Class Notes: 7/30/2008

Solomon's experiment in life and his conclusion that the whole duty of man is to fear God and do his will

We are continuing in our study of the Doctrine of "No fear" per the mandate for the believer not to fear that is found in Matt 10:28,31; Rev 2:10; Isa 41:10; LXX.

The word translated "fear" in these passages is the Greek word "phobeo" in the imperative mood.

In the Matthew passage, Matthew records that TLJC presents fear in two ways, in a positive way as in fear, respect, awe, or reverence toward God and in a negative way as the emotional sin of fear that is a mental attitude sin.

Both are commands to the believer since they are both in the imperative mood of command in the original language. We are presently examining the the Faith Rest Drill as the system whereby the believer demonstrates respect and awe for the Lord by their trust in his word
Fear and the divinely provided spiritual mechanics of the PPOG cannot coexist in the believer's soul because function in the PPOG and function in the kosmic system are mutually exclusive.

We saw that the Faith Rest Drill is God's solution to fear, which when matured per 1Cor 13:13 ultimately completely drives out fear 1John 4:18;

Faith-rest as a problem-solving device is broken down into four stages:
(1) Claiming promises,
(2) concentration on doctrinal rationales,
(3) arriving at doctrinal conclusions of how the seven remaining problem-solving devices should be applied to the situation, and
(4) the committing of injustices to the supreme court of heaven under the Royal Family Honor Code.

In stage one, Faith reaches out and claims promises. This presumes that the believer knows some promises through their Perception of Bible Doctrine in Bible class.

God has made promises to the three categories of mankind, Israel, the Gentiles and the Church and we are looking at some of the promises that God has made to each category.

The ultimate application of Faith Rest is in Dying, Psa 23:4; but life offers many other smaller challenges which also require the application of the Faith Rest Drill.

We are presently looking at Solomon’s description of his attempt to find fulfillment in his life through his frantic search for happiness apart from Bible Doctrine and the application of Faith Rest that is recorded in Ecclesiastes.

We have examined his conclusions from his pursuit of happiness through knowledge and education, pleasure, building projects, his family, and philosophy all of which failed to provide him with a fulfilled life.

Continuing where we left off last time in our examination of his conclusion regarding his use of sex in his pursuit of happiness we saw last time that...

There is only one way true happiness can be found in sex and that is in the marriage contract. This contract is a mutual relationship based on virtue love between one man and one woman who have been united in marriage.

All other relationships that involve sex are destined to failure because of the absence of virtue love.

Solomon expresses his conclusion from his attempt to use sex as a means of happiness in:
Ecclesiastes 7:26; - I discovered more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will escape from her but she will capture the sinner.

He summarizes his conclusions regarding his lifetime spent in the frantic search for happiness in
Ecclesiastes 7:29; - "Behold I have found only this, that God made men upright but they have sought out many devices."

The "many devices" refer to reasonings and speculations of human viewpoint which cause the believer to abandon the Faith Rest of the PPOG for their life and pursue happiness in the kosmic system.

The Divine order in society is the principle of one man for one woman in marriage. It is the second law of divine establishment that we have studied.

The lack of virtue that results from the violation of that arrangement simply cannot lead to happiness of any kind.

True happiness requires virtue and virtue is only available when one lives inside the PPOG for their lives.

All these human viewpoint attempts in pursuit of happiness were finally brought into perspective as Solomon grew older.

The world's richest man woke up one day to the fact that he was old, that his youth was gone, and his life a waste.

All that was left was personal misery and the prospect of physical death became a haunting reality.

The only way for Solomon to salvage anything from this period of self-centeredness was to resume his spiritual life fulfilling the principle of Prov 22:6;

The resumption of the spiritual life requires the acknowledgement of known sin 1John 1:9; and the resumption of the faith rest life via the PMA of Bible Doctrine for the renovation of the thinking. Rom 12:2;

Ecclesiastes 11:10; NET- Remove emotional stress (the Hebrew word is " ka'as” and it refers to the entire sphere of emotional reaction that includes anger, spite, wrath, implacability and vindictiveness from your heart and put away pain from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting. Net note 30

The word translated "fleeting" in the Hebrew is "hebel" and means vanity, emptiness, and transient. This is the dominant word used by Solomon to describe his period of reversionism. Net note 36
The English word "transient" is a good word to describe his conclusion.

"transient" describes something that is passing especially quickly into and out of existence. Passing through a place with only a brief stay or sojourn. Transient describes something that has a very short in its duration.

The Hebrew word "hebel" is also used for the "wind" or "breath." There are three contexts in where "hebel" is used.

