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Ecclesiastes: The View from Down Under

Introduction Chapter 1:1-2

I want to tell you the story of Scott.

“Scott was only twenty-six years old when he died. Although he grew up in a Christian home, during his teens and his early twenties, he went through a period of rebellion and spiritual searching. His life was changed when the doctors discovered a brain tumor. Surgery brought a brief remission, but then the cancer returned.

As the months passed, his faith continued to increase even as his physical condition worsened. He began to seek the Lord as never before. The Word of God became sweet to him. He became bold in his witness, especially to his many friends. He asked God to use him to reach others so that he could point them to the Christ no matter how long he lived. God answered the request, but several months later Scott died.

During the funeral his younger sister talked about how much she loved him, how as a young girl she wanted to be like him, and how exasperating he could be at times. Then the cancer came. And she saw a difference so profound in her brother that it changed everything. Her brother, she said, had just figured out what life is all about. Scott had shown her that it doesn’t matter how long you live, or how much money you have, or even how well you do in your career. His faith at the end spoke one simple message: life is nothing without God. “

Most of us have known stories just like Scott’s. We’ve known people who have had the same sort of thing happen to them. And on one hand, there is a good end that seems to come. People like him will often grow close to God. It is good to see him come to the point where he says there is nothing in life without God. And yet stories like Scott’s also raise questions, right? Why does someone who is 26 years old die of cancer? Why would God allow a younger sister to have to go through life without her older brother to whom she so looked up? Why would God choose to take Scott’s life when he had come to the point where he was being a very bold witness for Jesus Christ?

Have you ever noticed that life oftentimes doesn’t make sense? Have you ever noticed that life often appears to be unfair and very puzzling? Have you ever noticed how life has its fair share of inconsistencies, uncertainties and even absurdities? Did you ever wish that someone would tackle these realities of life head-on? Well, amazingly, there is a book in the Bible that does that very thing. If you have your Bibles, I want you to open your Bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes. It’s found in the middle of your Bible. At the very middle of your Bible is the book of Psalms, to the right of that is Proverbs, and to the right of that is the book of Ecclesiastes.

If we were to take a vote on what might be the most puzzling book in the entire Bible, Ecclesiastes would win in a landslide. There is no more perplexing book in the Bible. In fact, Ecclesiastes has long been an enigma to people. Some people would call it the “black sheep” of the Bible. Some people have even said that it is a “misfit” in the canon of scripture. In fact, I believe if we were going to set up a ratio of how many times someone reads the book of Psalms or the book of Proverbs compared to the book of Ecclesiastes, the ratio would be thousands to one. It is just not a book that people tend to put their fingers on.

Some people look at the book of Ecclesiastes and they say, Well, this is just merely some musings of a bitter cynic who is drunk with pessimism, and who concludes that life amounts to nothing. Others look at Ecclesiastes and say, Well, this is a wildly candid exploration of the backwater regions of life. This is a guy who doesn’t flinch at looking at the deep questions of life. Others look at Ecclesiastes and they say, Well, this is just quirky ramblings. In fact, they are so weird and they are so dark, that it probably would be best just to take the book of Ecclesiastes and put it on some remote shelf in a religious museum.

Ecclesiastes is a book that is enigmatic; and it is the book upon which we are going to focus our study here at Wildwood for the next number of months. How many people have ever heard this book preached through? There are probably only ten people here today who have been through this book in a church setting before.

We have a plan for today. What we are going to do as we enter into our study on the book of Ecclesiastes is to look at three things:

We are going to look at the “Who?” of Ecclesiastes
We are going to look at the “What?” of Ecclesiastes
We are going to look at the “Why?” of Ecclesiastes

This is going to be an exciting time together!

Let’s begin by looking at the “Who?” (verses 1:1; 12-13a; 16-17a). Who was involved in putting this book together? In Ecclesiastes 1 we are going to look at several different verses. Ecclesiastes 1:1 says, “The words of the Preacher; the son of David, King in Jerusalem.” Let your eyes go down to Ecclesiastes 1:12 which reads “I, the Preacher, have been King over Israel in Jerusalem and I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 1:16 says, “I said to myself, ‘Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge. And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly.’”

Now you will notice that there is no specific name given to the author of this book. Even though there is no specific name given, Jewish tradition of longstanding has been that it was King Solomon who wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. But even conservative scholars in our day raise some doubts as to whether the “Who?” of Ecclesiastes is really King Solomon. I won’t go into all the details and perspectives on that, but I will say that I think the simplest and best approach when we are trying to look at the “Who” of Ecclesiastes is to see the author as King Solomon.

