A Missing Part of the Equation

What is the meaning of life? Philosophers, playwrights, and poets have pondered that question for centuries. Even those without a lot of time for contemplation bump into that thought as they go through life.

There are many, including Solomon, that seem to throw their hands up in the air in resignation as they attempt to make sense out of life. The big difference is that Solomon had all the resources at his disposal in an attempt to find the answer to that age-old question. In verses 3 and 9, it appears that he was applying wisdom and not just going helter-skelter.

In all of life, whether it be ingredients to a recipe, or chemicals in a formula, numbers in math, angles in geometry, clues in a mystery; in order for it to fully make sense, nothing can be left out. In Solomon’s journey to discover any meaning to life, we have already seen that he has definitely left something, or rather Someone, out of the equation.

For the believer, life can truly be enjoyed when God is part of the equation.

A Life Attested - 2:1-11

Attesting means to bear witness or to verify or certify. That seems to be what Solomon is doing as he discusses how he, himself, would react to some basic issues which are common to all humanity. In the experience of life, just about everyone enjoys pleasure; whether it’s going to a fair, the beach, playing games, experiencing fun food and fellowship, the list goes on and on. Yet, in order to experience pleasure, there needs to be a way in which to finance it, as well as pay the bills for basic necessities. That requires work of some sort.

In verses 1-3, we see what is discussed about pleasure. We understand from the Bible that humanity has been blessed by God to enjoy all that He created. I have often discussed about some of the most enjoyable times on the farm were at planting and harvesting. There is incredible hard work required for any of this to be accomplished. However, we knew that without God’s blessings upon the land and the grain, we would have nothing. Yet, even after lengthy days of work, I would have a smile on my face as I was able to work together with God bringing in the harvest.

By the way, Solomon used the word for pleasure some eight times in Ecclesiastes. This causes me to consider that God must consider pleasure a good thing, especially if we understand it is a gift from Him. Specifically, in these verses, Solomon discusses wine and laughter. Again, we remember that Solomon was not limited in that he could have the very best and lacked nothing. There would not have been tastier food or wine, plus the entertainment would have been the very best.

Just the wording in verse 3 clearly demonstrates that he was not looking to get drunk. For if he was, he would not have written while my mind was guiding me wisely.

Yet, when the party was over and the food gone and the laughter subsided, Solomon took to looking into his own heart. What do you suppose he found? Futility and folly. He states that it was madness and basically of no lasting value. Wow! Most of us would suggest that we would have been happy to check into all this and would have come to a different conclusion. Yet, I am pretty certain that if we would have looked at pleasure as providing fulfillment, we would have been disappointed, as well.

You see, the pursuit of pleasure is like those soap bubbles we talked about previously. It’s beautiful for a short bit, then explodes into emptiness. Our world seems to spend a ridiculous amount of money chasing after pleasure in attempts to avoid the everydayness of life. Yet, it only disappoints. We may wonder why this is so. The sad reality is that when any person or group lives only for pleasure, they will end up hurting others to get what they want. I love the advice Warren Wiersbe shares: People are more important than things and thrills. We are to be channels, not reservoirs; the greatest joy comes when we share God’s pleasures with others.

People are more important than things and thrills. We are to be channels, not reservoirs; the greatest joy comes when we share God’s pleasures with others.

In addition, if one is living to experience pleasure only, then one becomes a slave to that pleasure. This is seen in many harmful ways in the variety of addictions that are part of our culture. If more of one thing is not enough to satisfy, then it is substituted with something else that is even more powerful till it literally destroys the person or those around them.

Another negative of just pursuing pleasure is that it will never bring true satisfaction because it ignores the totality of who a person is. One writer suggested that this is the difference between entertainment and enjoyment. Entertainment focuses on a narrow aspect of a person. Whereas, enjoyment involves enriching the whole person and brings genuine delight.

In verses 4-11, Solomon focuses on a variety of works or projects in trying to find meaning to life. He speaks of houses . . . vineyards . . . gardens and parks . . . fruit trees . . . irrigation ponds . . . forests . . . slaves . . . flocks and herds . . . silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces . . . wonderful singers . . . many concubines . . greater and wiser.

Yet, with all of that activity and work, Solomon was disappointed. Being busy and successful and even having it all and doing it all does not give meaning to life. As one reads this section, it actually seemed that Solomon enjoyed greatly all his workings. However, the end result shows great dissatisfaction. We know that work is actually a blessing from God. Work was part of what Adam was told to do before the Fall because of sin. Proverbs and various places in the Bible state that hard work and diligence are to be done for God’s glory. However, in and of itself, work does not bring satisfaction. Many people use work as a substitute for dealing with life under God’s direction.

So what conclusion will Solomon come to after his analysis of pleasure and work in life? Vanity.

A Life Abhorred - 2:12-23

When Solomon uses the phrase I turned to consider, he is actually stating that he’s looking at things from a different perspective. The different perspective was that of death. What’s the point of having everything if you’re just going to die and leave it to the next person or generation? Death is obviously an observable fact of life under the sun. I have often commented, though I’m sure other minds have said it better, You cannot truly live until you have prepared to die. For the individual who has accepted Christ as Savior, they are prepared to die. That means that we can truly live today, knowing that death is not the end.

