Ecclesiastes 6:1-7:15 - "What's The Point?"

Introduction

The Book of Ecclesiastes may very well be one of the most immediately relevant books of the Bible to present to our generation—Solomon’s message in this book resonates with the questions being asked by people in our day and age in a marvelous way. Let me illustrate what I mean: As part of the preparation for today, I sat down and Googled the phrase that became the title of this sermon: “What’s the point?”

The search results that I got directed me to sites like Psychology Today, Happiness.com, lifehack.com, as well as online message boards like Quora and Reddit. I want to take a moment and read to you one of the questions posted in Reddit that asks this question—listen to how this poster’s reasoning sounds exactly like Solomon’s argument in Ecclesiastes:

HONESTLY, WHAT’S THE POINT OF LIFE?

I've been thinking about this a lot and I find that we are born, live and then die. And when you die, anything that you did on Earth does not matter. Nothing will be remembered. It has gotten me thinking that there is no point in life. Yes, everyone says you have to find a purpose, but then when you die that purpose is nothing. So why even bother to try hard to do all of these things if they mean nothing in the end? Everything dies in the end. Memories, friends, family, love etc. It means nothing. Life is nothing. I study for hours for school, the goal ultimately to get a good job. But what is the point? When we die we lose everything we spent our 85 years trying to accomplish, everything. People are saying life is what you make of it, but perhaps this is true, but when you die, what's the point of what you make out of life? It's all over, and all the things you have experienced ends... It's a really depressing thing to think, but in 100 years none of us alive today will be remembered. We will be forgotten, faded away into the ever turning wheel of time… (Retrieved on 05/20/2021 from https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/j8fil/honestly_whats_the_point_of_life/)

The poster goes on to say, “I don’t understand why I am so unhappy with life at the moment... My life is good, I have a loving girlfriend, my grades are excellent... I don't know... I realize now that life has no point... You die, and everything is gone...”

I find it simply astounding that this individual—who, if he has ever read anything in the Bible at all, has almost certainly never read the Book of Ecclesiastes—has articulated Solomon’s argument with astonishing accuracy:

Ecclesiastes 2:20–23 ESV

20 So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21 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. 22 What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 23 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.

But unlike that anonymous Redditor, Solomon does not stall out in despair—in fact, he wrote Ecclesiastes as a way of rescuing people like that out of despair! And in order to do that, Solomon does not shy away from all of the reasons people have for asking “What is the point?” As we’ve said before, Ecclesiastes gets a bad reputation for being a gloomy, pessimistic book. It’s true that Solomon goes down as deep into hopelessness as he can—but he’s going down there to rescue the people who are stuck down there! He has real joy to offer people who spend their lives asking “What’s the point?”—and that joy begins with recognizing and submitting to God:

Ecclesiastes 2:24–25 ESV

24 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, 25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?

In Ecclesiastes 6 Solomon lays out a series of questions that can all be characterized by the phrase “What’s the point?” And then in Chapter 7 he writes his responses to those questions in a series of proverbs. And what I believe Solomon is demonstrating in this passage—what I want us to take away from these Scriptures this morning—is that

Godly WISDOM can look past DESPAIR and see the TRUTH about this world

I want us to consider these questions and answers together, first of all because we live among a people who are asking these questions every day. You may know someone who struggles with asking “What’s the point?” about life—and I want you to be equipped with real hope to offer people who ask these questions.

And perhaps you’re here this morning and you’ve been feeling some of that despair creeping into your heart—if the futility and vanity of this miserable broken world is beginning to weigh on you, then let Solomon take the “What’s the point?” questions you are asking and answer them by showing you how the wisdom that comes from the fear of the LORD equips you with insight into the truth about this world, and the real and certain joy that is yours in Christ!

So look with me at Ecclesiastes 6 as Solomon sets the stage by asking

I. Four POINTLESS questions of despair (Ecclesiastes 6:1-12)

The first question Solomon asks is

What’s the point of having WEALTH? (6:1-6)

Solomon writes

Ecclesiastes 6:1–2 ESV

1 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: 2 a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil.

Ecclesiastes 6:6 ESV

6 Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place?

In other words, what good does it do to chase after wealth and amass treasure and riches, when you’re just going to wind up in the same place as everyone else—the grave! Like our Redditor observed in their post, “When we die we lose everything we spent our 85 years trying to accomplish, everything...” How can you enjoy any good thing that you acquire when you realize that someday you’ll die and never see it again? Every form of wealth you chase after will someday rust, fade, depreciate, crumble and collapse, and you’ll be doing the same thing yourself, six feet under. So what’s the point of chasing after wealth?

