Ecclesiastes

The book of Ecclesiastes contains the thoughts of “the Philosopher”, a man who
reflected deeply on how short and contradictory human life is, with its mysterious
injustices and frustrations, and concluded that “life is useless”. He could not
understand the ways of God. who controls human destiny. Yet, in spite of this, he
advised people to work hard, and to work hard, and enjoy the gifts of God as much
as long as they could.
Many of the Philosopher’s thoughts appear negative and even depressing. But the
fact that this book is in the Bible show the biblical faith is broad enough to take
into account such pessimism and doubt. Many have taken comfort in the seing
themselves in the mirror of Ecclesiastes, and have discovered that he same Bible
which reflects these thoughts also offers the hope in God that gives life its
greater meaning.

Outline of contents
- Does life have a purpose? Ecclesiastes 1:1 - 2:26
- Sayings about life Ecclesiastes 3:1 - 11:8
- Concluding advice Ecclesiastes 11:9 - 12:8
- Summary Ecclesiastes 12:9 - 14

CHAPTERS
Chapter 1 - Life is Useless,
Chapter 2 - The Philosopher’s Experience
Chapter 3 - A Time for Everything
Chapter 4 - Injustice in the World
Chapter 5 - Don’t Make Rash Promises
Chapter 6 - Life is Useless
Chapter 7 - Thoughts about Life
Chapter 8 - Obey the King
Chapter 9 - The Wicked and the Righteous
Chapter 10 - Thoughts on Wisdom and Foolishness
Chapter 11 - What a wise Person Does
Chapter 12 - Advice to Young People ; The Summary
King David

- the Books of Samuel, David is described as a young shepherd and harpist who
gains fame by killing Goliath.
- He becomes a favorite of Saul, the first king of Israel, but is forced to go into
hiding when Saul becomes paranoid that David is trying to take his throne.
- After Saul and his son Jonathan are killed in battle, David is anointed king by the
tribe of Judah and eventually all the tribes of Israel.
- He conquers Jerusalem, makes it the capital of a united Israel and brings the Ark
of the Covenant to the city.
- He commits adultery with Bathsheba and arranges the death of her husband,
Uriah the Hittite.
- David's son Absalom later tries to overthrow him, but David returns to Jerusalem
after Absalom's death to continue his reign.
- David desires to build a temple to Yahweh but is denied because of the
bloodshed in his reign.
- He dies at age 70 and chooses Solomon, his son with Bathsheba, as his
successor instead of his eldest son Adonijah.
King Solomon
- The Bible says Solomon built the First Temple in Jerusalem, dedicating the
temple to Yahweh, or God in Judaism.
- Solomon is portrayed as wealthy, wise and powerful, and as one of the 48
Jewish prophets
- Solomon was born in Jerusalem,[16] the second born child of David and his wife
Bathsheba (widow of Uriah the Hittite).
- The biblical narrative shows that Solomon served as a peace offering between
God and David, due to his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba. In an effort to
hide this sin, for example, he sent the woman's husband to battle, in the
subsequently realised hope that he would be killed there.
- Solomon was the biblical king most famous for his wisdom.
- In 1 Kings he sacrificed to God, and God later appeared to him in a
dream,asking what Solomon wanted from God. Solomon asked for wisdom in
order to better rule and guide his people. Pleased, God personally answered
Solomon's prayer, promising him great wisdom because he did not ask for self-
serving rewards like long life or the death of his enemies.
- According to the Hebrew Bible, the ancient Kingdom of Israel gained its highest
splendour and wealth during Solomon's reign of 40 years.
- According to the biblical account, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines.
- The wives were described as foreign princesses, including Pharaoh's daughter,
and women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon and of the Hittites.
 - The story of Solomon falling into idolatry by the influence of Pharaoh's daughter
and his other foreign wives
- According to 1 Kings 11:4 Solomon's "wives turned his heart after other gods",
their own national deities, to whom Solomon built temples, thus incurring divine
anger and retribution in the form of the division of the kingdom after Solomon's
death (1 Kings 11:9–13). 1 Kings 11 describes Solomon's descent into idolatry,
particularly his turning after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after
Milcom, the god of the Ammonites.
- According to 1 Kings 11:30–34
“And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord,
the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this
thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded.
Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, "Since this has been your practice and you have not
kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom
from you and will give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in
your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all the
kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the
sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.”
- Near the end of his life, Solomon was beset by several enemies, including Hadad of Edom,
Rezon of Zobah, and his own official Jeroboam of the tribe of Ephraim

Death, succession of Rehoboam, and kingdom division

Jeroboam
- He was the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel. The Hebrew Bible describes the reign
of Jeroboam to have commenced following a revolt of the ten northern Israelite tribes against
Rehoboam that put an end to the United Monarchy.
Rehoboam
- was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the last monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel and
the first monarch of the Kingdom of Judah after the former's split.
- He was a son of and the successor to Solomon and a grandson of David. In the account of I
Kings and II Chronicles, Rehoboam was initially a king of the United Monarchy, but later saw
his rule limited to only the Kingdom of Judah in the south following a rebellion by the ten
northern tribes of Israel in 932/931 BCE, which led to the formation of the independent
Kingdom of Israel under the rule of Jeroboam in the north.