Ecclesiastes 1:1-9; 3:1-8
1 The
words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem
3 What
advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun?
4 A
generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever.
5 Also, the
sun rises and the sun sets; And hastening to its place it rises
there again.
6 Blowing
toward the south, Then turning toward the north, The wind continues
swirling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns.
7 All
the rivers flow into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place
where the rivers flow, There they flow again.
8 All things are
wearisome; Man
is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor is the ear filled with hearing.
Nor is the ear filled with hearing.
9 That which has been is that
which will be, And
that which has been done is that which will be done. So there
is nothing new under the sun.
— The Preacher says... “Vanity of vanities! All is in
vanity” “There is nothing new under the
sun”... “It’s all just so wearisome!”
Life for the Preacher... seems empty and meaningless...
filled with repetitious drudgery!
K Things that were once of great interest to him... he
now finds tedious and boring...
9 Things that once brought him a measure of
pleasure... have now become a chore...
This from a man who had everything the world had to offer...
without restraint or limits!
The entire book of Ecclesiastics is filled with more of the
same pessimism
and cynicism.
King Solomon for
all his wealth and wisdom in the end could not find satisfaction in life!
Of course... by this time in his life... he had strayed
into sin and idolatry through
his relationships with his hundreds of wives and concubines...
è Certainly enough to sidetrack any man!
This pessimistic book should serve to instruct humanity in the
folly of leaving God out while seeking to find the meaning of life in worldly
pleasures and distractions.
L They all fail to satisfy in the end!
þ The world occupies itself with the constant pursuit
of something
new and exciting...
¯ A new thing... to entertain and
distract from the reality of the inevitability of looming death...
and the passing of a fleeting life on the relentless
treadmill of time!
We see it all around in our world today every time a new
cell phone or some other new toy or new “thing” comes along... Lines out the
door... crowds looking for Pokémon...
ÀIt’s actually quite sad... even pathetic when you
think about the waste of precious time!
E But... this too is
nothing new!
Ê The apostle Paul
encountered this kind of world view in Athens
Ø Acts
17:21 – (Now
all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in
nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)
— But... the Preacher is saying there is really
nothing new to see or do... it all amounts to reruns... new packaging
of the same old things... Nothing new under the sun!
R The phrase “Under
the Sun” is an idiomatic Hebrew
saying... it has been understood and explained in a number of ways by various
individuals...
Ò All of the explanations
can be helpful and add something to our understanding I think.
’ Some take it to simply
mean... life on earth... in a secular
sort of way... as we find expressed in common usage today with sayings like...
“We discussed everything under the sun”...
or “She is interested in everything under the sun”... and so on
Ê Others understand it to
mean... Life without God... Or a Godless
perspective of life...
As in a message given by Ravi Zacharius titled... "What is Worthwhile Under the Sun"
] Some take it to simply
mean... “Out in the open or In plain sight”...
Another way it can be taken is to mean... “In the physical world”...
— I believe the best explanation that I have ever heard
defining the concept was given by theologian, pastor and bible teacher... R. C.
Sproul.
E His definition is a bit
technical... but it is at one and the same time comprehensive and precise...
He calls it “phenomenological language”.
Ü Sproul is saying... under the sun means... the way things appear to be... to
someone observing... phenomena... through the five
senses... from upon the earth.
A To the exclusion of any spiritual
or metaphysical considerations...
strictly bald empiricism... what could be
called... natural observation.
† An example of phenomenological
language would be the use of terms like...
“sunrise and sunset”... to describe our common experience of
daybreak and nightfall...
â Ever since the Copernican
revolution and then the invention of the telescope...
ü It has been understood that the sun is not actually rising
and setting...
þ But it is the earth rotating on an axis as it orbits
the sun... that makes the sun appear to be rising and setting... from the
perspective of someone standing on the earth.
K Everyone knows that when the weatherman says that
the sun
will rise at such and such a time and set at another time
later... that he is not ignorant of the scientific facts...
