Ecclesiastes 1 Bible Study
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Ecclesiastes 1 Bible Study
Without Jesus, Everything is Meaningless
** Play Ecclesiastes overview video from The Bible Project
The Bible is never shy about confronting painful truths or hard questions. The book of Ecclesiastes faces the issue of how we can find meaning in life in light of the seemingly futile nature of everything. It will not allow the reader to retreat into superficial answers. It does not answer this problem by comforting us with hollow slogans.[1] Ecclesiastes is not filled with common Christian cliches by any means. The book deals with some harsh realities in life and shows how ‘real’ the Bible is.
This book forces us to face the futility of human existence, and it guides us to a life free of empty purpose. Each week of this Bible study, we are going to see how all of the big themes of Ecclesiastes are meaningless without Jesus. Indeed, as we will see from chapter 1, “Without Jesus, Everything is Meaningless.”
Let’s read through this passage, a few verses at a time, starting with…
1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 “Absolute futility,” says the Teacher.
“Absolute futility. Everything is futile.”
3 What does a person gain for all his efforts
that he labors at under the sun?
1:1 The Hebrew word qoheleth, here translated as Teacher, probably means “assembly leader.” It is not the ordinary word for “teacher.” It is a rare Hebrew word (found seven times in Ecclesiastes and nowhere else in the Bible), and it could mean “public speaker.” It is the author’s self-designation throughout the book. For this reason, the book of Ecclesiastes is often called “Qoheleth.” The words son of David, king in Jerusalem could refer to any Davidic king of Judah, but only Solomon was king over all Israel from Jerusalem (v. 12).
Solomon is “The Teacher”, “The Preacher.” And having the experience, riches, and wisdom, he can truly say about the things of life, “Been there, done that.”
Solomon is highly qualified to be the author of this book because he had it all and tried it all. As one commentator (Shaw) has explained, it appears that Solomon’s purpose in not using his name in the opening of the book is because he does not want the reader to see this book as a kind of official pronouncement like a king might give. Instead, he wants us to see or hear, the words of a wise man, who is unparalleled in wisdom and experience.
Solomon experienced everything life could offer, yet he’s going to say that a life perspective that’s disconnected from God is not truly living… Without God, life is empty. It’s nothing more than the temporary things you use to fill it up.[2]
Here’s even more context on Solomon, our author: When David died, he handed the kingdom of Israel over to his son Solomon. God came to Solomon in a dream and told him that anything he asked of God would be granted to him. Solomon was young and inexperienced, so he asked for wisdom in order to have the ability to rule the nation well and uphold justice (1 Kgs 3:5–15). God granted Solomon’s request, and Solomon used his great wisdom to rule the kingdom. One of the ways Solomon established a glorious kingdom was through his thousands of wise sayings and songs that people from all over the world came to hear (1 Kgs 4:29–34). Much of his wisdom is now contained in Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes.[3]
However, the wisest man in the ancient world became a greedy, lustful, power-hungry, idolatrous fool. He violated the kingly commands of Deuteronomy 17 and accumulated possessions as well as women for himself. He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines (1 Kgs 11:3). The foreign women he married pulled his heart away from Yahweh to false gods (1 Kgs 11:1–8). He did not deny himself anything he wanted. As a result he ruined his kingdom, and God told Solomon that following his death his kingdom would be divided during his son’s reign (1 Kgs 11:9–13).
Tradition says that Ecclesiastes reveals an older, repentant Solomon contemplating his mistakes and what he has learned[4]. We have no way of verifying if that was the case or not, but the book does seem to take that tone.
1:2 Hevel, the Hebrew word for futile, basically means “vapor” or “breath,” but it comes to mean “vain,” “transitory,” or “futile.” It does not necessarily mean that something is altogether worthless, but it implies that something is at best only of fleeting value. In the context of Ecclesiastes, it means that things done “under the sun” are only of temporary significance and therefore, set against eternity, they have no real value.[5]
Jon Akin has explained thati, “Like children who do not say thank you for Christmas presents, we now worship the gifts rather than the Giver. We look to temporary things like pleasure, sex, money, stuff, popularity, and success for lasting satisfaction they cannot give. Remember, it’s not that these things are bad. They are good gifts from God. But when we turn a gift into a god from which we seek ultimate satisfaction, it will let us down and enslave us.”[6]
Because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the garden, creation has been placed under the curse of the fall. Romans 8 elaborates on this. The theme of futility runs throughout the whole of Scripture.
Without God, our thoughts and attitudes are futile.
Without God, our work is futile.
Without God, our religious activities are futile. Even Christian religious activities can be futile apart from the Lord. Remember what Jesus said in John 15:5 ? “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.”
