Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years

Published on Oct 9, 2012

Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way

Published on Oct 30, 2012

I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how secular humanist man can not hope to find a lasting meaning to his life in a closed system without bringing God back into the picture. This is the same exact case with Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Three thousand years ago, Solomon took a look at life “under the sun” in his book of Ecclesiastes. Christian scholar Ravi Zacharias has noted, “The key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes is the term ‘under the sun.’ What that literally means is you lock God out of a closed system, and you are left with only this world of time plus chance plus matter.”

Let me show you some inescapable conclusions if you choose to live without God in the picture. Solomon came to these same conclusions when he looked at life “under the sun.”

1. Death is the great equalizer (Eccl 3:20, “All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.”)
2. Chance and time have determined the past, and they will determine the future.  (Ecclesiastes 9:11-13)
3. Power reigns in this life, and the scales are not balanced(Eccl 4:1)
4. Nothing in life gives true satisfaction without God including knowledge (1:16-18), ladies and liquor (2:1-3, 8, 10, 11), and great building projects (2:4-6, 18-20).

You can only find a lasting meaning to your life by looking above the sun and bring God back into the picture.

Introduction (Chapter 1)

Name (1:1)

In the Hebrew bible, this book is called “Qoheleth,” which is most commonly translated as “preacher,” or sometimes “teacher.” This appears to be the title of the author of this book, appearing 7 times (1:1, 2, 12, 7:27 , 12:8, 9, 10). The term literally one who collects or gath ers. From this a more general meaning is usually interpreted as one who collects an assembly into a meeting in order to teach them. From this, the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew bible, translated this word as “Ecclesiastes,” which means one who calls an assembly.

However, using the literal meaning of a collector or gatherer, qoheleth probably better means, “the searcher [1]” or “the seeker.” This fits more appropriately with the purpose of the book, as the author is in search of the meaning of life.

(Ecclesiastes 1:12-13 NASB) I, the (Seeeker),… set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven.

Authorship & Date (1:1, 12)

Evidence of Authorship

The book states that the author of this book is “the son of David, king in Jerusalem .” It was not until the 17 th century that Solomon’s authorship was questioned. There are two arguments used against his authorship:

• The first suggests that because we have not indication in Kings or Chronicles that Solomon repented of his sin in his old age, he could not have been the writer of this book [2]. That argument suggests that Solomon had to have been repentant when he wrote the book. To the contrary, the tone of the book almost suggests a lack of repentance on the author’s part. It seems to say, “it’s too late for me, but maybe you get it right.” God can use an unrepentant man to write inspired scripture.
• The second suggests that the language used in Ecclesiastes is closer to the language of the late Persian period rather than the that of Solomon’s day. Recent linguistic evidence suggests that such an argument is inconclusive at best. [3]

The mood of the book suggests that Solomon wrote this book late in life. I picture him as a cynical, foolish old man who is looking back at his life and wonders what purpose there was to all he accomplished. After pursuing wisdom, riches, pleasure, and all of life, he concludes that his life was in vain.

Background of the Author

Solomon was the King of the nation of Israel , almost 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus. He was well known for his wealth and his wis dom.

The Wealth of Solomon

Solomon was the richest man in his day. His annual income was 50,000 lbs. of gold (2 Chronicles 9:13 ). Besides that, Solomon had a side business– the buying and selling of horses. Within the eastern Mediterranean , Solomon had a monopoly on the horse trade. Horses were weapons of war, and the country that had the most horses could dominate in battle. Solomon was the arms dealer of his time, and by being so, he could control the strength of the neighboring nations. He himself had over 4,000 horses (2 Chronicles 9:25 ).

So many people lived within Solomon’s palace, that the bible says just to feed the people in Solomon’s court they butchered 30 cows and 100 sheep each day! (1 Kings 4:22 ) Solomon built for himself a beautiful temple to God, the interior of which was lined completely out of gold and cedar. His own palace was magnificent, with a throne made out of ivory and overlaid with gold. His dishes and drinking cups were made of gold. 2 Chronicles 9:27 says “that silver (was) as common as stones in Jerusalem , and… cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees…”

The Wisdom of Solomon

The Bible says that Solomon was the wisest man of his day. People from all the nations would come to hear his wisdom. He was a scientist. He had tremendous knowledge about biology, writing about animals, birds, and plants. 1 Kings 4:33, “he taught about everything from the great cedar trees of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the walls.”

He was a philosopher. He wrote the book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, two of the most philosophical books in the Bible. His logic and understanding have relevance even today. 1 Kings 4:30-31 states Solomon was wiser than all the wise men of Egypt and Mesopotamia, and wiser than the wisest of Israel .

