Everything is Vanity

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after. I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted. I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

And then if you would, flip over with me to the last chapter, chapter 12…starting in verse 8:

Ecclesiastes 12:8–14 ESV

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Thanks be to God for His Word…you can be seated.

There’s a book I’ve been using to help me study Ecclesiastes (its called Living Life Backward) and in the preface to that book, the author, he writes, “I am going to die. By the time you read these lines, I may even be dead.” He says, “It’s not that I have a [mortal] disease or a terminal illness. A doctor has not pronounced on how I am going to die. I don’t know when I will die. I just know I will. I am going to die, and so are you. But here is why I wrote this book: I am ready to die.”

Now, I know what you’re thinking…“Wow, Pastor…You’ve really got us off to a happy start this morning!”

Hopefully at this point, you’ve noticed that we’re in a new book…we’re gonna be walking through the book of Ecclesiastes for the remainder of the summer. And listen, a lot of times this book, its really taken out of context. A lot of scholars they tend to translate the message of this book by saying that all things are meaningless…But that’s actually not the point of this book.

Ecclesiastes, it shows us that our life…its complex, its messy…But the point of it, its to get you to look at the end of your life…The point of the book, its not to say that all things are meaningless…its to show you where all meaning is found.

I’ve said this before…maybe you’ve even realized this as we’ve gone to our text this morning…but I love to read the last parts of a book before I decide to read a book. I don’t wanna waste my time reading a book that I’ll hate in the end. I wanna know what happens…I wanna know if I’m gonna like the ending, right? And at the end of Ecclesiastes, the author, he shows us that the end of life, it explains everything we need know.

In fact, knowing a little context here helps us understand the book a lot better. It was written by King Solomon…he even says in verse 1 that he’s the son of David, king in Jerusalem…And listen, Solomon, he had everything you could possibly dream of…he had wealth and wisdom…power, pleasure. He had everything! And yet, in the end…he realized he had nothing at all…it was all vanity! Ecclesiastes, it was written toward the end of Solomon’s life around 935 B.C. and it was written to kind of use his life as an example to future generations. “Don’t be like me!”

As you’ll see…Solomon, he refers to himself over and over again as “The Preacher” which simply translates into teacher. And again, the point here…Solomon wants to use his life as a teaching moment for the next generation.

Listen, a lot of times, we leave ourselves to our own devices…we tend to live life forward, right? One day follows the next, weeks turn into months, months into years…We acknowledge that we don’t know or control the future and yet we plan for the future…we hope for the future…we dream of what life might be like in the future. Right? We live life forward constantly reaching for the end!

Solomon, the purpose of his book…the purpose of this sermon series…its to teach us, instead…how to live life backward…with death being the start.

Guys, our future, it’s certain…we’re all gonna die, right? And so, my encouragement this morning…and in the weeks to come…see your death, right now…and live your life backward from that point. All the details…all the decisions….all the things you might walk through…the Bible, its encouraging you to do those things with your death in mind.

David Gibson, the author of Living Life Backward, he writes, “If we know for sure where we’re heading, then we can know for sure what we need to do before we get there. Ecclesiastes invites us to let the end sculpt our priorities and goals, our greatest ambitions and our strongest desires.” He says, “I wanna persuade you that only if you prepare to die can you really learn how to live.”

I believe that’s the heart of Solomon when he was writing this book…He was a man at the end of his life…and he’s writing to his son. “Live life ready to die.”

And so, if you’re taking notes this morning, I have three points for us as we walk through chapter 1 and as we close with the last parts of chapter 12…Point number 1, Everything is temporary…number 2, Everything is unsatisfying…and then finally, Everything has purpose.

And so, if you have your Bible open with me…your notepad out…let’s dive into this first point together.

I. Everything is Temporary (vv. 1:1-11)

Everything is temporary.

Ecclesiastes 1:1–8 (ESV)

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

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,

vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

What does man gain by all the toil

at which he toils under the sun?

A generation goes, and a generation comes,

but the earth remains forever.

The sun rises, and the sun goes down,

and hastens to the place where it rises.

The wind blows to the south

and goes around to the north;

around and around goes the wind,

and on its circuits the wind returns.

All streams run to the sea,

but the sea is not full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they flow again.

All things are full of weariness;

a man cannot utter it;

the eye is not satisfied with seeing,

nor the ear filled with hearing.

“Vanity of Vanities, says the Preacher!”

