Ecclesiastes #1

Introduction:

Connection

You are going to die. I am going to die. We are all going to die. You might be dead within minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months. Maybe some of us won’t be dead until years down the road. But what is the common denominator? We are all going to die.

Christians have given in to worldly phrases like: passing away, a celebration of life, or resting in peace. What’s the problem with these phrases? They try to make death look nice. We like to make death sound warm. We forget that death is our foe, not our friend. Funerals are not primarily about celebrating life, but rather, grieving the death and loss of a loved one who will leave a gaping hole in our existence for the rest of our days under the sun.

The reality is that death is a deadly enemy—a fierce foe—an enemy that has a 100% success rate in his endeavors. Death is painful, death is sorrowful, death is grievous, and death is sure. The worst part about death is that it doesn’t always like to follow the life-expectancy model. Sometimes it acts as a radical. Sometimes death hits the young—sometimes death attacks those who die before their time—sometimes death snatches away the souls of those who have barely even begun to live. Death is the great, tyrannical prince who reigns over this sinful cosmos. Death feels no mercy, compassion, or pity. It is a cold, apathetic, and stoic enemy. Why do I mention such things?

David Gibson writes: “I am convinced that only a proper perspective on death provides the true perspective on life. Living in light of your death will help you to live wisely and freely and generously. It will give you a big heart and open hands, and enable you to relish all the small things of life in deeply profound ways. Death can also teach you the meaning of mirth [and laughter]. Ecclesiastes also makes a very simple point: life is complex and messy, and sometimes brutally so, but there is a straightforward way to look at the mess. The end will put it all right. The end—when we stand before God as our Creator and Judge—will explain everything. Left to our own devices, we tend to live life forward. Ecclesiastes teaches us to live life backward. It encourages us to take the one thing in the future that is certain—our death—and work backward from that point into all the details and decisions and heartaches of our lives, and to think about them from the perspective of the end. I want to persuade you that only if you prepare to die can you really learn how to live.

I heartily concur. And I would add that only if you prepare to die because of the Victory of Christ over death, can you really learn how to live. Only then, facing the prince of death by the blood of the Lamb—only then will we learn to live in the Spirit—only then, with faith in our victorious King—only then can we properly cry out: where o death is your sting? Where o hades is your victory? Thanks be to God our Father through Jesus Christ our Lord for delivering us from this body of death.

But to rejoicingly sing the song of the Gospel and Life—we must first sorrowfully mope through the song of the Curse and Death.

Theme:

Vanity of Vanities, Vapor of Vapors

Need:

Maybe Christian Book stores need to have more books on Christian Dying, rather than only having books on Christian Living. For we don’t know how to live until we know how to die. Until we face death, we are deluded into a sea of never-ending toys and pleasures to try and cover up the problem that plagues the depths of our souls.

Why such a dire message, pastor? Because until we start to live as dying men and women—we will never be stirred with a sense of Gospel urgency, or with a proper enjoyment of God’s good gifts. In order to properly face life, we need to learn how to properly face death.

Purpose:

To reverse the delusion that tries to convince us that we are immortal, that our life is permanent, and that we are in control of our sphere of existence—to comfort the saints in the sole permanence of Christ who is the same yesterday, today, and forever—and to exhort the saints to live for the glory of God in light of the common curse on this common kingdom.

Only then will we even begin to make sense of the famous assertion: “Preach the Gospel. Die. And be forgotten” - Nikolaus Ludwig Von Zinzendorf

Read Text:

Eccl. 1:1-2 ESV - Ps, Pr, Eccl, Song

PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY

(1) Solomon Preaches as the Covenant Son and King of Israel- v. 1

Ecclesiastes 1:1 ESV

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

In order to unpack the Book of Ecclesiastes, we need to build the proper foundation—asking basic, but difficult questions such as: (1) Who wrote the Book? (2) What genre is the Book?, (3) When was the Book written?, (4) To Whom was the Book written?, and (5) Why was the Book written?

(1) Who wrote the Book?

