Day 334: Ecclesiastes 7-9 | Read The Bible In A Year | Bible Commentary with Dr. Manny Arango — Transcript

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1. 0:00Hey Bible nerds, this is Dr. Manny
2. 0:02Orango. Welcome to the Bible department
3. 0:04podcast powered by Arma. We are walking
4. 0:08through the entire Bible in a year. You
5. 0:10can go to the description or the bible
6. 0:13department.com to download a reading
7. 0:15plan and join the journey
8. 0:24family. Welcome to day 334
9. 0:27here on the Bible department. I'm
10. 0:29excited to dive into Ecclesiastes
11. 0:32chapters 7 8 and N today. It's gonna be
12. 0:37good. If you've already done the
13. 0:38reading, then you're probably aware like
14. 0:41IT'S KIND OF DEPRESSING.
15. 0:43LIKE UH GOD, like it's a little it's a
16. 0:46little uh it's a little heavy. Okay, but
17. 0:49uh my goal is to not only make sense of
18. 0:51it, but make light of it. Uh because the
19. 0:54goal of the book is not to depress you.
20. 0:56The the book of Ecclesiastes is not a
21. 0:58proponent of nealism. Okay? It's it's
22. 1:00not trying to get you to the place of
23. 1:03despair. Okay? And if you need to Google
24. 1:06nealism, you can. N I H I L I Sm.
25. 1:11Nealism. It'll be a good thing for you
26. 1:13to look up, add that word to your
27. 1:16vocabulary. Okay? So, Ecclesiastes is
28. 1:20not coming from a nealistic worldview.
29. 1:22It's coming from a a wisdom worldview.
30. 1:25And so we're going to dive into just one
31. 1:27more angle of what it means to be a wise
32. 1:30person. Solomon is going to ask in uh
33. 1:33chapter 8 uh verse one. I'm going to
34. 1:35say, "Who is like the wise?" Okay, in
35. 1:38the NRSV, I'm going to read that for
36. 1:40you. In the NRSV, it says it like this.
37. 1:43Okay. Who is like the wise man? whi-
38. 1:46which is not just who is like the wise
39. 1:49but kind of like what are wise people
40. 1:51like would be kind of more of like a
41. 1:54less poetic or maybe plain way to say
42. 1:56it. What are wise people like? And so
43. 1:58the point of the book of Ecclesiastes is
44. 2:01to shed light on what kind of attributes
45. 2:05do wise people have? What kind of a
46. 2:07person is a wise person? It's a
47. 2:10reflection on wisdom. So, it's not to
48. 2:11lead you to the place of despair and
49. 2:14that nothing matters or meaninglessness.
50. 2:16Uh, it's actually designed to to get you
51. 2:20to come to some conclusions about life.
52. 2:23And hopefully, we're going to get there
53. 2:24today. We got today and tomorrow left
54. 2:27for our study of Ecclesiastes and then
55. 2:29that's it. Okay. So, all right. Uh, if
56. 2:32you've not done the reading, then how
57. 2:34about you stop this video, pause the
58. 2:36audio, go get the reading done. All
59. 2:38right. If you've done the reading, then
60. 2:40let's dive in. I'm going to give you a
61. 2:42context clue, maybe even two. Uh, and
62. 2:45then I'm going to give you some nerdy
63. 2:46nuggets, as many as I can, and the time
64. 2:48allotted to me for today's episode, and
65. 2:50then I'm going to, uh, leave off with
66. 2:52the Thomas truth. And I'm really excited
67. 2:53about our timeless truth for the day.
68. 2:55So, let me give two little bits of blues
69. 2:58clues of context. Okay, the first is
70. 3:02actually just a verse that I think
71. 3:03unlocks everything and definitely
72. 3:05unlocks today's reading. And that's
73. 3:07going to be Ecclesiastes
74. 3:093:1.
