Untitled Sermon (4)

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Text: Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

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Speaker's Purpose: I want my audience to see that t

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Background

The structure of the argumentation of the book of Ecclesiastes is not a clean linear line of argumentation. If you have read “A Grief Observed” by C.S. Lewis or even the intimate journals of others the intensity of life winds and turns from day to day. It is not as neat as we often want things to be in our life and the life of those in our life.

Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs Introduction to Ecclesiastes: Qoheleth and the Issues of Life: A Broader Biblical Perspective

Throughout the Old Testament, God’s people are encouraged to reflect on who God is, to study his works in creation and in history, and to meditate on the truth he has revealed about himself. They are instructed to carefully examine the world for examples of his steadfast love. Such disciplines keep before God’s people some of those “grounds for trusting.” Qoheleth mentions none of these things, so if his readers are to explicate the message and application of Ecclesiastes the ideas will have to be brought in from outside the book. It does, however, seem legitimate to do so given the book’s place in the canon of Scripture.

One’s knowledge of God will determine whether one can live in this fallen world with hope and anticipation or be resigned to a life of fear and frustration. Qoheleth makes it clear that life rarely gives unambiguous evidence that God is in control, or that God cares about us, or that his governance of human affairs is beneficent, just, and kind. That knowledge must come from God’s self-revelation and must be embraced by faith. It can be substantiated by experience as people live in the fear of the Lord, experience his provision and grace, and grow into a more intimate relationship with him. As the rest of biblical revelation makes clear, such knowledge, informed by Scripture, can penetrate to the depths of a person’s soul and provide a basis for hope and confidence in a world characterized by the uncertainties, inequities, and irresolvable conundrums seen by this Old Testament sage.

Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs Introduction to Ecclesiastes: Qoheleth and the Issues of Life: A Broader Biblical Perspective

Qoheleth encourages us to enjoy our lot in life but warns us about expecting life to be more satisfying than it was designed to be. As long as we see our toil for what it is, we can, and should, enjoy it and not be frustrated by it. As John Walton says,

The message of Ecclesiastes is that the course of life to be pursued is a Godcentered life. The pleasures of life are not intrinsically fulfilling and cannot offer lasting satisfaction, but they can be enjoyed as gifts from God. Life offers good times and bad and follows no pattern such as that proposed by the retribution principle. But all comes from the hand of God (7:14). Adversity may not be enjoyable, but it can help make us the people of faith we ought to be.10

Ecclesiastes 1:1–11 ESV

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? 4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. 6 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. 7 All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. 8 All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 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. 10 Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. 11 There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.