Comparing Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, Part 1
- for the past several weeks, we’ve been working on an introduction to the book of Proverbs.
- today, and probably next week, we’re going to be looking at a comparison between this book and the book of Ecclesiastes.
- we think that looking at the book through this particular lens will help us when we get into the specific verses in Proverbs.
- let’s start with this…
1. What is the relationship between the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes?
- we’re going to see this morning that both books are about priorities, worldviews, ways of looking at life…but they present the issues from entirely different/opposite perspectives…
Ecclesiastes – wrongly aligned priorities
Proverbs – rightly aligned priorities
- we all know that priorities are important.
- one of the books we’re using as a guide for this study told about…
2. Inscriptions over three doors in a chapel in Milan.
All that troubles is but for a moment.
All that pleases is but for a moment.
Nothing is important save that which is eternal.
INPUT – do you agree with those statements? How and in what ways are they true?
3. The importance of priorities.
Input – Different priorities people have (good/bad)? [white board]
- we can also take a list like this one and begin organizing it. One possible way to do this is…
4. Categories of wrong priorities.
a. Competing priorities
- where we have expectations under each heading that are just unreasonable…
- or where one is striving to “be first”
- INPUT – what happens when this is the case?
[frustration, “burnout”]
b. Confused priorities
- unable/unwilling to make decisions…
- or consistently make wrong ones because priorities have been established, but wrongly so…
c. Conditional priorities
- don’t stick with the priorities that were established…
- life becomes like the fireman putting out brushfires…
Point – The writer of Proverbs has his priorities straight and wants his children to as well.
- Let’s look at some ideas from these two books to help us clarify our priorities
I. The Purpose for Living
- In Ecclesiastes, Solomon tells us what he tried to do, and how it didn’t work.
A. Humanistic purposes
[assign following passages to various groups, ask them to try to determine what Solomon had set up as a priority at that time in his life, along with some of the key biblical phrases that described that approach to life in the text]
Eccl. 1:12-18 – Wisdom
Eccl. 2:1-11 – Pleasure
Eccl. 2:18-23 – Working for wealth
B. The biblical purpose
INPUT – how do each of the following passages express a biblical purpose, and one that is far different than we’ve studied thus far?
Eccl. 12:1
[INPUT - How/in what ways had Solomon forgotten his Creator? How could that happen to a believer today? How do we prevent this from happening in our own lives? The lives of our children?]
Eph. 1:6, 12, 14
[note threefold use of “to the praise of God’s glory”]
I Cor. 10:31
II. The Priorities for Living
A. The priorities expressed
If your purpose is ________,
your priority will be ________.
Purpose Priority
Wisdom Education
Pleasure Indulgence & gratification
Wealth Work
Two priorities from Eccl. 12:13 - To fear God (worship, reverence), and to obey Him.
[next week we plan to “chase these two ideas” through a number of passages of Scripture to help us reinforce the importance of what these two books are emphasizing]
