Author: Scott Walter

For Solomon, the worst part of life under the sun is that the same fate awaits every person.
“All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not…this is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: the same destiny overtakes all.” (v. 2-3) Whether you are good or bad, either righteous or unrighteous, whether you offer sacrifices or you don’t, you will die. Death comes for us all. Therefore, since we are all going to die anyway, Solomon’s advice for the reader here is simple: make the most of the life you have while you have it.

As the reader, it’s important to remember that Solomon was describing “life under the sun”—aka, life without God. Ecclesiastes is an apologetic work impressing the importance of faith by showing how meaningless life is without faith. So meaningless, in fact, that the way you live has no bearing on your end fate. And since the way you live doesn’t affect the fact that you will die, you might as well do whatever you want in the meantime. 

This would be disheartening if, as believers, we didn’t know the other side of the story. Death might come for us all, but for those of us who are in Christ Jesus, we get to live forever with God in Heaven. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26) Jesus, by defeating death on the cross, gives believers the opportunity to live forever with Him, beginning now.

Therefore, because Christ defeated death, how we live here on Earth matters. For starters, we must make the decision to believe in Christ; that decision affects everything. Once we become believers and know our future is secured, we are tasked with the mission of sharing this Good News with everyone around us. Our friends, family members, neighbors, and coworkers are living life with the depressing “under the sun” mentality. How exciting that God can use us to show others the meaning and joy that comes from living life with the Son instead! 

There are benefits and limitations to wisdom. Wisdom allows us to apply our knowledge in a way that leads to right living whereas the fool continues in the folly. We see that in the first part of the chapter where Solomon tells us to obey the king because when the fool revolts, there are consequences for their actions. Verses eight and nine are the hinge point for this chapter. “No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.“ 

We are ruled by governing authorities and God. A lot of the Christian life is learning humble submission to authority. There is so little in life that we actually have control over. For some, this can be a discouraging thought, but when we have the wisdom that God is sovereign we can express the confidence in verse 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.” 

In our time in Ecclesiastes we have seen how much of life is vanity (Hebrew: hevel). While everything has a time as we read in chapter three, we are given a glimmer of hope in the midst of a heavy book. That the best thing we can do is to enjoy the gifts of common grace that God has given us. We should all be aware of the things that help us love God more and we should do more of those things to the glory of God. A hot shower, a great meal, a sunrise or sunset, nice weather, or even a warm fire with good friends. It is wise and right to enjoy the simple things in life.  

At first glance, this chapter might feel long and wordy. Like most chapters in Ecclesiastes, there are several themes that Solomon is driving home. Let’s look at a few. When we first read verses 1-4, it can feel confusing and sobering. Solomon says that it is better to grapple with one’s mortality than to be fooled into thinking that one lasts forever. Think about how countercultural this message is–especially for our culture. We do not like sad things, so we constantly look to escape. “Do whatever makes you happy!” But, if you are a believer in Jesus, there is a great joy that comes from knowing one’s mortality. Just think about it: One day we will die and there will be an end to all toil, weariness, and sin and we will be eternally satisfied in the presence of Jesus Christ. Joy doesn’t come from avoiding sad feelings, but from the eternal hope we have in Jesus in the midst of them.

The chapter ends in verse 29 by saying, “God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes” (v. 29). The point Solomon is making here is not that people have simply turned to sin, but that they have sought out many other explanations of what God is doing around them. Here, Solomon was talking about God’s plan–they were struggling to see how God was at work (or even believe that He was working). They lacked the faith necessary to trust that God’s ways were better than their own. 

So what are we to take away from a passage like this? Seeing the end makes the things that are under the sun not bad, but far less important than we think they are. On the flip side, knowing God is far more important than we grasp it to be. This life was given as a gift from God and is not to be used as a vessel of wrath, but of righteousness. True wisdom is trusting the One that is wiser (God) in the day of prosperity and in the day of adversity because God has made the one as well as the other. We have the opportunity to trust God in faith and know that He is working all around us at all times, regardless of if it feels like it or not. 

So today, do not be discouraged, but remember God’s character in all situations. Remember the call that he has given us as Christians to go and make disciples of all nations, and hold all things in this life loosely because God is working all around us.

