Life Project Blog

Ecclesiastes 2:17-26

With verses 17 ff. we continue the Teacher’s warm and cozy view of our lives under the sun, this time we are talking about work. In verses 17-23, we see a very high concentration of markers making it more clear than at any time before this that we are talking about life “under the sun” which he repeats no less than five times. Could something be in the works here?

The main point in this passage is that we might work diligently all our lives, we might achieve great things, as Solomon surely did, and yet even though we might act with wisdom and knowledge and skill our entire careers, the day will come when we turn our accomplishments and fortunes over to someone who may or may not be wise, and who certainly did not earn them. He concludes that this is not a good situation, using the term “meaningless” no fewer than three times in the process.

Solomon isn’t the only person to make this observation, and over the centuries many volumes have been written about great reputations and fortunes that were squandered by foolish heirs on riotous living. What do we get from all of our hard work under the sun? We get stress, grief and anxiety, and in the end, we leave it all behind… meaningless!

Something happens in verse 24:

A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God

At first, we might think that Solomon’s rant is continuing, but then we see something different, eating, drinking and finding satisfaction “in their own toil” is a gift from God; this doesn’t seem to follow. This is because 24 and 25 are transitional verses:

A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?

Ecclesiastes 2:24-25

Our vantage point is no longer “under the sun”; from here through 3:22, Solomon gives his counterpoint to life under the sun, a contrast that makes this adventure of ours a most excellent adventure, rather than a depressing one, for there really is a ray of hope for better things.

To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. (v. 26)

By linking wisdom and knowledge with happiness, Solomon is making a distinction that this time, wisdom and knowledge are not vanity, as in the previous verses, for these are not the vain strivings of merely human wisdom and knowledge, but of a divine gift. This person, who is pleasing in God’s sight, understands the difference between that which is eternal, and that which is not, and their priority is in the right place, thus they can find happiness even in this life. By contrast, the one who is not pleasing in God’s sight does not find this kind of happiness and deep satisfaction, for if they have obtained even human wisdom, they realize that all is for naught in the end, no matter what they do. They come to recognize that they have merely been chasing the wind.

Approaching the next chapter, we see that Solomon is going to develop this new theme more fully; actually he will take on a persuasive structure.

Ecclesiastes 2:12-16

Our Teacher now examines wisdom and folly, and in so doing he comes to the conclusion that wisdom is better, but it only goes so far. A wise person walks in light, while a fool stumbles around in the dark; this is good. Yet they both end up in the grave, so what’s the real difference? Oh yes, this is quite an optimistic message!

In verse 12 he points out that his successor will have nothing left to do that he (Solomon) hasn’t already done, implying that we can re-examine his conclusions, but we’ll still get the same results. Yes, wisdom is better than folly, but then we already knew that.

Here’s my own illustration:

If you are old enough to recall the 1970’s, then you will no doubt recall that all of the new things that went on in that period were cutting edge, really great, and of course in all cases cool in the extreme. Now, ask yourself: How are the cool things of the 1970’s looking now? Do you still go to the store and hope to buy an avocado green refrigerator? Hey guys, do you miss wearing bell bottoms? Been to a disco lately?

Yuk.

Now look at things as they are now; you do realize that all of the latest and greatest cool things of today are going to look just as stupid as the latest and greatest of the 70’s 35 years from now, right?

A wise person sees right through all of the latest and greatest styles and fads; a fool jumps into them with both feet thinking they have found the “ultimate”.

Wisdom enables a person to think several steps ahead and avoid many problems in the process, while a fool jumps into everything that comes along and gets burned over and over. This, I think, is the heart of what Solomon is teaching us. It is good to be wise, but in the end, it really doesn’t matter all that much, since the day is rapidly approaching when the wise and the foolish will be dead and gone… and forgotten.

Before I wrap up on this uplifting note, please notice that he is still speaking of life “under the sun”; can it be, that there is more to our lives than just that which goes on “under the sun”?

I sure hope so!

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

Do you know anyone who doesn’t like pleasure? To be sure, that is a loaded question because it is not possible to say “No” to that one. Everyone likes pleasure… by definition, although not everyone has the opportunity to experience it. Pleasure is fun, it is… pleasurable. We can do all sorts of things for pleasure; we can enjoy fine foods, drink good wines, read good books, watch good movies and listen to good music. Solomon, using the great wisdom he has gained, seems to have conducted an investigation into pleasure, to determine whether or not it would add meaning to life.

