Introduction
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| Anointing of Solomon by Zadok |
Solomon was such a man.
Solomon's
wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the
wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men…and his fame was in all nations round
about. (1Ki
4:30-31;
2 Ch 1:7-12)
God gave him wisdom and knowledge, a wise and
understanding heart such that he could discern good and evil to judge the
people of God wisely.
If ever there was someone who could figure out what life is
all about, it would have been Solomon.
Solomon spoke 3,000 proverbs of which many were captured in the
Book of Proverbs. He wrote 1,005 songs of which the Song of Solomon is the Song
of Songs, his greatest hit. And he wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes. It is also
believed that he may have written two of the Psalms, numbers 72 and 127. He was
renown throughout the world for his amazing wisdom and insight.
It is not known for certain how old he was when he became
King of Israel. Some say as young as twelve, as it was said he did not know how
to go out or come in, and some say as old as twenty or even twenty-five. He
reigned as King of Israel for 40 years so died fairly young between the ages of
52 and 65. However, it is obvious from some of the passages he wrote that life
had taken its toll on him and he was weary. In Ecclesiastes 12, for example, he
speaks of the years that draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in
them.
The Book of Ecclesiastes will be our study today. It is
believed to have been written by Solomon when he was old and near the end of
his life. He was looking back and reflecting on his life and what he had
discovered during his lifelong quest to find the meaning of life. It was after
he had multiplied wives to himself, 700 wives and 300 concubines, that led him
astray and turned away his heart after other gods. Though he may have repented,
you might say with all he had seen and experienced by then that he had become
quite cynical.
The Book of Ecclesiastes can be described as Solomon’s
series of experiments, or investigations. He searched for meaning in every
aspect of life under the sun.
He discovered that if this life is all there is, there is no
meaning to any of it as we’ll see. It is all vanity; a mere exercise in
futility.
Solomon had it all, wisdom, riches, fame, women, horses, houses,
vineyards, servants, armies, wealth, and power. Everything! He had everything a
man could want. Nothing was kept from him that his heart desired. He had it all
and he laments that though he had tried and tested every aspect of life you can
imagine; he could not find fulfillment in any of it and all it brought was grief
and sorrow and vexation of spirit.
Solomon describes this life, the human existence, as life lived
“under the sun”.
And that will be the title of the message today.
Under the Sun
The phrase “under the sun” appears nowhere else in the
Bible. It only appears in the book of Ecclesiastes. In most translations, it
appears 29 times in 27 verses. This life “under the sun” is the life we
experience with our own physical senses.
In order to understand the Book of Ecclesiastes, we need to
understand the viewpoint of the writer. We need to view it from Solomon’s
perspective.
David Guzik’s Enduring Word Commentary puts it this
way:
“The
Book of Ecclesiastes is one of the most unusual and perhaps most difficult to
understand books of the Bible. It has a spirit of hopeless despair; it has no
praise or peace; it seems to promote questionable conduct. Yet these words
of the Preacher show us the futility and foolishness of a life lived without
an eternal perspective.”
A life lived without an eternal perspective.
This is the key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes.
It must be perceived from the view point that this is all there is. This life
is it! There is no life after death. There is no resurrection! There is no
Kingdom! There is no eternity!
When you look at it this way, you can understand why Solomon
was so frustrated with it all.
We all were made with a God-shaped hole in our heart that
only He can fill. Solomon states it this way in chapter three. After he writes
the lyrics to the song, Turn!
Turn! Turn! that the Byrds made popular in 1965, [which might actually be
his greatest hit] he says this –
Ecc 3:11
NASB He has
made everything appropriate in its time. [a time to every purpose under heaven] He has also set
eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not
find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.
But man goes about life anyway searching for that one thing
that will fill that hole with anything but God, and when he can’t find
it, he gets frustrated and it manifests in all manner of sin, sickness, and debauchery.
Life doesn’t seem to work the way it should. Life is hard at
times. Life is unfair at times. Without an eternal perspective, without a view
of what comes after, life has no meaning. It’s just day in and day out drudgery
with just enough joy sprinkled in to keep us interested.
Once you become an adult and enter the workforce, it seems
like you’re on one of those hamster wheels. You get up in the morning, so you
can go to work, you come home and eat dinner and go to bed, so you can get up
in the morning and go to work, over and over again, for 40 years.
As we shall see, from Solomon’s perspective
without eternity, there is no point to all of this. There is
nothing new under the sun and…
Vanity of Vanities, ALL is Vanity
Ecc 1:1-9
(1) The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
(2) Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
(3) What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under
the sun?