You will notice in Ecclesiastes 1:16 he says, “Behold I have magnified and increased wisdom more that all who were over Jerusalem before me.” Now some would say, “I’m not sure this is actually Solomon. It doesn’t look like something Solomon would state since there were only two kings who preceded him, Saul and David. Why would he say, “I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me?” To them, this sounds like an unneeded overstatement since only two preceded him.

Well, I want you to notice that he doesn’t say that he is only talking about kings. He says, “I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me.” In other words, you can take all of the wise rulers of any shape who were in Jerusalem and I have gone beyond them when it comes to wisdom—whether they be any type of rulers over Israel or any rulers of over Jerusalem.

Keep your finger on this verse and turn back with me to the book of 1 Kings. If you find 1 and 2 Samuel, next you’ll find 1 and 2 Kings, and then you have 1 and 2 Chronicles. We are answering the question of the “Who?” in Ecclesiastes. This is going to become very important down the road in our study. I want you to turn to 1 Kings 3. Now remember that in Ecclesiastes 1:16 it says, “I have magnified and increased in wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me. My mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” Now in 1 Kings 3 we have Solomon being spoken of. Remember that God said to Solomon something unique. You can almost fantasize what it would be like if God said to you, “Hey, whatever you want is yours.” What would we answer with? Well, you’ll remember the history that Solomon said, “I want to be wise.” This was the best request that he could make. It says in 1 Kings 3:12, “God said to him, ‘I have done according to your word. I have given you a wise and discerning heart so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one be like you arise after you.’”

Now look at 1 Kings 4:29-30. It says “Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than any other man, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was known in all the surrounding nations.”Do you see how this dovetails with this guy who is writing the book of Ecclesiastes?

Keep your finger in 1 Kings, but go back to Ecclesiastes 2. The author says he began the exploration to see what things make someone satisfied in life. In Ecclesiastes 2:4-6 he says he sought to do many accomplishments and build many things. If you are taking notes you might want to jot down 1 Kings 7 because there is a description of Solomon’s primary home that he built. In Ecclesiastes 2:7-9 it says that that Solomon had unparalleled wealth. He had incredible possessions. In 1 Kings 9:19 it says that Solomon had such a large entourage that he had to build cities for his servants. Incredible! That’s what Solomon did. In fact, when we talk about unparalleled wealth, look at 1 Kings 10 which describes how this was true of King Solomon.

In 1 Kings 10:21 it says King Solomon’s drinking vessels—you know his everyday cups—were gold and all of the vessels of the house of Lebanon were pure gold, and none were of silver.

Silver was too cheap, who wants that around? Silver was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon. That’s how much wealth he had. In verse 22 the King had at sea the ships of Tarshish along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years the ships came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks. 1 Kings 10:23 says King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. He had more money than anyone and he had more wisdom than anyone. Then in Ecclesiastes 2, he discusses the investigation that he goes on to discover lasting satisfaction in life.

He mentions in Ecclesiastes 8 that he went after many of the pleasures of men and that he had many concubines. We learn from 1 Kings 11:3 that concubines were women who were just there for your sexual pleasure. 1 Kings ll:3 says he had three hundred of those!

Ecclesiastes 12: 9 says, “In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs.” 1 Kings 4:32 tells us that Solomon wrote three thousand of them. Therefore, I believe the simplest explanation when we are looking at the book of Ecclesiastes is to see it as a book whose author is Solomon. In fact, Jewish tradition says that the Song of Solomon, the Song of Songs, was written by Solomon when he was young and in love. Jewish tradition says that the book of Proverbs was written by Solomon, put together or packaged by him, in his middle years of life. And Jewish tradition says the book of Ecclesiastes was written in the latter years of his life.

And we should not forget who this guy was. You remember that he is a man who started out with a real heart for God. When God had said to him, he could have anything he wanted, he asked only for wisdom. He was a man who started out following his father, King David. He was a man who, because of the wisdom God had given him, had incredible success. In fact, he had success upon success upon success, and then he began to trip himself up spiritually. He became involved with a pagan woman; and then another one; and then another and another.

Over the course of time Solomon began to drift from God. He began to pursue the avenues of happiness that the world loves to advertise. All the things that the world says will make you happy, he began to chase after. I believe that while Solomon drifted from God with the God-given wisdom God had given him—and as he began to taste some of the bitter fruit of his choices—he began to take a hard look at life. I believe a big part of the book of Ecclesiastes is a confessional autobiography about Solomon. It is really a testimony to his life experiences and observations.

