Ecclesiastes 1: 1 – 18
Wealth + Power + Knowledge = Zero
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” 3 What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun? 4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever. 5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it arose. 6 The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, and comes again on its circuit. 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. 8 All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 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. 10 Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us. 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. 12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised. 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind. 15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered. 16 I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind. 18 For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
I do not know about you but there were some books of the Bible I avoided. Some of the books, in my opinion, early in my Christian life, I considered boring. [please forgive me Precious Holy Spirit] I wasn’t to motivated to read Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and 1 & 11 Chronicles. Others I avoided like Jeremiah, Lamentations, Job, and Ecclesiastes because they were so depressing. Don’t look so shocked. At least I am brave enough to admit my problems.
In all truth today however I recognize that the previous listed books are not boring or depressing but contain golden nuggets of truth. For example the book which we will be looking at is read by the Jews on the ‘Feast of Tabernacles’ This feast day is a day of ‘Rejoicing’. So, it all comes down to understanding. The more we understand the more we can come to appreciate the Amazing Wisdom of our God. We can perceive something one way but be totally wrong in our own thinking. In the book of Isaiah chapter 55 we read, “8 “ For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.9 “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’ Let us stop forming our own thoughts and allow Jehovah Ropheka – The Lord Who Leads – direct us in all our ways.
One of the 66 books in our bibles that we can be confident of the author is this one. It was penned by David’s son – Solomon. In my own vernacular I would describe Solomon as one who started out super but ended as a loser because he forsook Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High.
After David died the Lord showed up Personally and conversed with him Let us check out this conversation in the book of 1 Kings chapter 3, “ 1 Now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter; then he brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall all around Jerusalem. 2 Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the LORD until those days. 3 And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.4 Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” 6 And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7 Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. 9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” 10 The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, 12 behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. 13 And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. 14 So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” 15 Then Solomon awoke; and indeed it had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.”
Our Lord Is so Gracious. Look at how He responds to Solomon’s request for wisdom. Yet, what is astonishing to me is that Solomon did not come up with this idea. He was told to do this by his dad, David. Scan through the book of Psalms and you will read numerous references from David to Solomon to ask God for wisdom. Let us just look at a few;
Psalm 37: 30, “The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, And his tongue talks of justice.”
Psalm 49: 3, “My mouth shall speak wisdom, And the meditation of my heart shall give understanding.”
Psalm 51: 6, “Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.”
Psalm 90:12, “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Psalm 111:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His Commandments. His praise endures forever.”
Our Precious and Holy Father Is just looking for a reason to bless His own. In response to Solomon’s request for wisdom, our Holy Master grants him his request and throws in riches, long life, and peace. Dear Lord, if it is in Your Will, I’ll take the same, but help me not to end the same way as Solomon in turning away from You.
Solomon is credited with writing three books in the bible. When he was a young man in love He penned Song of songs. In his middle life he wrote the Proverbs. Lastly as an old man looking back over his life he penned Ecclesiastes.
The word Ecclesiastes means ‘Preacher – one who addresses an assembly’. The Preacher looks at life from under the ‘sun’ [life without God in charge] instead of living under the ‘Son’. He searches everywhere for meaning, significance, permanence, true satisfaction, and for long term meaningfulness in the normal course of life. His study revealed that life is ‘all vanity’. Without God everything is empty and in the long run worthless. Only a personal relationship with God and Him Alone can satisfy our hearts and minds.
. 1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 “ Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “ Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” 3 What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun?
The author very interestingly begins and ends [ chapter 12: 8 ] with the same words = ‘all is vanity.’ This man sought truth. He took up various ways of life and ultimately rejected them as valid. At times Solomon speaks as an atheist and at other times he speaks as a believer as he sees how Almighty God is ALL in ALL. His conclusion at the end is that man needs to fear and obey God because at some time he will stand in The Everlasting Holy One’s Judgment.
As the son of a great leader, David, I would guess accurately that he was familiar with the Scriptures already given by Jehovah Mekkaddishkem – The Lord Who Sanctifies. Some instructions which dealt with his study of life from our Holy Ruler were already written out for him. Let us take a look at a few;
Psalm 39: 5, “5 Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah 6 Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them. 7 “And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.”
Isaiah 49: 4, “4 Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; Yet surely my just reward is with the LORD, and my work with my God.’”
Jeremiah 16; 19, “19 O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say, “ Surely our fathers have inherited lies, worthlessness and unprofitable things.”
All that is connected with a man’s labor is transient and passing. Solomon observed that for six days a man labors and is given the seventh day to stay home and rest. Then he starts it all over again which is part of the earthly ‘under the sun’. It is significant that apart from enabling him to survive, all his labor that he does week in and week out avails him nothing in the long run. It is an continual unchanging repetition.
4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes; but the earth abides forever.
