Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ec 1.1-2 and following. Indeed, verses 2 and 3 of the first chapter indicate the content and purpose of the book of Ecclesiastes: “Vanity of vanities,” said the preacher; vanity of vanities! Everything is vanity. What profit does man have from all his labor, which he torments under the sun?” The fundamental question underlying the book of Ecclesiastes could be formulated as follows: How does man best spend his life? The answers to this question are mostly presented from a human point of view. So they give the impression that the writer remained far removed from the divine truth. We find some examples of such erroneous conclusions in the following passages: Ecclesiastes 3:19-22; 7:16, 17; 8:15; 9:6, 10.
Statements of this kind might lead the reader of the book of Ecclesiastes to ask: How is it possible that similar things have their place in the word of God? The explanation is not difficult to give. These human reasonings are not divine revelation (such as, for example, the epistle to the Ephesians in the New Testament), but they have been recorded in the Bible by divine inspiration. Solomon’s experiences and thoughts are recorded as the words of a being disappointed by life, even if man is not seen in it in a relationship (hehas living faith with God although, as a creature, every man is responsible to his creator). Thus the book of Ecclesiastes has often been given a skeptical or pessimistic character. Indeed, there is not a word of praise for God in Ecclesiastes, and nothing about grace and redemption. When the name of God is mentioned, it is never mentioned as Jehovah, but only as Elohim (more than forty times in all).
God’s direct teaching of man appears in this book only in verses 11 to 14 of chapter 12. These words that end Ecclesiastes can also be considered a good introduction to the book of Proverbs. These precede, it is true, the text of Ecclesiastes in the Bibles in the French language; but, from the spiritual point of view, the former represent progress over the latter. As we said at the beginning, Solomon takes in this book the character of a Preacher. He wants his listeners to benefit from the experiences he has made through the wisdom that God has given him. He is not content to exercise it in the government of his people, for that was why he had asked God for it (2 Chron. 1:9-12); but we are told that he had received from God “wisdom and a most great intelligence, and a heart as wide as the sand which is on the edge of the sea. And the wisdom of Solomon was greater than the wisdom of all the sons of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. And he was wiser than any man, more than Ethan, the Ezrakhite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Makhol. And his fame was widespread among all nations, around it. And he uttered three thousand proverbs, and his hymns numbered a thousand and five. And he spoke on the trees, from the cedar that is on Lebanon, to the hyssop that comes out of the wall; and he spoke about beasts, and about birds, and about reptiles, and about fish. And from all the people came to hear solomon’s wisdom, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom” (1 Kings 4:29-34). This is what had made him “the Preacher.”
Moreover, all things were at his disposal: all that wealth could acquire, all that power could obtain, all that wisdom could probe and appropriate. He had tasted all the pleasures; he had scrutinized all the works of God and known the laws by which the life of men and the order of the universe are regulated. So he had no reason to complain about the world (2 Ch 9:22-24). From the beginning, according to the custom of the Preachers, he indicates his subject and establishes his text: “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; vanity of vanities! Everything is vanity!” (v. 2). Then, throughout the rest of the Book, he deals with this subject in detail, to finally come to the conclusion, to the sum of all the experiences he has made: “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; all is vanity” (12:8). Vanity! a breath, a shadow that passes, an existence without a future, the life of the winged ephemeral that lasts barely a day!
Verse 3: “What profit does man have from all his labor of which he torments himself under the sun?” asks the question that will be developed in all its faces in the course of this book, for it takes the man engaged in the affairs of life, busy, accustomed to work and to an often devouring activity. To this question, the worms. 4-11 provide us with the answer: “A generation is leaving, and a generation is coming; and the land still subsists.” Man, the only intelligent being, does not last, while the world lasts and the course of nature is immutable. It follows fixed laws, always the same and constantly renewing. The mind gets tired of following this continual work, of seeing, of hearing, of knowing; it always comes back to the same point: there is nothing new under the sun, and even the memory of the things that came before invariably fades away. The Preacher applied himself to probing and understanding these things; he had at his disposal two ways to explore all that is done under heaven: a royal power that no one before him could match, a wisdom of divine origin that surpassed all others. All the work that is done under the sun has passed before his eyes and his intelligence has realized it. The result is that everything is vanity, a pursuit that can never achieve what it seeks to grasp. Find a way to catch the wind! “What is twisted cannot be rectified, and what is missing cannot be counted”: The obstacle to fruitful knowledge is that evil is there and has distorted everything. As a result of sin the rings of the chain of things are scattered. Everywhere gaps without any way to fill the gaps.