He was a theologian. He understood the nature of God and understood how we should honor and obey him. At the dedication to the temple he built, he gave a wonderful speech that shows a very deep understanding of God’s nature (1 Kings 8).

Solomon was worldly.

Solomon was also a lover. This man had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3). He had the opportunity to involve himself in every form of sexual activity imaginable (Ecclesiastes 2:8)

Solomon was an amazing diplomat. He arranged treaties with all of the neighboring nations by marrying the daughters of the kings around him. He negotiated favorable trade with surrounding nations. His was not an empire built with military might, but through diplomacy and economic domination.

Solomon was also a poet. He wrote over 1,000 songs in his lifetime (1 Kings 4:32 ). His skill as a songwriter was so developed that the one song we still have a copy of today was called by the Jews, “The Song of Songs,” meaning the best of songs.

But Solomon also got caught up in his wealth and his wives. Late in life he turned from God and built temples to the gods of his wives. He was condemned by God for his behavior and as a result his son would face a civil war and rebellion where more than half his kingdom would be torn away from him.

Theme (1:2-11)

Thesis Stated (verses 2-3)

Solomon states the conclusion of his book right at the beginning of his book. What is the result of life? Meaningless, Vanity, Uselessness.

(Ecclesiastes 1:2 NASB) “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”

In Hebrew, the word translated vanity is used of things which soon vanish away, like a vapor, a breath, or a bubble [4]. This is your life. It’s like a bubble. There it is, and just when you try to reach out and grab it, poof! It is gone. It is meaningless. It is useless. It just doesn’t make sense.

In Hebrew, if you want to state something in the superlative, you repeat the phrase. So by stating “vanity of vanities,” the author is saying this is the greatest or the most extreme of vanities.

Purpose ( 1:12 -18)

The Pursuit of Meaning ( 1:12 -14)

The purpose of the book is to provide a comprehensive examination of life in order to determine the meaning of life. Solomon is going to seek out every experience in life in order to try to find if there is any meaning at all to life.

(Ecclesiastes 1:13-14 NASB) And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind.

With life so meaningless, what are some ways that we try to make sense of life? What do we pursue to make life meaningful? Solomon has four suggestions in this chapter. But we already know the conclusion.

Seeking Meaning through Hard Work (1:3-7)

People will pour themselves into their careers. They try to find meaning in their jobs. There seems to be meaning, some sense to life in our jobs. I am accomplishing something. I am building something; I have created something that will last. Life makes sense.

But like the soap bubble, poof, that which we have created is gone. A businessman pours his life into the company, and then without warning becomes the victim of corporate downsizing. A farmer toils to grow and harvest a crop, and then without warning the weather freezes, or a heavy rain comes, and destroys the crop. A teacher devotes building into the life of her students, only to realize they could careless about the subject matter.

In Greek mythology, there is the story of Sisyphus, who is condemned by the gods to an eternity of pushing the ball up a hill, only to have it roll back down again once he gets to the top. When we realize our work doesn’t make a difference, when our work is meaningless, in vain, like a soap bubble, we loose hope.

We Try Something New and Different (1:8-10)

Our culture is caught up in the new and different. There used to be commercials on television for Mountain Dew where the characters would go through a series of adrenaline pumping, extreme events. They would then say, “been There, Done That.” We are the “Been There, Done That,” generation. The implication is, of course, I’ve done that, and it didn’t bring me lasting happiness, so show much something new.

The problem with pursuing the new and different is that just the time you get caught up with the new thing, you find that it too quickly become blah, and you have to constantly be pursuing something else to keep that excitement alive.

Solomon says you get tired of pursuing the same old stuff. “The eye has never had enough of seeing.” And really, the stuff that seems so new and different is not so different after all. There is nothing so new under the sun that it brings a lasting hope. When you come to realize that the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence, you come to realize what hopelessness there is in life.

We Try to Leave a Legacy ( 1:11 )

When we are younger we tend to try to find happiness in the new and different. But when we get older, we come to realize that that is a dead end path, and we start thinking longer term. When faced with our own mortality, we often look to building a legacy, building up something in our lifetime which will survive us. We hope to make sense of life by knowing that future generations will have received the benefit of our existence.

I’ve heard at funerals the statement, “he or she will live forever in our memories of them.” We want people to remember us, to remember what we’ve done. We want to have made a difference for having lived.

But Solomon tells us that in one or two generations, whatever you’ve accomplished will be at best a footnote in some history book, and more realistically will never be remembered at all. There is no hope in trying to leave a legacy.

