Introduction to Ecclesiastes

ECCLESIASTES

“What is your life?”

The book of Ecclesiastes (The Preacher), is the book of the natural man. God is not referred to in this book as the Lord, but the God of creation. That is because of the conclusion Solomon reached regarding a life lived apart from fellowship with God. There is no intimacy, no meaningful service or reason for life than what we get out of it at the moment, if it is not without a larger purpose for God and His kingdom. A life like that ends up a weary disappointment. Solomon personally learned what it was like to get away from God. For a believer such a life is empty, hollow and purposeless. To be dissatisfied with life must seem so fruitless and hopeless, compared to the blessing and profitableness of a person like the apostle Paul. Solomon knew some of that blessing earlier in his life when he accomplished what God directed him to do in building the temple. As time passed, he got away from acting in wisdom and the fear of the Lord, and God became distant to him.

The point of the book of Ecclesiastes is to reveal, particularly to young people [11:7-12:14], the glory of the Lord against the dark background of the futility of a life lived only by human wisdom. So, Solomon took a hard look at his life as he had lived it in his middle years, and sees mainly “vanity and vexation” of his spirit in everything he did “under the sun.” With human wisdom he looked for satisfaction in science [1:1-11], and found only sameness. Then he considered human wisdom and philosophy [1:12-18], and found it purposeless. All kinds of pleasure were tried, from comedy and drinking, to money and music, and he came up empty. Then he tried living for only the present with materialism as his false god, and it failed to meet any real expectation.

From the vain efforts under the sun, he became a fatalist, and then went into deism and found nothing lasting. He tried religion without God, and then accumulation of wealth, and there was no satisfaction anywhere he tried. He went on to the higher plain of morality, and even there was not satisfied. He took a long hard look at human efforts in which he had fully participated. He found that human effort cannot master the world, or discover all its secrets that God had formed by His wisdom. Even though he was the wisest of men, he could not get past the bounds of human limitations. There is no lasting happiness when people have an unrealistic view of human powers and intellect. People who pursue unreachable hopes and aspirations are bound to be disappointed. Human life lived in this way is futile and will have no lasting meaning to anyone. He tried everything, and finally came out of the futility of all of those lost years, as a penitent believer whose whole understanding of the goal and purpose of live can be summed up in the last twenty-seven verses of the book.

Reading through the book of Ecclesiastes one might think this is a very pessimistic view of life, and in one way it is. But the point of the book seems to be that young people apply themselves early in life to practical wisdom with eternal values, and stay out of the trouble that a life lived without God will leave you. The preacher wanted to direct the hopes of those to whom he was speaking toward God, not to destroy their hopes. By nature, people are moral and spiritual beings that sets them apart from the rest of creation. Our lives are made to be lived in an ethical way in fellowship with our Creator. That makes sense of our being created in the image of God and being alive in the place we are and in the generation in which we have been born. Things may not always work out as we had thought or even hoped. But that is no reason to not live by faith in God. We should live for Him and not try to get an explanation for everything. We can enjoy the life we have been given to the extent that we know the sovereign God has everything “under the sun” under His control.

In this reflective journey of a very wise man, we can learn that in ourselves, our striving won’t produce anything of lasting or ultimate significance. Wisdom from God is always better than the limitations of human wisdom and experience. Many of our experiences in life cannot be understood unless we can see them through the eyes of God. We may even be a disappointment to ourselves. It is impossible for us to control all that happens to us, but we do know that God has defined our limitations to keep us from doing what those who built the tower of Babel tried to do. God has an order for everything. He created all things with order and purpose. All the confusion and irrational thinking and actions of people, come from our sinful nature. Atheists find this book a favorite source of support, they think, for their anti-God opinions. Religious cults use isolated verses out of context in Ecclesiastes to challenge biblical Christianity in order to suit their claims.

At the conclusion of this book, Solomon sums things up well by putting God right in the center of everything we do in life. With respect for Him and faith in Him, we commit ourselves to obey Him. Then we will have real meaning to our lives and the true satisfaction that comes from knowing we are fulfilling God’s purpose for us. In that way we will “draw near unto God, and He will draw near to us.”