In verses 7-8 Solomon asks another question:

What’s the point of having INTEGRITY ? (6:7-9)

Ecclesiastes 6:7–9 ESV

7 All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. 8 For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

In other words, Solomon looks at a wise man who knows how to practice impulse control (“better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite”—it’s better to fix your eyes on your goal than be constantly chasing your lusts), and he looks at a humble man who is a straight-shooter—the salt-of-the-earth, hard-working man of integrity who “knows how to conduct himself”—he’s the guy you can count on to “do the right thing”.

And Solomon says that neither of them have any advantage in this messed-up world. You can practice all the restraint and discipline you want, you can be as upright and honest as the day is long, and it doesn’t get you anywhere! What advantage does that give you over the fool who wastes his time and money and never denies himself a single urge? So what’s the point of having integrity?

In the next couple verses Solomon asks another pointless question:

What’s the point of even TRYING? (6:10-11)

Ecclesiastes 6:10–11 ESV

10 Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he. 11 The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man?

If we read this verse in conjunction with verse 13 of the next chapter, it becomes clear who “the one stronger than he” is:

Ecclesiastes 7:13 ESV

13 Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked?

In other words, Solomon says, God has already set the course of this world, and He is also the one that controls the times and seasons of your life (cp. Acts 17:26). There is no arguing with Him—as one 20th Century poet put it, “Young man—your arm’s too short to box with God” (James Weldon Johnson, The Prodigal Son, 1927). Solomon says that from our human perspective, the knowledge of God’s complete and utter control of this world makes it pointless to even try to make your own way—if God has already decided everything, what’s the point of even trying? You are at the mercy of an impervious strongman who takes no more notice of you than a bulldozer notices a caterpillar!

Then in verse 12, Solomon asks another pointless question:

What’s the point of LEARNING? (6:12)

Ecclesiastes 6:12 ESV

12 For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?

Again, like our despairing Redditor from earlier: “Yes, everyone says you have to find a purpose, but then when you die that purpose is nothing. So why even bother to try hard to do all of these things if they mean nothing in the end?” What’s the point of growing or learning or improving or achieving anything? Who knows what really is good to do, in light of the fact that we’re all going to die someday?

Why bother trying to find someone to tell me what is good to do, why bother looking for advice or help—we only have a few days, and like a shadow we fade away! Some people live by one “moral code”, others by a different one, and some people have no sense of morality apart from what will serve their own self-interest. Under the sun, considered in isolation, what’s the point of seeking to understand this life?

Solomon piles up question after question in Chapter 6, asking “What’s the point” of seeking wealth or living an upright life—or even seeking any kind of knowledge or understanding at all. But remember, Solomon isn’t sinking down into that despair and hopelessness because he doesn’t have an answer—he’s going there to rescue the people stuck down there! He has an answer to their questions—that godly wisdom—the wisdom that starts with reverence and obedience to God—gives us the insight to look past despair and see the truth about the world—and with that truth, a real and lasting and undiminished joy that is yours even in the midst of this world’s bewildering futility!

And so in Chapter 7 Solomon changes his style, doesn’t he? If Chapter 6 reads like a listing of complaints and despairing questions, Chapter 7 bursts into song, doesn’t it? Solomon switches into poetry to express the joy and hope that comes when you look at this world through the godly wisdom that starts with the fear of God—from four pointless questions of futility, we now move to

II. Five POTENT insights of wisdom (Ecclesiastes 7:1-14)

How does godly wisdom give us insight to see past the despair of this pointless world? How does the fear of the LORD give us real joy in the midst of the vanity? Solomon sings a song here in this chapter that points out at least five truths for us. First, godly wisdom can look past despair and

Value INTEGRITY over RICHES (7:1)

Verse 1 says:

Ecclesiastes 7:1 ESV

1 A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.

The phrase “precious ointment” is a symbol of wealth (we see similar ideas in John 12, for instance, when Mary poured a jar of “expensive ointment of pure nard” on Jesus’ feet. It’s a good image for wealth, since it represents all of the comfort, pleasantness and luxury that comes from riches. Solomon says here that integrity is better than wealth, because there is a God in heaven who looks at the heart of man, not his possessions!

The wisdom that comes from the fear of the LORD knows this is true—when you live in reverent submission to God, then you have the insight that all of the “precious ointment” of the world will someday drain away, but your good name will remain before God for eternity.

