Where Can We Find Fulfillment?
Notes
Transcript
Where Can We Find Fulfillment?
I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
And I applied myself by heart and mind to seek and search out by [human] bwisdom all human activity under heaven. It is a miserable business which cGod has given to the sons of man with which to busy themselves.
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity, a striving after the wind and a feeding on wind.
What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is defective and lacking cannot be counted.
I entered into counsel with my own mind, saying, Behold, I have acquired great [human] wisdom, yes, more than all who have been over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has had great experience of [moral] wisdom and [scientific] knowledge.
And I gave my mind to know [practical] wisdom and to discern [the character of] madness and folly [in which men seem to find satisfaction]; I perceived that this also is a searching after wind and a feeding on it.
For in much [human] wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
Imagine a total plunge into hedonism-following every possible avenue of self-seeking pleasure and satisfaction. Now let your imagination grow further, having the political and financial means to indulge yourself to the fullest possible extent... and with no guilt!
DISCUSSION. Pass out a number of magazines and look through the advertisements. What avenues do people look to today in their quest for fulfillment?
PERSONAL REFLECTION. If there is one thing, other than God, that you are tempted to give yourself to, what is it?
Hedonist imagination turns to reality in this section of Ecclesiastes— surely one of the most colorful passages in the Bible. Here is one person's attempt at something many only dream about. Read
Ecclesiastes 1:12-18.
1. How does the Teacher describe himself and his quest?
2. Why does the author call his search for wisdom "a heavy burden" (1:13)?
3. What does the Teacher conclude from his quest?
In what ways have you found this to be true?
4. Read Ecclesiastes 2:1-16
I SAID in my mind, Come now, I will prove you with mirth and test you with pleasure; so have a good time [enjoy pleasure]. But this also was vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)! [Luke 12:19, 20.]
I said of laughter, It is mad, and of pleasure, What does it accomplish?
I searched in my mind how to cheer my body with wine—yet at the same time having my mind hold its course and guide me with [human] wisdom—and how to lay hold of folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.
I made great works; I built myself houses, I planted vineyards.
I made for myself gardens and orchards and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.
I made for myself pools of water from which to water the forest and make the trees bud.
I bought menservants and maidservants and had servants born in my house. Also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.
I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got for myself men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men—dconcubines very many.
So I became great and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me and stood by me.
And whatever my eyes desired I kept not from them; I withheld not my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my portion and reward for all my toil.
Then I looked on all that my hands had done and the labor I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it, and there was no profit under the sun.
So I turned to consider [human] wisdom and madness and folly; for what can the man do who succeeds the king? Nothing but what has been done already.
Then I saw that even [human] 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.
Then said I in my heart, As it happens to the fool, so it will happen even to me. And of what use is it then for me to be more wise? Then I said in my heart, This also is vanity (emptiness, vainglory, and futility)!
For of the wise man, the same as of the fool, there is no permanent remembrance, since in the days to come all will be long forgotten. And how does the wise man die? Even as the fool!
Describe the various avenues the Teacher tested in his quest for fulfillment.
How does he expect to find fulfillment through these things?
5. What advantages would he have over the average person in his search for satisfaction?
6. How have you, with more limited resources, carried out a similar quest?
7. In 2:12-16 he outlines two approaches to discovering meaning in
life. What are the advantages and limitations of these two approaches?
8. What prompts his change of perspective (2:14-16)?
9. In the first six chapters the Teacher repeats his thesis that "all is meaningless" twenty-one times. How does he show that life is meaningless in 1:12—2:16?
10. How have you been convinced of the meaninglessness of living outside of Christ's lordship?
11. What would help you turn your desire for meaning in life into a wholehearted pursuit of God?
Pray that God would transform your "small ambitions" into his great ambition for you.
Now or Later
Meditate on Matthew 6:33: "Seek first his kingdom and his righteous-ness, and all these things will be given to you as well." How does this verse give perspective to your life right now?
