Ecclesiastes 2: 1 – 26
Graduate Studies
1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity. 2 I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?” 3 I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives. 4 I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards. 5 I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. 7 I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds. 9 So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. 10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor. 11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun. 12 Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly; For what can the man do who succeeds the king?— only what he has already done. 13 Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. 14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived that the same event happens to them all. 15 So I said in my heart, “ As it happens to the fool, it also happens to me, and why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This also is vanity.” 16 For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? As the fool! 17Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind. 18 Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. 21 For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? 23 For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity. 24 Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I? 26 For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Have you ever heard the statement, ‘Too much of a good thing.’ I believe our Holy Master Is a God of balance. He has designed things for us to enjoy. However, too much of one thing will hurt us. For example, who does not like ice cream? However, what are some of the consequences if you set upon eating too much ice cream on a daily basis? - How about diabetes, weight gain, liver problems, facial skin issues, and allergies to name a few.
We need to get things into a proper perspective. After our ancestors Adam and Eve sinned our Lord said this in Genesis chapter 3, “17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.”
We live in a cursed version. Our Holy Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High in His Mercy has left us nice things to enjoy even though we do not deserve them. To a large degree this is what Solomon is doing in his writings in Ecclesiastes. He points out that everything we experience apart from and with God is a big waste of time. Solomon is saying to us, ‘Hey, listen to me. I have tried out everything we might desire to pursue. And guess what, they are all worthless in the long run.
The first area that Solomon did an advance study in was in the pursuit of pleasure;
1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity. 2 I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”
He has all the money anyone could ever need in his or her lifetime. He decided to pursue laughter and fun. He invested himself with lavish entertainment and social events. He found that what you seek will never bring you satisfaction apart from God. He informed us that all the laughter derived from having a good time was empty and that in reality it accomplished nothing. When everything was over what did he accomplish? He found that he achieved absolutely nothing.
Sometimes I have felt that I am the poor man’s version of Solomon. I tried out everything but on a tiny scale. Have you ever turned to the comedy channel? Sometimes I want to just laugh. Dealing with daily stressful issues I feel that a little laughter might pick me up. Have you seen some of the current popular comedians lately? They are disgusting and vulgar. I watch the people on the television all cracking up at some lines that I do not think are funny at all. In all truth, the only one that I would recommend to others would be Sinbad. His comedy routine is clean and very funny.
In the book of Proverbs chapter 14 we read, “Even in laughter the heart may sorrow, and the end of mirth may be grief.” What can start out as something funny can turn out ato be the opposite. I remember a dark day in my life during high school. A few of my friends thought it would be funny to spray paint on a boulder that was adjacent to a major highway. One night three of them decided to pull this prank. They climbed up the hill and were laughing and cracking up spraying some graffiti. One of them slipped and fell off the ledge only a few feet. However, he hit his head and knocked himself out. The laughter as you can imagine ended quickly. It was replaced by a fear about the injury and of the possibility of being found out by the local police. The two concluded that it would be best for all if they just picked their fallen comrade and carry him to a hospital. Bad decision. They did not know that by picking him up they accidently killed him since he had also broken a few ribs. No one ever laughed about that prank ever again.
So, living the life of Riley was not all that it was cracked up to be. Solomon next decided to try out the night club routine.
3 I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.
. Solomon next sought out pleasure through the ‘Happy Hour’. With a truth there is nothing ‘Happy’ about this event at all. It is interesting that what certain things say in reality is just the opposite of what it really is all about. We sometimes refer to these incidents as an ‘Oxymoron’. Some examples are jumbo shrimp, accurate estimate, awfully nice, clearly confused, confirmed rumor, current history, deliberate mistake, known secret, modern history, preliminary conclusion, small crowd, and one more - timeless moment. I love these examples.
I live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which is called ‘the city of brotherly love’. You got to be kidding me. We call it a good day here if the murder rates are in the single digits. My point for bringing this up is what Solomon is teaching us, and that is – our pursuits do not bring satisfaction.
I find it interesting that Solomon is telling us here that he would not get drunk. His statement, ‘while guiding my heart with wisdom,’ meant that he maintained his control of the substance and did not let the alcohol control him.
4 I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards. 5 I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove.
