Ecclesiastes was penned at the hand of Israel’s King Solomon, the son of David (1:1). In the Hebrew, he calls himself “Qoheleth” which means “preacher” or “teacher.” The name Ecclesiastes comes from the Greek (not the Hebrew) and is a form of ekklesia which is the Greek word for “church” in the NT. Therefore, on a more specific note, Ecclesiastes refers to an assembly and Solomon is the Preacher addressing the congregation.
In Proverbs, Solomon takes the posture of a wise sage giving advice to his young son. In Song of Solomon, he is a man of love poetically penning a divine romance. However, in Ecclesiastes, he takes the role of a time-worn preacher. His sermon does not tickle the ears of his listeners nor does he attempt to dull the sharpness of his message. Solomon doesn’t sound like the ivory tower scholar of Proverbs or the romanticist of Song of Solomon.
If Proverbs was addressed to the simple to implore them to seek wisdom (Prov. 1:4, 22), and if Song of Solomon was a description of pre-sin edenic love in its purest form, then what is Ecclesiastes? The Preacher’s congregation and future readers are invited to see humanity’s flaws and brokenness and enticed to see God’s goodness. In other word’s the message of Ecclesiastes is the Gospel. It may not explicitly explain justification by faith, and the covenant of grace through Jesus Christ. Rather, the Preacher gives a palpability of sin, and the grandeur of God’s goodness.
Meaningless, Meaningless!
“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:2–3)
“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,” says the Preacher. This phrase is used thirty-six times in Ecclesiastes. The word for “vanity” in Hebrew does not mean “excessive pride” like we may think. Instead, this word “hebel” means “wind,” “vapor,” “puff of smoke” or “breath.” Taken literally, the Hebrew word refers to a puff of smoke rising from a chimney in the winter or the cloud of steam that rises from a hot cup of coffee.
According to the Preacher, life is like that. It is nothing more than a vapor, or a mist. Here for a moment. You see it, then it is gone. Even the Bible compares our lives to a mere breath (Ps. 39:5), and to a mist that appears for a short time then vanishes (Jam. 4:14).
The Preacher connects the transience of life with life’s meaningless pursuits and declares that they are vanity! The NIV translates “hebel” as meaningless. The Preacher wants to let his assembly know that a life that pursues trivial things will also end up meaningless. “All is vanity” according to the Preacher. Life is full of frustrated futility. Nothing that is here in this life will make us happy. It is vanity and a “vexation of spirit” (1:14). This phrase in the Hebrew refers to a chasing after wind. Chasing after vapors are meaningless. Not being able to acquire a vapor causes a vexation of spirit.
To prove his point the Preacher takes the things that people ordinarily use to give purpose or to find satisfaction and then shows how empty they are. Keep in mind that this preacher is Solomon. The man who had it all. Solomon had attained what the world believes brings pleasure and gratification. Solomon acquired wealth. He ruled over a vast domain. He was a lover extraordinaire. He never lacked an audience to come and listen to his wisdom or to see his riches. This Preacher had it all! And this is what he had to say about it:
“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!”
- All that is done under the sun is vanity (Ecc. 1:14)
- Pleasure is vanity (Ecc. 2:1)
- Work is vanity (Ecc. 2:11)
- Wisdom is vanity (Ecc. 2:15)
- Laboring night and day is vanity (Ecc. 2:23)
- Money is vanity (Ecc. 5:10)
- Wealth, possessions, and honor are vanity (Ecc. 6:2)
- Building and erecting beautiful edifices is vanity (Ecc. 6:9)
- The days of a man’s life are vanity (Ecc. 6:12)
- Long life is vanity (Ecc. 11:8)
- Youth and energy are vanities (Ecc. 11:10)
- Everything is vanity (Ecc. 1:2; 12:8)
The Search for Meaning in Wisdom (Ecc. 1:12-18)
The Preacher began his search for purpose in wisdom (Ecc. 1:12-18). He thought, perhaps, that he would find meaning in knowledge and understanding.
At the beginning of Solomon’s reign, he petitioned the Lord for understanding in leading Israel (1 Kings 3:7-9). The Lord granted his request and gave him much more than he desired (1 Kings 3:10-14). After this, Solomon was considered the wisest man to live (1 Kings 3:28). God had given him wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the past and all the wisdom of Egypt (1 Kings 4:29-31). Additionally, Solomon was an accomplished writer penning 3,000 proverbs and writing 1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32).
This is what Solomon confirmed in his search for meaning in wisdom:
“I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow” (Ecclesiastes 1:16–18)
Solomon’s great wisdom did not unlock happiness or meaning. Solomon studied the world and only found emptiness. The poor were oppressed and had no one to comfort them (Ecc. 4:1). Though God created man to be upright, there wasn’t a righteous man found on earth who did good and never sinned (Ecc. 7:20, 29). He found people cursing each other (Ecc. 7:21-22). Evil men doing evil works and getting away with it (Ecc. 8:10-13). Further, evil and folly are found on king’s thrones (Ecc. 10:5-6).
The increase of wisdom and knowledge only brought about grief and sorrow. Wisdom did not give him rose-colored glasses, alternatively, it unveiled the emptiness of all that was under the sun. Which led Solomon to conclude the ephemerality of life.
“Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!” (Ecclesiastes 2:15–16)
Wisdom would not prolong Solomon’s life. Both the wise and the foolish would meet the same end. It is not that wisdom is useless. Rather, wisdom and understanding do not bring meaning to life. This is wisdom!
