Ecclesiastes 1 - Vanity of Life

 

Ecclesiastes 1 – Vanity of Life.                                                                

 

Solomon was on a mission to find the meaning of life.

While there is some comfort in nature’s unchanging cycles, their repetitiveness reinforces that there is really nothing new in this life.

All of life is vanity. The totality of human effort and even human accomplishment is utterly futile. Solomon’s conclusion was that life is meaningless when people do not acknowledge God. The only way to any satisfaction or joy in this life, though incomplete until eternity, is to recognize Him as the Giver in the midst of everything.

The persistent movements and rhythms of nature do provide an order to life on earth, but they really change nothing long term. Therefore it is pointless to live only for this life, for there will be no remembrance of what has been in the later generations.

A person’s life can be filled with meaning when they decide to be satisfied with the things God has provided.

The flow of generations from one to another does not change the face of humanity, just as the ceaseless flow of rivers into the sea does not change the sea.

Unless one recognizes that God gives all good things for human satisfaction, the repetitive cycles of earthly existence, like the sun hurrying across the horizon each day, only to arrive there again in the morning, will seem monotonous and futile.

Solomon goes from the futility of life to the frustration of life. Nothing is fulfilling or fresh, and nothing satisfies, without recognizing God’s provision (Prov. 27:20). Solomon knew this firsthand, because once he forsook the God of his youth, he lost his satisfaction and ability to enjoy good. Solomon forgot that God broke into creation and done new things. He stopped the sun for Joshua (Josh 10:12) and moved it back for Hezekiah (Isa. 38:8). He opened both the sea and the river for his people. God oversees the world and human history, and what He does is not in vain.

Even Solomon’s wisdom did not provide meaning. In fact, he discovered that increasing knowledge only increases a person’s sense of futility, because wisdom and knowledge do not satisfy. Our wisdom and experience cannot explain the mysteries of life or solve life’s problems. Knowledge can increase sorrow if you leave out the God of wisdom and the wisdom of God. Satan promises knowledge apart from God (Gen. 2:17, 3:1-5), but it leads only to sin and death. Be sure to grow in grace as you grow in knowledge, or knowledge will make you critical and cynical.

 

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