Stopping to Think

I have taught through Ecclesiastes a couple of times over the past few years. This book stuns me over and over with its devastating appraisal of the human condition. So, I thought I might go back through some of my notes and share them with you here. I can't promise how frequently I'll have them up for you, but hopefully someday I'll have the whole book finished. My hope is that you will be as encouraged, convicted, and challenged by this book as I have been. Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 The words of  the Preacher,  the son of David,  king in Jerusalem. 2  Vanity  of vanities, says  the Preacher, vanity of vanities!  All is vanity. 3  What  does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? 4  A generation goes, and a generation comes, but  the earth remains forever. 5  The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens  to the place where it rises. 6  The wind blows to the s...

Coping with Change: Ecclesiastes by Walter C. Kaiser Jr. My rating: 4 of 5 stars Kaiser's little commentary on Ecclesiastes is very helpful. I think he nails the structure of the book; the charts for passages such as the beginning of chapter 12 are somewhat helpful, although I wouldn't ever use them for teaching. Sometimes his commitment to literal interpretation misses, in my opinion, the poetic effect that Qoheleth intends. But overall, a helpful read. View all my reviews

This is a section out of a class I taught a few months back, I thought it might be helpful to you: Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 11:1 Cast your bread upon the waters,    for you will find it after many days. 2 Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,    for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. There is a substantial amount of question over exactly what point is of these verses. I mean, is he talking about crumbling up your French bread and dumping it in the river? [As a side note, there is a reason I like to bring up when there is discussion over these issues; that is my opinion on the difference in the function of preaching and teaching. If I were to preach these texts I would primarily be concerned with proclaiming them, and thus would most likely (unless it was something very thorny or difficult to decide upon) take what I thought to be the best understanding of the text and preach it. Proclaim it. Exhort obedience to “thus say...