Gary Gleans

We conclude this unique book with words from the bride to the groom.  Words of affection are important for both husband and wife to express as they delve deeper into a relationship with one another.  We have seen Solomon describe the beauty of his bride and the desire that he has for her.  Now we get a look into the mind of the bride and her longing for her husband and desire to be close to him.  There is also a clear communication between the bride and the daughters of Jerusalem concerning how to preserve oneself for the kind of love that the bride is now experiencing.  The joy of love is immense and strong but it is meant to be bridled until the proper time.  Many men and women never experience the love described in this book because they try to enjoy the pleasure of this love without waiting for the commitment of marriage.  The wonder of marriage requires waiting for marriage. THE BRIDE WANTS THE GROOM: The bride tells the groom that she wishes...

Sexuality is something that we are very uncomfortable talking about in Christian circles.  I believe that there is wisdom in limiting our openness about these things to a degree.  However, I also believe that it is foolish and unbiblical to ignore them all together or to treat it as some sort of sinful activity.  The world has over emphasized sexuality and become so crass in their treatment of sexuality that the church has gone to the opposite extreme and made it an untouchable subject.  This chapter of the Bible demonstrates the beauty and holiness of sexual desire and relationships within the commitment of marriage.  These things are not only bless by God, but created by God for our pleasure and ultimately for His glory. SOLOMON IS INSPIRED BY HIS BRIDE: Once again, Solomon is smitten by the beauty of his wife.  Every part of her body inspires his admiration and ignites his passion for her.  Men are sexually stimulated by sight and women are sex...

Some things never get old, and one of those is to hear complements from the ones that we love.  Much of the language of this chapter has been seen in the earlier chapters as the groom describes his bride once again.  The two lovers have been separated for a period of time but their reunion is a sweet one that delights both of them.  In marriage there will be times of separation due to travel or even our own sinful attitudes and actions.  These periods should be the exception and not the rule but should always be followed up with a blissful time of restoration. THE COUPLE’S RELATIONSHIP IS RECONCILED: The bride now knows where she will find her husband and goes to seek him in the garden.  Immediately upon seeing her, He is smitten with love for her and they are immediately reconciled.  As he looks on her he praises her beauty once again with the same words that he had used in the previous chapters.  His admiration of her is unchanged and his feelin...

Hesitation is always a very dangerous thing in every aspect of life, but especially in our relationships.  Hesitation leads to lost opportunity which leads to regret.  Lovers should strive to be spontaneous in their relationship with one another and their responses to one another.  Too often, marriages are marked by indecision, uncertainty, timidity and half-heartedness.  This type of interaction prevents true intimacy and stems from selfishness.  Married lovers should spontaneously seek and respond to one another with openness and confidence of being immediately accepted and embraced.  Rejection or even hesitation should have no place in our marriages whether it is in serving one another in the kitchen or savoring one another in the bedroom. THE BRIDE REJECTS HER HUSBAND THROUGH HESITATION: It is hard to know exactly what is going on here, quit possibly, in the culture of that day husbands and wives did not sleep in the same room.  It seems that ...

God has given women a beauty that captivates the attentions and affections of men.  This attraction has been created by God and should be fully enjoyed within the context of marriage.  Unfortunately Satan has exploited this God given attraction to the point that it has become an unbridled passion that leads to the destruction of many.  This exploitation always leads to great guilt, pain and destruction.  These abuses of sexuality has caused an equally dangerous reaction within Christian communities where the pleasures of the physical relationship created by God have become taboo and seen as always being sinful.  Both of these extremes are dangerous, destructive and anti-biblical.  As believers, we must learn to enjoy the gifts of God to their fullest without exploiting them or avoiding them to the point of sin. SOLOMON DESCRIBES THE BEAUTY OF HIS BRIDE: Solomon goes into specific details about his admiration of his bride.  He starts with the eyes ...

