A New Thing

Read Leviticus 17

Read Ecclesiastes 1

I love the book of Ecclesiastes. I like to think of it as a midlife-crisis (or even an end-of-life crisis) book. It shocks us out of complacency. Written by Solomon, the wisest man to live, we wouldn't expect the book to call wisdom, learning, and study vanity. But he does.

Now, before we conclude that all his hopeless (and that we should be anti-academic) the sulking Solomon will come back around by the end of the book and give us meaning, purpose, and something positive to hang onto.

But today we are encouraged to consider the seemingly endless nature of the earth. Compared to the short life of a man, the goes on and on, in fact in a poetic exaggeration Solomon says that the earth endures forever. Think of the constant hydrologic cycle. The water evaporates, condenses, falls to the earth, flows to the ocean, and then evaporates up again.

Life continues on as it has for years and years, thousands of years. Unless God ends it all, it will continue on and on long after us. Solomon claims that there is nothing new under the sun (v. 9). Then he challenges us, "Is there a thing of which it is said, 'See, this is new'?" (v. 10).

It doesn't seem so. In fact, in Solomon's day, no there wasn't.

But God says later through the prophet Isaiah, "Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." (43:19). Elsewhere God would also say through Isaiah that he was proclaiming "new things, hidden things" (48:6), and that he would make a "new heavens and a new earth" (65:17).

We understand from the rest of Scripture that this is fulfilled in Jesus. What a new thing God has done to rescue us from all the vanity of our sin-fallen existence! God becomes incarnate. God suffers death. God rises from the dead. God forgives our sin!

This is always and forever the source of our "new song" (Psalm 98:1). Thanks be to God!

Pray: (adapted from Psalm 98:1-3)

I sing to You LORD a new song,
for You has done marvelous things!
Your right hand and Your holy arm
have worked salvation for You.
You, LORD, have made known Your salvation;
You have revealed Your righteousness in the sight of the nations.
You have remembered Your steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
Your salvation, O Lord our God. Amen.

Study with me tomorrow,

Pastor Jon

Soli Deo Gloria!