Everything is Meaningless!

Life is short is it not?… The sports world this week gave us a reminder of how close all of us are to death…Damar Hamlin (age 24) story …read another story this week about a 17 year old basketball player who died suddenly at home...

We often think of athletes as the picture of health and practically invincible…in the prime of their life…if I only had the physique and abilities of an athlete, if I had the fame of a celebrity,if I had the wealth of fortune 500 CEO, then my life would have meaning.

Be honest…as you sit here this morning...How are you completing this phrase “Life would have much more meaning for me if....I would be happier and more satisfied with my life if...”

Today we embark upon a new study through the book of Ecclesiastes...

Why Study Ecclesiastes?

To the everyday reader of the Bible, Ecclesiastes appears to be a gloomy view of life.

You might even be tempted to think that the author has no relationship with God at all because how can a person have a relationship with God and see such negativity.

One of the questions many people ask today is “Why does a powerful Creator allow evil on the earth? Why is life filled with so many unresolved inconsistencies? Why am I here?”

Ecclesiastes answers those questions and many like them.

It is honest about the troubles of life.

More than anything else in the Bible, Ecclesiastes captures the futility and frustration of a fallen world.

It is honest about the drudgery of work, the injustice of government, the dissatisfaction of foolish pleasure, and the mind-numbing tedium of everyday life—“the treadmill of our existence.”

Think of Ecclesiastes as the only book of the Bible written on a Monday morning. Reading it helps us to be honest with God about the problems of life—even those of us who trust in the goodness of God.

It teaches us what will happen to us if we choose what the world tries to offer instead of what God has to give.

The writer of this book had more money, enjoyed more pleasure, and possessed more human wisdom than anyone else in the world, yet everything still ended in frustration.

The same will happen to us if we live for ourselves rather than for God.

He writes to say, “don’t make the same mistakes I did...”

It asks the biggest and hardest questions that people still have today.

What is the meaning of life? Why am I so unhappy? Does God really care? Why is there so much suffering and injustice in the world? Is life really worth living?

These are the kinds of intellectual and practical questions that the writer wants to ask.

The writer is not satisfied with the kind of easy answers that children sometimes get in Sunday school.

In fact, part of his spiritual struggle is with the very answers that he has always been given.

It will help us worship the one true God.

For all of its sad disappointments and skeptical doubts, this book teaches many great truths about God.

It presents him as the Mighty Creator and Sovereign Lord, the transcendent and all-powerful ruler of the universe.

Ecclesiastes will help us grow in the knowledge of God.

It teaches us how to live for God and not just for ourselves.

It gives us some of the basic principles we need to build a God-centered worldview, like the goodness of creation and our own absolute dependence on the Creator.

Then, on the basis of these principles, Ecclesiastes gives many specific instructions about everyday issues like money, sex, and power.

It also has many things to say about death, which may be the most practical issue of all.

In short, there are many good reasons to study Ecclesiastes. This is especially true for anyone who is still deciding what to believe and what not to believe.

Read Eccl 1:1-11.

Who is “the Preacher”?

The writer identifies himself as “the Preacher” ...Qoheleth…pronounced co-hel-et…it can also be translated as the Teacher, the Philosopher, the Spokesman.

The root word means to gather, collect, or assemble.

the verb form refers to the gathering or assembly of a community of people, especially for the worship of God. So Qoheleth is not so much a teacher in a classroom but more like a pastor in a church.

It literally means one who speaks in the assembly.

Some of you lovingly call me Preacher…you would use this term if you were Jewish.

He is preaching wisdom to a gathering of the people of God.

The title of the book comes from the Greek word “ekklesia” which is the common word for church in the New Testament.

It is not a building, it is a gathering of people to worship God.

Ecclesiastes is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Qoheleth.

He further identifies himself as “son of David, king in Jerusalem”.

With this identification, our minds immediately go to Solomon.

Eccl. 1:16 …he identifies himself as one who has acquired increased wisdom (see also 1 Kings 3:12-13).

We know from Scripture that in spite of all his wisdom, Solomon wandered from God and fell hard into sin.

Ecclesiastes is the painful autobiography of Solomon, who for most of his life, squandered God’s blessings on his own pleasures instead of God’s glory.

He writes to successive generations of his own and others to encourage them and warn them not to follow the path he took.

Paul would echo this same thought to the church of Corinth in 1 Cor. 1:18-31 and 1 Cor 2:13-16.

What is the theme of Ecclesiastes?

Solomon states his purpose in Ecclesiastes 1:2 ““Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.””

He reiterates his purpose in Eccl 12:8 ““Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “all is vanity!””

Solomon emphatically declares that the whole sum of human existence is meaningless, futile, unknowable.

Throughout the book you will see the word “vanity”

Solomon uses this term 37x in the book…because Ecclesiastes is a form of Hebrew poetry, there is a great deal of figurative language...

He uses this genre to challenge us to pay attention...

