Oh, A Wise Guy, Eh? (Ecclesiastes 1:12-18)

I found a fun list this week: The Dumbest Research Studies Of 2016.^[1] One found “a healthy diet helps you live longer.” Another discovered “most of your Facebook friends aren’t really your friends.” My favorite was, “Spiderman doesn’t exist.” Researchers at Cambridge have conclusively determined that it is “virtually impossible for a normal sized human being to have the characteristics of Spiderman.”

Tonight the Teacher invites us into his lab where he has been running incredibly important experiments for a lifetime. As researchers often do, he gives us the abstract up front: Hevel, hevel, everything is hevel. His work has left him frustrated and still full of questions.

His research project wasn’t dumb – he was asking the questions every human being wrestles with at some point. In fact, this is maybe the must needful study ever conducted.

And his problem wasn’t that he was out of his depth. In our verses tonight, the Teacher gives his credentials and reveals his methodology, showing the impeccable quality of his research. He’s not just a hobbyist trying to divert himself. He’s capable and well-funded – fully qualified.

On top of that, he’s driven by desperation. Like all people, he has a need for meaning and purpose. To his credit, he’s unwilling to simply ignore the problem. Instead, he dedicated his life to finding the meaning of life. And what he found is that these answers elude us, like smoke in the wind.

Ecclesiastes 1:12 – ¹² I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

Ecclesiastes never specifically names Solomon as the writer, though it’s obvious the book wants us to assume it is Solomon speaking.^[2] Many modern commentaries say it’s definitely not Solomon – that it’s some later writer, after the exile, who is writing a “fictional royal autobiography.”^[3] The problem with that idea is that if the Teacher is not Solomon – if he’s just some guy doing a thought experiment or speaking from his own theoretical philosophy – then his findings can’t be trusted. Do you want a pilot who never really went to flight school?

He was the king over all Israel (not a divided kingdom) in Jerusalem. That alone narrows it down to Solomon, not to mention the other clues in the book.

Solomon speaks with credibility.^[4] As king he had total ability, complete privilege, all the funds necessary, to explore these questions to the fullest possible extent and then some. So if there was anyone out there who had the time, the resources, the knowhow, the freedom, and the capability to get to the bottom of these questions, it was him.

Ecclesiastes 1:13 – ¹³ I applied my mind to examine and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven. God has given people this miserable task to keep them occupied.

Twice tonight, the Teacher will explain that he “applied his mind” in these pursuits. Your version may say heart instead of mind. Linguists tell us the Hebrew phrase is, “I gave my heart…the whole self”^[5] to finding these answers – to finding the meaning of life.

This wasn’t just a weekend whim. It wasn’t like one of those scenes where the spoiled prince shows up to the battlefield in pristine armor while everyone knows he’ll never do any real fighting. The Teacher was disciplined and purposeful. He was “deliberate, not dabbling.”^[6]

He said he was going to examine and explore wisdom, which here could be defined as “the art of success.”^[7] He did it more than anyone who came before or after him. But his study left him frustrated and unfulfilled. He described all his intellectual pursuits as “miserable tasks” – heavy bags God puts on us to weigh us down and waste our lives. Wow.

How could the Solomon of Proverbs say such a thing about wisdom? In Proverbs 3 he said, “Happy is the man who finds wisdom.”^[8]

It’s because the wisdom of Proverbs 3:13 is not the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 1:13. Notice, the wisdom here is “under heaven.” Philip Ryken writes, “The kind of wisdom the Preacher had in mind was not divine wisdom but human wisdom—the very best that human beings have ever thought or said. The question is, how far will such wisdom take us? Will it lead us in the way of life everlasting? Will it help us understand why everything matters?”^[9] The answer, the Teacher finally realized, is no.

He wanted to understand the meaning of life, he wanted to get his hands on success, fulfillment, achieving purposes that would make life worth living, but his mistake was made in the very first step. He gave his heart to self: Self-fulfillment, self-actualization, self-determination, self-purpose.

The problem is: You are not made for self. You were made for God’s purposes. You belong to Him. When we divorce ourselves from God’s purposes, then the result is what the Teacher says here. “All my wisdom and exploration was a miserable frustration, a lousy job, a hopeless task.”^[10]

The other Psalmists may not have been as smart as Solomon, but they understood how to find the fulfillment we all long for:

Psalm 84:5 – ⁵ Happy are the people whose strength is in [the living God], whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

God made us, He bought us, He loves us, and He has purposes for us to discover and walk in. When we walk with God and fulfill His purposes, life is full of fruitful multiplication. When we wander away from God and reduce our lives to “under the sun,” then no matter what we do, in the end it will become frustrated misery. That’s the bottom line of the Teacher’s studies.

