OVERVIEW
Solomon the Preacher brings all of his worldly experience and wisdom to bear in this commentary of life lived under the sun. Apart from fellowship with the Eternal God, man chases the wind and wastes his life in a cycle of futility. The world in its wisdom needs to be pushed to the logical precipice of the foolishness of its presuppositions. That’s what makes this wisdom literature ideal as a pre-evangelism tool for those who need to be confronted with the reality of life apart from submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. But believers also need to be reminded of the contradiction of living as if there is no ultimate accountability.
How should we truly live in light of eternity? How can we avoid the emptiness and meaninglessness of life from just a human perspective – despite its pleasures for the moment? When are material pursuits satisfying and when do they distract us from our true calling? What is the purpose of work and what should be our perspective towards it? Solomon points us to the simple formula of fearing God and keeping His commandments while pursuing the perspective of eternity that He has placed in our hearts. This book will be gloomy and dismal apart from the light of God’s presence and favor in union with our Lord Jesus Christ. The perspective of life under the sun, apart from God, is repeated over and over by the Preacher.
BIG IDEA
Apart From The Fear Of God And An Eternal Perspective, Life Is A Futile Exercise Of Chasing The Wind
Ecclesiastes 2:17 “everything is futility and striving after wind.”
BASIC OUTLINE
(1:1-18) INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW: CHASING THE WIND – THE CYCLE OF FUTILITY –
The Experience and Perspective of Solomon Testify to the Emptiness of Life and the Lack of Any Satisfying Answers to the Human Cycle of Futility
(2:1-11) THE FUTILITY OF PLEASURE, POSSESSIONS AND PRIDE —
Investigation under the Sun Reveals the Futility of Pleasure, Possessions and Pride
(2:12-26) THE FUTILITY OF WISDOM AND WORK –
A Life of Pursuing Wisdom or Accomplishment Only Accumulates a Legacy of Futility
(3:1-22) THE FUTILITY OF TRYING TO COMPREHEND THE DIVINE MASTER PLAN –
The Inscrutable Nature of Eternity Will Frustrate Man’s Efforts to Figure Things Out – Just Submit and Take Things as They Come
(4:1-16) THE FUTILITY OF CHASING WORLDLY SUCCESS —
The Five Rotten Steps on the World’s Ladder of Success
(5:1-7) BE CAREFUL TO WORSHIP AS THE WISE INSTEAD OF THE FOOL –
Wise Worship Calls for Obedient Listening, Controlled Speech, Faithful Commitment and Reverential Awe
(5:8-20) PURSUIT OF WEALTH CAN CREATE HUGE PROBLEMS –
Apart from Contentment in Enjoying God’s Gifts, the Pursuit of Wealth Can Create Huge Problems
(6:1-12) THE FUTILITY OF CHASING THE GOOD LIFE –
Even Those Who Appear to Have Grabbed Hold of the Good Life Struggle with No Enjoyment, No Satisfaction and No Answers to Life’s ultimate Questions
(7:1-14) RECOGNIZE THAT GOD IS IN CONTROL – BOTH IN HAPPY TIMES AND SAD –
Since God Is Sovereign, the Wise Must Benefit from Sorrow and Submit Rather than Express Prideful Impatience and Frustration
(7:15-29) PURSUE THE PATH OF WISDOM AND THE FEAR OF GOD –
Understanding the Pervasiveness of Futility and the Reality of Personal Perversity, Pursue the Path of Wisdom and the Fear of God
(8:1-9) LIMITS OF WISDOM IN INTERACTING WITH SOVEREIGN POWER —
Wisdom Treads Carefully in Interacting with Sovereign Power Because of the Priority of Submission and the Reality of Limitations
(8:10 – 9:18) SOMETIMES LIFE DOESN’T MAKE SENSE – BUT WE CAN STILL RESOLVE TO LIVE IT UP —
Wisdom Cannot Figure Out Life’s Perplexities, But the Enjoyment of This Life Does Not Come from Figuring Out Life’s Deep Enigmas
(10:1-20) NUGGETS OF WISDOM – WISE RESPONSE TO FOOLISH LEADERSHIP –
Folly on the Part of Rulers Puts a Nation in Jeopardy and Requires a Response of Wisdom – Yet Wisdom Is Precarious at Best
(11:1-10) SECRETS TO A PRODUCTIVE AND ENJOYABLE LIFE –
By Opportunistic Faith and Joyful Contentment We Can Live Both a Productive and Enjoyable Life
(12:1-14) THE POINT OF IT ALL –
This Life Has Meaning When We Rise Above the Futility of Man’s Wisdom to Embrace God’s Wisdom = Fear God and Obey Him Before It’s Too Late Because We All Will Be Held Accountable
WHY STUDY THIS BOOK?