75. 3:11Ecclesiastes
76. 3:133 verse 11. It says this. I'll put
77. 3:16chapter 311 in context. Actually, you
78. 3:19know, chapter 3 starts with there is a
79. 3:20time for everything and a season for
80. 3:22every activity under the sun. A time to
81. 3:25be born, a time to die, time to plant,
82. 3:26time to uproot, time to kill, time to
83. 3:28heal, time to tear down, a time to build
84. 3:30up, time to weep, time to laugh, a time
85. 3:32to mourn, time to dance, time to scatter
86. 3:34stones, time to gather them. Okay? Just
87. 3:36like, hey, there's a time for
88. 3:37everything. If there's a theme that I
89. 3:40would say is consistent through all the
90. 3:42wisdom literature, it is this
91. 3:44exploration of time. Okay? An
92. 3:46exploration of, you know, what is it the
93. 3:49time for? That's why over and over and
94. 3:51over again in Song of Songs, there's a
95. 3:53hey, don't arouse love before it's time.
96. 3:55Don't awaken love before it's time.
97. 3:57Okay, there's this survey or study of
98. 4:01what's the right time and really what's
99. 4:03the right timing. I think a lot of times
100. 4:06wisdom is not about what, but about
101. 4:09when. A lot of times, you know, even
102. 4:11here at Arma or the Garden or Manny Ring
103. 4:14of Ministries, we always say, "Hey,
104. 4:16that's not a matter of of of whether
105. 4:19we're going to do it, but when we're
106. 4:21going to do it, okay, when's the right
107. 4:23time to do that?" There's a right time
108. 4:26for everything. Okay? So, there's this
109. 4:28exploration of time. And then we get
110. 4:29down to verse 11 and it says this, "He,
111. 4:32okay, that's Yahweh. Okay, that's God.
112. 4:34He has made everything beautiful in its
113. 4:37time. He has also set eternity in the
114. 4:41human heart. Yet no one can fathom what
115. 4:45God has done from beginning to end. I
116. 4:48want to focus in on that phrase. He has
117. 4:50also set eternity in the human heart.
118. 4:54Eternity in the human heart. We're going
119. 4:56to have to understand just that little
120. 4:59phrase if we're really going to
121. 5:01understand the reading for the day.
122. 5:03Because today's reading is really going
123. 5:05to focus a lot on death. Once we get to
124. 5:07Ecclesiastes chapter 7, the author is
125. 5:09going to start saying things like this.
126. 5:11A good name is better than fine perfume.
127. 5:13That part I I can rock with that. And
128. 5:16then in the day of death, better than
129. 5:18the day of birth. Whoa, hold up. Hold
130. 5:20the tape.
131. 5:22The day of death. Better than the day of
132. 5:24birth. Let's keep going. It is better to
133. 5:27go to a house of mourning than a house
134. 5:29of feasting. For death is the destiny of
135. 5:32everyone. The living should take this to
136. 5:36heart. Frustration is better than
137. 5:37laughter because a sad face is good for
138. 5:40the heart. The heart of the wise is in
139. 5:42the house of mourning, but the heart of
140. 5:45fools is in the house of pleasure. And I
141. 5:47mean, it's not going to stop like I mean
142. 5:50all over the the today's reading, we're
143. 5:52just going to explore death. I'll I'll
144. 5:55read you another passage. Ecclesiastes
145. 5:57chapter 9. I'll just start reading in
146. 5:59verse one. Okay? like if this doesn't
147. 6:02just kind of set the tone for just
148. 6:04somber and and and maybe even just like
149. 6:08kind of sad then then maybe you're not
150. 6:11reading this right. Uh but we got to put
151. 6:13this in light of Ecclesiastes chapter 3
152. 6:15which we're going to do in just a
153. 6:16second. Chapter 9, let's start reading
154. 6:18in verse one. So I reflected on all this
155. 6:21and concluded that the righteous and the
156. 6:23wise and what they do are in God's
157. 6:26hands. But no one knows whether love or
158. 6:29hate awaits them. All share a common
159. 6:32destiny. Okay? Everybody share a common
160. 6:35destiny. Fools and people that are wise
161. 6:38all share a common destiny. What's that
162. 6:40destiny? The righteous and the wicked,
163. 6:42the good and the bad, the clean and the
164. 6:45unclean. Those who offer sacrifices and
165. 6:48do those who do not. Okay? The secular,
166. 6:51the religious, everybody. Every single
167. 6:53person. As it is with the good, so with
168. 6:56the sinful. As it is with those who take
169. 6:59oaths, so with those who are afraid to
170. 7:02take them. This is the evil in
171. 7:04everything that happens under the sun.