Ecclesiastes 1:14 – ¹⁴ I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

The Teacher doubles down again. It won’t be the last time because he’s run the numbers. He knows we’re not going to make it. We sense his exasperation because he knows we don’t want to believe what he’s found. But he looks us in the eyes and says, “I’ve been to the end of the road. Everything you’re trying to do apart from a relationship with God is like trying to shepherd a flock of wind.”^[11]

Ecclesiastes 1:15 – ¹⁵ What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.

This is the first of two little proverbs the Teacher will share with us tonight. This one points out two harsh realities in life.

“What is crooked cannot be straightened.” Under the sun, some problems will never be solved. There will never be a human government totally free from corruption. There will never be a society with total fairness and equality. There will always be deficits and potholes.

“What is lacking cannot be counted.” One of the reasons why we can’t ultimately solve every problem is because we are working with insufficient information.^[12] There’s always something we don’t know, something we can’t anticipate, something the defies our human logic.

My favorite example of this proverb is what is called the Cobra Effect. When the British ruled India, they were concerned about the number of venomous cobras in Delhi. So, the government offered a bounty for every dead cobra. That should lead to the eradication of cobras and the problem solved, right? Wrong! What it led to was an explosion of cobra breeding. When the government figured out people were breeding cobras, they said, “Ok, we’re not going to pay you anymore.” So then all these cobra ranchers thought, “Well…I don’t want to have a bunch of cobras at my house anymore, they’re dangerous!” And many of them just turned the cobras loose, leading to a great increase in the wild cobra population!^[13] It’s hevel. That’s what the Teacher is talking about.

Ecclesiastes 1:16 – ¹⁶ I said to myself, “See, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has thoroughly grasped wisdom and knowledge.”

It’s not a brag, this is simply a statement of fact. We’re talking about the GOAT when it comes to knowledge and understanding and intelligence.

The Teacher is a very careful researcher. He said, “Ok, here’s the problem I want to solve. I’m going to plan, I’m going to assess everything I see, I’m going to evaluate my methods and audit myself.” He’s not some absent-minded professor. He’s fully aware of everything going on and his part in it.

After his initial failure in verses 13-15, he goes back to the drawing board and starts again.^[14] He’s checking his methods and his tools and his calibration to make sure he’s getting true results.

Ecclesiastes 1:17 – ¹⁷ I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly; I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.

He started with pursuing earthly wisdom, but the results weren’t what he hoped. So, he said, “Let’s go all the way to the other end. Since my pursuit of human wisdom left me miserable, maybe I’ll find peace and happiness at the opposite end in madness and folly.” And we’ll see all these different avenues along the spectrum he took trying to find what he was looking for.

In his quest for purpose, for fulfillment, to discover the meaning of life, the Teacher was willing to go a lot of places. But where didn’t he go? He didn’t go to prayer, the way Nehemiah did. He didn’t go to praise, like David did. He didn’t go to God’s Word the way the Psalmists did. He went down human avenues – each of which made great promises, but ultimately left the Teacher only hevel. Trying to shepherd smoke.

Ecclesiastes 1:18 – ¹⁸ For with much wisdom is much sorrow; as knowledge increases, grief increases.

Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell wrote, “We have found that the men who know the most are the most gloomy.”^[15] That comes from a paper they wrote with other scientists and intellectuals in an effort to save the humanity from nuclear war.

Their big “answer” was this line: “Remember your humanity, and forget the rest.”

But any 90 second study of humanity, whether through history, sociology, anthropology, or personal experience will show that “answer” is empty. Humanity is defined by selfishness, violence, greed, opportunism, jealousy, stubbornness. Humanity is obviously never going to renounce war on its own. Humanity not only must have laws dictating what is acceptable, but we must have those who enforce the laws since there are so many people who do not want to obey the laws.

The Teacher was the wisest person to ever live – at least when it comes to wisdom under the sun. But that wisdom is not enough. In fact, that wisdom is so inferior it will one day be destroyed.

In 1 Corinthians Paul quotes Isaiah where God says:

1 Corinthians 1:19 – ¹⁹ For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the intelligence of the intelligent.

What we need is something better than wisdom under the sun. So God offers His wisdom instead. And in the New Testament we discover that God’s wisdom is Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:24-25 – ²⁴ Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, ²⁵ because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

You see, the Teacher is trying to carry a load that is too heavy for him. He’s nowhere near strong enough to lift this burden of finding the meaning of life, of ultimate purpose, of true fulfillment. It’s too much, it’s too heavy, and it’s bolted to the bedrock of the earth. All his efforts are like herding cats – shepherding smoke. And he realized it was a meaningless, miserable, hopeless task.

But then God comes along and says, “You don’t need to shepherd the wind. Why don’t you let Me shepherd you?” When we are shepherded by God and follow Him, He not only leads us into the purposes He’s designed for us but also to contentment and fulfillment – green pastures and still waters. And, along the way, He straightens what is crooked for us! Check this out:

Psalm 5:8 – ⁸ Lord, lead me in your righteousness because of my adversaries; make your way straight before me.

