Sunday School Lesson, August 11, 2002

PROVERBS & ECCLESIASTES

A Word of Introduction Given to Teachers (in a local church): The Lord showed in the group of
intercessors that the children had Bibles, the pages of which were blank from Proverbs through
the Minor Prophets. There were even blank pages in the gospels, and the epistles were
completely blank. The discernment was that the children need practical instruction on these
books of the Bible. Responding to what the Lord has shown, we will begin to survey these
books of the Bible. There are many details here, some of which are definitely too much for a
younger class, and perhaps even for the adolescents. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that the teacher
adjust the lesson for the needs and level of understanding of her class. At a MINIMUM, the
children should understand generally where the particular book is located (i.e., Old or New
Testament? and near which books?), who wrote it, and what are the themes or some of the things
the book says. This is basic information that the children should know if, for example, a non-
church friend or grown-up asked them a question about the Bible or a certain book. A child,
especially those who read on their own, should be able to help a friend who is visiting the church
to be able to find a passage when the pastor / Sunday School teacher announces it to the church /
class.

THAT SAID, it is also important that the teacher give the children something spiritual. We don’t
want to pass on mere information to the kids. The practical information is important for their
spiritual lives and the Lord has revealed a need to transmit this information, but we don’t want to
turn the class into a lecture. Make it interesting for them; keep their attention. Give them a verse
or two to memorize, which embodies an important theme or message of the book in question.
Provide an illustration of that, or object lesson, if needed. Do not burden the children with facts
too numerous to remember. Help them understand and remember, in a meaningful way, what the
book is, how to find it, and what it says.

In some ways, the ADOLESCENTS should be challenged the most. 2 Timothy 2:15 challenges
the servant: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not
need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” By this age they should
know where all of the books of the Bible are, what kind of books they are, and something that
each one says – at the least they should know this by the time they turn fifteen and join the
adults. It should not be said of our children when they are older what it says in Hebrews 5:12:
“In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the
elementary truths of God's word all over again.” What good is a Sunday School program in the
eyes of visiting parents if the students in the church cannot answer basic questions about the
Bible?

Knowledge of the Bible does not save. But if it goes hand in hand with a new life and daily faith
in, and commitment to, the Lord, then the servant is well positioned to be greatly used by the
Lord. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 instructs, “All Scripture is Godbreathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work.” The adolescents (and the others who can read, but especially
the adolescents) should be encouraged to develop a daily habit of reading the Word. A simple
program of reading (whether he/she consults a series of books, or one book at a time, or random
passages) should, over time, familiarize the child with the entire Bible. But this knowledge
should be reinforced in Sunday School. It would be good to provide reasonable READING
ASSIGNMENTS to the adolescents in preparation for these classes, perhaps requiring the
memorization of a verse or two, or the order of books in certain sections of the Bible.

PROVERBS

This material is intended to be taught over the span of two classes. Use this Sunday and next
Sunday to cover the material. This does not mean that you need to divide the books evenly
between each class. In fact, at this point in the lives of the children Proverbs deserves more
attention than Ecclesiastes. A good way to structure the lessons may be to give the background /
introductory sections for each book at the same time, followed by separate teachings on the
substance of each book.

I.
The Jews thought of the Old Testament as three parts: the Law, Prophets, and Writings. The
Law included the five books of Moses (a.k.a. the “Pentateuch” – pronounced “PEN teh tuke”):
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Prophets include all of the books
of the “major prophets” (i.e., Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel) and the
“minor prophets” (i.e., Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi). Finally, the Writings included the history books
(like Joshua, Judges, 1st & 2nd Samuel, 1st & 2nd Kings, 1st & 2nd Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah),
poetic books (like Psalms and Song of Songs), and the “wisdom books.” The wisdom books
included Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. They are called “wisdom” books because they provide
advice and instruction. The books are philosophical in nature; they don’t really tell a story, but
are filled with deep thoughts about God and how we should live our lives and how we should
relate to God.

II.
Proverbs is in the Old Testament. It comes after Psalms, and before Ecclesiastes. The word
“proverb” in English literally means a “wise old saying”; it expresses a truth that never changes.
The book of Proverbs is filled with very rich and meaningful sayings that contain wisdom and
truth for our lives.

A.
Most of Proverbs was written in the 10th century B.C. That is nearly 1000 years before Jesus was
born. Who wrote the book? The book states that these are the proverbs of Solomon. However,
there are many sayings which are attributed to other wise men (e.g., Agur son of Jakeh in
Chapter 30, and an unknown king named Lemuel in Chapter 31; elsewhere it refers to the
sayings of “the wise”). Nevertheless, the book is explicitly and directly connected to King
Solomon. Solomon is a Bible person who is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom, which is
what Proverbs teaches, comes from the Holy Spirit. It is one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit.

B.

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Proverbs aims at counseling young people in how important it is to get wisdom (Prov. 1:4). The
teacher can focus and expand on one or more of the following. As in other lessons, think of ways
of illustrating the points and/or examples or testimonies.

Proverbs 3
5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight [or, he will direct your paths].

A servant wants the Lord to speak to them and guide and direct them as they go through life.
The secret to having this is to walk closely with the Lord day by day. We need Jesus to be a part
of every aspect of our lives. We want to obey him and be in fellowship with him at home, at
school, at play, at church, and so on. We give him praise when good things happen to us, and we
pray to him constantly in good and bad times. We pray for the other kids, our family, our
unsaved friends. We plead the blood of Jesus every day to protect us and bless us. We make
Jesus a part of our lives everyday, not just some days and not just in certain places. He is a
friend who wants to be with us always. He wants us to be close to him so that he can speak to us
about our lives and how to make choices. God knows everything, so why would we want to
leave our decisions and choices to ourselves? We should lean on the Lord. He will support us.
If we lean on ourselves, then we fall down and get hurt.

