Ecclesiastes Case

"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity," are the words of King Solomon who is ascribe to writing the book of Ecclesiastes. Many people believe that the book of Ecclesiastes is the most melancholy book in the bible and that it teaches that life is meaningless. In fact, the book of Ecclesiastes teaches that life without God is meaningless. If one looks at life through an earthy lens rather a spiritual lens, neglecting to include God and keep His commandments then surely one's life will be meaningless. In this essay, I will explore the use of the word "vanity" as it occurs in the book of Ecclesiastes.

"What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time." Ecclesiastes 1:3-10

Again, these are the words of Solomon as it appears in the book of Ecclesiastes. Truly, this portion of scripture can be mistakenly interpreted to mean that there is no purpose for living and that everything under the sun is pointless. Many argue that this scripture sounds like someone who was searching for the meaning of life and failed to find it and consequently became hopeless. In fact, Solomon was searching for meaning of life and he concluded that all things are wearisome and that there is nothing new under the sun.

In chapter one of Ecclesiastes, Solomon is saying that everything is meaningless and its like chasing wind. Think about it, can you chase the wind and eventually grab it? Obviously not. In comparison, it would be meaningless to chase after material possession, wealth, and pleasure because these thing are temporary. "Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever." (1:4) Solomon is saying that we live then we die, therefore our existence on the earth is only but for a moment.

In the book of Matthew chapter six verse twenty, the Lord say, "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." This scripture parallels with what Solomon is saying in Ecclesiastes. Solomon is not saying that life is meaningless however, life without God is meaningless because one will store up treasures on earth but it is all vanity because we will all eventually die and leave our possessions behind. Nevertheless, Matthew gave the secret away, he too believes that reacquiring material possessions on earth is vanity because they can be destroyed by moth and rust. So why chase after things that have no worth or value after we die?

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon explores the vanity of pleasure, labor, wisdom, existence, laughter, and personal achievements in search of finding something that is meaningful but fails to do so. "I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless." (2:1) Truly, earthly pleasures are not meaningful, when we die we can not take them with us. Like Solomon, many people seek after material possessions, however, it has to value when we die. The only true value we have are the treasures that we store up in heaven. See, life with out the expectation of a afterlife is meaningless, there is no hope and no future. Many people seek after earthly pleasures, but in actuality they do make make us happy or give us true joy. True eternally happiness come from God.

"The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?" I said in my heart, "This too is meaningless." For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool, the wise man too must die!"(2:15-16) Although Solomon is the wisest man in the bible he argues that wisdom is meaningless and the more wisdom we acquire the more sorrow we attain. Evidently, the phrase, "ignorance is bliss," is indeed not far from the truth. He states that it is more profitable if we drink, eat and be merry in our work. He come to the realization that the joy in being happy in our work is a gift from God. According to Solomon true wisdom, knowledge and joy is given to those who are "good" in God's sight. God's enables man to acquire wealth but much labor without God's blessing is indeed vanity and chasing after the wind with the hope of laying hold of it.

Solomon urges us to enjoy life because everything outside of God is meaningless. Therefore, we should enjoy the limited time we have here on earth. Our lives on earth in comparison to eternity in heaven is like a dot on a twenty year sting.

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