Chapter Five

Fools don't even know that they are doing the wrong thing. Ignorance should be painful? It is. This chapter was difficult for me to assimilate, let alone trying to blog upon it. The first difficulty is in grasping Solomon's awe and reverence of God. Is he trying to explain to me why I should fear my God? We live in a world where the messages regarding religion are either sugar coated, or hell-fire and damnation. 5:1: Be careful what you do when you go to the temple of God; draw near to listen rather than to offer a sacrifice like fools, for they do not realize that they are doing wrong. Do you think you are excluded from the term fool? I don't. Solomon is telling us to keep our mouths shut to listen and obey what God wants us to do. One big way to be a fool, is by being intellectually dishonest with our self. That arises when we pray to God. 5:2: Do not be rash with your mouth or hasty in your heart to bring up a matter before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth! Therefore, let your words be few. 5:3: Just as dreams come when there are many cares, so the rash vow of a fool occurs when there are many words.

Oh, when the troubles come are we not prone to pray and plead to God. Maybe make a vow that we will enact when the trouble has been thwarted? Are we whining and fussing to a God who controls the entirety of the universe? We should be willing to put some value to a request we make of God, but do we follow through with our commitments once the problem has passed? Solomon says God pays attention to this. Be very careful when you address God. Perhaps this is where fear should be recognized. We should not only be careful with our pleas, but pay attention to what we are trying to pay God off with. Ever have a friend, or relative who is in deep circumstance and comes to you to borrow money? I think the very first consideration is how in tune this person is with their promises. How many follow up their words with their promised actions? How many times do you get burned before you realize it was a bad idea to help them? It took me a long time to learn this lesson. Some things cannot be repaid when they go on too long. Your character suffers. Your credit score suffers.

In education, one of the guru's state that there must be ethical thinking to align our thoughts, actions and deeds. The first step is to ask,"What am I thinking about," then "What do I think about this," then how am I proceeding, based on my thoughts and beliefs. God holds us accountable. It is a good gauge to determine a person's sincerity when necessary. 5:4: When we make a vow to God, do not delay in paying it. For God takes no pleasure in fools; Pay what you vow! 5:5: It is better for you not to vow than to vow and not pay it. 5:6: Do not let your mouth cause you to sin, and do not tell the Priest, "It was a mistake!" (I didn't really mean it...) Why make God angry at you so that he would destroy the work of your hands? 5:7 Just as there is futility in many dreams, so also in many words. Therefore, fear God!

Leviticus 5.15 lays out what one should do, in the Old Testament, if you intentionally or unintentionally fail to honor your obligations. Bring a ram, or the equivalent in silver ($50 to $300) that has no defects to the official standards of the holy place. 5:16 Pay for what holy things you used plus 1/5th more. Give it to the Priest so he will use the sacrifice for a guilt offering to make peace with the Lord for what you did wrong to be forgiven. Jesus paid that sacrificial offering for us. God was upset and bored with all the slaughtering going on. Does God destroy our work for such things? Read Joshua 7:1 - 26.

5:8 If you see the extortion of the poor, or the perversion of justice and fairness in government, do not be astonished by the matter. For the high official is watched by a higher official, and there are higher ones over them. The Bible teaches there is no authority, except that which God gives. How is this that our powerful God lets this occur? The culture of a business or government comes from the top down. All have a job to do based on profit in accordance to the leadership's demand. It all gets traced back to the CEO, or even the devil himself. God holds all accountable in the end. It might very well be that you might do the same thing under the circumstances. God is in control. He is the judge, not us. There are many rules and regulations we don't fully grasp the purpose of sometimes.

5:9 The produce of the land is seized by all of them, even the king is served by the fields. 5:10 The one who loves money will never be satisfied with money, he who loves wealth will never be satisfied with his income. this is also futile. 5:11 When someone's prosperity increases, those who consume it also increase; so what does its owner gain, except that he gets to see it with his eyes. The wheels of the economy are greased by penalizing those who don't continue to invest their wealth. The wealthy don't see much of their earnings. We tend to spend all we make, don't we? The only way I could save money was to take it somewhere before I could get my hands on it. That way my mind didn't know I had it. This could also mean that God sends people in need to those who have it. How many unknown friends and relatives do those who win the lottery discover shortly thereafter? Our wealth is gained to help others less fortunate, but it is to spend at our discretion.

5:12 The sleep of the laborer is pleasant whether he eats little or much but the wealth of the rich will not allow him to sleep. I knew a So. CA woman once who stole money from her drunken husband's slumber and secretly bought rental properties in the early 1960's. She became a millionaire a few times over. She never could take a vacation to enjoy her wealth for fear of being robbed. Ironic, isn't it? 5:13 Here is a misfortune I have seen: Wealth horded by its owner to his own misery. There comes a time when our possessions own us. A healthy garage sale, donating items to charity, or helping someone in need really frees us from some of that. Do you see the disease of a hoarder? The deeper meaning here is that wealth is not intended to be kept by the owner alone. 5:14 Then that wealth was lost through bad luck, although he fathered a son, he does not have anything left to give him. The word "bad luck" is a translation that has many in debate. The dilemma comes in how we interpret this. Is it through bad luck, or bad intention that the meaning can change. The Hebrew word means business affair. No matter how much preparation is in success, it can come down to circumstance. Perhaps you invested in Enron, God forbid. Perhaps you invested in a pyramid scheme. Living in Las Vegas taught me lots of lessons of gambling losses, though not a personal lesson per se. I have too low a threshold for pain.

If we are judicious about where we spend our money, we might not suffer the fate of fools. If you do not know this, every dollar you spend is an economic vote. It is far more influential than the vote for the politician who is supposed to be your servant. Your dollars drive what is available, what is important, even the price you pay. Be judicious in your spending as you are in your prayers and vows. It makes a difference.

5:15 Just as he came forth from his mother's womb, naked will he return as he came, and he will take nothing in this hand that he may carry away from his toil. 5:16 This is another misfortune: Just as he came, so will he go. What did he gain from toiling in the wind? 5:17 Surely he ate in the darkness every day of his life, and he suffered greatly with sickness and anger. One of the biggest definitions I have of economics is that it is the study of man's unlimited wants (exponential function, 1 to the nth power) and the limits of growth (arithmetic function, 1 +1 = 2). Our time is short and limited. Be careful with your investments, both in how you save and how you invest. OK, how many of you have a great LP record collection? Any value there now?

5:18 - 19) I wonder if all of this is to drive home Solomon's conclusion we should eat, drink and enjoy our work? It further spells this out and he concludes on the same note. Is it making more sense? Perhaps it is further defining this tenet. 5:20 For he does not think much about the fleeting days of his life because God keeps him preoccupied with the joy he derives from his activity. Is it God's intention to distract us? God does not worry so much about death as we do. If we were to focus on our death, we would accomplish little. I do not think our minds comprehend our mortality for the most part either. We do stay distracted.

This chapter uses http://www.ezekielsmessage.com/studies/080-Ecclesiastes5.pdf rather extensively in this blog.