Love is wonderfully awful thing.  It produces exuberant joy and at the same time it produces excruciating pain. It makes us feel like with cannot survive without the object of our love.  God has made us with these desires and feelings and they are an important part of our lives and relationships.  There is a time and a place for everything including love.  Love can be mistaken for passion and lead us to a point of doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.  It is important that we learn to distinguish between that which is truly love and that which is merely lustful passion.  They are sometimes hard to distinguish.   THERE GOES THE BRIDE: The bride woke up and the groom was not beside her in bed.  He heart grew sick as she missed her lover and could not rest until she found him and was reunited with him.  She leaves the comfort of her room and home and took to the streets in search of her love.  The watchmen were there to keep her saf...

We all have roles to play in our lives and relationships.  There is a continuation of the mutual admiration of these lovers of one another, but the majority of this passage speaks to the reasons that the bride loves and admires her groom.  He has fulfilled his role in the relationship and she is eternally grateful for it.  In ha healthy relationship each member of the relationship is faithful to fulfill their God given roles as well as appreciate the role that the other person in relationship provides.  Mutual faithfulness and appreciation are vital to any healthy relationship.  The language in this chapter and this entire book for that matter can also be applied to the ultimate Lover and His bride the Church.  While many parallels can be draw, I believe that it can be dangerous to make this book and allegory and teach about Christ from it.  We have many clear passages that teach us of how Christ loves the church.  I believe it is safer for us to...

Admiration is one of the most exciting parts of a relationship between lovers.  We are seldom comfortable talking about the physical attraction between a man and a woman especially not in church, but it is a very real part of all of our lives and this book is a very graphic insight into that attraction. The language is beautiful and sometimes very sensual and must be understood in the context of lovers who are enjoying the god given blessing of love leading to and within marriage. HERE COMES THE BRIDE: The book starts out with a clear declaration of love and desire on the part of the bride.  She considers her groom to be beautiful and desirable and his kisses are sweeter to her than wine.  She is clearly intoxicated by her love for him and desires to be with him.  However, she is insecure in her appearance.  She recognizes her beauty but her skin is dark because of her nationality as well as because of the fact that she has been required to work out in the ...

Conclusions are always significant because they tend to sum up the predominant lessons that should be taken away from a particular book or message.  This concluding chapter of Ecclesiastes embodies that tendency to perfection.  This is a call to follow and obey the Lord with the short life that we have because God will use this life to determine many things about our eternal life which is to follow.  Those who wait to the end of their lives in order to prepare for eternity will find that they are too late and will find themselves filled with regret.  Solomon wants to help his readers to avoid that calamity. BE FAITHFUL TO GOD BECAUSE LIFE IS FLEETING: Do not wait until you are old to start living in light of eternity.  Remembering the Lord while we are still young is an important part of being prepared for our eternal homes.  Many times young people believe themselves to be immortal and think that they will be able to go on living forever or that they ...

Success is defined in many different ways in our society.  For some success is synonymous with wealth, for others power and influence are the indicators of success.  True success is not found in prosperity, power or position.  From God’s perspective our success has a lot more to do with our character than our title or the bottom line of our business.  Solomon points out three character qualities that will help us to be successful from God’s perspective. THE VALUE OF BENEVOLENCE: Wealth is not evil in and of itself; nor is it a sign of blessing in our lives.  Wealth is simply a resource that can be used in positive or a negative way.  Our attitude towards wealth will reveal a great deal about our character.  One of the best things that we can do with our wealth is to use it to bless others.  When we share our wealth with others we will usually end up gaining far more than we have given.  It is wise to distribute our giving in several dire...

Irony is when we see that reality is not how things should be in our mind.  There are many ironic things that happen on the earth in which we live.  As we go through our lives we will find that there are situations that turn out just the opposite of how we would expect them to happen.  It is comforting to know that all the things we identify as ironic are still under the sovereign control of God.  While we live in an irony filled world, we must be careful to protect ourselves for cynicism and complacency.  Our observations of the ironic will often bring us to a place where we excuse or even promote foolishness.  It is important for us to remember these principles. DON’T BE FOOLISH IN YOUR WORK: We all have foolishness in our hearts that constantly plagues our thinking and if we are not careful it will influence every area of our lives.  Solomon warns us of the powerful influence that foolishness has on our lives.  Only a little bit will go a ...

