Book of Ecclesiastes - Bible Survey

Ecclesiastes estimates this world under the same government, in its present fallen state, and raises the question whether by any means man can find happiness and rest there, with no trace of the knowledge of redemption. Nor is there any recognised relationship with God. It is always Elohim (God), never Jehovah, fearing God and keeping His commandments being the whole duty of man as such.

As clearly the book of the "Preacher" fills the fourth. It is the testing of the world, by one who has full knowledge of it, — the search into a problem with which man's heart is ever exercised, but the solution of which is never found in the way sought. He would fain find good where it is not to be found, and where the search only results in bitter disappointment, "vanity and vexation of spirit." He is a king, with all the absolute power of a king. The treasures of earth are in his lap. He has will to find what he is in quest of. He has wisdom to back his will. "What shall the man do that cometh after the king?" The experiment is thus made once for all: it can never need to be repeated. The end finds him as bankrupt in wisdom as in material resources, — humbled, so as to find it now with God; but the world fallen and away from Him; under the stamp of death therefore, and passing away; man's good in it to fear Him and to do His will, whom presently he is to meet in judgment.

The first two or three verses give the subject of this book. "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?" This expression 'under the sun' occurs no less than twenty-eight times in the twelve chapters, and gives the character of the book. It describes life 'in Adam,' and seeks an answer to the questions, What is best for man? how should he spend his life to be happy on earth? The writer speaks as a human philosopher in his wanderings. Sometimes he gets near the truth, but at other times he is far removed from it. Hence some passages state man's false conclusions: cf. for example, Ecc. 3: 18-22; Ecc. 7: 16, 17; Ecc. 8: 15. The direct divine teaching is contained in the last few verses of the book. The last two verses answer the searchings of Ecc. 1: 13; Ecc. 2: 3.

Solomon, who is the writer, goes through his experience both of wisdom and of riches, of labour, and of all that his heart as a man could desire (and who can come after the king?); and records it by inspiration, so that when he proves it all to be but vanity and vexation of spirit it is not the mere utterance of a disappointed man, but divinely recorded conviction. The actions are characterised by being done 'under the sun,' and without any thought of their being performed Godward. Man is not regarded as in direct relationship with God, though responsible to his Creator. The name of Jehovah does not once occur.

The problem is solved in the very beginning of the book itself. In the first verse we are introduced to the illustrious author of the book, who calls himself "Koheleth," and "the son of David, King in Jerusalem." This ought to settle the question for ever. If another man wrote as the critics maintain centuries later and assumed that he is "the son of David and King of Jerusalem," he was a fraud. But why does Solomon write? What is the theme he follows? What is the object of his debate or discourse? The next two verses give the answer to these questions and the solution of the problem. Vanity of vanities, saith Koheleth; vanity of vanities--all is vanity. "What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?" Here are two words which arrest our attention. The first one is "vanity," used five times in the second verse. It occurs many times throughout the book and is frequently connected with "vexation of spirit" (literally, pursuit of the wind). The word "vanity" means that which soon vanishes, nothingness. It is used for the first time by Eve when she had her second son, whom she called "Abel." So the great king, the wisest of men in his discourse in which he seeks and searches out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven (verse 13), and in all his searching independent of Jehovah's revelation, he discovers that all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

The second word which we notice is "under the sun." This expression is found twenty-nine times in this book. Now that which is "under the sun" is on the earth. There is, of course, something which is above the sun, that is heaven, the heavenly things. Ecclesiastes then is occupied with earthly things, with what man does apart from God, that is the natural man. The book describes the things under the sun, shows that all what man does, his pursuits, his labors, whatever undertaken and all that is connected with it, is nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit, ever unsatisfying and filled with sorrow and perplexity. The writer makes it clear that in all his searching and description of the things under the sun he does not depend on divine revelation, on that which is above the sun, but he reacheth his results through the light which nature gives; his resources are within himself. This is confirmed by the phrase, "I communed with my own heart," which occurs seven times in the book. The book of Ecclesiastes is therefore the book of the natural man apart from divine revelation. This is the reason why the name Jehovah (God's name as He enters in covenant relation with man) is omitted and the name of God is only expressed by Elohim, that is His Name as Creator. It shows what the natural man is, the life he lives, and the world in which he lives with its fleeting vanities. Ecclesiastes is embodied in the Holy Scriptures for one purpose, to show to the natural man the hollowness and vanity of all that is under the sun, and to convince him thereby to seek and find that which is better, that which is above the sun.

