Day 1 (Monday)
Ecclesiastes 2:1-26
We last read from the book of Ecclesiastes in weeks 2 & 3, back in September of last year. In week 2 we read the beginning of Ecclesiastes, and saw Solomon talks about how he had been given such wisdom, but in all his wisdom had found everything to be vanity, apparently pointless and unfulfilling. In week 3 we read the end of the book, and saw him say that he had tried every human means of fulfillment, and found all of them vain, and recommended simply walking in faithfulness to God, trusting that He has a purpose beyond our understanding. Since then, we have read from Exodus and Joshua, and have seen God call His people, and promise them blessings if they would be faithful. So this time, we will return to Ecclesiastes, and see Solomon describe how he decided to try sinning after he found wisdom to be “full of vanity”, and see if he found any fulfillment in the evils that God had warned His people against.
The Futility of Self-Indulgence
2 I said to myself, “Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But again, this also was vanity. 2 I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” 3 I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, until I might see what was good for mortals to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 4 I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself; 5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house; I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and delights of the flesh, and many concubines.
9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. 10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
Wisdom and Joy Given to One Who Pleases God
12 So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what can the one do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. 13 Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.
14 The wise have eyes in their head,
but fools walk in darkness.
Yet I perceived that the same fate befalls all of them. 15 Then I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also; why then have I been so very wise?” And I said to myself that this also is vanity. 16 For there is no enduring remembrance of the wise or of fools, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How can the wise die just like fools? 17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
18 I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who come after me 19 —and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21 because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? 23 For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.
24 There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God; 25 for apart from Him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases Him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and heaping, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out that Solomon sees the truth, that wisdom is better than folly, and righteousness is better than sin, but he dislikes the answer, because even in righteousness there is no permanence, no stability, no real strength and independence. We can perhaps relate to this feeling, but should understand that, what Solomon rebelled against was precisely the dependence upon the Lord that we are called to. We should also understand that there was a real cost to Solomon’s experimentation. Even though he himself seems to have ultimately repented for the many sins that he describes here, he led the people of Israel astray, and their rebellion against God’s commandments will ultimately result in their destruction, as we will see in the coming weeks.)
2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?
3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?
4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )
5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?
Day 2 (Wednesday)
First Apology of Justin Martyr – 2: 47-49
We have seen St. Justin outlining many prophecies from the Old Testament regarding the coming of the Lord; this time, we will see him provide further prophecies that foretell events that have been “current events” for him and for the emperors to whom he writes, specifically, the destruction of the land of the Jews during the Bar Kochba revolt in the 130’s. He shows here as well that even the ongoing persecution of the Christians by the Romans was foretold, as was the entrance of the Gentiles into the Church.
Chapter 47
Listen, also, to what the Prophetic Spirit said concerning the future devastation of the land of the Jews. His words were spoken as if in the name of the people who wondered at what had happened. These are the words: ‘Sion has been made a wilderness, Jerusalem has become a desolation; the house, our sanctuary has become a curse; and the glory which our fathers praised is burned with fire; and all its glorious things have fallen in ruins. And Thou refrainest Thyself at these things, and hast held Thy peace, and hast humbled us greatly.’ And you know full well that, as it was foretold to come to pass, Jerusalem has been destroyed. That it would be destroyed and that no one would be allowed to dwell therein was thus foretold by the Prophet Isaias: ‘Their land is desolate, and their enemies consume it before them, and none of them shall dwell therein. And you are fully aware that it was guarded by you, lest anyone should dwell in it, and that a death penalty was decreed for any Jew caught entering it.