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.
Without God, our very lives are futile… our life is a mist/vapor.
And yet, God wants to deliver us from the futility that saturates our lives.
Consider Peter’s words from 1 Peter 1:18-19: 18 For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb.
18 For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb.
4 A generation goes and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets;
panting, it hurries back to the place
where it rises.
6 Gusting to the south,
turning to the north,
turning, turning, goes the wind,
and the wind returns in its cycles.
7 All the streams flow to the sea,
yet the sea is never full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
The sun, wind, and waters are all in constant motion, but they never accomplish anything. The seasons come and go. In the same way, each generation comes and goes, but does not change the world in any fundamental way. Worse, each generation of people (unlike the sun, wind, and water) passes away. We are infinitely more temporal that those that God first put into creation so long ago.
I think about that TobyMac song with Zach Williams called “Cornerstone.” Maybe you’ve heard it, since it’s been on the radio for a while. When the chorus comes, we get this stanza:
The sun goes up, the sun comes down
This old world keeps spinnin' 'round
I'm here travelin' down this long and winding road
Seasons come and seasons go
They take me high, then leave me low
But I'm still standing on the only rock I know
You're my cornerstone
Toby told People Magazine that he was inspired to write that song after sharing some words of wisdom with his grieving family at the funeral of his oldest son Truett, who died at the age of 21 after a drug overdose. .
Toby said "This song was birthed at my firstborn's funeral service. A broken man, I looked my family in the eyes and said, 'We have to rebuild. Our hearts have been shattered into a thousand pieces,'" he recalls. "We cannot build on the promises of this world. They will let us down every time. We have to build on the promises of God. We have to build our lives on the solid rock, the cornerstone."
James 4:14 says, “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.” Living knowing that your life is a vapor is different than just apathetically living your life. You live in such a way that you know deeply that your days are numbers. You have an expiration date, and you don’t know when that is.
14 Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.
In the words of John Piper, “Life Is Short. Eternity Is Long. Live Like It… Time is precious. We are fragile. Life is short. Eternity is long. Every minute counts.”[7]
I’ve been told by those who take care of their aging parents that something that they notice is that in their aging parents, they are realizing that their world is getting smaller… You realize that things here are passing away. So, you’ve got to hold on to what will stand.
I think about that song “Cornerstone” by Hillsong – different song that the TobyMac one.
That song opens up with these lyrics:
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness
And I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly trust in Jesus name
When darkness seems to hide His face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil
Christ alone, cornerstone
Weak made strong in the Savior's love
Through the storm
He is Lord, Lord of all
Well, whether we like it or not, death is inevitable, and because of the fall of humanity into sin, death is a judgment from God. Because mortality was ultimately conquered at the cross, our future dwelling with God will last for an eternity.
Consider what Jesus said in John 11:25-26: 25 Jesus said to her (Martha), “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. 26 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. 26 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
8 All things are wearisome,
more than anyone can say.
The eye is not satisfied by seeing
or the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Can one say about anything,
“Look, this is new”?
It has already existed in the ages before us.
11 There is no remembrance of those who came before;
and of those who will come after
there will also be no remembrance
by those who follow them.
People would like to do something new, to be remembered for making a significant contribution to the world. We long and strive for lasting significance but cannot attain it. There’s nothing new under the sun, as is highlighted in verses 8-10. Our efforts are as if we are trying to catch the wind – but we can’t. It’s here one minute and gone the next, just like our lifespan.
Remember Psalm 103:15-18:
15 As for man, his days are like grass—
he blooms like a flower of the field;
16 when the wind passes over it, it vanishes,
and its place is no longer known.
17 But from eternity to eternity
the Lord’s faithful love is toward those who fear him,
and his righteousness toward the grandchildren
18 of those who keep his covenant,
who remember to observe his precepts.
15 As for man, his days are like grass—
he blooms like a flower of the field;
16 when the wind passes over it, it vanishes,
and its place is no longer known.
17 But from eternity to eternity
the Lord’s faithful love is toward those who fear him,
and his righteousness toward the grandchildren
18 of those who keep his covenant,
who remember to observe his precepts.
Remember, context is everything. The truths of verses 15-16 are as prominent as verses 17-18. Even though our days are like grass, and our life is a mist, a vapor – from eternity to eternity the Lord’s faithful love is toward those who fear him. The Lord is the Good Shepherd to his sheep, those who know his voice, and how precious this promise is for those of us who fear the Lord.
