“In Ecclesiastes He is the Forgotten Wise man” Leona Baker Reads Ecclesiastes (1/29/12 – 2/4/12)

Above a specific book’s title in grandma’s bible is a one sentence annotation of that books content. They probably helped or steered Leona’s thinking as she studied each book. They also probably helped grandma make connections between this books message with the grand story of the bible (some use the million dollar word, meta-narrative to describe this type of story). This condensation of content is very interesting in some cases, and very common in others. A flip through these annotations quickly reveal the hermeneutic, or method of interpretation Leona used, both for the specific books content, and how the message fits with the grand story of the bible. In each “biblical study” done this year I will begin with Leona’s one sentence explanation to be the reference point for our study.

I begin with Ecclesiastes, not because it was grandma’s favorite, but because it is my favorite. My knowledge of the book probably far exceeds that of any other portion of the Bible, except for maybe Isaiah. I don’t say that to brag, after all, who brags about a book which is typically a “thorn in the side” for most Christians? I begin with Ecclesiastes because the thought of even writing about what someone close to my family believed brings fear, discomfort, and trepidation. Consider it a rather easy way to breach my fears. Now how do I condense that knowledge into something not too long?

In our English Bible Ecclesiastes is located in the Old Testament, in between Proverbs and Song of Songs. Its genre has been identified as “Wisdom Literature.” Other complete books of “Wisdom Literature” include Proverbs and Job. The English title comes from the Latin translation of the Bible and is derived from the same word in Greek which means “church.” In the King James Version the translators added the subtitle “Or, The Preacher.” This subtitle is from the German translation which Martin Luther originally translated the German as “The Preacher.” (stay with me!) Martin Luther was very smart with this translation since the original Hebrew, Qoheleth, is best translated, not as a proper name, but as a title, similar to the common phrase “I would like you to meet my preacher, pastor Richardson.” In its verbal form the Hebrew phrase means “to assembly, to gather together.” NOW, let’s simply put all of these words I’ve shotgun blasted you with together in a coherent sentence so you can begin to see how I believe Leona thought through this book:

The church is the true assembly, assembled together under the authority of the true preacher (that is, Jesus Christ, Christ being his honored title).

To understand the significance of this idea, a very basic understanding (to the point of perversity) of Ecclesiastes needs to be given, although if you read it you won’t be worse off (Here is a link to the entire text). After the initial introduction in 1:1, the main thesis statement or overture is made in 1:2, “Absurdity of absurdities, says Qoheleth, absurdity of absurdities, all is absurdity.” Ecclesiastes message is that life “under the sun,” that is, life here on earth, is most often absurd. It is absurd because when we try to make heads or tails of life’s “ultimate meaning” the hard metal slab separating those living “under the sun” with he whom is living above the sun is most often barred, and we are locked out. We only can live in “times” and “seasons” which are “beautiful in their own time.” However, God has put an enigma in man’s heart because man cannot find out what God is doing from beginning to end.” (3:11) Peter Kreeft, a Catholic theologian and ethicist once wrote the he begins his introduction theology classes with Ecclesiastes because it is the book which most often connects with cynics, materialists, teenagers, and skeptics.

In grandma’s bible the word I’ve translated “absurdity” is commonly rendered “vanity.” Even in a note in their Scofield Reference Bibles on the bottom of the page reads,

““Vanity,” in Ecclesiastes, and usually in scripture, means, not foolish pride, but the emptiness in final result of all life apart from God….”  

“Vanity/absurdity” occurs 38 times in Ecclesiastes. It serves as the introduction phrase in 1:2 and the concluding phrase in 12:8. Common to my grandparents was a belief held firmly about the nature of life “under the sun,” a phrase that occurs 27 times in the book. For my spiritual legacy, my family, and for the majority of church tradition, people have understood the wisdom of Ecclesiastes to be of that “under the sun,” which is code for the fleshly life, the earthly life, the sinful life, our condition rendered to us by man’s rebellion as recorded in Genesis 3. In a very real since, this way of understanding the book (foreign to how I was taught it) makes for this most interesting observation: Ecclesiastes helps us understand how our rebellion and condition before a just and holy God is connected with the gospel story. This story is the recital of humanities own selfish grasp at salvation apart from God’s action through the Cross of Jesus Christ. Paul in Romans calls this “living under the law/living by the flesh” and theologians call this grasping for salvation with our own strength “works based righteousness.” The author of Ecclesiastes (think ultimately Jesus) called this living “under the sun.” In short, Ecclesiastes is the summation of the entire Old Testament, a preparation for our redemption in Israel’s Messiah – who Christians identify as Jesus.

My grandparents were great interpreters of the Bible, as evidenced by their solidarity with about 1000 years of similar interpretations from men and women throughout Christian tradition. Here is a quote from a great set of books called “Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture:

Ecclesiastes, “The Preacher,” also understood as being Solomon, is a type of Christ (Didymus, Origen, Gregory of Nyssa). In one sense, thought, the Spirit is the real author of this (Didymus). In addition, the name Ecclesiastes indicates the church and the one who leads it (Jerome, Gregory of Nyssa). The church is true knowledge, and Christ is the author of that knowledge (Evagrius). The book of Ecclesiastes must be understood spiritually and in light of other passages of scripture (Gregory of Nyssa), for this present world is not the ultimate end (Evagrius). All things are vanity, and we must turn away from them towards  God (Ambrose, Augustine). All things are vanity even though God made them good (Jerome).

J. Robert Wright, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. Old Testament IX: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 190.  

In Leona’s bible marginal phrases like “Emptiness in life without God” and “money does not satisfy” are present in Leona’s bible; however “other passages” of scripture (like Gregory of Nyssa said is necessary of Ecclesiastes’ meaning) are referenced all over the place. Here is a rundown of Leona’s cross references:

KJV Bible Passage                  Leona’s marginal reference

1:2                                           Rom. 8:20-22

5:15                                         Job 1:21; Psalms 49:17, I Timothy 6:7

7:3                                           II Corinthians 7:10

7:8                                           Proverbs 14:21

11:5                                         Job 1:21; Psalms 71:6; 139:13-14

My grandparents knew that life was not just about what’s in front of us, that reason and logic has its limits, that balance rather than over indulgence in anything was wise, that work and play were both advantageous, etc. Those things were not difficult for them to realize. Those things were not difficult for the author of Ecclesiastes to realize. But it took true insight, that is, to be illuminated by the Holy Spirit to see the world for what it truly is, dominated by sin and death, but now redeemed through the death and resurrection of Christ. Christ is the hermeneutic which we interpret the world through. Long before I came to realize this, and long after I should have realized this (after seminary), my grandparents were frolicking in this field with joy and delight, eating, drinking, and being merry – for Christ lives and reigns.