We labor at everything yet nothing really changes. One generation after another goes on in the same way as previous generations. Oh, things change somewhat as technology has come into play. For example, people use to go down to the river and wash their clothes. We still have to do the same thing but now we have a washing machine to make it easier and more convenient for ourselves.
5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it arose. 6 The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, and comes again on its circuit. 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.
In Solomon’s studies he first noticed that what you do in life does not last. Here in these verses we see that he comes up with the conclusion that what you do in life does not satisfy. Although these restless elements created by our Holy God continually are in motion like us they are taken for granted. They happen day in and day out. The sun follows a continual pattern, rising, setting, and then racing around to do the same the next day. The wind although it varies slightly in its course continues coming and going. The rivers follow suit. The rain falls and drains into streams which feed into rivers which flow into the seas following a continual process also.
Solomon isn’t criticizing our Wonderful Creators system for our continual existence. What he notices is that these situations like our lives are not leading anywhere. They just go on and on in an endless repetition.
To continue his depressive observation Solomon comes up with the finding that there is nothing new. Look at what he says,
8 All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 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. 10 Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us.
What has happened before will happen again. This is where we understand the saying ‘history repeats itself’. What is done by man will be done again and again. How long do houses last? It amazes me to see the local school districts need to spend 100 million to build a new high school because the present building is over 50 years old. If this is such a problem then why are we impressed to go to an Ivy College and admire the beautiful buildings that are a few hundred years old? We are nuts. Things are advantageous for a time being and then it must be replaced for what we think is better.
I like Solomon’s question, ‘Is there anything new?’ Look at our country. What are we creating that is new today? All I see on TV commercials is how there is a better version of a telephone. Man isn’t coming up with anything new. We are just taking what is already out there and throwing in a few more options and marketing this as something great.
11 There is no remembrance of former things, nor there be any remembrance of things that are to come by those who will come after.
We never take heed to previous knowledge. Each generation thinks the previous generation is square. We do not learn from past mistakes. We think we know what is better and so we wind up making the same mistakes that others before have made. A son watches his father hack and cough as a result of smoking. Does the child learn and say to himself, ‘I’m not going to smoke. Look at what it is doing to my dad.’ No, he will pick up the same stupid habit and successfully pass on a heritage of lung cancer.
12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised.
We read here of something we might admire. Who hasn’t grown up wanting to be the President of the United States. Our Lord Jesus pointed out this incorrect way of thinking in the Gospel of Matthew chapter. 19. I know you remember this story of a young man who was rich and also was powerful. Let us review.
“16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” 17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ 19 ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”
Our Precious Master and Teacher knows how to discern what is right and what is wrong. The young man had false security in his knowledge, wealth, and powerful position. Our Holy Lord sliced through this false position and went right to its cause. In this case our Lord told the young man to give everything that he clung to in this world away and put his trust and life in following the Son of God. When faced with that challenge the young man failed. He could not break up his way of life and so he went away the loser.
If you share the ‘Good News’ with others you see the same conditions. You witness the person struggle with giving up his/her control of their lives. Although our Lord makes it easy to come to Him, it is very difficult to make the commitment. It is so refreshing to hear a person say, ‘well, you have shown me in writing what God says about forgiveness and getting right with Him. It all makes sense to me. I will and do want to give my life to Him.’ I tell you folks it doesn’t get better than this when you personally see someone do this.
I haven’t met too many men or women who are intelligent and have wisdom. Oh, they may have many degrees but when you talk with them they are lacking in many other areas. We see this point made by Solomon in verse 13. You can study and study but in the long run it gets you nowhere. He picks up this thought in verse 14 where he learns that what you do and learn will not change certain things.
14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind. 15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered. 16 I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.
Our Holy Father had given Solomon more head knowledge than any other person who ever lived including Einstein. Solomon had searched out everything that was ever done and he realized that in the end it was all temporal. Mankind seeking any fruitful meaning from life was like striving to catch the wind in a jar, it was impossible to grasp or contain it.
Everything in life is basically marred and is lacking in meaningful content. It isn’t straight or we might say black or white. It is crooked. Whatever we do will not make it straight. Perfection cannot be obtained from imperfection. Oh, it can look nice for awhile but give it time and it breaks down in time.
18 For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
Solomon was given things in which we can only dream of. He was given knowledge, wealth, and power. His end result of having all this was sorrow and pain not what we would come to expect. You might say, ‘Hey, give me a try at all of what was given to Solomon.’ If you think or say that you are proving exactly what Solomon is saying. You do not understand that all of what Solomon was giving in the long run is meaningless. Our lives are but a vapor. Even if you are the most intelligent, richest, and powerful person that ever lived, it is only temporary. It all vanishes like the wind. Then what?
Our Preacher is setting everyone up to deploy the correct answer of life in which he will reveal in the rest of his book. I will not leave you guessing what that conclusion is – it is all about living and doing all with God’s Personal interaction. Without God in our lives mankind is just existing and wasting his/her life. .