We Try to Become Educated ( 1:14 -18)

Today, many try to make sense of life by pursuing an education. The thought is, if we know more, we can find solutions to our problems. We think we can solve any problem if we just sit down and work on it enough. That is where we can put our hope.

But Solomon was the wisest, most educated person of his day. And his conclusion was education was meaningless, like chasing after the wind.

In verse 15, Solomon states that “what is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.” Solomon is saying, the more you know, the more you realize how lost we are as a people and how little control we have in our life. As our knowledge has increased, we have come to realize how little we really know. Our universe keeps getting bigger and more finely detailed. And we keep becoming less and less significant. We are becoming less and less important and unable to affect the grand scheme of the universe.

No wonder Solomon says, “for with much knowledge comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.”

Literary Style

Pessimism Literature

The book of Ecclesiastes fits into a style of literature written in the period of history known as the “pessimism literature.” This is a sub-set of the larger genre of wis dom literature found throughout the middle east around 1,000 BC. There is both ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamia n literature of roughly the same era which makes observations about the meaninglessness of life [5].

“Inspired Book of Error”

Ecclesiastes is one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted books of the Old Testament. Its seemingly cynical mood is filled with irony. The author develops a case for meaning, only then to declare his reasoning as vanity. This results in much confusion, even among bible scholars. The commentators will often contradicted each other as to which statements where sarcastic statements on life and which were valid truths which we should apply to our lives.

Ray Stedman, in his sermon entitled, “The Inspired Book of Error,” states that nearly the entire book of Ecclesiastes is “filled with error. [6]”

The book of Ecclesiastes, or “the Preacher,” is unique in scripture… This book is filled with error. And yet it is wholly inspired. This may confuse some people, because many feel that inspiration is a guarantee of truth. This is no necessarily so. Inspiration merely guarantees accuracy from a particular point of view; if it is God’s point of view it is true; if it is man’s point of view it may be true, and it may not…. Inspiration guarantees an accurate reflection of these various points of view.

Therefore the Bible does have much error in it. Whenever false views of men are quoted or set forth, the Bible is speaking error….

Because of its remarkable character Ecclesiastes is the most misused book of the Bible. This is the favorite book of atheists and agnostics. And many cults love to quote this book’s erroneous viewpoints and give the impression that these are scriptural, divine words of God concerning life [7].

The clue that this book represents man’s point of view is the phrase throughout the book, “under the sun.” This phrase is used 27 times in the book. Most of this book represents man’s earthly, temporal perspective.

The other difficulty rests in that the author invokes the name of God even in his worldly viewpoint. While the perspective is certainly “under the sun,” this perspective is not atheistic. But, as Stedman points out,

Ecclesiastes views God as men in general view God — as a not very vital concern of life; sort of a high-calorie dessert which you can take or leave. There is no understanding of God as a vital, living Lord, an authority in life with whom one can have a personal relationship.

As such, just because the name of God is invoked does not mean that the statement given is truth. For example:

(Ecclesiastes 6:1-2 NASB) There is an evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent among men– (2) a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires, but God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner enjoys them. This is vanity and a severe affliction.

The first 11 chapters of this book are written from the “under the sun” viewpoint, and only after the 9 th verse of chapter 11 do we begin to see God’s perspective on life.

Diversity of Literary Styles

Ecclesiastes is a Logical Book

The book of Ecclesiastes is a discourse that logically proves that belief in God is the way to meaning and purpose in life. However, the way in which this is done is through the process of elimination. Solomon systematically goes through philosophy after philosophy, worldview after worldview and thoroughly examines the natural consequence of each viewpoint. It is not until the last few verses of the last chapter of the book that he builds up the positive side and concludes that belief in God is the answer to life.

This has led to a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding about this book. The way Solomon explores a particular philosophy is to first state the positives and explore the meanings of this viewpoint. He then shows how this view is in error and leads to hopelessness. But often people will pull things out of context and reach conclusions without seeing Solomon’s conclusions about that philosophy.

So while Ecclesiastes is a logical book, we need to be sure we are following Solomon’s logic all the way through his arguments.

Ecclesiastes is a Lyrical Book

Ecclesiastes combines the logical with poetic phrases and style. The book’s poetic style is probably most evident to the modern reader in the 3rd chapter, from whence the 60s music group, The Byrds, got the words to their hit, “Turn, Turn, Turn”.

This lyrical quality can often further the confusion about the book, for Solomon will often take the philosophy he is attacking and present it in a poetic form. We read the poetry and assume he is teaching the truth rather than building the case against that very philosophy.

We must be careful that just because it sounds like a song that we don’t take the words out of context and accept them at face value.

