Ecclesiastes (a few thoughts and humble opinions)

Why is Ecclesiastes so heavy?

Is it because it feels depressingly relatable?

In searching for meaning? and what’s the point of it all? we do agree with Solomon, “There’s nothing new under the sun.”

• politics are corrupt,

• justice is corrupt,

• bad things happen to good people,

• good things happen to bad people,

• people are foolish (idiot is the name I might call them, if I were the name-calling sort) 

I’ve thought all of these things in the past week alone. Some of them I’ve said out loud.

“So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God. For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from Him? God gives wisdom, and knowledge, and joy to those who please Him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please Him. This, too, is meaningless - like chasing the wind.” E.2:24-26

This verse is in the section called: “The Futility of Work” (and this is an easy concept to settle into if we’re not careful). So, enjoy it now. If you’re lucky enough to get something from God, enjoy it before He decides to snatch it away. Is that Solomon’s picture of a Holy, Just God?

Solomons questions and observations feel right (who can argue with someone’s own perspectives?).

But it seems to me (see what I did there, no arguing with one’s own perspective), his conclusions are off.

What’s missing? Why the faulty conclusions?

I think Solomon tells us that he knows he has faulty conclusions because his knowledge is limited to “everything UNDER the sun.” He either knows about the Throne Room where there are holy and heavenly conversations (see also Job) or he doesn’t know about it, but he does seem to know that he doesn’t know everything.

One conclusion that he hits properly (IMHO): E7:29 “But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path.” See also Adam & Eve, obviously. 

He doesn’t say that God created people to be perfect, but he does imply that God created people in His own virtuous image and with the potential to not sin. But they sure did sin at the first opportunity (it appears) that presented.

Why did they sin? Because God gave them, and us, a free will. And an ability to reason, although somewhat limited because of our limited knowledge. We sure do take every opportunity to reason and “do what seems right in our own eyes.”

Regarding his conclusions, Solomon has (at least) three large *DISCLAIMERS towards the end:

E7:14 “Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life.”

E9:12 “People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.”

E11:5-6 “Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another - or maybe both.”

• Nothing is certain

• People can never predict

• You cannot understand the activity of God

But here’s a couple of Solomon’s conclusions, I’m claiming as my takeaways:

• E4:9-12 (and although it’s often quoted in wedding ceremonies referring to marriage, I think it has a larger application to any human relationship) “Two people are better off that one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”

• And… E9:9 “Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of your life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil. Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.”

Not sure what to do with: E9:12 “It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.” That feels true sometimes, too.

And you gotta love the reference to Siri/Alexa: E10:20 “Never make light of the king, even in your thoughts. And don’t make fun of the powerful, even in your own bedroom. For a little bird might deliver your message and tell them what you said.”

So, in conclusion, may I say: it’s all in the conclusion.

• Without the Hope of Christ and the Hope of the Resurrection, it certainly is all meaningless, and depressing, and like chasing the wind.

• Without knowing the Heavenly and Holy conversations that happened (and are happening) in the Throne Room about Salvation and Redemption and “For God so loved the world,“ it certainly is all meaningless, and depressing, and like chasing the wind.

• Without the picture that we are given in The Revelation about a New Heaven, and a New Earth, and New Bodies, and a New Relationship as the Bride of Christ, it certainly is all meaningless, and depressing, and like chasing the wind.

E3:1-8 (and Pete Seeger & The Byrds) speaks a reality that feels not quite as hard to bear as some of the rest of the hopelessness of Ecclesiastes, “To everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven…” flipping the reality trend (of vv1-10) in v11: “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”

But really, do we need to see the whole scope of God’s work?

And this is where FAITH is crucial: while I cannot see the whole scope of God’s work,

• I can choose to have faith, trusting that He has a whole scope of His work. (Salvation & Redemption)

• And I can choose to have faith, trusting that He knows the plans He has for me. (Peace, Hope, and a Future Jeremiah 29:11)

• And that I can choose to have faith, trusting that He does indeed hold the future.

It’s good to be sure of what we CAN and CANNOT know.

“And life is worth the living just because He lives.” (Gaither)