Stretched to Fit
But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive study is wearying to the body. Ecclesiastes 12:12 NASB
Excessive study – One of my readers wrote, “I will be honest and say that from time to time – particularly when you get into ‘philosophical mode’ and use terms I just do not understand – I do struggle to understand what that particular study might be getting at. But overall my thinking and my grasp of what the Bible actually says – and the challenge to my daily living – has been expanded in ways I never imagined, for which I am truly grateful. And I am right with you in some of the struggles you mention from time to time, like today.” I appreciated his comment. I do get “philosophical” at times. I can’t help it. It’s just built in to my journey. I try to explain as much as I can, but sometimes lah´-hag hǎr·bē(h) shows up. Ah, “What’s that?” you ask. Well, these two Hebrew words probably aren’t “excessive study.” What they mean is something more like “much devotion to books.” The idea is an eagerness to read the next volume, so much so that study (which is a good thing) wears you out. In other words, all the things you want to know, all the things you wish to know, and all the things you already know that you don’t know, just overwhelm you. After sixty years of pursuit, I feel exactly like this. All I know now is that I don’t know all that I wish I knew. The more I search, the more the answers recede into the midst of those stacks and stacks of books.
Isn’t it nice to realize that faith isn’t a test of your knowledge? I don’t think God has a “statement of faith” system that demands your affirmation. He’s not a theologian!
Since study can be so overwhelming, does this mean we should retreat into simple believe-ism? Why put such strain on our desire to know the truth? Why not just relax and “be comfortable with what I believe”? Unfortunately, retreat is no longer possible, at least for me. Once I know something, it sticks in my mind. I can ignore it (maybe), but I can’t get rid of it. Somewhere it’s in there, prodding me to continue, disturbing my sleep, pushing me to resolve the implications. I have a lot more questions these days than I used to have—and a lot less answers, but as long as I’m on this path (and I can’t seem to get off), I’ll probably experience lah´-hag hǎr·bē(h). I guess if I looked at it from another perspective, I’d say that God is stretching me to fit. I’m not quite sure what He has in mind, but I do know He keeps bringing up things for me to wrestle with. He seems to enjoy that role. Maybe I need to laugh about it too.
This particular verse is part of an addition to the original teachings of Qohelet. Scholars believe that these final verses were written into the text in order to redeem its empirical hopelessness. Ecclesiastes does have that flavor; a sort of “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (Isaiah 22:13” attitude, until you get to the final verses. Then, suddenly, it’s all about obedience and believing. Maybe that’s why the editor felt that devotion to book-learning was so exhausting. I can relate, but I can’t just give it up. The questions are too pressing. The answers too important. Nevertheless, I do get tired. I’m sure you do too. All that “philosophical” stuff can give me a headache. But not too often. Most of the time, “eat, drink, and be merry” just isn’t enough.
Topical Index: philosophy, devotion, books, study, lah´-hag hǎr·bē(h), Ecclesiastes 12:12