God does what “can’t” be done! He does the impossible on our behalf.

Hebrews 12 tell us that, as we submit to the Father, our tired hands and weakened knees are strengthened and the paths are straightened for our feet.^[16] He doesn’t weigh us down with misery.

Instead of being a frustrating misery, life becomes full of fruitful multiplication. There are still difficulties, still hardships, still things that don’t make total sense to us, but God gives us beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, firmness instead of hevel. Real purpose. Real meaning. Real fulfillment found in Jesus Christ, Who offers us life everlasting, life more abundantly, a life full of holy delight, glory and joy.

I came across a website this week: livinginhawaii.com. This fellow has been living in Hawaii since the 80’s and now defines himself by challenging others to go live there, too. His about page says, “I’ve been living the dream…[are you] ready to live the dream?”

In one eye-catching article titled, “What IS The Meaning Of Life? Fun? God? [Money]?” he wrote:

“I guess I’m on a quest for the meaning of life. I’m 42 and it’s time I figured it all out. I’m giving myself until December this year, then I’ve got to have the answer.

I’ve said in the past that fun is the entire meaning of life…but having fun most of your life doesn’t prepare you for the future at all.

Some people live their lives for God. Whatever god they choose is irrelevant. Gods have nothing to do with the meaning of life except that if they created this world and gave me life then they must have had some idea for human beings in mind. They must have had some sort of point to creating us. They must have had some idea how our time living could be best spent.

What affects me is the nagging question about why I’m going through this life as I am. What is the point of me going through this life?

For myself I’ve found various meanings of life. Some last me one or two years, some 10. Right now I’m more interested in the ultimate meaning of life – one that might be shared by everyone. Is there such a thing?

The meaning of life is living in Hawaii with family and friends… that’s it!”^[17]

I wonder what someone living through the Lahaina Fires on Maui thinks about that? Or why Hawaii has a higher suicide rate than 26 other states?^[18] Or why, on average, 12 people move out of Hawaii every single day?^[19] There has to be more than sun and sand.

There is. It’s life in Christ. A life offered to anyone anywhere. One we get to experience day by day as we walk with Him.

Stuck Everlasting (Ecclesiastes 1:2-11)

A 2021 study across a dozen countries and over 14,000 individuals found that 75% of people feel stuck professionally. 8 out of 10 said they’re ready to a make a change, but the vast majority say they can’t because of the obstacles they face. The researchers went all over the world, talking to C-suite executives, managers and employees alike, ages ranging from 22 to 74.^[1]

Do you ever feel stuck? You’re not alone. Even the king of Israel felt that way. He tells us so in this book. We have just set out on a quest for meaning and purpose with this expert guide that Ecclesiastes calls The Teacher. This book is the travelogue that he uses to show us some harsh realities and challenge us to wrestle with what really matters. We’re told this book is a pointy stick – a cattle prod that drives us out of complacency into truth, despite how uncomfortable that may be.

In these lessons, the Teacher speaks to us from the perspective of a humanist or a secularist^[2] – “not necessarily denying God’s existence but trying to make sense of life as though God were optional.”^[3] What he has discovered is that people don’t only feel stuck, they are stuck. In this world, human beings are trapped in a system that ultimately leaves us unfulfilled and forgotten. Buckle up: Tonight’s text does not take us along the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway, this route is a drive through the Nevada desert, and the gas gauge is on empty.

Ecclesiastes 1:2 – ² “Absolute futility,” says the Teacher. “Absolute futility. Everything is futile.”

We covered this verse last time, but we want to hear the opening line of the Teacher’s speech and we also should remind ourselves of what it means. “Futility” (your Bible may have “vanity,” or “meaningless.”), is the Hebrew word hevel. It refers to a puff of smoke.^[4] It can be something that is toxic or something that is uncontrollable or absurd – something that’s here for a time and then disappears. You can’t grab smoke. You can’t build with it or on it. It’s there but we can’t hold onto it.

The Teacher isn’t just a pessimist. Through these chapters, we’ll discover he knows more than us, has experienced more than us, and has considered more than us. Derek Kidner rightly notes that Solomon (the author and Teacher of Ecclesiastes) was the “most brilliant and least limited of men.”^[5]

The bottom line of his many studies was that everything is hevel. In the Hebrew that is the first and the last word of the Teacher’s lecture. He uses it 38 times in 12 chapters.

Ecclesiastes 1:3 – ³ What does a person gain for all his efforts that he labors at under the sun?

If the Teacher stopped by for a visit at your job or in your classroom or while you were mowing the lawn, he might say, “What are you working on here?” And then you’d show him the sale you just closed, the paper you just finished after an all-night edit, the sprinkler system you finally got working just right. And he’d say, “Does any of that matter? How will that help you when you die?”

