The living know one thing the dead do not: that they will die. Qoheleth delivers this as good news, strange as that sounds, because the living still have time to eat, drink, enjoy their wives, and do their work with energy. The dead know nothing, earn nothing, and are forgotten. But the clock is ticking for everyone, and time and chance ambush the swift, the wise, and the strong without warning. Fish caught in a net, birds caught in a snare: that is how the evil day falls on the sons of men.

The Rev. Steven Theiss, serving St. John Lutheran Church (AALC) in Pocahontas, MO, joins guest host Andy Bates to study Ecclesiastes 9:1–12.

What does a man gain from all his toil under the sun? Solomon asked that question three thousand years ago, and it still cuts. Ecclesiastes is the Bible's most unflinching book about work, wealth, wisdom, and the ache nothing in this life can fill. It is also one of the most pastoral, because the Preacher tells the truth about death, time, and meaning without leaving the reader in despair. Pastor Booe and guest pastors from across the Synod study it verse by verse, following Solomon's argument to where it finally lands: fear God and keep His commandments.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: [email protected].

Qoheleth notices something that keeps theologians and barroom philosophers equally busy: the wicked prosper, the righteous suffer, and the sentence against an evil deed is almost never executed on time. That delay, he says, seems like a cosmic travesty. Human hearts read slow justice as no justice at all and fill the gap with more evil. What can be done? Obey the king, fear God, eat your bread, and accept that you cannot decode the logic of what happens under the sun. The man who claims he has it figured out is lying, even if he is wise.

The Rev. Paul Cain, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Sheridan, WY, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Ecclesiastes 8:1–17.

To learn more about Immanuel in Sheridan, visit immanuelsheridan.blogspot.com.

What does a man gain from all his toil under the sun? Solomon asked that question three thousand years ago, and it still cuts. Ecclesiastes is the Bible's most unflinching book about work, wealth, wisdom, and the ache nothing in this life can fill. It is also one of the most pastoral, because the Preacher tells the truth about death, time, and meaning without leaving the reader in despair. Pastor Booe and guest pastors from across the Synod study it verse by verse, following Solomon's argument to where it finally lands: fear God and keep His commandments.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: [email protected].

The Preacher goes looking for a righteous person on earth and comes back empty-handed. Be righteous, he says, but not so righteous you destroy yourself with your own piety. Be wise, but know that wisdom has a wall you cannot climb over. One man in a thousand might pass muster; among women Qoheleth found none, a line that has scandalized readers for centuries and says more about fallen humanity than about any particular gender. God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

The Rev. David Boisclair, senior pastor at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Overland, MO, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Ecclesiastes 7:15–29.

To learn more about Our Redeemer, visit ourredeemerstl.org.

What does a man gain from all his toil under the sun? Solomon asked that question three thousand years ago, and it still cuts. Ecclesiastes is the Bible's most unflinching book about work, wealth, wisdom, and the ache nothing in this life can fill. It is also one of the most pastoral, because the Preacher tells the truth about death, time, and meaning without leaving the reader in despair. Pastor Booe and guest pastors from across the Synod study it verse by verse, following Solomon's argument to where it finally lands: fear God and keep His commandments.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: [email protected].

Qoheleth gives advice that no lifestyle brand will ever print on a candle: go to the funeral, skip the party. The house of mourning beats the house of feasting because death is where wisdom actually lives. He dismantles the prosperity calculus, insisting that nobody can straighten what God has made crooked and nobody knows what tomorrow holds. Sorrow, rebuke, and patience all outrank laughter, flattery, and haste. It is a hard sell in every generation, and Qoheleth does not care.

The Rev. John Shank, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Edwardsville, IL, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Ecclesiastes 6:10–7:14.

To learn more about Trinity in Edwardsville, visit trinitylutheranministries.org.

What does a man gain from all his toil under the sun? Solomon asked that question three thousand years ago, and it still cuts. Ecclesiastes is the Bible's most unflinching book about work, wealth, wisdom, and the ache nothing in this life can fill. It is also one of the most pastoral, because the Preacher tells the truth about death, time, and meaning without leaving the reader in despair. Pastor Booe and guest pastors from across the Synod study it verse by verse, following Solomon's argument to where it finally lands: fear God and keep His commandments.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: [email protected].

The Preacher watches the money pile up and asks the obvious question nobody wants to hear: what exactly did it get you? Riches hoarded bring anxiety, riches lost leave nothing to pass on, and the man who has everything still can't stop wanting more. Qoheleth traces the grotesque math of greed: the more you earn, the more mouths show up to eat it, and the only dividend is watching other people spend your wealth. Even the stillborn child, he says, has more rest than the rich man who never learns to enjoy what God actually gave him.

The Rev. George Murdaugh, pastor emeritus, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Ecclesiastes 5:8–6:9.

What does a man gain from all his toil under the sun? Solomon asked that question three thousand years ago, and it still cuts. Ecclesiastes is the Bible's most unflinching book about work, wealth, wisdom, and the ache nothing in this life can fill. It is also one of the most pastoral, because the Preacher tells the truth about death, time, and meaning without leaving the reader in despair. Pastor Booe and guest pastors from across the Synod study it verse by verse, following Solomon's argument to where it finally lands: fear God and keep His commandments.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: [email protected].