Footnotes

1. Ray C. Stedman. Is This All There Is to Life: Answers from Ecclesiastes . ( Grand Rapids MI : Discovery House Publishers, 1999), 11.
2. H.C. Leupold. Exposition of Ecclesiastes . ( Grand Rapids MI : Baker Book House, 1972), 9.
3. Donald R. Glenn, “Ecclesiastes,” The Bible Knowledge Commentary . ( Victor Books, 1988).
4. William Wilson, “Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies, ” MacDonald: McLean VA, p. 465.
5. J. Stafford Wright. “Ecclesiastes.” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary.
6. Ray C. Stedman, “Ecclesiastes: The Inspired Book of Error,” Discovery Publishing: Palo Alto CA , http://www.pbc.org/dp/stedman/adventure/0221.html , 1965.
7. Ibid.

Related posts:

Ecclesiastes 6-8 | Solomon Turns Over a New Leaf

Published on Oct 2, 2012

I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how secular humanist man can not hope to find a lasting meaning to his life in a closed system without bringing God back into the picture. This is the same exact case with Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Three thousand years ago, Solomon took a look at life “under the sun” in his book of Ecclesiastes. Christian scholar Ravi Zacharias has noted, “The key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes is the term ‘under the sun.’ What that literally means is you lock God out of a closed system, and you are left with only this world of time plus chance plus matter.”

Let me show you some inescapable conclusions if you choose to live without God in the picture. Solomon came to these same conclusions when he looked at life “under the sun.”

1. Death is the great equalizer (Eccl 3:20, “All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.”)
2. Chance and time have determined the past, and they will determine the future.  (Ecclesiastes 9:11-13)
3. Power reigns in this life, and the scales are not balanced(Eccl 4:1)
4. Nothing in life gives true satisfaction without God including knowledge (1:16-18), ladies and liquor (2:1-3, 8, 10, 11), and great building projects (2:4-6, 18-20).

You can only find a lasting meaning to your life by looking above the sun and bring God back into the picture.

What Is the Basic Message of Ecclesiastes?

The book of Ecclesiastes is one of the most misunderstood books in the Hebrew Bible.  The author of the book, called Qohelet, who many believe is King Solomon, appears to contradict many of the teachings of the other books of the Bible.  Ecclesiastes is placed, in the Christian Old Testament, in the wisdom literature section, just after the book of Proverbs.  But Qohelet appears to dismiss the teachings of Proverbs and the overall pursuit of wisdom as meaningless!

How can this be, since many believe that Solomon also wrote the book of Proverbs?  Did he change his mind?

I don’t think so.  A careful reading of Ecclesiastes gives us some clues as to its basic message.  The first clue is a phrase that is repeated several times in the book: “That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.“  This phrase, or something close to it, is repeated five times in the book of Ecclesiastes.  In Hebrew literature, repetition is a sure clue that the author wants you to focus on this phrase.  It is like a signal flare saying, “Look at me!!”  The message seems to be that we should enjoy the pleasures God has given us in this life.

A second clue is the closing of the book in chapter 12.  Here is what it says: ”Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”  I think this ending speaks for itself.

The rest of Ecclesiastes chronicles the attempts of Qohelet to find the meaning of life in various pursuits, all of which fail him.

When you put it all together, according to Dr. Tom Howe, Professor of Bible and Biblical Languages:

Although the tone of the book as a whole seems to be pessimistic, Qohelet is not a pessimist.  Rather, his goal is to demonstrate that life is meaningless, unless one lives it in the fear of God,  keeping His commandments and enjoying life as a gift from Him.  Ultimately, Qohelet is urging the reader not to trust in anything in this life to provide meaning and value.  Rather, one should trust only and always in God, and live life before Him.

Related posts:

Here is a picture of my grandson Luke Hatcher with a football he won at the Saline County Razorback Club and it was signed by Coach Bret Bielema.

(I got to write about this meeting that Bielema attended for the Saline Courier and my article is online.) I have had the opportunity to write on sports several times in the past for the Saline Courier and you can find my articles online here, here, here, here, here, and here. Here is a serious article I wrote for the Saline Courier about a family friend killed by a drunk driver which can found at this link and I also wrote about some Arkansas war heroes and those articles can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, and here,

I got to hear Coach Bret Bielema speak at the Saline County Razorback Fish Fry on 3-27-13 and at that meeting he said that he Arkansas is a very similar state to Wisconsin although it is warmer down here. Some people have accused him of bringing the cold weather down here though (that got some laughs because of 29 degree weather this week).

