November 30, 2008 7:56 AM
Sam wrote:
Goad. Here's a term you don't hear too much today. Besides here in Ecclesiastes, it is only mentioned three other times, once in Judges 3:31, another in 1st Samuel 13:21, and once in Acts 26:14. My Vines Concise Dictionary did not have a definition for it. SO, using my precious internet, I found these following definitions at Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language:
1. (n.) A pointed instrument used to urge on a beast; hence, any necessity that urges or stimulates.
2. (v. t.) To prick; to drive with a goad; hence, to urge forward, or to rouse by anything pungent, severe, irritating, or inflaming; to stimulate.
Why, in the words of Solomon, would 'the words of the wise' be like goads, a sharp pointy instrument. Maybe because they convict us maybe? That would be my assumption. Like being pricked with a sharp stick, sometimes wise words from others 'hurt' us. We feel the pain of rebuke. BUT, as with an actual goad which was designed not to HURT an animal but to actually 'guide' it in some manner toward maybe of goal of getting it some food or water, so are times of rebuke from others which are designed to guide US toward a better life for God....a goal we should all have in our short meaningless lives. After all, Solomon seems to be 'goading' us all along into knowing that all things other than the goal of fearing God and keeping His commandments, are meaningless.
Do you have someone you know needs goading in this manner? If so, try to do it with less bluntness if you can than Solomon does in his book. This has been a depressing book of sorts, and any non-, or new- Christian might REALLY get depressed when reading it and actually give up. We need to seek out those non and new folks and goad them into reading the ENTIRE book, keeping in mind the goal (change the 'd' to an 'l'), the conclusion of the matter, of fearing and loving God and obeying what He tells us to do.
Tomorrow we start a new book for the month of December. Tune in to see which one. Reply to this
November 30, 2008 8:53 AM
Johnbob wrote:
Thanks for looking up the word 'goad'. I tend to gloss over words like that, and it is full of meaning. I have a couple people in mind to 'goad'. What a great word. Reply to this
November 30, 2008 9:10 AM
Johnbob wrote:
I'm not sure if I agree with your second paragraph. While it is depressing in parts and harshly judgmental in parts, I got a ton of meaning out of a book on meaninglessness. Again, since this is a book of 'poetry' then, as in other art forms, certain people will really enjoy it and certain people will come away maybe not enjoying it but getting something out of it. Reply to this
November 30, 2008 9:01 AM
Johnbob wrote:
Ecc 11:6 Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, For you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
This is something I have been thinking about a lot during these troubling economic times. In my career, I can't afford to coast along in my job at Sprint (especially since that company is not doing well). I need to diversify and come up with other skills so that if (when?) I get laid off from Sprint, I will have built up other skills or had some sort of other income. I see time and again people who don't do this and get laid off and have all sorts of trouble (not just financially).
It is still amazing to me how applicable something that was written several thousand years ago is. Reply to this
November 30, 2008 9:13 AM
Johnbob wrote:
Anyone have any thoughts about the word Shepherd at the end? Does it refer to Solomon or is Solomon referring to God? Reply to this
Goad. Here's a term you don't hear too much today. Besides here in Ecclesiastes, it is only mentioned three other times, once in Judges 3:31, another in 1st Samuel 13:21, and once in Acts 26:14. My Vines Concise Dictionary did not have a definition for it. SO, using my precious internet, I found these following definitions at Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language:
1. (n.) A pointed instrument used to urge on a beast; hence, any necessity that urges or stimulates.
2. (v. t.) To prick; to drive with a goad; hence, to urge forward, or to rouse by anything pungent, severe, irritating, or inflaming; to stimulate.
Why, in the words of Solomon, would 'the words of the wise' be like goads, a sharp pointy instrument. Maybe because they convict us maybe? That would be my assumption. Like being pricked with a sharp stick, sometimes wise words from others 'hurt' us. We feel the pain of rebuke. BUT, as with an actual goad which was designed not to HURT an animal but to actually 'guide' it in some manner toward maybe of goal of getting it some food or water, so are times of rebuke from others which are designed to guide US toward a better life for God....a goal we should all have in our short meaningless lives. After all, Solomon seems to be 'goading' us all along into knowing that all things other than the goal of fearing God and keeping His commandments, are meaningless.
Do you have someone you know needs goading in this manner? If so, try to do it with less bluntness if you can than Solomon does in his book. This has been a depressing book of sorts, and any non-, or new- Christian might REALLY get depressed when reading it and actually give up. We need to seek out those non and new folks and goad them into reading the ENTIRE book, keeping in mind the goal (change the 'd' to an 'l'), the conclusion of the matter, of fearing and loving God and obeying what He tells us to do.
Tomorrow we start a new book for the month of December. Tune in to see which one.
Reply to this
Thanks for looking up the word 'goad'. I tend to gloss over words like that, and it is full of meaning. I have a couple people in mind to 'goad'. What a great word.
Reply to this
I'm not sure if I agree with your second paragraph. While it is depressing in parts and harshly judgmental in parts, I got a ton of meaning out of a book on meaninglessness. Again, since this is a book of 'poetry' then, as in other art forms, certain people will really enjoy it and certain people will come away maybe not enjoying it but getting something out of it.
Reply to this
Ecc 11:6
Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, For you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
This is something I have been thinking about a lot during these troubling economic times. In my career, I can't afford to coast along in my job at Sprint (especially since that company is not doing well). I need to diversify and come up with other skills so that if (when?) I get laid off from Sprint, I will have built up other skills or had some sort of other income. I see time and again people who don't do this and get laid off and have all sorts of trouble (not just financially).
It is still amazing to me how applicable something that was written several thousand years ago is.
Reply to this
Anyone have any thoughts about the word Shepherd at the end? Does it refer to Solomon or is Solomon referring to God?
Reply to this