Almighty God had poured out on Solomon wealth beyond anything anyone could imagine. It is interesting that his annual income came out to be ‘666’ million, not 665 or 667. Our precious Holy Spirit throws that out and He will let you read into why that exact amount.
Being this rich and in control as king allowed him to do anything he wanted. We read about his building endeavors in the book of 1 Kings chapter 7, “ 1 But Solomon took thirteen years to build his own house; so he finished all his house.2 He also built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; its length was one hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, with four rows of cedar pillars, and cedar beams on the pillars. 3 And it was paneled with cedar above the beams that were on forty-five pillars, fifteen to a row. 4 There were windows with beveled frames in three rows, and window was opposite window in three tiers. 5 And all the doorways and doorposts had rectangular frames; and window was opposite window in three tiers. 6 He also made the Hall of Pillars: its length was fifty cubits, and its width thirty cubits; and in front of them was a portico with pillars, and a canopy was in front of them. 7 Then he made a hall for the throne, the Hall of Judgment, where he might judge; and it was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.8 And the house where he dwelt had another court inside the hall, of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had taken as wife. 9 All these were of costly stones cut to size, trimmed with saws, inside and out, from the foundation to the eaves, and also on the outside to the great court. 10 The foundation was of costly stones, large stones, some ten cubits and some eight cubits. 11 And above were costly stones, hewn to size, and cedar wood. 12 The great court was enclosed with three rows of hewn stones and a row of cedar beams. So were the inner court of the house of the LORD and the vestibule of the temple.”
We learn that Solomon worked for thirteen years building his house. Then he build another called the ‘Forest of Lebanon’. You know a mansion when people give the house a special name. Then he built another mansion for Pharaoh’s daughter who was given to him in an alliance treaty.
He also planted luxurious trees and gardens. If you have ever been to Israel you would know that this is no small matter to achieve. After everything was completed he enjoyed them only for a short time and then he was bored again.
7 I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds.
Solomon not only had all the soldiers to do his bidding. He also managed to have his own group of personal servants. Our Lord had warned the Israelites that this would happen when they insisted that they have a king just like other nations had. We read about this in the book of 1 Samuel chapter 8. Look at what the Lord said would happen because they insisted that they have a king like the other nations.
1 Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. 8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. 9 Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.” 10 So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who asked him for a king. 11 And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. 12 He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14 And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. 16 And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. 18 And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day.” 19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the LORD. 22 So the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed their voice, and make them a king.” And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.”
9 So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. 10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor. 11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.
Look at what Solomon did in his graduate work of trying to find satisfaction in life without having God involved. He had all the resources to accomplish his study. As a college research professor he could categorize his thesis in four categories. They were a thorough study of wisdom, pleasure, accomplishments, and possessions. In his mind and ours these are the four areas where we seek fulfillment.
In seeking wisdom he was able to acquire more knowledge. Remember: knowledge and wisdom are not the same. I know a few people who have numerous advanced degrees yet they lack the wisdom to be able to park a bicycle correctly. He sought out the night life of partying. Comedy and alcohol to find the missing peace.
He set his heart in building projects, agricultural endeavors, and engineering experiments to see if these types of accomplishments would give him the inner satisfaction. And lastly he thought the answer in life was what one could possess. He accumulated numerous servants, herds of valuable animals, wealth beyond measure, musical groups, and numerous wives and girlfriends.
So what was professor Solomon’s findings. All these things that mankind pursues are worthless. He called them vanity.
Vanity means ‘vapor or breath’. You know how your breath reacts in cool crisp air. This is what vanity does. It disappears rapidly. Solomon summation of his research was that this type of pursuits was like chasing after the wind. We feel the wind but we cannot bottle it. In all our accomplishments our good feelings are only temporary. Even though we excel in all the things we do, and explore everything possible, and derive an enjoyment in everything we do, we do not find lasting satisfaction.
Security and self worth are not found in earthly pursuits but lie in a loving relationship with our Precious God. Can you and I learn from what Solomon experimented with. Think about what you consider worthwhile in your life? Where do you place your time and money? Do this now so you will not be like Solomon looking back and find that everything you did was worthless.
We see in verses 12 through 17 a new report from Solomon. Here we are going to find out from his research that death is no respecter of persons. We find that Solomon describes in verses 12 through 14 that death does not recognize the excellence of anyone’s wisdom.
