Week Thirty Reading Assignment:
Ecclesiastes 9 - Isaiah 11

"Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.  It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things."

(1 Peter 1:8-12 NIV)

This Week's Teaching Video:
The Wisdom Tradition Part 1

This Week's Teaching Video:
The Wisdom Tradition Part 2

​Charting Our Progress

Good Book Review: Part of Life

Over the years, squeamish believers have sometimes been uncomfortable with the Song of Solomon.  They have tried to make it something other than what it really is.  “It is an allegory,” they say, “for the love between God and His people, or between Christ and His church.”

In fact, however, an honest reading of the text can only lead to one conclu-sion: this is a love song between a man and a woman. 

The song has romance, adoration, passion, and longing. It has graphic language, as well as more subtle (and highly sexual) imagery.  It should not be read with the formality of a Sunday morning liturgist, but with the sensual whisper of a lover. 

Some readers have been uneasy with the theme, the tone, and the content of the book.  Why should such a thing be included in the Bible?  What does this have to do with God?

We sometimes want the Bible to be a kind of sanitized devotional book, but it is not.  It does not try to be.   In truth, it is much broader and deeper than that, as the Song of Solomon illustrates.

Romance and passion, love and sex, intimacy between a man and a woman — these form a large and important part of human life.  The Bible does not blush about it, for it has no artificial division between religion and the rest of life.  All of life is lived under God.  The stuff of this song is a part of life, and so naturally it is a part of the Bible. 

Good Book Review: The Voice of Experience

Experience. That is the quintessential claim of personal credibility.  A person with great experience in an area is an authority in that area, and so we do well to heed their counsel.

Ecclesiastes is a “take it from me” book.  The author, traditionally thought to be Solomon, claims both expertise and experience.  He has the wisdom,
exposure, and research to claim exper-tise in many areas. Furthermore, he has the years, miles, and breadth to claim ‘experience’ — indeed, all kinds of experience — on his resume. 

This author has seen it all and done it all.  There is no area of life that he has not investigated, no pleasure that he has denied himself, no human experi-ence that he has not considered. He looks at the world and says, “Been there, done that.”

And what is the verdict of this voice of experience?  “Vanity, vanity!  All is vanity.” 


The ultimate meaninglessness of life is his conclusion and the  purposeless-ness of existence is his refrain. 

With only a few bright spots, the Book of Ecclesiastes is mostly gloomy.  One has to search hard to find any sense of resolution.  So why should this book be in the Bible?  Because no book in the Bible stands alone — they all need one another.  And this one voice, echoed by empty souls in every generation, sets us up for the good news that is to come!  
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