This book is God’s classic presentation of pre-evangelism. I would recommend that you give your unsaved friends an introduction to the musings of Solomon along with Chuck Swindoll’s excellent commentary: Living on the Ragged Edge.
• It cautions us against defining our identity by what we own, how much fun we have, what we can accomplish, what we can learn, etc.
• It deflates our pride and sense of self importance.
• It counsels us how to escape from the depression of a meaningless cycle of futility.
cf. John Piper’s theme for his ministry: Desiring God.org – that is what Solomon lays before us as the chief goal of man
NOTABLE QUOTES
Swindoll: 3 Temptations addressed in Ecclesiastes:
1) The sensual lure of something better tomorrow robs us of the joys offered today.
2) The personal temptation to escape is always stronger than the realization of its consequences.
3) The final destination, if God is absent from the scene, will not satisfy.
Ryrie: The message of the book may be stated in the form of three propositions:
(1) When you look at life with its seemingly aimless cycles (1:4ff.) and inexplicable paradoxes (4:1; 7:15; 8:8), you might conclude that all is futile, since it is impossible to discern any purpose in the ordering of events.
(2) Nevertheless, life is to be enjoyed to the fullest, realizing that it is the gift of God (3:12-13; 3:22; 5:18-19; 8:15; 9:7-9).
(3) The wise man will live his life in obedience to God, recognizing that God will eventually judge all men (3:16-17; 12:14).
BasicTheology.com: The same themes that at first glance may appear incongruent, such as vanity and enjoyment of simple pleasures, meaninglessness and wisdom, the hopelessness of death and purpose in life, upon careful, contextualized investigation work together to serve the author’s purpose of directing the reader to God for ultimate meaning in life. Ecclesiastes takes the reader through the highs and lows of life on this earth, from hedonism to nihilism, finally arriving at a conclusion that is perfectly at home within Old Testament theology: fear God and keep His commandments.
Pounds: Augustine said, “Thou hast made us for Thyself and the heart of man is restless until it finds its rest in Thee.” Solomon, after examining all areas of life in pursuit of purpose, concludes that the only way you can find purpose in life is through the God who gives life rather than through life itself. You do not find happiness in life pursuing happiness; you find happiness as a by-product of the right choices you make. Solomon moves from a tone of despair to one of meaning in the midst of the capricious nature of life. In 12:13-14 the author asserts conclusively that the solution to man’s futility in life is found in his service to God. He wrote, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person” (NASB 1995). There is fulfillment in life, but it will come only in a right relationship with God and serving Him.
First Presbyterian Church: And so it is perfectly appropriate that there would be a book in the Old Testament that sets forth what happens when you attempt to live life against that truth or without that truth. If you attempt to live life under the sun, if you attempt to live life apart from the reality of a Creator that has brought all things into being and made us for Himself, then this will happen. That’s basically the story of the book of Ecclesiastes. It is an exploration of the different ways that people try to find meaning in this life apart from God, and it is an explanation of how futile that is. It is a big argument to argue you into a corner in the denial of the Creator. So, when the author says, “All is vanity,” he really means it. Everything under the sun is vanity apart from God. Everything in this world, everything in this earthly sphere is incapable of satisfying the deepest part of our soul apart from God.