(4) One generation passeth
away, and another generation cometh: but
the earth abideth for ever.
(5) The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his
place where he arose.
(6) The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the
north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to
his circuits.
(7) All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the
rivers come, thither they return again.
(8) All things are full of
labour; man cannot utter it: the eye
is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
All things are full of labor. There’s
always something that’s got to be done. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.
Just when you get one thing done, something else requires your attention. You
get one thing fixed and something else breaks. There’s no let up. It’s all
vanity! There’s no rest in this life under the sun.
You go to see some new sight and enjoy it
immensely at the time. Afterwards, it becomes another check mark on the list of
“been there done that”.
You hear a new song that really resonates
and you can’t get enough of it. After a while, you’re tired of it and you can’t
get it out of your head quick enough.
(9) The thing that hath been, it is that
which shall be; and that which is done is
that which shall be done: and there is no
new thing under the sun.
This is the voice of hopeless despair David Guzik
spoke of that is so prevalent in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon seems so wearied
of it all.
Let’s look in on Solomon’s quest for the meaning
of life under the sun. We won’t read the whole book but he summarizes
quite nicely in chapter two.
Ecc 2:1-11
NLT
(1) I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure.
Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was
meaningless.
(2) So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good
does it do to seek pleasure?”
(3) After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And
while still keeping my wits about me, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the
only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.
(4) I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself
and by planting beautiful vineyards.
(5) I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit
trees.
(6) I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many
flourishing groves.
(7) I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into
my household. I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings
who had lived in Jerusalem before me.
(8) I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many
kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had
many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire!
(9) So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before
me, and my wisdom never failed me.
(10) Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I
even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors.
(11) But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to
accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind.
There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.
All the things that men even today strive for
cannot satisfy. There’s a message here for men young and old. Young men, don’t
spend all your time and effort chasing the wind and neglecting that which is
most important. Old men, don’t look back on your life with regret for not
accomplishing all you set out to do. Grab on to that which is most important now
and hold on with all your might.
For in the end…We all die.
Vanity of Life – (All Die)
Ecc 9:3-6
KJV
(3) This is an evil among all
things that are done under the sun,
that there is one event unto all:
yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after
that they go to the dead.
(5) For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know
not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them
is forgotten.
(6) Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now
perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
For all of man’s machinations, all his struggles
and strife, in the end we all die, rich or poor; weak or powerful; we all
die. If there is no life after death, what’s the point of it all?
Hear the despair? It’s all just a meaningless
exercise in futility.
Time and Chance
Ecc 9:11 KJV
I
returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the
strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding,
nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Solomon’s thinking, this doesn’t make sense! Is it
all just dumb luck? What’s the point of working hard and striving for
excellence, and developing one’s character and skill if the other guy is going
to win anyway?
Bear in mind, he’s viewing it from the perspective
that this life is all there is. He doesn’t have the benefit of the truth that
God has revealed to us.
Ecc 8:14 KJV
(14) There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be
just men, unto whom it happeneth
according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work
of the righteous: I said that this also is
vanity.
It makes no sense! The righteous are punished and
the wicked are rewarded.
Now, when we have things happen that seem
unfair, or incongruous, we use them first as an opportunity for
self-examination.
What’s the lesson here?
Lord try my heart to see if there be any wicked
way in me.
Am I viewing this from a godly perspective?
We also know that all things work together for
good for those that love God and are called according to his purpose. (Rom
8:28)
So, we look for the good in it. We might
not find it right away but we trust that God has our best interest at heart.
We look at things differently because we know God,
we love God, and we know His plan to bring many sons and daughters to glory in
His eternal Kingdom. Solomon had somehow lost that perspective, if he ever had
it in the first place.
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry
Solomon speaks of this 5 times. Along the way he says, enjoy the fruits of
your labor as they are the gift of God. As he looks back over his life, he sees
that it was those times that gave him the most joy.
Ecc 8:15
KJV Then I
commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than
to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his
labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
See also - Ecc 2:24-25;
Ecc 3:13;
Ecc 5:18; Ecc 9:7-9
Not that he says to
make that your aim, as he had already tried that and found it to be hollow. But
everything else is vanity. Along the way take time out from all your labors to
enjoy good times with family and friends. In this life there is nothing that
abides more than these memories.
The Apostle Paul comes
to the same conclusion when he tells us that if this life is all there is then
we are of all men most miserable.