We strive and we toil and we pursue, yet King Solomon once again reminds us that this is a striving after the wind. He clearly communicates that this pursuit of wealth, honor, and possessions is just another evil under the sun that will weigh heavily on us, while only a relationship with God can fulfill the desires of our heart.  Solomon provided this wisdom around 900 years before Jesus was born, yet the struggle has persisted.  We see it affecting the disciples when Jesus reminds them: What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? (Matthew 16:26). And now, over two thousand years later, here we are.  Still striving after the wind. 

It is interesting to read and study this book at this particular time. In a world of COVID, increasing costs, and hardships around the world, things are feeling unstable and uneasy. Anxiety is on the rise and many of us are realizing in various ways that our “stuff” isn’t quite as valuable as we have thought it to be. Doesn’t it feel as if God is saying something? Look again at verse 2: We might have every possession we want in this world, but God is the One who will grant whether we even enjoy them! As the Creator of all things, perhaps God, as our loving Father, is using the current struggles of the world to remind us to return to what is important—the only thing that can truly fulfill our soul’s desire. 

Our time here is fleeting and very little of what we think is important or worth our worried thoughts even matters in the end. When it comes down to it, we already have what we truly need. Let’s pray that we can shift our focus to the One who gave it all to us, trusting His plans and direction and submitting to His will. That may not be easy while we are here under the sun, and God knows that, too.  He is just asking us to focus on the promise of eternal glory with Him. 

Matthew Henry once said, “The desires of the soul find nothing in the wealth of the world to give satisfaction. Let us return to God, trust in his mercy through Jesus Christ, and submit to his will. Then soon shall we glide through this vexatious world, and find ourselves in that happy place, where there is fullness of joy and pleasures for evermore.” Let us reflect on that truth today! 

What if there was a way for marriages to be strengthened, parent-and-child relationships to be healed, and for employees and employers to have a healthy relationship? If a solution existed that could heal and strengthen all these relationships and much more, then wouldn’t we all want it? The wisdom from Solomon in Ecclesiastes 5 provides just the solution we’re looking for. We need to learn to shut our mouths, open our ears, and let our words be few.

In v. 2 Solomon tells his readers, “Do not be quick with your mouth.” We see the same admonition in James 1:19: “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry….” We are to be quick to listen and slow to speak. We typically do the opposite—most are quick to speak and slow to listen. We want to win and be right so we make sure to get our point across by speaking. Instead, do not be quick with your mouth. Today, let’s ask God to help us be quick to listen.

He then tells us in v. 2 that “God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” His divine wisdom is always greater than ours. We don’t get to tell God what to do or how things should happen. Trying to instruct God is like a 5-year-old telling his parents how to drive or pay their taxes, except there’s an infinitely larger gap between our wisdom and God’s wisdom. We’re fools if we approach the Lord and tell Him what to do! Come to God with open ears to listen.

Lastly, we need to let our words be few. In v. 3 Solomon says, “Many words mark the speech of a fool.” This theme is similar to what Solomon said it Proverbs 18:2 says, “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.” When we run our mouths without regard to listening or understanding, we earn the title of “fool.” One reason why marriages struggle, many walk around with wounds from their parents, and relationships in the workplace often struggle because we use too many words.

Today, our challenge is to heed the wisdom of Solomon and apply these words to our own lives. 

King Solomon continues to explore the meaning of life. We’ve seen so far that searching for meaning in wealth, success, power, or education, will fail us. And Ecclesiastes 4 uncovers a few more places that yield no meaning: oppression, achievement, isolation, and advancement. Nothing under the sun has any ability to ever satisfy us. 

Isolation and loneliness are probably not places we’re trying to get to, but sometimes they are the places in which we find ourselves. This is right where the enemy wants us – alone, isolated, and vulnerable to believing his lies. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book Life Together, puts it this way, “Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from the community. The more isolated a person is, the more attractive will be the power of sin over him, and the more deeply he becomes involved in it, the more disastrous is his isolation.” 

