A JOURNEY BACK TO FAITH.
Ecclesiastes 1:2, Ecclesiastes 1:12-14, Ecclesiastes 2:18-23.
The harder we try to understand the book of Ecclesiastes, the greater the temptation to chime in with the author’s refrain: “all is vanity!” Yet, somewhere along the way, we might realise that it is going somewhere. After all, this is not a mystery novel, where it is considered cheating to peep at the last chapter to find out who did what and why: it is in fact, a legitimate part of the wisdom writings of the written Word of God.
ECCLESIASTES 1:2. “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”
This is the refrain throughout the book. It speaks of emptiness, futility, meaninglessness, something of a nothingness.
ECCLESIASTES 1:12. “I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.”
In a more traditional understanding of the authorship of Ecclesiastes, we have here an older version of Solomon, who having strayed from the path, is now writing after having tried everything that ‘life without God’ has to offer.
ECCLESIASTES 1:13. “And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.”
Solomon was more than just an observer of the restlessness of life: he sought to “seek and search out by wisdom.” After all, he says, this is the “sore travail” that God has given to us “sons of men” since the Fall (cf. Genesis 3:19). The whole creation has been subjected to ‘vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same IN HOPE’ (Romans 8:20).
ECCLESIASTES 1:14. “I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”
To seek quality of life in a life without God is just this: “vanity” and a chasing after the wind.
ECCLESIASTES 2:18-19. “Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knows whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun, This also is vanity.”
If the writer here is Solomon, then one might wonder if he had some idea of what a mess his son Rehoboam would make of the kingdom? Solomon’s successor refused the counsel of the aged, and spoke roughly to the children of Israel, precipitating the division of the kingdom into two (cf. 1 Kings 12:13-17).
ECCLESIASTES 2:20-21. “Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun. For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.”
The very thought of one’s hard-earned cash being squandered by a future generation makes one regret ever having made the effort. “Evil” probably speaks of the unfairness of it all.
ECCLESIASTES 2:22. “For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?"
“Labour” speaks of effort. “Vexation” speaks of stress. This is a question expecting the answer ‘Nothing!’
Jesus asked a similar question, ‘What?’:
‘What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and then loses his soul?’ (Luke 9:25).
The rich man who built more and bigger barns for his worldly abundance is aptly named ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of thee: then whose will these things be which thou hast provided?’ (Luke 12:20).
ECCLESIASTES 2:23. “For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This also is vanity.”
Hard work, stress, and sleepless nights. A recipe for burnout! The futility of it all!
Earlier in his life, Solomon wrote, ‘The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge’ (Proverbs 1:7). Then, after all the excursions of this later book, ‘the conclusion of the whole matter’ will be the same. ‘Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man’ (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
If all this worldly labour is meaningless, Paul suggests: ‘Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God’ (Colossians 3:2-3).