Ò He is speaking phenomenologically... He is using phenomenological language...
I hope this explanation helps with our discussion today...
Ê Particularly if you have
never heard it before...
— Solomon adopts a somewhat pragmatic resolution at
the end of his life...
At the end of his book... he offers some sage
advice for likeminded discouraged souls...
Ø Eccl.11:9
– 12:1 – 9 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 and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that
God will bring you to judgment for all these things.
10 So, remove grief and anger from
your heart and put away pain from your body, because childhood and the prime of
life are fleeting.
Ü Get it while you can still enjoy it... he says...
because it doesn’t last!
12:1
Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and
the years draw near when you will say, “I have no delight in them”;
Ê Acknowledge God while
things are good he says... because later... when it’s all only a distant
memory... it won’t be so easy to be grateful!
L Good advice perhaps... all be it somewhat useless
and late... for the discouraged old man racked with pain that has long since
left his youthful vigor and opportunities behind!
è So we begin another year... a New Year... as we say... but in the light of Solomon’s sage wisdom...
my question on this day is... “What’s
so new about the New Year?”
þ The earth begins another circuit around the sun... one
in a countless number of circuits on the endless continuum of time...
s Is there really any significance at all to this
essentially
insignificant event in the big picture of things? The Preacher certainly doesn’t think so!
K There are lots of people... making resolutions of
all kinds... planning and promising to do things differently than they have
done in the past...
9 We know about people going on diets and
starting new exercise regimes to try to regain some of their lost vitality,
health and youth...
E That’s all well and
good... there’s nothing wrong with being as healthy as one can be...
¶ But the truth is that no
one is ever going to turn back the clock or stop the march of time...
À Time marches on and waits for no man... everyone
grows older and everyone... if they live long enough... becomes more and more
feeble... Just like the Preacher says...
Ü There have been very few exceptions in history... Moses and Caleb come to mind...
Perhaps a few others... but they are certainly the exception
to the rule.... and in the end...
N They all died too! Rich or poor,
wise or foolish, great or small... makes no difference...
ü One hundred out of every one hundred people die...
˜ It has always been that way...
Ÿ It is nothing new!
Y Solomon... the wisest king that ever lived... saw
all this and he calls it all futility!
2 “Vanity
of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”
“Vanity of vanities”
is a common Hebrew superlative... expressing the extreme degree or the highest
example of a thing... such as we find in phrases like...
“Heaven of heavens,” “Song of songs,” “Holy of holies,”
Verily, Verily... Amen, Amen!
& The word in the Hebrew that is translated
variously as vanity or meaninglessness is actually derived
from the word for breath or vapor: Ha-bel... he-bel used 36 times in Eccl.
The implication is of a fleeting
vapor... the temporary transitory nature of life on earth!
Of course... the
Preacher is speaking as someone looking at life “from under the sun”!
¯ But meaninglessness is not what God had
in mind when He created man...
9 Emptiness is not what God desires for the
heavens and the earth...
è God created mankind with a purpose... He
created the heavens and earth as a dwelling place for man... for
man’s good and for His own glory!
Ø Is.45:18
– For thus saith the LORD
that created the heavens; God himself... that formed the earth and made it; He
hath established it, He created it not
in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there
is none else.
û The preacher... for all his wisdom and all his experience
is missing the point!
The things that he observes may be true... but his
conclusions fall short of ultimate truth!
†Let’s turn now to Ecclesiastes
chapter .3... As we continue... to hear what the wisest man... under
the sun... has to say about life on earth...
1 There
is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under
heaven—
2 A time
to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what
is planted.
3 A time
to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time
to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.
5 A time
to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time
to shun embracing.
6 A time
to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to
throw away.
7 A time
to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to
speak.
8 A time
to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.
§ This familiar passage is an example of Hebrew
wisdom poetry at its very best!
