THE ROAD TO EMMAUS Ecclesiastes & the Song of Solomon

Complete the Old Testament pick-up lines QUIZ Complete the Old Testament pick-up lines

AUTHOR Eccl 1:1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Eccl 1:12 I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

THEME What is the meaning of life? Isn’t it all fleeting, empty, pointless, and vain since we are all just racing towards death anyway? Meaningful! Meaningful! All is meaningful because all is ordered by an eternal, sovereign, and purposeful God. Therefore, we should fear God and rejoice in what He has given us to do and to have.

VANITY OF VANITIES Eccl 1:2-3 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

VANITY OF VANITIES Eccl 1:4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. v. 11 There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.

VANITY OF VANITIES Eccl 2:10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. v. 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

VANITY OF VANITIES Eccl 2:15-16 Then I said in my heart, "What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?" And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! v. 17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

VANITY OF VANITIES Eccl 2:18 I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me. v. 20 So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun. v. 23 For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.

FROM THE HAND OF GOD Eccl 2:24-26 24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

FROM THE HAND OF GOD Eccl 3:12-14 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil--this is God's gift to man. I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. Eccl 5:18-20 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil--this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

FROM THE HAND OF GOD Eccl 9:7-10 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

FROM THE HAND OF GOD Eccl 12:13-14 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

JOHN PATON “Whatever trials have befallen me in my Earthly Pilgrimage, I have never had the trial of doubting that perhaps, after all, Jesus had made some mistake. No! My blessed Lord Jesus makes no mistakes!”

CONTEXT Song 1:1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's.

THEME Men and women are to fulfill their roles in glorifying God together, as male and female created in God’s image, through upright sexual relations in marriage.

COURTSHIP Song 2:7 (3:5) I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.

WEDDING Song 5:1 I came to my garden, my sister, my bride, I gathered my myrrh with my spice, I ate my honeycomb with my honey, I drank my wine with my milk. Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love!

MARRIAGE Gen 3:16 To the woman [God] said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." Song 7:10 I am my beloved's, and his desire is for me.

SCHEDULE HOMEWORK: Married folks: Do something nice for your spouse Read 1-2 Kings NEXT WEEK: 1-2 KINGS