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LESSON 5

*January 27 - February 2

More Life Under the Sun

Read for This Week's Study:

Memory Text: 

*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, February 3.

The Oppressors

Read Ecclesiastes 4:1-3. Rewrite in your own words what Solomon is saying.  

Solomon is, again, looking at life from a worldly perspective, from "under the sun." These words, though, are somewhat interesting when you consider who is writing them: the king himself. It would be one thing if a slave were bemoaning his fate at the hands of his or her masters or if a poor person were lamenting his or her fate under the oppression of the rich. But in this case, you have the richest and most powerful leader in the nation complaining about injustice and oppression.

We tend to think of oppression usually in the context of politics or wealth. There are, though, other ways people can be oppressed. What about husbands and wives, or parents and children? What about religious oppression, the use of religion to oppress and exploit others? Or what about employers and employees? Or sexual harassment; is not that a form of oppression? What other kinds can you think of? Could someone be an oppressor without even realizing it? Look up the following texts. What principles are found there that, if applied, would protect someone from falling into that role, even unwittingly?  Mark 10:43, 44; 1 Cor. 9:19; Phil. 2:3; 2 Tim. 2:24; 1 John 3:16; 4:11.  

Power can be a subtle thing. Used correctly, it can be a great blessing, for with power one can guide, even command, others in the right direction. It's also a very easy thing to abuse. As has been said, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Most of us, in one way or another, have power over others. The crucial question is how do we use it?

Look at yourself. What kind of power do you exert? How well are you following the principles expressed in the texts for today? What changes might you need to make in order to make sure you're not abusing that power?

Is Life Worth It?

"Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive. Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun" (Eccles. 4:2, 3).

"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy."—Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays (New York: Vintage Books, 1955), p. 3.

However differently phrased, both quotes touch on a similar question: Is human life worth the bother? Considering all the pain, suffering, and disappointment that go into living, and we still die anyway-is life worth it?

The answer, ultimately, depends upon your view of what the meaning of life is. If one takes the position that our life here is capped and culminated at death and that nothing comes after, you will have one view. If you believe that this life is only a temporary stop on the way to something better, something eternal, then you will have another view. Thus, in many ways, the answer to the question Is life worth it? depends, ironically enough, on the question

Write out your answer to the question Is life worth it? Give a yes or no answer and then defend your position the best you can, using whatever Bible texts you deem necessary. Bring your answer to class on Sabbath.  

Envy

Solomon here is on a real roll. After saying, basically, that one is better off not to have ever been born than to live and see all the oppression "done under the sun" (Eccles. 4:1), he then delves into another theme, envy (vss. 4-6). Fair enough; after all, it's a worthwhile topic to look at from a biblical perspective. Even one of the Ten Commandments deals, at its root, with the issue of envy (Which one?). Solomon, though, takes it to another level: All toil and all skillful work is nothing but a person being jealous of a neighbor. That's a cynical attitude, to be sure, and though there's some truth to it, he certainly pushes the problem of envy to an extreme.

Nevertheless, envy is a human problem. In fact, it's more than a human problem. It was, indeed, the original sin. "Satan was envious and jealous of Jesus Christ. Yet when all the angels bowed to Jesus to acknowledge His supremacy and high authority and rightful rule, Satan bowed with them; but his heart was filled with envy and hatred."—Ellen G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1, p. 18. Thus, when we start manifesting envy and jealousy, we are reflecting the character of Satan.

Find three accounts in the Bible of where envy played a big role in the unfolding story. Write out the nasty results that this envy brought. What lessons can we learn about the fruit of envy?  

1.

2.

3.

What has been your own experience with jealousy and envy in your own heart? What steps can you take in order to help subdue this beast? Think through the life of Jesus. How, by dwelling on Him, can you, through God's grace, destroy this sin before it destroys you?

Labor for Whom?

"I have shewed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).

Read Ecclesiastes 4:7, 8. After attacking all work and skill as nothing but envy, Solomon, in verses 7 and 8, takes another spin on work: What do people work for? In this case, he is talking about someone who is alone, who has no children, no one either to support or to pass on the fruits of his labor. Is he doing all this only for himself? If so, what's the purpose?  

Whatever the immediate context, these verses raise an important question regarding humanity. Oftentimes the most miserable of all human beings are the most selfish, the ones who live only for self and who care only about themselves. Whatever the immediate gains, after a while, as they see how small they are, how fleeting life is, how little they matter in the scheme of things "under the sun," such people find so little purpose, so little meaning, to their existence. As human beings we were not meant to live only for ourselves; on the contrary, the whole purpose of selfless love, as exemplified in the life of Jesus, is to live in order to help others. There's a sense of fulfillment, of joy, of purpose when one gives of oneself for others. And the good news is that you don't have to be married or have children in order to do this. As long as there are human beings around, there will be people to whom you can be a blessing, and by blessing others you receive a blessing for yourself.

Look up the following texts. What message do they have for us, as followers of Christ, in regard to issues raised in today's lesson? Matt. 25:31-46, Mark 10:45, Acts 2:43-45, Heb. 13:1-3.  

What are your priorities? How much time do you spend thinking only about yourself and your own needs, in contrast to others and the needs of others? Be honest. How well are you fulfilling the Bible call to live not just for yourself but for others?

The Cord and Community

Solomon, in verses 8-12 of Ecclesiastes 4, has moved toward another thought in a fairly logical progression: from living only for oneself to the advantages of community. Though he's talking in a very poetic manner and uses a few specific examples of how much better two are than one, the general point is important: As human beings, we were made for community. We were made to live in contact with others. We were made in a way that we need others.

In 1998, a landlord entered the Bonn, Germany, apartment of Wolfgang Dircks when rent invoices to Dircks's bank stopped being paid. The landlord found a skeleton—a skeleton!—in a chair in front of a television set that, though broken, was still on. Just as incredible was that Christmas lights on his tree were still blinking; near his chair was a TV program guide from December 5, 1993. He probably died that day, and nobody, for at least five years, missed him. Talk about the need for others!

Read 1 Corinthians 12. What point is Paul making that is, basically, the same point that Solomon is making in these few verses in Ecclesiastes?  

In the same sense that there is no established "one-man or one-woman physics," there is no "one-man or one-woman Christianity." Of course, Christian faith means nothing unless a person has a one-to-one relationship with God. That is crucial. But it's directly out of that vertical relationship, that human-to-God relationship, that a person is also established in a relationship with a community, a church.

It's common to hear people say "I want nothing to do with organized religion." Well, what do they want, disorganized religion? No, of course not. Instead, that line is often a cover for people who don't want the commitment or responsibility or even the submission that comes from being part of a group that's bigger than themselves.

Further Study:  

Discussion Questions:

As a class, discuss this important question: How well does your local church function as a community? How well does it work together to meet the needs of its members, whatever those needs are? Assess the areas where your church is strong and where it is weak. What can you all do, as a class, to help your local church fulfill its role as a community of believers grounded in love for God and love for each other?      Read aloud and discuss your answers to the question Is life worth it?     Discuss more this question of power and how power is wielded. In what subtle ways can someone abuse power; at the same time, what problems can arise when someone doesn't use the power they have been given?

Join the SSNET moderated email discussion group.  You are also warmly invited to join a group discussion of this lesson Sabbath morning with your local Seventh-day Adventist congregation.

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