ECCLESIASTES

Overview & Outline

Introduction

Let me give you the titles of some of the commentaries I have in my library on the Book of Ecclesiastes:

David Hocking titles his book, Is Life Worth Living?

Ray Stedman titles his book, Is This All There Is to Life?

Charles Swindoll titles his book, Living on the Ragged Edge.

They sound pessimistic… But before we come to the conclusion that Ecclesiastes is pessimistic, let me give you two more titles:

Warren Wiersbe’s book on Ecclesiastes is titled Be Satisfied

Walter Kaiser’s book is titled Total Life.

These sound more optimistic. So, which is it – pessimistic or optimistic?

Ecclesiastes is wonderfully optimistic – no question about it. I quote from Warren Wiersbe’s foreword:

"Life is filled with difficulties and perplexities… and there’s much that nobody can understand, let alone control. From the human point of view, it’s all vanity and folly. But life is God’s gift to us and He wants us to enjoy it and use it for His glory. So, instead of complaining about [it],… start giving thanks for [it],… and be satisfied."

We are going to study Ecclesiastes to learn how to be satisfied with the gift of life God has given us. We’ll try to take it a chapter a week, but I thought it would be helpful to begin our studies by giving you an overview and outline of all twelve chapters:

1. In chapter one, verses one through three, you have Solomon’s evaluation of his life under the sun;
2. From chapter one, verse four, through chapter two, verse twenty-three, you have Solomon’s experience of his life under the sun;
3. From chapter two, verse twenty-four, through chapter twelve, verse eight, you have Solomon’s encouragement for your life under the sun;
4. Finally, in chapter twelve, verses nine through fourteen, you have Solomon’s exhortation for your life under the sun.

#1 Solomon’s Evaluation

Of His Life Under The Sun

The book opens with the author introducing himself and inviting us to gather together to hear his evaluation:

Ecclesiastes 1:1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

The word "Preacher" is a translation of the Hebrew word Qoheleth. Ecclesiastes is the word translated into English from Greek. The Hebrew word refers to a person who calls and then addresses an assembly. You immediately identify this person as a minister, but that is not accurate. It is anyone who calls and addresses an assembly.

In this case the person is Solomon, "the son of David, king in Jerusalem." Later in the book you will learn that Solomon was old when he wrote. The Jewish tradition is that Solomon wrote the Song of Solomon in his youth, the Proverbs in his middle years, and Ecclesiastes in his old age.

Having introduced himself, Solomon gives you his evaluation:

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?

"Vanity" literally means emptiness, futility, vapor, breath, nothingness, that which vanishes quickly and leaves nothing behind. It is repeated forty times in this book.

It sounds terribly pessimistic. But let me suggest a slightly different definition for "vanity" – a definition given in the Bible itself. In the KJV of Romans 8:19-22 you read,

Romans 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

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,

Romans 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

God Himself subjected His creation and His creatures to "vanity" because of mankind’s sin in the Garden of Eden. Life on earth was radically affected. Things are not as God originally intended them. Because of man’s disobedience there is disease, decay, disaster and death. That is what the Scripture means by "vanity." God will one day deliver you from vanity, but for now the whole creation groans and travails in pain.

"Under the sun" occurs repeatedly – twenty-nine times. In verse thirteen of chapter one he calls it "all that is done under heaven." Life under the sun is the life you live on this earth - an earth radically affected by the fall of man and the presence of sin.

Solomon is not saying anything new or unique. It is a biblical perspective that "all is vanity."

You must learn to live on this earth, subjected to vanity. How can you discover meaning in life? Is there a purpose in life? How can you be satisfied despite the vanity?

That takes us to,

#2 Solomon’s Experience

With His Life Under The Sun

Solomon was notorious for his backsliding – for turning his back on a relationship with God. His multiple marriages to foreign women led his heart into idolatry:

1 Kings 11:1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites;

1 Kings 11:2 from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, "You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love.

1 Kings 11:3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

1 Kings 11:4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David.

1 Kings 11:5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

1 Kings 11:6 Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did his father David.

In these next verses of Ecclesiastes you have a summary of Solomon’s search for meaning and purpose and satisfaction apart from a relationship with God. They describe his life when he was backslidden and experimenting with all of the excesses that life could offer.

First, he sought for satisfaction in the world:

Ecclesiastes 1:4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever.

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.

