Page 128 - The Poetic Books - Student Text

6. Would life be good if we simply lived a thousand years on this earth?

7. What is the writer’s favorite word for a human, used over 50 times?

8. What advice does the writer give to pagans?

13.5 Let’s Personalize this Lesson….

Ancient cultures wrestled with the core issue of Ecclesiastes. Outside the covenant nation
of Israel, they looked at nature and wondered. They had a dim memory, handed down
from generation to generation of the early events on earth, and they wondered. From
ancient Babylon has come to us the Epic of Gilgamesh, in part based on the historical flood
of the earth. Earliest fragments have been dated from the 18 century B.C. The hero
th
Gilgamesh is mourning his friend Enkidu and sets out on a journey to find everlasting life.

Enkidu, my friend whom I so dearly loved, who walked beside me through all
adventures, -- him has the fate of mankind overtaken.
For six days and seven nights I bewailed him, aye, until a maggot dropped from the
nose of him. And I became frightened, became afeared of death, began roaming the
desert. The matter of my friend rested heavy upon me and I roamed the long road of the
desert; the matter of Enkidu, my friend, rested heavy upon me and I roamed the long
road of the desert. How can I be silent? How can I be still? My friend, whom I loved, has
returned to clay. And I, must I now as him lay me down, to rise not again for ever and
ever?
Utnapishti the Far Distant spake unto him, unto Gilgamesh:
‘O Giglamesh…, is it “forever” that we seal a document? It is “forever” that brothers
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divide an inheritance…?

The hero gets scant help from the “Far Distant.” Nature has told him of the existence of a distant God
and, in fact, he has gathered from nature that many, many gods exist. This is the frustration of
polytheism. Watching nature and making conclusions about God from nature, culture after culture has
come up with a variety of gods and a variety of ways to get the gods to work on their behalf. The result
for centuries has been meaningless, meaningless.

The same problem faces a modern person in a developed country. They may have money and own land.
They may have good health care and leisure to explore hobbies. They may have access to entertainment

211 J. V. Kinnier Wilson, “The Story of the Flood,” in Documents from Old Testament Times, ed. D. Winton Thomas
(New York: Harper & Row, 1958), 19.
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