Bible Brad

Ecclesiastes and Meaning

4 min read

Context

  1. Proverbs is the “do this and that will happen” book
  2. Ecclesiastes is the “life doesn’t work that way” book
  3. Job is the book that ties it all together

All is Vanity

  • Expectations vs Reality
  • If righteousness and hard work don’t get us there, what’s the point?

Important

Context: “Son of David, king in Jerusalem” - traditionally Solomon - is quoted for most of the book, then some final thoughts are given at the end

  • Ecc 1:1-2

    The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
    Introduction: Utter Futility

    “Futile! Futile!” laments the Teacher, “Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!”

  • The preacher has been everywhere and tried everything. His message’s bottom line is that all is futile (hevel - meaningless, fleeting, (literallly “breath”), inigmatic

    • Life is like smoke: confusing, seems solid but isn’t; if you grab it, it evades; if you’re in it, you can’t see but if you back up, you can see through it

  • James 4:14

    You do not know about tomorrow. What is your llife like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes.

  • Ecc 8:14 poses how good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. This is unjust

  • Ecc 7:15 talks about how a good man dies young while a wicked man grows old (Prov 10:27 promises the opposite)

Under the sun

  • Proverbs talks about how living righteously prolongs life yet Ecclesiastes shows that life doesn’t always meet this ideal
  • Ecc points out that we should live a good, wise life and that life will generally be better as a result (Ecc 5:1-7); however, nothing is guarenteed under the sun. Justice doesn’t always prevail. This, to the teacher, is vanity - fleeting
  • Ecc 1:3 - what does man gain by all his works under the sun
  • “Under the sun” is used commonly in this book and refers to our fallen world (Ecc 1:4-11)
  • The intro to the whole book is that nothing any one person does really has any lasting significance under the sun (in this fallen world)
  • Furthermore, we all die (Ecc 2:14-17) - what happens to the fool happens to the wise. This, too, is vanity

    … so I hated life for all is vanity and striving after the wind

What is there to enjoy

  • Ecc 2:1-8 - riches, wine, laughter, great works, and all pleasures but none of it provided lasting significance
  • Ecc 2:9-11 - I gave myself everything because I found pleasure in the hard work I’d done but nothing was to be gained under the sun. The reward itself was good but won’t stop him from dying. His wisdom was good but none of it would be left over. Building something can last beyond death but lessens your life’s quality and may be squandered away when you’re gone

So what do we do?

  • Doing the right thing is good but it’s fleeting and doesn’t guarentee that anything will be better
  • The preacher’s answer: stop trying to control life and enjoy the good while you have it (Ecc 5:18-20). That is: be content and rejoice in the fruits of your labor
  • Let go of expectations and embrace the life you’ve got, making the best of the good times, accepting them as the gifts from God that they are

Author’s note

  • Ecc 12:9-14 - the preacher said lots of good things but life is not meaningless. Things make sense from God’s perspective. The takeway is to fear God and live rightly, that God’s justice will prevail in the world to come
  • The point of this book isn’t to depress you, but to remind you to stay humble

Where do we go from here?

  • Well, as Christians, we get often asked “Why does God punish good people?” or “How does a loving God sit back while people get hurt?”
  • This book, along with the other two “books of wisdom” answer these things with:
    1. Live rightly and things will likely go right for you
    2. Even when they don’t take solace in the little gifts that God has given you, rejoicing always
    3. As a result, God will bless you, in this life or the next
  • To me, the hope the meaning of life here, is to remain humble, recognize our role in God’s story, and rejoice in the small part that we make in the grand portrait that God is painting
  • Furthermore, despite our fleeting nature, God chooses to know us and, moreso, care about us
  • We see this in Job where God shows Job all of the world: the detail, the bigness, the complexity, and in so revealing it, God defends himself; Job is humbled. This is how Ecclesiastes is reminding us to live
  • Whatever comes, good or bad, we can trust God’s wisdom

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