172. 7:08The same destiny overtakes all. Now,
173. 7:11what destiny awaits all of us? It's like
174. 7:14what is the one thing that we have in
175. 7:15common? You guessed it. We're all going
176. 7:17to die. The hearts of people moreover
177. 7:20are full of evil and there is madness in
178. 7:22their hearts while they live and
179. 7:25afterwards they join the dead. Okay?
180. 7:28They join the dead. Anyone who is among
181. 7:32the living has hope. Even a live dog is
182. 7:35better off than a dead lion. For the
183. 7:39living know that they will die, but the
184. 7:41dead know nothing. They have no further
185. 7:44reward and even their name is forgotten.
186. 7:47So, we're gonna get to chapter nine. And
187. 7:50I mean, we're just gonna talk about
188. 7:52death a lot. Like, hey, what advantage
189. 7:57does a wise person have over the foolish
190. 7:58person? None. You know, wives, they both
191. 8:00die right now. They they're or they're
192. 8:03going to die. They're eventually going
193. 8:05to die. Okay. So, so what in the world's
194. 8:07going on? And if you don't have this
195. 8:09interpretive key, it's going to be sad
196. 8:11to read Ecclesiastes. I kind of touched
197. 8:13on this yesterday briefly, but we get
198. 8:15this phrase over and over and over
199. 8:16again. Under the sun. Under the sun.
200. 8:18Under the sun. So, Ecclesiastes 3:1
201. 8:21says, "Hey, God has placed eternity not
202. 8:26in our bones, not in our life, not in
203. 8:28our bodies, but in our hearts." That
204. 8:29there is this desire for eternity. That
205. 8:34there's this desire that one day we are
206. 8:37going to live beyond the sun. Okay? And
207. 8:40if you don't know that Ecclesiastes is
208. 8:45speaking from the perspective of a human
209. 8:49reflecting on the human experience
210. 8:53outside of the light of eternity, then
211. 8:56you're going to read a lot of this stuff
212. 8:57and just kind of be depressed, like just
213. 8:59kind of be sad. But but what the author
214. 9:03is actually saying is that there's
215. 9:06eternity in our hearts and that should
216. 9:09cause us to not just live for what's
217. 9:11under the sun. So what makes a person
218. 9:14wise is knowing I'm not actually living
219. 9:18wisely for what happens in these 80 or
220. 9:2190 or 40 or 20 or 10 or 100 or 120 years
221. 9:27here under the sun. I'm living my life
222. 9:31based on something that's going to
223. 9:32happen beyond the sun because God's
224. 9:34placed eternity in my heart. Without the
225. 9:37understanding that eternity has been
226. 9:39placed in our heart, it's going to be
227. 9:41hard to hear all the talk about death
228. 9:44over and over and over and over and over
229. 9:46and over and over. Okay, so family, the
230. 9:48wait is over. My brand new book,
231. 9:51Crushing Chaos, is out now and available
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237. 10:08or you can go to a Books a Million or
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239. 10:13grab a copy. If you enjoy reading the
240. 10:16Bible from an ancient perspective, if
241. 10:19you understand that the beauty of
242. 10:21scripture is actually knowing it in
243. 10:23context, then you'll love this book. And
244. 10:26if there's any chaos in your personal
245. 10:28life, I think that reading the Bible
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251. 10:41should get a copy today. All right, back
252. 10:44to the episode. All right, last little
253. 10:47piece of context that we're going to
254. 10:48need. You know, most of Ecclesiastes is
255. 10:52pros, but then we break into poetry here
256. 10:55and there. And so, we've talked about
257. 10:57Hebrew parallelism before that in Hebrew
258. 11:00poetry, it's not the words that rhyme,
259. 11:03right? It's not hickory dickory dock.
