The Vanity of Life
December 23, 2020
Commentary
Kenneth Gangel in his book Thus Spoke Oskeleth(professor) says that the writer of Ecclesiastes in this first chapter is saying, “Stop the world-I want to get off!” He begins by pointing out the vanity of man’s existence in this world without God (vv. 1-2). In fact, vanity is one of Solomon’s favorite words. It is used thirty-five times throughout the book.
We need to keep the following threefold outlook as we study this book:
1. The man – who is the author and why is he telling us these things?
2. The motto – what is the theme or underlying premise of this book?
3. The motive – where is this book taking us?
The author uses three examples from nature to show that life is meaningless.
1. He says the sun rises and sets in the same place everyday. He is saying that days come and go and generations come and go but the earth remains forever (vv. 3-5).
2. He says that the wind blows to the south and turns to the north and goes round and round which is an endless cycle of seeming repetitions. He is simply saying that life seems to have an endless flow and is futile (v. 6).
3. He says that all rivers flow into the sea and it is never full. Water comes down, flows out, gets gathered up and then comes down again. This points out how generations come and generations go (vv. 7-11).
Application
If I try to find meaning in my accomplishments rather than in God I will never be satisfied and everything I pursue will become wearisome. Only the pursuit of God will bring real satisfaction.
Ecclesiastes 1:1– 11 (NET)
1 The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 “Futile! Futile!” laments the Teacher. “Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!”
3 What benefit do people get from all the effort which they expend on earth?
4 A generation comes and a generation goes, but the earth remains the same through the ages.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries away to a place from which it rises again.
6 The wind goes to the south and circles around to the north; round and round the wind goes and on its rounds it returns.
7 All the streams flow into the sea, but the sea is not full, and to the place where the streams flow, there they will flow again.
8 All this monotony is tiresome; no one can bear to describe it. The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content with hearing.
9 What exists now is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth.
10 Is there anything about which someone can say, “Look at this! It is new”? It was already done long ago, before our time.
11 No one remembers the former events, nor will anyone remember the events that are yet to happen; they will not be remembered by the future generations.