ECCLESIASTES
Chapter 1
Introduction
Solomon can sound so pessimistic: "One generation passes and another comes… That which has been is what will be… There is nothing new under the sun…"
What a pathetic, pessimistic viewpoint! No one believes that, do they?
Before you answer, see if you recognize these words:
From the day we arrive on the planet… And blinking, step into the sun… There's more to be seen than can ever be seen… More to do than can ever be done… Some say eat or be eaten… Some say live and let live… But all are agreed as they join the stampede… You should never take more than you give… In the circle of life.
It's the wheel of fortune… It's the leap of faith… It's the band of hope… Till we find our place on the path unwinding… In the circle, the circle of life.
Some of us fall by the wayside… And some of us soar to the stars… And some of us sail through our troubles… And some have to live with the scars… There's far too much to take in here… More to find than can ever be found… But the sun rolling high through the sapphire sky… Keeps great and small on the endless round.
If you have kids, you recognize the lyrics from Disney’s "The Lion King" theme song, The Circle of Life. Somehow it all seems so much more plausible and poetic when Simba and Nalla are involved!
That’s a cartoon; nobody really believes in the "circle of life," do they? The truth is, "the circle of life" is a popular approach to life. In one sense, it is the basis for natural science: Because earth and its elements have constant cycles, scientific laws can be derived that help you understand the natural world.
Solomon points out these cycles in verses five through seven:
Ecclesiastes 1:5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose.
Ecclesiastes 1:6 The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit.
Ecclesiastes 1:7 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.
Chapter one of Ecclesiastes is the chronicle of Solomon’s search for satisfaction apart from God by exploring and educating himself from the natural world. He sounds pessimistic because he is being realistic. If you explore the natural world, and educate yourself and others based on your exploration, you come to the inevitable conclusion that life is a futile circle. Faith is the only thing that can overcome the futility of life under the sun.
We’ll organize our thoughts around these two points: #1 Your Exploration Of The World Is Futile Apart From Faith In Its Creator, and #2 Your Education In The World Is Futile Apart From Faith In Its Creator.
#1 Your Exploration Of The World Is Futile
Apart From Faith In Its Creator
(v1-11)
Ecclesiastes is a difficult book. Commentators disagree as to whether it promotes a pessimistic view of life or an optimistic view of life. Through the centuries some Christian leaders have even questioned whether or not it should be in the Bible! That’s why we devoted our last study to an overview of our approach to the book. I think it would be helpful to briefly review our approach.
Ecclesiastes is wonderfully optimistic. It begins with Solomon’s evaluation of "life under the sun" – which is life apart from a relationship with God. Life under the sun, apart from God, is "vanity." It is futile, empty, and meaningless. Solomon next discusses his extensive experience with life under the sun. While he was backslidden, he experimented with excesses in the world, in wisdom, in wantonness, in work, and in wealth. Nothing satisfied… Until He quit looking around and looked up and returned to God! Walking by faith, he offers encouragement for your life under the sun. His encouragement is that life is a gift from God to be heartily enjoyed. You enjoy life to the fullest when you heed his closing exhortation: Fear God, follow His commandments, and fellowship with Him.
As we turn our attention to chapter one, Solomon is dealing with his search for satisfaction and the meaning of life apart from God by exploring the natural world.
Ecclesiastes 1:1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Ecclesiastes 1:2 "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher; "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."
Ecclesiastes 1:3 What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?
The word "vanity" is the key word in this book. Life "under the sun," on the earth, is "vanity. The true, biblical definition of vanity is found in Romans 8:20, where you read,
Romans 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
God Himself subjected His creation and His creatures to "vanity" because of mankind’s sin in the Garden of Eden. Because of man’s disobedience there is disease, decay, disaster and death. Life on the fallen earth is an enigma, a mystery; it is filled with unanswered and unanswerable questions; it seems senseless and is filled with perplexities. It is only by walking in faith that you will derive meaning, purpose, and satisfaction during your "life under the sun."
A backslidden Solomon left the Creator out of his search for meaning and explored the creation.
Ecclesiastes 1:4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever.
The "earth," the natural world, seems to "abide forever" in two ways:
Solomon accurately describes three of those cycles:
Ecclesiastes 1:5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose.
Ecclesiastes 1:6 The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit.
Ecclesiastes 1:7 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.
The sun moves across the sky to the west as night follows day for seemingly endless ages. The wind is in constant motion, following its circuits through the atmosphere. And even though the rivers run into the ocean, the ocean never overflows on account of the evaporative cycle.
This is great natural science! Solomon was an accomplished botanist, biologist, and naturalist. Talking to him was just like watching the Discovery Channel or a National Geographic special.
What Solomon does next is apply his explorations to the search for meaning and satisfaction for human life under the sun. If humans are only a part of the larger, natural world… If there is no personal involvement from God… Then we are stuck in the circle of life, and life is futile and meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 1:8 All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.
Life is difficult, and we don’t know why. No matter how much we progress, we want more and more and are never satisfied.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 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.
Ecclesiastes 1:10 Is there anything of which it may be said, "See, this is new"? It has already been in ancient times before us.
You might disagree with this; you might think that our generation is at the top of the hill, discovering new things every moment of everyday. That’s not necessarily true! Let me give you an example: The modern Mayan Indians of Central America are the blood descendants of a race of intellectual giants who once lived in the area. The ancient Mayans erected temples filled with mysteries that the present generation of Mayans has long forgotten. They cannot explain them; they cannot understand them. They have lost the knowledge of the past (from Ray Stedman, Is This All There Is To Life?, pp. 16-17).