One of the best ways to beat the devil’s schemes is by surrounding yourself with other believers – people who know God and love you and love God and know you. Christian community can remind us of truth when it’s hardest for us to believe. That is a gift. And though it takes effort – community is forged, not found – there are many real and practical benefits to living in community with others. Let’s look at some that Solomon outlines for us:

• Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor (v. 9)
• If either of them falls down, one can help the other up (v. 10)
• If two lie down together, they will keep warm (v. 11)
• Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves (v. 12)

God declares, in the midst of creation, that it is not good for man to be alone. In His infinite wisdom, God created us with a need for connection. There is a safety that comes with being in community. Throughout the Proverbs, we see this idea repeated. Proverbs 11:14 (ESV) says, “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” Solomon got it: Isolation is a danger and community is a safety, both physically and spiritually.

Depending on your age, you may experience some flashbacks reading Ecclesiastes 3 as the voice of Kevin Bacon may echo from the movie Footloose, the movie poster of A Time to Kill may flash in our heads, or “Turn! Turn! Turn!,” sung by The Byrds, may begin playing in the background of our minds. The first eight verses of Ecclesiastes 3 are very well-known. The last several verses of the chapter are not as popular, depicting a grim view of humanity ending in death. Tucked away, hidden between these two sections, are words of comfort and perspective in which we can take joy and find hope: “God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” (v. 11)

First, let’s ask the question, “Does God really make everything beautiful for its own time?” The Hebrew word translated as “everything” is kol. This is the same word used in Genesis 1-3 when God created every tree, every bird, every animal,every thing, and declared it all good. So, yes, God really made everything beautiful for its own time.

Our struggle is that we often interpret this to be in our own time. We see all the pain, injustice, and ugliness in our world and scream, “How is everything beautiful?!” It’s not; God has made everything beautiful for its own time, not ours. We must shake off the temporal confines of our current circumstances and set our minds on God’s grander scheme, which He planted in our hearts. 

God created humans to live forever with Him, so we are designed to have an eternal perspective. Genesis 2 describes how God planted the Tree of Life, which allowed those who ate from it to live forever, in the Garden of Eden and placed the man and woman there. Once they chose sin, humans were removed from the garden and access to the Tree of Life was barred. Why was God so concerned about humans having an eternal perspective once they knew good and evil? God wanted to protect us. When sin entered our hearts, we no longer focused on God’s good but believed the lie that the things around us (like a yummy-looking fruit tree) are what matter most. We still believe this lie today. 

But Jesus came as our path back to the Tree of Life. Jesus stands in the gap between the activities of our time–the laughing, the grief, the death, the births–and the pain and injustices of our time. This is where God intentionally positions His hope: Jesus. In the middle of the activities and injustice, God wants us to experience the joy and comfort of resting in His plan for our good and His glory through Jesus. 

Solomon isn’t looking to pull any punches. Throughout the first section of this chapter, Solomon is presenting us with his résumé. He gives us a run down of who he is, what he has built, and what all he has accomplished during his time on earth.  Despite his many efforts, he comes up unsatisfied. 

We often think or pray to God for that one more thing to be satisfied. We think, “God if only you gave me _______, I would be happy” or,“God please let _________happen and then everything would be okay.” Solomon got every wish he could possibly imagine and ended up emptier than ever before. In verse 10 he goes so far as to say he denied himself nothing his eyes desired and refused his heart no pleasure. Imagine all the desires you have over the course of a day being fulfilled. Every want. Every dream. Nothing is out of your reach. This is Solomon’s life every day! Yet he finds that this didn’t actually solve anything. It just left him feeling more empty than before. You can really feel Solomon’s despair  when he considers that no matter how you live your life, all will die and be forgotten.

It is no wonder then that Solomon hated his life and everything he worked for. Work provided him no hope either. All it brought him was stress and no actual rest or quality of life. Even what he did accomplish while working he must give to those who follow him (who will eventually ruin it). But in verse 24 we see a brief glimpse of hope from the hand of God. Solomon encourages his readers to enjoy what God provides in our lives, enjoy the work laid out for us, and to please God.

Good news! This chapter does a great job of tearing up false hopes and idols we have in our lives, but we know the answer that Solomon lacks. We know that because Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, we are right before God, therefore we can spend eternity in heaven with Him. Our lives on earth have eternal ramifications for ourselves and others. We shouldn’t live our lives as if nothing matters but instead attempt to glorify God in everything we do (1 Cor. 10:31).