A Wandering Desire
Ecclesiastes 2:10
Ecclesiastes takes us on a journey through Solomon’s life and pursuits. A survey of Solomon’s life shows us that he tried many things in his life. These pursuits are discussed in the historical books of 1 Kings, 2 Chronicles and Ecclesiastes.
In the European west a person skilled in many different disciplines is called a Renaissance Man.
Solomon was a true Renaissance Man.
• He headed massive building projects
• He was a military innovator
• He was a savvy politician and administrator
• He was a lover
It didn’t seem to matter what Solomon put his hand to, he was a success. God had promised him greatness, and this greatness took some radical forms. It might have been enough for him to be the wisest man who ever lived, but God gave him much, much more. His varied education made him good at so many things, that he could not help but wind up wealthy.
The book of Ecclesiastes gives us a tour of everything Solomon tried. He did not do this randomly or without a plan. He makes the point that whatever he tried, his wisdom stayed with him, evaluating to see what each thing taught him, and he took it as far as he could:
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor.
Ecclesiastes 2:10 (NIV)
The breadth of his experience is impressive even by modern standards. Few people can say that they know as much about as many things as Solomon knew. Even those who can, cannot say they learned as much as he learned in the process.
I am reminded of Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.
Siddhartha was a Buddhist monk seeking enlightenment in the discipline of his monastery. He came to the conclusion that he could not find what he wanted without broadening his experience. After much searching, he found enlightenment in understanding people from many walks of life.
Solomon followed a similar thought. His wisdom was a gift from God. But in order to satisfy himself of his wisdom, he tried to experience many things.
Solomon’s wide experience is easy to see
Solomon was a military escalator. Until his time, chariots were used by wealthy or powerful individuals at their own expense. But Solomon provided an organized chariot force of hundreds. He also bought thousands of war horses.
He had hundreds of slaves. These were gentiles that lived in the land. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon talks about not only the slaves he bought, but also the slaves that were born in his house. This was a sign of great wealth and power.
He built a fleet. This is something new in Israelite history, generally because the Philistines and the Edomites blocked their access to the sea. Solomon’s fleet was used primarily for exploration and trade, providing him with tons of gold.
Solomon was rich. He laid the inside of the Temple Holy place with pure gold. He made dozens of gold shields to hang in the palace. This throne was gold and ivory. Solomon was so wealthy that a thousand years later, Jesus commented on it and three thousand years later, we are still intrigued by it.
Solomon was a gardener on a massive scale. He studied the trees he planted, and they became orchards. His wide knowledge of plants is shown in the Song of Songs where he sees them for their beauty and uses them to symbolize his love.
Speaking of his love. The quote says it all:
He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 1 Kings 11:3 (NIV)
He had 1000 wives. That is a large household. I am convinced that Solomon wrote the Proverbs for his many children. Even if only 1/10 of his wives had one son each for him, he would have had more sons than he could meaningfully be a father to.
This raises another point though, and that is often overlooked. His official wives were of royal birth. Solomon was a master politician of his day. The Bible makes much of his marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter, and for good reason. This is the first time recorded in history that a Pharaoh of Egypt married a daughter to a foreign king. In fact, the very idea was an insult to Egyptian kings, and it had been tried before. This makes Solomon’s marriage to her quite remarkable, indicating a measure of power that even Egypt respected.
Solomon used - and over used the marriage treaty. Peace was often negotiated between countries by marrying the royal families together. It was assumed that a king would not wage war against his daughter’s and grandchildren’s home. In this way, foreign royal wives and their children were often little more than well kept hostages. In addition, the children born of these unions would, presumably, have loyalties to both countries, ensuring peace between them.
Suffice it to say that Solomon had wide interests and experience. He experimented with everything that was at the disposal of a king. And this brings us back to the passage in Ecclesiastes:
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor.
Ecclesiastes 2:10 (NIV)
In following his desire, Solomon disobeyed the Law of Moses and fulfilled the prophecy of Samuel, showing himself not only the wisest king who ever lived, but also a very disobedient man.
Back when Moses was writing the Law, there was, of course, no king. But God knew there would be one day, and so, He made provision for the king. He gave him special rules and commands.
The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
Deuteronomy 17:16-17 (NIV)
Solomon broke all these commands
• he accumulated horses
• he accumulated wives
• he accumulated money
Samuel also warned them that the king would take the sons of the people to man his chariots and his horses, and Solomon expanded this practice far beyond David.
Solomon was not the worse king who ever lived, but he was, perhaps, the most distracted. He worked on more projects than any other king in Israel’s history, and he had 40 years to do it. Why?
• According to Ecclesiastes, to delight his heart
• And that was his reward
• When he looked for pleasure, he found it
• And pleasure was all he got out of it
Jesus asked this question:
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Mark 8:36 (NIV)
What pushed Solomon to experiment?
Roller Coasters are a strange phenomenon. I used to love them, but the last couple of times I rode them, they gave me a headache. I think they shake more than they used to.
When I was in high school, Thunder Road was a big deal. It was a loop roller coaster. The chain dragged you up and let you go. You went around the loop once forward, then came back around backward. That was it. We timed it. It was a 45 second ride, and we waited in line three hours to ride it.