Again, many of our Bible translations, they’re a little misleading when it comes to defining the word “vanity.” It’s actually the Hebrew word “hebel,” and a lot of times, they use the English word “meaningless” in place of vanity. And listen, I’m not trying to discredit any Bible translations out there…If you’ve studied Greek and Hebrew…you’d know, trying to capture the meaning in English, it can be really difficult.

But guys, Solomon’s not trying to say that life’s meaningless. That’s not his perspective at all. As we go through this book over the next several months, he’s actually gonna make statements saying that some things are better than others. Meaning, if something’s better than another, then not everything is meaningless, right? You following me?

Understanding the word “vanity,” it’s important because Solomon uses it over 30 times throughout this book. And again, its the Hebrew word “hebel,” which means breath, or vapor…a mist. He’s saying something’s here and then it’s just gone…It’s a puff of a wind…a bit of smoke. It’s why I’ve titled this series, “Chasing the Wind.”

We see the same words used in Psalm 39 and Psalm 144 where it says, “Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath (a vapor…vanity)!…or “man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.”

Solomon’s saying, “That’s what life’s like.” Especially when it’s purely lived on a horizontal plane…, “under the sun.” It’s like a breath…Everything is vanity…everything is a breath.

He’s showing us that our life…it’s short…it’s temporary…it’s gonna vanish quickly! Right?

It’s elusive…like we can see where we’re heading…but it’s like smoke, we can’t grasp it…It’s always evading us, making us want more and more. Right? Like we can pour ourselves into something and then when we finally get that thing, we just want more. Or maybe you pour yourself into to something just to realize your success or your failure, it doesn’t really fall in your hands at all.

We see life’s repetitive…we follow the same pattern as those that came before us. We’re born, we live our lives, we die. We seek the same things, we give ourselves to the same things. It’s repetitive.

And when you look at verse 3…its really a soul-wrenching question, right?

“What does a man gain by all the toil (or by all his work) at which he toils under the sun?”

Verses 4 through 11, that’s Solomon’s answer to his question…which if you walk through each of these statements, the answer’s pretty clear…it’s nothing. From a life full of labor and from a life of toil under the sun, people gain absolutely nothing. That word “gain,” it’s referring to the idea that there’s something leftover, at the end. The idea that we’re profiting something.

That’s why Jesus makes the statement He does in Mark 8:36:

Mark 8:36 (ESV)

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

The answer’s nothing because man’s life is temporary.

The question Solomon’s asking here, “At the end of your life…what will the surplus be? What will you leave behind?”

Starting in verse 4, he answers that for us by looking at God’s creation as a whole. The only thing we leave behind when we die, its the earth we used to live on. And listen, the earth…it’s gonna continue spinning just the way it did before…except without you and me. My life, it’s gonna come to an end…and while I might leave a godly legacy (which I hope I do…we talked about that last week)…my children I leave behind…they’re simply apart of the generations who‘ll come and go…and they’ll eventually leave behind the same earth that carries on just the same way it did before.

Our lives don’t alter God’s creation or God’s design. It continues to go round and round…Nothing we do, changes the fact that we labor and we toil and then we die…and earth just stays the same. Everything goes round and round…everything comes and goes…everything rises and sets…what’s been, will always be again…and what’s present now will soon pass away.

Isn’t that what Solomon says here? The sun chases its tail…the wind goes to the south and comes back around to the north. Streams flow into the sea, just to be evaporated and flow into the sea all over again. It’s repetitive, its temporary.

Everything’s a breath…our lives being the quickest of breaths. That’s the point of Solomon’s examples here…he’s using God’s creation and he’s relating that to mankind. Just as the water pours into the ocean again and again without ever filling it, so is the things we take in from the world…through our speech and through our eyes…through our hearing (verse 8)…none of it completely satisfies us…which we’ll talk more about in the next point. It’s all temporary.

It’s like walking into the kitchen and seeing the sink full of dishes…and so, you roll your sleeves up…you wash the dishes…you put ‘em in the cabinet…just the find the same problem tomorrow. Or maybe it’s laundry…you see the hamper full of clothes and so you wash ‘em…you put ‘em in the dryer…you fold ‘em…you put ‘em up…just to find the hamper full the next week. There’s always more bills or more texts…more haircuts…your yards‘ll always need to be mowed. It never ends. Everything moves but nothing ever changes. It’s the cycle of life. It’s exhausting…its unsatisfying.

