Pray

Read

Ecc 2:1-11.

Meditation

What about love? The pleasures and delights of sexual relationships? As Solomon looked around, he saw that this was an obvious candidate for satisfaction and joy. In verse 8 he says, “I got many concubines, the delight of the sons of men.” And there’s no doubt about it: sex can be a true delight. It is a gift of God, as we see in Proverbs 5:18 where Solomon says, “rejoice in the wife of your youth.” And so Solomon looked here for lasting joy too. In 1 Kings 11 we read that he loved many foreign women. It says he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. In Jewish culture, a concubine was basically a wife of inferior social status, which is why 1 Kings 11 notes particularly that Solomon’s 700 wives were princesses. So what it is saying is that he had 1000 wives—700 of whom were princesses, and 300 of whom were normal women.

The point is that when it came to the area of sex, if anyone could ever find satisfaction and joy there, it was Solomon. He had his pick of every beautiful woman that he laid eyes on. He experienced love.

And so we ask: Is there satisfaction to be found in sex? This is a particularly relevant question for us today. We live in a time when sexual fulfillment is basically seen as sacred. The highest crime a person can commit is to dare suggest that someone should not pursue their sexual desires. Every person, apparently, is entitled to pursue whatever manner of sexual fulfillment takes their fancy. And we see every perversity under the sun—marriage partners leaving their spouses to pursue someone more desirable, university students sleeping with someone new every weekend, sad lonely people staring at naked bodies on computer screens, people pushing the boundaries: men with men, women with women, men trying to live as women, and women as men, people with animals, even trees. I read an article about a woman who married a bridge. If you can imagine it, it’s out there. And if it is still taboo generally, there is a group somewhere fighting to normalise it. Sexual fulfillment is a modern-day religion with many followers.

But if you are looking here for ultimate fulfillment and happiness, Solomon says, think again. Even if you could have 1000 wives as Solomon did, it would all leave you empty. All is passing. Beauty fades. Our bodies age. And sexual fulfillment is not the answer.

And if you are looking in this area, fantasising, do not be fooled. No man or woman can give you lasting fulfillment. Marriage was not designed to do that. It was designed to image and glorify Christ (Eph 5), and to sanctify us. In fact, the apostle Paul warns us that those who marry in this life will have trouble (1 Cor 7:28). When two people come together, it is a union of two sinners. Perfect sexual harmony will not be possible. In fact, sex is not so much a means for personal satisfaction as a means for learning how to serve another above yourself. If anything, it will probably show us up for how selfish we are. The answer to fulfillment in life is not a good sex life, and Solomon provides an epic example of this. In fact, all he gained from 1000 beautiful women was apostasy. His wives led him astray, and he worshipped false gods.

Again, marriage is a good gift, and in a sense it points to the best of gifts in the love of christ. But marriage itself will not satisfy. If we choose to marry, our highest goal cannot and must not be our own satisfaction—for we will be disappointed. Our goal must be to serve and glorify the living God. There is joy in marriage, but it is a temporary institution here on this earth. In the new heavens and the new earth, Jesus said, we will neither marry nor be given in marriage. SDG.

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