Living Life Backward
How Ecclesiastes Teaches Us to Live in Light of the End
by
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Pub Date Jul 31 2017 | Archive Date Jul 08 2017
Description
Drawing on wisdom from Ecclesiastes, David Gibson persuades us that only with a proper perspective on death can we find satisfaction in life—and see just how great God is.
Drawing on wisdom from Ecclesiastes, David Gibson persuades us that only with a proper perspective on death can we find satisfaction in life—and see just how great God is.
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Advance Praise
“The past two decades have witnessed quite a number of popular expositions of Ecclesiastes—and this one by David Gibson is the best of them. It follows the line of the book in a believable and compelling way. Its applications and reflections are cogent and telling, and the writing is characterized by grace and verve. Moreover, the questions found at the end of each chapter make this volume suitable for small-group Bible studies. Highly recommended.”
—D. A. Carson, research professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; cofounder, The Gospel Coalition
“David Gibson’s expositions of Ecclesiastes are like Ecclesiastes itself: sometimes shocking, often tantalizing, always refreshing. He deftly combines serious stuff with a light touch, clear style, and gospel relief. You will repeatedly run into ‘think-stoppers’; he will make new grooves in your grey matter that weren’t there before, and you will often admit, ‘I wish I’d have thought to put it like that!’ I think the writer of Ecclesiastes would be pleased with David’s work.”
—Dale Ralph Davis, professor emeritus of Old Testament, Reformed Theological Seminary
“If Ecclesiastes is a book for our times, then Living Life Backward is the book to unpack it. Beginning with the paradigm shift that embracing death is essential for life, I was intrigued from the start. Utterly counter to a modern worldview, the truths of Ecclesiastes are woven with ease into a narrative that rightly makes sense of why we are alive. Bold and beautiful in style, Living Life Backward promises to jolt the mind and shake us out of our complacencies. I couldn’t put it down!”
—Fiona McDonald, director of national ministries, Scottish Bible Society
“Every reader of David Gibson’s steady and reverent progress through the book will reap reward, along with wonderfully enhanced understanding and rich insight into divine truth. Those who have benefited from David’s work in the foundational book From Heaven He Came and Sought Her will rush to enjoy the same values here of profound scholarship and covetable clarity of presentation.”
—Alec Motyer, author; Bible expositor
“Only when you’re ready to die are you prepared to live. Sheer lunacy, isn’t it? Or is it actually the sanest thing you’ll ever hear? Engaging contemporary culture, David Gibson retells Ecclesiastes in all of its jarring dissonance with whatever we consider reasonable and normal. As it turns out, the wisdom of the world is silly and its will to power is impotent. I needed to read this—and so do you.”
—Michael Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California; author, Core Christianity: Finding Yourself in God's Story
“Too many view Ecclesiastes as merely the gloomy ruminations of a cynical pessimist. No wonder the book has fallen into neglect; we don’t need more of that today. But David Gibson blows away the dust and cobwebs by demonstrating that while Ecclesiastes is indeed skeptical about finding a meaningful and satisfying life without God, it’s also hopeful and optimistic about finding joy in an ordinary life with God as its center and aim. We can’t get enough of that today.”
—David Murray, pastor, Grand Rapids Free Reformed Church; professor of Old Testament and practical theology, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary; author, Jesus on Every Page and Reset
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781433556272 |
| PRICE | $17.99 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Jeanie S, Reviewer
To die well means I realize death is not simply something that happens to me; it happens to me because I am a sinner. I realize that in a sense I cause my own death. To die well means I realize that every time I see a coffin, it preaches to me that the world is broken and fallen and under the curse of death-and I am a part of it. It means I realize that I am not owed three score years and ten by God. It is only because of his mercy that I am not consumed today. To die well means realizing that from the day I was born I lived under the sentence of death, and I am amazed that God spared me as long as he did. It means I have been heading for death from the moment I was born. It means I have been laying up treasure in heaven, and that is where my heart is. To die well means everything I have in this world I hold with open hands because I love Jesus more than anything and anyone else, and I am happy to go home to him.
Ecclesiastes is a great teacher of reality and facing our limitations. I will be honest, the beginning of this study challenged me that it gripped heart in that I am holding on to things that have no eternal value. That life is a gift and how do I value that gift from the creator. How easy it is for us to know this in our head but to live it in the mundane of life can be challenging. Our search for significance and happiness many times is a search of self instead of a pursuit of God and who he is.
Is our pursuits in what we gain and not the gift? Think on that for a moment. Do not answer that quickly. After reading this study, you may have a different answer than before your started. There is so much wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes - what appears gloom and doom is really joy and glory. About what true enjoyment really is. As Gibson so eloquently expresses, you can not truly enjoy what you worship. Enjoyment comes from the putting true reality in place. That God is control and worthy to be worshipped. The man who makes sex his God, and who worships it, discovers that actually what is normal, pleasurable, soon becomes inadequate and not enough, and he becomes chained to a path whereby he begins to enjoy only perversion-which of course is no enjoyment.
Death is a teacher of how we are to live this life now. What really matters and our reality. Death reorients us to our limitations as creatures and helps us to see God's good gifts right in front of us all the time, each and every day of our lives What if the pleasure of food is a daily joy that we ungratefully overlook? What if our work was never intended to make us successful but simply to make us faithful and generous. What if it is death that shows us that this how we3 are meant to live?
If I were to nominate the best Christian book this would be it. It left me undone to the core and stirred my heart. I highly recommend.
A Special Thank You to Crossway and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.
Melanie D, Reviewer
Living Life Backward was a unique devotional. I liked how each chapter started with quotes from the book of Ecclesiastes and then the chapter correlated to that. It was a great way to get further insight into the book of Ecclesiastes and I loved that.
All in all, easy to read (although I took forever to get through it due to a nonfiction reading slump) and made me think. I enjoyed this read and recommend it.
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention/review it on my blog. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion - which I've done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*
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