I feel like I’ve been banging on about Ecclesiastes on the blog for a while now. It was my ‘wellies’ Bible book a couple of terms ago (and if that makes no sense, have a read of this post), which in turn led to us preaching through it in South Barrow during Lent this year. Ecclesiastes manages to be at the same time densely rich, intriguingly beautiful and undeniably brutal. And overall I’ve found spending time with God in Ecclesiastes has been like a breath of fresh air. 

Anyway, along the way I wrote a series of sixteen daily devotions going through the whole of Ecclesiastes – and you can pick them up in the July-October ’17 edition of Explore, a set of quarterly dated Bible-reading notes which aim to “help you read, understand and apply the extraordinary truths of God’s word, every single day.”

I think Ecclesiastes is a book with a bit of a reputation – and sadly that can often stop us from opening it up. And yet it has such a life-giving message (albeit one that surprises us and confronts us too). 

If that’s whetted your appetite at all, you can pick Explore up from The Good Company here. You get ninety-two daily reflections for just £4.49 – bargain! –  and as well as covering Ecclesiastes, this edition also looks at Luke’s gospel, Ezra, Philemon, Psalms, Titus and Micah. Or download the app and pay through that.

I’d really love to get your feedback – especially if you’re not familiar with Ecclesiastes. I’d love to hear how God speaks to you through this portion of his Spirit-breathed word. Why not join the Explore Facebook group to share your thoughts, encouragements, questions and prayers?

Of course, as the Teacher in Ecclesiastes is keen to remind us, there’s nothing new under the sun. Personally, I’ve really been helped in my own grappling with Ecclesiastes by David Gibson’s excellent book, Destiny (my review here), Iain Provan’s commentary, Barry Webb’s Five Festal Garments (a fab introduction to Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther), as well as three talks I heard by Brian Elfick at a North-West Partnership Ministers’ Day.

If you’ve not come across Explore before, it’s well worth checking out. Spending a little bit of time reading and praying through the Bible each day is a brilliant rhythm to get into – even if it’s just five minutes. There are lots of ‘daily Bible reading notes’ out there, but one of the things I love about Explore is that its big aim is to push you into the Bible, rather than just skimming along the surface. Anyway, that’s what I’ve valued about Explore in the past – I hope this doesn’t tarnish that reputation!

You can hear a bit more about the vision behind Explore from Carl Laferton, the Senior Editor, here:

If, as the author of Destiny argues, Ecclesiastes “is a meditation on what it means to be alive in a world that God has made and called good, yet which has also gone so very wrong, often in catastrophic ways,” then I’d suggest it’s a book of the Bible that should become a lot more precious to us than it probably is.

After all, you don’t have to go far in life before things don’t go to plan. And if we’re feeling like life has lost any sense of rhyme or reason, or if we’re feeling like the sandcastles of our existence are becoming engulfed before our very eyes, then David Gibson wants to encourage us to see Ecclesiastes as God’s gift to us.

That might sound a bit odd at first. But give it a read and I think you’ll be persuaded. And if Ecclesiastes is God’s gift to us for those seasons, then reading Gibson’s book Destiny is kind of like having someone sit us down to unwrap the gift, in order to help us appreciate it in all its fullness. (And by the way, even if you’re not feeling those things right now, then Destiny is still for you, because you can bet that experience will come.)

Destiny actually feels like an increasingly rare type of Christian book. That’s because Gibson doesn’t take on a particular topic or a doctrine. He isn’t trying to answer a certain question or provide advice into a specific situation. And it isn’t a memoir or a biography. Rather Gibson simply walks us through the book of Ecclesiastes. And although he’s recently preached through Ecclesiastes with his church in Aberdeen, Destiny doesn’t read as one of those book manuscripts where the sermon transcripts have been hastily copied and pasted to churn out a paperback. In other words it reads well. Each of the chapters begins with an excerpt from the Bible and then Gibson just warmly unpacks the text before applying it and showing its often-piercing relevance. 

A couple of weeks ago I shared my thoughts on pastors always having a Bible book we’re ‘wading deep’ in (click here to read them). At the moment for me it’s Ecclesiastes. And so when I heard about Destiny I was eager to get my hands on it. I’d come across Gibson’s writings before and had found his writing both engaging and insightful. I’m encouraged that I’m not the only one, as the back-cover of Destiny has commendations from Old Testament devotees and legends like Dale Ralph Davis and Alec Motyer – no small indicator of the measure of the work David has produced in Destiny!

Now you might well be thinking, “hang on, just back up a minute: a whole book – just on Ecclesiastes?!’ And, ok, you have a point my friend. Because I think it’s fair to say that Ecclesiastes generally tends to carry a bit of a bad rep. Sometimes it’s made out to be depressing and overly-negative. Other times it’s treated as if it’s only use is as evangelistic talk fodder: “look, isn’t life meaningless without God?” (That or funeral addresses!) And perhaps the rest of the time Ecclesiastes is just seen as down-right confusing. If nothing else, how on earth does this relate to Jesus!?

