Ecclesiastes 2:1-17
Book Overview
Wisdom in Pleasure
Have you ever lived in such a way—whether it was a night, a vacation, or an entire stretch of life—that you “didn’t refuse [yourself] any pleasure?”
Would you say you were “testing yourself?” …or that your “mind was still guiding [you'] with wisdom?” Why or why not?
How did that go for you?
What all did “The Teacher” let himself pursue?
By pursuing all of these things, he said he was trying to “see what is good for people to do under heaven.” Is there any wisdom to be found in doing that?
Is that the only way—or the best way—to pursue wisdom? What kind of wisdom can’t we receive from our exploits in the world?
How did he “justify” his pursuits? (He was “exploring”; “still guided with wisdom”; it was his “reward” for struggles; etc.)
Do any of those sound familiar in your own life?
Wisdom for Life—and Death
Read Genesis 3:1-7. What do you notice about the way Eve saw the forbidden fruit of the garden? How did it seem to her—and what about it did she forget or set aside—when she decided to eat it?
Does anything from Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 remind you of the Garden of Eden? …what happened in the garden of Eden?
What “wisdom” did the fruit provide? What were Adam and Eve’s eyes open to?
Similarly, how were “The Teacher’s” eyes opened by the wisdom from the world that he sought?
Reading Ecclesiastes 2:12-17, did that wisdom—like the fruit—lead to life or death?
How are wisdom for living life and eternal life tied together—both in the garden and in Jesus?
How can finding wisdom and life in Christ actually free us to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of this world in a better way?