Surrender is a condition in which we realize that we are unable to stand against someone or something that is obviously stronger than we are.  Most people have a certain amount of pride that keeps them from admitting the need for surrender so they continue to grind away until they can stand it no longer.  Unfortunately, we often surrender to temptation and fail to surrender to the Lord.  Solomon lived a life of frivolity and an endless search for pleasure he   came to the end of his life recognizing that this was futility and finally surrendered to the recognition that he was not in control of his life. DEATH IS UNAVOIDABLE: No matter who we are, what we do and how hard we try all of us are headed towards an appointment with death.  This is the reality of the curse that sin has brought upon the earth.  The wicked and righteous die, the rich and poor die, we weak and strong die.  There is no way for us to avoid our date with death.  As lo...

Authority is something that cannot be avoided in this life.  Every many woman and child is always under some type of authority during every part of their lives.  These authorities may come and go throughout our lifetimes but there will always be some type of authority over each of us.  Parents, teachers, police, spouses, governments, bosses and God Himself are only a few examples of these authorities and we are usually under several of these authorities at the same time.  Unfortunately, some of these authorities may not be particularly righteous or may even be greatly evil.  At times we get to choose our authorities but many times we simply have to learn to deal with the authority structure that is over us.  This chapter of Ecclesiastes has two basic principles that will help us in these situations. FOLLOW THE LEADER: All authorities, both good and evil, have been established and empowered by God.  God is over all of them and will hold them all to...

We all have different perspectives on life.  The things that are enjoyable to one person are tedious to another person.  Some people place a high priority on relationships while others consider responsibilities to be more important.  There are those who seem to naturally be obedient and try to please those around them while others are rebellious and tend to be devious.  Solomon experienced both sides of pretty much all of these contrasts.  He comes to some rather strange and surprising conclusions about life that may take us by surprise. COMPARISONS THAT PROMOTE EXCELLENCE: Integrity is better than prosperity.  We can have all kinds of things but if we do not have integrity our lives will eventually be less than excellent.  Death is better than birth.  This may take us by surprise, but it is certainly true for those who have trusted Christ.  Our birth is the beginning of our lives of sin with all of its consequences; our death is the end...

Satisfaction is one of the hardest things for us to experience on earth.  It does not matter how much we have, it always seems we want a little bit more.  We have a hard time recognizing and appreciating the many things that we do have because of the very few things that we may not have.  By contrast when we look at the lives of many people who live in complete poverty with hardly anything at all in the way of possessions, health or life expectancy we often find people whose faces are covered with huge smiles.  Obviously the key to satisfaction is not in the amount of things that we possess, rather it is in our attitude towards those things.  If we truly want to experience satisfaction here are two things that we must remember. BE CONTENT WITH GOD’S GENEROSITY: Solomon talks about a hypothetical man who experiences the trifecta of blessings in life.  This imaginary man had abundant wealth, lived to be 2,000 years old and had 100 children.  The pro...

Solomon is on a search for meaning and joy in life.  He has tried to find it in a myriad of locations but to no avail.  Now, at the end of his life, he reflects upon his pursuit of pleasure and makes some observations about how we can find true fulfillment in this life.  It is unfortunate that Solomon did not follow his own teachings earlier in life.  He could have saved himself a great deal of heartache.  However, his writings are a treasure from which we can gain great perspective in life.  In the end he boils things down to the two perspectives on life as a means through which we can find meaning in life. KEEP OUR PROMISES AND SAVE OUR WORDS: God wants us to be reverent in our relationship with Him and understand that our promises made to Him are important.  We must be very careful about the promises that we make to the Lord and then be sure to keep those promises.  Solomon says it is far better for us to keep our mouths shut and not make ...