Coach Bielema had earlier mentioned about his first introduction to Razorback fans. Here is what Coach Bielema said when he first accepted the Arkansas job:

I actually grew up in Illinois, but one of my favorite aunt and uncle live in Little Rock and my favorite cousins. I’d only get to see them once or twice a year because they only came for Thanksgiving or the Holidays. Actually, my aunt and uncle still live in Little Rock and one of my cousins lives here in Fayetteville. It’s going to be fun to rekindle with them. They used to bring me some Arkansas gear. I couldn’t even tell you where Arkansas was when I was eight, but I was wearing that hat. With that, they introduced me to what the fans of Arkansas are really about.

Ecclesiastes 4-6 | Solomon’s Dissatisfaction

Published on Sep 24, 2012

I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how secular humanist man can not hope to find a lasting meaning to his life in a closed system without bringing God back into the picture. This is the same exact case with Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Three thousand years ago, Solomon took a look at life “under the sun” in his book of Ecclesiastes. Christian scholar Ravi Zacharias has noted, “The key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes is the term ‘under the sun.’ What that literally means is you lock God out of a closed system, and you are left with only this world of time plus chance plus matter.”

Let me show you some inescapable conclusions if you choose to live without God in the picture. Solomon came to these same conclusions when he looked at life “under the sun.”

1. Death is the great equalizer (Eccl 3:20, “All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.”)
2. Chance and time have determined the past, and they will determine the future.  (Ecclesiastes 9:11-13)
3. Power reigns in this life, and the scales are not balanced(Eccl 4:1)
4. Nothing in life gives true satisfaction without God including knowledge (1:16-18), ladies and liquor (2:1-3, 8, 10, 11), and great building projects (2:4-6, 18-20).

You can only find a lasting meaning to your life by looking above the sun and bring God back into the picture.

Ecclesiastes 1 – The Vanity Of Life

A. Introduction: The Preacher, the author of Ecclesiastes.

1. (1a) The Preacher.

The words of the Preacher,

a. The words of the Preacher: The Book of Ecclesiastes is one of the most unusual and perhaps most difficult to understand books of the Bible. It has a spirit of hopeless despair; it has no praise or peace; it seems to promote questionable conduct. Yet these words of the Preacher show us the futility and foolishness of a life lived without an eternal perspective.

i. The question in Ecclesiastes isn’t about the existence of God; the author is no atheist, and God is always there. The question is whether or not God matters. The answer to that question is vitally connected to a responsibility to God that goes beyond this earthly life.

ii. “He does believe in ‘God,’ but, very significantly, he never uses the sacred name ‘Lord.’ He has shaken himself free, or wishes to represent a character who has shaken himself free from Revelation, and is fighting the problem of life, its meaning and worth, without any help from Law, or Prophet, or Psalm.” (Maclaren)

iii. In the search for this answer, the Preacher will search the depths of human experience, including despair. He will thoroughly examine the emptiness and futility of live lived without eternity before coming to the conclusion of the necessity of eternity.

iv. “We face the appalling inference that nothing has meaning, nothing matters under the sun. It is then that we can hear, as the good news which it is, that everything matters – ‘for God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.’” (Kidner)

v. “What, then, is the purpose of Ecclesiastes? It is an essay in apologetics. It defends the life of faith in a generous God by pointing to the grimness of the alternative.” (Eaton)

vi. “He does not come as a formal philosopher; it is a word from God he has to share, despite his reflective low-key approach. He does not present half-a-dozen arguments for the existence of God. Instead he picks up our own questions. Can you cope with life without having any idea where you are going? You don’t have all the answers to life’s enigmas, do you? Your neo-pagan view of life doesn’t give you any hope of achieving very much, does it? Nature will not answer your questions, and you are bored by it anyway. History baffles your attempts to understand it. You don’t like to think about your own death; yet it is the most certain fact about your existence.” (Eaton)

vii. “Ecclesiastes does not pretend to preach the Gospel. Rather, it encourages the reader to a God-centered worldview rather than falling victim to frustrations and unanswered questions. None of its contents has to be rejected in the light of the New Testament.” (Wright)

b. The Preacher: In Hebrew, this translates the word Koheleth (or, Kobellet). The idea is of someone who might gather, lead, or speak to a group of people – a congregation.

i. “The word is connected with the Hebrew for assembling, and its form suggests some kind of office-bearer. . . . The many attempts at translating this title include: ‘Ecclesiastes’, ‘The Preacher’, ‘The Speaker’, ‘The President’, ‘The Spokesman’, ‘The Philosopher’. We might almost add, ‘The Professor’!” (Kidner)

ii. These are definitely the words of the Preacher, but in this apologetically oriented sermon his focus on God is indirect. “It makes no mention of Yahweh, the Lord, the name of the God of Israel’s covenant faith. It scarcely refers to the law of God, the only possible reference being in 12:13. It scarcely refers to the nation of Israel (only in 1:12). Why these omissions? The answer seems to be that the Preacher’s argument stands on its own feet and does not depend on Israel’s covenant faith to be valid. He is appealing to universally observable facts.” (Eaton)

2. (1b) The identity of the Preacher.