The Preacher says all that is done under the sun suffers the same fate. We labor under the sun, but will never have the significance or impact that it has. No matter how great our accomplishments, humans will not achieve the lasting impact that we desire. Ecclesiastes 1:11 drives home this conclusion. At the end of the day, we have to reckon with the probability that our great-grandchildren will probably not know us personally, and they may not even come to know all that much about us. And yet, we can still pass on a lasting, godly legacy to our family for current and future generations.
This passage from chapter one evokes a longing for meaning. Theology professor Justin S. Holcomb has said, “There is a blanket observation of the futility of human accomplishment that makes the heart long for the stark contrast of Jesus’s work for, in, and through us that is new and will be forever remembered. When we come to believe in Jesus – partaking of the new covenant that gives new birth, new life, and a new commandment – we enter into a new workforce. Now, what we do matters, as it is done for the sake of the gospel and the glory of God. In Christ, our labor in the Lord is not in vain.”[8]
Remember 1 Corinthians 15:58: Therefore (because of the resurrection of Christ and its implications), my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
When we are obeying the Great Commandment and Great Commission, then we should rest in the fact that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. What is required of stewards of the gospel (as Paul would say in 1 Cor. 4:2), is that we are to be found faithful/trustworthy.
I am reminded of a certain missionary’s lines in one of his poems when he said, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
Charles Thomas Studd, who served as a British missionary to China, penned a famous poem that helps us to consider the only worthy way to use the life God has given to us—for Christ! May God help us to be ever mindful that only what is done for Christ will last. Lord, help us.
Only One Life
By C.T. Studd
Two little lines I heard one day,
Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart,
And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
In the words of Jesus, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Matt. 5:6 ).
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Our labor in the Lord has meaning even when it doesn’t feel like it. “Be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” Your work in the name of the Lord is NOT vanity. It’s not meaningless.· Story of Olivia Alvis keeping my notes from the last book study I led with IBC Youth group.
Something that I’ve struggled with in Christian ministry is: Am I even “doing anything here?” I think, “Is what I am doing and saying even having much of an impact?” Serve the Lord, and serve other people long enough, and I bet you will start coming to you with stories of remembrance in your life.
“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12
12 I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to examine and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven. God has given people this miserable task to keep them occupied. 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said to myself, “See, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has thoroughly grasped wisdom and knowledge.” 17 I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly; I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.
18 For with much wisdom is much sorrow;
as knowledge increases, grief increases.
We live in a culture with more money, more entertainment, more pleasurable experiences, more recreation, and more stuff than any previous generation could ever have dreamed, and pain pills and antidepressants fly over the counters of our pharmacies. It’s a miserable world where one of the funniest and richest men the world has ever seen—Robin Williams—kills himself in despair.
Nothing seems to satisfy us in this life. Our kids love blowing bubbles in the Summer. They’ll run around trying to catch bubbles and the moment they get touched, they pop and disappear. There is an illustration for this passage. That our efforts in this fallen world are like trying to catch the wind in our hand. We are confronted with the fact that the world is under a curse.
As Romans 8:18-21 says: 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it—in the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it—in the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.
Ecclesiastes gives a bleak look on life, but the Spirit had a purpose for inspiring this book to be written. He wants to expose the meaninglessness of life in a cursed world in order to create a hunger for something better (Kidner, Ecclesiastes, 27). Ecclesiastes wants to push us to faith and contentment in God.[9]
Let’s practice what Paul wrote about in Philippians 4 when he said he learned to be content in whatever circumstance he found himself in. And that the secret of being content is that he knew that he was able to do all things (in life and ministry) through Christ who strengthens him.
Let’s pray Psalm 90:12, as we close out our time together.
12 Teach us to number our days carefully
so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.
12 Teach us to number our days carefully
so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.
Let’s pray...
[1]Duane A. Garrett, “Ecclesiastes,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1003.
v. verse
[2]Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2019), 616.
[3]Daniel L. Akin and Jonathan Akin, Exalting Jesus in Ecclesiastes (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2016), Ec 1:1–12:14.
[4]Daniel L. Akin and Jonathan Akin, Exalting Jesus in Ecclesiastes (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2016), Ec 1:1–12:14.
[5]Duane A. Garrett, “Ecclesiastes,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1006.
[6]Daniel L. Akin and Jonathan Akin, Exalting Jesus in Ecclesiastes (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2016), Ec 1:1–12:14.
[7]https://www.desiringgod.org/books/life-as-a-vapor#:~:text=%22You%20do%20not%20know%20what,is%20different%20than%20just%20living.
[8]Holcomb, 13-14.
[9]Daniel L. Akin and Jonathan Akin, Exalting Jesus in Ecclesiastes (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2016), Ec 1:12–18.