In the Book of Ecclesiastes, we have the record of human experience, with reference to this world, on a large and magnificent scale; and the result proved that all is vanity and vexation of spirit. "Vanity of vanities," saith the preacher, "vanity of vanities; ALL is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?" (Ecc. 1:2-3.) So long as we seek happiness UNDER THE SUN, we shall not find it. Solomon was a wise man and a great king. He tried and proved everything that "could be supposed capable of rendering man happy." (See Ecc. 2) He tried mirth and pleasure, wisdom and folly. He made great works, builded houses, planted vineyards, gardens, orchards, and trees of all kinds of fruit. He got singing men and singing women, silver and gold in abundance, and the peculiar treasure of kings. "So I was great," he says, "and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them; I withheld not my heart from any joy: for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hand had wrought and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun." Verses 9-11.

So long as the heart of any one is seeking rest, satisfaction, or happiness in this world, it will surely be disappointed. The result in every case must be bitter disappointment, for it can only reap from such a soil, "vanity and vexation of spirit." The heart of man is too large for this world to fill. Its capabilities are too vast for all that is under the heavens to satisfy. And yet how eagerly many are chasing after the fleeting phantoms of time, to the entire neglect of the solemn realities of eternity! But supposing that every desired object were reached, and all possessed, what would be gained? Only a deeper sense that all is vanity — that it is not in the power of earthly good to fill up the aching void within. All worldly pleasures, amusements, indulgences, and gratifications, leave the soul more thirsty than ever: they cannot satisfy. Excitement is the right name for worldly pleasures — take that away, and they would prove a most burdensome task. They only increase the painful sense of want, with an intensified desire, which makes the poor neglected soul thoroughly miserable. There is a worm at the root of every gourd, and a thorn in earth's fairest flower.

Competent then surely to tell us what life is, what has he to say of it? how does he describe it? "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities: all is vanity." (Ecc. 1:1-2.) Were these the words of a disappointed man, whose hopes had been cruelly crushed, and himself roughly treated by the way, none could wonder at such a commencement. But these are the words of time most prosperous, humanly speaking, of men the world has ever witnessed. "Vanity of vanities" — a mere breath, a vapour passing over the earth, short-lived in its existence, such is the recorded experience of the son of David, king in Jerusalem, and that not of some things but of all. "All is vanity, saith the Preacher." And here he takes a title not elsewhere met with outside this book — Preacher. He would collect those about him who were desirous to hear, and instruct them, for such is the meaning of the term. So, whilst other portions of Scripture treat of the future, and the path of the righteous on earth, this addresses itself to all whose hearts are in the world, pursuing the occupations of life, and tells them what they really are, as the king's son has discovered by his own experience, and has recorded by the pen of inspiration for the instruction of all who will hearken to him.

"What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?" He takes up the diligent, well-occupied man, toiling away; the man who finds plenty to do and is happy in doing it, thoroughly engaged in the business of life. But why this cry of the Preacher, who "sought to find out acceptable words?" (Ecc. 12:10.) And why does he view things so mournfully? The secret comes out. "One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth for ever." The earth abides, man does not; hence the question that needs no answer, "What profit," etc. And here we are furnished with a view of death, of which it is well for man to be reminded. Death is the wages of sin; but it is not viewed in this aspect in Ecclesiastes. It is not the reason of its entrance into the world that Solomon dilates on, but its presence here as a worm at the root of the tree of pleasure. (Ecc. 2:15; Ecc. 3:19-20; Ecc. 5:15; Ecc. 6:6; Ecc. 9:3.) It mars pleasure, it chills enjoyment; for it cuts off man just when he would sit down after years of toil to reap the fruit of his labour. How different was the prospect of Adam ere he fell! How different will be the experience of saints during the millennium, and of men on the new earth! But now to man, feeling the consequences of the fall, death is the great marplot, blasting all his hopes. What takes place after death is another matter: other scriptures set that forth. This book regards death from this side of the grave, and shows how it effects a severance between man and the fruits of all his labour, which he thinks he is just about to reap. And the misery of it is just this: man has laboured for years, and looks naturally to enjoy what he, not others, has amassed; but finds death comes in and takes him away, whilst he leaves all the fruits of his labour to be enjoyed by another. "There is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity: yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil." (Ecc. 2:21.)