260. 11:04The mouse went up the clock. Okay? Dock
261. 11:07and clock rhyme in English poetry. Uh
262. 11:10but in Hebrew poetry it's not the words
263. 11:12that rhyme it's the ideas that rhyme.
264. 11:15Okay so what we're going to get we can
265. 11:17start in chapter 7 verse one says a good
266. 11:21name is better than fine perfume. Okay
267. 11:23so a good name is better than fine
268. 11:25perfume. Then the next line is going to
269. 11:28parallel what's above it. Okay. So a
270. 11:31good name is better than fine perfume.
271. 11:34And the day of the dead okay better than
272. 11:37the day of birth. So, a good name is
273. 11:40going to then be paralleled with the Day
274. 11:43of the Dead. Okay? A good name and the
275. 11:45Day of the Dead are both positives. What
276. 11:48are the negatives? Fine perfume in the
277. 11:50day of birth. Okay? Fine perfume in the
278. 11:53day of birth. All right? So, let's break
279. 11:55down why. Okay, this is our first nerdy
280. 11:57nugget of the day. A good name is
281. 12:00something that is internal. It's based
282. 12:02on character. Fine perfume is something
283. 12:05that is external. It has to be added to
284. 12:08you from the outside. But a good name is
285. 12:11what just comes up from the inside of a
286. 12:14person. Okay? So what the author is
287. 12:16saying is what comes out of you from the
288. 12:20inside is better than what you could put
289. 12:22on you from the outside. Okay? Internal
290. 12:25integrity better than external
291. 12:27accountability or even external uh
292. 12:30integrity. Okay? We we want there's got
293. 12:33to be something on the inside of us that
294. 12:36produces like a good name. Okay, that's
295. 12:39character. All right. Now, what's up
296. 12:41with the day of the dead is better than
297. 12:43the day of birth. Okay, the day of de of
298. 12:46the dead is is better because it teaches
299. 12:49you something about life. Okay, that
300. 12:53although eternity is in our hearts, our
301. 12:55life here on this planet is not eternal.
302. 12:59And so what happens at the day of death?
303. 13:02Reflection. At the day of death, we have
304. 13:04to reflect. On the day of life, we
305. 13:08actually there's something external to
306. 13:10us that's providing us with joy. And
307. 13:13real joy doesn't come from external
308. 13:16things happening. Real joy comes from
309. 13:19internal reflection. And when I reflect
310. 13:22on the fact that, hey, my son is only
311. 13:26going to be a little kid for four or
312. 13:29five years max, and then he's going to
313. 13:32be a big kid, and then he's going to be
314. 13:35a pre-teen. Okay? It's it's the time
315. 13:39restraint that actually forces me to be
316. 13:42intentional and to not waste the time.
317. 13:45You know, a lot of people will end up
318. 13:47saying, "Man, I miss when my kid was
319. 13:50four and they miss it in the present
320. 13:53because they missed it while it was
321. 13:56happening." Okay? And so, it is an
322. 13:59understanding of time that helps you to
323. 14:01actually appreciate everything that's
324. 14:03happening. It's funny, I began to Google
325. 14:05this. One of my favorite movies is The
326. 14:07Queen's Gambit. It's a chess movie. Uh
327. 14:10really, really, really good movie. And
328. 14:11so I began to find out that chess
329. 14:15without the time constraint is actually
330. 14:19like a totally different game than chess
331. 14:21with time. Okay? You move, hit the
332. 14:24little clock. Okay? That that clock
333. 14:28changes the dynamic of the game. And
334. 14:31eternity versus death change the dynamic
335. 14:35of how you live your life. Of course,
336. 14:37it's easy to win at life if you have
337. 14:39forever to win. you can also win at
338. 14:41chess if you have forever to win. But
339. 14:44when you know no I I have you know I
340. 14:47have 12 years before my son you know is
341. 14:51is um before his values are set in place
342. 14:55and really he's four now so I've got
343. 14:57eight years left to instill certain
344. 14:59values in him. It means every single
345. 15:02time we do bed night bedtime routine
346. 15:04matters. It means every drive to school
347. 15:07matters. It it I don't have forever.
