Ecclelsiastes 2:4-9

In our last installment we saw that Solomon attempted to find fulfillment "Under the sun" i.e. this earthly life in the hedonistic pleasures of life. The boomerang effect as we called it. He found it did not satisfy either. Now in this section Solomon talks about the acquisition of possessions. Two important things come out of this. He did not deny himself anything and it was purely self indulgent.

Verse 4a is an introductory phrase to orient the reader to what he is about to say. The first part of the section concerns Solomons real estate acquisitions and improvements. I think here of Solomon's building of the house for the princess of Egypt talked about in I Kings 3:1 and the temple in the following chapters. However Solomon's building projects included much more. The term for enclosed parks has come down to us as "paradise." Perhaps the drive to recreate the Edenic ideal. Solomon is saying he built the Disneyland of his day. Purely for his enjoyment. He planted fruit trees looking at the fruit motif he uses in his other writings Solomon surely enjoyed the "fruit" of his labors in a sensual way. Not only did he develop parks, not only did he make them virtual paradises he improved their development with irrigation. The water was not only the the good of the trees but he developed pools probably purely for his enjoyment. Containment of water always brings its own set of problems--clarity and sanitation. Without a way for the water to move neither one of these would be possible. Solomon had to have developed a way to make all this work. His great intellect and wisdom was being put to work.

Not only was their real estate improvement and expansion but also the acquisition of labor. The control of people male and female slaves. The is a short verse but significant. He could not have carried out what he did without labor. Control of people--management can be an elixir or grand proportions.

The development of huge herds of livestock we can interpret this as cattle and sheep/goats. These were important from a religious standpoint seeing as how the religion of Israel at the time revolved around animal sacrifice. This not only had to do with feeding his family or the royal court but probably supplying at least some of the demand for religious functions by the people. If they didn't raise their own or did not have a perfect lamb they could have purchased one from the king's flocks and herds.

Solomon states that he gathered gold and silver. He made money through levying taxes as well as other tribute that came in from his land conquests. But in addition to this he increased his own personal wealth that was separate from the state. He became a wealthy person.

As usual when there is acquisition like this there is the acquisition of the comforts of culture. He acquired male and female singers. They could entertain him and the court. Interestingly these singers were apparently not part of the temple requirements but purely his.

The last part of verse 8 translated by "concubines" is difficult to ascertain with certainty since it occurs only here in the Old Testament. The comparison with other ancient near east literature seems to indicate that this is a correct definition. Solomon acquired a harem. What is left for him to acquire? Really--he has up to this point everything he wanted. Now he acquires sexual satisfaction. That is what a harem is for. There is something quite sad about this. Concubines came into the royal house or court with no rights. Certainly they were well taken care of but at what expense? Whenever I think of concubines and harems I think of Hugh Hefner and the "girls next door." Hefner has developed certain parallels to harems over the years. His present-day lifestyle is no exception. He is a caricature of himself now.

Solomon ends this section by saying he accomplished more than his predecessors. By this he probably means his father, Saul and the judges who ruled before them. He had reached the pinnacle of wealth power and satisfaction.

The comparisons here with compulsive and addictive behavior can be drawn with the workaholic. Remember addiction can be to almost anything. "addiction is a pathological relationship with a mood altering drug" (Carnes). People can be addicted to work and the control of people from the work/career standpoint. The problem is that trying to control people in your intimate and family relationships doesn't work. They are also people and are different from you. This will raise conflict--be certain of that. There is a certain adrenaline inducing effect that comes from seeing your dream projects come to "fruition." It's when we depend upon them to raise our mood that we get into problems. Here we reach perhaps the most difficult form of addiction--sexual addiction. With unlimited power and wealth Solomon could literally buy any form of sexual satisfaction he wanted. The powerful mixture of sexual arousing hormones and chemicals and adrenaline are extremely addicting. Difficult to overcome because the chemicals are produced in your own body.

Interesting that Solomon says he maintained his objectivity. Hmm--"under the sun" from his worldly point of view. We know later that these vast acquisitions of feminine beauty led him astray religiously. As Dan Allender says "all adultery will ultimately lead to idolatry."

Our time is up for today so until next week: "Keep coming back it works if you work it and your are worth it."