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| Canon Press |
Ecclesiastes has been my “prayer book” these past weeks. I have been studying it and to help me dig deeper into it, I have been reading Douglas Wilson’s book, Joy at the End of the Tether: The Inscrutable Wisdom of Ecclesiastes. I am half way through it and I can already recommend it to you all. It has been a blessing to me.
Here are some borrowed words from it:
“The great Hebrew philosopher who wrote this book called Ecclesiastes calls us to joy, but to a joy which thinks, a joy which does not shrink back from hard questions. He calls us to meditation, but to meditation which does not despair.”
“The meaningless of all things, as Solomon presents it, must work down into our bones. We should let the Word do its work before we hasten to make Ecclesiastes a grab bag of inspirational quotes.”
“God is the One who gives things, and God is the One who gives the power to enjoy things.. Only the first is given to the unbeliever. The believer is given both, which is simply another way of saying that he is given the capacity for enjoyment.”
“To be wise, a man must know his limitations.”
“We are being told that we have been placed in a world that we did not create or fashion, and that this world has various repetitive cycles, to which cycles we have been assigned by someone else. We are under the authority of these repetitions and have been placed under that authority by the hand and purpose of God.”
“God only promised a way of escape from every temptations, not from every unpalatable doctrine.”
“When calamity comes, and the tears follow, the Lord was in it. When rejoicing brings relief, the Lord was in it. The doctrine has a hard edge and more than one person has cut himself on it. But denial of the doctrine does not remove the light and darkness, the peace or evil. It just removes the possibility of finding any solace.”
“Relationships which form under His sovereign will, and relationships which dissolve are all from Him as well (v.8). Euodia and Synthyche were close and had a falling out. No longer under the sun, they are together again. The time for the friendships and the time for the quarrels are all appointed.”
“Eternity has been placed in our hearts. God has made us in relation to Him, and nothing we can do will alter this. He is always our Maker and we are always made. He is always Creator and we are always created.”
“We must begin with God and not just any old divinity.”
“Rejoice, do good, eat your bread, drink your wine. Believe in the sovereign God and enjoy these inscrutable repetitions (3:15). This is a gift (3:13). Remember his judgments (3:15) and sit down to your dinner.”
Now, it’s been a while since I have not hosted a giveaway here, and I am thinking that this is the time to do so, and this is the perfect book to give away. So if you want to enter the drawing, leave a comment here. The winner will be announced Wednesday, August 1st.
May His grace abound as we live under His sun and by his grace,
Becky
Daily On My Way to Heaven 
Becky, I would love to know more about your Bible study techniques. I am so in need of structure. I have been doing a one year Bible reading plan and it's overwhelming. I read things that I want to simmer on forever and other things that just leave me completely confused. I really want to continue with reading through the entire Bible but also want to focus on meaning and saturating myself with the truth. I really think that I need a Bible study guide as I read as well as a journal…but I just don't know where to start with how to use those properly. I would treasure any advice you have!
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“The doctrine has a hard edge and more than one person has cut himself on it. But denial of the doctrine does not remove the light and darkness, the peace or evil. It just removes the possibility of finding any solace.”
Please add my name to the hat:)
-E
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Your blog is always an encouragement to me – how wonderful that God allows younger women to “Titus” older women – you have done that for me and I am blessed. Praying for you and your family. I would love to be part of your giveaway.
– Esther in NJ
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Thank you for hosting this giveaway my friend! I would *love* to have a copy of this book…it sounds like a great read. 🙂
Blessings to you!
Camille
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I would love to win a copy of this book – thanks for the giveaway.
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I would love the chance to win and read this! Thank you, Becky, for the chance!
Kindly,
Katy
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This one is going on my (yikes, very long) “to read” list.
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Looks like another great book, Becky – now I have two to read – Father Hunger and this book, after I finish “The Book Thief” and “The Call To Wonder” by RC Sproul, Jr…:-).
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I would love to win this book. The quote, “God only promised a way of escape from every temptations, not from every unpalatable doctrine.” Stood out to me. I've becoming to understand why I have been in spiritual depression so long, is because of my lack of understanding of the doctrine of justification by faith alone.
mattnsarah.pfeifer@gmail.com
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Hi Becky,
I'd like to be a part of your contest.
Qoholeth or Ecclesiastes is where I turn for the ironic yet truthful wisdom for all ages.
Thanks for you blog.
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Becky,
I really enjoyed this book – I listened to it on Mp3 – so much that now I have the book and plan to underline all my favorite quotes. Ecclesiates is the right refutation to the pain and muck of this life. We should not be surprised when troubles come – but for some reason I always am. A beautiful picture of a fallen yet glorious world.
Thank you for this post.
Blessings to you, Dear Sister-
Grace, Peace and JOY,
Jojo
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“The meaningless of all things, as Solomon presents it, must work down into our bones. We should let the Word do its work before we hasten to make Ecclesiastes a grab bag of inspirational quotes.”
Love it. This is going on my TBR list for sure…
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