In verses 12-17, Solomon is looking at the value of wisdom, if there is any. He notes that whether a person is wise or foolish, they both will die. It has been said that if we don’t learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. Thus, the same mistakes are made generation after generation. This is much like what Solomon is bemoaning. The next generation doesn’t seem to learn from the wisdom of their fathers. Thus, the idea of what’s the use? He also seems to wallow in the issue of by the time humanity figures out how to live, they end up dying. I find myself wishing I knew as a teenager or young person what I know now.

In verse 17, he makes a very harsh conclusion: So I hated life. This was not a suicide thought, for we know that Solomon also tried to avoid death. It’s just extreme frustration that he’s expressing. Another way this phrase could be understood is that he was disgusted with life. Remember, these thoughts are based on looking at everything under the sun.

For the Christian, our response should be so much different. Everything we do and all that is associated with life, should cause us to rejoice in it and find ways to bring glory to God in whatever we do. That doesn’t mean we have to like everything and approach everything in a naive manner, not recognizing pain and frustration and questioning thoughts. But we walk by faith and have total confidence that God is doing a work in our lives which will bring glory to Him.

In verses 18-23, Solomon looks quite negatively toward his wealth. After all, most people have their wealth by hard work and toil. Why exactly was he so down on wealth?

Verse 18 was an all-too familiar reminder that you can’t take it with you. In fact, whatever you have will be passed to the next generation and they obviously won’t use it like you think they ought. I often state that there are no Brinks trucks or U-Haul’s at the gravesite. There is a Jewish proverb that is even more descriptive: There are no pockets in shrouds. The reality is that money is only worth something if it is used to purchase something; heat, food, clothing, shelter, etc. All we are, in relation to money, are stewards or managers of it.

Verses 19-20 basically is a reminder that we are unable to make sure it is used properly. All the wealth a person may have could easily be squandered by the next generation. Interestingly enough, Solomon’s son, Rehoboam did just that.

Verses 21-23 shows the danger of focusing on our wealth. An over-concern about wealth and what might happen after we’re gone, makes the enjoyment of life today miserable. For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun? Wow! Instead of seeing the blessing of rain, he would be looking at the mess of the mud.

We wonder if Solomon is ever going to get a less than pessimistic outlook. He has tested life. He has recognized that life ends up in death. In all of this, he is obviously less than enthusiastic. Let’s go the last few verses.

A Life Accepted - 2:24-26

This is a major conclusion that Solomon is sharing with his audience. If you’ve read through this book a few times, you will recognize that he shares six of these conclusions. In each of them is the idea that we must accept life as a gift from God and enjoy it while living for God. There are those who suggest that Solomon was encouraging a frivolous attitude of Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die! That would be a very self-centered approach and is not what he was suggesting. Rather, it was more like what Paul was writing to Timothy in : fix their hope . . . on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. It is as I often say to our family, we need to be thankful for what we do have.

It even appears from these verses that Solomon is looking at more than what is under the son. I appreciate Solomon’s understanding that all these things are blessings from God for the purpose of our enjoyment. Listen to verse . There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. Something fascinating which I discovered this past week was that Jewish people read this book at the Feast of Tabernacles. This is significant for it as this feast when they give thanks and celebrate the fact that God provides abundantly for all their needs. It only makes sense that there is fulfillment in all that is eaten and all the work given in view of God’s provision. In fact, verse 25 basically suggests that it is not possible to have true enjoyment with God out of the equation. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?

Verse 26 is a reminder that the focus needs to be on God and living for Him. For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind. The person who is doing all the chasing after wealth and wisdom apart from God is the one who cannot have any true joy. It is vanity and striving after the wind.

Warren Wiersbe gives another great quote dealing with this whole issue: It is good to have the things that money can buy, provided you don’t lose the things that money can’t buy. You see, when God becomes part of the equation, then life is not the dark, depressing picture which Solomon had seen up to this point. Every good thing we have is a gift from God, to paraphrase James. However, if we happily take these gifts, assume they are ours or that we have earned them, then we have forgotten God and we will be most miserable. As one writer remarks, Life is empty without God.

It is good to have the things that money can buy, provided you don’t lose the things that money can’t buy.

As we prepare for the rest of Ecclesiastes, it will be helpful to understand that Solomon will be dealing with topics he’s just been discussing in an attempt to honestly look at life from God’s perspective. Chuck Colson offered some excellent advice as to how we can live life as followers of Christ amidst the confusing, chaotic world in which we find ourselves. Life isn’t logical, or sensible, or orderly. Life is a mess most of the time. And theology must be lived in the midst of that mess.

Life isn’t logical, or sensible, or orderly. Life is a mess most of the time. And theology must be lived in the midst of that mess.

For the believer, life can truly be enjoyed when God is part of the equation.

Conclusion