Now they have gotten much more interesting:
• The fastest roller coaster is Kingda Ka here in NJ at Great Adventure clocking 128 mph
• It is also the highest at 456 feet tall
• The Steel Dragon 2000 in Japan is the longest Roller Coaster at over 8000 feet long
• 25 years ago the fastest roller coaster was 65 mph
• Now the fastest wooden roller coaster is 13 mph faster than that
Why?
Because roller coaster engineers are constantly pushing the envelope of what can simultaneously cause an adrenaline rush from fear and also assure a person of their safety. Roller coasters have to be able to do both or they will fail either to elicit a thrill or to gain a following.
At the same time, there are people who travel the country to ride as many as possible. On these quests, they become accustomed to the extremes they live with. As a result, the envelope has to be pushed just a little further, in order to gain the same rush from the rider. It is job security for coaster engineers.
The things that bring our lives satisfaction are the same way. We become interested in something because it gives us a pleasant sensation. This is how we begin collections or traditions or habits.
• Like driving fast
• Or buying books
• Or being entertained
• Or sampling a particular kind of food
• Or arranging celebrations
• Or making certain types of crafts
We get a sense of pleasure or satisfaction from creating certain things or engaging in activities or being around certain things. I am not talking about sinful things. I am talking about past times. There is nothing wrong with these things.
Until we let them drive us.
• I have known people to get so wrapped up in their chosen form of entertainment that they allowed it to jeopardize their job
• I’ve known people to get so tied up in a hobby that they neglected their family
• I’ve seen people spend so much money on luxuries that they did not have enough money for necessities
• I’ve seen people spend so much time on education they still haven’t found a way to make their own living
Keep in mind that I am talking about good things. Some of them are blessings from God. Most of them can be part of maintaining our personal well being in one way or another. We have all been guilty of it.
Solomon was. All of the things described:
• wives
• horses
• wealth
• buildings
• slaves
• ships
None of these things are forbidden in the Bible Solomon had. In fact, God had directly sent many of these things Solomon’s way. Some of them can be traced to his wisdom. It was the degree to which he indulged himself that became the problem.
Remember, God gave Solomon wisdom, not so he could indulge himself, but so he could make strong judicial decisions for his people.
We like to think of God’s blessings as being rewards for good behavior. That is not always the case. In many cases they are given so that we can benefit the kingdom of God, whether through giving to Him or to others and so strengthening other believers.
So are we never to personally enjoy God’s blessings? Of course, but when we enjoy them to the exclusion of using them in righteousness, we are over indulging and turning them to vehicles for selfishness and greed. We turn the eternal blessings God into short-sighted sin.
Speaking of Moses, the writer of Hebrews says,
He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. Hebrews 11:25 (NIV)
The Bible does not deny that there is pleasure in sin, but it is short lived.
This may be well illustrated in the abuse of drugs or alcohol. Drugs and even alcohol are things that God permitted to be here. They have legitimate purposes, including making people who feel sick feel better. But abused, they become sinful.
People abuse them to counteract a real emotion he or she is experiencing. Perhaps their life is stressful, and they get drunk or use a drug to simulate calm. Or they are sad, and use the drug to simulate happiness.
Unfortunately, the drug, no matter what it is, wears off. At that point, the emotion the person was feeling comes crashing down upon them all over again. Sometimes it is worse, because, depending on the sadness or tension, the situation has had an opportunity to become worse.
So, in order to avoid confronting the problem, the person becomes impaired again. And, with each use of a drug, a person’s tolerance for it is higher. So it takes more of the drug to get the same effect. After a short time, the whole thing becomes an addictive spiral that escalates, becomes more expensive, damaging, and isolating than ever.
Nobody would deny that these substances have good uses or that a good feeling comes from using them. The problem is that it isn’t real and it doesn’t last.
The same is true of everything that distracts us from God. What distracts you?
Solomon could have used his wisdom to better purposes, but he allowed his curiosity to control him and he sought for fulfillment in searching out new things. Curiosity is good, but not when it distracts us from God.
God has goals for you too
• What goals has God put before you?
• What does He want you to do?
• What is keeping you from reaching that goal?
It does not matter how benign, even good your pursuits are, if they are preventing your reaching goals that God placed before you, then you are using the blessings of God for wrong purposes.
It is important, that like Solomon we engage in extended, intensive, and extravagant worship and then humbly submit ourselves to Him, seeking His wisdom and His will.
After that, we should be defining His will for us in specific terms. Figure out the goals He wants you to reach:
• Outreach goals
• Family goals
• Financial goals
• Relational goals
• Ministry goals
• Educational goals
Many times, these goals are obvious. Then, unlike Solomon, do not allow yourself to be distracted from those goals. Instead direct the blessings God gives you to reaching those goals.
I will tell you what I have done
I limited my book buying this year. I have many books that I have not read and I really do want to read them. I decided that for this year at least, I would buy only books that are directly in keeping with my work here or with my teaching job. Other than that, I have enough to read.
Is buying books bad? God forbid!
But the fact is that the more money I spend on books and the more time I spend shopping for books, the less I am using those resources for important and godly goals that He has placed in our lives. So, for this year, I am laying aside book shopping for pursuits that God has placed in my life.
You see, it is not by our own power that we do God’s work. It is God who reaches does it through us. He puts blessings in our lives to help us reach His ultimate purpose and plan in us - to make us like Him.
What is God trying to do through you?
What has He placed in your life, for that specific purpose?
Are you using His blessings accordingly?
