Ecclesiastes 2: Eat, Drink, And Be Merry?

Resistance isn't the only thing that's futile.

Solomon is attempting to discover the true meaning and purpose of life so, he says, "I might see what was good for mortals to do under heaven during the few days of their life" (vs. 3).

His journey begins by making a test of pleasure (vs. 1).  But he find that it's pointless, meaningless, futile - or, to use his favorite word, vanity.  There's nothing to it.  Whether with laughter or with wine, Solomon's search for meaning in pleasure is fruitless.  Strike one.

He next turns to work and productivity (vs. 4).  Solomon invests his energies in great building projects and in amassing wealth.  Even though he denied himself no pleasure and acquired everything his eyes desired, he found that "all my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it...was vanity and a chasing after the wind, and nothing was to be gained under the sun (vs. 11).  Strike two.

Solomon finally decided to pursue knowledge and wisdom in his quest (vs. 12).  But he discovered that there is no lasting value in leading a life of wisdom.  Ultimately, the same fate a fool suffers befalls the wise man, too (vs. 14).  Strike three.

This leaves Solomon in a very bad mood.  "So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after the wind" (vs. 17).  Because nothing lasts and death comes to all, Solomon realizes that the wise man will some day have to leave all that he accomplished to others - others who may squander away what they did not have to work for.

In his depression, Solomon in verse 24 determines the "best case" (even though it, too, remains meaningless).  He wrote, "There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil.  This also, I saw, is from the hand of God."  This sounds like an expression of the Epicurean philosophy (which would be expressed by the Greeks many centuries later) that tells us to "eat, drink, and be merry."

Yet, even this conclusion - the best the world has to offer without Christ - is ultimately unsatisfying.  As Solomon finishes out this chapter, he writes, "this also is vanity and a chasing after the wind" (vs. 26).