Jesus Teaches Humility, Love for the Lost, and Forgiveness

Continuing a study of the gospels:

(Matthew 18:1) At the same time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

At the end of the last chapter and post, temple tax collectors had asked Peter if his Master paid temple tax, and Jesus had instructed Peter to cast a hook and take a fish out of the sea which had money to pay the voluntary tax.  It was at this same time that the rest of the disciples joined Jesus and Peter, and came to ask Jesus who the greatest was in the kingdom of heaven.  By the kingdom of heaven, they meant the one being set up on earth.  They imagined Jesus was about to set up a temporal kingdom on earth of great splendor, and they wanted to know who would have the most principal office.

(2) And Jesus called a little child to Him, and set him in the midst of them.

At that question, Jesus called a little child to Him, and placed the child in the midst of He and His disciples.  

(3) And said, "Verily, I say to you, except you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus told them that the first step toward entering into His kingdom of grace was to become as a little child, lowly in heart, knowing oneself to be ignorant and helpless, totally dependent on God for all needs.  Unless one was converted and became as a little child in that manner, he could not even enter into the kingdom of heaven, much less rule it.

(4) "Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus said that whoever humbled himself, behaving in a modest manner and preferring others over himself, not treating others with scorn or contempt, not practicing dominion over others, but placing himself among the most lowly, that person would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  When Jesus said to humble oneself as "this little child," He, of course, meant like any child of that age and innocence; He did not mean that there was anything particular about that particular child.

(5) "And whoever shall receive one such little child in My name receives Me."

Jesus furthermore added that whoever received a person with such humility and lowliness of opinion and ambition as that of a little child, meaning a true Christian of a meek, humble, and unambitious opinion of himself, was in fact, receiving Jesus Himself because that one was a true follower of Him.

(6) "But whoever will offend one of these little ones who believe in Me, it would be better for him if a millstone was hung around his neck and that he was drowned in the depth of the sea."

By "little ones," Jesus obviously meant those who were as little children and believed in Him; He wasn't referring to all little children, although I am sure they were all quite precious to Him.  However, in this case, He was referring to those who had humbled themselves and followed Jesus.  Anyone offending those Christians, probably especially new or baby Christians, who might be discouraged by such offenses and quit their service to Christ, was guilty of a punishment equal to having a millstone hung around his neck and being thrown into the sea to drown.  After all, having such an opinion of true child-like Christians is having that opinion of Christ Himself, according to what Jesus implied Himself in verse 5.

(7) "Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes."

Jesus proclaimed sorrow and misery to the world because of such offenses.  Those offenses must come because of the sin nature and depravity of man, but woe to the one who caused such offenses against Christ and Christianity.  The one who leads others to sin is more guilty than the sinners themselves.  Not only has he given into sin, but he has defiled purity and sought to destroy the souls of others.  I can't help but think about the sad state of some of our leaders who push abortion and homosexual marriage all over the world!  I couldn't help but think also of the offenses that must come to Christ in order that He should become the perfect sacrifice for our sins.  They had to come in order to pave the way of salvation, but terrible sorrow and misery awaited those who caused it to happen.  Just because it was God's plan all along for our salvation, in no way means certain people were pre-destined to sin against Christ.  God has always known the future and the hearts of man, and used those things to work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

(8) "Therefore if your hand or your foot offends you, cut them off and cast them from you; it is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire."

Jesus repeated what He had already said in a teaching back in Matthew 5:29-30.  If there is something in one's life that is causing him to sin, he must cut it off.  No sense of loss of that thing is greater than the joy of eternal life with Christ!  As the Apostle Paul would later write in Romans 8:18, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."  Jesus wasn't actually suggesting that one start cutting limbs off to keep himself from sinning, but then again, if one is missing limbs or has a disability, could it not be a blessing in disguise that keeps him humble and dependent on Christ?

(9) "And if your eye offends you, pluck it out and cast it from you; it is better for you to enter life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire."

Likewise, Jesus said if one's eye caused him to sin, it was better to pluck it out and be saved rather than die an eternal death with two good eyes.  The sense is the same--pluck out whatever is causing one to sin.  The loss of that thing is not worthy to be compared with eternal life with Jesus.