The son of David, king in Jerusalem.

a. The son of David: This identifies the Preacher as David’s son Solomon. Some believe that another wrote it in Solomon’s name, but there is no compelling reason to say that anyone other than Solomon wrote it.

i. “In view of the traditions concerning Solomon (1 Kings 2-12; 2 Chronicles 1-9), without any further definition the title would certainly lead any reader to suppose that the allusion is to him. Also the account in 2:1-11 is strongly reminiscent of Solomon; almost every phrase has its parallel in the narratives concerning Solomon.” (Eaton)

ii. “There will come another enigmatic note in verse 16, with its claim to a wisdom ‘surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me’. This rules out any successor to the matchless Solomon.” (Kidner)

b. King in Jerusalem: From his royal standing, Solomon had the wisdom, freedom, resources, and standing to write this work.

i. In a sense, only Solomon could write this book. He had both the wisdom and the resources to work through these problems. “With Qoheleth we put on the mantle of a Solomon, that most brilliant and least limited of men, to set our on the search. With every gift and power at our command, it would be strange if we should come back empty-handed.” (Kidner)

ii. When Solomon wrote this, he did so in a style understood and appreciated in his day. “The particular brand of wisdom that characterizes Ecclesiastes is well attested in the ancient world. We may call it ‘pessimism literature’. Ecclesiastes is the only biblical example of this old literary tradition.” (Eaton)

iii. “In an Egyptian work, The Man Who Was Tired of Life, written between 2300 and 2100 bc, a man disputed with his soul whether life was worth living or whether suicide was the only logical act. ‘Life is a transitory state,’ he complained to himself; ‘you are alive but what profit do you get? Yet you yearn for life like a man of wealth.’ Death is ‘a bringer of weeping’; never again afterwards will a man ‘see the sun’. Little can be done. ‘Follow the happy day and forget care.’” (Eaton)

iv. The Puritan commentator John Trapp wrote what some other also believe, that Ecclesiastes was Solomon’s statement of error and penance, and evidence that he turned back to God at the end of his life – despite the absence of such assurance in 1 Kings 11. “He penned this penitential sermon, grown an old man, he had experimented all this that he here affirmeth, so that he might better begin his speech to his scholars.” (Trapp)

B. The problem presented: the meaninglessness of life.

1. (2) The Preacher’s summary: Life is vanity, without meaning.

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher;

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

a. Vanity of vanities: The Preacher begins his sermon with his first conclusion (though not his ultimate conclusion). Looking at life all around, he judges it to be vanity – nothing, useless, meaningless.

i. “A wisp of vapour, a puff of wind, a mere breath – nothing you could get your hands on; the nearest thing to zero. That is the ‘vanity’ this book is about.” (Kidner)

ii. “Vanity (hebel) includes (i) brevity and unsubstantiality, emptiness . . . (ii) unreliability, frailty . . . (iii) futility, as in Job 9:29 (Hebrew), where ‘in vanity’ means ‘to no effect’; (iv) deceit (cf. Jeremiah 16:19; Zechariah 10:2).” (Eaton)

b. Vanity of vanities: To strengthen his point, the Preacher judged life to be the ultimate vanity, the vanity of vanities. This Hebrew phrasing is used to express intensity or the ultimate of something, as in the phrase holy of holies.

i. This phrase (or something quite like it) will be used about 30 times in this short book. It is one of the major themes of Ecclesiastes.

c. All is vanity: To further strengthen the point, Solomon noted not only that live is vanity, but that all is vanity. It seemed that every part of life suffered from this emptiness.

i. We see from the first two verses that Solomon wrote this from a certain perspective, a perspective that through the book he will expose and inadequate and wrong. Most all of Ecclesiastes is written from this perspective, through the eyes of a man who thinks and lives as if God doesn’t matter.

ii. “It is an absolutely accurate statement of life when it is lived under certain conditions; but it is not true as a statement of what life bust necessarily be.” (Morgan) If you say, “My life isn’t vanity; it isn’t meaningless. My life is filled with meaning and purpose.” That’s wonderful; but you can’t ignore the premise of the Preacher – the premise of life under the sun.

iii. Therefore Ecclesiastes is filled with what we might call true lies. Given the perspective “God does not matter,” it is true that all is vanity. Since that perspective is wrong, it is not true that all is vanity. Yet Solomon makes us think through this wrong perspective thoroughly through Ecclesiastes.

iv. Solomon thinks through this perspective, but he wasn’t the first nor the last to see life this way. Many moderns judge life to be equally futile.

