Catching the Wind - by Dale C McIntire (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"Depressing." "Ungodly." "Skippable." Each of these words have been used to describe Ecclesiastes. Catching the Wind: A Guide for Interpreting Ecclesiastes provides an interpretive companion for pastors, Bible study teachers and leaders, and Bible readers who are tired of skipping Ecclesiastes because either it is too hard to understand or its content appears too contrary to fit into preconceived notions of what and how God reveals Himself in His Word. The message of Ecclesiastes, often lost to readers and interpreters in the puzzling, enigmatic details of the book, becomes readily accessible when Ecclesiastes is considered in the whole. Catching the Wind utilizes the structure of a modern social research report to reveal the divine intent of Ecclesiastes, the divine truth that true meaning in human life comes in covenant relationship with the sovereign God and through no other means. The guide provides instruction for developing a biblical hermeneutic, an interpretation of the text of Ecclesiastes, examples of personal application, and abundant study questions for further investigation.

Review Quotes

The novelist Herman Melville described the Book of Ecclesiastes as the "fine hammered steel of woe." Yet while every person experiences this woe or life of sorrows, it remains a puzzle for many. Often Bible readers say of Ecclesiastes what the great Churchill said of the political world in his day, "It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key." As with all faithful interpreters, Dale McIntire provides his readers with just such a key to Scriptures' most puzzling Book. It is the seeing and receiving from the Almighty Smith, those fine hammer blows as steel and not glass. That is reading with the eyes of faith, the enigmatic, yet striking words of Holy Scripture in Ecclesiastes. Using the modern rubric of a research report, McIntire guides the reader through each movement of the Book to the satisfying conclusion: lasting joy comes from God. Written accessibly, this guide will benefit any thoughtful gaze. Adopting a posture of faith, this guide in hand, each hearer of God's voice in Ecclesiastes will come away struck and tempered by the blows, having their joy made stout because of it.

-Brent Nelson, Senior Pastor, The Landing, Duluth, MN