And by the way, this guy was in a unique position. There has never been anyone else like him on the planet. He was in a unique position to truly experiment with life. He had the greatest wisdom and intelligence, coupled with the greatest wealth, along with the personal freedom it would take for he answered to no one on the planet. He set about to sample these things. Hence, part of what we get in the book of Ecclesiastes is a confessional autobiography. And that is the “Who?” of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon.

The second thing we want to look at this morning is the “What?” Just what is going on in this book? By the way, there are some amazing and perplexing statements in the book, statements that are quite cynical. I want to just mention a few of them. Ecclesiastes 3: 19-20 says, “For the fate of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, we all have the same breath, and there is no advantage to man over beast, for all is vanity. All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.” That confuses people and they wonder what that means. Look in Ecclesiastes 4:2-3 where he says, “So I congratulated the dead who were already dead more than the living who are still living. But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.” That’s a perplexing, cynical statement.

In Ecclesiastes 7:16-17 Solomon writes, “Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourselves? Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?” This is another very perplexing statement.

In Ecclesiastes 9:2-5 he says, “It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean, and for the unclean; for the one who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil, and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead. For whoever is joined with the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten.” What is really going on in these quotes?

We want to look at a couple of key terms very quickly. We want to go back to Ecclesiastes 1 so that we can better understand what is happening. Remember it says, “The words of the Preacher.” If you have a New International Version it says, “Teacher.” This word in Hebrew is the word Qoheleth. It is a word that only occurs in the book of Ecclesiastes. It is a word that comes from the Hebrew word “to assemble”. It really refers to someone who calls an assembly of people and speaks to them. Those of you who are a little bit familiar with the word for “church” in the New Testament will know that it is “Ekklesia” and means, “the ones who are called out and assemble”. The Latin for that is “Ecclesiastes.” That is where we get the title of the book. It means in Latin “one who calls and speaks to the assembly”. So, we have here someone who is “the Teacher.” He is calling people to assemble around because he wants to teach them truth and give some perspective on life.

But there is another term that occurs in Ecclesiastes 1:3. That is the term “under the sun.” He talks about everything that goes on ‘under the sun’ some twenty-nine times in the book. While he does make some references to what goes on beyond the sun, it is important to understand that this book has a focus to it: to “life under the sun.” I like to call it “life down under.” He is taking a hard look at life from the standpoint of what observe of life as we see it; touch it; hear it; and we experience it. His focus is on life “down under”…on the flatlands of earth. It is a hard look at life as we observe it through our senses.

He says he has a summary statement for when you focus on life merely on the human plane. The summary statement is in verse two, “Vanity of vanities,” says the Teacher. “Vanity of vanities!” All is vanity.” I think the NIV says “Meaningless, all is meaningless.” Thirty-eight times this word comes up. The word that is translated “vanity” in the Hebrew is the term “hebel”. It comes from a root word that means “breath” or “puff”. “Hebel” refers to what you have left when a bubble pops. You have something that is empty. In fact, a lot of people do not like to use the word ‘vanity’ because ‘vanity’ as we think of it in our culture today means a description of pride. However, the first definition in an English dictionary lists “empty.” It means something valueless, or hollow. Romans 8:20 says that when the world fell it was subjected to vanity. That same word is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to translate “hebel.”. It means empty, useless, worthless, or futile.

In Ecclesiastes 7:29 Solomon writes, “I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they sought out many devices.” We need to remember that God made this world perfect. He made men upright, but we have sought out many devices. Sin was introduced into the world and it brought chaos, futility and frustration. In Ecclesiastes 1 when he says “Vanity of vanities, All is vanity!” I believe he is saying: everything is ultimately empty down here on the flat lands of life. It seems to carry the idea that when something leaves us feeling empty, and you want something to be there, it is all the more frustrating and bewildering, and can ultimately cause us futility of perspective.

Sometimes if something is empty, it is useless. But what I want you to understand is that when he uses the word “hebel” in this text of scripture, the meaning will change a little bit. Sometimes he is saying everything is empty; sometimes he is saying everything is frustrating; and sometimes he is saying everything is useless. Ultimately, what he is emphasizing is that life ‘down under’ is chock full of inequities, injustices, and uncertainties; and that is truly a statement of reality.

