Ecclesiastes is a book often quoted for things said in Chapter 3, but we'll focus on that when we get there. In the meantime... Chapter 1!
Ecclesiastes 1(NIV)
Everything Is Meaningless
1 The words of the Teacher,[a] son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
3 What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.
at which they toil under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.
Wisdom Is Meaningless
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.
the more knowledge, the more grief.
Footnotes:
- Ecclesiastes 1:1 Or the leader of the assembly; also in verses 2 and 12
Okay, that is a lot to take in. Let's start with who wrote this. It was Solomon. The man had it all being the King of Israel. God had blessed him with riches and fame as well as the wisdom he asked for. He hadn't asked for the riches and fame, but God gave it to him anyway rewarding a wise choice for what he could ask God for anything in his life to be blessed with. Solomon had allowed himself to get sidetracked with the things of this world. Yes, the man who was given wisdom beyond any other man lost his way. He took multiple wives, and then some were not from Israel. He lost pleasure in the things of God so he tried pleasure in the things of the world - after all he could afford it!
What happened next? Look at what he says about the things of life - meaningless! Other translations put this as vanity of vanities. Useless is the word we would use. What's the point? I can see that question raised so easily, we spend our lives getting the right education to get the right job, get the right house, get the right friends, find the right spouse, have the right kids, find the right church, have the right car, have the right "toys" in life to try and satisfy us. In the end it's all utterly meaningless. I'm not saying there is NO value in studying hard and getting a job to support a family. That's an admirable thing. But how many people are workaholics? How many give up on marriages and try again with someone new? How many church splits have there been over petty things?
Solomon tried everything to satisfy his desires, and found it all wanting. Nothing he chose to pursue would fill the void he felt. As believers we would ask - why didn't he just pursue God and avoid all that heartache? It's easy I think, we can get distracted by the world because we feel our lives are not as good as our neighbours. They seem to have no problems financing a great home, nice cars, their kids are great and we seem to struggle no matter what we do and we get jealous. We take our eyes off the Lord and start to look at the things of this world and think, we need that too.
The Bible warns against comparing ourselves to those of the world and what they have in Psalm 73:3 - 5, 3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong.[a] 5 They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills. See how easy it is to be envious of the world?
In verses 9 - 10, Solomon states boldly how there is nothing new under the sun. It's true. Just look at our world. We have superheroes in the movies today, but in previous generations they had Robin Hood and Sherlock Holmes. Sports heroes have been around for generations. Music has changed, but how many times have we heard a "new" song only to discover it was a remake of an old classic? The heart of sinful acts have not changed, just the forms. Previous generations had their form of pornographic materials, today ours is just more direct and digitized and easier to access than ever before. Even modern atrocities we see in the news like the situation with ISIS is not new, we look back at history and we see Hitler and how he and the Nazis almost wiped out the Jewish people by themselves. Go back further and we see Napoleon and more. Go back further to Genesis 6 and we see how mankind was so wicked God decided to wipe it out save for Noah and his family to start over again.
In verse 11 Solomon writes about former generations and how the get lost as time goes on. It's so true. Sure we have those unique people that are remembered more than others for various reasons like Elvis Presley to John F. Kennedy, from Hitler to Cain. But for the most part, people spend a lifetime building things up - and "empire" of wealth and fame, only to be quickly forgotten when they retire and pass away. Musicians come and go, sports and movie celebs too, politicians come and go. Even the big billionaires come and go only to be forgotten within a generation of people. This is why Solomon looked at it all and asked why do we keep doing what we're doing when it the grand scheme it means nothing but a blip of life eternal?
This is why we need to focus on the eternal. To ensure the next generation grabs hold of the faith we have and makes it theirs. A quote from C.T. Studd says it all: Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Believe me I am as convicted by this as you are. When I am dead and gone, how will I be remembered? A dad who led his family well in the Lord? A pastor who led people well? Or a disinterested dad or one who just coasted? Maybe a pastor who didn't go back into the ministry full time again because he lacked the spiritual fervor? Ouch.
So yes it's nice to have the odd thing, as long is the thing does not have us, and we need to remember that everything in this world is meaningless unless it is focused on Christ alone. Watching the Leafs maybe win a Stanley Cup, watching the latest offering from Marvel or DC at the movies, getting the next car, the bigger house, the new pet, the new job - all of it is meaningless outside of Christ. I hope I never get to where Solomon was and think I can find meaning in the things of this world only to discover that it never mattered anyway and I should have just stuck with Christ to begin with.
