of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

Transcription

1 A Meaningful Life Under the Sun (Ecclesiastes) WestminsterReformedChurch.org Pastor Ostella March 6, 2016 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. 9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil (Eccl ). Introduction The name for the book we are covering this morning, Ecclesiastes, is from its title in the Greek OT 1 based on the Hebrew title, Qohelet, that refers to one who speaks to an assembly (cf. ecclesial in relation to Ecclesiastes). Some English translations use Qohelet instead of Preacher (i.e. NAB) and you may come across the term in your reading. Because the order of the OT books is not inspired, we can use the principle of clarity as a guide to help us decide what book to cover next. Thus, a good question is, How does a book fit into the story of redemption unfolding before our eyes in the OT? So, last time we noted that the rise and fall of King Solomon (1 Kgs 1-11) relates directly to the poetic books of Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and Song of Songs. Although Solomon did not write Ecclesiastes, we begin with this book because it refers to him as backdrop for its own agenda. Therefore this book helps us gain perspective on his sinful excesses and paves the way for us to benefit from his proverbs and songs (of which there were more than 4,000, 1 Kgs 4.32). As we shall see, the narrator (writer-author) of Ecclesiastes introduces the worldview of a Preacher (Qohelet) in an opening prologue (1.1-11), records the Preacher s point of view in the monologue body of the book ( ), and interprets his outlook in the epilogue ( ). This yields a threefold outline in three words: introduction, presentation, and interpretation. I. The narrator s introduction to the Preacher s outlook (1.1-11) Consider how we detect the narrator s voice from the beginning: The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity (1.1-2). Here, the speaker (the narrator) talks about the Preacher (it is about him in the third person, about his words). Then, in 1.12, we have the voice of the Preacher, I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. Moreover, this speaker is not Solomon because he looks back to the time when he was king (1.12, literally, I was king implying that now he is not) something that never happened to Solomon, as it did to David in Absalom s rebellion. The narrator is using the words of someone, a wisdom sage who puts himself in the place of the son of David, in the place of a wealthy and wise king (Solomon) to do a study, a wisdom pursuit, as he says in 2.12: to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. You will get the whole story there, if anywhere. What better place for testing wisdom than in the shoes of the wisest man who ever lived? Thus, most of the book contains the words of this sage, this seeker of wisdom until the voice of the sage (I the Preacher) gives way in 12.8 to a voice speaking again about the Preacher, (about him, third person, about what he claims): Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. 1 Εκκλησιαστής (Ecclesiastes) refers to one who speaks to an assembly; you can hear the word for a churchassembly in it (Εκκλησια, cf. the English ecclesial). This title came from the Hebrew title, Qohelet (ק ה ל ת) used in some English translations such as the NAB; the Hebrew also means preacher or speaker to an assembly.