Solomon continues his observations of life and that which is not as it ought to be.  The plight of man because of sin is a disturbing thing.  Men treat one another with disdain and harm one another.  Certainly there is plenty of wrong in this world and contemplating it alone apart from God’s promises will inevitably lead us into despair.  We must learn to look at the injustices of this world from the perspective that God has paid the price for sin, set us free from the power of sin and will one day make all of these things right.  Our memories of this world will only serve to make the pleasures of our eternal state that much sweeter. THE DISGRACE OF SUFFERING: Suffering is a reality that has been imposed upon this world because of sin.  Men oppress one another in an effort to get ahead.  Those who are oppressed seem to be at the mercy of their oppressors who have all of the power which leaved the oppressed without hope and without comfort.  S...

As we go through life we all make observations about how things work as well as how we think things ought to work.  We begin to see that we all have similar activities and our lives all go through similar cycles.  Solomon observes these things about life and records his thoughts for us.  While there is much truth in the observations that he makes about life; we must be very careful not to take his conclusions as being correct and biblical.  The text accurately records Solomon’s conclusions, much like the book of Job accurately records the speeches of Job’s friends.  However, we must not consider all of his conclusions to be accurate reflections of God’s will for us.  Solomon comes to the conclusion that there is:  A TIME FOR EVERYTHING: There are different times for ever season and stage of life and even sometimes for every day of the week.  We are all born and will one day die. We plant and harvest, hurt and heal, demolish and build, cry and...

When something seems hopeless to us we call it an exercise in futility.  We also use the expression of beating our head up against a wall.  The point is that no matter how hard we try to do something, we keep ending up with failure and frustration so we decide it is better to just give up.  Solomon was seeking for happiness so he set off to achieve his goal in a wide variety of ways.  In this chapter he outlines three of those attempts but ends up realizing that it has been an exercise in futility.  His problem was not necessarily in his pursuit of happiness or in that which he did.  His problems was in correlating the two with the expectations that these things in and of themselves would bring him happiness apart from God. THE FUTILITY OF WINE: I use the word wine here because it fits my alliteration but, in reality, it represents the pursuit of pleasure in any form.  One of the most basic components of being created in the image of God is a desi...

Depression is one of the most common afflictions on the world in which we live.  We are surrounded by hopelessness and an overall sense of futility.  The book of Ecclesiastes is a divine inspired look into the mind of the depressed.  Solomon was a man with everything.  He had power, money, intelligence, and women and was probably even handsome and athletic.  The world was at his fingertips.  Even so, Solomon found himself depressed.  Solomon has been “looking for love in all the wrong places” and has come up empty and depressed.  I believe at the time that he writes this that he has finally come back to his senses and so he writes about his exercise in futility in order to help other avoid the depths of despair to which he had fallen.  As we look into this hurting heart we can find help and hope. LIFE CAN PUT US IN A VICIOUS CYCLE: I have recently taken to running on treadmills.  No, I am not insane.  I hate it.  The only ...

We conclude our study in Proverbs with an oracle taught to King Lemuel by his mother.  This final chapter has been studied by women and men alike in the hopes being or finding an excellent wife.  As we read this description we feel like it is a description of Wonder Woman and I suspect that this Proverbs 31 woman has been the source of quite a bit of resentment on the part of women who feel that they do not measure up in some way.  I believe that we can rest assured that this oracle was truly a description of the desirable qualities an excellent wife should strive to attain but not the description of an actual woman.  However, I believe the true intention of the oracle was to help men identify the important qualities in women instead of being attuned only to the external beauty of women.  However there are two parts to this oracle, both of which should be followed closely by men. BE CAREFUL WITH WINE: The use of strong drink is not directly forbidden in Scr...