But wasn’t that the picture God painted for Adam and Eve after they fell into sin, all the way back in the garden, back in Genesis? The Bible tells us God created this paradise for Adam and Eve to live in…He said it was all “good.” It was all “very good.” But we know Genesis chapter 3, their rebellion against God…we know the consequences, they were thrown out of the garden…a guard was placed on the east side to keep them from coming back in…And the idea of work and provision, God promised it was gonna be hard.

Guys, Ecclesiastes, its driving home the point that life in this fallen world (east of Eden), because of sin…its all vanity now…its a vapor. That’s not the way life was meant to be.

That’s the backdrop of Solomon’s book. God created this world good with a design for everything in it. God created the world as a perfect place for His people…He gave ‘em gifts like food, and drink…relationships…even things like sex. And God designed these things to be used as He intended…They were designed to cause our hearts to worship our Creator…so when we eat and when we drink…when we enjoy sex with our spouse…these activities, they were meant to elicit a reaction of praise and gratitude to God for His good gifts.

But guys, because of sin, because we’re slaves to sin…everything’s been distorted. It’s all vanity…And now there’s only death.

Alistair Begg, he wrote in respond to that truth, “If we [now] try to make the temporal bear the weight of the eternal, we’ll crush it and be disappointed by it.”

Listen, we expect jobs, or relationships, accomplishments to carry the weight of our identity…but guys, they weren’t made to do those things. They’re all temporary. And when we anchor our souls to these temporary things, we drift further away from God.

That’s why Solomon asks the question, “What does a man gain by all the toil?” He’s pushing us toward the only logical conclusion of our position. If this life is all there is, then what permanent value can you really obtain in this life?

Verse 9:

Ecclesiastes 1:9–11 (ESV)

What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done,

and there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there a thing of which it is said,

“See, this is new”?

It has been already

in the ages before us.

There is no remembrance of former things,

nor will there be any remembrance

of later things yet to be

among those who come after.

He says there’s nothing new, there’s nothing remembered. Out of the trillions and trillions of people that have come before us…a very small fraction of those people are actually remembered, right? And what you actually know about ‘em is an even smaller portion of their life. And listen, we do the same exact things people did before us…there’s nothing new.

That’s the answer to his question…What do we gain from our work? Nothing!

Listen, Solomon’s goal here, it’s not to depress us. He’s trying to disillusion us…he’s trying to deprogram us. He wants to wake us up to the reality that only a life connected to God, only a life as God intended…can give us lasting purpose.

When you remove God from the equation, even the most impressive life story, it ends up sounding exactly like verse 11, “There’s no remembrance of the former things…” All of our striving, it becomes like forgettable dust. You’ll live and you’ll die and you’ll be forgotten by most…and with time, you’ll be forgotten by all.

That’s why one preacher said, “Preach the gospel. Die. Be forgotten.”

And so listen, before we move on…let me ask you a question, “Are you expecting created things…things Solomon says is temporal…are you expecting those things to give you what only your Creator can?”

Guys, there’s only one thing in this universe that’s eternal…and there’s only one thing that can promise eternity. Stop searching for purpose in temporary things! If you’re not careful…you’ll come and you’ll go, your life’ll be over and you’ll open your eyes on the other side realizing just how temporary things really were. Let your identity be defined by something else…let the meaning of your life be defined by the One who created it.

II. Everything is Unsatisfying (vv. 1:12-18)

Point number 2…everything is unsatisfying.

Look at the last section of chapter 1 with me again. It says this, starting in verse 12:

Ecclesiastes 1:12–18 (ESV)

I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

What is crooked cannot be made straight,

and what is lacking cannot be counted.

I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.

For in much wisdom is much vexation,

and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

Listen, one of the things I love most…it’s watching Eli play outside. He loves being outside…and in the summer, he loves bubbles. He blows ‘em…he chases ‘em…but when he catches ‘em, they pop, right?

Now I want you to imagine for just a moment…our deacon team...or our leadership, they’re outside trying to catch bubbles with a net…or maybe trying to catch wind with a net. If you saw that, would you trust their leadership?…I mean, most of us, we’d probably say no, right? And rightfully so! And yet…if we were honest about our own lives…we’d have to admit that almost all of our effort to find meaning and satisfaction…what we’re pursuing…it’s in things like entertainment…or possessions…money, success. Those things look like meaningful pursuits and yet that’s exactly what Solomon’s exposing here. We’re grasping at the air…we’re chasing the wind with a net.