·      “We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it.” (Playwright Tennessee Williams)

·      “Most people get a fair amount of fun out of their lives, but on balance life is suffering and only the very young or the very foolish imagine otherwise.” (Author George Orwell)

·      “Life is rather like a can of sardines, were all of us looking for the key.” (Playwright  Alan Bennett)

2. (3) Life and work under the sun.

What profit has a man from all his labor

In which he toils under the sun?

a. What profit has a man from all his labor: Using the language from the world of business, the Preacher asked a worthy question. He knew that life was filled with labor – but what is it worth? What does it profit?

i. Profit: “A commercial term; life ‘pays no dividends’.” (Eaton)

ii. Jesus expressed a similar though in Mark 8:36: For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

iii. “All things are sweeter in the ambition than in the fruition. There is a singular vanity in this splendid misery.” (Trapp)

b. In which he toils under the sun: This is the first stating of an essential theme through Ecclesiastes. This phrase will be repeated more than 25 times through the book. The idea isn’t “on a sunny day” or something having to do with the weather. The idea is “in this world that we can see; the material world.” It is life considered without an eternal perspective.

i. “If our view of life goes no further than ‘under the sun’, all our endeavours will have an undertone of misery.” (Eaton)

ii. The use of the phrase under the sun “shows that the writer’s interest was universal and not limited to only his own people and land.” (Wright)

3. (4-7) The unending cycle of creation.

One generation passes away, and another generation comes;

But the earth abides forever.

The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,

And hastens to the place where it arose.

The wind goes toward the south,

And turns around to the north;

The wind whirls about continually,

And comes again on its circuit.

All the rivers run into the sea,

Yet the sea is not full;

To the place from which the rivers come,

There they return again.

a. One generation passes away, and another generation comes; but the earth abides forever: Using several examples, the Preacher observes that nothing seems to change very much in the seemingly unending cycle of nature.

i. “He looks out upon humanity, and sees that in one aspect the world is full of births, and in another full of deaths. Coffins and cradles seem the main furniture, and he hears the tramp, tramp, tramp of the generations passing over a soil honeycombed with tombs.” (Maclaren)

b. The sun also rises . . . The wind goes toward the south . . . the rivers run into the sea: From what Solomon could observe under the sun, these unchanging cycles expressed the unchanging monotony of life, leading to its vanity and meaninglessness.

i. “For Old Testament orthodoxy, creation rings with the praises of the Lord. Creation is his. . . . But, says the Preacher, take away its God, and creation no longer reflects his glory; it illustrates the weariness of mankind.” (Eaton)

ii. “All the rivers of earthly joy may be flowing into your heart, but they will never fill it. They may recede, or dry up, or ebb; but if not, still they will never satisfy. . . . But in Christ there is perennial interest. . . . We need not go outside of Him for new delights; and to know Him is to possess a secret which makes all things new.” (Meyer)

4. (8-11) The unending cycle of man’s labor.

 

All things are full of labor;

Man cannot express it.

The eye is not satisfied with seeing,

Nor the ear filled with hearing.

That which has been is what will be,

That which is done is what will be done,

And there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there anything of which it may be said,

“See, this is new”?

It has already been in ancient times before us.

There is no remembrance of former things,

Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come

By those who will come after.

a. All things are full of labor; man cannot express it: Solomon then observed that the meaningless of life wasn’t only reflected in nature. It was also evident in human effort and endeavor. Despite all man’s working (labor), seeing, and hearing, he is still not satisfied.

i. “It is; impossible to calculate how much anxiety, pain, labour, and fatigue are necessary in order to carry on the common operations of life. But an endless desire of gain, and an endless curiosity to witness a variety of results, cause men to, labour on.” (Clarke)

 

ii. “What is the difference between a squirrel in a cage who only makes his prison go round the faster by his swift race, and the man who lives toilsome days for transitory objects which he may never attain?” (Maclaren)

b. That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun: Despite all man’s work and progress, life seems monotonously the same. Things that seem new get old very quickly, so it could be said “there is nothing new under the sun.”

i. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. “In their new guise the old ways go on. As a race, we never learn.” (Kidner)

ii. There may be nothing new under the sun; but thankfully the followers of Jesus – those born again by God’s Spirit – don’t live under the sun in that sense. Their life is filled with new things.

