RTW 2022

That’s the whole story. Here is my final conclusion: Fear God, and obey His command, for this is everyone’s duty.
Ecclesiastes 12:13

“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!” What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 1:2-3

The Teacher, aka the Preacher, presumably King Solomon spent twelve chapters telling the reader about the vanities that make life meaningless.

Vanities

• excessive pride in one’s appearance, qualities, abilities, achievements, etc.; character or quality of being vain; conceit

Remember, he did not mean that everything in the world is of zero value. His point is that all human efforts apart from God’s will are meaningless.

Without God,

• earthly wisdom (Ecclesiastes 2:14–16)
• work (Ecclesiastes 2:18–23)
• stockpiling things (Ecclesiastes 2:26)
• life in general (Ecclesiastes 3:18–22)
• competition (Ecclesiastes 4:4)
• overwork (Ecclesiastes 4:7–8)
• power and authority (Ecclesiastes 4:16);
• greed (Ecclesiastes 5:10)
• wealth and recognition (Ecclesiastes 6:1–2)
• obligatory religion (Ecclesiastes 8:10–14)

So, in conclusion:  do life with God, God’s ways.

• Fear God
• Obey His command

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Not only Jeroboam appoint priests, but he refused to allow Levites to fulfill their God-appointed positions.

The Levites even abandoned their pasturelands and property and moved to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons would not allow them to serve the Lord as priests.
2 Chronicles 11:14

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Avoid the vanities. Fear God, and obey what He says.