The Hebrew word is hevel literally meaning breath or vapor…like a puff of smoke rising from a fire, or the sight of your breath on a cold morning...

Solomon uses this term broadly in 3 ways…in each case it looks at the nature of man’s activity…it does not necessarily mean that something is altogether worthless...

Fleeting or transitory…vapor like

Life is like that…a vapor… it is elusive…so insubstantial that when we try to get a handle on it, it slips through our fingers.

Life is also transitory…it can disappear as quickly as it comes…no one is guaranteed tomorrow!

Psalm 39:5 ““Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah.”

James 4:14 “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”

Futile or meaningless…focuses on the cursed condition of the universe and its effects on man’s earthly experiences

There is not one single aspect of human existence that escapes the frustration of futility. It is all absurd, useless, and futile.

Solomon will take all the things people use to find satisfaction in life and show how empty they are.

He speaks to this from experience, because he pursued them all…knowledge, money, pleasure, and power.

Incomprehensible…gives consideration to life’s unanswered questions.

The context will determine which meaning Solomon is focusing on.

The most common meaning is incomprehensible or unknowable, referring to the mysteries of God’s purposes.

There are just certain things about life we cannot comprehend.

Sooner or later we are going to agree with Solomon’s conclusions.

When we seek satisfaction and purpose in our earthly goals and ambitions, we will always come up empty.

We try to satisfy our longings through pleasures only to find they dissipate quickly and we move on to the next pleasure.

We try to find satisfaction in getting more money only to find we want more money.

We try to find ways to be more important only to find not everybody thinks we are important.

Ultimately, we all die and what is left…nothing! (Never see a Hearse pulling a U-Haul, open up ancient tombs and the stuff they buried them with is still there).

In our study of Ecclesiastes we will discover that on top of all that, Solomon becomes frustrated even more when he thinks about the part God plays in it all.

He never gives up his faith in the power and sovereignty of God, but the things about the world that frustrate him are the same things that frustrate him about the God who created the world.

Perhaps you are sitting there and thinking “this is really a downer of a book to study, not sure I want to sit through this study”… call me when it’s over...let me also say this...

Even though Solomon takes a sober view of life, he has a solid hope in the goodness of God and the lasting quality of His gifts.

Besides the abundance of the word vanity, Solomon uses another phrase repeatedly… “under the sun”… by using this phrase he is communicating the futility of all things from the HUMAN PERSPECTIVE.

When we limit our vision to what we see now on earth, instead of seeing God at work in these things, life will be empty and futile.

But, when we look to God with reverence and awe, we are able to see the meaning of life, and the beauty of its pleasures, and the eternal significance to all we do.

Key verses…these verses provide the balance…please mark them in your Bible…keep these in mind as we study each section...

Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 NASB95

The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

In order for us to know and enjoy God properly, we first have to realize how empty our life is without Him.

We have to become disillusioned by what the world offers us.

We must truly see what life is like without the grace of God so that we fully appreciate God and reverence Him.

With those thoughts in mind as we study Ecclesiastes, lets take the rest of our time and look at the opening text of this marvelous book!

Main Point: Nothing is Gained From Hard Work.

Now, please don’t go to work tomorrow and tell your boss, your Preacher gave you permission to slack off because nothing is gained by hard work.

I don’t want a ton of phone calls or emails from angry bosses…and I don’t want phone calls from angry spouses when you get fired.

In verse 2 Solomon is emphatically declaring his thesis...everything is meaningless… now he is going to employ a rhetorical question in verse 3 to begin proving his point…what advantage do we get from our work?

This will come up again in Eccl 2:24 and Eccl 3:9.

Advantage = gain = primarily used in the context of business…to turn a profit…that which is left over after all the bills have been paid…your goal in work is to gain more profit as the fruit of your labor…it is your return on investment for hard work.

This is one of those life questions…what do I get for working hard? Is it worth it? Am I really accomplishing anything? What will I have to show for all my work?

We all think in those terms don’t we…we usually assume that if we work harder than the guy next to us, we are going to get a little more…more than if you didn’t work hard.

Solomon wants to draw us into the discussion by asking us to think about what we will have when life is over.

From his perspective, no matter how hard people worked, no one can show a net profit for a life of hard labor...they never really gained anything.

To prove his point he lists a series of things that never seem to go anywhere or gain anything...

Examples from nature (4-7)

v4 — generations come and go but the earth doesn’t change.

We often think in terms of generations as being the next brighter future...

Here Solomon tells us that when one generation comes, another is going…one generation is new, the other generation is old…soon that new generation becomes old and the cycle continues.

Today’s generations are no different than ancient generations...Have you ever heard of this guy named Socrates?…Listen to what he wrote about the generations of his day...“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, they show disrespect to their elders.”

We look at the rise of new generations and think the world is progressing. Nothing really changes…everyday babies are born, everyday people die…an endless procession of people come and go but the world marches on...

Everyone of us is a transitory being.

Solomon contrasts our our transitory nature to the permanence and apparent immutability of the physical world.