And that’s exactly where Solomon is heading at the end of verse 1, isn’t it? In fact, he goes on in verse 2 to say

Ecclesiastes 7:2 ESV

2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.

In the previous chapter Solomon asks “What’s the point of wealth when you will just die anyway?” And here, he shows that wisdom understands that there is something significant about death—the fear of the LORD teaches us to

Treasure the WORLD to COME more than this PRESENT world (7:2-4)

Ecclesiastes 7:2–4 ESV

2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

Godly wisdom gives us the insight that the natural mind can’t have—that the end of life holds more promise for us than the beginning of life! Reverent submission to God enables us to see that “the day of death is better than the day of birth”—not because we are so given over to despair that we don’t want to live, but because we know that this life is full of uncertainty, pain and sorrow, but the life to come is full of joy and eternal happiness in God! As Matthew Henry puts it in his commentary on these verses:

“We were born to uncertainty, but a good man does not die at uncertainty. The day of our birth clogged our souls with the burden of the flesh, but the day of our death will set them at liberty from that burden. (Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 1042). Peabody: Hendrickson.)

In verses 5-6, Solomon goes on to say that godly wisdom gives us insight to

Receive life-changing CORRECTION (7:5-6)

Ecclesiastes 7:5–6 ESV

5 It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. 6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools; this also is vanity.

If you want to build a fire hot enough to boil water in a pot, you don’t pile up a bunch of briar bushes for your firewood, do you? They may snap, crackle and pop—but they won’t generate enough heat to boil your water. In the same way, Solomon says, advice on how to live your life that comes from people who reject God is worthless.

The Reddit post that I read at the beginning of this sermon had 906 comments in the thread, and with very few exceptions, they were all the snap, crackle and pop of atheists and agnostics who offered such helpful suggestions as “go volunteer at a soup kitchen” or “you create your own purpose”, or “don’t worry about it, life has no point” or “Since I gave up hope I feel a lot better...” and so on. But Solomon says that wisdom can change your life—obedience and reverence for God will transform you in a way that no “self-help” book or message board thread can!

Godly wisdom gives us insight to see past the despair and see the truth about this world—in verses 7-10 Solomon says that godly wisdom gives us the insight to

Be patient under OPPRESSION (7:7-10)

Ecclesiastes 7:7 ESV

7 Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart.

As we’ve seen previously, the word oppression refers to the kind of extortion that gets its way through threats of violence (or, in this case, through bribery and corruption!) This kind of thing “drives the wise into madness”—seeing all of the threats and oppression and perversions of justice all around you can drive you crazy, right? But Solomon goes on to say be patient:

Ecclesiastes 7:8–9 ESV

8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. 9 Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.

In other words, godly wisdom can give you patience to know that “the end is better than the beginning”—there will be a reckoning. There is a powerful and enticing “outrage culture” in our society today, where people scream and yell and threaten over the oppression and bribery and high-handed corruption taking place at every level of our government. But joining into that outrage is a sin for a Christian. That outrage will infect your heart if you succumb to it—don’t be a fool. The insight that godly wisdom gives you tells you that God will bring all these things to their rightful end, so you can be patient.

And in verses 11-14 Solomon gives us one more way godly wisdom gives us insight past despair into the truth about this world—when we begin with the fear of the LORD, we can

Delight in the PROVIDENCE of God (7:11-14)

Ecclesiastes 7:11 ESV

11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun.

Back in Chapter 5, Solomon wrote that it is a gift of God to “accept your lot and rejoice in your toil”—in other words, godly wisdom gives us the insight to see God’s control over the world not as an oppressive truth, but a delightful truth! When you are rightly relating to God in obedient submission to Him, then you recognize that everything you have is a gift from Him! And His perfect ordering of everything that comes to pass is good news for you because it means that He is working for your happiness in Him!

Ecclesiastes 7:12–14 ESV

12 For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it. 13 Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

Look at the way God has made the world—full of laughter and tears, joy and heartbreak, building up and tearing down—godly wisdom gives you the insight to be joyful when you prosper, and when you fall on hard times you can rest in the knowledge that God has made both prosperity and poverty—and He is perfectly powerful and mighty to work out His purposes for His glory and your joy either way! You don’t need to “dispute with the strong man” who has ordered the world this way, because you know that He is working all things together for your good and His glory!