Proverbs 4
6
Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
love her, and she will watch over you.
7
Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding.
8
Esteem her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will honor you.

Solomon was very young when he became king of Israel. The Lord appeared to him and offered
to give him any thing his heart desired. He could have asked for anything in the world – all the
money in the world, the best friends, the coolest clothes, to be the most popular or famous person
around. Instead, what did he ask for? Wisdom. He asked God only for the wisdom that comes
from heaven. God gave him this and as a result, he was able to make God’s chosen people a
powerful nation. There is no king in history who was more wealthy than he was. He made silver
as common as rocks that you find outside on the ground. The Lord gave him peace. The Lord
made him famous for answering difficult questions. He even got to build the Lord’s temple!

We should pray for wisdom. We should spend everything we have to get wisdom. Though it
cost all you have, it is the most important thing to get. The cost is letting God have your whole
life. Then you will have his Holy Spirit in your life; you will have his revelation and guidance,
and also his spiritual and material blessing.

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Proverbs 1
7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge [other translations say “wisdom”],
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Where do we start? How do we begin to get wisdom? Proverbs says the answer is to fear the
Lord. We should appreciate and respect the words of correction that our parents, teachers, etc.,
give to us. One of the ten commandments is to honor your father and mother. It is the first
commandment that has a promise attached to it: that things will go well with us and we will
have a long life (Deut. 5:16). We should appreciate and respond to the corrections that the Lord
gives us through the Body. If we fear God, then we will do the things he tells us; we will change
our own ways to be in line with what God tells us pleases him.

C.
Proverbs contains many poetic comparisons, called similes or metaphors. These images provide
us with a way to remember how we should act, how we should approach life and the Lord.

Proverbs 6
6
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
7
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
8
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

A servant is not lazy—not at school, or at home, and especially not in his/her relationship with
the Lord. Everyone has seen ants gathering food. They never stop. They are always working,
preparing for the long winters under ground, digging more spaces in the ground to make room
for the colony to grow. An ant leaves the ant hill, yet it always comes back; it knows where to
go; it seems to remember its final destination. An ant lifts many times its own weight. We
should be like the ant. We should work hard in all things, and we should always remember
where our home is. We should always be working to get there, to get to heaven. Are our lives
headed in that direction? Yet, we have it easier than the ant, because we have the Lord as our
commander and overseer. He tells us where to go and how to do things.

Proverbs 17
14
Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam;
so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

D.
Proverbs is filled with comparisons, showing us the right way to be and the wrong way. The
Lord’s way is clear, and we are either on it, or we are not.

Proverbs 15
1
A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.

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32
He who ignores discipline despises himself,
but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.

E.
Proverbs contains words of wisdom direction. Some of the sayings have even become well
known among people who are in the world. It is good to know where they come from.

Proverbs 16
18
Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 22
6
Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.

And see Prov. 15:1 above.

[F.
Proverbs even contains doctrine about consulting the Word.

Proverbs 18
18
Casting the lot settles disputes
and keeps strong opponents apart.

Proverbs 16
33
The lot is cast into the lap,
but its every decision is from the Lord .]

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 ECCLESIASTES

I.
Ecclesiastes comes after Proverbs, and before Song of Songs. Like Proverbs this book is one of
the “wisdom books.” We believe that Solomon was the author. It is written from the perspective
of someone who has lived a long life and has seen many things. He asks and answers many
questions that the world’s best philosophers have tried to answer. He concludes that life in this
world is empty and meaningless without God. The good life, the best way to live, the way that
gives a person the most happiness, is to live a life that is content with what the Lord provides for
us materially and to fear and obey God. Life centered on God satisfies us and gives us purpose,
a reason to live.

II.

Ecclesiastes 1
2
"Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless."
3
What does man gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun?
4
Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.

This is the central theme. People are born, live around 70 to 80 years, if fortunate, and then die,
only to be remembered for a little time after that. A person in the world spends his whole life
working for money, trying this and that, spending his resources and energies to try to find
happiness. But nothing brings it to him, and he eventually disappears after a short time. Surely
God has a different plan for him!

Ecclesiastes 1
13
I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a
heavy burden God has laid on men! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of
them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Solomon was a man of great learning. He learned many things about science, how things work
on earth and in space. But he found that science is limited. It could not provide him the
happiness and meaning that he longed for. In fact he did not get anything out of it; it was like he
was grabbing at wind.

Ecclesiastes 2
1
I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But
that also proved to be meaningless. . . .
4
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. . . .
8
I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. . . .
9
I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. . . .
11
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.

Solomon experienced more wealth and pleasure than even the richest person in the world alive
today. Even this did not satisfy him.

III.
Solomon concludes that it is best to be happy with the life and things that God has provided, but
to be focused on God first and foremost. God will hold us responsible for how we spent our
short time on earth.

Ecclesiastes 11
9
Be happy, young man, while you are young,
and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.
Follow the ways of your heart
and whatever your eyes see,
but know that for all these things
God will bring you to judgment.

Ecclesiastes 12
1
Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come. . .
7
and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it. . . .
13
Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
14
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.