What God Gives - Ecclesiastes Chapter 2

Solomon was a man of great intrepidity. When God called him to be King proceeding his father David, God spoke to Solomon in a dream and said: “what do you want? Ask and I will give it to you!” (1 King 3:5). In response to the question, Solomon asked the Lord for an understanding heart, so he can govern God’s people well and know the difference between right and wrong. God grants Solomon this request and much more. The Lord declares, “because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies—I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will compare to you for the rest of your life! And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life” (1 King 3:11-14).

When God blessed Solomon, he had the mind of a child who did not know much of anything (1 Kings 3:7). God precisely told Solomon he must follow The Lord and obey his commands. As Solomon began to establish his role as King he utilized the wisdom God gave him well. For example, he settled a dispute between two women arguing about who the alive child belonged to. For the people exclaimed, “were in awe of the king, for they saw the wisdom God had given him for rendering justice.”

There’s an interesting contrast between First Kings 3 and Ecclesiastes 2. When God initially blessed Solomon he didn’t know much of anything but when he wrote Ecclesiastes he expressed much knowledge and wisdom about his choices in life and ultimately what those decisions rendered him. With his wisdom never failing him, he still believed there was nothing worthwhile anywhere (Ecclesiastes 2: 9,11). To start your kingship with people being in awe of you because they are witnessing the hand of God over your life, to then, having a belief that everything is meaningless under the sun; how?

Solomon realized apart from God—everything is meaningless!

Life is futile. It serves no purpose to be apart from the life-giver. If we look for the meaning of life in life, we’ll never find it. To find meaning and purpose we have to first seek God. Solomon received this revelation as he examined his life. Life is brief, and Solomon is explaining that it needs to be savored and enjoyed as a gift from God. In Act 17, Paul says, “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any of us. For in him we live, move, and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘we are his offspring.’” As Solomon searched through life, he’d come to understand that we ought to enjoy our food and drink and find satisfaction in our work because these pleasures are from God (Ecclesiastes 2:24). God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. Apart from God, we can do nothing (John 15:5).