1Co 15:13-22 KJV
(13) But if there be no resurrection of the
dead, then is Christ not risen:
(14) And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
(15) Yea, and we are found false witnesses of
God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised
not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
(16) For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ
raised:
(17) And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
(18) Then they also which are fallen asleep in
Christ are perished.
(19) If in this life only we have hope in
Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
(20) But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
(21) For since by man came death, by man came
also the resurrection of the dead.
(22) For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ
shall all be made alive.
Paul was looking at this from a completely different
perspective than Solomon. He had the privilege of seeing things from the
perspective of one who knows Christ. He too though points out the futility of
life if there is no resurrection, and no eternity. And he draws the same
conclusion as Solomon.
1Co 15:32, 34 KJV
(32) If after the manner of men I have fought
with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us
eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.
(34) Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for
some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this
to your shame.
The “beasts” at
Ephesus refers to the violent and wild human opponents (as he faced at Ephesus
in Acts_19:21-41). What’s the point
of facing down these angry mobs for the cause of Christ if there is no
resurrection?
If there is no
resurrection, then there is no future to consider. Then life is lived only “under
the sun”, as is considered in Ecclesiastes.
Solomon set out to
find out all that God has done from beginning to end. He tried to fill that
hole in his heart where eternity lies with everything the world has to offer. And
what did he find? All was vanity. It was futile and pointless.
Solomon has a lesson for the young as well as the old.
To the Young
Remember the perspective from which Solomon wrote the Book
of Ecclesiastes. Here’s a man who had it all. Everything you may be looking
forward to, even striving for, he has already tried it and proven it to be worthless
without God in it. Except the
LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it. (Psa 127:1)
A life lived apart from God has no
meaning. Without God in your life and the hope of eternity in your heart, you
can work hard, amass a huge fortune, become famous, have the best of everything
that life has to offer but when you get old, so what? You still die! He who
dies with the most toys does not win anything! He leaves it to those who
have no appreciation for what it took to get it.
Without God, you don’t have a prayer!
In Ecclesiastes chapter eleven, he says to cast your bread
upon the waters and it will come back to you. Be generous with that which
you’ve been given. Attend to the duties of life and leave the outcome to God.
And then in verse eight he says this –
Ecc 11:8-10 KJV
(8) But if a man live many years, and
rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they
shall be many. All that cometh is
vanity.
(9) Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee
in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight
of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things
God will bring thee into judgment.
(10) Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from
thy flesh: for childhood and youth are
vanity.
Live your life. Build a nice life for you and your family. Find
joy where it can be found. Eat, drink, and be merry along the way. But remember
why you’re here. Learn your lessons. Remember always the God you serve. Be sure
the things you do in this life will be pleasing in His sight for one day
you will stand before His judgment seat to give account of your doings.
The Stoics have a saying in Latin, “Memento mori”. Remember
you will die.
Remember now thy Creator
in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw
nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. (Ecc 12:1)
To the Old
He describes the evil days when
the years draw nigh. He describes the toll aging takes on us all. It’s not a
negative thing but a fact of life we need to come to terms with and accept, to
make peace with our Maker and those we love.
Ecc 12:1-8 KJV
King Solomon in Old Age - Gustav Doré
(1) Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy
youth, while the evil days come not…
(3) In the day when the keepers of the house
shall tremble
[Who are the keepers of the house? Well, you keep house using your arms
and your hands. This is where he begins to describe the effects of old age.
When the keepers of the house shall tremble - the arms and hands weaken and
shake]
and the strong men shall
bow themselves, [the legs and knees begin to sag]
and the grinders cease
because they are few, [teeth are lost and chewing is difficult]
and those that look out
of the windows be darkened, [the eyes grow dim]
(4) And the doors shall be shut in the streets,
when the sound of the grinding is low, [the ears, become hard of hearing]
and he shall rise up at
the voice of the bird, [sleep is difficult, you’re easily awakened, even
at the sound of a bird]
and all the daughters of
musick shall be brought low; [music is less, and less appreciated]
(5) Also when
they shall be afraid of that which is
high, and fears shall be in the way, [more fearful
in life, reflexes aren’t what they used to be, not as stable, not as alert,
easily startled]
and the almond tree shall
flourish, [when almond trees bloom, they get these beautiful white flowers, so the
hair becomes white]
and the grasshopper shall
be a burden, [the slightest noise and activity, even a locust or a grasshopper becomes
an annoyance and an aggravation]
and desire shall fail: [passion
weakens and wanes]
because man goeth to his
long home, and the mourners go about the streets: [man goes to his grave, a coffin is his
long home]
(6) Or ever the silver cord be loosed, [the spinal
cord, nerves]
or the golden bowl be
broken, [the head and the mind goes, lose your train of thought, dementia]
or the pitcher be broken
at the fountain, [the pump, the heart, the right ventricle]
or the wheel broken at
the cistern. [the left ventricle of the heart]
(7) Then shall the dust return to the earth as
it was: [ashes to ashes, dust to dust]
and the spirit shall
return unto God who gave it. [the spirit of man, the “ruach” the breath of
life (Gen 7:22)]
(8) Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all
is vanity.