348. 15:09There's certain lessons that I won't be
349. 15:11able to get into his brain at 30. I've
350. 15:15got to get them into his heart at 10, at
351. 15:188, at 6. Okay? There are certain things
352. 15:22that I'm a stickler about right now. You
353. 15:24know, when my son complains, like
354. 15:26literally yesterday in the car, I had to
355. 15:29teach him gratitude. What the word
356. 15:31gratitude means, what it means to be
357. 15:33grateful. We're coming up on
358. 15:34Thanksgiving. And he had already eaten
359. 15:36some ice cream. He asked my wife if he
360. 15:38could have, I don't know, some cookies.
361. 15:40My wife said no. And he started crying.
362. 15:42I said, "Hey, I need you to be grateful
363. 15:44for the ice cream that you just had."
364. 15:46And my son from the back seat goes,
365. 15:48"Dad, dad, what's grateful?" You know,
366. 15:49he doesn't know what that word means.
367. 15:51And I have to teach him grateful now at
368. 15:55four. If I'm try if I try to teach him
369. 15:57that at 25, well, at that point, he's an
370. 16:00entitled brat. So there time time. So
371. 16:04the reason that there's just this big
372. 16:06emphasis on death is because it is the
373. 16:10finite reality of life that helps you to
374. 16:15take advantage of every moment of every
375. 16:17day. If you know you have forever, then
376. 16:22what would cause you to act with
377. 16:24urgency? What would cause you to act
378. 16:26with intentionality?
379. 16:28Nothing. Okay. people who date for like
380. 16:31five, six, seven, eight years. I'm just
381. 16:33kind of like, you dated with no purpose,
382. 16:36no intentionality. You're just out here
383. 16:37just having a blast, just having fun.
384. 16:39But when you date with a purpose, when
385. 16:41you say, "Yeah, no, I in 9 months, in 12
386. 16:46months, I need to figure out whether or
387. 16:47not this person is for me and am I for
388. 16:51them." Well, now, man, every date has an
389. 16:54intention. Every conversation has a
390. 16:56purpose. There's something that I'm
391. 16:58trying to figure out. We're not just
392. 17:00shooting the breeze, not just chilling,
393. 17:02okay? We we're we're about our business.
394. 17:06And it's death that does that. That's
395. 17:08the gift of death. Knowing I'm going to
396. 17:11die actually makes me go, yeah, you
397. 17:15know, I could chill today or I could be
398. 17:17about my business today. And you want to
399. 17:20know what should like kick that into
400. 17:21gear? Realizing I'm gonna die. I'm gonna
401. 17:24die. like, and what do I want people to
402. 17:27say at my funeral? Like, what what do I
403. 17:30want my tombstone to say? What do I want
404. 17:33what do I want to leave in my children
405. 17:35and to my children? A a lot of times
406. 17:38people find this morbid, but I'll
407. 17:39straight up ask, "Hey, imagine your last
408. 17:42day on earth. Okay, imagine you're 120
409. 17:44years old. You're in your bed.
410. 17:47Everybody's gathered around. Your
411. 17:48children are there. Your grandchildren
412. 17:50are there. Your spouse, you know, all
413. 17:52the closest people to you. and and they
414. 17:55know you're going to die. You know
415. 17:56you're going to die. Everybody knows
416. 17:58it's the last day and you get to kind of
417. 18:01bless your children, bless your
418. 18:02grandchildren. You know, you got to get
419. 18:04to give them some last words and then
420. 18:07they all get to say something about you.
421. 18:10What do you want those people to say
422. 18:12about you? Do you want them to say that
423. 18:13you were generous, that you were kind?
424. 18:15Do you want them to say that you were
425. 18:18stingy? Do you want them to say what do
426. 18:20you want them to say? And imagine they
427. 18:21took a truth serum, so they had to be
428. 18:23honest. Okay, what do you want those
429. 18:25people to say? Well, guess what? You you
430. 18:28answering that question actually now
431. 18:31helps you to move towards that as a
432. 18:33goal. If death wasn't a reality, we
433. 18:35wouldn't even be able to do that as a
434. 18:37thought exercise. So, the reason that
435. 18:40you know Solomon is saying, hey, it is
436. 18:43better to go to the house of morning
437. 18:44than the house of feasting for death is
438. 18:46the destiny of everyone. The living
439. 18:48should take this to heart. Okay? is cuz
440. 18:51hey, at some point you're going to have
441. 18:53to live with death in mind. You should.