Godly wisdom can look past the despair of “What’s the point?” questions and see the truth about this world. There is real hope in this life, and it comes from knowing and worshipping God through Jesus Christ. In Jesus we have all of the answers to the “What’s the point?” questions of this life—He is the Wisdom of God, and in Him you have all wisdom and insight to live with hope in this despairing world.

In Jesus Christ you have the ability to value your integrity over this world’s riches—the one who did not grasp after the riches of His deity but became nothing, laying down every right He had to the fame and honor and worship due Him as God. And because of His obedience He received “a good name”—a name above every name, a name at which every knee will bow and tongue confess that He is Lord—and you have received the right to be called by that Name as well, Christian!

The Name of Christ that you bear is worth more than any riches this world can possibly give you! Stop being tempted to want more of this world’s wealth—stop playing the fool and chasing after riches that spoil and rust and fade—you have something better than all of it—the Name of Christ that you have been given!

In Jesus Christ you can treasure the world to come more than this present world—the day of your birth just put you at the head of the line of a long train of trouble, tears, heartaches, misery and uncertainty: the price of living in this vain, empty world. But the day of your New Birth in Christ when you came to salvation in Him promises that the last day of your life in this world will bring eternal joy in the presence of God forever

Ephesians 2:7 ESV

7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Reckon the great treasure that awaits you in heaven, and stop grumbling after the fading, rusty, moth-eaten treasures that this world tries to promise you! Stop envying and resenting the riches of the people who don’t know any better, stop sulking over how much more prosperous the ungodly are than you—they may spend their whole lives in luxury, but their peace ends right where yours begins—at the grave!

In Jesus Christ you have the insight for wisdom and life-changing correction and growth in holiness that this world can never understand! You have something so much better than the vapid and shallow “self-help” books and “life-coach” gurus who foolishly tell you to “believe in yourself”, who tell you to make peace with your sin and embrace it as “your truth”. Christian, you have the truth of God Himself in Jesus Christ, who invites you to

Matthew 11:29 ESV

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Learn from Him, to learn to walk like He does and think like He does and show compassion like He does and give yourself like He does!

In Jesus Christ you have the insight to be patient under oppression—to do what Peter says Jesus did:

1 Peter 2:23 ESV

23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

You can be patient to wait for the end of the matter, patient to wait on God’s timing and God’s recompense. Do not fall into the outrage culture of our day that spews hatred and vitriol at your enemies, quit letting that foolish anger rise in you whenever you hear Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi say something hypocritical and ridiculous, quit yelling at the TV. Seriously. Because that is not what Jesus Christ did. That anger will stick to your foolish heart like burdocks on a goldendoodle.

And a lot of you have given way to that anger so many times and for so long that God is going to have to tackle you, hold you down and shave you right down to the skin to get all that anger off you. So stop indulging all that anger now before He has to get rough with you, Christian. When you are reviled, you keep your mouth shut—just like Jesus did. (And God will someday vindicate you, just like He did with Jesus!)

In Jesus Christ you have the great and precious promise that everything that comes your way in this life—every laugh, every tear, every day of prosperity and every day of loss and hardship—all of it comes from the hand of God. You can’t straighten out what He has made crooked, and no one can twist what He has made straight. And if you are in Christ Jesus by faith, that means that there is no crookedness in your life that He cannot turn to your joy in Him!

There is no pleasure that can make you forget Him and no adversity that can tear you away from Him! When you come to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins by His blood, you have in Him a promise from God that everything in this crooked world will work for your good!

2 Corinthians 1:20 ESV

20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

This world cries out “What’s the point??” of all of the futility and disappointment and despair of life—but you have real joy, real peace, real purpose, and a real, eternal hope in the Wisdom of God found in your Savior, Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION

Jude 24–25 ESV

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

Why do we say that the book of Ecclesiastes may be one of the most immediately relevant books of the Bible to share with people who don’t know Christ? Do you know people who ask the same kinds of questions that Solomon does in Ecclesiastes 6? What kinds of places do people go to try to find answers to questions like these?

Look again at the “What’s the point?” questions that Solomon asks in Chapter 6—which of these questions have you been most likely to struggle with in your life? How has your relationship with Christ given you the godly wisdom to see the truth about those questions?

Which of the five insights of godly wisdom is most meaningful to you—which ones reflect areas where you struggle to keep a godly perspective? Spend some time each day this week reading Ecclesiastes 7:1-14, and ask God to use these verses to convict you where necessary, and build you up to greater wisdom in Christ!