The Search for Meaning in Pleasure (Ecc. 2:1-11)
I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity (Ecclesiastes 2:1)
Next, the preacher looked for meaning in pleasure. He searched where others have tried to find meaning and ended up at the same mountain peak of disenchantment. Pleasure doesn’t accomplish anything. Pleasure seeking costs more than it profits. It is a chasing after wind, a vexation of spirit. Ask anyone who seeks to find meaning in pleasure. What they hope to last a lifetime disappears in a moment. Pleasure isn’t eternal. It is a temporary high to alleviate momentary pain or a present boredom. It is trying to grasp what cannot be seized.
The long list of escape methods included mirth (laughter), wine, building projects, accumulating wealth, art, gardens, orchards, trees, pools of water, servants, maidens, great herds of animals, silver, gold, choirs, and women.
The world has searched high and low to find meaning in pleasure. They have explored far and wide to obtain purpose in gratification. However, like the Preacher they conclude:
- Laughter is vanity (2:1)
- Drinking wine is vanity (2:3)
- Building large homes is vanity (2:4)
- Planting fruitful vineyards is vanity (2:4)
- Having people serve and work for you is vanity (2:7)
- Great possessions is vanity (2:7)
- Considerable riches is vanity (2:8)
- Listening and making magnificent music is vanity (2:8)
When he had expended these many attempts at lasting fulfillment and contentment, he concluded it was all vanity, with no lasting pleasure and fulfillment. Solomon accumulated more than any man before him. He was impressive in the sight of jealous and envious men. Every single longing of his heart was granted completely. Finally, like a world conqueror, he realized it was all just more of the same. This conclusion alone makes the book of Ecclesiastes of immense value to all people who will hear. A few centuries later the venerable Apostle John will echo the Preacher’s sentiment:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:15–17).
The Search for Meaning in Work (2:17-26)
“Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me” (Ecclesiastes 2:11, 17–18)
Many believe that work will give them a sense of purpose in life. Perhaps this explains why one of the first things people ask when they meet someone new is ‘What do you do for a living?’ However, work is the wrong place to look for meaning in life. The Preacher had looked to wisdom for meaning, to pleasure for satisfaction, and now he puts his sights on work for purpose.
The Preacher surveyed the work that he had accomplished and it too was vanity and vexation of spirit. Solomon had accomplished no small feats! A magnificent temple that had no parallel. Along with the temple he built homes for himself and his Egyptian wife. He had judged the people of Israel with wisdom and understanding.
Work and achievement fail on their own premises. As the Preacher recognizes, the results of toil are wiped away by history. The person who follows you may impoverish all you have accomplished (Ecc. 2:21). Secondly, work fails to satisfy. Labor and toil bring grief and pain. Getting up early and then late to bed, often times losing sleep to thoughts of not accomplishing your tasks. This too is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Work and achievement, without the peace of God, will never satisfy.
Conclusion
Consider Tom Brady, the quarterback of football’s New England Patriots, who wanted to know, “Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there’s something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, ‘Hey man, this is what is. I reached my goal, my dream, my life. Me, I think, ‘It’s got to be more than this. I mean this isn’t, this can’t be what it’s all cracked up to be.” When the interviewer asked, “What’s the answer?” Brady could only say, “I wish I knew. I wish I knew.”
The time-worn preacher discovered that everything under the sun was vanity. Everything under the sun did not give satisfaction. Almost every verse in Ecclesiastes shows us how much we need a Savior to make all things new.
According to the Preacher, everything under the sun is meaningless. ‘Under the sun’ expresses the extent of our problem. Where do we experience life’s futility and frustration? Everywhere the sun shines. Yet this phrase also opens up the possibility of a different perspective. To see things ‘under the sun’ is to look at them from the ground level, taking an earthly point of view and leaving God out of the picture.
Of course, this is not the right way of looking at things. There is a God who rules over the sun. Ecclesiastes shows us the weariness of life and the frustrations of giving under the sun. It reveals that what is under the sun cannot give meaning, satisfaction or purpose. You will never find meaning in wisdom, sex, wealth, romance, partying, or power. Bible commentator, Phil Ryken, writes, “One way to gain this divine perspective is to take all of the things that make life so wearisome and see what a difference it makes when we bring God back into the picture.”
Therefore, brothers and sisters, what is the end of it all? It is to fear God and keep his commandments (Ecc.12:13-14). The preacher has summarized that the Creator God is good and wise. In His sovereignty, He has placed eternity in our hearts (Ecc. 3:10). The issue is that man attempts to fill it with pleasure, wisdom, toil, relationships, the pursuit of wealth, and education and yet it leaves him empty. It is vanity of vanities! Meaningless! A striving after wind.
A greater than Solomon appears in the NT. He is the ultimate Son of David. He speaks in parables, proverbs, and cynicism: “What does it profit a man if he gains the world and loses His soul?” Jesus, the Son of David, Who is the image of the invisible God, the Creator of heaven and earth. It was this preacher, who looked at a woman who simply came to draw water for her thirst who had been with five men, whom she called husbands, Jesus tells her, with an echo of Ecclesiastes: “If you drink of this water you will thirst again. But if you drink from the living water you will never thirst.” When you drink from the world’s pleasure, you will only be thirsty still. The temporal striving under the sun that she lost a lifetime to, could be replaced with an eternal thirst quencher that was in her heart. The vapor of ruined relationships, vain desires. Jesus wasn’t offering a vapor, He was offering the substance.
Brothers and sisters, Jesus wants you to stop chasing vapors, and drink from the substance. The end of the matter is fear God and obey his commandments. The meaningless fades with the wind and is replaced with divine purpose.
This is the gospel according to Ecclesiastes.