442. 18:56And anybody who's just kind of like I
443. 18:58don't want to think about that or that's
444. 18:59sad or that's depressing or that's a
445. 19:02Debbie Downer, it's like got it. You
446. 19:04lack wisdom. You lack wisdom. Wise
447. 19:07people plan for their death. Period.
448. 19:10Wise people have an understanding I
449. 19:13don't have forever. And what it really
450. 19:16does is it punches procrastination in
451. 19:19the face. How dare you procrastinate
452. 19:21when you're gonna die? You know, it it's
453. 19:23like, and the reality is that, you know,
454. 19:26I've had the distinct honor of preaching
455. 19:29or facilitating a couple of funerals.
456. 19:32You know, I've officiated weddings and
457. 19:34then, you know, officiated funerals.
458. 19:36Man, it's not hard to get people to get
459. 19:38to to to get saved at a funeral. Man, I
460. 19:41always have people surrender their lives
461. 19:43to Jesus, make a decision for Christ at
462. 19:44a funeral because someone's in a casket.
463. 19:48It's pretty easy to like remind people
464. 19:51of how short and how delicate life is
465. 19:57when somebody's laying in a casket. I've
466. 20:00seen many people give their life to the
467. 20:01Lord at a funeral. Not a LOT OF PEOPLE
468. 20:03GIVE THEIR LIFE TO THE LORD AT A
469. 20:04WEDDING. NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE SURRENDER
470. 20:06THEIR LIFE TO THE Lord at a wedding. So,
471. 20:08think about that. Think about how many
472. 20:10people surrender their lives to lordship
473. 20:12of Jesus at a funeral versus at a
474. 20:14wedding. And then let's read this again.
475. 20:16It is better to go to the house of
476. 20:17mourning than the house of feasting.
477. 20:19It's better to go to a funeral than a
478. 20:21wedding. Why? Because it is actually the
479. 20:24funeral that causes people to reflect on
480. 20:26their life and their decisions and
481. 20:28repent and choose Jesus. Not not when
482. 20:32they go to a wedding, not not when not
483. 20:34when they're at the at the housewarming
484. 20:36party. It's not new life that causes you
485. 20:39to reflect on life. It's the end of life
486. 20:41that causes you to reflect on life. One
487. 20:43of my favorite books is seven habits of
488. 20:45highly effective people. And one of the
489. 20:47habits of highly effective people is
490. 20:49start with the end in mind. And if I
491. 20:52could give any advice to you today, and
492. 20:53I think this advice comes straight out
493. 20:55of Ecclesiastes, it would be to start or
494. 20:58rather maybe live your life with the end
495. 21:01in mind. What do you want people to say
496. 21:04about you when you die? What do you want
497. 21:06your last day on this planet to be like?
498. 21:09And then work backwards. You know, me
499. 21:12and my family, we moved to Houston a
500. 21:13year ago to plant a church. And I put
501. 21:16January 25th, 2026 on the calendar and
502. 21:19said, "Yeah, we're gonna launch a church
503. 21:21on this date." And then I just started
504. 21:23working backwards. Okay? In order to
505. 21:24launch a church, you know, at that date,
506. 21:28what are all the things that are going
507. 21:29to have to be true? Then you just work
508. 21:31backwards. And with any project or with
509. 21:34any task, you know, you're supposed to
510. 21:37work backwards. But then with life, you
511. 21:40just live forward. No, no, no, no, no.
512. 21:42Work backwards. The reason I started a
513. 21:45church at 38 years old is because in my
514. 21:47mind, 65 is a great age to retire. And I
515. 21:50know that I don't want to be a senior
516. 21:52pastor for more than 25, 26, 27 years.
517. 21:56So my goal right now, I'm going to put
518. 21:58in 27 years. And then at 65, I'M OUT.