In verses 1-9 he tells us of his investigation, and then he sums up his conclusions in verses 10-11. In the first two verses, he goes after amusement, in 3 it is wine. In 4-6 he pursues pleasure in great accomplishments, then he goes for wealth in 7-8a, and then in 8b he pursues the pleasures of sex; the number of his wives and concubines (sex slaves) was in the thousands! (1 Kings 11:3). In verse 9 he sums this all up by pointing out that in all of this, he became far greater than anyone who had come before “in Jerusalem”. Then he gives us his conclusions:

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
and this was the reward for all my toil.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11

Verse 10 begins with another parallelism that clearly tells us that there was absolutely nothing that he didn’t try, and that he utterly indulged his every fancy. He had a great time; his “heart took delight” in what he was doing, and that delight was his entire reward: Fun.

Yet when it was all said and done, what had he really accomplished? With the great wisdom he had received, he came to realize that all of his fun and frivolity was “meaningless” (vanity), chasing after the wind. He sums this up in a parallel construct this way: “nothing was gained under the sun.”

Have you ever looked forward to some big event in your life, say a party or a trip or a concert or… whatever, and then felt let down afterwards? Maybe that big day was great, but now that it’s over…blah. I do most of the cooking in my house, and there have been many times when I work 3 or 4 hours (or more) preparing a meal. I pull out my entire bag of culinary tricks and really try to create something special. Then comes the moment of truth as everyone sits down at the table and lo and behold a culinary triumph! Yippee!

After a few minutes I survey the scene. I put heart and soul into my creation, and now all I have left is a mess to clean up. Usually, what passes through my brain is something like: It would have been a lot easier to have zapped a few hot dogs!

Vanity of vanities.

As we begin our adventure through Ecclesiastes, we should set out a little background information about it. First of all, I want to be very up front with you: This book is a little tricky, so we need to be very careful about things like context. If we don’t keep the context straight, then we will come away with a long list of contradictions with the rest of Solomon’s writings, not to mention the rest of Scripture. Thus, we must first and foremost bear in mind that this is a book of personal reflections, most of which are not intended as godly counsel or direction. If we aren’t clear on that, and we decide to interpret this in a strictly literal sense, than by the time we are half way through, we will simply give up on life and look for a bridge to jump off of, or a psychiatrist to medicate us. This is not the intent of the book, and it is why I have called it a “tricky” book.

To understand this more fully, let’s take a quick review of the career of Solomon, the book’s author. King Solomon reigned over Israel for 40 years, following in the footsteps of his father, King David. His reign was the high water mark for ancient Israel, being as it was a time of unparalleled power and prosperity. In the early days of his reign, Solomon had a very close relationship with God, received a special gift of wisdom and wrote the Song of Songs. As time passed and Solomon’s storehouse of wives and riches continued, he began to fall away from God, and his apostasy began to show up among his subjects. As a mature man, he penned the Proverbs, sharing much of the wisdom God had granted him. Although the historical books don’t provide a great deal of data on Solomon, they do indicate that he entered a period in which he was, well let’s just say he wasn’t quite right in his thinking, but began to restore his relationship with God, and although his relationship was never again what it had been, he seemed to come to terms with God in his last years. This is when he wrote Ecclesiastes, and it clearly reflects the results of his searching for wisdom and the trials that this search brought upon him. As you might suspect, this is reflected in the structure of the book.

Ecclesiastes has three sections: A prologue (1:1-11) which introduces the book’s main themes, the body (1:12-12:8) which consists of a long monologue outlining Solomon’s search for the meaning of life, and a brief epilogue (12:9-14). The prologue and epilogue are distinguished from the main body by the use of the third person reference to Koheleth (which means “preacher”), and in this respect mirrors the structure of Job.

The aspect of this book that we must always bear in mind is that throughout, Solomon writes from two entirely different points of view. One is the viewpoint of natural man, and the other is from the viewpoint of divine insight. The natural man’s view of life is skeptical and pessimistic (all is vanity) while the divine view is steadfast and hopeful. Obviously, mixing these two up is what results in chaos and confusion for a reader. An example of Solomon’s two points of view is found in 12:11 where he speaks of this negative and positive commentary under the metaphors “the gods” for the negative and “nails” for the positive. As we go through the book, I’ll point out more along these lines, and we won’t be confused.

I have written many times here of the futility of trying to find Truth through human wisdom, pointing out that Truth is to be found in the One who is “the way, the truth and the life.” As you will come to understand, old King Solomon spent a great many years and a whole lot of trouble and anguish to learn this vital lesson.

When we get back together, we will begin our journey by taking a look at the prologue, and our most excellent adventure will begin!