A Study Guide to Ecclesiastes

By Michael Penny
The Open Bible Trust, Fordland Mount, Upper Basildon, Reading, RG8 8LU, UK.
www.obt.org.uk

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Ecclesiastes:
The Old Testament Book for Today

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The structure of Ecclesiastes

 1:1-1:11 Introduction
 1:12-6:9 Search for what is good
 6:10-12:8 Answers to what is good
 12:9-12:14 Conclusion

 The question: “What is good?”

 First 5 chapters explaining what is not good.
 The question: “Who knows what is good for man?”
(Ecclesiastes 6:12)
 Chapters 6-12 gives some answers to “What is good?”

A Study Guide to Ecclesiastes by Michael Penny (The Open Bible Trust; www.obt.org.uk)
An outline of Ecclesiastes

 I Introduction
 A Title (1:1)
 B Poem – A life of activity that appears wearisome (1:2-11)
 II Solomon’s investigation of what is good (1:12-6:9)
 A Introduction – The King and his investigation (1:12-18)
 B Investigation of pleasure-seeking (2:1-11)
 C Investigation of wisdom and folly (2:12-17)
 D Investigation of labour and rewards (2:18-6:9)
 III Solomon’s conclusions as to what is good (6:10-12:8)
 A Introduction – The problem of not knowing (6:10-12)
 B Man cannot always find out which route is the most
successful for him to take because his wisdom is limited (7:1- 8:17)
 C Man does not know what will come after him (9:1 – 11:6)
 D Man should enjoy life, but not sin, because judgment will come
to all (11:7 – 12:8)
 IV Solomon’s final advice (12:9-14)

Subjects dealt with by Solomon in Ecclesiastes

 Vanity
 Death, resurrection and judgement
 God the Creator (Elohim)
 Time and Eternity
 Good and evil
 Happiness and Joy
 Money, Wealth and Riches
 Work, Toil and Labour

A Study Guide to Ecclesiastes by Michael Penny (The Open Bible Trust; www.obt.org.uk)
 Number of occurrences of certain
words & phrases in Ecclesiastes

· Vanity (35)
· Death (4) and judgement (4) implying resurrection
· God the Creator: Elohim (39)
· Time (40) and Eternity (1)
· Good (16) and Evil (9)
· Happiness (1) happy (4)
· Work (8), Labour (10) and Toil (24)
· Wealth (8), Money (3), Rich (3) and Riches (1)
· Under the sun (27)

A Study Guide to Ecclesiastes by Michael Penny (The Open Bible Trust; www.obt.org.uk)
Resources on Ecclesiastes

The Book of Ecclesiastes

By Michael and Sylvia Penny
(7 studies on 3 CDs; £6.00)

These CDs were recorded as Open Bible Trust Study Afternoon in Reading and
Nottingham.
Study 1
The first study was given by Sylvia Penny who gave an excellent overview of the Book of
Ecclesiastes, using the following structure.
· 1:1-11: Introduction
· 1:12-6:9: Search for what is good.
· 6:10-12:8: Answers to what is good.
· 12:9-14: Conclusion

Study 2
Sylvia Penny then gave a detailed study on what Ecclesiastes had to say on ...
1) Vanity,
2) Death, resurrection and judgement
3) God the Creator (Elohim).

Study 3
Michael Penny considered what Ecclesiastes had to say on ...
1) Time,
2) Eternity.

Study 4
Michael Penny dealt with …
1) Good,
2) Evil,
3) Happiness.

Study 5
Michael Penny went through what Ecclesiastes had to say on …
1) Work,
2) Toil,
3) Labour.

Study 6
Michael Penny considered subjects very much to the fore in 21st Century Britain.
1) Wealth,
2) Money,
3) Riches.

Study 7
Michael Penny gave a brief summary of the previous six studies, producing some interesting
statistics about the subjects considered. He also looked at what Ecclesiastes considered it
‘good to do’ and dealt with the conclusion of the book and the final thoughts of Solomon.

A Study Guide to Ecclesiastes by Michael Penny (The Open Bible Trust; www.obt.org.uk)
Further Resources on Ecclesiastes
The Vain and the Sane in Ecclesiastes
(Booklet; £3.00)
By Charles Ozanne

Many have been fascinated by the Book of Ecclesiastes, and most have
been perplexed and frustrated by its apparently negative sentiments.
However, Ecclesiastes is as robustly God-centred as the rest of the Bible,
and its message is reflected in other places such as the Psalms and Romans. It is however
only in Ecclesiastes that the theme of vanity is pursued to its logical conclusion.

It is not without reason that the Wisdom literature, to which Ecclesiastes belongs, is called by
this name. It does require wisdom to understand and appreciate this book. One needs to be
something of a philosopher or sage to plumb its depths. However, we can pray with the
apostle Paul that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give us a spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (Ephesians 1:17). We would all be well
advised to offer this prayer before entering the harsh world of Ecclesiastes.

Koheleth Speaks
(Booklet; £1.25)
By Bob Morris

The author faces the fact that Christians are now in a minority in most
countries. As such we live in a secular society which has a desire for
pleasure and a fear of boredom. How can Christians survive? And how
do we strive for Christian values?

Drawing upon Ecclesiastes – “one of the most modern books in the entire Scripture”, claims
the author – he advocates that we can move our society closer to Christian values if we met
people where they are, if we were prepared to settle for “better” solutions, rather than going
for the “best” and then ending up with “nothing”.

Vanity of Vanity
(2 studies on 1 CD; £2.00)
Bobn Morris

Study 1: Ecclesiastes 3
Study 2: Ecclesiastes 4

Copies of these resources are available from www.obt.org.uk and from

The Open Bible Trust
Fordland Mount, Upper Basildon,
Reading RG8 8LU, UK.

The books are also available as eBooks from Kindle and Apple.

A Study Guide to Ecclesiastes by Michael Penny (The Open Bible Trust; www.obt.org.uk)