I’m convinced that the Book of Ecclesiastes is written by King Solomon, later in his life, with a repentant heart, and a reflective spirit. I find too many thematic similarities between proverbs, song of songs, and Ecclesiastes. This is the majority view of church history. Matthew Henry says:

The account we have of Solomon’s apostasy from God, in the latter end of his reign (1 Ki. 11:1), is the tragical part of his story; we may suppose that he spoke his Proverbs in the prime of his time, while he kept his integrity, but delivered his Ecclesiastes when he had grown old (for of the burdens and decays of age he speaks feelingly ch. 12), and was, by the grace of God, recovered from his backslidings

If it looks like a bird, it sounds like a bird, it smells like a bird—it’s probably a bird. The description matches, the style matches, and the story matches. It’s true that the book never says that Solomon is the author, the Hebrew word for the Preacher is Qoheleth, but I am unconvinced by the arguments to the contrary—I could be wrong, so could the majority of Bible-believing-scholars through the ages—but for the rest of this series I am going to refer to the author as Solomon, Qoheleth, or the Preacher (as he himself does).

(2) What genre is the Book?

The genre of the Book of Ecclesiastes is wisdom literature. Wisdom literature is not an epistle (like Romans), it’s not a lawbook (like Leviticus), and it’s not metaphorical apocalyptic writing (like Revelation)—it is a wisdom book (like Proverbs). And wisdom literature is about the Fear of the Lord, which is about how to relate to God, in God’s world, by God’s Word, for God’s glory—even in a fallen cosmos. David Gibson says:

Wisdom Literature asks, what does it mean to fear the Lord in the world the Lord has made? Along with Job, Proverbs, and Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes is a meditation on what it means to be alive in a world that God made and called good, yet which has also gone so very wrong, often in catastrophic ways … Like a punch in the back, it makes painful points we didn’t see coming and which leave us blinking in surprise.

(3) When was the Book written?

If it’s true that Solomon is the author of the Book of Ecclesiastes, then that puts the date of composition to somewhere around the 10th Century BC, during Solomon’s time (1 Kings 1:1-11). But to be honest, due to the scholarly disagreements regarding the author (all from conservatives)—we just can’t know with absolute certainty.

(4) To Whom was the Book written?

If the book was written by Solomon, then it was written by him to the church of Israel, the congregation of the Old Testament people of God. The word for the title of the author, Qoheleth, literally means a gatherer of an assembly, a preacher of a church, a teacher of a community. So this book is not written as a secular nihilist to secular men—this book is written by the covenant king to the covenant people, which will largely impact how it applied to us as the new covenant church, the assembly of Christ, the true Israel of God. One scholar says:

The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) Date and Occasion

While the book’s teaching may be used in evangelism, most Jewish and Christian interpreters have understood Ecclesiastes to be addressed to God’s people, rather than to those who are ignorant of God or in rebellion against Him. The book is God’s wise counsel to those who know His ways but have found them at times to be frustrating and perplexing.

(5) Why was the Book written?

I am convinced that the Book was written for a twofold purpose: (i) to convince us of the vanity of making created things our chief ends and goals in life, and (ii) to convince us of the fleeting vapor of life and how to fear God, keep his commandments, and to enjoy all of his gifts in their proper place. However, I think it’s more about the latter, than the former.

Borgman says: “If God should help us, I would also take great joy in showing you that Ecclesiastes is a book about enjoying life even though it is a mere breath. It is a book about trusting the Giver and enjoying His marvelous gifts in this short and often mysterious life. It is a book that shouts at us, ‘Do not waste your breath (vapor)! Enjoy it while you have it”

So, with Solomon as the author, wisdom literature as the genre, the 10th century BC as the estimated composition, the assembly of Israel as the recipients, and the Fearful Joy of the Lord as the purpose—we dive head first into this mysterious and wonderful book, given by the Lord, to expose our sin, point us to Christ, and train us in righteousness. All Scripture is profitable and breathed out by God—so into this book, trusting the Holy Spirit to lead, teach, and guide—we dive right in.

(1) Solomon Preaches as the Covenant Son and King - v. 1

This takes us to our second point, and the beginning of Solomon’s main point:

(2) Solomon Preaches the Covenant Curse and Vapor of Life- v. 2a

Ecclesiastes 1:2 (ESV)

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,

vanity of vanities!