12 Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly; For what can the man do who succeeds the king?— only what he has already done. 13 Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. 14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived that the same event happens to them all
Solomon studied the combined wisdom of mankind up to his time. He studied what was wise, what was insane, what was silly and ridiculous. He found that it was all just a bunch of hogwash in the long run. He found that there were men and women who had discernment [light] and those who just existed [darkness]. Yet, with even these positive and negative conditions the end result was the same for all – you die. He said this in Proverbs 17, 24 Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.”
Remember, what Solomon asked God for? Yes, it was wisdom. He was told by his dad to ask God for wisdom. Read the Psalms which were mostly written by David and you will see his emphasis on getting wisdom. So, we see throughout this book the reference to wisdom. In verse 15 Solomon now says that death does not respect even mankind’s desire to get wisdom.
15 So I said in my heart, “ As it happens to the fool, it also happens to me, and why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This also is vanity.”
Can you not see the significant condition Solomon is saying here? His father knew of the importance of wisdom. Here, Solomon is basically saying, ‘you know what; this wisdom is not all that it is cracked up to be. I don’t know why my dad influenced me to ask God for this. In the end this is also worthless.’
16 For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? As the fool!
Solomon realized that wisdom alone cannot guarantee eternal life. Death does not remember the success of wisdom in a person’s life. We need to build our investments in eternal matters not what vanishes. What we do here has an eternal reward or consequence.
17 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Wow! Do you see the bombshell here? A man who had everything he ever wishes wants to die? Such hatred of life does not match what God tells us about wisdom in Proverbs 3. Look at what He says, “13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding; 14 For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. 16 Length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand riches and honor. 17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her. 19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens; 20 By His knowledge the depths were broken up, and clouds drop down the dew. 21 My son, let them not depart from your eyes— keep sound wisdom and discretion; 22 So they will be life to your soul and grace to your neck. 23 Then you will walk safely in your way, and your foot will not stumble. 24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet. 25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; 26 For the LORD will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught. 27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so. 28 Do not say to your neighbor, “ Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,” When you have it with you. 29 Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he dwells by you for safety’s sake. 30 Do not strive with a man without cause, if he has done you no harm. 31 Do not envy the oppressor, and choose none of his ways; 32 For the perverse person is an abomination to the LORD, but His secret counsel is with the upright. 33 The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the just. 34 Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble. 35 The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the legacy of fools.”
Does this sound like you would want to kill yourself if you made wisdom the pursuit of your life? Then how come it seems to conflict with what is happening to Solomon? I see this answer every day in counseling. People come in to pour out their frustrations, grief’s, heartache, and problems. After you hear them spew out these issues for hours, you find out that they are living in compromise. Sin is prevalent in their lives. They want to live their ungodly lives the way of the world while at the same time they want our Holy Supreme Master to bless them. You do not have to be a scholar to know that it ain’t gonna happen! This was what was happening in Solomon’s life. God had told him not to do certain things and he ignored the only True and Living God. He allowed the influence of the foreign women to turn him to worshiping idols. Not a good thing to do against our Pure and Loving Sovereign Lord.
Solomon ends his study in verses 18 through 23 by stating that in the end other people will inherit all your hard earned wealth.
18 Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. 21 For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? 23 For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity
Solomon recognizes that all the hard work we do bears no lasting fruit to those who work solely to obtain wealth. Not only will everything be left behind at death, but it might be left to those we might not want to have it. If you look through the bible it amazes me that many of the godly men had sons that were evil. There is a saying to pray for Pastor’s kids. In many cases these kids are spoiled. Every one gives false praise and adulation to the Pastor’s kids because of their admiration for their Pastor. As a result, not totally, but often these kids turn out to be ego centric brats.
Hard work done with proper motives is a good thing. We must work in order to live. But all the labor with out the love and involvement of God will turn out disastrous.
Solomon drifted away from God during his lifetime. He started out as a winner and in my opinion ended as a loser. Only after many years of futile searching did he reluctantly come up with the correct answers
24 Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I? 26 For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
He came to understand that true enjoyment in life comes only as we follow God’s guidelines. Without Him, satisfaction will not be obtained. Those who really know how to enjoy life are the ones who take life one day at a time as a gift from God, thanking Him for it, and serving Him in it. .