(10) "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of My Father who is in heaven."

Jesus told His disciples to take care not to think of one of the little ones in Christ as beneath them; they were to be careful to receive and not offend the very weakest believer in Christ.  There has been so much damage from those who call themselves Christians to weak believers who see only pride and hypocrisy and want nothing to do with it.  We Christians should reflect Christ as He truly is.  Thankfully, weak believers don't have to rely solely on us.  Jesus said they have heavenly angels who have continual free access to their Father in heaven.

(11) "For the Son of man has come to save that which was lost."

Another and most important reason not to despise the little ones in Christ is because Jesus Himself had come to save the lost souls.  Weak believers in Christ are being drawn by Him, and are a work in progress and very special to Him.  Just as all Christians are, we are all a work in progress never reaching perfection, and at one time in a very lowly place, and most grateful to a loving Christ who saved us anyway.

(12) "What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go into the mountains and seek the one that has gone astray?"

Jesus illustrated with this analogy how important the lost sheep, and likewise the lost soul was.  The good shepherd would leave his ninety-nine obedient sheep and seek out his one lost sheep.  Likewise, we should see just how important the lost soul is to Christ.  He gives it more attention than His souls who are safely His, so we should never despise the lost soul, nor be jealous of attention we might otherwise think not deserving.  None of us are deserving of Christ's gift of salvation!

(13) "And if he should find it, verily, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than the ninety-nine that did not go astray."

Jesus went on to say that if the lost sheep was found, the shepherd rejoiced more over that one sheep than over the ninety-nine obedient sheep that did not go astray.  This is like the parable of the prodigal son, which in this account in Luke, Jesus went on to tell.  The brother of the prodigal son was jealous of his father's celebration over his prodigal brother.  The father explained that he, his obedient son, had been with him always, and enjoyed all that he had; but it was a time for celebration in that his brother had been dead, and was now alive again, was lost and now found.  We must be mindful of that.  Followers of Christ have had Him leading them for as long as they have been followers.  We should never despise or be jealous of those who have seemingly been rewarded for their worldly sinful pursuits.  A true follower of Christ should remember what it was like to be lost, and be ever grateful that we were able to live in peace and joy in Christ, despite any circumstances; and furthermore, be glad that one lost so many more years has finally been found!

(14) "Even so, it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."

Jesus said that like the shepherd who left all his other sheep to find the one gone astray, and rejoiced when he found it, so did the heavenly Father feel about His lost sheep; it was His will that none should perish.  From that, we can extrapolate that we should do all we can to encourage and love and celebrate the little ones in Christ.

(15) "Moreover, if your bother trespasses against you, go and tell him his fault against you and him alone; if he hears you, you have gained your brother."

We are to do all we can to love and encourage and lift up our brothers in Christ, but what about when our brother sins against us, bringing some sort of injury against us?  Jesus gave us the formula here.  First, we are to go and discuss the matter with the brother who sinned against us, just him alone.  If he hears and understands his trespass, then we have saved a brother.

(16) "But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established."

If the trespasser will not listen and refuses to see his sin, then one is to take one or two more people with him, people that the trespasser would esteem.  By doing this, a thing is established as fact, when two or three agree that it is sure and certain.

(17) "And if he is unwilling to hear them, tell it to the church; but if he refuses to hear the church, let him be to you as a heathen man and a publican."

This brother was obviously a Christian brother because the matter was taken to the church if that brother refused to listen to the two or three.  He who condemns the judgment of the church condemns God; therefore if he refused to listen to the church, he was to be thought of as a heathen and a publican, that is profane and void of religion.

(18) "Verily I say to you, whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Back in Matthew 16 when Jesus told Peter He would build His church, He told him the same thing He now told all His disciples.  In this context, it meant whatever the church as a whole, or the two or three in Christ's name, said should be binding on earth would be supported by God in heaven, and whatever they said should be loosened, would be approved by God.  This, of course, cannot be said of every so-called Christian church because many churches err.  This was the church of the apostles who got their doctrine straight from Jesus Christ.