In order to grasp this covenant curse and vapor of life we need to understand that the meaning of the phrase, vanity of vanities, will set the tone for the rest of the entire Book of Ecclesiastes. Here Solomon is preaching a worldview setting piece of wisdom that is due to Adam and Eve breaking the covenant of works, the cosmos coming under the curse of the law, and death making life a vapor and mist of fleeting air and fog.

The Hebrew word for vanity here is hebel. Hebel of Hebels, says the Preacher, Hebel of Hebels. Hebel does not primarily mean vanity, but rather, vapor. You’ll notice that your Bible probably has a footnote to this effect—because it is the primary meaning of the word hebel.

Thus, the author isn’t saying that life has a lack of purpose or meaning—but that it has a lack of permanence or stability. Life is fleeting like a vapor in the air. Like smoke from a candle. Like fog in the cool of the day. Like our breath on a frigid morning. It is there for a moment but then disappears. This is exactly what James picks up on. James doesn’t say that life is vain, but rather that it is a mist, a vapor, a fleeting and short experience:

James 4:13–14 ESV

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

You are a mist, a vapor, that appears for a little bit of time and then vanishes. Solomon is not arguing for nihilism—that there is no God, no purpose, and no meaning in life. Solomon is the covenant king of Israel, a child of God, and a servant of Yahweh. He knows very well that to make a statement arguing for a lack of meaning in life is tantamount to a denial of God’s purpose, beauty, goodness, and plan in life.

Later Solomon argues that some things are better than others, that God has made everything beautiful in it’s time, and that we are to enjoy God’s good gifts, while fearing his Holy name—that doesn’t sound like vanity to me—but rich purpose and pursuits of glorifying God and enjoying Him forever. Thus, when we read ‘vanity’ in Ecclesiastes we need to think less of a lack of purpose, and more of a lack of permanence.

And I’m not alone in this analysis. DA Carson, Joel Beeke, Jim Newheiser, Bruce Ware, Paul Washer, David Gibson, Brian Borgman, and other conservative scholars agree with this definition and use of the Hebrew word hebel, which all Hebrew lexicons and dictionaries will show that this is it’s primary meaning. On this note, Gibson says:

“I want to propose that many well-intended Bible translation shave actually led us astray by translating the Hebrew word hebel as meaningless or vanity in this context. If one course of action is better than another, than clearly not everything is meaningless. In fact, the Hebrew word hebel is literally translated as breath or breeze. The Preacher is saying that everything is a mist, a vapor, a puff of wind, a bit of smoke. The Preachers’ portrayal of life is this ‘the merest of breaths the merest of breaths. Everything is a breath [a vapor]. “You know what happens when you blow out a candle. How long does the puff of smoke last? The vapor? You can smell it and see it. It’s very real. But it is also transient, temporary, and vanishes quickly. It comes and goes without a permanent impact or a lasting impression on the world.”

Just as Christ is the King of kings, just as God is God of gods, just as the ark was in the Holy of holies, just as Song of Solomon is the Song of songs—so too does he say here that our lives are Vapor of Vapors.

Thus, as we continue through this Book we must remember that it’s not a sour, pessimistic, grim, and depressing book. Yes it’s pointed, yes it unravels our false assumptions, yet it will bring conviction, reality, and truth to bear upon our souls—specifically truth about the curse and fall, sin and rebellion, and what it means to Fear God in a world stained by iniquity and corruption.

We must remember however, that Solomon is giving us wisdom literature—showing us how to glorify God, enjoy God, fear God, and honour God in this context of a broken world. So remember that, vanity of vanities—really means: vapor of vapors, breath of breaths, mist of mist. And let me show how this applies to us, and how we all very well know what it means to live a hebel life, a life of vapor, a life of fleeting mist.

You all remember growing up, don’t you? You all remember your childhood days, when you would go for a car-ride and cry out: are we there yet?! You all remember your birthday parties, your family gatherings, your graduations, your first job, your first home don’t you? You remember all the details of those great steps and monuments in life? Don’t you remember the day and hour of each of them? Don’t you remember and long for the good old days? How long ago were those days? Don’t we often say—I feel like that was yesterday, oh the time goes by so quick.

Gibson says: “You have found ourself saying exactly what you used to hear older people saying all the time: ‘time flies the older you get’. The book of Ecclesiastes is a meditation on what it means for our lives to be like a whisper spoken in the wind: here one minute and carried away forever the next.”