You see, after conducting all his research, the Teacher discovered three problems that plague every human life: Time, death, and chance. No one escapes them.

The Teacher says that, in the end, one day, you are going to die. And on that day the businesses you built, the degrees you earned, the awards you won, the relationships you maintained, the milestones you reached, none of those things will profit you as you lie in your casket.

The Pharaohs were buried with their treasure, but it no longer belonged to them. It belonged to the sand. And then later to the archaeologists who came and helped themselves to it. Every now and then you’ll hear about someone like Sandra West being buried in their Ferrari.^[6] But that car will never drive again. No matter what we attain for ourselves in this life, none of it can profit us.

That word profit means what is left over.^[7] It’s a word the Teacher will use ten times. He’s obsessed with finding a profitable life. He’s looking for advantage. He’s looking for net positive. He’s looking for a reason why. And he’s the only Old Testament writer who uses this particular word.

He’s also the only one to use this phrase “under the sun.” We see it 29 times in this book.^[8] We talked about this last time: This phrase cracks the code of Ecclesiastes. Under the sun is the field of study. The Teacher is talking about the mortal human experience, disconnected from eternity. Under the sun life is hevel. We seem to be trapped in an absurd, meaningless, transient haze.

To begin proving his thesis, the Teacher draws our attention to the natural world.

Ecclesiastes 1:4 – ⁴ A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.

It’s not just that times passes. Time and death have partnered together. Generations die.^[9] Another one is born, takes the place of the previous one, time passes, then they die, too.

“The earth remains forever” makes us scratch our heads. An evolutionist might say, “Well now we know that the sun will run out of fuel in a couple billion years, and that will be that.” A Bible-believing Christian would say, “We know the earth isn’t going to last forever, so what’s this about?”

The point the Teacher wants to get across is that this world in locked into a perpetual cycle that you can’t break out of. Linguists explain that what he said there is more like, “The earth remains as ever,”^[10] or, “the world always stays the same.”^[11] There’s never going to be a day where we wake up and the earth decided to spin the other way or not spin at all – a sort of planetary casual Friday.

Ecclesiastes 1:5 – ⁵ The sun rises and the sun sets; panting, it hurries back to the place where it rises.

The average American will live just shy of 29,000 days.^[12] It begs the question: How many sunsets do you have left? The truth is, we don’t know. Because not only are we trapped in a system plagued by time and death, but chance is in the mix, too. You may have had your last sunrise. If you’re not a Christian, you should think about that tonight. But every time our sun completes his trip across the sky, we’ve got one less sunrise coming our way. You’re going to die one day. I’m going to die one day. And, the morning after, the sun will still rise. That’s the cycle. That’s the system.

Ecclesiastes 1:6 – ⁶ Gusting to the south, turning to the north, turning, turning, goes the wind, and the wind returns in its cycles.

Solomon really was an ingenious discoverer. It seems he knew something of the circular jet-streams of the wind.^[13] In one part of the world, the wind blows from north to south. In another part east to west. We’re meant to notice the monotonous, seemingly purposelessness of these activities.

We can chuckle at how even when we think figured out how to harness the power of a force like the wind, so often it ends in a big pile of hevel. CNN published a story last year whose headline began: “Wind energy has a massive waste problem.”^[14] Another report pointed out that hundreds of thousands of birds are killed by wind turbines every year.^[15] We think we’ve fixed things, we think we solved a problem and we just create 10 more. Why? It’s hevel. Chasing the wind.

Ecclesiastes 1:7 – ⁷ All the streams flow to the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.

I have a bad habit of starting to fill a water pitcher on the sink and then turning to do something else. Five minutes later I realize I’ve forgotten all about the pitcher and now I have a pool in my kitchen. Not so the oceans. They’re never full.

Israel’s famous Dead Sea is land-locked. No outlet. Every day for thousands of years the Jordan has flowed into the Dead Sea, but it’s never full.^[16] The cycle never ends.

Ecclesiastes 1:8 – ⁸ All things are wearisome, more than anyone can say. The eye is not satisfied by seeing or the ear filled with hearing.

I’m sure many of you have a favorite piece of music. More than a favorite, a piece that moves you or arrests your attention. Maybe you’ve even heard it performed live, at decibels so loud your head hummed afterward. But, after hearing it, you aren’t done hearing music. What’s next in the queue?

You might find yourself saying, “I’ve seen enough,” but that doesn’t mean you don’t want to see anymore. You just want to see something else.

The human experience under the sun is wearisome. We are worn out, like the sun. Oh sure, some people are more cheery about it than others, but tell anyone that it’s once again time for their dental visit, or that they have to go renew your license, and they’ll feel like the Teacher in no time.