Solomon sought for meaning, purpose and satisfaction in the natural world. He studied the natural world; he was a scientist. In First Kings 4:33 you read,

1 Kings 4:33 Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish.

He described nature with great scientific accuracy. But the natural world, apart from God, could not satisfy:

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.

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.

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.

Solomon applied what he learned from observing the natural world to human life and was left empty.

Next, Solomon sought for satisfaction in wisdom. In verses twelve through eighteen of chapter one he uses the word "wisdom" five times and "knowledge" two times. But apart from God,

Ecclesiastes 1:18 For in much wisdom is much grief, And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

Next Solomon sought for satisfaction in wantonness (pleasure):

Ecclesiastes 2:1 I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure"; but surely, this also was vanity.

Ecclesiastes 2:2 I said of laughter; "Madness!"; and of mirth, "What does it accomplish?"

Ecclesiastes 2:3 I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.

Listen to this description of Solomon’s daily partying:

1 Kings 4:22 Now Solomon's provision for one day was thirty kors of fine flour, sixty kors of meal,

1 Kings 4:23 ten fatted oxen, twenty oxen from the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fatted fowl.

He was a party animal! But pleasure and parties were a dead end…

Next Solomon sought for satisfaction in work:

Ecclesiastes 2:4 I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards.

Ecclesiastes 2:5 I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.

Ecclesiastes 2:6 I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove.

Verses ten through twenty-three also allude to Solomon’s many great work projects. He was the original work-aholic. His work apart from a relationship with God could not satisfy him.

Finally Solomon sought for satisfaction in wealth:

Ecclesiastes 2:7 I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me.

Ecclesiastes 2:8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds.

Ecclesiastes 2:9 So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.

Solomon was the richest man who ever lived at any time by any measure.

Solomon was able to experience to excess all that life had to offer, but found it empty apart from a relationship with God:

Ecclesiastes 2:22 For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?

Ecclesiastes 2:23 For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.

Jesus says,

Matthew 16:26 "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"

Still, you must live "under the sun," "under heaven," on the earth that has been subjected by God to vanity. How should you live?

#3 Solomon’s Encouragement

For Your Life Under The Sun

Let me summarize the bulk of the book by having you turn to five places:

Ecclesiastes 2:24 Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.

Ecclesiastes 3:12 I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, Ecclesiastes 3:13 and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor; it is the gift of God.

Ecclesiastes 5:18 Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage.

Ecclesiastes 5:19 As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.

Ecclesiastes 5:20 For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.

Ecclesiastes 8:15 So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 9:7 Go, eat your bread with joy, And drink your wine with a merry heart; For God has already accepted your works.

Over and over again he emphasizes "enjoy," "rejoice," "joy," "be merry," "a merry heart." And to make sure you don’t misunderstand him and think he is being fleshly or worldly, over and over again he says that life is to be enjoyed "from the hand of God," and as the "gift of God."

Ecclesiastes is a book of joy. It tells you that God is in control despite the vanity you experience on earth. It reminds you that God is above His creation and that your life has meaning and purpose. It encourages you to be satisfied.

It’s a shame that you don’t enjoy life more! God wants you to; it is His desire that you enjoy and rejoice and be merry with the life He’s given you as a gift.

In order to fully enjoy God’s gift, Solomon closes with an exhortation:

#4 Solomon’s Exhortation

For Your Life Under The Sun

Look at the last two verse of the book:

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all.

Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.

Solomon gives you three principles that will enable you to fully enjoy the life God has given you:

1. "Fear God."
2. Follow God by "keep[ing] His commandments."
3. Flourish in good "work[s]."

Don’t turn this exhortation into some dreary, pessimistic dirge. "Fear God" doesn’t mean you are afraid of God. On the contrary, you respect and love Him with reverence because you see His grace and mercy towards you.

Keeping His commandments is not a burdensome, legal obligation. The greatest commandment is,

Mark 12:30 'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment.

Mark 12:31 "And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Yes, God will "bring every work into judgment." You will give an account of everything you think and say and do. But this is a healthy, helpful reminder to enjoy life within the wonderfully liberating limits your loving heavenly Father has set. It sets you free to flourish in doing good works.

Conclusion

Solomon experimented with and experienced everything life had to offer in an attempt to be satisfied apart from a relationship with God. Even in its excesses of wealth, wantonness and work… Even with vast wisdom and knowledge of the world… Life under the sun remained vanity.

God has subjected it to vanity – but that doesn’t mean you are to be a fatalist or a pessimist. You are to enjoy your life under the sun as you walk by faith, following Him and flourishing in good works.