This Life is Not Enough
Notes
Transcript
So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.
Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.
The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.
Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity.
For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!
So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me,
and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.
So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun,
because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun?
For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,
for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?
For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Introduction
Introduction
Last time we looked at Ecclesiastes, we found Solomon to be doing the work of a scientist experimenting with the typical ways that men and women find meaning and purpose in their lives.
We go through our daily lives and often it’s only in stressful situations that we ask or think of the big questions of life. Qohelet, the preacher, is doing the work for us.
He looks at the brevity of this life, and sees the repetition of the daily grind is unsatisfactory.
The over and over again mundanities of what we face daily under the sun bring pain and frustration.
So maybe he can find a way to bridge the gap between that frustration and satisfaction in this life.
He tested 2 ways and found that they didn’t really bring true satisfaction to the human condition.
He found that wisdom is not enough.
The biggest problem being that
What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
No matter how much we try the things that are broken in this life and world can’t be fixed by reason and understanding.
There is something more than lack of education that is causing hardships and trouble in out lives.
So he comes to this conclusion about wisdom:
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.
Then he moved on from wisdom to stuff, and he determined that stuff was not enough.
Maybe the problems in this life can be made better if we enjoyed ourselves more.
So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.
And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.
He built great architecture that those who came behind him would enjoy, he planted trees and vineyards, he created great public works like reservoirs so that his gardens and trees would be irrigated… so many things that we hold up as good, meaningful culture and civilization.
But in the end, he found that it was nothing but hevel, vanity, a vapor that means nothing in the grand scheme of things.
Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
Today we will be looking at the other 2 experiments that he conducted in finding meaning under the sun, and see how they too bring no real answers.
The first is that...
Wise Living is Not Enough v. 12-17
Wise Living is Not Enough v. 12-17
So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.
Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.
The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.
Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity.
For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!
So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
So in the beginning of his tests, he found wisdom lacking in bringing true satisfaction, so is he testing wisdom again?
I think the difference is that the first test was just in understanding and learning and this test is in application.
Are you living what you know?
And this is something the man is notoriously bad at.
Even the Christian has this problem. Even the Apostle Paul experienced it.
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
In this passage, we see Solomon’s concern for his legacy and the future after he leaves this life under the Sun come to the forefront.
In vs. 12 he wants to know if the next king of Israel will figure it out and move past these question, or be stuck in them like he is.
So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.
But it could also be taken in the sense of will his successor ruin everything that he’s built by madness and foolishness.
And in his wisdom, perhaps he sees that what has already been done in Israel will be done again.
We just finished going through the Old Testament book by book in a very quick overview and we have seen how repetitive it is.
God blesses, man does what is right in his own eyes, God judges, man cries out, God saves.
From Noah’s time where God judged with a great flood to the time the Hebrews came into the promised land to the time they were exiled, it was the same story, man did what was right in their own eyes.
And you could not find a people who were given more in the way of wisdom and understanding than the people who God directly revealed Himself to.
And Solomon was right to worry, because after his reign as king, his son would take over and listen to foolish men and the kingdom of Israel would be torn in two.
So he finds wisdom as better than foolishness when living out your life, but no matter how you live, the outcome is the same.
Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.
The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.
Wisdom is better.
To live life in light of truth is the best way to live.
How many times do we see others around us (or even ourselves) paying for their bad choices.
Shouldn’t they know better?
Solomon uses the contrast of light and darkness to show the difference between wisdom and foolishness.
Look, it’s easy to question why people do things. We watch politicians and mobs give their lives for something that isn’t even true, but to them it makes total sense and is the utmost virtuous thing they could do.
But they are walking in darkness. They have no light to guide them in this dark life.
We shouldn’t be surprised, but take great pity on them.
J. Eyre likens the lack of wisdom’s light as the fool’s eyes being in his heart. He is blind to reality because all he sees is how he feels about what he sees.
it is implied that the fool’s eyes are in his heart. He sees all things through the medium of his own wishes and inclinations; his reason and conscience do not control, but they are possessed by his inclinations.
(1) Hence I believe, because the eye of many is in the heart… ...No man, I believe, ever became an infidel against his will. Inclination, not evidence, has been deficient to the man. The evil heart of unbelief is at the root of scepticism.
(2) Hence I believe the prejudice with which many professed Christians turn away from the doctrines of evangelical religion. They do not question their reality, but they just dislike their practical consequences.
(3) A fool’s eyes are in his heart, because his bondage is to things present and temporal, and he is indifferent to things unseen and eternal. The Bible, though not a fable, is as another book to him, and nothing more. Truth, if not a fiction, is not a fact. Earth is a loved present, possessed; heaven is a forgotten, distant future.
The fool lives for today without considering what comes next. All they have is this present life, so they give their lives to things that pass away.
The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
But Qohelet comes to a conundrum in living wisely. Under the Sun the end of the person who lives wisely is the same as the one who doesn’t!
…but the outcome is the same.
Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity.
For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!
This really gets to me.
I look around this world and our country, at the visible church, and I see fools. It makes me angry.