Thus, from the beginning, the fact that, despite the regularity of its laws, the world is a ruin, becomes the obstacle to all knowledge and true enjoyment. Things being like this: on the one hand the persistence of a regular order in creation, on the other the disorder brought about by sin, the Preacher applied himself to probe on the one hand what is in conformity with wisdom, on the other hand the unreason and madness that disturbed this order, and he knew that “this too, it is the continuation of the wind.” But the happiness he hoped to attain through this knowledge was converted into sorrow and pain: “To much wisdom, much sorrow; and which increases knowledge, increases pain.” How could the wise man rejoice when he sees, despite what remains of God’s wonderful creation, all material and moral things faded in their beauty and corrupted by evil? But this experience reaches every wise man. In the midst of the shipwreck produced by sin, man himself remains only as a sad wreck of his past blessings. Thus, everything in nature, despite the regularity of phenomena, is in a continual work. There is no rest for man – and to complete the picture of his state, the vanity of everything and the forgetfulness of past things characterize him. He is also unable to remedy it, because he cannot straighten what is twisted.
For the book of Ecclesiastes can be summed up by this word of the Lord Jesus: “Whoever drinks from this water will thirst again”… (John 4:10-15). Sichar’s source was the image of an arid and disappointing world where there is no lasting happiness. But most men look like the poor Samaritan woman. They are ready to receive the living water, the free gift of the Son of God, only after having repeatedly experienced that the “water” of this world can in no way quench the thirst of the soul (Jer 2:11-13). Well! This experiment has been done; it is recorded in this book so that we do not need to repeat it. And it was made by someone who, because of his greatness and wisdom, was particularly qualified to explore “all that is done under heaven” (v. 13). The Preacher is none other than Solomon, king in Jerusalem. His testimony still has the same value because “there is nothing new under the sun”. Many things may have changed in appearance, but man’s heart has remained the same as himself and the consequences of sin are still there: “What is twisted cannot be straightened, and what is missing cannot be counted” (v. 15).
Forthe book of Ecclesiastes is, to a certain extent, the opposite of that of Proverbs. He shows us the experience of man who, keeping wisdom in order to be able to judge it, tries all that he can suppose to make him happy by the enjoyment of all the things that human capacity can obtain as a means of joy. This attempt has resulted in the discovery that everything is vanity and gnawing of spirit, and that any effort to be happy by the possession of the earth, in any way, comes to nothing. There is a rodent worm at the root. The greater the capacity for enjoyment, the more extensive and profound the experience that everything is disappointment and gnawing of mind. Pleasure does not satisfy; and wanting to ensure happiness in this world, by being extraordinarily just, is an idea that does not come true. Evil is there, and God’s government in the world, as it is, does not apologize to assure man happiness here on earth, happiness which is always drawn from the things of the earth and which rests on their firmness; Although as a general rule this government protects those who walk with God: “And who will hurt you, if you have become the imitators of the good one?” The epistles of Peter, having laid the foundation for redemption and the new birth, concern themselves with knowing to what degree is applicable now what was immediate (in promise) among the Jews. In the first epistle there is the application of this to the saints; in the second, to the world and to the wicked here on earth; then it is about the new heavens and the new earth. There is no reference to the truth that we died in our sins and sins. It is, in the mind of the writer, the result of the experience he has made and that he places before us: as for what surrounds us, there is nothing better than to enjoy the things that God has given us; and finally, the fear of the Lord is the whole of man, as the rule of his walk here on earth. His ability, to him, can not make him happy, nor the satisfaction of his own will, even when he has everything. “For what will the man who comes after the king do?” Man cannot secure joy; and a permanent joy does not exist for man. Therefore, if there is joy, it is with the feeling that one cannot keep it.
The moral of this book goes even further than that of Proverbs – on the one hand at least; for let us remember that this is this world (under the sun). Wisdom is worth no more than madness. Between them the difference is as great as light to darkness; but the same thing happens to everyone, and many reflections have the effect of making us hate life. The heart gets tired from probing and after all, one dies like any other. The world, as a system, is ruined, and death cuts the thread of thoughts and projects, and destroys any relationship between the most skilful worker and the fruit of his labor. What has been gained? There is a time for everything; one must do everything in one’s season, and enjoy, by the way, what God gives. But God is the same in everything He does, so that He may be feared. God will judge the just and the unjust, but as for what He knows, man will end up as the beast; and who can say what happens next? This is not about the revelation of the world to come, but about the consequences drawn from the experiences of what is being done in this world. The knowledge of God teaches that there is judgment; for man, everything is darkness beyond the present life.
This is why Chapter 4 expresses the deep sorrow caused by the blatant injustices of a world of sin, those wrongs never righted which are filled with the history of our race, and which, for the soul endowed with a sense of natural justice, indeed make the history of man unbearable and produce the desire that there be no more. Work and laziness also bring their share of misery. However, from the midst of this quicksand where man sinks, one sees the feeling of God rising and giving solid support to the heart and thoughts. At the beginning of chapter 5, God demands respect from man. The madness of the heart is truly madness before Him. From then on we see that what takes away from the heart the senseless hope of earthly happiness, gives more true joy to the heart that becomes wise, and therefore joyful, by separating itself from the world. So there is also the grace of patience. The pretentious effort to be righteous results only in shame; stirring for evil only results in death. Finally, it is to work in vain to strive to acquire wisdom through the knowledge of the things of this world. Ecclesiastes found two things: having judged the woman according to the experience of this world, he did not meet a good one, while he found a man among a thousand; in a word, God made man righteous, but he sought many reasonings far from Him.