Solomon adds his hearty AMEN! Such is the nature of our fleeting lives—time flies, moments are buried in memories, and before you know it your car rides are no longer marked by are we there yet; and now they are marked by—I can’t believe I’m this old, I can’t believe 1980 was 44 years ago, I can’t believe that my kids are all grown up, I can’t believe that my parents are in the grave or soon to be in the grave. I can’t believe how much society has changed, for better or for worse. I can’t believe how fleetingly fast my days have been.

With James we nod our heads and agree—our life is a mist, it appears for some time and then it vanishes—with Solomon at last we cry out: VAPOR OF VAPORS, HEBEL OF HEBELS, BREATH OF BREATHS. With the Psalmist we lament:

Psalm 39:4–5 ESV

“O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah

But the thing about this fallen world is actually less about the fact that time flies, and more about the fact that time flies and I’m going to die soon—a generation will come and go, I will be forgotten. All of my labors will be buried in the casket with me. All of my friends will be gone too. All of my work and businesses will be taken over by others. All of my hobbies and collections will rot away.

I’ve been told that this church basement used to be used to store horses—I would have never known that, or really cared to know that. Vanity of vanities, vapor of vapors. Think about how much effort somebody put into building a horse-stable, into mucking the stalls, into feeding the animals, into cleaning the place—and what’s the fruit of it? What’s the gain? It’s all been turned into something entirely different—it’s all been lost in the ages of history books, rather, it was never even significant enough to make it into the history books. Vapor of vapors, vanity of vanities. Life comes, and life goes—and life doesn’t care about making sure that you leave a legacy. Even if you do leave a legacy it too will be forgotten one day.

Death is the great avalanche that covers all our efforts with snow. Death is the great sinking sand that swallows you up with no trace left. Death is the great deep sea that leaves ships lost with no recovery, even after search and rescue crews goes out for months on end. Death is the great bottomless pit that bring destruction and decay to all of God’s good and beautiful creation. Vapor of Vapors, all is vapor.

Mankind made the beautiful city of Sodom and Gomorrah, they made the tower of Babel—they laced Babylon and Persia with precious gems from the earth beneath. Glorious works and fashions of human hands. Stunning to look at, filled with delicate materials and fine arts. But where are they now? They’re gone because of judgment due to sin. Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great! A misty city—fallen in a single hour (Rev. 18). The city of man falls, burns, perishes, and is lost forever.

Is there anything that truly abides? Is there anything in this life that has permanence? Is there anything that escapes death and decay? Is there anything that can fight back against the curse of Hebel, against the power of Vapor, against the battalion of Vanity?

To this Solomon says—do you not know what happened when Adam and Eve sinned? Do you not know that we all sinned in Adam (Rom. 5:12)? Do you not know that we all fell with him (1 Cor. 15:22). Do you not know that we are all born guilty, ashamed, and corrupt (Ps. 51:5)? Do you not know that we are born children of wrath, totally depraved, and dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:3)? Do you not know that we are born with bodies that ever since conception have been unwinding the clock of death to Hades (Rev. 9:10-11)? Do you not know that human rebellion and sin has brought the goodness and beauty of creation to a fleeting destruction (Gen. 6-8)?

Gibson tells a story:

“Not long ago I was building sand castles on the beach with my daughter. With some success we built a large castle, dug a moat around it, and surrounded it with smaller castles and turret decorated with shells. She was proud of her work, and we enjoyed being absorbed in our task. But eventually—and to her great surprised—we had to retreat as the tide approached and the waves engulfed our handiwork. The foaming water returned our project to a knobbly patch of ordinary beach. How long do sand castles last? And how much control do we have over the cast we have constructed? We build for a short time only, and always subject to forces beyond our control. That is what our lives are like.”

Do you feel the weight of this yet? Do you feel the delusion of our immortality wearing off yet? Do you feel the Holy Spirit through the Word of God unravelling our lies that we believe about this being our best life now? Do you agree in concert with Solomon, can you say from the depths of your soul: Vanity of vanities, vapor of vapors.