According to Solomon…it doesn’t matter where…it doesn’t what you try to find meaning in…in the end, you’re gonna fail to be satisfied. He gives us his personal testimony here…he’s seen it all…he’s done it all…and in the end, he came up empty.

Listen, I’ve heard it all…I’ve heard all the justifications to the things we pursue. “If I just had more money…if I just had better friends…If I didn’t have this disease…if that were the case, life would be better.”

Solomon was a guy that had everything and yet his life’s wasn’t better. He had all the wisdom in the world…and it only increased his sorrow. Because through his wisdom, he learned nothing else mattered.

Guys, a lot of us can relate…we’ve gone to God in prayer, right? We’ve asked Him for a spouse…we’ve begged Him for children…we’ve asked Him for that job…or that new house…to heal us from sickness. And listen, now that you’re married…now that you have kids…now that you have the job you thought you wanted or the house you bought…now that you’re healed from whatever sickness He’s taken away…we find ourselves just as discontent as we were before.

Nothing ever completely satisfies us.

Listen, as people who now follow Jesus, it’s easy for us to lose sight of the world that Jesus promises to come. David Gibson says, “We become resident Christians rather than nomadic Christians. We become fully integrated in this world rather than viewing ourselves as passing through, and we do this by living as if our greatest treasures are the here and now. We display our sense of permanence by our lifestyle choices: the homes we live in, the money we spend, the churches we build, the investments we pursue, and the priorities we live for. We hold the good things of this world too tightly and lavish our affections on them too freely.” He says, “We strive and strain for the same kind of gain as everyone else around us.”

Guys, that’s why Jesus warned His disciples in Matthew 6:19-21:

Matthew 6:19–21 (ESV)

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Guys, that’s the point of Ecclesiastes…that’s why God inspired it…that’s why it’s apart of the Bible today. God knew how His people would be impacted by sin…Solomon gives us His experiences so that it might burst the bubbles we’re chasing after right now…before we ever catch ‘em.

Guys, take it from a man that had everything…take it from a man that says he’s done it all. Our efforts to find satisfaction and fulfillment….its futile. And listen, not because those things have no meaning…it’s because we’ve chased after those things under the wrong pretenses.

When God imposed the curse on the world, after our rebellion…the point of our frustrations was meant to drive us back to Him. That’s why the Holy Spirit inspired Solomon to write Ecclesiastes…to convict us…to show us the vanity in our existence minus Jesus…, “to make us wise for salvation,” as Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:15.

Listen, there might not be anything in this world that can satisfy you…but that doesn’t mean that your life is meaningless. It just means you’re pursuing the wrong things, in the wrong order.

Which is why I wanted to end with the conclusion of Solomon’s book.

III. Everything has Purpose (vv. 12:8-14)

Point number 3…everything has purpose.

Listen, it might be true that everything’s temporary and that nothing in this world can satisfy you…but it doesn’t mean that those things don’t have purpose. And I know, that sounds a little contradictory. But hear me out…Hear Solomon out.

Ecclesiastes 12:8–14 ESV

Again, Ecclesiastes, it can’t be understood without Solomon’s conclusion. The depressing points that he opens up with…the depressing points he’s gonna make as we walk through this book together, it can only be understood in light of the whole truth he’s bringing us to.

Verse 8, as he wraps up this book…he actually makes his point again…, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, all is vanity.” It’s all a vapor…a mist…its here one day and gone the next.

Verses 9 and 10, he shows us he was careful with his words and that he really wanted to give a true and accurate portrait of the world, right? It says he arranged these things with great care and that he sought to use words of delight and truth.

Verse 11, it says these words, they’re “wise like goads.” A goad, according to Danny Akin, its a “herding tool [that] was used to poke and prod livestock in the right direction.” And so, Solomon here…he’s poking us and prodding us to walk in wisdom…to walk in the ways of the Lord. The purpose, its to sting you…its to convict you…all so that you might walk in the right direction.

And he ends this verse by reminding us of the true author…he might’ve wrote down these words…but the true author…its the One Shepherd, he says…Jesus, right? That term its actually only used 3 other times…and every single time, its referring to the Messiah…which actually makes this book a messianic book, pointing us to Jesus.

Verse 12, he says, “My son beware…” Again, he’s using his life…he’s writing to benefit the next generation of people. And in his training, he says, “These words, they’re sufficient…don’t stray from ‘em…don’t pour yourself into other books or other studies…Don’t be like me, don’t go off on your own search of truth and knowledge” Because verse 13…, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

You guys know that hymn? Trust and Obey?