Ò It is a beautiful example
of antithetic
parallelism... seven verses containing fourteen
pairs of opposites... fourteen is seven doubled...
â Seven being the number of
completeness...
What we have here is a complete... comprehensive explanation
of reality, under the sun!
¶ Solomon employs here the
poetic device... called merism... It
is commonly used in literature and it is extensively used in scripture...
E By expressing the
opposite extremes of a thing... it is intended to imply the inclusion of
everything in between... to form the whole...
9 Like the expression “soup to nuts”... meaning
the entire
meal... including everything from beginning to end and everything in between...
Think of Alpha and Omega...
è So what we have here... expressed in these eight
verses... is Solomon’s masterful summation of all things that exist... as they are known... “Under the sun”!
3:1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for
every event under heaven—
Ü In modern philosophical terms... what we have here
and following is an expression of... Pessimistic
Existential Determinism... which embraces the idea of...
The predetermined inevitability of the course of life
and death and everything in between.
This view breaks out into various nuanced schools of
thought...
† But it is by no means the
only prevailing philosophy of life in the world or among believers... it is in
competition with many others... we have for instance...
A Pessimistic vs. optimistic existentialism,
hard and soft determinism... indeterminacy and self indeterminacy, compatible
and incompatible with free will and libertarian views.
E I can recommend a very
comprehensive book if you are interested in further study...
“Philosophical
Foundations for a Christian Worldview” by Moreland and Craig...
Ê But the main distinction
for us today... as we reflect on this text... from the Preachers point of view...
can be understood to be between... Atheistic
Determinism and Theistic Determinism...
— Solomon is expressing his opinion...the views of a theistic
determinist...
A Although it is sometimes
hard to distinguish the difference... in his despair...
The main idea is that we were thrown into this
existence without our consent or control.
9 We face all these
challenges and difficulties with no escape and no say in the matter...
N And in the end we all die... Death is the reason that Solomon... and so many others face life
with despair
and pessimism... death is inevitable... no matter what we do!
N And because we can not see beyond our little world...
under
the sun with our senses...
Death makes life... meaningless...
no matter how we may occupy or entertain ourselves!
— So... the Preacher asks... what is the difference in
the end what a man believes?
Ò Everybody ends up dead
anyway... so what’s the point?
Ø Eccl.2:15-16
– Then I said to myself,
“As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. Why then have I been
extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is vanity.”
16 For there is no lasting
remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the
coming days all will be forgotten. And how the
wise man and the fool alike die!
& The Preacher expounds on the unalterable pattern
of life and death...
2 A time
to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what
is planted.
3 A time
to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.
Q And so the cycle of life
and death is set into motion by powers beyond our control...
è But... as I said... Solomon is a theist... he
believes in God... he has retained some semblance of faith from
his youth... although it seems to provide him with little comfort.
15 That
which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God
seeks what has passed by.
16 Furthermore,
I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and
in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
17 I
said to myself, “God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for
a time for every matter and for every deed is there.
18 I
said to myself concerning the sons of men, “God has surely tested them in order
for them to see that they are but beasts.”
19 For
the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so
dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage
for man over beast, for all is vanity.
20 All
go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.
21 Who
knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast
descends downward to the earth?
22 I
have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his
activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur
after him?
All of this pessimism may seem to have been warranted in
Solomon’s world...
But we now live in a world where Christ has come and
answered these questions and so much more!
Jesus Christ provides
meaning to life! Let’s begin to wrap
it up...
4 A time
to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.
E There are ups and downs
for everyone in life... they come and go... God sends both joy and sorrow to
all...
Solomon implies... Who knows why? No one can tell...
even someone as brilliant as me!
— The Preacher says... The ups and downs of life are
meaningless in the end... just repetition and vanity!
¯ It is true that ... the Lord does send blessings and
calamity...
s But, I ask... is it all vanity as the Preacher
insists?
Ø Is.45:6-7
– That men may know from the rising to the
setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD,
and there is no other,
7
The One forming light and
creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the
LORD who does all these.