519. 22:02YO, I GOT A DOCTORATE SO that I could
520. 22:04teach a college, teach, you know, be a
521. 22:07professor. So, I'm going to give it a
522. 22:09good run for 27 years. I worked
523. 22:12backwards. So, the reason I didn't start
524. 22:15a church at 28 or 32 is because ah I
525. 22:19thought about okay, not when do I want
526. 22:21to die, but what do I want my life to be
527. 22:23like when I die? Then what am what do I
528. 22:25want to do up until retirement and then
529. 22:27what do I want to do? Like at some
530. 22:29point, you're going to have to really
531. 22:30reflect on death if you're going to be
532. 22:33wise. And then ultimately, I'm going to
533. 22:35leave you with this. This is our
534. 22:36timeless truth for the day. Chapter 8
535. 22:38verse one. Who is like the wise? Who
536. 22:41knows the explanation of things? A
537. 22:43person's wisdom brightens their face and
538. 22:46changes his heart appearance. So
539. 22:49Solomon's like, "Now, who's really
540. 22:51wise?" I'll tell you who's wise. The the
541. 22:55person who's wise is who can look death
542. 22:57in the face and not be sad. Can look
543. 23:00death in the face and what? Their face
544. 23:02can be bright. Face can be full of joy.
545. 23:04the person who can like think about
546. 23:06death, plan out their life, and then
547. 23:10like have a big old smile on their face.
548. 23:13If you can think about death and get
549. 23:15happy, that doesn't make you suicidal.
550. 23:17That makes you wise. If you can think
551. 23:18about, hey, this is how I want my life
552. 23:21to end. This is the book I'm writing.
553. 23:24This is the narrative that I'm creating
554. 23:26with my life. And the author saying, I
555. 23:29we know that like you could read this in
556. 23:31despair about how unfair life is. and
557. 23:34how random life is and how much chance
558. 23:36there is to life. You could read all
559. 23:38about that and your face be downcast. Or
560. 23:42you could read all that, hear all that
561. 23:44and it add brightness to your face. And
562. 23:47if you can read about how unfair life is
563. 23:49and how hard it is and how difficult it
564. 23:51is and how much chance and luck there is
565. 23:54in life and how the the wicked and the
566. 23:58and the wise person have the same end,
567. 24:02which is to die and not let your face be
568. 24:05downcast, but actually like add a pep to
569. 24:08your step. That makes you wise. And if
570. 24:11you can't do that, then there's a lack
571. 24:14of wisdom there. And that's the wisdom
572. 24:15test. That is Solomon's wisdom test. How
573. 24:19much sad, somber, depressing content can
574. 24:24you consume and it not make you sad or
575. 24:28depressed or somber, but it makes you
576. 24:30excited because now you have a wise
577. 24:32perspective? It's brightened your face.
578. 24:35So, I want to ask you a question. Has
579. 24:37Ecclesiastes brightened your face? If
580. 24:39Ecclesiastes kind of put you in a funk,
581. 24:42then you're not wise yet. But if
582. 24:44Ecclesiastes has brightened your face,
583. 24:46then guess what? We're on the path of
584. 24:48wisdom. And that's not just true for
585. 24:50Solomon or anybody that lived during the
586. 24:53time of the Bible. That's true for you.
587. 24:55That's true for me. It's a timeless
588. 24:57truth. TOMORROW WE GOT DAY 335. IT'S OUR
589. 25:00LAST DAY IN THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES and
590. 25:02we're going to wrap it all up. We're
591. 25:04going to talk about the number one
592. 25:06lesson that we should be getting out of
593. 25:09reading this book. It's going to be
594. 25:10great. Can't wait to see you right here.
595. 25:12Love you guys. Proud of you. Especially
596. 25:14if you're on a street. See you tomorrow.
597. 25:16Peace.
598. 25:18Thanks so much for joining us on the
599. 25:19Bible Department podcast. If this
600. 25:21episode was helpful, how about you leave
601. 25:23a comment, share with a friend, and
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603. 25:27episode. To learn more about the show,
604. 25:29head to the bible department.com. We'll
605. 25:32see you right back here tomorrow.