First, it is used as a designation of false gods worshiped by the people of God and hence is usually translated in this context by the word "idols." as in Deut 32:21; Net note 42

Second, the term represents the exasperating sentiments of individuals. Job complains about the brevity and uncertainty of his life as in Job 7:16; ("I waste away, I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath."). Net note 58

Third, are the 36 references that Solomon uses that are found in Ecclesiastes Life in its quality is "empty" or "vacuous," and its quantity is "transitory." as in Eccles 1:2; Net note 9 and Eccles 12:8; Net note 30

It is likely that Solomon's views on aging and wasted youth were at least partially inspirational to William Shakespeare when he wrote in Mac Beth, Act 5, scene 5, that is spoken by Mac Beth:
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

As Solomon arrives at chapter 12, the Holy Spirit inspires him to issue a message to the youth:
Ecclesiastes 12:1; Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no delight in them."

The key to avoiding the wasting of one's time in the frantic search for happiness is to believe in TLJC at an early age and then keep on advancing in the PPOG throughout one's life.

"Remember your Creator in the days of your youth" is a challenge to one's faith in believing in TLJC for salvation as well as for execution of the PPOG through the recall and application of Bible Doctrine when the believer is under pressure through the application of the Faith Rest Drill.

The Lord is remembered first of all through faith-alone in Christ alone and then by the execution of the spiritual life of one's dispensation.

Anyone who enters old age without a relationship with TLJC is destined to enter the Death-Shadowed Valley either alone as an unbeliever or under discipline as a reversionistic believer.

Solomon describes God as "your creator" emphasizing him as the source of life.

If one lives in the Faith Rest of the PPOG rather than the frantic search for happiness from the kosmic system when one is young then as and the capacity for physical life is decreased due to the natural process of aging the believer still has capacity for life because their life is established in the eternity of Bible Doctrine rather than the temporary pursuit of happiness in the transient kosmos.

v2; Solomon says that we are to remember God “before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain.”

This refers to the fading capacity for stimulation from the body as it ages.

It also points to the repetitive gloom faced by the elderly without Bible Doctrine residing and circulating in the stream of consciousness by means of Faith.

v3; Solomon says that the “the watchmen of the house tremble.” This means that the arms and hands shake and become weak. When he says that the “mighty men stoop,” he is referring to the shoulders, legs, and back slumping and becoming feeble.

“The grinding ones stand idle because they are few” indicates the scarcity of teeth. The phrase “those who look through windows grow dim” means the ability to see is impaired.

Eccles 12:4; “and the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low.” This refers to the loss of hearing. To make matters worse, Solomon writes, “and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song will sing softly.”

These two phrases mean that as we age we will struggle to sleep and we will wake up early.

Furthermore, our voices will quiver and weaken and we will be hard to hear.

v5; “Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road.” This refers to fear of injury due to frailty. The following phrases are rather picturesque: “the almond tree blossoms” refers to our hair turning white. The phrase “the grasshopper drags himself along” speaks of the halting walk of the elderly The phrase “the caperberry is ineffective” refers to a decrease in the appetites of life. “For man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street.” Man passes into eternity, but life under the sun goes on.

v6;“Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed.” All of the items mentioned in this verse are associated with a well. In Scripture, a well is used as a metaphor for life. But this one is no longer being used for drawing water.

Someday your body is going to wear out. You will be nothing but a dry shell of your former self.

The four verbs used in this passage emphasize the finality of life.

Throughout this chapter, Solomon uses figures of speech to provide us a with a picture of the decline of life under the sun in a physical body as it ages.

Through them we see that many of the difficulties related to aging are exacerbated and are really impossible to deal with if one is not living in the Faith Rest of the PPOG.

Then in Eccles 12:7; Solomon abandons imagery and states directly, “then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” Death is the returning of the body to the dust.

This verse is very similar to what God said to Adam regarding his biological life, “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return” Gen 3:19;. The spirit’s returning “to God who gave it” reminds us of the true source of our life Gen 2:7;.

He then concludes in verse 8 with familiar words: “‘Vanity of vanities,’ says the Preacher, ‘all is vanity!’” The book of Ecclesiastes is characterized by two phrases: “vanity of vanities” Eccles 1:2; and “under the sun” Eccles 1:3; referring to the transient nature of mankind's activity on the earth apart from a relationship with God.

He uses these phrases to describe life on this planet apart from the Faith Rest Life, the Personal Sense of Destiny and confident expectation of Divine good that come to those who are living inside PPOG for their life.

His final conclusion is found in Eccles 12:13-14;

Believers who have learned how to use the spiritual mechanics to live inside the PPOG when they are young will find that as they age and become weaker physically, that they can actually maintain their strength and even become stronger in life by means of the application of Bible Doctrine. 2Cor 12:9-10; John 3:30;


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