These final two Proverbs are not authored by Solomon.  Today’s Proverb is the work of Agur and we really have no idea who he was.  The Proverb can be divided into two main sections, the first section He makes confessions concerning himself and God; in the second section he makes comparisons in groups of four.  They demonstrate a keen understanding of his human condition as well as a deep understanding of the world in which we live.  The unique style and honest self-evaluation of this Proverb make it a very interesting and thought provoking read. THREE CONFESSIONS: Agur’s first confession is that of his own stupidity.  He recognizes that he is worn out by his own sinful condition; he lacks the wisdom that a man ought to have and has no accurate knowledge of God.  His second confession is that of God’s greatness.  No man can ascend into the presence of God and live.  God controls the wind, the waters, the world and all of His words are complete...

As we observe the people around us and even ourselves we will find that some people thrive and live very rewarding lives while others struggle and seem to live in a constant state of frustration.  Obviously, we would all prefer the former as opposed to the later.  The key to being able to achieve that is to understand the instruction of God’s Word and then live our lives accordingly.  This requires both discernment and discipline.  Discernment is needed to be able to recognize the difference between right and wrong.  Discipline is needed to be able to choose the right over the wrong.  We do not need to live in frustration; God wants us to thrive in our lives of service to Him. DISCERNMENT: Discernment is the ability to distinguish between two or more things that differ.  This chapter sets forth a great number of contrasts between that which is right and that which is wrong.  Some people receive instruction over and over again but stubbornly r...

Fear can be both a terrible and wonderful thing.  Some fear leaves us crippled and unable to function because is drains us of all hope and leaves us powerless to do what we know we ought to do.  However, there is another type of fear that Proverbs calls the beginning of all wisdom.  This is the fear of the Lord that makes us revere the Lord and promotes a desire to obey the Lord.  Fear is a God given emotion that warns us when we are not safe and creates a reaction of adrenaline in our bodies that help us to be able to run faster or be stronger in the face of danger.  However, like most emotions, it can get totally out of control and cause us to live in a constant state of panic over things that may or may not happen instead of as a reaction to real danger.  It takes real wisdom to recognize the difference between these two fears. FALSE FEAR: This ungodly fear is usually brought on by a guilty conscience.  Paranoia is one of the consequences of gu...

There are certain things that we must care for with great attention.  Certainly our relationships are worth of great care.  We all have many different levels of relationships to which we should pay very close attention.  Some people are acquaintances, family members, friends, authorities, neighbors, counselors or enemies who seek to do us harm.  It is of utmost importance that we relate and respond to these various relationships with wisdom.  God also entrusts us with resources for which we must care.  Wise stewardship is an important part of obeying God and walking according to the wisdom of His Word. CARING FOR YOUR FRIENDS:  Pride is one of the most damaging components of any friendship.  Nobody likes to be around someone who boasts about himself.  On the other hand, we all enjoy being encouraged by others.  If we want our friendships to work well, we will be faithful to complement our friends instead of bragging about ourselves....

We use comparison to help us understand things better.  Metaphors are comparisons that give us a type of illustration to understand truths or concepts.  Today’s chapter of Proverbs is full of metaphors that describe four types of people.  The idea is to help identify who these people are, understand what they are like, warn us about the dangers they represent and tell us how to respond to them.  We should do all we can not to be in any of these categories.   THE FOOLISH MAN: The foolish man should never receive honor because it is simply unfitting.  Those who try to curse the wise will find their efforts to be futile.  The only way a fool will learn is through the use of physical punishment just like an animal.  We must be very careful in how we treat the foolish man.  There are times that we should just keep quite because we know that they will not listen to instruction but there are other times that we must strive to correct them so th...

Noble is a word that we use to describe a certain class of people that are related by blood to the king or ruler of a nation.  However it is also used to describe the behavior that is expected of such people and can be practiced by anyone.  All of us should strive to be noble in our character and words.  There is a code of conduct that is expected of all men and when we do not follow that code we are criticized by and lose the respect of others.  There are different people in our lives that we relate with and should treat in different ways.  All of our relationships are affected by our behavior as well as our opportunities in business most importantly, our testimony before other people as well as our walk with God. CODE OF CONDUCT FOR AUTHORITIES: There is a certain dignity that a King must possess and demonstrate.  However, a king’s greatest desire should be for wisdom to do the right things.  God does not make all things readily accessible or ea...