No one has changed the course of nature.

5-7 — The sun, wind, and waters are in constant motion, but they never accomplish anything.

The pattern of the sun never changes…rises in the east and sets in the west.

Hurries = pants…the sun is like a runner endlessly making his way around the racetrack.

The wind is now described as moving north and south in a circular pattern…goes round and round in one monotonous cycle.

The rivers continually flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full…the rivers always go where the rivers continually go…the implication is not a cyclic motion, but futile activity.

Remember this is poetry…poetry is used to elicit an emotional response…

from this section we should gain the sense of indifference of the universe to our presence.

It was here before us and will be here after us, unchanged.

We also get the sense that the universe is trapped like us in a cycle of monotonous and meaningless motion…forever moving, accomplishing nothing.

We get a sense of loneliness and abandonment.

Paul alludes to this text in Romans 8:19-21 “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”

Life is the same way…everything seems to be in a rut…where is the progress…what is the profit?

Not many retirement parties anymore…no gold watches...

What about all that work you do around the house?

Always more meals to prepare…always more clothes to wash…always dirty floors that need cleaning...

So if the sun, wind, and waters have nothing to show for their constant labor, what hope does man have of ever accomplishing anything?

Examples from human experience (8-11)

v. 8 — Sensory perceptions are never satisfied.

All things are so wearisome we cannot find words to describe it.

Throughout this poem Solomon is trying to show how tiresome life is, but he is not finished.

He now turns to his own personal experience.

People are constantly looking and listening for that which will satisfy them...the amount of information we can see and hear today is mind boggling, but yet there is still a thirst for more…our eyes and ears are never satisfied.

There is always one more show to watch...

One more game to play…one more weekend getaway…one more Facebook post to read…one more Twitter feed to Tweet…one more text message to read or write...

What have we gained? What have we accomplished?

We need to get in the habit of asking...Is this helping me make some kind of progress or is it the same old, same old?

v.9 — Human history always repeats itself.

Nations rise and fall but human nature stays the same.

There are times of war and times of peace, but in times of peace we know war will come again…some conflicts never end…from the time of the OT Jews and Arabs have always been at war!

Life is lived in a constant show of reruns!

Nothing new under the sun means there is nothing that changes the fundamental facts of the human condition…dead in sin, deserving of separation from God, cannot solve that problem on our own.

v. 10 — Whatever seems new has already been done.

It does not deny that there are and will be technological advances or new works of art, etc…all these things are simply variations on what has already existed, they do not deliver humanity from its bondage to death!

The people who come up with new inventions have the same fallen nature as ever…same basic problems…same moral deficiencies…same underlying insecurities as previous generations.

We may have discovered ways to make things faster and easier, but nothing has been done to eliminate death!

v 11 — Fame and glory have no lasting significance.

This verse is not claiming no human is ever remembered in history.

The point here is that people move on and that once held glory or fame fades away. Whatever people accomplish will be forgotten or replaced by someone or something else.

People will continue their endless quest for fame, power, and happiness, but all of us are moving steadily towards the end of life and then what is next?

Most people will never achieve lasting fame, while those who do gain nothing by it.

All famous people die and what does that fame do for them in the life to come?

Fame/wealth/earthly happiness does not determine your eternal destiny.

Life Lesson — Look Above the Sun

This is where it is important to remember the purpose of Ecclesiastes.

Solomon wants us to feel the full weight of the weariness and futility of life under the sun.

Under the sun expresses the extent of our problem…everywhere the sun shines, we will find emptiness and meaninglessness.

Under the sun expresses the human perspective that rules out all higher values and spiritual realities and only uses resources and gifts this world has to offer…it is to look at life with an earthly view that leaves God out!

There is a different view we can take!

Solomon wants us to be so disillusioned with earthly pursuits, that we draw the same conclusion that we can only be satisfied in our relationship with God.

That doesn’t mean our life will be free from toil and the weariness of life.

It does mean that those things that bring the weariness and futility to life find true meaning when God is brought into view.

The repetition in nature testifies of the goodness and orderliness of God.

The regularity of the world shows the constancy of the Creator…the sun, wind, and water all obey his command...

Nature’s constancy helps us view God from the lens of Jeremiah in Lam 3:22-23 “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”

The God who rules OVER the sun makes all things new!

We have the new covenant in the blood of Jesus…Luke 22:20…the forgiveness of sins

New heart — Ezekiel 36:26...

New self that the Holy Spirit implants and helps to grow — Eph. 4:24...

New creation — 2 Cor. 5:17...

The Christian life is not the same old, same old.

Revelation 21:5 NASB95

And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

We hold on to that promise when life becomes absurd, meaningless, and futile. Through Christ we have relationship with the Creator the provides new meaning all of life.

We were made for a better world. The very fact that we are weary of life is pointing us to the only God who can satisfy our souls.

If we are looking to make a profit, let it not be in what the world offers, rather let it be in the everlasting gain we receive from our Savior in his gift of salvation.