(19) "Again I say to you that if two of you shall agree on earth concerning anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven."

Jesus reiterated that if just two of the disciples agreed on earth concerning anything they asked for, it would be done by Father God.  Once again, this must be understood as only relating to the disciples who had been given the power by Jesus Christ.  However, the principle of two or three in agreement does appear throughout scripture.  I do believe united prayers are heard.  However, with us now, we don't always know the best outcome for a situation, and often pray for more immediate desires; but the Holy Spirit knows how to pray for the situation:

Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:26-28

(20) "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in the midst of them."

What a beautiful promise!  Christ is with us when we join together in prayer.  Once again, I have to reiterate that it must be the real Christ's name; no mere teacher or prophet or whatever some religions believe Jesus to be.  He is God incarnate, so when we are gathered in His name, His Holy Spirit helps us to pray for the best outcome according to God's will.  Remember that God is all-good, all-just, all-loving; He can't do anything bad; it's not His nature.  Therefore, we can always trust Him!  It may not look like we have received the answer we want, but His answer is always the best!

(21) Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times?"

Having heard the rules Jesus gave regarding offences and brotherly reproofs, Peter asked Christ how often he should forgive his brother who might continually sin against him.  That seems a legitimate question, for if a person continually sins, might we assume that he is not sincere about repentance?  Peter asked if seven times was the limit.  Again, a reasonable guess, because the number seven usually represented fullness or completion.

(22) Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you until seven times, but until seventy times seven."

Jesus answered Peter that it was not merely seven times, but seventy times seven times he must forgive his brother.  Elsewhere Jesus explained in more detail that if his brother asked for forgiveness and repented, one must be willing to forgive his brother seventy times seven times (Luke 17:3-4).  Seventy times seven is not meant to be an exact number.  What person would count offenses up to 490, and then refuse to forgive at the 491st offense?  Seven being the number of perfection or completeness, seventy times seven is like saying seventy times completeness, which would mean an infinite number.  We should be willing to forgive a brother as many times as he asks for it, and repents.  While we might think there should be a limit to how many times you can believe a person is sorry and deserving of forgiveness, aren't we glad that Jesus does not number our offenses, and stop forgiving at the 491st offense?

(23) "Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to a certain king who would take account of his servants."

Jesus began an illustrative parable likening the kingdom of heaven to a king who would scrutinize the accounts of those serving him likely as his revenue collectors, as it will become clear these cannot be seen as ordinary servants.

(24) "And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents."

The king began scrutinizing his accounts, and found that one revenue collector owed him ten thousand talents.  This represented an astronomical amount of money!  Most of the old commentators I study calculated this in the terms of British money, and as Adam Clarke wrote in his Commentary on the Bible, it was, "An immense sum, which, if the silver talent be designed, amounts to 4,500,000 sterling; but if the gold talent be meant which is by far the most likely, then the amount is 67,500,000 sterling, a sum equal to the annual revenue of the British empire!"  A quick Google search of what it would be in today's standards found it to be millions or even billions of dollars, again just meant to represent an astronomical amount.

(25) "But as he was not able to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made."

The man could not pay this astronomical amount, so the king ordered that he be sold, along with his wife and children and everything he owned, as was the custom in ancient times to pay debts.  This, of course, represents sinful man, who could never repay his astronomical debt to his Lord God.  His debt would require his life and everything in it. 

(26) "The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, "Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all."

The man fell face down to the ground, worshipping his king, and begged him to have mercy and patience, and he vowed to pay all he owed.

(27) "Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and released him and forgave him the debt."

The lord or king of that servant was moved with compassion toward his servant who begged for mercy, and he released him and even forgave him his debt.  This represents our Father in heaven who had mercy on us sinners and gave us His son and forgave all our debts.

(28) "But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred pence; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!'"

That same servant who had been forgiven all then went out and found one of his fellow servants, a brother much like himself, who happened to owe him a hundred pence, which would be about $16 in today's American money.  He violently grabbed the fellow servant by the throat, threatening him and demanding that he pay him what he owed him.  Imagine this as the man who has been forgiven so much by his heavenly Father, and he now refused to forgive someone who owed him so little.