I get on the computer and become a keyboard warrior, I get into political debates with my family and theological debates with my friends.
And no matter how correct I am, no matter how much more sense I can make, in the end we will all come to the same end.
It’s so easy to completely miss the forest for the trees!
But maybe you think Solomon is being so negative in order to make a point.
Maybe he is just taking this to the extreme to wake us up.
But he’s not the only who brings this up. The son’s of Korah wrote many Psalms and in Psalm 49 they completely agree with Qohelet.
For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others.
Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names.
Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish.
This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah
Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah
And so Solomon took all this in, the experiment of wise living ended in hevel like the rest of his experiments.
The conclusion was almost too much for him to bear.
So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
Do you feel the weight of what Solomon is dealing with?
This culture can’t bare the weight of this fact. We push death to the back of our minds, away to the back room of some hospital somewhere.
We shield ourselves from the reality death is coming to all of us and this life under the Sun will be over forever.
Jerome was the man who translated the Bible into Latin, in what was called the Vulgate. This was the Bible for Western Civilization for centuries.
If you see paintings of him you will almost always see a skull with him on his desk.
This is called a Memento Mori, something that is to remind you of your mortality.
To remind us that we are to live life in light of the inevitable death that will come for all of us.
So live wisely, but to live wisely is to live with the end in mind.
Solomon then turned to his last experiment, his work… and he found:
Your Life’s Work is Not Enough v. 18-26
Your Life’s Work is Not Enough v. 18-26
I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me,
and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.
So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun,
because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun?
For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,
for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?
For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
The first experiment, finding satisfaction in wisdom, is connected to the third, fulfilment in a life lived by wisdom.
This final experiment is also connected to the second, finding joy in things and accomplishments.
In the previous passage, Solomon seems really concerned with the fact that he may not be remembered.
For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!
There is so much concern for legacy in his mind and heart, and he comes to the startling conclusion that he may be forgotten. That all he has built up and worked on and for all his striving after wisdom and knowledge, what will be the way he will be remembered?
Our country is so fat and happy that the self-help, self improvement section of Amazon is full of books that will teach you how to be rich, happy, and successful.
Do you think these books would be used for anything else beside kindling fires in some other parts of the world not so blessed as us?
One of the major topics of these books is the legacy that we leave after we die.
The Legacy Journey: A Radical View of Biblical Wealth and Generosity by Dave Ramsey
Squeeze the Juice: Live with Purpose, then Leave A Legacy by Jennifer R. Lee
Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy: How the World's Leading Entrepreneurs, Thought Leaders, & Cultural Icons Achieve Success by James Whittaker
And so on and so forth. Seriously, can you see anyone living in North Korea reading these?
So The Preacher thought about this and it made him extremely sad.
I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me,
and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.
So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun,
because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
Whatever he had to leave behind was not guaranteed to stay like he wanted it.
Someone else may get it and ruin it. It was his legacy! Then how would people remember him.
Maybe you weren’t aware of all the great things that he had built before these messages: the gardens, the forests of fruit trees, the great reservoirs.
Most of us recognize him because he was a king in Israel and was wise and that he had 1000 concubines!
But he worked so much harder than that, he says he toiled over all these things!
And when he was gone someone just walked by one of his fruit trees that were watered in that dry land by his great reservoir, picked a piece of fruit and ate it not even knowing it was from him, or maybe those that were supposed to run it after him were fools and allowed the trees to all die...
And as I mentioned before, what he was worried about came true, his son who would take over his work after him was a fool. He ruined Solomon’s work within 3 days of taking over the Kingdom!
So his last experiment ends in disappointment as well.
What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun?
For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
Conclusion
Conclusion
So Qohelet finds no hope in anything he tests.
All of these experiments are still tried by men today.
We search for happiness in all the wrong places missing the point of this life under the Sun.
As we live our lives for these things we come to the same conclusion as Qohelet: vanity, vapor, hevel is the only thing that is real under the Sun.
Phew! This has been a rough few passages, but it is truly important for us to really think about this.
And graciously Solomon doesn’t just leave us under the Sun, but uses these deep questions to get us to look beyond it.
There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,
for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?
For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
He uses this phrase 4 times in his book:
here in verse 24
I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live;
So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?
And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
So this is his answer to the vanity of this life, to live life synchronized with what God has for him. To find contentment in His gracious gifts, in particular the gift of life beyond this one.
This is the point of the book that finds in conclusion in
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
H. Smith said:
This book begins with, “All is Vanity,” and ends with, “Fear God, and keep His commandments.” From that to this should be every man’s pilgrimage in this world; we begin at vanity, and never know perfectly that we are vain, until we repent with Solomon. “Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” As though he were exceeding glad, that after so many dangers through the route of vanity, yet God let him see the haven of rest.
And so we continue to this day, toiling and working through the vanities of this life, looking to the next life as our haven of rest.
Granted to us by the Savior who lived through the same vanities that we do, but without sin. And it is Him who we worship today.
May God give us the light of wisdom to see His truth from His word to us in Ecclesiasted.