Ecclesiastes
This can be a tough book to navigate, particularly because it seems to say so many things that contradict the rest of the Bible. The best way to understand it as the honest reflections of a great king who learned that all that the world values ultimately isn’t worth anything. What does matter? Throughout the book you see glimpses of the truth: fear God, trust God, enjoy your life, and know that God will judge you for what you do. Pay attention to the conclusion of the book, as this gives the “answer” to the long search.
Song of Songs
This book reads like a series of love poems between a man and a woman. For that reason, some people have said that it doesn’t belong in the Bible. But often what others say is not that it doesn’t belong, but rather that it has a “deeper meaning.” I disagree. I think that the purpose of the book is to celebrate the beauty of love between one man and one woman committed to each other for life in marriage. God gave sex as a wedding present to his children, and this book expresses delight in that.
I think that the poems in the book tell a story. At the beginning, the lovers are praising each other (ch. 1) and longing for each other (ch. 2). Then the woman is searching for her lover before she sees him coming up for the wedding (ch. 3). After the honeymoon (ch. 4), the couple has a little problem which sends the woman out searching for her husband (ch. 5). She finds him and then he describes her a couple of times (chs. 6-7). The book ends with an expression of commitment to each other.
One key phrase in the book that is repeated is “do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.” That’s a warning that the kind of love described in this book is designed by God only for married people.