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Hey all,

I am posting a paper I wrote this week for my Contemporary Old Testament Theology class at Baptist Bible Seminary. I studied Ecclesiastes and isolated four major themes: perspective, pleasure, work, and wisdom. I spend time looking at each theme and developing a biblical theology of each. I love Ecclesiastes!!
Read & enjoy! Questions or comments? Feel free to post them!
Justin

A Biblical Theology of Ecclesiastes: The Grand Experiment

Introduction

The assembly is listening attentively as the Preacher speaks the words of this book. Sitting at the feet of the wealthiest and wisest king on earth is a great privilege. Hearing his lesson on life is surprisingly stirring. How could wealth not produce contentment and happiness? How could the soul who had everything want anything? How could depression overtake the soul of the revered Preacher? All these questions and more are swirling through the minds of the Preacher’s audience. Let us join this audience as we surface four of the Preacher’s main themes and look at their relevance for our lives.

Author

When it comes to the authorship of Ecclesiastes, there is considerable debate. I hold to the view that the author is who he claims to be: “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king of Jerusalem.”[1] [2] There is only one son of David who was also King of Jerusalem – the wise King Solomon. Throughout the book, he chooses to identify himself as the Preacher: “One who gathers the assembly together for instruction.”[3] [4]

Purpose

The book seems to be Solomon’s notes taken during his grand experiment of life. He metaphorically put life in a test tube and did experiments to determine the substance of our existence. His conclusions are both saddening and joyous. Hope is buried in pain, pleasure is oftentimes lost to mourning, and life is overshadowed by impending death. Some view Solomon’s conclusions as depressive and dark. Others see them as filled with hope, purpose, and meaning. I belong in the latter camp.

As Solomon discusses his findings and discoveries, he utilizes different literary styles and techniques. Repetition is used to emphasize themes and conclusions. At times the discussion is a narrative of his experiments. Other times the book takes proverbial cause-effect and parallelism form.

At times, Solomon is almost whimsical and reflective. Other times, he uses imperatives and commands to compel his audience towards a change of mind and action. His grand experiment has produced some marvelous conclusions that no person should ignore.

Organization

Some see a progression in Solomon’s talk, while others see cycles or patterns but no real progression. While it appears that both observations and conclusions are sprinkled throughout this extended discourse, I believe there is somewhat of a progression.

I see two major sections in this sermon. Chapters 1-6 are primarily observations and statements concerning the vanity of life. Chapters 7-12 are primarily counsel and conclusions about living with satisfaction and meaning. Where the first section could be seen as Solomon proving his thesis, the second section could be seen as Solomon offering counsel in light of his observations. Section 1 is primarily narrative, while section 2 is primarily proverbial using if-then and parallelism statements.

Major Motifs

In the grand scheme of this sermon, Solomon seems to be repeating key words and phrases that give evidence to four major motifs. “Under the sun” surfaces a motif of human versus divine perspective. “All is vanity” bookmarks the beginning and end of this sermon, appears frequently throughout, and surfaces a motif of pleasure. “Toil”, “work” and “labor” all indicate a motif of labor. “Wisdom” and “foolishness” appear commonly and indicate a motif of right thinking and living. We will attempt to build a biblical theology of each.

Perspective: How do You View Life?

The apparent contradictions that seem to abound in Ecclesiastes are often simply changes in the author’s perspective. When Solomon views life from a purely human standpoint, he is left with a hopeless existence. Yet when he begins to view life from God’s perspective, he realizes that vanity can vanish and purpose can appear. Hopelessness can be swallowed by purpose; mourning can be overtaken by joy. It all depends upon your perspective. It is not a matter of positive thinking; it is a matter of a God-centered life of purpose versus a man-centered life of hedonism.

“Under the sun” is a compelling phrase used over two dozen times in Ecclesiastes and nowhere else in Scripture. It is imperative that we accurately interpret this frequent phrase to understand the true meaning of Ecclesiastes.

As a matter of observation, almost every time “under the sun” is used, it is in a negative sense. When Solomon wants to convey the vanity of life, he uses this phrase. He frequently uses this phrase with “a chasing after the wind” to describe the meaninglessness of life without God.

