Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Ecclesiastes 1: A Depressing State Of Affairs

Ecclesiastes is one of my favorite books in the Bible.  It's so...dark.

One of the reasons that I love the Bible is that it is honest.  It doesn't put on airs and pretend that everything is great.  Many of the "heroes" of our faith were anything but.  The Bible shows the moral warts of characters like Abraham, David and Peter.  The scriptures also reveal the truth about difficult spiritual issues and recognize our helplessness in understanding many things about God.

As the wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon naturally turned his mind to some of the philosophical problems of human existence and the best way to live.  Unfortunately, his wisdom was still not enlightened by the gospel of grace that Jesus Christ would bring into the world.  I view Ecclesiastes as the highest attainment of wisdom one can experience apart from the New Testament.  This means that it is very intellectual and deep - but incomplete because it is pre-Christian.

What did Solomon's wisdom show him?  One of Ecclesiastes' famous tag lines will give you his summary: "Vanity of vanity!  All is vanity" (vs. 2b).  Vanity in this context means pointless, futile.  In other words, Solomon discovers through the employment of his wisdom that nothing really matters in life.  History is an endless series of cycles with no forward progess.  It is a dark and depressing view of the world, the cynical kind of view one might debate in a dorm room full of college students at 2 a.m.

Solomon felt that there is an utter futility to life that wears you down through the years.  "All things are wearisome; more than one can express...What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun" (vs. 8-9)  Apparently Solomon does not believe that real advancement or progress is possible.  "The people of long ago are not remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them" (vs. 11).

Given his gift of wisdom, Solomon decides that it is only right he apply it in an attempt to improve the human condition.  But his wisdom reveals a discouraging truth: existence is profoundly sad: "It is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with...all is vanity and a chasing after the wind" (vs. 13-14).  Even though Solomon is so wise, that does not lead to his happiness.  Rather, his greater insight has led him to greater depression.  "For in much wisdom is much vexation, and those who increase knowledge increase sorrow" (vs. 18).  That doesn't give us much hope for the future!

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