Qoheleth walks into the temple and tells everyone to stop talking. Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know they are doing evil. A dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words. If you make a vow to God, pay it; better not to vow at all than to vow and not pay. Do not let your mouth lead your flesh into sin, and do not tell the messenger it was a mistake. Fear God.

The Rev. Matthew Kusch, pastor of King of Glory Lutheran Church in Elgin, IL, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Ecclesiastes 5:1–7.

To learn more about King of Glory, visit kogelgin.org.

What does a man gain from all his toil under the sun? Solomon asked that question three thousand years ago, and it still cuts. Ecclesiastes is the Bible's most unflinching book about work, wealth, wisdom, and the ache nothing in this life can fill. It is also one of the most pastoral, because the Preacher tells the truth about death, time, and meaning without leaving the reader in despair. Pastor Booe and guest pastors from across the Synod study it verse by verse, following Solomon's argument to where it finally lands: fear God and keep His commandments.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: [email protected].

Qoheleth looks at the place of justice and finds wickedness there. He looks at the place of righteousness and finds wickedness there too. The oppressed weep and have no comforter; their oppressors hold all the power, and there is no comforter. He says it twice, and the repetition is the point. The dead are better off than the living, and better than both is the one who has never been born and never seen the evil done under the sun. Then he watches the lonely workaholic, the king who will not listen, and the crowd that follows the next new thing and forgets the old one.

The Rev. Dan Grimmer, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Mitchell, SD, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Ecclesiastes 3:16–4:16.

To learn more about Zion Lutheran, visit zionmitchell.org.

What does a man gain from all his toil under the sun? Solomon asked that question three thousand years ago, and it still cuts. Ecclesiastes is the Bible's most unflinching book about work, wealth, wisdom, and the ache nothing in this life can fill. It is also one of the most pastoral, because the Preacher tells the truth about death, time, and meaning without leaving the reader in despair. Pastor Booe and guest pastors from across the Synod study it verse by verse, following Solomon's argument to where it finally lands: fear God and keep His commandments.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: [email protected].

For everything there is a season: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up. The poem is so famous it became a pop song, which is ironic given that Qoheleth's point is how little control you have over any of it. God has made everything beautiful in its time and set eternity in the human heart, yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. What is, already has been. What is to be, already has been. God seeks what has been driven away.

The Rev. Jeremy Loesch, pastor of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Newark, DE, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Ecclesiastes 3:1–15.

To learn more about Our Redeemer in Newark, visit ourredeemernewark.org.

What does a man gain from all his toil under the sun? Solomon asked that question three thousand years ago, and it still cuts. Ecclesiastes is the Bible's most unflinching book about work, wealth, wisdom, and the ache nothing in this life can fill. It is also one of the most pastoral, because the Preacher tells the truth about death, time, and meaning without leaving the reader in despair. Pastor Booe and guest pastors from across the Synod study it verse by verse, following Solomon's argument to where it finally lands: fear God and keep His commandments.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: [email protected].

The Preacher turns from his experiments to face the one fact that wrecks every human résumé: the wise man and the fool end up in the same hole. Qoheleth hates life for a minute because all his toil will be handed over to someone who did not work for it, and who may turn out to be a fool. Then he pivots. Eat, drink, and find enjoyment in your toil, because even that comes from the hand of God. To the one who pleases Him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; to the sinner He gives the business of gathering and collecting, only to hand it to someone else.

The Rev. Sean Willman, pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Hillsdale, MI, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Ecclesiastes 2:12–26.

To learn more about St. Paul's in Hillsdale, visit stpauls-hillsdale.org.

What does a man gain from all his toil under the sun? Solomon asked that question three thousand years ago, and it still cuts. Ecclesiastes is the Bible's most unflinching book about work, wealth, wisdom, and the ache nothing in this life can fill. It is also one of the most pastoral, because the Preacher tells the truth about death, time, and meaning without leaving the reader in despair. Pastor Booe and guest pastors from across the Synod study it verse by verse, following Solomon's argument to where it finally lands: fear God and keep His commandments.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: [email protected].

The Preacher sets up the grandest controlled experiment in history: what if you had unlimited resources and tried every possible avenue to meaning? Wisdom, pleasure, laughter, wine, building projects, slaves, herds, silver, gold, concubines. Solomon held nothing back, and his conclusion is devastating. All of it was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. The pleasure chapter is not a permission slip; it is a crash report filed by the richest man who ever lived.

The Rev. Donald Stein, pastor of St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Rockton, IL, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Ecclesiastes 1:12–2:11.

To learn more about St. Andrew Lutheran, visit standrewrockton.com.

What does a man gain from all his toil under the sun? Solomon asked that question three thousand years ago, and it still cuts. Ecclesiastes is the Bible's most unflinching book about work, wealth, wisdom, and the ache nothing in this life can fill. It is also one of the most pastoral, because the Preacher tells the truth about death, time, and meaning without leaving the reader in despair. Pastor Booe and guest pastors from across the Synod study it verse by verse, following Solomon's argument to where it finally lands: fear God and keep His commandments.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: [email protected].