S: Ecclesiastes 1
The words of the Teacher, the son
of David, king in Jerusalem.
“Vanity of vanities!” says the
Teacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!”
What does a person gain in all
his toil with which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation
comes, but the earth stands forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down; to
its place it hurries, and there it rises again. The wind goes to the south and
goes around to the north; around and around it goes, and on its circuit the
wind returns. All the streams flow to the sea, but the sea is never full; to
the place where the streams flow, there they continue to flow.
All things toil continuously; no
one can ever finish describing this. The eye is never satisfied with seeing,
and the ear is never filled with hearing. What has been—it is what will be;
what has been done—it is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.
There is a thing of which it is said, “Look at this! This is new!” But it
already existed in ages past before us. There is neither remembrance of former
generations, nor will there be remembrance of future generations.
I, the Teacher, was king over
Israel in Jerusalem. I applied my mind to seek and to search by wisdom all that
is done under the heavens. It is a grievous task God has given to humans. I saw
all the works that are done under the sun. Look! Everything is vanity and
chasing wind. What is twisted cannot be straightened, and what is lacking
cannot be counted.
I said to myself, “Look! I have
become great and have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has preceded me
over Jerusalem. I have acquired a great deal of wisdom and knowledge.” So I
dedicated myself to learn about wisdom and to learn about delusion and folly.
However, I discovered that this also is chasing wind. For in much wisdom is
much frustration, and whoever increases knowledge increases sorrow.
O: Ecclesiastes chronicles the struggles
Qoheleth (the Teacher in the above translation, from the Hebrew קֹהֶלֶת) as he seeks to
understand the world that God had made.
If Qoheleth was Solomon, as many
people have traditionally assumed, then what a tragic story it would be.
Solomon started out well, asking God for wisdom, but later drifted away from
Yahweh and worshipped other gods. Ecclesiastes could then be understood as the
reflections of an old man looking back on a life in which he had pursued
wisdom, wealth, pleasure and achievement, only to discover that none of them
could provide ultimate meaning. But even if he wasn’t Solomon, the observations
remain valid.
Ecclesiastes shows how
meaningless life is if you don’t have God’s purpose in your life. Here in
Chapter 1, like the ending lyrics of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, Qoheleth bemoans how “nothing ever
matters,” because no matter how much you toil, “there is nothing new under the
sun.” Like Percey Shelly points out in his classic poem Ozymandias, you can be great in your time, build
great monuments to yourself, but time will erase them.
He talks about how “in wisdom
there’s much frustration and whoever increases knowledge increases sorrow.”
Indeed, if Qoheleth is Solomon, what a great example of that he was! God gave
him great wisdom, and he squandered it as he drifted away from Yahweh.
Then in Chapter 2, he gives
himself over to hedonism, the wealth acquisition (again, if Qoheleth is Solomon,
this fits with the historical record of Solomon’s reign being extremely
prosperous) yet even that’s no ultimate fulfilment and he ends Chapter 2 by
saying it’s “chasing after the wind.”
The despair and meaninglessness go
on like that in chapters 3-11, until he finally realises in chapter 12, after “all
has been heard” that the conclusion is “Fear God and obey his commandments, for
this is the whole duty of man. For God
will bring every deed into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good
or evil.”
A: We don’t have to live Solomon’s
wayward wasted life to figure out the conclusion. Let us fear God and obey His
commandments now. Then only we will live the purpose-driven life (as Rick
Warren puts it.)
Where Qoheleth asks, “What is
the point of life if everything ends in death?” Warren answers, “Life
makes sense when you understand that it is ultimately about God, not yourself.”
It’s not about you (or me.) The way to have a meaningful life is to live for God:
- Worship: we were planned for God’s pleasure.
- Fellowship: we were formed for God’s family.
- Discipleship: we were created to become like Christ.
- Ministry: we were shaped for serving God.
- Evangelism: we were made for a mission.
So our purpose isn’t primarily to
achieve, accumulate, experience pleasure, or leave a legacy, as Qoheleth
struggled with. It is to God, love God, become like Christ, serve others and
participate in God's mission.
And because Christ has conquered
death, our labour for Him is not ultimately futile:
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.
— 1 Corinthians 15:58
P: Father, thank You that Qoheleth
is wrong when he said life is vanity. Life is not vanity if we live for
You. Help me to live for You. Help me encourage my family and friends to live
for You. And thank You that, because of Christ, our labour in You is not in
vain. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Note: I wrote this and then showed it to various AIs, both
Christian and secular and made a few changes where I agreed with the Ais’
suggestions. So the ideas and most of the text is my own writing.)
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