I had deluded myself for years. I’m the oldest cousin on both sides of my family. All of my grandparents and parents are alive. All of my cousins are alive. All of my friends are alive. Death was unknown to me. Pain and Suffering was relatively unknown to me. I was building sandcastles by the shore. And then a few years ago the Lord struck me will illness, pain, suffering, agony, pangs, depression, numbness, migraines, insomnia, extreme fatigue, incredible anxiety, and each day feeling like I was about to die—and oh death became very real to me all of a sudden.

Not only did I prepare myself for eternity with a greater earnestness—I also had a co-worker who was perfectly healthy die out of nowhere. One day he was here, smiling, loving his family—the next day he was gone, his body was left to rot in a casket, and his soul was in heaven with Jesus. I also just followed the story of a an infant who was born with heart problems, fought for over a year, through scores of surgeries, receiving thousands of prayers, and just when it seemed like he was strong and healthy enough to go home—he died during one final surgery, days before his planned release date. Now I can say with Solomon, with a tear in my eye, and understanding in my heart: Vanity of vanities, vapor of vapors.

Robert Punrell pens: “Lo, here is the anatomy of our life; it is a shrub, a leaf, a reed, a rush, a grass, a smoke, a post, a cloud, a wind, a water, a bubble, a vapor, a shadow, a nothing. We no sooner have our being, but we are going to our end; and our strength is as the grass, our beauty as the flower, the grass fades, and the flower withers, and so our glory is gone. Life is uncertain, but death is certain; for we are more sure to die than live; for what is more certain than death? And what is so uncertain as life?”

(2) Solomon Preaches the Covenant Curse and Vapor of Life

This leads us to our third point:

(3) Solomon Preaches the Totality of the Cursed Vapor of Life- v. 2b

Ecclesiastes 1:2 (ESV)

All is vanity.

It’s not just that vanity is above all—it’s not just that it is a vapor of vapors when it occurs—and that this vapor of vapors, this vanity of vanities is an all-encompassing experience for every creature in the entire cosmos. All of us who are under the sun are a vapor, all is a vanity, everything is fleeting! There is a totality to our malady.

And it’s not only humanity that has been affected by the fall—all of creation has been affected too. There is nothing in this present evil age, there is nothing in this material world, there is nothing under the curse of sin that can pull itself out of the never ending cycle of Hebel and Vapor, of Mist and Fleetingness.

Romans 8:20 (ESV): For the creation was subjected to futility, [to Hebel], not willingly, but because of him who subjected it.

The entire creation, the entire cosmos is stained by Hebel. Solomon says, do you not yet understand? Vanity of vanities, says the preacher, vapor of vapors. Everything in this cursed world is either dying or already dead. Decaying or already decayed. Vanishing or already vanished.

There is no escaping it. We cannot build our way to the heavens to run away. We cannot dig ourselves into the pit to bury away. We cannot find an immortal potion in natural herbs. We cannot modify our genes to make us live forever. Nobody and nothing escapes the vanity fair, the vapor and mist of life in a fallen world:

Borgman says: “Hebel is a constant in everyone’s life. The life of the sinner and the life of the saint are both marked by hebel [vapor and fleetingness]. Nobody escapes it. It is a reality for those who love God and those who hate Him. There is no escaping it. Life is short and elusive, for everyone. Barry Webb noted, ‘Belief in God does not relieve the observed and experienced fact of hebel. So faith does not make the fog of hebel go away. The point of the book is not how to get around hebel, but how to cope with it and thrive within it!”

Becoming a Christian does not remove the ongoing corruption of sin in our lives, it does not solve all of our temporal problems. We don’t get an automatic anti-hebel flask when we are born-again. But do you know what we do get? Do you know what we are promised when we come to Jesus? Do you know what we are guaranteed if we repent and believe in the Gospel? Do you know what isn’t stained by hebel, by corruption, by sin, by the curse, by the fall?