Our desires tell us a lot about what is in our hearts and where we stand before the Lord.  At times our desires are for things that please the Lord and bring honor to His name, but there are other times that our desires are for that which is sinful and they can get us into all kinds of trouble.  No matter what our actions are, we would do well to evaluate the true desires of our hearts because it will help us to see our hearts and know where we need to grow and how we need to protect ourselves from our own evil desires.  We should constantly strive to develop the desires that will please God and make us more effective in our service of the Lord. DESIRE GOD’S WISDOM: God’s wisdom will determine the company that we keep because we will not desire to be with evil men that bring trouble on all around them.  Wisdom will help us to establish our homes, strengthen our nations and instruct our communities.  Our plans must be for that which is good and not scheming ...

Moderation is the result of self-control while exaggeration stems from the lack thereof.  Too much of a good thing can be a very bad thing so it is important that we learn to exercise self-control and live in moderation.  God has created us and all that is in the earth.  There are abundant pleasures that constantly surround us.  These pleasures were created by God for us to enjoy in moderation and in accordance with His Word.  When we begin to abuse those pleasures through exaggeration they become sources of pain and not pleasure.  There is a great deal to gain through the exercise of moderation through self-control. SELF-CONTROL IN OUR DIET: Eating is one of the greatest pleasures that we enjoy.  There is such a wide variety of food available to us and many more that we have only heard about.  When we are in the house of a wealthy person, the foods that are offered to us may tantalize us and tempt us to exaggerate and stuff ourselves full of...

Words are a gift from God that allow us to communicate with one another and reveal things to one another.  Words can also be used to bring harm and great pain to other people through deception or discouragement.   There are words that are easy to hear and words that are hard for us to hear.  That does not mean that the easy words are always good or that the hard words are always bad.  Sometimes the hardest word for us to hear is the best word for us at that time; or the easy word can be very harmful to us.  We must exercise great discernment in the way that we hear the words spoken to us and even greater discernment in the words that come out of us.  Today’s Proverb has some great examples of so easy and hard words or us to hear. WORDS OF WISDOM: Our character and reputation is far more valuable that any amount of wealth.  Our financial status is of very little importance God needs both in order to accomplish His will.  We must learn to ...

This Proverb begins and ends with the sovereignty of God and everything in between should flow from that reality.  God’s sovereignty is the over-arching truth that must dictate how we look at and live our lives.  Too often we live under the delusion that we are free to live our lives however we want without divine intervention.  The truth is that no matter how high we climb on the ladder of human authority, we are still under the control of God and are ultimately accountable to Him.  In light of that truth we ought to order our lives according to His will which has been revealed to us in His Word.  God’s sovereignty must have a profound impact on how we live our lives. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD: Sometimes we feel like our lives are spinning out of control.  The question we must answer is: who’s control?  Obviously, the answer to that question is: our control.  We get that feel of panic in the pit of our stomach when our circumstances flee from o...

Discernment is a vital part of wisdom.  A wise person has the ability to distinguish between things that differ; the ability to discern between good and evil, worthy and worthless.  As we go through life we all face multiple choices about what we will do and how we will live our live.  Our ability to discern, determination to choose correctly and discipline to follow throw on those choices will define whether or not we are wise.  God has been gracious enough to give us a standard in His Word by which we can measure these things, so if we truly desire to gain discernment, our attention should be given to the Word of God.  THINGS FROM WHICH WE MUST RUN: Alcoholic beverages are dangerous because they can easily lead us astray.  This does not mean that all who choose to drink them are living in sin it simply means that they run a greater risk of falling into a pattern of abuse that can easily lead to ruin.  Insubordination is a very dangerous game....