To me this is comforting to know, that the aging
process is perfectly natural. It is common to man and God designed it in from
the beginning.
In verse eight, the Preacher comes full circle
back to Ecclesiastes 1:2. Having examined the meaninglessness of life with an under
the sun premise (excluding eternity and the eternal God), one might say
that life is not only meaningless, but the ultimate in meaninglessness (vanity
of vanities).
All is vanity: With the under the sun
premise, not only is life meaningless, but all is vanity. Nothing has meaning.
He spent his entire life seeking wisdom, purpose,
fulfillment and meaning in life. He recorded and taught all he learned but he
wearied himself doing so. In the end, old age took its toll.
We will all experience the signs of aging if we
live long enough. But for us, we who love God and understand His eternal plan…
I have good news for you!
2Co 4:16-18
(16) … though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
(17) For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for
us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory;
(18) While we look not at the things which are seen, but at
the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen [which are under
the sun] are temporal; but
the things which are not seen are
eternal.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Rom 8:18)
It has not been given to everyone to understand
the mysteries of God but it has been given to us to know.
Mat 13:11, 17 KJV
(11) He answered and said unto them, Because
it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to
them it is not given.
(17) For verily I say unto you, That many
prophets and righteous men have desired to see those
things which ye see, and have not seen
them; and to
hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
Solomon was such a man. He was the wisest man who
ever lived and spent his entire life trying to figure out the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, yet he never did. By his estimation, there was nothing new
under the sun.
Under the Son
There may
be nothing new under the sun,
But there are many new things under the Son!
As
followers of Jesus Christ, we live life under the Son,
the Son of God!
Our
life is filled with new things! Here are 8 things that are new
when living life under the Son.
1. A
new covenant (Jer_31:33, Heb 8:10; 10:16).
(31) Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
(33) … I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their
hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be
my people. (Jer 31:31, 33)
2. A
new nature (Eph_4:23-24).
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; (24) And that ye put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Eph 4:23-24)
3. A
new creation in Jesus Christ (2Co_5:17).
Therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old
things are passed away…
4. A
new and living way (Heb_10:20).
By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us,
through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; (Heb 10:20)
5. A
new community (Eph_2:19).
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens
with the saints, and of the household of God; (Eph 2:19)
6. A
new commandment (Joh_13:34).
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye
love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. (Joh
13:34)
7. A
new name (Isa_62:2, Rev_2:17).
And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory:
and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD
shall name. (Isa 62:2)
… To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the
hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name
written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. (Rev 2:17)
8. All
things become new! (2Co_5:17, Rev_21:5).
…behold, all things are become new. (2Co 5:17)
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold,
I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. (Rev
21:5)
Let’s turn back to Ecclesiastes 1:8. There’s
something else we can learn here that ties this all together.
Ecc 1:8 KJV All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the
ear filled with hearing.
All things are full of labor.
There’s always something that’s got to be done. There’s no let up. What profit hath a man of all his labor which
he taketh under the sun? It’s all vanity! There’s
no rest in this life under the sun.
1Co 15:58 KJV Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your
labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Mat 11:28
KJV Come unto me, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest.
There is rest under the Son! And our
labor is not in vain!
We’ll close with
Solomon’s final words. Let us hear the –
Conclusion of the Matter
Ecc 12:9-14
KJV
(9) And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the
people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
(10) The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words
of truth.
(11) The words of the wise are
as goads, and as nails fastened by the
masters of assemblies, [like well-driven nails]
which are
given from one shepherd.
[Jesus Christ; the LORD appeared to him twice - 1 Kings 3:5; 1 Kings 9:2]
(12) And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many
books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
[His ways are past finding out]
(13) Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and
keep his commandments: for this is the
whole duty of man.
(14) For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret
thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Enjoy the rest of your Sabbath Day, under the Son!
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