Ecclesiastes 101
At one of his movie premieres, American filmmaker and actor Woody Allen was asked why his main characters were neurotic and believed that life was meaningless. He answered,
“I firmly believe, and I don’t say this as a criticism, that life is meaningless… The truth of the matter is, when you think of it, every 100 years, there’s a big flush, and everybody in the world is gone. And there’s a new group of people. And that gets flushed, and there’s a new group of people. And this goes on and on interminably — and I don’t want to upset you — toward no particular end, no rhyme or reason… “
I wonder if Woody Allen has ever read Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes is one book that makes up the wisdom literature of the Bible. Together with Proverbs and Job, Ecclesiastes tackles the question of how to live a “good life” and each of these books presents a unique perspective. Ecclesiastes explores three disturbing (and well, depressing) things of the world - time, death and life’s random nature. Arguably the most secular book of the Bible, Ecclesiates dares to face hard questions and shows the unglamorous life in a sinful world. Through this lens this book presents a convincing argument that apart from God, there is no satisfaction in life.
A word of caution before you dive into the book of Ecclesiastes. Watch out for isolated statements. They should be understood within the context of the book, and ultimately, that of the whole Bible. Remember that this book is not God’s arguments, but rather they are God’s accurate record of man’s thoughts on the purpose of life. With this in mind, let’s dive a little deeper.
Who wrote the book of Ecclesiastes?
According to most Jewish and Christian traditions the “teacher” in the beginning of the book is King Solomon, though many doubt this view. The “teacher” is identified as a “son of David, king in Jerusalem.” (vs 1), who has “grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem…” (vs 16), and who “has set in order many proverbs” (12:9). Solomon was the only son of David to rule all of Israel from Jerusalem, the wisest man in the world in that time (1 Kings 4:29–30) and wrote most of the proverbs (Proverbs 1:1; 10:1; 25:1). So we can see how many would agree Solomon to be the voice of the “teacher”.
The other viewpoints believe that the “teacher” may be one of the later kings from David’s line, or that this is an Israelite teacher that has adopted a “Solomon-like persona”. Others say this is a wise man who has collected the views of the teacher as a way to instruct his son. Bottom line is, no one knows for sure.
We should clarify that this book has two voices - the teacher and the author. The author collects and presents the teacher's words, and at the end of the book summarizes everything and gets the final say.
What’s the big idea?
Ecclesiastes offers a philosophy of life. Nearly 40 times in this book, the Hebrew word “hevel” is used. While most of our Bibles translates this word as “meaningless”, a closer translation would be “smoke” or “vapor”. Life can be beautiful and mysterious but just as things settle into routine, life changes. As a parent, I can tell you that just as I figure out how to parent my baby, I blink, and now he’s a toddler. And so, I begin the process of figuring out how to parent a toddler. And that is just one of the many ever evolving variables in my life. Life is like smoke, always changing shape and something that can never be grasped.
From Ecclesiastes 1:3 - 12:8 the teacher explores life without God. He says, if you are a person who strives to find identity or contentment in your career, other people, worldly pleasures etc. you need to stop and consider the linear movement of time. Centuries from now no one will remember us, but the mountains, oceans and the galaxies will still be here. You and me? We are just a blip in the timeline of eternity. The teacher also talks about death a lot - the great equalizer. All of humanity will succumb to death, making us no different from the animals. And because that wasn’t depressing enough for the teacher, he then moves on to discuss the random nature of life.
“The race is not to the swift
Or the battle to the strong,
Nor does food come to the wise
Or wealth to the brillant
Or favor to the learned;
But time and chance happen to them all.”
Ecclesiastes 9:11 (emphasis mine)
How do I apply this?
One perspective that I, an eternal optimist, choose to take on this book is one of satisfaction. It is satisfying to know that even though our days may be new, our problems are old. The world can tell me how and where to find meaning to my life, my identity, my contentment, my worth and it is satisfying to see that experience echoed throughout Ecclesiastes. We can relate to the thought process and journey of the teacher because for many of us, it is our own.
Even with the depressing tone of the book, God remains present. In fact, the key to a “good” life is (spoiler alert!) accepting that life is “hevel” and to find enjoyment in the “gift of God” - a good meal, your lot in life, wealth, possessions, etc.
Ultimately, the great truth of Ecclesiastes lies in the acknowledgement of God’s ever present hand in our lives. When economies crash, wars and natural disasters hit, relationships hurt, injustice and uncertainty threaten to overwhelm us, we can fully trust and follow after Him. And when we adopt this posture of trust in God, it frees us to fully enjoy life as we experience it. This is how a Kingdom People are expected to live in a world governed by time, death and the fickleness of life.