You think this cannot happen to us – but it can. All of the technological marvels we have may one day disappear. We may be the Mayans of the future! Many ancient civilizations had technologies and industries we cannot even begin to understand. They came; they’re gone. That is the sense in which there is nothing new under the sun. The technology might change; but men do not change. Apart from God, human history is a vicious cycle doomed to repeat itself.
Ecclesiastes 1:11 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.
Can you explain Stonehenge? Or the monoliths on Easter Island? If the natural world with its cycles is how you view human life, then we are tomorrow’s Stonehenge.
Watch almost any nature special. They put man on earth as another animal. He’s a smarter one; but he cannot rise above the circle of life. There is no ultimate, absolute meaning to life in such a system, and there can be no spiritual satisfaction. The creation, apart from a relationship with its Creator – with your Creator – is futile.
Thankfully, the world is not a closed, cyclical system. It is an open door of opportunity if you are a believer! You are not a prisoner to the natural laws of the world; you are a pilgrim on a supernatural journey home, to heaven. In chapter three Solomon will confirm that there are many things that will seem futile, but that by faith you understand God "has made all things beautiful in its time." In other words, having a relationship with God causes you to rise above futility by faith in His loving care of your life.
#2 Your Education In The World Is Futile
Apart From Faith In Its Creator
(v12-18)
"Wisdom" and "knowledge" are the key words in these next verses, occurring seven times. He identifies the kind of "wisdom" and knowledge he is talking about in verse thirteen: It is wisdom "under heaven," worldly wisdom which excludes a heavenly perspective. He is talking about education and knowledge apart from having a relationship with God.
Ecclesiastes 1:12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
Ecclesiastes 1:13 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.
"Preacher," you remember, simply means one who gathers together an assembly to address them.
Solomon accumulated knowledge from the world; he was an educated man. But while he was backslidden, his wisdom and knowledge of and from the world were a "burden" to him rather than a blessing.
When he says "the sons of man," it literally reads, "the sons of the man," or "the sons of Adam." The word "exercised" means afflicted. What he is saying is this: Life on earth is a burden to the descendants of Adam, filled with affliction and suffering.
You’d have to agree with Solomon. For most of the world, everyday is a struggle to simply survive. Even for us, living in relative affluence, life requires hard work and great effort.
Solomon thought that education held the key to relieving mankind’s burdens. This is exactly what we think today. We always think we are on the verge of ending human suffering and ushering in a utopia through our accumulation of knowledge, through education. The fact that every generation has this hope, but dies without achieving it, should be a clue to you that education offers only false hope. True, we may be able to improve the quality of life; but life itself remains a mystery, an enigma, something that we can’t make sense out of.
Ecclesiastes 1:14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Solomon had knowledge of all the best efforts and methods and technologies that the world of his day had to offer – but none of them could offer any real hope to the futility of life on earth.
He quotes a popular saying:
Ecclesiastes 1:15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, And what is lacking cannot be numbered.
This is a phrase people in Solomon’s time were using to encourage one another when life made no sense to them. The experience of life’s futility was so universal that it could be summarized in a saying!
Ecclesiastes 1:16 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."
Ecclesiastes 1:17 And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.
If the answers were in education, Solomon would have found them. Am I saying that education is bad – that you should quit school, or avoid college? Not at all! I’m saying that education and knowledge that eliminates God cannot offer you any ultimate answers to life’s most pressing questions.
Ecclesiastes 1:18 For in much wisdom is much grief, And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
The more you know, the more you realize that you don’t know! T. S. Eliot put it this way: "All our knowledge brings us closer to our ignorance."
Physicist Dr. Stephen Hawking is considered one of the most brilliant men of our time, maybe of all time. Here is a quote from an interview he did with the Canadian Broadcasting Company:
"Obviously [physics makes] implications about the existence and the nature of God. Is there a God who intervenes in the universe, or one who wound up the clock to set things going? I think with the progress of science, most scientists now believe that God does not intervene in the universe. And they believe that the universe evolves according to laws of science. And that there aren't any exceptions to these laws. But I think that most scientists still reserve judgment on how the universe was set up in the first place. Whether that was an act of God, or whether that too was subject to the laws of science. What I'm suggest[ing] is, that it was indeed subject to the laws of science."
That is the pinnacle of education and knowledge, arrived at by one of the smartest men to ever live. Dr. Stephen Hawking is saying exactly what Solomon is saying – only Solomon is willing to tell you that this approach to life leaves you grasping for the wind.
It’s not what you know, it’s Who you know! When you have a relationship with God, the futility of "life under the sun" is transformed by faith in the One Who sits enthroned in Heaven.
As we pointed out previously, after Romans 8:20 declares that life on earth is "vanity," Romans 8:28 promises the believer,
Romans 8:28 … that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Conclusion
Life is vanity. That’s not just Solomon’s perverse conclusion. God Himself has subjected His creation and His creatures to vanity.
But you can know God through a relationship with Jesus Christ and discover that your life has meaning, purpose, and value. God is good and works all things out for your good and to His glory.
If you already know God… There is nothing wrong with exploration and education as long as you keep them in their proper perspective.
If you don’t know God… Meet Him today and break free from the circle of life.