The new heavens and new earth—glory—Immanuel’s land—the heavenly Zion—the heavenly Canaan—true paradise flowing with milk and honey—the eternal temple of God—the new world which shall never end—the age to come—the eternal Kingdom of God—the never ending kingdom of Christ—the treasures of heaven—our everlasting inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you! Our inheritance is an anti-hebel inheritance thanks to Jesus! Eternal Life! Salvation! Redemption! Restoration! Reconciliation! Forgiveness of sins! Adoption into the family of God! Being washed by the Word and Spirit! Resurrection! Glorification! Oh beloved—the only way to ultimately escape Hebel, and ultimately Hell, is through the blood of the Lamb, through Jesus Christ, through Calvary’s Cross, through the promise of the Gospel, through our living Hope, through our Great High Priest, through our Final Prophet, through our Reigning King, through the Godman, the only Mediator between God and man, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Jesus was born in a sinless body and soul by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the womb of the virgin Mary—a body tainted by Hebel, but not by Sin—and He conquered the works of the Devil, He obeyed the law perfectly, He went to the Cross to drink the curse of the Law, He satisfied the wrath of God for all who repent and believe—and three days later when he rose from the dead what happens? Resurrection—yes—but for the first time since the Garden of Eden, there is a body and soul that is no longer bound by Hebel! His humanity became a new creation, it was glorified, He was exalted above the heavens, he ascended into glory with an indestructible life, and he ever lives to make intercession for his precious people through the blood of the eternal covenant. Jesus didn’t just come to save our souls—He came to reverse Hebel. He came to undue to curse. He came to make all things news. As the old hymn, Joy to the World goes:

“No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found.

That’s it! This cosmic redemption for the elect, overflowing into the age to come! He came to make a new world, wherein righteousness dwells, where the saints reign forever and ever, where we behold the beauty and glory of the Lord in the face of Jesus Christ by the Spirit of freedom for all eternity.

Romans 8:20–21 ESV

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Jesus didn’t just taste Hebel for his people, He destroyed Hebel. He ushered in a new creation, He is the firstfruits of the resurrection, the first one to taste the glory that Adam fell from, that we all fell from in Adam. Jesus came to bring many sons to glory—He came to save our souls, yes, but also to save our Hebel-laden bodies. He came to save his cosmos that he created, and to restore it to the Tree of Life—for the healing of the nations. Through faith in Jesus—our souls are redeemed, we are made right with God—and when Jesus returns, our bodies will be raised imperishable, and we shall enter into a world where Hebel will only be a memory, and when the blood of the Lamb will be our song for all eternity—when death will be swallowed up in victory and we shall sing:

Revelation 5:9–10 ESV

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

All is vanity—all is vapor—yes, but not forever—when Jesus returns all things will be made new. We will reign on the earth—we will defy the power of Hebel by the grace of the eternal Son of God. Run to Jesus. Rest in Jesus. And live for Jesus. When He returns he will bring his bride to the marriage supper of the Lamb—and he won’t lose any of his precious sheep. In Him we stand complete.

(3) Solomon Preaches the Totality of the Cursed Vapor of Life- v. 2b

This leads us to our conclusion:

(C) Remember that Life is Fleeting, the World is Cursed, Death is Sure, but Christ is Lord—So Seek First His Eternal Kingdom and Eternal Life.

Revelation 21:5–7 ESV

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

Charles Bridges writes: “The desponding cry—all is vanity—is now [filled] with the joyous burst of experiential confidence—Precious Saviour! Be thou my portion.”

Until that glorious day—Ecclesiastes will show us how to deal with the Hebel and Vapor of this present evil age, as we journey as pilgrims to the City of God.

Hebrews 13:14 ESV

For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

In light of death—let us learn how to truly live—glorifying God and enjoying Him forever.

(C) Remember that Life is Fleeting, the World is Cursed, Death is Sure, but Christ is Lord—So Seek First His Eternal Kingdom and Eternal Life.

Amen, let’s pray.

Questions for Discipleship Groups:

(1) What is the proper meaning of Hebel? (Often translated Vanity in most Bibles).

(2) Do you agree that you need to properly face death in order to properly live for God’s glory?

(3) Have you been influenced by worldly ideas or phrases regarding death, and the purpose of life?

(4) Who likely wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes?

(5) Have you experienced a moment when you realized that life was Hebel, a fleeting vapor?

(6) Does anything in this created world escape the reality of Hebel in this life?

(7) Does the certainty of death fill you with fear and anxiety?

(8) How can we defeat this fear and anxiety relating to the certainty of death?

(9) How does the Gospel of Jesus Christ bring certain victory over Hebel and Death?

(10) How then shall we live in light of the Gospel while we journey to Zion through this earthly Hebel?