And so right there you have three reasons why getting hold of Destiny is a good move, because allowing David Gibson to walk you through Ecclesiastes is a huge deal more refreshing than one might first expect:

1. For a start, Gibson is convinced that Ecclesiastes’ message should lead us to joy, not to despair. I’ll admit, that initially made me raise an eyebrow. But after journeying with him through Eccleasistes I was persuaded. And then the more I let Gibson walk me through Ecclesiastes, the more that was my actual experience as I spent time in Destiny.
2. He also points out that the main narrator of the book, ‘The Teacher’ seems to be fully aware of God and yet still wants to highlight that life has an inescapable ‘mistiness’ about it (perhaps a better translation than the NIV’s meaningless). This is a far cry from either the ‘believer-posing-as-a-sceptic’ reading or the full-on ‘atheist manual’ angle, and I think our Bible is all the richer for it.
3. Lastly, Gibson’s gentle and persuasive commentary is a practical guide to a book that’s sometimes seen as slightly impassable ground. That said, it never feels like he’s trying to force the text into his own packaging. In particular, his appreciation for the intentionally-elusive feel of the book is to be commended.

Sometimes someone might open up a part of the Bible with us that will completely change how we read it from that point on. Be it a sermon series, or a particular talk, or even a book – it might seem like we now grasp the book with a new clarity – often because we sense its significance more tangibly in our life. And although it’s early days, I’m tempted to put Destiny into that category already. Maybe that’s partly because – at least in my experience, anyway – Ecclesiastes hasn’t been a portion of the Bible I’ve often encountered from start to finish. But I think it’s mostly because Destiny is really, really good at capturing Ecclesiastes’ heartbeat. And God’s word unleashed is a powerful thing. 

Lastly, quality book covers should always be appreciated, so credit to IVP for this one – strong and simple.

You can pick up Destiny here.

Disclaimer: The publisher has sent me a free copy of this book, but I hope this is still a fair and honest review.

This term I’ve been trying something new.

It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while, and it’s certainly not rocket-science. To give her credit, it’s the Mrs that finally made me get round to it.

Here it is: I’m trying to make sure there’s always one particular part of the Bible where I’m wading deep.

Those involved in Bible teaching and preaching are often having to dip in and out of different parts of the Scriptures at fairly break-neck speeds, all in order to prepare the various talks, sermons and Bible-studies that are fast approaching.

I think back over the last two or three weeks and I realise I’ve had Philippians, John, Mark and Jonah open – all for a plethora of different events and occasions. And it can feel pretty breathless.

Of course a perennial concern for those who are teaching the Word is that we slip into no longer really letting God speak to us through those passages that we’re preaching and teaching to others. That’s probably not a hazard unique to when we’re teaching from a bunch of different parts of the Bible in close succession; after all, I can ‘professionalize’ my preaching even if I was preaching through just one Bible book! But maybe having different talks ‘on the go’ does make it slightly harder to genuinely ‘speak as those who’ve been spoken to’?

But there’s another concern that I’ve been working through as I reflect on the past year of ministry: my Bible preparation becomes merely fire-fighting. I’ve just got to get on and prepare the next thing. The first day of the week comes along and that’s the moment I have my first look at the Bible passage for next Sunday. Ok, so what’s the reading this time? And how many hours do I have to give to it this week? Right. Bish, bash, bosh. Done. Next?

I don’t go deep.

(And that’s not to mention where I find the time to prepare for the various other occasions where I might be teaching: small-groups, one-to-one, one-off talks, etc.)

So it’s probably for that reason that some wise but not-quite-that-old sage once gave me the recommendation that it’s good for preachers to always have one particular book that they’re taking a few months to be ‘wading deeply in’.

(To be honest, they may not have used that metaphor, but it’s stuck in my head now.)

Choose a book of the Bible and spend some time wading deeply in it.

In other words, open up the contents page of the Bible and pick yourself a ‘book of the term’. Maybe a Bible book that feels somewhat unknown. Or maybe one that’s all too familiar, but in that surface-level kind of way. And then really get to know it. Spend time slowly wading through it in your devotional time or on a monthly retreat day or for a couple of hours every Friday afternoon.

Go deep enough that you let it go over the top of your wellies and you feel it slushing around your toes.

To change the imagery, make that your book and just camp out in it for the next few months.

And so I’m giving it a go.

It’s early days, but I think I’m starting to feel the benefits:

Time and focus brings depth. It’s the chance to learn and listen and think. Of course we all come with expectations about what a particular Bible book is about. We may have heard some sermons on it – or at least on parts of it. But how does it all fit together? What’s really going on? Why has God given it to us? And how do we begin to bring that to bear upon life in the twenty-first century. Really pushing myself to think through those questions has got to be good for my on-going growth both as a disciple and as a minister of the Word.

Not so I can say I’ve mastered any particular book, but so that I can go deep enough to let God by his Spirit really master me.

But this isn’t just for the preacher’s benefit. In most fields of study, going deeper brings greater clarity. In the context of preaching I’d add to that richer conviction and more perceptive application. This is where you’ve got to love the idea of the ministry stipend. It’s essentially the gift of time, and ultimately it’s being given so that we can steward that time to bless others. Wading deeply in the Bible should be part of that.

What do you reckon? Is this something you’ve tried? Did it go well or fall flat? What was your routine for making it work. We will see how it goes!

And, in case you’re wondering, for me this term it’s Ecclesiastes.

Right, time to get the wellies back on.