The Book of Ecclesiastes ... Part I

I've heard it said that the Book of Ecclesiastes was written when Solomon's moral standard had lapsed to a lower level; some even suggesting he had fallen away from the Lord completely. In other words … he was lost.

I'm not too sure of that. I think he's gotten a bad rap. Yes, he admits to sin because of the choices he made. Women, pleasure, food, wealth and anything else a king could desire was his. But as he found out, even this lifestyle didn't satisfy the spirit of man. Something was missing. As he suggests later … only God can satisfy … which leads me to believe that he came back to the Lord and repented.

Why do I love Ecclesiastes? I think it's because Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived … tells it like it is. Hopefully after reading what I consider some of the most meaningful parts of it, you will too, if you don't already.

This Book is the written experience of Solomon after he places all things in life on trial, using this question as a basis … "What does man have left after all of his labor in which he toils under the sun?"

Great question. This limited discourse will only speak to very few verses, but touching part of each of the twelve chapters.

The effect of this trial was the discovery that all is vanity (emptiness) and vexation (the feeding upon) of the spirit; that every effort to be happy ends in nothing. The greater the capacity for enjoyment, the deeper and wider is the experience of disappointment in life.

Pleasure does not satisfy and even righteousness cannot secure happiness in this world. Even the workings of God in such an evil and sinful world as Solomon observes … is not done to secure for man a lasting happiness that comes from the limited stability of things on earth; although as a general rule God protects those who walk with Him.

There is no allusion to the truth that we are dead in sins and offences. We are. The result in the mind of Solomon from the experiences which he has gone through is the picture he sets before us. As to the things around us, there is nothing better than to enjoy the things which God has given us; and finally in the end he says … "the fear of God is the whole duty of man" … and that should be what rules his walk on earth, not the gratifying of his own will.

In Solomon's Proverbs we have practical moral guidance as we walk through life in this world. In contrast, Ecclesiastes gives the result of all of man's efforts trying to find happiness.

The moral of this book is to show it is … "this world under the sun" that is brought into question … not God.

Chapter 1 …

Ecclesiastes begins with … "The words of the Preacher, the son of David and king in Jerusalem."

The preacher's sermon … the whole book is one continued discourse consisting of things of the greatest importance, words which Solomon sought out according to verse 10 of Chapter 12 … "The Preacher (Solomon) sought acceptable words, even to write down rightly words of truth or correct sentiment."

Solomon, a penitent soul that was lost after a thousand vanities of sin is now made to seek God's grace and forgiveness; for it is only the penitent soul that God will accept, along with the heart that is broken. "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak;" therefore we have in this book the words from the heart of a penitent Solomon that were published by him.

And so the trial begins …

Ecc. 1:3 … "What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?"

Again, this question is the basis for this book … a general proof of the vanity or emptiness of all things, since there is no lasting profit to a man for all his labor. All things a man enjoys he gets by labor; he gets his bread by the sweat of his brow, which is a part of the curse for sin; wealth and riches come through God's blessing by labor; and all knowledge of natural things are acquired through much labor and weariness of the flesh.

These are some of the things a man labors for "under the sun," meaning a measure of time … when the sun rises man goes to his labor, and when it sets his labor is done.

Ecc. 1:9 … sums up verses 4 thru 12, "… there is nothing new under the sun."

Ecc. 1:13-14 … "And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail (business) hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised (submit, deal hardly) therewith. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity (emptiness) and vexation (grasping after, the feeding upon) of (man's) spirit."

I like the way the last half of verse 13 in the Amplified reads … "It is a miserable business which God has given to the sons of man with which to busy themselves."

Solomon is saying that God has given to all men the employment or business of humbly searching out for themselves all the works of God and man on this earth; after which you should agree that it is unsatisfactory and empty; that man is grasping after things to satisfy his spirit … but instead it only feeds upon or takes away from his spirit. Therefore everything is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Ecc. 1:17-18 … "And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow."

Solomon's position allowed him to do whatever he wanted "under the sun," and by doing so, along with his observation of the natural and moral evils in the world; the knowledge of such things just increased the sorrow within his own spirit and soul.

Chapter 2 …

Solomon, having made a trial of natural wisdom and knowledge and finding it to be all vanity, proceeds to the trial of pleasure.

Ecc. 2:1-11 …

"I said in my mind, Come now, I will … test you with pleasure …
I searched in my mind how to cheer my body with wine …
I made great works; I built myself houses, I planted vineyards.
I had great possessions …
I also gathered for myself silver and gold …
I got for myself … concubines very many.
So I became great and increased more … my wisdom remained with me …
And whatever my eyes desired I kept not from them; I withheld not my heart from any pleasure …
Then I looked on all that my hands had done and the labor I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity (emptiness) … and there was no profit under the sun."

Ecc. 2:12 … "So I turned to consider wisdom and folly …"

Ecc. 2:13-14 … "Then I saw that even wisdom that brings sorrow is better than the pleasures of folly as far as light is better than darkness. The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness; and yet I perceived that in the end one event happens to them both."

The difference between wisdom and folly is as great as that between light and darkness. But the same event (death) happens to all men, and much reflection and thought only makes us question life. The heart becomes weary of the knowledge searched for; after all … one dies like another. So what profit has it been to him? There is a time for all things, and man must do each in its season, and enjoy that which God gives to us on our way through life.

Ecc. 2:15 … "Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me …"

Ecc. 2:20 … "So I turned around and gave my heart up to despair (hopelessness) over all the labor of my efforts under the sun."

He ended this part of the trial concerning wisdom and pleasure and concluded …

Ecc. 2:24 … "There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and make himself enjoy good in his labor. Even this, I have seen, is from the hand of God."

Man should be content with the good that all his labor brings him, being thankful for them and looking upon them as blessings flowing to him from the love and goodness of God. Solomon saw and perceived by experience that good is not from man's labor … but comes only from the hand of God.

To be continued …