·      A new name (Isaiah 62:2, Revelation 2:17)

·      A new community (Ephesians 2:14)

·      A new help from angels (Psalm 91:11)

·      A new commandment (John 13:34)

·      A new covenant (Jeremiah 31:33, Matthew 26:28)

·      A new and living way to heaven (Hebrews 10:20)

·      A new purity (1 Corinthians 5:7)

·      A new nature (Ephesians 4:24)

·      A new creation in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17)

·      All things become new! (2 Corinthians 5:17, Revelation 21:5)

c. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of things that are come: The futility of life seems to work both directions, both into the past and into the future. Man works hard, yet it never seems to make a lasting difference and all is simply forgotten.

i. “How many memorable matters were never recorded! How many ancient records long since perished!”

C. The failure of wisdom to satisfy.

1. (12-15) Searching by wisdom.

I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

 

What is crooked cannot be made straight,

And what is lacking cannot be numbered.

a. I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem: Solomon was internationally famous for his great wisdom. If the answers to seeming emptiness of life could be found by wisdom, Solomon was the one find them.

i. Solomon’s great wisdom was a gift of God. When God offered him whatever he pleased, he asked for wisdom, especially the wisdom to lead the people of God (1 Kings 3:5-28). Therefore God made Solomon so wise that he wrote thousands of proverbs, and he was considered to be wiser than all men of his day (1 Kings 4:29-34).

b. I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven: With the unique ability to make such a search, Solomon looked for the answers in wisdom – by which he meant human wisdom that excluded answers in the light of eternity.

i. I set my heart to seek and search out: “The two words are not synonymous. The former verb implies penetrating into the depth of an object before one; the other word taking a comprehensive survey of matters further away; so that two methods and scopes of investigation are signified.” (Deane)

ii. This is the wisdom of those who guide us to a better life in the here-and-now; how to live a healthier, happier, more prosperous life. This wisdom certainly has value, and many lives would be better for following it. Yet if it excludes a true appreciation of eternity and our responsibilities in the world to come, this wisdom has no true answer to the meaninglessness of life. It only shows us how to live our meaningless lives better.

iii. In other places in Ecclesiastes, wisdom is thought of as a blessing – as it is; even wisdom that excludes eternity (Ecclesiastes 7:11-12, 7:19). Yet this kind of under the sun wisdom can’t answer the vanity and meaninglessness of life.

c. All that is done under heaven: God’s heaven and eternity are not in view here, only the day and night skies. This is another way of saying, “under the sun.” All man’s work, accomplishment, and searching for wisdom seems to amount to nothing.

i. “All that is done under heaven shows that the total resources of a limited world-view are the object of study; the vertical aspect is not yet in view.” (Eaton)

d. This burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised: The seeming futility of life comes from God; He has given it to man. God has deliberately built a system where life seems meaningless and vanity without the understanding of a living, active God to whom we must give account.

i. It may seem cruel of God to devise such a system, but it actually evidence of His great love and mercy. He built within us the desire and need for that which brings meaning and fulfillment to live. As Augustine wrote, the Creator made a God-shaped space in each of us, which can only be filled with Him.

ii. This is true not only of us as people, but also as creation. God also subjected creation to this futility until He one day brings the promised fulfillment. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope (Romans 8:20).

iii. At the same time, this is a burdensome task. It isn’t always easy to find these answers, because our pride, self-reliance, and self-love work against finding them.

e. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered: The Preacher’s initial search for the answers in wisdom (under the sun) brought him only despair.

i. “With his usual devastating candour Qoheleth is quick to tell us the worst. The search has come to nothing.” (Kidner)

ii. “The third conclusion explains why the ‘under the sun’ thinker is so frustrated. It is because there are twists (what is crooked) and gaps (what is lacking) in all thinking. No matter how the thinker ponders, he cannot straighten out life’s anomalies, nor reduce all he sees to a neat system.” (Eaton)

2. (16-18) The failure of wisdom confirmed.

I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge.” And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.

 

For in much wisdom is much grief,

And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

a. I communed with my heart: This is natural for anyone who looks for the answers under the sun, apart from an eternal perspective. They look inward for wisdom and answers, instead of to the God who rules eternity.

b. I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind: The repeated and intensified search for wisdom brought no ultimate meaning. The solution wasn’t to think harder and search better; it was all grasping for the wind.

c. For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow: The more the Preacher understood life under the sun, the greater his despair. The more he learned, the more he realized what he didn’t know. The more he knew, the more he knew life’s sorrows.

i. “So long as wisdom is restricted to the realm ‘under the sun’, it sees the throbbing tumult of creation, life scurrying round its ever-repetitive circuits, and nothing more. ‘The more you understand, the more you ache’ (Moffatt).” (Eaton)

© 2011 David Guzik

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