A person may distract themselves, but they can not deliver themselves from the realities of this world. The hardships. The unfairness. The goals you couldn’t quite reach. Time, death, and chance.

But as we consider these things, we realize this is a human problem. The sun isn’t depressed about its job. Did you know that western lowland gorillas almost never sleep in the same bed twice?^[17] They make a new bed for themselves every day. But no gorilla is out there going, “This again…”

But humans are different. We are restless. We feel unfulfilled, stuck, frustrated with the workings of life. Why is it that the earth remains and I do not? Why is it that the meaningless life of a gorilla seems to cause him no worries? Meanwhile I work and strive and struggle just to make it to the end where I die and that’s it? The system we’re in doesn’t seem to match the hopes, the aspirations, the needs we have in the deepest parts of our hearts. It doesn’t seem to match what we’re made for.

Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 – ⁹ What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun. ¹⁰ Can one say about anything, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.

Wait! I have an iPhone. Solomon never had an iPhone. No, but he’s not talking about tools and devices. He may not have had an iPhone, but he had other means of communication, of entertainment, of distraction.

Even the laws of physics back up what the Teacher says in these verses. The law of the conservation of mass says that matter cannot be created or destroyed. The atoms that comprise our universe are fixed. This is a significant blow to the secular theory of the Big Bang, by the way.

Devices may be new, but the problems of life are the same. The pursuits of life are the same. Every generation that has ever lived has struggled to break free of the chains of time, death, and chance. But we can’t do it. We’ve tried inventions, we tried different kinds of societies, we’ve tried all sorts of cultures with all sorts of values. The cycle is always the same. Nothing new.

Ecclesiastes 1:11 – ¹¹ There is no remembrance of those who came before; and of those who will come after there will also be no remembrance by those who follow them.

At work or at school, there was someone who sat at your desk before you and there will be someone sitting there after you. You may make a mark on your company or your community, but, given enough time, one day you will be thought of for the last time. That’s what the Teacher says from his secular, “ground-level” perspective.^[18] Life under the sun.

Someone might protest, “What about Alexander the Great? What about Hammurabi? What about Shakespeare?” We still remember their names, though it profits those men nothing. Give it time. Who among us can name any of the great Incan Emperors? California’s first senators? The only three runners in human history who have won two gold medals for the marathon? Can you name your own great-great-great grandmother?

Physical accomplishment or attainment or accumulation are not enough. Legacy is not enough. Humans have a need for something more. Why do we care about the meaning of life? Why do people feel stuck or unfulfilled? It’s because you are a human and humans are made differently. The Teacher will explain that God has placed eternity in our hearts.^[19] That’s the difference. This life, this world with its perpetual cycle, cannot ultimately satisfy. We yearn to break out of the cycle of repetition and disappointment and hevel. We long for something new.

If you’re not a Christian, you may not feel the weight of this reality, but it is true all the same. That yearning lurks in your heart. Some are brave enough to say the quiet part out loud.

Pink Floyd sang,

So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way but you’re older,
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.

Maybe you’re more of a U2 fan:

You’ve got to get yourself together
You’ve got stuck in a moment
And now you can’t get out of it
Don’t say that later will be better
Now you’re stuck in a moment
And you can’t get out of it

Those same respondents who felt stuck at work – 75% of them said they’d be willing to make life changes based on robot recommendations! Human beings are desperate to break free. But we can’t. We’re looking for meaning. We’re looking for answers. We’re looking for help. We desperately need to be saved out of the hevel of life.

And so, God broke into our system. Jesus came from heaven – above the sun. In some ways He spoke like the Teacher. He once asked a very Ecclesiastes-like question: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”^[20] But where the Teacher came to the conclusion that everything is hevel, Jesus said, “I have door number 2.” And He offers us a way out of the chains of time, death, and chance. Out of a life where nothing ultimately matters into a life where everything matters.

God reveals that when we enter into a personal relationship with Him, when we become His children, His servants, His friends, we receive eternity. Even after this earth finally passes away, we will endure.^[21] And in that personal relationship, God does new things in your life and in this world.

He makes us new creations and establishes a new covenant with us. He gives us a new heart and new songs so we can walk in newness of life. In the end, He will bring us to live in a new heaven and a new earth.^[22] This earth, with all its trouble will pass away and all things will be made new. This world is only here so God can have a backdrop to reveal His love to people and offer them real life with real purpose and meaning – a life that lasts forever. A life that isn’t forgotten by time, swallowed up by death, or ruined by chance.

Then, as we walk in the newness of life, God tells Christians, “Ok, your mind is going to be set on things above, not on things on the earth. You live in this world, but you’re not defined by this world, not trapped by this world, not bounded by this world.”

