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Search for Meaning: Professor's Quest for Wisdom

Delve into Ecclesiastes' search for purpose in life, from the vanity of earthly pursuits to the wisdom gained through reflection. Explore the idea of eternal vs. temporal meaning and the quest for fulfillment in a modern world. Discover the profound teachings and insights of the Teacher on the constant search for significance.

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Search for Meaning: Professor's Quest for Wisdom

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  1. “Qoheleth” = “Ecclesiastes” =Assembly Leader/Teacher (Hebrew) (Greek)

  2. He is the Professor We are the Students

  3. The Search for Meaning Part I • The Words of the Teacher (vv. 1-2) • What Does Man Gain From His Labor? (vv. 3-8) • There Is Nothing New Under the Sun (vv. 9-11) • I Applied Myself to Understanding Wisdom (vv. 12-18)

  4. The Author is Identified • “Son of David” (v.1) • “King in Jerusalem” (v.1) • “I the teacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem” (v.12) • “I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me.” (2:9)

  5. Ecclesiastes 1:2 “ ‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’ ” • A puff of air • Vanity • Futility • Empty

  6. Decent into Meaninglessness • Christian Society:Life has eternal meaning through Jesus Christ. • Modern Society: Life has temporal meaning through man’s achievement. • Post-modern Society: Life has individual meaning. Everyone has his own truth. • Post Post-modern: Life has no meaning. Live for todays pleasures. Much depression and despair.

  7. Structure Our teacher tells us the problem at the beginning, and for most of the book tells us about his search for an answer, then reveals the answer at the end.

  8. The Search for Meaning Part I • The Words of the Teacher (vv. 1-2) • What Does Man Gain From His Labor? (vv. 3-8) • There Is Nothing New Under the Sun (vv. 9-11) • I Applied Myself to Understanding Wisdom (vv. 12-18)

  9. Mark 8:36-37 “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

  10. The Sun

  11. The Wind

  12. The Streams

  13. “The eye never has enough of seeing” “Or the ear its fill of hearing”

  14. An Endless Cycle

  15. The Search for Meaning Part I • The Words of the Teacher (vv. 1-2) • What Does Man Gain From His Labor? (vv. 3-8) • There Is Nothing New Under the Sun (vv. 9-11) • I Applied Myself to Understanding Wisdom (vv. 12-18)

  16. “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again.” -Ecclesiastes 1:9

  17. “There is nothing new under the sun” -Ecclesiastes 1:9

  18. Ecclesiastes 1:11 “There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.”

  19. The Search for Meaning Part I • The Words of the Teacher (vv. 1-2) • What Does Man Gain From His Labor? (vv. 3-8) • There Is Nothing New Under the Sun (vv. 9-11) • I Applied Myself to Understanding Wisdom (vv. 12-18)

  20. “I devoted myself to study and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven” -Ecclesiastes 1:13

  21. Every Philosophy Comes Up Short • Do whatever makes you happy • Fulfill all your goals and dreams • Learn as much as you can • Gain all that you can • Friends and family first

  22. “What a heavy burden God has laid on men” -Ecclesiastes 1:13

  23. “It may seem cruel of God to devise such a system, but it is actually evidence of His great love and mercy. He built within us the desire and need for that which brings meaning and fulfillment to life. As Augustine wrote, the Creator made a God-shaped space in each of us, which can only be filled with Him.” -David Guzik

  24. “All of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind” -Ecclesiastes 1:14

  25. Ecclesiastes 1:15 “What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.”

  26. Solomon’s Wisdom 1 Kings 4:29 “God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.”

  27. Solomon’s Wisdom 1 Kings 4:32 “He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five.”

  28. Solomon’s Wisdom 1 Kings 4:33 “He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish.”

  29. Solomon’s Wisdom 1 Kings 4:34 “Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.”

  30. So we will not waste our lives

  31. Ecclesiastes 1:17 “Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.”

  32. Ecclesiastes 1:18 “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.”

  33. The Search for Meaning The Study of Ecclesiastes • Ecclesiastes vividly describes modern dissatisfaction with life • Ecclesiastes confronts us with the problem of death • Ecclesiastes prepares us for the answer—a resurrected Savior

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