Competent then surely to tell us what life is, what has he to say of it? how does he describe it? "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity" (Eccl. 1:2). Were these the words of a disappointed man whose hopes had been cruelly crushed and himself roughly treated by the way, none could wonder at such a commencement. But these are the words of the most prosperous, humanly speaking, of men the world has ever witnessed. "Vanity of vanities" - a mere breath, a vapour passing over the earth, short-lived in its existence, such is the recorded experience of the son of David, king in Jerusalem, and that not of some things, but of all - "All is vanity," "saith the Preacher." And here he takes a title not elsewhere met with outside this book - Preacher. He would collect those about him who were desirous to hear and instruct them, for such is the meaning of the term. So, while other portions of Scripture treat of the future and the path of the righteous on earth, this addresses itself to all whose hearts are in the world pursuing the occupations of life, and tells them what they really are, as the king's son has discovered by his own experience and has recorded by the pen of inspiration for the instruction of all who will hearken to him.

"What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?" He takes up the diligent, well-occupied man, toiling away, the man who finds plenty to do and is happy in doing it, thoroughly engaged in the business of life. But why this cry of the Preacher who "sought to find out acceptable words"? (Chap. 12:10). And why does he view things so mournfully? The secret comes out. "One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever." The earth abides; man does not; hence the question that needs no answer, "What profit," etc.

In the Book of Ecclesiastes we get the man Solomon, the wisest of monarchs, seeking out that good under the sun with which man may satisfy himself. He goes to prove his heart with mirth and folly and wisdom, with learning, philosophy, natural history, music, wine, wealth, and the special delights of kings. His wisdom, too, remains with him. God allows him, as it were, to try what is to be found on earth. And what does it all come to? Just this: "all is vanity and vexation of spirit; vanity of vanities, all is vanity."

You go on next to that other book, of Ecclesiastes, alas, in such contrast to the song of Solomon. You step out from the heaven of the Lord's presence into the earth of the wisest man's experience. You had in Job the best man, he abhorred himself and repented in dust and ashes; and in Ecclesiastes you have the wisest man, and his wisdom is but folly. Here is a man who has had every opportunity; he has kingly prerogative; thousands wait upon his bidding; he has all wealth, every thing that heart could wish. He has all wisdom — every opportunity to enjoy himself in the world, and what is the result? "Vanity of vanity, — all is vanity."

Thus here again God's special design is manifest; and so is the shortsightedness of learning, or rather of unbelief, in overlooking the intimations of the written word for an hypothesis of pure imagination. The truth on the contrary, if it be only in the designation, edifies and helps us so far to enter into the scope of the book. Here it is a book which has its own peculiar place; none other even resembles it. It is the experience of a man unequalled in his capacity, in his circumstances, and in his means (for what can the man do that comes after the king?) for quest of happiness, and finding only vanity and pursuit of the wind in all "done under the sun." How could it be otherwise, if man is an outcast from paradise, and looks not in faith to Him Who is above the sun? Experience, even the exceptional power, position, and activity of Solomon, experience of all that promises most on earth, ends in "vanity of vanities," as surely as experience of self does to the man born of God who is occupied with himself (Rom. 7:7-24). All in man or the world is fallen and most wretched. Nor did wisdom itself avail to help, but rather intensified, the dissatisfaction and the sorrow. Death comes, and what does man as such know of that which is after it? To outward eye he dies as the brute. What then is for him but to fear God and keep His commandments? For this is the whole of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.