Now life is no longer hevel. For the unbeliever, nothing matters. The Teacher will prove it from every perspective. For the Christian, everything you do matters. Every experience, every circumstance, every situation, every single thing we do every single day has eternal weight because it is done unto the Lord. Your labor is not done in vain, it’s profitable. Your future is secure. Your purpose fulfilled because God Himself walks with you to make something new out of your life.

This is the exchange offered to us through Christ. Freedom. Help. Answers. A future. Grace for today and hope for tomorrow. More than a legacy – eternity. One filled with rest and joy and rewards and glory.

The Pursuit (Ecclesiastes 1:1-2)

You’ve seen it before. The scene in the movie where the unorthodox teacher stands in front of the class and tosses the textbook in the trash. Dead Poet’s Society, Maverick, even Michael Scott does it in an episode of The Office. The students sit in wonder – this is a different kind of teacher.

You don’t expect that scene to play out in the Bible. There you are, sitting in a “How-To-Live-Life” seminar. You just heard an amazing presentation from a teacher named Proverbs. You’re excited to put his lessons into practice. Then the next speaker approaches the podium. He looks a lot like Proverbs, but he’s older. He carries himself differently. You can tell he’s seen some things.

Before this new speaker begins, the host of the “How-To-Live-Life” seminar introduces him. “Ladies and gentleman, we have a special opportunity here to listen to earth’s greatest expert. Believe me, you’re really going to want to hear what he has to say.”

And then, the new speaker begins. “Nothing matters,” he says. ”You’ll be dead soon. But the day you die is better than the day you were born.” If you were walking in the hall while Ecclesiastes lectured, you’d be confused. “Did he just say there’s no difference between humans and animals? Did he say there’s no afterlife? Did he say you really shouldn’t be that righteous?”

At the end of his lecture, you might raise your hand and ask, “What about Proverbs?” Ecclesiastes answers, “I know Proverbs. I also know that outside these walls, the race doesn’t always go to the swift. The good sometimes die young. And nothing you might achieve will last the test of time.”

As a book, Ecclesiastes is different. It falls in the group of books we call the Wisdom Literature of the Bible – Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Psalms, and Song of Solomon, though those last two are more often regarded as poetry in our minds.

But even though Ecclesiastes is in the club, it stands apart. It’s been called the “strangest book” in the Bible^[1] – “bipolar,”^[2] – the “low point” of the Old Testament,^[3] and the Bible’s “resident alien.”^[4]

Melville called it the “truest of all books,”^[5] but my college’s campus pastor once taught a sermon about how the author obviously didn’t know what he was talking about. What’s going on here?

One commentator writes, “There is perhaps no book in the Bible that is the subject of more controversies than Ecclesiastes.”^[6] And it’s true. The folks in the ivory towers argue about everything in it. Is it prose, or is it poetry?^[7]

Was it written in Hebrew or another language? Who wrote it? When was it written? Where was it written? It has intricate structure. No, it has no structure. It’s philosophy. No, it’s anthropology. It’s pessimistic. No it’s optimistic.

Even if we tune out all of those academic squabbles, we have to admit that, when we read this book, it’s unsettling. The book knows it’s unsettling. At the end we’re told, “[This book is] like [a] cattle prod—painful but helpful…like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep.” It is meant to poke us. It is meant to confront us with difficult thoughts and realities.

But then, we step back and remember that the Holy Spirit inspired, preserved, and delivered these chapters for us. This book is essential. We need to be prodded by it. We need to wrestle with it, even though it ends up asking some questions that it does not answer. We need to pursue what Ecclesiastes wants to teach us. This book is all about pursuing. Let’s start getting to know it.

The name of the book itself is unusual. What does “Ecclesiastes” mean, anyway? The word comes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. In Hebrew, the title of the book is the title of the person who wants to teach us. His title is Qohelet,^[8] and already we are confronted with ambiguity. The precise meaning of this word is uncertain.^[9] Your version probably has either “the Teacher,” or “the Preacher.” But other possible meanings are the the one who assembles,^[10] the summoner.^[11]

The collector.^[12] The searcher.^[13] The idea is that this individual is on a quest and he has cataloged his expedition so that he can gather us together and teach us about the things he discovered.

Who is Qohelet?

Ecclesiastes 1:1 – The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem.

From before Christ was born until the 18th century, both Jews and Christians accepted Solomon as the Teacher and author of Ecclesiastes. I say Teacher and author because the book does something interesting: At the very beginning and very end of the book, an author speaks to us and he talks to us about the Teacher, as if he’s someone else. It’s like that image I gave us – the author is the host of the presentation and he invites the Teacher to come up and deliver his lecture. Afterward, the author returns to make some closing remarks about what we’ve all heard.

