Articles
What Is It All About
What Is It All About
As we begin to read Ecclesiastes, we immediately encounter the great question that ultimately faces each of us: “What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:3). This question will come up often:
“11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:11).
“9 What gain has the worker from his toil?” (Ecclesiastes 3:9).
“16 This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind?” (Ecclesiastes 5:16).
AND yet, he also keeps coming back to this:
“24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?” (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25).
(cp. 2:24–26; 3:12–13; 5:18–20; 7:14; 8:15; 9:7, 9 – printed out at the end of this article).
First, this pursuit was ‘under the sun’ – pertained to ‘temporal’ life, this life. Under the sun - 30 times in this book. That realm apart from the revelation of God. It doesn't leave God out but tries to explain life from the standpoint of human wisdom / philosophy / experience.
Second, God is always factored in and is in the background of all his considerations. “God” is mentioned 41 times, not counting the pronouns that also speak of Him.
Third, this life ends in death. Then what? (Death becomes the ‘elephant in the room’ for all thoughts of the purpose of life! – cp. Eccl. 2:16; 3:2, 19; 5:16; 7:1, 17, 26; 8:8; 9:5).
Fourth, any ‘knowledge’ of the afterlife can only be found by REVELATION, not ‘wisdom’ and ‘thought’.
While the eternal value of things can not be found in earthly pursuits, yet some things are better than others, some courses of action give better earthly results than others.
YET, as much as we might love this book and grasp its lessons for ‘life under the sun’, it only touches upon the overriding problem of humanity: sin. The reality of sin and evil keeps coming up, but the eternal answer on how to deal with it is a matter of revelation and not erudite contemplation. While such deep thinking may help life lived under the sun, we must wait for the revelation of God’s own answer to the problem of sin: Jesus.
We live in an age where people live out their lives without such deep introspection and without listening to the words of the wise who have given much time and thought to this. We watch as people give themselves to the same old pursuits as did this wise man of old, yet without the thinking, contemplation, and wrestling with the thought of what difference does it make in my eternal situation with God. What eternal value is there to be found in your life?
Hugh DeLong
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The often stated principle: (2:24–26; 3:12–13; 5:18–20; 7:14; 8:15; 9:7, 9). These are to be received humbly and enjoyed fully as blessings from God.
Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,
25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 18 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. 19 Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. 20 For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.
Ecclesiastes 7:14 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
Ecclesiastes 8:15 15 And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 9:7-9 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun.
