Bible is a Book of indictments AND invitations.

²⁸ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. – Matthew 11:28-29

We can lay down the shovels and stop hewing out broken cisterns.  We can get out of the rat race and stop seeking other schemes.  Why do we try to entertain ourselves to death when God offers so much more?

God has not only placed eternity in our hearts, He has also sacrificed His only Son so that His righteousness can be ours.  The only fulfillment for our souls is the redemption that we have in Christ.  The wisest thing we can do is stop seeking other schemes and run to Him.  Our weary souls will find rest only when the eternity in our hearts finds it’s fulfillment in Christ.

Don’t waste your life with the world’s vanities.  Don’t reach for the world’s fruit.  Every time you seek out other schemes you turn your back on God.  That is the last thing we should ever do to His soul loving heart.