In ten essays, Bro. Sargent guides the reader through the book of Ecclesiastes, revealing both the underlying structures of the book and its recurring themes. Ecclesiastes investigates the value of human existence, with its bewildering mix of happiness and struggle, and its inevitable end in death. The conclusion of the matter? ‘Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man’.The second study is on four of the key questions in the book of Job: Does Job fear God for nothing? What is the object of a person’s life if all they experience is suffering? What role does Elihu play? Who is speaking in chapter 27? In answering these questions, other questions arise which shed light on the book as a whole.
The third study is on the two female personifications in the early chapters of the book of Proverbs. On the one hand is the Strange Woman, the symbol of human folly. On the other is Wisdom, she is the symbol of God’s mind, word and purpose. In the two women we see our choice: life and death.