Now I want you to understand that while he is looking at life ‘down under’, on the flatlands, it is not that there is no divine perspective or solid theology in this book. We see solid theology on the part of Solomon regarding both God and man. We see that he teaches that God eternally exists in Ecclesiastes 3:14 and 5:2. We see that he teaches that God is sovereign in Ecclesiastes 6:2, 7:13, 9:1. We see that he teaches that God will judge in Ecclesiastes 3:17, 8:12, 11:9, 12:14. He is solid in his theology with God. He is solid also in his theology with man. We see that he teaches that man is sinful in Ecclesiastes 7:20, 29 and 9:3. He teaches that man is finite in Ecclesiastes 8:8. We see that he teaches that man is an eternal being in Ecclesiastes 3:11, and 12:7.

So, we have seen a little bit of the “Who?” and a little bit of the “What?” involved in this book. We now need to approach the last question, which is the question of “Why?” Why did he write this book? I believe that part of Solomon’s desire was to tell the story of his life that we might learn from it. Solomon had the greatest mental, material, and entrepreneurial resources ever combined in one person on the planet. He went out and pursued all the “perks” of the world, everything he could find under the sun and in life down under. Do you know what he concluded about them? They leave you feeling empty, and they leave you feeling hollow.

Ed Young wrote these words: “Study Solomon closely. Here was brilliance unsurpassed in all of history. Here was exhaustive pursuit of human wisdom, education, power, wealth, and pleasure. It would have been no boast for him to have said of anyplace under the sun: “Been there.” Or to have said of any lifestyle under the sun: “Done that.” This phenomenal personality worked the world’s agenda, receiving every recognition and accolade unimaginable. An authority no less than the Queen of Sheba, after observing Solomon’s accomplishments firsthand, said, “The half has not been told.” He had everything and still came up empty.” Do you know what he concluded? Life is nothing without God.

Why did he write this book? Part of it was he had a desire to tell a story so that we might benefit. But he also wanted to give a frank and candid evaluation of life. Men and women, do you know what I believe about Solomon? I believe Solomon was a master observer. All you have to do is just recognize what he was an expert in, and you realize that he was a master observer. I think he observed his own life, and he analyzed other people’s lives Here is what I believe: I believe that Solomon realized that almost all of us operate by common assumptions in life. We tend to have common assumptions about life ‘down under.’ Can I just share with you two of them?

We generally assume if I could just do “blank,” if I could just get “blank,” if I could just experience “blank,” then I would know deep, lasting fulfillment. Now that is a common assumption many of us operate by in life. If I could just get more wisdom; more cash; more stuff. if I had more opportunity; if I had more freedom, then everything would be fine. But there is a flaw in that assumption. We overlook that we were primarily created to know God, and that is where fulfillment is ultimately found. Solomon is really saying not to look ‘under the sun’, but look beyond the sun for ultimate fulfillment. It is amazing how wrong we are in that assumption. Do you know what people do? They sacrifice huge chunks of their life operating on the assumption if they could just do “blank,” get “blank,” or experience “blank,” they would be fulfilled. Solomon tells us not to even go down that road…I personally have seen how that road ends, and I have also observed it in others.

There is a second assumption we operate by in life: Life should be reasonably easy, innately fair, and readily understandable. You may laugh a little at that at first, but that is an assumption that we tend to operate by. Because people operate by that assumption, they are regularly surprised, sometimes shocked, and often emotionally discouraged in life. That is wrong because we forget that the world ‘down under’ in which we live has been tainted by and twisted by sin. The number one disrupter is death itself. The flip side of reality is that life is often tough, frequently unfair, and repeatedly mysterious. If that is true, what is the answer? If we can’t control what goes on, do we adopt a fatalistic approach? Do we decide we just go through life because it doesn’t matter what I do; things are just going to happen to me? Do I get into depression? Do I contemplate suicide?

I want to give you a clue. There are two basic things that Solomon says in this book: 1) Enjoy life as a gift from God. 2) Remember God

You should have picked up an outline of the book on your way in. This is the hardest book of the Bible I have ever tackled to outline. It took a lot of energy and anguish to try to understand the flow of thought. The problem is that in our Western culture, we think in a very linear and orderly manner. It is very common in the Middle East to think in a spiral approach where you swing out there, and then back to the subject.

I just want to orient you to the book now. The book divides in a number of sections.

