Life Group Study Guide
Words of the Teacher 1
Ecclesiastes
“Before Life Group”
1)Listen to the corresponding message either live or at Or you can pick up a CD from church.
2)Pray and ask God for insight as you do your personal study.
3)Answer the questions as well as you can. Don’t look for the only “right answer”, answer what you think and what the Lord brings to your mind
Theme and Interpretation of Ecclesiastes
The theme of Ecclesiastes is the necessity of fearing God in a fallen, and therefore frequently confusing and frustrating, world. According to the basic interpretative approach adopted here, the Preacher is not to be viewed as some kind of skeptical iconoclast but rather as a teacher of orthodoxy, whose musings on God and human existence present a consistent message that is to be viewed as standing within the broad stream of the biblical wisdom tradition. At the same time, however, the Preacher is distinctly original and creative in his thought and manner of expression and is not merely restating what other sages have taught. As a genuine wisdom teacher, he has a gift for penetrating observation and for stating things in a profound and challenging manner that spur the listener on to deeper thought and reflection. Many of the difficulties or paradoxes in the book can be reasonably explained in terms of: (1) his provocative style; (2) the general method of wisdom teaching, which can state apparently contradictory principles (e.g.,Prov. 26:4–5) and leave it to the listener to work out which principle applies in a particular situation; and (3) the fact that, rather than focusing primarily on stating general truths that are applicable to most situations (as is the tendency with the teaching of the book of Proverbs), the Preacher devotes much of his attention to examining unique individual situations (e.g.,Eccles. 4:7–8; 5:13–14; 9:13–16), which can represent deviations from what one might normally expect (e.g.,4:13–16; 9:11). Thus, while he does not deny the validity of the general depiction of reality found in the Wisdom Literature, the Preacher is also keenly aware of the complexities of life in a fallen world, which result in many individual exceptions to the “rules” of biblical wisdom. One can see the Preacher's most distinctive contribution from the way he uses the term “find out” (see note on3:11). Every human being wants to find out and understand all the ways of God in the world, but he cannot, because he is not God. And yet the faithful do not despair but cling to God, who deserves their trust; they can leave it to him to make sense of it all, while they seek to learn what it means to “fear God and keep his commandments,” even when they cannot see what God is doing. This is true wisdom. (ESV Study Bible)
Read Ecclesiastes Chapter 1
What is your initial response to this?
According to the message on Sunday, what does “meaningless” refer to? What does “under the sun” refer to?
What are the main points of this chapter?
What is the theme of this book, as stated in verse 2? Do you agree with this?
What is the key question that this book seeks to address? (vs. 3) How would you answer this question?
What illustrations are given to show the futility observed in the cycles of life? (vs. 4-7)
Why is there nothing new under the sun? (vs. 9) Do you agree with this? What is your response to vs. 10-11?
Having seen the works done under the sun, what did he conclude? Why? (vs. 14-15)
What did he acknowledge he had attained? (vs. 16)
What did he set his heart to know? (vs. 17)
What conclusion did he draw? Why? (vs. 18)
What “vapor/mist” in your life have you placed excess of faith in?
How can you experience walking with God more and “managing your mist” less?
Pray together