I believe that Solomon is using this phrase to describe life from a purely human perspective, without God. In his grand experiment, he tested life and found it to be empty, futile, redundant, and meaningless – apart from God. “Under the sun” is his way of describing what he observed from a human standpoint, without recognizing the divine plan or working of God. In chapter 4, Solomon describes the oppression, wickedness, and unfairness that are part of life. Evil is everywhere, and life is tragically unfair. No matter how good or bad a person is, the same fate awaits them both.

With almost a hint of fatalism, Solomon admits that with all his wisdom, he is still unable to logically comprehend all that happens “under the sun”. In a shocking confession of his failed experiment, Solomon admits he is unable to find meaning in life on his own: “When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe man’s labor on earth – his eyes not seeing sleep day or night – then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.”[5]

When Solomon begins to factor God into the equation, life under the sun takes on a new flavor. No longer is all life meaningless and worthless. Suddenly there is contentment, satisfaction, and purpose in life. For Solomon, this was a heartening realization![6]

What a compelling lesson for Americans! We live in a culture that pursues the American dream. We cry out for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Yet in the rush to grab hold of the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, we come up empty. Solomon’s sermon is as relevant to us as it was to his Jewish audience. We live in a world of hedonism. We should listen to a man who took pleasure to the max, and came out empty-handed. The pursuit of personal pleasure does not satisfy. Hedonism is taking a drink of saltwater in the desert. We can never satisfy ourselves.

The only real purpose and fulfillment that can be found in life is when we change our focus from ourselves to God. Life is not about our dreams, goals, and desires for our life. Life is not about us. Life should be about God’s dreams, goals, and desires for my life. My life must revolve around God and becoming the person God wants me to be. Only then can I find contentment, satisfaction, and meaning under the sun. Without a God-perspective, hopelessness is imminent and suicide is the only logical conclusion.

Pleasure: What Satisfies You?

Part of Solomon’s experiment was experiencing all the pleasures of life and making observations about them: “I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly.”[7] This empirical search for happiness left him empty. His search for meaning produced only meaninglessness: “I perceived this also is grasping for the wind.”[8] This oft repeated phrase highlighted the impossibility of finding pleasure apart from God. As one cannot hold the wind in his hand, neither can one find pleasure apart from God.

Solomon was a man of extremes and excess. As he looked out over his crowd of loyal subjects, he admitted his lack of moderation: “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure.”[9] He rode every roller coaster in Palestine, he owned every late model chariot, he built the largest and most majestic house in the world, and he was empty. He realized that despite his immense wealth, there are some things money simply cannot buy: “And how does a wise man die? As the fool! Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distress to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind. Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.”[10]

Solomon had a single outcome from his pursuit of pleasure without God: meaninglessness. His life had no pleasure, only sleepless nights: “For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.”[11] His pursuit of pleasure yielded dissatisfaction with life, not unlike our own result of seeking satisfaction apart from God.

While his audience sat in uncomfortable silence wondering if all hope for pleasure was lost, Solomon continued: “Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.”[12] His audience certainly looked perplexed at the glaring contradiction and paradox of his conclusion.

Upon closer inspection of his conclusion we find crucial lessons. Solomon did not say that wealth provides pleasure. He looked for the largest thrills and adrenaline rushes, but they came with hangovers. He sought the grandest bragging rights, but they got old. He undertook the biggest projects, but they left him empty.

Solomon became a hedonist during his experiment. Hedonism provides momentary adrenaline rushes followed by hours of boredom. Hedonism offers temporary happiness today, but there is always a hangover tomorrow. Solomon said there must be more to life than this. Then he realized that the source of true pleasure is not man-made. It is divine. True pleasure can only come as a gift from the hand of God. Solomon had been looking in all the wrong places.

The lesson that Solomon taught his audience is that pleasure can be enjoyed by all who work, eat, and have families. Thus pleasure was not reserved just for the upper class. Pleasure could be experienced by all who enjoyed the fruit of their labor. God has designed the simplest parts of life to bring pleasure. A man should enjoy the fruit of his work, his family, and his marriage. [13]

Solomon is teaching us that pleasure is a gift from God. Enjoy the gifts that God has given you. Find satisfaction and meaning in the moment. Do not get so lost in the past or future that you cannot enjoy the moment. Pleasure is a gift from God, not man-made. Do not search for meaning or pleasure apart from God; for the search will leave you empty handed.

Toil: What are You Working For?

