Ecclesiastes Rocks

Much of popular culture has been influenced by the Bible. Biblical sayings and whole passages from the New and Old testements show up in all sort of places. Ecclesiastes has been used in the following ways.

In the mid sixties The Birds popularized Ecclesiastes in their song Turn Turn Turn, where virtually all the lyrics come from chapter 3.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; etc. etc. ect.

The group Kansas has their Dust in the Wind. Though the lyrics are not verbatim like they are in Turn Turn Turn, it pretty much matches the scripture. Kansas paraphrases the scripture where the writer says that the struggle of life is like "chasing after wind" And "All that is now has ever been" and again "what we make crumbles to the ground."

Even the saying "There is nothing new under the sun" comes from Ecclesiastes.

My mom asked me where the prophets are today. I tried to explain my view that prophets abound. And the prophets that preached refrom in ancient times were not understood to be prophets at the time. They were trouble makers and most were killed for what they said. I don't want to equate only music with modern prophetic teaching. People who urge us to conserve our planet so we don't kill the place off are prophets too. But there is something to be said for people who link their passion with those who have come before. And they are always the ones who leave a lasting mark. Isaiah did not speak out saying "I really think it would be a good idea to reform our lives and rededicate ourselves to truth, justice, and honoring God." There is much more power when he links the prophets of the past and does not speak for himself but says:

How the faithful city
         has become a whore!
         She that was full of justice,
     righteousness lodged in her--
         but now murderers!
Your silver has become dross,
         your wine is mixed with water.
Your princes are rebels
         and companions of thieves.
     Everyone loves a bribe
         and runs after gifts.
     They do not defend the orphan,
         and the widow's cause does not come before them.

Therefore says the Lord your God:
      I will pour out my wrath on my enemies,
         and avenge myself on my foes!
I will turn my hand against you;
         I will smelt away your dross as with lye
         and remove all your alloy.
And I will restore your judges as at the first,
         and your counselors as at the beginning.
     Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness,
         the faithful city.

Here is a bit of writing and you tell me if it could have come from a holy book:

Let them all pass all their dirty remarks
There is one question I'd really love to ask
Is there a place for the hopeless sinner
Who has hurt all mankind just to save his own?
Believe me
One love, one heart
As it was in the beginning
So shall it be in the end
Alright, "Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right."
"Let's get together and feel all right."
One more thing
Let's get together to fight this Holy Armageddon
So when the Man comes there will be no, more doom
Have pity on those whose chances grow still thinner
There ain't no hiding place from the Father of Creation

Of course this is from the famous song One Love by Bob Marley and Curtis Mayfield. Yet Marley's words are an affirmation of the Lords rebuke through Isaiah. And in music like this I think there is a vitality that is lacking in most "religous" speach. I do not believe it is good enough to simply recite something. Modern prophets need to take the age-old calls to redirect mankind and apply their own lives, and times. Marley does this in many of his songs and that is why he, though dead, is still wildly popular in all over the world.

Next we have lyrics from Nazarath. A band of north englishmen who were the epitome of hard rock in the middle of the 1970's. If you listen to the sone "Son of a Bitch" or "Whisky Drinken Woman" you might not think that these guys were much into peace and love.

Please don’t judas me
Treat me as you like to be treated
Please don’t blacklist me
Leave me as you’d wish to find me
Don’t analyze me, sacrifice me
Please don’t judas me.

Please don’t chastise me
Show me just one shred of kindness
Try to help me see
Guide me in my eyes of blindness
Don’t despise me, categorize me
Please don’t judas me.

Popular music and culture has always been awash in Biblical and gospel references. Jesus told it like it was. He didn't design his sermons to sell. And he was unafraid of offending the establishment.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 

Rock on