Chapter 48
Concerning the prophecy that our Christ should cure all diseases and raise the dead to life, hear what was spoken. Here are the exact words of the prophecy: ‘At His coming the lame shall leap like a stag, and the tongue of the dumb shall be clear; the blind shall see, and the lepers shall be cleansed, and the dead shall rise and walk about.’ That Christ did perform such deeds you can learn from the Acts of Pontius Pilate. Hear, also, the following words of Isaias, which tell how the Prophetic Spirit foretold that Christ and those men who trusted in Him should be put to death: ‘Behold how the Just One perisheth, and no one takes it to heart; and how just men are slain, and no one gives it a thought. The Just One is snatched from the face of evil, and His burial shall be in peace, He is taken from our midst.’
Chapter 49
Consider, too, how this same Isaias foretold that the Gentiles, who did not look forward to the Messiah, should worship Him, but the Jews, who were always awaiting His arrival, should not recognize Him when He did arrive. These are his words spoken as in the name of Christ Himself: ‘I was manifest to those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, “Behold Me” to a nation that did not call upon My name. I stretched out My hands to an unbelieving and contradicting people, who walk along a way that is not good, but follow after their own sins; a people who provoke Me to anger before My face.’ The Jews, in truth, who had the prophecies and always looked for the coming of Christ, not only did not recognize Him, but, far beyond that, even mistreated Him. But the Gentiles, who had never even heard anything of Christ until His Apostles went from Jerusalem and preached about Him and gave them the prophecies, were filled with joy and faith, and turned away from their idols, and dedicated themselves to the Unbegotten God through Christ. That these slanders which were to be directed against those who confess Christ were foreknown, and how they who slander Him and who claim that it is well to retain the ancient customs would be afflicted, listen to these few words of Isaias: ‘Woe unto those who call sweet bitter, and bitter sweet.’
Thomas B. Falls with Justin Martyr, The First Apology, The Second Apology, Dialogue with Trypho, Exhortation to the Greeks, Discourse to the Greeks, The Monarchy or The Rule of God, vol. 6, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1948), 83–86.
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should note that St. Justin here is not just quoting proof texts to the emperors, but is actively marveling at the wonder of prophecy fulfilled, and seeing what the Church has always seen, the fulfillment of the manifold promises of God in the Old Testament to call all the nations back to Him. These things had seemed impossible previously, and yet were being fulfilled before the wondering eyes of the Christians of Justin’s time. Indeed, he himself is an example of this, as neither his ancestry nor his education was either Jewish or Christian; he was born and raised in what had once been the Promised Land, but first simply as a pagan, then as a philosopher, and finally as a Christian. So what he is describing, with the Gentiles turning to Christ, is essentially autobiographical; but his own journey can count for that of many, both at his time and after.)
2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?
3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?
4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )
5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?
Day 3 (Friday)
2 Peter 3
We have been reading this second general Epistle of St. Peter, and have seen him warning the Church against false teachers, so that they will not be led astray. As he finishes the letter, he continues to urge them to faithfulness and endurance, assuring them of the Lord’s faithfulness and patience.
The Promise of the Lord’s Coming
3 This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you; in them I am trying to arouse your sincere intention by reminding you 2 that you should remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken through your apostles. 3 First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!” 5 They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water, 6 through which the world of that time was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless.
8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.
11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? 13 But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.
Final Exhortation and Doxology
14 Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, beware that you are not carried away with the error of the lawless and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should note that St. Peter here gives the reason for the “long wait” between the Lord’s Incarnation and His final judgment, that He is patient, and giving every opportunity for repentance to all of us. We should therefore take every opportunity to walk in repentance and in newness of life. It is also worth noting that he refers to the letters of St. Paul, and even speaks of them as “scripture,” which tells us that St. Paul’s letters were already being circulated and read in the Churches (and that they were also already being misunderstood and misused). Finally, it is worth noting that St. Peter here gives a refutation of the argument that judgment will never come and that everything has continued without any change since the beginning, in reminding us that God has judged the entire world once, in the great flood. We may remember, as well, what we have seen in the Old Testament readings, that judgment has come to the wicked as well, time and again, when their evil is full, and therefore we should walk in soberness and watchfulness, and above all in repentance and faithfulness.)
2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?
3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?
4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )
5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?