ECCLESIASTES - The title of this short book reads: 'The Words of Qoheleth, son of David, king in Jerusalem'. The most likely explanation is that Qoheleth indicates the function of one who speaks in the assembly (qahal; in Greek the ekklesia, hence the book's Latin and English title transliterated from the Greek Bible); it could therefore be rendered: 'the Preacher'. In the first chapter, the Preacher is called 'son of David and king of Jerusalem', and there is no doubt that he is identified with Solomon to whom the text makes clear reference - 1:16 (cf, 1Kg 3:12; 5:10-11; 10:7) 2:7-9 (cf, 1Kg 3:13; 10:23) though the name is not mentioned.

As with the other Wisdom Books such as Job and Ecclesiasticus, not to mention the composite Book of Proverbs, the theme progresses fitfully: the idea is stated, repeated, amended. There is no defined plan here rather variations on a single theme, the emptiness of things human which is enunciated at the beginning of the book and at the end. Knowledge, wealth, love, life itself, all these things are illusory. Life is no more than a succession of unrelated and meaningless events, ending in senility and death befalling wise and foolish, rich and poor, man and beast alike. Qoheleth's problem is the same as Job's: do virtue and vice get their deserts on this earth? Both Qoheleth and Job answer: No,
Experience gives the lie to the conventional answer.

But unlike Job who seeks a meaning for his sufferings, Qoheleth enjoys good health yet discovers that happiness itself is an empty thing and consoles himself with the limited joys that life has to offer or rather he tries to console himself, for indeed his failure is as evident at the end as at the beginning. He taxes his brain over the problem of a future life but in vain. And yet he has faith in God: the ways of God to man may dismay him but God, he says, does not need to justify them while man for his part must resign himself to accepting the sorrows and joys that God sends, in bad times and good, keeping the commandments and obeying a God who reads the human heart.

Ecclesiastes represents only one stage in the religious development of Israel; it cannot be assessed in isolation from what has gone before and what will follow. By underlining the inadequacies of earlier notions and by compelling reconsideration of the human enigma, it exposes the need of a new revelation. It warns against attachment to the goods of this world and by denying that the rich are happy, prepares the world for hearing that 'blessed are the poor', - Luke 6:20 -

In short, it is a philosophical description of the emptiness of life without God.

                                                                        Page 9

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -