Series: Ecclesiastes
Sermon #10: A Handful of Quietness
Ecclesiastes
4:1-6
[audio file from Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/Ecclesiastes41-6]
1 So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done
under the sun: and behold the tears of
such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their
oppressors there was power; but they
had no comforter. 2 Wherefore I praised the dead which are already
dead more than the living which are yet alive. 3 Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not
yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun. 4 Again,
I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied
of his neighbour. This is also vanity
and vexation of spirit. 5 The fool foldeth his hands together, and
eateth his own flesh. 6 Better
is an handful with quietness,
than both the hands full with travail
and vexation of spirit.
Introduction:
Reminders:
1) the unique aspects of Ecclesiastes that must be
observed to appreciate what the author has done
2) the inspired and inerrant nature of Ecclesiastes as
the Word of God
3) the impact of Ecclesiastes on proud unregenerate
philosophers and mankind in general
Where we have been, and where we have come to in our
study of this book
What we have learned along the way so far
Outline:
I. The Universal Lack of Comfort (4:1)
II. The Ultimate Despair of Life (4:2-3)
III. The Unreasonable Basis of Envy (4:4)
IV. The Understandable Conclusion of Qoheleth (4:5-6)
I. The Universal Lack of Comfort (4:1)
So I returned, and considered all
the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as
were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side[1] of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.
II. The Ultimate Despair of Life (4:2-3)
2 Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the
living which are yet alive. 3 Yea, better is he than both they,
which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the
sun.
“Give me liberty, or give me death!”
— Patrick Henry[2]
“Death before dishonor!”
“'Death before Dishonour'
is the motto of 41st Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment, of the
Australian Army. It's also the motto of 90 Armoured Regiment, of the Indian
Army.”
— Iain Morrison, “Who uses the motto death before dishonor?” on Answers
at http://www.answers.com/Q/Who_uses_the_motto_death_before_dishonor
[accessed 13 DEC 2015].
“This saying comes from
the Duchy of Brittany, for over a millenium an independent state, a very
wealthy country defended by strong, professional armies, navies and marines
corps. Brittany's motto is "Kentoc'h mervel eget bezañ saotret",
meaning "Rather death than dishonour".
The phrase came into English usage with the Bretons who accompanied William the Conqueror. Their leader, Count Alan Rufus, de facto Earl of East Anglia and of York and commander of King William's household cavalry, built up Boston in Lincolnshire (by 1200, part of England's largest complex of seaports), from which Boston in Massachusetts was settled. Alan was also a "praeceptor legis" (law professor) who founded a seminary which became the University of Cambridge, and academics from Cambridge founded Harvard.”
The phrase came into English usage with the Bretons who accompanied William the Conqueror. Their leader, Count Alan Rufus, de facto Earl of East Anglia and of York and commander of King William's household cavalry, built up Boston in Lincolnshire (by 1200, part of England's largest complex of seaports), from which Boston in Massachusetts was settled. Alan was also a "praeceptor legis" (law professor) who founded a seminary which became the University of Cambridge, and academics from Cambridge founded Harvard.”
— Zoe, on Yahoo Answers at https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080626221741AAyqQwr [accessed 13 DEC 2015].
“The exact date of the
origin of the phrase cannot be determined, because it comes from the Latin and
was used by Roman soldiers as a "battle cry."
The Latin phrase is "MORS ANTE INFAMIAM." "Infamiam" literally means "infamy," and "dishonor" is a synonym. The Latin philosopher and dramatist Seneca [and tutor of the emperor, Nero] used a variation of the phrase in his writing.
Another version of the phrase is "POTIUS MORI QUAM FOEDARE," which means "rather to die than to be dishonored."
I mentioned above that the phrase was a "battle cry." It was also used immediately before a Roman centurion committed suicide. When he knew that he was defeated and would die at the hands of the enemy, he would "fall on his own sword."
The emperor Tacitus condemned this suicidal ritual as "heathenistic" in the third century A. D.
The phrase can be found at the Merriam-Webster Latin Dictionary Online:
http://www.websters-dictionary-online.org/translation/Latin/mors+ante+infamiam”
The Latin phrase is "MORS ANTE INFAMIAM." "Infamiam" literally means "infamy," and "dishonor" is a synonym. The Latin philosopher and dramatist Seneca [and tutor of the emperor, Nero] used a variation of the phrase in his writing.
Another version of the phrase is "POTIUS MORI QUAM FOEDARE," which means "rather to die than to be dishonored."
I mentioned above that the phrase was a "battle cry." It was also used immediately before a Roman centurion committed suicide. When he knew that he was defeated and would die at the hands of the enemy, he would "fall on his own sword."
The emperor Tacitus condemned this suicidal ritual as "heathenistic" in the third century A. D.
The phrase can be found at the Merriam-Webster Latin Dictionary Online:
http://www.websters-dictionary-online.org/translation/Latin/mors+ante+infamiam”
— Ted Nesbitt, “Origin
of phrase “death before dishonour”” (6 JUN 2008), on AllExperts at http://en.allexperts.com/q/Etymology-Meaning-Words-1474/2008/6/Origin-phrase-death-dishonour-1.htm [accessed
13 DEC 2015].
III. The Unreasonable Basis of Envy (4:4)
Again, I considered all travail,
and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is
also vanity and vexation of spirit.
“cruel competitiveness”
— Walter C.
Kaiser, Jr., Ecclesiastes: Total Life,
in Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979), pg. 73.[3]
The concluding refrain
IV. The Understandable Conclusion of Qoheleth (4:5-6)
5 The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh. 6
Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with
travail and vexation of spirit.
A non-alternative!
A gracious answer
[Sermon preached 13 DEC 2015 by Pastor John T. “Jack”
Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]
Complete Outline:
I. The Universal Lack of Comfort (4:1)
II. The Ultimate Despair of Life (4:2-3)
III. The Unreasonable Basis of Envy (4:4)
IV. The Understandable Conclusion of Qoheleth (4:5-6)
Select Sources on Ecclesiastes:
J. Sidlow Baxter,
Explore The Book: A Basic and Broadly
Interpretive Course of Bible Study from Genesis to Revelation, 6 vols. in 1
ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, n.d., 1960 printing).
William D.
Barrick, Ecclesiastes: The Philippians of
the Old Testament, Focus on the Bible series (Fearn, Ross-Shire, Scotland:
Christian Focus, 2012).
C. Hassell
Bullock, An Introduction to the Old
Testament Poetic Books: The Wisdom and Songs of Israel (Chicago: Moody
Press, 1979)/
Michael A. Eaton,
Ecclesiastes: An Introduction and
Commentary, Vol. 16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL:
Inter-Varsity, 1983).
F. Delitzsch,
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon,
trans. M. G. Easton, Vol. VI in C. F. Kiel and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten
Volumes, trans. James Martin (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, n.d., 1975 reprint).
Duane A. Garrett,
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs,
Vol. 14, New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman, 1993).
Donald R. Glenn,
“Ecclesiastes,” in The Bible Knowledge
Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. J. F. Walvoord, and R. B.
Zuck (Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1985).
William Henry
Green, “Scope and Plan of the Book of Ecclesiastes,” Biblical Reparatory and Princeton Review 29 (1857), pp. 419-40; on Gordon Faculty Online at http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/OTeSources/21-Ecclesiastes/Text/Articles/Green-ScopeofEccl-1857.pdf [accessed 7 NOV 2015].
Walter C. Kaiser,
Jr., Ecclesiastes: Total Life, in
Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979).
Walter C. Kaiser,
Jr., Coping With Change: Ecclesiastes
(Fearn, Roth-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2013).
H. C. Leupold,
Exposition of Ecclesiastes (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1952).
Tremper Longman
III, The Book of Ecclesiastes, New
International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997).
John MacArthur, MacArthur Study Bible, rev. ed.
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997).
Roland Edmund
Murphy, Ecclesiastes, Vol. 23A, Word
Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, 1992).
Philip Graham
Ryken, Ecclesiastes: Why Everything
Matters, in Preaching the Word, gen. ed. R. Kent Hughes (Wheaton: Crossway,
2010).
Philip G. Ryken, Why Everything Matters: The Gospel in
Ecclesiastes (Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications,
Ltd., 2015).
J. Stafford
Wright, “Ecclesiastes,” in Psalms-Song of
Songs, Vol. 5, Expositor's Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand
Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991).
[2] Source: William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of
Patrick Henry (Philadelphia, 1836), as reproduced in The World's Great Speeches, eds. Lewis Copeland and Lawrence W. Lamm (New York, 1973);
on Colonial Williamsburg at http://www.history.org/almanack/life/politics/giveme.cfm [accessed 13 DEC 2015].
See also:
“Patrick Henry - Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death,” on The Avalon Project in the Lillian
Goldman Law Library (Yale Law School) at http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/patrick.asp [accessed 13 DEC 2015],
“Patrick
Henry’s Speeches” on The Patrick Henry
Center at http://www.patrickhenrycenter.com/Speeches.aspx [accessed 13 DEC 2015], and,
Evan Andrews, “Patrick Henry’s “Liberty or Death” Speech, 240
Years Ago” (22 MAR 2015), on History
at http://www.history.com/news/patrick-henrys-liberty-or-death-speech-240-years-ago [accessed 13 DEC 2015].
[3] “…men
can be as cruel and inhuman to each other in unnecessary competition as they can
be in oppression (4:4-6). Often the rule
in the business world is the law of the jungle. Every success is greeted with envy
instead of the expected praise.” — Kaiser, op. cit., pg. 72.
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