I finally have time to type up my study of Ecclesiastes 2. Sorry it has taken me so long, i just haven't had the time. So here is what i think of Ecclesiastes 2:1-16.
"¹ I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless. ² "Laughter," I said, "is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?" ³ I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives." Ecclesiastes 2:1-3.
Solomon was still down and trying to find the meaning of life. He decided he would try to cheer himself up with all the earthly substances..wine, folly. He didn't just drink wine cause he liked the taste, or as like a tradition. He drank it to get drunk. He tried to forget how unhappy he was by drinking. We see that so much today. People left and right go out and get drunk cause they can't stand their life and for just a little while they can escape the pain.We also see this with the use of drugs and smoking. The cycle of drinking, smoking, or taking drugs is a deadly cycle that in the long run does not help you escape the pain. but actually puts more pain in your life. It also puts pain in the life of the people around you. I looked up the word "folly", i had an idea of what it meant. but i wanted to be sure before i posted it on the web. Here are some of the definitions. "1. want of good sense (meaning lack of good sense) 2.Scandalous crime; sin; specifically, as applied to a woman" The second definition is exactly what i thought of when i thought of folly. To put it plainly, he cheered himself up with sex. He has 700 wives and 300 concubines. That's an insane number. But he was so confused about what the meaning of life was that he just tried everything he could to find the meaning of life. I know i don't ever have to say it...but this is happening all over the world today. Sex today has been belittled, it is something you do when you have the urge. You don't have to be married anymore to have sex, you don't even have to know each other. That is just disgusting. I am a firm believer in sex after marriage. Any sex before is a sin. God created sex to be something special between two people...and two people only...a husband and wife. It is really sad how today people are having sex all the time outside of a marriage. That's not how God designed it. And it's a sin outside of marriage. I could go on and on about this...i'm very strongly convicted on this subject. So i'll just stop here.
Back to Solomon, his drinking of wine and having sex for pleasure was a sin. He was disobeying God's commands. But he didn't know where to find meaning in life, so he indulged himself. but in the end, he realized that drinking and sex were not the meaning of life.

Ok, so i have notes for verses 4-16. But i think i've said enough for one post. So i'll post the rest tomorrow.

God Bless
Rachel