Why does God intervene in the affairs of men through well
being and calamity?
So that men may know
that there is a God and that He is the Lord!
The Preacher continues...
5 A time
to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time
to shun embracing.
Ü Buildings are built and time and war crumble them
all...
Relationships come and go... and even the best of them end
in the separation of death!
6 A time
to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to
throw away.
7 A time
to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time
to speak.
] You get the picture...
his worldview borders on cyclical fatalism... just face it
and get on with it... try to find pleasure where you can... and don’t take it
all too seriously!
Ø Eccl.7:16-17
– Do not be excessively
righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?
17 Do not be excessively wicked and
do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?
8 A time
to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.
& And so the Preacher ends his tremendous poem...
with his summation of the positive and the negative extremes of life... under
the sun!
† He goes on to end the
book with these words...
Ø Eccl.12:13-14
– The conclusion, when all
has been heard, is:
Fear God and keep His
commandments,
because this applies to every person.
14 For God will bring every act to
judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
â In spite of the fact that
life to him seems meaningless... at best it is an unsolvable mystery... Even if there is some hidden meaning
behind it all... He concludes that...
~ Every person... if they are wise... will at least recognize
the fact that God is in control!
§ Every wise person should live their meaningless
life... the best they can...
K Even if it is without understanding of the everyday
changes and challenges that we all face... because... God is keeping a record!
+ The bottom line for the Preacher is that all
people should fear God... and live life 9 knowing that there will be a time of
reckoning and judgment in the end!
L This limited knowledge and this grim attitude are the
best we can hope for in this life
according to old Solomon... since...
All is vanity...
and... There is nothing
new under the sun!
è This... to me... is the pessimistic view of someone
who has drifted away from God!
Solomon was visited by God in his youth... He was greatly
blessed and favored by God...
But he chose worldly pleasures over God
in the end... and he lost his first love for God.
r In doing so he lost his understanding of God’s love
for him and for all men...
Everything was reduced to meaningless mechanical repetition
and fearful
law keeping.
û The joy of life and the joy
of salvation that meant so much to his father David was lost to him and
replaced by a chasing after empty worldly pleasures...
* Which amounted to a chasing after the wind!
Ü So... after contemplating all of this together this
morning... I want to close where I began today with the same question...
s What is so new about the New Year?
V As New Testament followers of Jesus Christ... we
should have a different perspective on life and the meaning of it
all... than our discouraged friend the Preacher...
We can agree that life without God... life without Christ is
empty!
But life with Christ is filled with meaning and with hope...
even the hope of eternal life!
ÿ
God has provided new opportunities... new
challenges and new blessings for
those who seek Him and seek them... every day and every year! Including
this New Year!
† He begins by making
us new... in Christ!
— The offer is still open today... for anyone
to come to Christ and receive new
life!
Ø 2 Cor.5:17 – Therefore
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
è And even though we have not fully arrived yet... we
are making progress every day when we follow Christ!
Ø Phil.3:13-14 – Brethren,
I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I
do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call
of God in Christ Jesus
Every day is a new beginning with the Lord... He provides hope
for all who seek Him!
Ø Lam.3:22-24 – The
LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never
fail.
23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my
soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.”
¯ Today is a
new day! Today is a New Year! Today the Lord offers us new hope!
Ø Ro.15:13 – Now may
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
So that you will abound in hope by
the power of the Holy Spirit.
— Our hope is in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ who
has provided us with new life... and
has provided true and lasting meaning to life!
Ø 1 Pet.1:3 – Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great
mercy has caused us to be born again to
a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
J And so... I want to wish you all a very
Happy New Year in the Lord my friends!
V Life with Christ is far from meaningless and it is
not in vain...
ÿ Let’s enjoy the blessings and the challenges
of the New Year together...
Ü As the family
of God!
V He is with us through it all and He will be there
forevermore!
Amen... Amen!