One of the lines it says, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus , but to trust and obey.”

Last week, we looked at Psalm 128, right? Looking at what it means to leave behind a godly legacy. Verse 1, it said:

Psalm 128:1 ESV

Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways!

Again, when we see God for who He is…His nature, His character…when realize that His ways are good and when we walk in ‘em…it goes well with us, we’re blessed.

Us walking in God’s ways…that’s God’s design for us. Why? Verse 14, the reason to trust and obey, “its because God’ll bring every deed into judgment along with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

Guys, don’t see Solomon’s book here as depressing. The point here…he wants you to see the reality of judgement day. He wants you to see there’s a Shepherd who cares for His people. And in order to convict you…he shows you the folly of your ways. That’s the point of the Bible. The reason God gave the law to begin with, it was to reveal our brokenness.

Guys, we have the same exact problem that every single human being before us faced…and we have the same problem because we’ve all broken God’s law…we’ve all gone our own way. That’s why Paul says in Romans 3 that we’re all sinners. And Solomon’s reminding us…we will be judged for those actions…good or bad. And the wages for the bad…any amount of bad, its death.

This reality, its meant to crush you…its meant to humble you…so that it might drive you to Christ.

And listen to me…I’m not just talking to the unbeliever here this morning. Solomon was a man of God and yet he went his own way…he did things that were unpleasing to the Lord. He’s giving you His personal testimony here.

Guys, if we’re honest this morning…a lot of what we chase after…a lot of what we’re pouring ourselves into…its vanity because without Jesus, nothing has meaning…because its all leading to death and destruction.

Listen, if you wanna give the things in your life purpose…funnel it through your walk with Christ…Trust Him…obey Him…and the other things, they’ll start to fall into place the way God intended.

Listen, I’m not saying you can’t have fun…I’m not saying that all the things you do or pursue are bad in and of themselves. God gave us things, even before the fall, that were meant for our pleasure. Go read Genesis chapter 2…He gave things like gold and onyx stone…sex…He gave ‘em things for their pleasure. But that pleasure wasn’t meant to bring them gratification, it was meant to be an act of worship as we gave God gratification.

Guys, understand the reality of your sin…understand what sin attempts to do in your life…and guys, understand, you have no control over the power of sin…without Jesus. You want things to have purpose in your life? Trust in the one who created all things…and walk in His Word alone.

Closing

Would you bow your head and close your eyes with me?

“The end of the matter…Fear God and keep his commandments.”

Listen, if you’ve turned your life to Jesus…you know truth…you know who your Shepherd is. But let me ask you question this morning…, “Have you been living your life like you know those things? Has your heart been satisfied in Christ? Or listen, have you been out chasing the bubbles…grasping at things you know can never hold the weight of your soul?”

Guys, the wind doesn’t satisfy…The vapor doesn’t last. It’s time to start living your life backward. Its time to start letting the end shape who you are right now. Live each day, not for gain…live it for God’s glory.

And so, I wanna ask you again…, “Where have you been anchoring your joy? What in your life has replaced Jesus as your source of purpose?” You weren’t saved to blend in with the world’s grind…you were saved to live for a kingdom that never ends…a kingdom that’s nothing like what Solomon shows us in chapter 1.

But listen, if you’re here…and you’ve never turned to Jesus. Solomon’s message, it might sound a little depressing. But guys, it’s actually mercy. It’s God waving a red flag at your soul, saying: “Don’t waste your life on smoke. Don’t chase the wind.”

You were made for more than temporary pleasures and unending cycles. You were made for eternity. You were made to know God—and there’s only one way to know Him: through Jesus Christ.

Without Him, your best moments, they’ll fade. Your legacy’ll vanish. And your eternity, it’ll be one of separation from the very purpose you were created for. But in Him, everything finds its place. Your joys become worship. Your suffering gains meaning. Your soul finds rest.

Listen, it’s easy to turn to Him today…you’ve heard His Word…and through His Spirit…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and if believe in your heart that He raised from the dead…the Bible says, “You will be saved.”

And so listen, whether you’ve known Jesus for years or you’ve been running from Him your whole life—today is the day to respond.

Not tomorrow. Not when life slows down. Right now.

Fear God. Trust in Christ. Obey His Word. Because in the end, only what’s done in Him will last.

You take this time to respond…and I’ll close us in just a moment.

[Prayer]

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