You probably noticed I said “until the 18th century,” Solomon was considered the author. What happened then? Well, “Biblical criticism” happened. During the enlightenment period, particularly in Germany, theologians started adapting secular ideas in their study of the Bible.^[14]

The goal became: “How can we understand the Bible without the supernatural?” Darwinism influenced their interpretation.^[15] This mentality has pervaded academia ever since. You’ll hear it called “form criticism,” or, “source criticism,” or “redaction criticism” or “higher” criticism. It’s all the same idea: Let’s reject the supernatural and instead see the Bible as a collection of less enlightened human documents. What you’ll often find is that these scholars think the entire Old Testament was written after the Babylonian captivity.^[16] They conclude we can’t trust that the Bible is telling us the truth about when it was written, who wrote it, or what it records. They say the Bible needs to be “demythologized.” Really, it’s just an attack on the Bible’s authority. Sadly, many well-meaning Christian scholars still go along with this mentality and method of interpretation.

With that said, Ecclesiastes never explicitly says that Solomon is the author and Teacher. What we’re told is that the author is a son of David and he was king in Jerusalem. That could be a number of people. But, given what he says about his wealth, his activities, and his level of wisdom, the book definitely wants us to think it is Solomon speaking.^[17]

I listened to a podcast with some of these Christian scholars who throw in with higher criticism. They said, “Who even cares if Solomon really wrote the book? It shouldn’t matter at all.” But that’s a problem because in this book the author says, “I conducted a bunch of real experiments to find truth about life and purpose and the human experience.” If that’s not true, if the the lab experiment was made up or the data falsified, how can we trust his conclusions?

I learned this week about a man named Diederik Stapel. He’s been called “the biggest con man in academic science.”^[18] As a university professor, he falsified more than 50 papers with fake research. He gave fake data to students under him who were “earning” their PhDs. He made all these claims and was published in all sorts of journals – butit was all made up. His findings weren’t true.

Experts can’t make up their findings. It’s the basis of true discovery. And here, the book of Ecclesiastes says, “I have run comprehensive and profound experiments concerning the human condition, so listen to what I have to say so you don’t waste your life.” If that’s the message, then it definitely matters whether this book can be trusted.

Now, even if you’re not familiar with this book, I’m guessing you’re familiar with its slogan, which is: “Everything is ________”

Ecclesiastes 1:2 – ² “Absolute futility,” says the Teacher. “Absolute futility. Everything is futile.”

Ecclesiastes is a book full of keywords. The most important is rendered “futility” in my translation. Your version may say “vanity,” or “meaningless.” The Hebrew word is hevel, and it will be used 38 times in 12 chapters. This is the Teacher’s main word. In fact, in Hebrew it’s the very first word in the speech.^[19] Hevel, hevel, everything is hevel. That’s the word he starts with and the word he’ll end with.

It is important that we understand what he means. This is the point from which he instructs us. But what does hevel mean? There’s a difference between vanity and futility and meaningless, right? Things become even more complicated when we start listing out what the Teacher labels as hevel.

Wealth is hevel. Work is hevel. Being single. Being born. Being wise. Injustice. Succession. Enjoying good things. Everything everyone does is hevel.

But wait…how can everything be categorized the same way? And, if everything is “meaningless,” why then does the Teacher command us to enjoy good things and work hard (which he will)?

We need to understand hevel with more than one definition. It’s not always worthless. The word literally refers to smoke or vapor.^[20] David used this term in Psalm 144 when he said, “A human is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.”^[21] Jeremiah used the term to talk about “worthless idols.” And then he said, “The people who follow hevel idols become hevel themselves.”^[22] But then, in Proverbs 31 we’re told, “charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting – hevel.” That doesn’t mean beauty doesn’t exist or that it is meaningless – just that, like smoke, it dissipates.

So when we come to this word in Ecclesiastes we shouldn’t have a one-sense-fits-all attitude. In some cases it will have a negative connotation, like meaningless, but in other cases it will mean something more like “absurd,” or “transient,” or “ephemeral.” So as we listen, the image of smoke is very helpful. Because smoke is real, but you can’t hold onto it. You can’t control it. You can’t use it to construct anything. There it is and then it’s gone. That’s hevel. And the Teacher says life is like that.

There are other keywords and phrases that the Teacher keeps coming back to. He did that on purpose. We’re told in chapter 12, “The Teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.”^[23] He picks his words very carefully. Some of the words he keeps using are: Toil. Wisdom. Death. Advantage or profit. But, with hevel, there are two other key phrases that are going to be the most important for us in our study so we can understand the message.

The first is: under the sun. He uses this phrase 29 times. It means life on earth – life in the mortal realm. Life as the average person knows it – disconnected from eternal purposes. And the message is that if your life is lived for what you can gain, build, or experience under the sun, then no matter what you do, your life will be nothing more than a puff of smoke.

We can trust that the Teacher is right about that conclusion because he lived it. We’ll see all the things he did. He went farther into all of these pursuits than any of us could ever dream and the end of every single one was: hevel. One author points out he went down seven different roads: He was a philosopher, a student, a party animal, an alcoholic, a workaholic, an aristocrat, a puritan, a philanthropist. Every single road was a dead end.^[24] The Teacher was always left unsatisfied.