We have Solomon’s Introduction Ecclesiastes 1:1-11.
We have Solomon’s Exploration of Life where he investigates hedonism, accomplishments, materialism, sexual pleasure, prominence and wisdom, hard work in Ecclesiastes 1:12-18, and chapter 2.
We look at the Mysteries of God’s Providential Plan in Ecclesiastes 3 – 5:20.
We see that life is time.
We see mysteries that occur in time.
We see warnings that are given for the living

We see men Wrestling with Life’s Frustrations in Ecclesiastes 6:1-8:15
We see them looking at Life’s Limits and Lessons in Ecclesiastes 8:16-12:8.
We see Solomon’s Conclusion in Ecclesiastes 12:9-14

It is very helpful to have some understanding of how all this flows together.

I want you to remember that one of the core things he says is to Enjoy Life as a Gift. The second core thing he says is to Remember God. This book is written for everyone. There is not a person listening to my voice anywhere in the world who doesn’t need this book. It is a book for those who live by faith and those who struggle with faith. It is a book for the saint and a book for the skeptic.

I do want you to know though that this book has a very special target –young people. In Ecclesiastes 11:9 he says, “Rejoice young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you into judgment for all these things.” In Ecclesiastes 12:1 he says, “Remember your creator in the days of your youth.” A special target of this book is young people.

We will close with Ecclesiastes 12:10-11. It says, “The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write the words of truth correctly. The words of wise men are like the goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails, they are given by one Shepherd.” A goad is a stick with a sharp point used to poke and prod an animal to get it to where it ought to go. The truth you see in this book is just like that. It will poke you and prod you to get you to where you need to go. The truths you are going to see are like well-driven nails, anchor points around which you can order your life.

We began today with the story of Scott, and we are starting today with the saga of Solomon. The amazing thing is that both learned the same lesson: Life is nothing without God. Have you learned that lesson?

Father, thank you for this amazing and mysterious book. Thank you for Solomon’s testimony. May we all lean into learning the great lessons this ancient wise man seeks to share with us. Amen.

Book of Ecclesiastes

The View from “Down Under”

A Candid Look at the Realities of Life

Key Verses: 12:13-14

Solomon’s Introduction ~ 1:1-11

1. His Candid Verdict of “Life Down Under” (1:1-2)

2 . The Candid Realities of “Life Down Under” (1:3-11)

A. Life Rolls on & on (1:3-7)

B. Life Often Appears Pointless (1:8-11)

Solomon’s Exploration of Life ~ 1:12-2:26

1. His Preview (1:12-18)

2. His Proof (2:1-26)

A. Investigation of Hedonism (2:1-3) E. Investigation of Prominence (2:9-11)

B. Investigation of Accomplishments (2:4-6) F. Investigation of Wisdom (2:12-17)

C. Investigation of Materialism (2:7-8a) G. Investigation of Hard Work (2:18-23)

D. Investigation of Sexual Pleasure (2:8b)

3. His Conclusion (2:24-26)

The Mysteries of God’s Providential Plan ~ 3:1–5:20

1. Life is Time (3:1-15)

A. Time is Appointed (3:1-11)

B. Enjoy life as a Gift (3:12-15)

2. Mysteries in Time (3:16—5:20)

A. Injustice in Life (3:16-22)

B. Inequities of Life (4:1-16)

(1) The Evil of Oppression (4:1-3) (2) The Folly of Labor (4:4-12) (3) The Fickleness of Fame (4:13-16)

3. Warnings for the Living (5:1-20)

A. Take God Seriously! (5:1-7) C. Money Misleads! (5:10-17)

B. Bureaucracy Lives! (5:8-9) D. Enjoy life as a Gift (5:18-20)

Wrestling with Life’s Frustrations ~ 6:1—8:15

1. “Life Down Under” has Inequities (6:1-12)

2. “Life Down Under” has Lessons (7:1-22)

3. “Life Down Under” has Limits (7:23-29)

4. “Life Down Under”: Authority & Injustice (8:1-14)

5. Conclusion: Enjoy Life (8:15)

Life’s Limits and Lessons ~ 8:16—12:8

1. Its Limits (8:16—9:6)

A. Life remains a Mystery (8:16—9:6)

B. Conclusion: Enjoy Life (9:7-9)

2. Its Lessons (9:10—12:8)

Work hard while you can (9:10-12)
Wisdom is superior to foolishness (9:13—10:20)
Solomon’s Pearls of Wisdom (11:1—12:8)

(1) Live Boldly! (11:1-6) (2) Appreciate the Now! (11:7-10) (3) Remember God! (12:1-8)

Solomon’s Conclusion ~ 12:9-14

1. His Strategic Plan (12:9-12)

2. His Ultimate Summary (12:13-14)

Bruce A. Hess

The View from “Down Under” (Ecclesiastes) – message 1 ~ An Introduction, 1:1-2