God's grace, will not lack blessings from the hand of the Lord (2:26). Solomon, after sampling all the bounties of his vast kingdom under the sun, said, "I hate life!" What a tremendous lesson this is. We are taught that the pleasures and pos sessions of this existence can never fully satisfy the soul of man created in the image of God. Only when we come to know the Lord, through accepting Jesus Christ as personal Saviour, will there ever be real sat isfaction in this life as well as in the life to come. Jehoiakim It is good to remember that God gives us illuminating portraits of people on the pages of Scripture to show the folly of their weak nesses and sins, as well as the po tentials of their strengths and vic tories. The thing I want to call your attention to in this study is that a godly father does not necessarily have good children. In Jeremiah 36:1-26 we see the judgment of God upon a king who murdered one of his own prophets. It also reveals the foolishness of one at tempting to multilate or destroy the Word of God. Jehoianim was the son of Josiah who had meddled with God. His original name was Eliakim, "God will establish." The king of Egypt changed the name to Jehoiakim, "Jehovah raises up." How contrary the name to his actual character. He was just as evil as his father was good. His outstanding sin was that he burned the Word of God. He was vicious, cruel and covetous. Because of his sins, Jeremiah proph esies that he would have a special kind of burial, similar to one given a beast of burden. His suitable epi- Page 51
of forgetting that one day you are going to live either in heaven or hell forever. This is really the trust of the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon makes a very pessimis tic declaration, "Therefore I hated life" (2:17). Such sad disillusion ment in those words. He was ab solutely disgusted with all of his vain efforts. He testifies further, 'So I turned around and I gave my heart up to despair" (2:20). He looked back down the road once travelled. The past caused him to regret in anguish and discourage ment. He brooded over the thought that someone unworthy might gain access to his possessions after he died. He knew, as do we, that "there are no pockets in a shroud." This same anxiety torments those who are rich with this world's goods. Some wise Christian stew ards settle this matter with a com petent will so that they know what will happen to their estate at the time of their demise. We thank the Lord for those who have remem bered Biola and its ministries in this manner. That which will not abide at the judgment seat of Christ will be worthless (I Corinthians 3:12-15). The final disappointment for the man "under the sun" is an ample portion of daily sorrows and grief (2:23). The cares and troubles of the day invaded Solomon's royal bedroom. He kept awake thinking about all his problems. Such can plague any man if he does not know Jesus Christ as his own per sonal Saviour. Finally his eyes were turned from self to the Lord and he spoke from the hand of God (2:24). Real joy is a gift from the Saviour implanted in the heart by faith. The good man, who has accepted
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