Ecclesiastes 2:18–19

The expression "under the sun" comes twenty-nine times in this book. What is "under the sun" is on the earth. There is, of course, something above the sun — that is heaven, the heavenly things. Ecclesiastes deals with earthly things, with what man does apart from God — that is, the natural man. The book describes the things under the sun. It shows that everything man does — his pursuits, his labours, whatever he takes up and all that goes with it — is nothing but vanity and a chasing after wind. It never satisfies, and it is full of sorrow and perplexity.

Here we get a view of death that man does well to remember. Death is the wages of sin, but it is not viewed in that aspect in Ecclesiastes. Solomon does not dwell on the reason death entered the world. He dwells on its presence here, as a worm at the root of the tree of pleasure. It spoils pleasure and chills enjoyment. It cuts a man off just when he would sit down after years of toil to reap the fruit of his labour... This book looks at death from this side of the grave. It shows how death separates a man from the fruit of all his labour, just when he thinks he is about to gather it.

Soon all alike would be forgotten here below, the one dying as the other. So he came to loathe life and hated all his toil, above all because he had to leave it to a successor — and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet that man must have authority over all the toil and fruit of wisdom under the sun. This too was vanity. A feeling of despair followed over all his toil, as he thought of an heir who had never toiled.

According to the king's lament (Ecc. 2:19), the man to whom Solomon left all the fruit of his labour was not wise. His folly brought on him the consequences that God's counsels had attached to his father's sin. Under Jeroboam's leadership, ten tribes threw off the authority of the house of David. Looked at in terms of responsibility, the house of David has entirely and for ever lost its glory.

Hezekiah was a remarkably good man, and his father was notably wicked. How truly and how widely the wise Preacher's reflection about successors applies! It holds in a kingdom, and in the smaller circle of the household: "Who knows whether he will be wise or a fool?"

There is no question in it of grace or of redemption. It is the experience of a man — a king with wisdom and riches — about human life. He tries to solve every contradiction in the world while he views it all "under the sun." Only the wisdom that comes from above can solve these things, or leave them unsolved in peace. Only in the New Testament do we get "new creation." It rises above the confusion of fallen humanity and reveals "eternal life" that is in God's Son.

We have the strongest reason to work hard in the Lord's interests. We know that "in the Lord your labor is not in vain." The work may look useless as far as man and his little world are concerned. But in the Lord, and connected with the order of things established in resurrection, it is not in vain.

The word "vanity" means that which soon vanishes, nothingness. The other phrase to notice is "under the sun." It appears twenty-nine times in this book. What is "under the sun" is on the earth. There is, of course, something above the sun — that is heaven, the heavenly things. So Ecclesiastes deals with earthly things. It deals with what man does apart from God — the natural man. The book describes the things under the sun. It shows that everything man does is nothing but vanity and a chasing after wind. His pursuits, his labours, whatever he takes on and all that goes with it — all of it is always unsatisfying and full of sorrow and confusion.

He hated life, and he hated all his toil — above all because he must leave it to a successor. And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet that man must have power over all that toil and fruit of wisdom under the sun. This too was vanity. A feeling of despair followed over all his toil, as he thought of an heir who had never toiled.

Death is the wages of sin, but it is not viewed in that light in Ecclesiastes. Solomon does not dwell on why it entered the world, but on its presence here as a worm at the root of the tree of pleasure. It spoils pleasure and chills enjoyment. It cuts a man off just when he would sit down to reap the fruit of years of toil.

History answers the question. It shows with force the emptiness of all things that he felt so keenly. Rehoboam abandoned the advice of the old men who had served his father Solomon. That act of folly cost him the loyalty of the ten tribes. After three years of his reign he also abandoned the Lord. Shishak king of Egypt invaded, and Rehoboam lost the treasures Solomon had gathered. The shields of gold went to fill the treasuries of Egypt, and Rehoboam had to put shields of bronze in their place.

Hezekiah was a remarkably good man, with such a notably wicked father. The wise Preacher's reflection about one's successors applies truly and widely, whether in a kingdom or in the smaller circle of the household: "who knows whether he will be wise or a fool?"

Yet people will build and hoard. If not for themselves, then for their children — or in other words, their second selves. If I hoard for my children, I am hoarding for myself. And not only that. In countless cases the hoard proves a positive curse to the child instead of a blessing. It takes him off the proper ground appointed for him, as for everyone, in God's moral government. That ground is "doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have" — not to hoard for himself or for his second self, but — "something to share with anyone in need."

No toil, no testing, no suffering gone through in faith for the Lord will be lost. It is all treasured up. When our Lord Jesus Christ is revealed at the resurrection, it will be found to result in praise and glory and honour.