(29) "And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and beseeched him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.'"

The original servant who was forgiven all was begged by his fellow servant to have mercy and patience, and he vowed to pay all he owed him.  This could represent the brother in Peter's question who asked for forgiveness.

(30) "But he would not, and went and cast him into prison until he could pay the debt."

The servant who was owed $16 by his fellow servant would not have patience and had his debtor thrown into prison until he paid him.  So what about the brother who had been forgiven so much by his heavenly Father, and refused to forgive his brother so little?  Christ continued:

(31) "So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done."

Fellow servants, or brothers, to both these servants were very much grieved by what they saw the one servant do to the other, so they went and told their lord what had been done.  It seems even his fellow servants could see he did wrong by not forgiving.

(32) "Then his lord, after he had called him, said to him, 'O you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. (33) Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, even as I had pity on you?'"

Indeed his lord king called the servant to him, and called him wicked because he, the king, had forgiven him so much when he had pleaded with him, yet the servant refused to have compassion on his fellow servant.  Of course, this represents Father God forgiving us so much, and us not forgiving others, who owe us far, far less, in context.

(34) "And his lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due to him."

The lord king was very angry with his servant who refused to forgive his fellow servant, and he threw him in prison with torturers until he should pay all he owed him.  This is symbolic of God condemning sinners to hell, those who refuse to accept His deliverance and salvation by demonstrating love and forgiveness for their brothers.  Of course, we could never pay all that is owed our Father God, so hell will be eternal.

(35) "So likewise shall My heavenly Father do also to you, if you from your hearts do not forgive every one of your brothers their trespasses."

Indeed, Jesus finished His parable in answer to Peter, that Father God would not forgive us our sins if we refused to forgive others truly in our hearts, and that means an infinite number of times, as God infinitely and eternally forgives us our debts.  As Jesus said when He taught His disciples how they should pray in the sixth chapter of Matthew, "And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" (Matthew 6:12); and, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matthew 6:14-15).  Just as our heavenly Father forgives us eternally, we must be willing to forgive infinitely.

I believe the highlights of this chapter are Jesus's teaching on humility, His love for the lost sheep, and the necessity for forgiveness.  We must come to Jesus as little children; the most humble is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus has great love for the lost sheep; they are the ones He came to save.  Christians are safe and secure in Jesus Christ; they have angels in heaven appointed as their guardians.  We must show love for the little ones in Christ, and never look down upon them, for there but for the grace of God were we.  We must be willing to endlessly forgive, as God has infinitely forgiven us.

In the Beginning - Thoughts on Creation As Told in Genesis 1

This is the second installment of a chronological Bible study inspired by A Chronological Bible Reading Schedule by Skip Andrews. As part of my study, I personally transcribe scriptures, using mostly KJV with a little NKJV to replace the "thee's" and "thou's". Occasionally, when a word is a hard-to-understand Old English word, but the NKJV seems to change the meaning too much, I use Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries to determine the original meaning of the word, and then may use that word. My transcription is not meant to be a new translation, but merely my own restating of the scriptures in a way that I can fully understand. Last time we had the prequel; now on to the beginning:

(Genesis 1:1) In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (2) And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (3) And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. (4) And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. (5) And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. (6) Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." (7) And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. (8) And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. (9) And God said, "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. (10) And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

The dictionary definition of "firmament" is "heaven", or "the vault of heaven, the expanse of the sky". The original word is "raqiya" meaning "expanse" or "visible arch of the sky". In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, but the earth was without form. That's really quite a thing to ponder. He created heaven and earth, but there was no shape or form! In the beginning it was apparently all like waters, all blended together, and God separated the "waters" and made the forms of heaven and earth.