As he pursued all these things, none of them solved the problems in his heart and the absurdity around him. But, as he studied, he noticed that God was always there, in the background, and He is very active. He does things. He gives things. Most importantly in this book, He wants to give joy.

Seven times, usually at a very low point of his study, the Teacher will pause and tell us to enjoy our lives – to rejoice in the day-to-day. In the face of disappointment, in our confusion, when confronted with injustice, when dealing with old age and death, receive joy. The Teacher says that our lives, even when distressing, are a gift from God that He wants us to enjoy them. In fact, one commentary boils down the entire message of Ecclesiastes to this heading: Finding Joy In A Fallen World.^[25]

Historically, the Jews would read Ecclesiastes aloud during their Feast Of Tabernacles – which was a celebration of eating, drinking, and joy.^[26] How can this be? How can a message that seems so pessimistic – so full of despair – drive us to joy?

Have you ever started a book then read the last page to see how it ends? This is a book where we need to read the last page before reading the rest. The closing words are not from the Teacher, but from the author, who endorses the message of the Teacher and then says,

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 – ¹³ When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: fear God and keep his commands, because this is for all humanity. ¹⁴ For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

The secret is: there is more than what we see under the sun. There is a God Who is watching and working. A God Who has gifts for us, a plan for us, a purpose for our lives even when those lives seem to be ruined by the hardships of this world! A God we can pursue.

The Teacher knew a lot. He experienced more in life than any of us ever could. But there are things we know that he did not. We know a level of wisdom that was hidden to the believers of the Old Testament. Paul explains to us in 1 Corinthians that Christ is the wisdom of God. One author writes, “Ecclesiastes is the question to which Christ is the answer.”^[27]

This doesn’t cancel out the Teacher’s message. In fact, we can learn all the more from it. As we hear the Teacher tell us again and again, “There’s nothing new under the sun,” we are reminded that he’s right, but there is something new above the sun – We are new creations in Christ. God is doing a new thing through His people. As we hear, “hard work under the sun is vanity,” we can remember the promise that when we serve God, our labor is not in vain!^[28] When we hear that time, death, and chance are coming for us all, we remember that God elevates us out of worry, out of despair, out of the intimidation of death, the frustration of the random nature of life. We are able to see life providentially and in the light of the New Covenant.

The Teacher wants to drive his listeners to God.^[29] Duane Garrett writes, “In short, Ecclesiastes urges its readers to recognize that they are mortal. They must abandon all illusions of self-importance, face death and life squarely, and accept with fear and trembling their dependance on God.”^[30]

Our lives are a vapor, here for a moment, then gone. We know we will live on in eternity. But this life is hevel. As we live it, a lot of absurd, transient, confusing things will happen. The Teacher says, “Yeah, that’s right. There is no magic formula that guarantees wealth or long life or success. Don’t pretend like it always works out the way you want. Because, most of the time, it doesn’t. But, if you pursue wisdom, if you have a God-centered view of life,^[31] not only will your odds for advantage increase, you also will be in line with this God Who made you, watches you, loves you. And, the more you will truly be able to enjoy your day-to-day life, which is what God wants for you.”

Did you see Jerry Seinfeld’s commencement speech at Duke University this year? It was fun and humorous. But in it, Jerry says things like, “Life doesn’t make sense. The world doesn’t make sense. It’s an insane mess.” He should read Ecclesiastes. He needs that goad. He needs this pointy stick.

For unbelievers, Ecclesiastes will poke you with the reminder that you are going to die. And one day, no one will remember anything you did. What happens when you take your last breath? You may try to tell yourself, “Well, nothing happens, we just cease to exist.” But it’s not true. And deep down you know it’s not true because God has put eternity in your heart.

For believers, Ecclesiastes will poke us with some hard truths. Trying to do the right thing doesn’t always result in better circumstances. Sometimes what should happen doesn’t happen, because we live in a fallen world. Meanwhile, you can be content. We are commanded to “refuse to worry,” in this book. To spend less time stressing and more time enjoying – to make every part of our lives God-centered. To pursue the portion God has given you and to realize the joy He has in mind is probably not the “happiness” we think of when we hear things like, “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

The Teacher will admit that this pursuit is difficult. In fact, he admits he fell short of really apprehending wisdom the way he wanted. But here’s what’s exciting: There’s another teacher who did. Paul figured it out. “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself.”^[32]

A solid, meaningful, joy-filled day-to-day life is within our reach. In fact, that is a gift God wants us to receive. Ecclesiastes will help us in our pursuit. It will help us avoid dead ends. It will get us above the sun, closer to the Lord, pressing on and enjoying the path along the way.