Solomon pursued the American dream. The harder he worked, and the more he accumulated, the more his dream eluded him. Laziness was not a weakness for Solomon. He was a man of action and hard work. He undertook huge building projects.[14] He built majestic homes, vineyards, gardens, and orchards. He planted fruit trees and made watering pools and irrigation systems. He acquired many servants, herds and flocks. He multiplied his wealth by saving gold, silver, and treasures. He owned a personal orchestra complete with musicians and instruments. There was none like him in the history of Israel.

The end result of all his labor must have been painful to him, and stunning to his audience: “Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.” He pursued fulfillment and dreams through his labor. But his work could not provide the outcome he desired.

Over and over Solomon asks his audience: “What does a man get for all his toil?”[15] The first four chapters he has almost nothing but bad things to say about work. It is a fruitless and thankless task that leaves you feeling empty. Then Solomon puts his finger on motive: “And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbor.”[16] When work is about “keeping up with the Joneses” is does not satisfy. Someone always has something more, something better. In Solomon’s case, he had it all, and yet the fruit of his labor was still bitter. Hard work does not always produce happiness and pleasure. If work is unbalanced, it can lead to loneliness, greed, and shortsightedness.[17]

Chapter 3 provides a peek into a different perspective on work. Solomon reveals that looking at work as God-given can change everything: “I have seen the God-given task which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time…I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor – it is a gift of God.”[18]

From chapter 5 forward, the perspective on work is positive. From his new perspective, Solomon views work as meaningful and the results of work as gifts from God. In our Monday through Friday society, this biblical theology of work is crucial. We try to make it through the week and live for the weekends. Life for many people begins every Friday evening and ends every Monday morning. Yet Solomon implores us to look at our work as a good part of life, not a burden. We should see the results of our jobs as divine gifts, and enjoy them with our families.

Solomon also exhorts his audience to be risk-takers. In a pre-curser to Nike’s “Just do it”, he says: “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.”[19] Investing in the future is a must for the diligent worker. Taking risks is a must for those who want fruit from their labor. Solomon pokes fun at the farmer who does not plant his crops because he is paralyzed by fear of poor weather.[20] His conclusion is that taking risks is a must, because we cannot know the future.[21] Only God can know and control the results of our work.

Besides simple contentment, Solomon teaches us to enjoy the fruit of our work! Have fun with your family. Enjoy meals together. Enjoy your possessions. Do not try to keep up with your neighbors, but do not view wealth as evil. Instead, view material possessions as gifts from your Heavenly Father: “It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor – that is the gift of God. For he will not dwell unduly on the day of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.”[22]

What a powerful theology of work! I am busy because God keeps me busy with the joy of my heart. My work is not troublesome or useless, it is a labor of love given me by God to earn his blessings and gifts for the enjoyment of myself and my family.

Wisdom: Are You Thinking and Living Accurately?

Far be it from the wise King Solomon to not discuss the benefits and pitfalls of wisdom with his audience. As the wisest King ever, he was intimately aware of the foolishness that surrounded him. He was also aware of the foolishness of his own instincts. Over two dozen times Solomon speaks about wisdom. After all, wisdom was his primary vial in which the entire experiment was conducted: “I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven.”[23]

As Solomon tested and used wisdom in his experiment, he grew increasingly frustrated at the results. Instead of satisfaction he experienced futility. Instead of joy, his increase of knowledge produced grief. In a stunning blow to those who believed that education could save mankind, Solomon decried the inability of wisdom to cure the ills of life: “For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.”[24]

Solomon saw life as a cycle that repeats itself endlessly.[25] There are no original ideas: “There is nothing new under the sun.”[26] Although wisdom is better than folly, both the wise and foolish man die the same death. This disgusted him to the point of hating his life.[27]

In a very real sense, Solomon was the world’s earliest post-modernist! He realized millennia ago just how empty knowledge was without God. The more you know, the more you realize how unable you are to change the hopelessness of life under the sun. Education does not have the answer to life. Science cannot explain the purpose or meaning of life. The pursuit of education and knowledge is meaningless…without a pursuit of God.