(11) And God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so. (12) And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after its kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after its kind; and God saw that it was good. (13) And the evening and the morning were the third day. (14) And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; (15) And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth"; and it was so. (16) And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; He made the stars also. (17) And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, (18) And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. (19) And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Here's another great thing to ponder. On the first day God created light, and yet He didn't make the sun and moon and stars until the fourth day! Now I've heard it speculated that God was the light, but He didn't create Himself and call Himself Day. I believe it's probably just too complicated for our human minds. It's like we think we can put God in our little human box and fully explain Him and His creations. Fully explain GOD? If we could, He wouldn't be very God-like, would He? Think about this. God is outside of time. He created time itself. When we see the stars tonight, we are only seeing the light of the stars that has taken so many light years to get here, that by the time we see it, the stars are no longer in existence. According to many scientists who believe the earth is billions of years old, we should be seeing the light of stars that had to have been around since way before the Bible tells us God created the heaven and the earth and the stars. Yet they weren't. God is God; He isn't confined to our human time tables. I believe He is perfectly capable of putting stars in the heavens and having us see the lights immediately. I always have to chuckle when I hear scientists speak of their dating methods and tools. Perhaps if given millions and billions of years, *maybe* their dating methods work, but when you have a Creator God in the mix Who does not have to adhere to time or those dating rules, then how can they possibly know the real ages of things? How can they really know anything other than what has existed since man has been keeping records? They can speculate, but they can't know for certain. And yet, that is what they often try to convince us, that they can really know prehistoric events.

Back to the question about how there was light before there were the sun and stars, if God can put stars in the sky and have them instantly visible, I'm sure He could just as easily have us see the light of the sun before we could see the sun itself. But then, man wasn't there to see it yet. If light is created, but there is no one to see it, is there really light? :-) But seriously, God made the earth and it had no shape, and He made the light and it had no "shape". Then He shaped them. Isn't it awesome?

(20) And God said, "Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven." (21) And God created great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind; and God saw that it was good. (22) And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." (23) And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. (24) And God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind, cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind"; and it was so. (25) And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind; and God saw that it was good. (26) And God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." (27) So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (28) And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (29) And God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food. (30) And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so. (31) And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

God said to let man have dominion over all the earth and all the animals, contrary to what some pagan religious groups and animal rights activists will tell you. Amazingly, I have seen Ecclesiastes 3:19-21 used as proof that God says man and animals are equal. Sadly, I realized that if you read only the NIV or other modern versions like the NLT and others, you might actually be able to make a case for it. Yet another slaughter of the scriptures by the NIV translators I had missed! Please see my article entitled, Which Version of the Truth Will You Use? It details some of the subtle and some not-so-subtle changes in the NIV translation of the Bible that often greatly changes its original meaning. Ecclesiastes 3:19-21 in the NIV reads:

Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?"

NLT states it this way:

For humans and animals both breathe the same air, and both die. So people have no real advantage over the animals. How meaningless! Both go to the same place—the dust from which they came and to which they must return. For who can prove that the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward into the earth?

What the scriptures actually say in the KJV:

(19) For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all [is] vanity.

Translated: Men die just as animals die. We all have but one breath; man is not given more breaths (lives) than animals.

(20) All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

They all go to the grave when they die.

(21) Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

Who knows the spirit of man? Who knows the spirit of the beast? Further clarifying, the scripture says who knows the spirit of man, that is, the spirit that goes upward? Who knows the spirit of the beast, that is, the spirit that goes downward to the earth?

It didn't say "Who knows?" or "Who can prove?" It said "Who knows the spirit?" and then spoke very matter-of-factly about where man's spirit goes and where animals' spirits go.

This is a great time to point out that you should never trust one scripture out of context. But there is another point I'd like to make about studying obscure, hard-to-understand scriptures. Even if you truly believed that the Ecclesiastes scriptures were insinuating that man and animals were the same (equal), that is the only place in the Bible where that is found. You will find that precepts in the scriptures are always stated at least twice. The Bible states that out of the mouths of two or three witnesses, a thing will be established:

But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' - Matthew 18:16

This will be the third time I am coming to you. "By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established." - 2 Corinthians 13:1

One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. - Deuteronomy 19:15

Notice how that direction was given three times. When God created man to have dominion over the animals, it is first found in Genesis 1:26, and then repeated in Genesis 1:28. Then, lo and behold, found in Psalms:

You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen— Even the beasts of the field, The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas. - Psalms 8:6-8

If you find only one obscure passage about something and no other scripture to back it up, chances are pretty good that you are misinterpreting the meaning of the obscure passage.