We should respect God and the one to whom he gave authority, the king. We can still see in chapters 9 and 10 how little things respond to the apparent capacity of man; and even, if this capacity is real, how little it is estimated. However, the wisdom of the righteous and the folly of the fool each bear their consequences, and God judges after all. In short, we must remember God before weakness and old age reach us; for the obvious conclusion of all that has been said is: “Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole of man.”
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Life has no meaning:
- Emptiness or vanity of worldly life
Ps 39:12 You chastise man by punishing him for his iniquity, You destroy like ringworm what is most dear to him. Yes, every man is a breath. -Pause. Ps 62:10 Yes, vanity, sons of man! Lie, sons of man! In a scale they would climb All together, lighter than a breath. Ec 1.2 Vanity of vanities, says Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities, everything is vanity. Ec 2:1 I said in my heart: Come on! I will test you with joy, and you will taste happiness. And behold, this is again a vanity.
- Earthwork sometimes disappointing
Ec 1.3 What advantage does man have of all the trouble he gives himself under the sun? Ec 2:11 Then I considered all the works that my hands had done, and the pain I had taken in carrying them out; and behold, all is vanity and pursuit of the wind, and there is no advantage to be derived from what one does under the sun. Ec 4:8 Such a man is alone and without anyone who holds him closely, he has neither son nor brother, and yet his work has no end and his eyes are never satiated with riches. For whom, then, do I work, and deprive my soul of pleasure? This is again a vanity and a bad thing. Isa 55.2 Why do you weigh money for what does not feed? Why do you work for what doesn’t fill up? Listen to me, then, and you will eat what is good, and your soul will delight in succulent dishes.
- Men’s dissatisfaction with temporal things
-Opportunities to see and hear Ec 1:8 All things are at work beyond what can be said; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, and the ear never tires of hearing.
-Work without purpose Ec 4:8 Such a man is alone and without anyone who holds him closely, he has neither son nor brother, and yet his work has no end and his eyes are never satiated with riches. For whom, then, do I work, and deprive my soul of pleasure? This is again a vanity and a bad thing.
-Accumulation of wealth Ec 5:9 He who loves money is not satisfied with money, and he who loves wealth does not benefit from it. This is again a vanity.
-Satisfaction of appetite Ec 6:7 All man’s work is for his mouth, and yet his desires are never satisfied.
-Search for worldly goals Isa 55.2 Why do you weigh money for what does not feed? Why do you work for what doesn’t fill up? Listen to me, then, and you will eat what is good, and your soul will delight in succulent dishes.
-Profligacy Lk 15:14 When he had spent everything, a great famine occurred in this country, and he began to find himself in need.
- Wisdom sought (the search for wisdom)
Ps 119:169 May my cry reach you, O Lord! Give me intelligence, according to your promise! Pr 2:4 If you seek it as money, If you pursue it as a treasure, Ec 1:13 I have applied my heart to seek and probe with wisdom all that is done under heaven: this is a painful occupation, to which God submits the sons of man. Ec 7:25 I have applied myself in my heart to know, to probe, and to seek the wisdom and reason of things, and to know the folly of wickedness and the stupidity of foolishness.
From all the above, we note that ifwe remember that this is man’s experience, that these are man’s reasonings about what happens under the sun, we will not see any difficulty in the passages that have the appearance of disbelief. Man’s experience is necessarily incredulous. He confesses his ignorance; for beyond what can be seen, she cannot know anything. But the solution of all moral problems is above and beyond what we see. The book of Ecclesiastes makes this manifest. The only rule of life, therefore, is to fear God who disposes of life, and who judges everything that man does every day of life by his vanity. This is neither grace nor redemption, but the experience of the prescribed life and what God has said in this regard, that is, His law, His commandments, and the judgment that will follow — what is commanded to men. This is what a Jew under the law could say, after experiencing all that God could give to man to favor him in this position, and in view of the judgment of God who depended on it. In Proverbs, we have practical and moral direction throughout the world; Ecclesiastes gives the result of all the efforts of man’s will to find happiness by all the means at his disposal. But in all the research that Ecclesiastes engages in, there is no covenant relationship or revelation. It is man with his natural faculties, as he is, no doubt having the awareness of what he has to say to God, but seeking, by his own thoughts, where he can find happiness. Only it must be admitted that consciousness has its part in the matter and that the fear of God is recognized in the end. God is truly recognized, but here we find man in the world with the full experience he has of all that is in it. The main subject of this book, therefore, is the folly of all man’s efforts in the search for happiness here on earth. He also shows that wisdom, which judges all this, only makes man even more unhappy. Then, all this experience of the man of the highest capacity is contrasted with the simple principle of all true wisdom, namely submission and obedience to the One who knows everything and governs everything, because: “God will bring every work to judgment.” Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to react to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “Vanity of pleasures, riches and work (Ec 2).
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.