In a moving self-argument, Solomon convinces himself that although wisdom is better than folly, the wise person is often forgotten and overlooked.[28] There is no intrinsic dignity or glory in wisdom. Although wisdom yields positive results, it only takes one sinner to destroy much good.[29]

One of the most ironic portions of Ecclesiastes is when Solomon explains the benefits of attending funerals rather than parties.[30] He says the wise person goes through tough times and understands serious matters of life. The foolish person is always partying and ignoring mature matters. Tragedy and grief are a part of life that will be experienced by all. Instead of ignoring grief, we would be wise to embrace and learn from it. Both hard times and good times can come from God's hand. Don't be too quick to escape hard times. Life is not always about pleasure.[31]

Solomon teased young people by telling them to follow their hearts in what has become the typical modern graduation speech: “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes.”[32] As his audience smiled and nodded in agreement, Solomon quickly threw a left hook: “But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.”[33] While his audience reeled from the sudden revelation that he was being sarcastic, he continued: “Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh…remember now the Creator in the days of your youth.”[34]

The wise person realizes that there is more to life than this earth. One day there will be a judgment. God will call all people to account for their actions. In a fitting conclusion to his message, Solomon reminds his audience that the ultimate duty of man is obedience and wise living: “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”[35] Wisdom must produce right thinking and living before God. To live any other way is not only foolish, it is eternally meaningless!

Conclusion

At the end of this grand experiment, we see that life is meaningless apart from God. As hard as Solomon tried, he was unable to extract purpose or genuine pleasure from life on his own. He teaches profound lessons to people of all ages and cultures about perspective, pleasure, labor, and wisdom.

Our lives were designed to be centered on God, not ourselves. When we live apart from God, there is no hope or meaning to life. Temporary pleasure can be obtained through possessions, accomplishments, and experiences but this usually vanishes rapidly into emptiness.[36] When we live an honest life we can enjoy the fruits of our labor with a clean conscience and a happy heart. The wise realize that God did not intend that we are always happy. There is a time for pleasure and pity, happiness and mourning, life and death.[37] Wisdom is not the solution to life – rather it should lead us to God.

As hard as Solomon tried to figure life and God out, he admitted failure. He honestly acknowledged that the ways of God are incomprehensible.[38] God’s mind was much too deep for Solomon. If God’s mind is too deep for the wisest man ever, where does that leave us? Instead of embarking on the same grand experiment, it behooves us to accept his conclusions by faith. The pursuit of pleasure is a dead end, one that Solomon implores us not to travel. “Just trust me” he essentially says, “I have traveled every path imaginable, and they all left me hopeless. Stop pursuing selfish goals. Pursue God! Judgment is coming. Each person will give an account.”

In summary, life without God is meaningless, regardless of the experiences and riches acquired. But accepting the gifts of God in this life with contentment can yield a life of pleasure and fulfillment.

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[1] Ecc. 1:1, see also 1:12

[2] Unless noted otherwise, all Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Nashville: Nelson, 1982.

[3] MacArthur, John. The MacArthur Study Bible. Nashville: Nelson, 1997. 927.

[4] See Ecc. 1:1, 2, 12; 7:27; 12:8, 9; 12:10

[5] Ecc. 8:16-17 NIV

[6] Ecc. 5:18; 8:15

[7] Ecc. 1:17a

[8] Ecc. 1:17b

[9] Ecc. 2:10a

[10] Ecc. 2:16b-18

[11] Ecc. 2:22-23

[12] Ecc. 2:24

[13] Ecc. 9:9

[14] Ecc. 2:4-9

[15] Ecc. 1:3; 2:17, 22, 23; 3:9; 4:8; 5:16;

[16] Ecc. 4:4 NIV

[17] Ecc. 4:8

[18] Ecc. 3:9-13

[19] Ecc. 11:1

[20] Ecc. 11:3-4

[21] Ecc. 11:5-6

[22] Ecc. 5:18-20

[23] Ecc. 1:13

[24] Ecc. 1:18

[25] Ecc. 2:12

[26] Ecc. 1:9

[27] Ecc. 2:12-23

[28] Ecc. 9:13-17

[29] Ecc. 9:18

[30] Ecc. 7:1-4

[31] Ecc. 7:14; 11:8

[32] Ecc. 11:9a

[33] Ecc. 11:9b

[34] Ecc. 11:10-12:1a

[35] Ecc. 12:13-14

[36] Ecc. 2:1-11

[37] Ecc. 3:1-8; 8:14; 12:1-5

[38] Ecc. 8:17 Job came to a nearly identical conclusion! (see Job 42:1-6)