Ecclesiastes 8:9

[Vee]

This scripture says "All of this I have seen, and I applied my heart to every work that has been done under the sun, during the time that man has dominated man to his harm."
Is is estimated that the book of Ecclesiastes was written before 1000 B.C.E., so a long time ago, when things were very different than today. Yet, this scripture is so accurate that it could have been written today. The strong oppressing the weak, the domination of a few over the many with all the inequality and suffering that causes, the general disrespect of some towards the well being of others... it was true thousands of years ago, and it remains true today.
A lot of things have changed since the time we believe king Salomon wrote these words, but human's attitude towards each other is not one of them. If anything, it seems to me that inequality and social division have never been so obvious. Years ago, people had very limited knowledge. They didn't travel much and didn't have the means to know what was going on beyond their village and surrounding areas, but we know. The oppression is in our faces everyday. "Man has dominated man to his harm" could be in the front page of every newspaper on the planet and it would apply to at least some of the news inside.

 

[sun rise]

My take is that what has been hidden for so long has come to the surface now.

For example, I never understood the rage of the Black Panthers back in the day until all the bigotry by cops and others has surfaced and led to Black Lives Matter. In earlier times Blacks knew what was going on but really did not try to speak about it presumably assuming Whites did not care or were racist anyway.

What happens next with all the sewage that has surfaced is the question.

 

[74x12]

This scripture says "All of this I have seen, and I applied my heart to every work that has been done under the sun, during the time that man has dominated man to his harm."
Is is estimated that the book of Ecclesiastes was written before 1000 B.C.E., so a long time ago, when things were very different than today. Yet, this scripture is so accurate that it could have been written today. The strong oppressing the weak, the domination of a few over the many with all the inequality and suffering that causes, the general disrespect of some towards the well being of others... it was true thousands of years ago, and it remains true today.
A lot of things have changed since the time we believe king Salomon wrote these words, but human's attitude towards each other is not one of them. If anything, it seems to me that inequality and social division have never been so obvious. Years ago, people had very limited knowledge. They didn't travel much and didn't have the means to know what was going on beyond their village and surrounding areas, but we know. The oppression is in our faces everyday. "Man has dominated man to his harm" could be in the front page of every newspaper on the planet and it would apply to at least some of the news inside.

Solomon noticed because he was a ruler; so he could see from behind the scenes how unfair some rulers were to people.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

The world's leaders or rulers are all college educated with degrees and now we look and see at what their secular education has done for the world of mankind and animal kind.

 

[amorphous_constellation]

He was just a philosopher to me, so I don't see it as a concrete law that must extent ad infintum. And , did Solomon even experience that much , did he even travel that much? Did he go to the rainforest to see how people lived, or the arctic? Did he role play as a beggar? Did he live as a hermit ? And since he was a man, he could not have lived that long, to know all the ways people lived in the past, to know that it was bad all way down the line. Some of his pessimism I respect as it makes an individual less naive, but it seems cynical after a certain point. We know more now about everything than ever before , and I refuse to believe all of that knowledge is inevitably to be burned up in the power of evil

 

[Brickjectivity]

This scripture says "All of this I have seen, and I applied my heart to every work that has been done under the sun, during the time that man has dominated man to his harm."
Is is estimated that the book of Ecclesiastes was written before 1000 B.C.E., so a long time ago, when things were very different than today. Yet, this scripture is so accurate that it could have been written today. The strong oppressing the weak, the domination of a few over the many with all the inequality and suffering that causes, the general disrespect of some towards the well being of others... it was true thousands of years ago, and it remains true today.
A lot of things have changed since the time we believe king Salomon wrote these words, but human's attitude towards each other is not one of them. If anything, it seems to me that inequality and social division have never been so obvious. Years ago, people had very limited knowledge. They didn't travel much and didn't have the means to know what was going on beyond their village and surrounding areas, but we know. The oppression is in our faces everyday. "Man has dominated man to his harm" could be in the front page of every newspaper on the planet and it would apply to at least some of the news inside.

His advice:

[Ecc 11:1-6 NIV] 1 Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return. 2 Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. 3 If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie. 4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. 6 Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
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[Deeje]

This scripture says "All of this I have seen, and I applied my heart to every work that has been done under the sun, during the time that man has dominated man to his harm."
Is is estimated that the book of Ecclesiastes was written before 1000 B.C.E., so a long time ago, when things were very different than today. Yet, this scripture is so accurate that it could have been written today. The strong oppressing the weak, the domination of a few over the many with all the inequality and suffering that causes, the general disrespect of some towards the well being of others... it was true thousands of years ago, and it remains true today.
A lot of things have changed since the time we believe king Salomon wrote these words, but human's attitude towards each other is not one of them. If anything, it seems to me that inequality and social division have never been so obvious. Years ago, people had very limited knowledge. They didn't travel much and didn't have the means to know what was going on beyond their village and surrounding areas, but we know. The oppression is in our faces everyday. "Man has dominated man to his harm" could be in the front page of every newspaper on the planet and it would apply to at least some of the news inside.

And doesn't this stress the truth of Jeremiah's statement...?

Jeremiah 10:23...
"I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.”

Understanding that humans were never created to rule or to exercise power over each other is well demonstrated when we see the results of the abuse of power or to have power improperly or corruptly exercised. Don't we feel powerless to see that happening? Don't we see the people rise up in protest, only to be met with no real way to fix anything? A change of government usually means more abuse of power.

We were designed to be ruled by our Creator, and if we all just followed his direction, none of us would ever have anything to regret. If our rulers followed the example of his son, then humans would have always had the best rulers. But alas....when people throw God away or adopt the ways of the 'wannabe' god of this world...nothing but trouble results because power always corrupts. Our free will was permitted only within the limits that the Creator set....and they were there for our benefit.

 

[Vee]

The world's leaders or rulers are all college educated with degrees and now we look and see at what their secular education has done for the world of mankind and animal kind.

I think you make a good point, but in my opinion having a high education is not a problem, on the contrary, there is no such thing as too much education. The problem is the type of education people are given, and the lack of good values. People are thought that being successful is making lots of money and being powerful. A person who lives a simple but fulfilling life might be happy but no one will look at them as a good example. This society is all about materialism, greed, people never have enough. They destroy the planet and their own relationships chasing after the illusion that more stuff equals happiness. I think people need as much education as they can get, but they also need to learn the right values so they can put their education to good use, for their own benefit and the well being of others. I don't expect that change will happen anytime soon, nor by human initiative.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

I think you make a good point, but in my opinion having a high education is not a problem, on the contrary, there is no such thing as too much education. The problem is the type of education people are given, and the lack of good values. People are thought that being successful is making lots of money and being powerful. A person who lives a simple but fulfilling life might be happy but no one will look at them as a good example. This society is all about materialism, greed, people never have enough. They destroy the planet and their own relationships chasing after the illusion that more stuff equals happiness. I think people need as much education as they can get, but they also need to learn the right values so they can put their education to good use, for their own benefit and the well being of others. I don't expect that change will happen anytime soon, nor by human initiative.

Back in the '60's I could see from speaking to others who had higher education from Columbia University in New York that they were being educated in how to make this country better. Better by destroying biblical values.
So, yes, Not education itself but the 'type' of education produced:
* There is education which is propaganda as to what you are to think instead of how to think.
* There is education which is scientific but science is Not the teacher or morality.
* There is education which is technology about how to do it, but religious education about should we do it ?
* There is education which is the Bible's education about the way to serve God, morality to be governed by.