2 '2 Evidently, therefore, 1.2 and 12.8 are bookends that cue us into the structure of the book. The narrator introduces the reader to the world of thought that is dominated by the claim that all is vanity, which is the answer to the question of 1.3: What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? What gain emerges from the flow of life, generation after generation (1.4) in the daily cycles under the rising and setting sun (1.5) with its blowing winds and flowing streams that go on and on (6-8)? The Preacher has a skeptical answer: there is no gain (value, profit, meaning) to life in its unfolding; it is full of weariness; it is unsatisfying (1.8), routine, old, uninviting, tiresome (1.9-10) and the old, the past, is lost and forgotten (1.11). All things unfold in never ending wearisome cycles. Thus, the prologue introduces the major theme of skepticism and 1.2 states the point in compounded fashion: vanity of vanities is a superlative expressing the vainest vanity, the most futile futility. Repetition is for emphasis. The blanket last word, all is vanity, accents what has already been stated and emphasized. 2 The narrator tells us that he wants us to consider this Preacher s powerfully stated skeptical worldview and hear it from his own lips. So, let s go on a journey to learn some lessons in true wisdom from the skeptic Qohelet as a foil (a strong contrast). We will return from this journey to collect our thoughts when we get to the epilogue. II. The narrator s presentation of the Preacher s outlook ( ) To understand Qohelet (not always an easy task) we have to somehow deal with the meanderings of his words as he shifts back and forth on ideas and moves up and down with charged emotions that abruptly change. By sinking our teeth into the Preacher s outlook, we will experience his distaste for life. After that we will need the context of the epilogue to get the narrator s perspective for our benefit and relief from intellectual and emotional tension. So how can we cut a path into the ramblings of the Preacher? We can connect topics from various places, here and there. And we can try to find the basis for his outlook by considering his analysis of wisdom on one hand, and of death on the other. A. Interestingly, on one hand, his emptiness flows from his view of wisdom The skeptic places himself in the shoes of Solomon (1.12) and begins his monologue: I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom [wisely] all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with (1.13). Clearly, this skeptic is not an atheist; he acknowledges God, but we immediately sense that he does so from a distance. The scope of his investigation is comprehensive (it is about all that people do under heaven) and his answer is negative: it is an unhappy business. Per verse 14, all is vanity and a striving after the wind. Then, among other things, he offers support from his findings about wisdom itself: in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow (1.18). His view of God is not a happy one, since God has given man this unhappy business of life. He is ambivalent about wisdom (as he is about most things). He uses it (as best he can) in this entire venture, and he uses his wisdom to question the value of wisdom, as he says in 2.12: So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. Eventually, he tells us what he finds in the pursuit of wisdom: I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know (Eccl 7.25) and I find something more bitter than death (7.26a). Although wisdom preserves life (7.12), enables the skillful use of tools (10.10, If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed), gives an individual more strength than ten rulers (7.19), and happily wisdom makes the face shine because discovery removes the hardness of his countenance (8.1); nonetheless, wisdom actually remains (7.24): far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? So, it 2 So, LaSor, OTS, 590.

3 '3 brings frustration in that wisdom gives us no insight into the work of God; what God is doing is something man cannot know (8.17: then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. His claim is ask and it will not be opened; seek and you will not find. Moreover, the example of a poor wise man (ch 9) in a little city who by wisdom delivered the city from a great king shows Qohelet s ambivalence. The wisdom of the poor man is despised, his teaching goes unheard, and wisdom is forgotten as is this poor unnamed man. Still, struggling to praise wisdom, he draws the lesson that wisdom is better than might (9.16) wise words heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools (9.17), and wisdom is thus better than weapons of war (9.18a). Then, he pulls the rug from beneath the feet of wisdom by saying, but one sinner destroys much good (9.18b). The emphasis here is on the one person who by missing the mark of wisdom, by folly, destroys the good accomplished by wisdom. It only takes one bad apple to corrupt an entire barrel. Wisdom is thus fragile and its attainments easily damaged. Per 10.1, the sweet scent of wisdom becomes odious by little foolish things, just as dead flies make perfume stink (10.1a). Thus even the effectiveness of wisdom itself is brought under examination. What does wisdom s search discover about itself? It may be better than folly, but a wise man is soon forgotten, and the good accomplished by wisdom easily becomes spoiled and stinking by foolishness. That is why he says in , I applied my heart to know wisdom I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. 18 For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. His view of wisdom undercuts his outlook about everything; hence, emphatically, it is all meaningless chasing after the wind. B. On the other hand, a major reason for Qohelet s empty outlook is death On balance, he discovered that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly because the wise person walks in light while the fool stumbles about in darkness (2.13), but what distresses him is the fact that the same event (i.e. death) happens to all (2.14: The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them). And he gets personal: it is the same for the fool and for me (v. 15a). So, he says, Why then have I been so very wise? (15b; what is the good of my Solomon-like wisdom); why have I pursued wisdom so fully? 15c states his conclusion registered deep in his soul: And I said in my heart, this also is vanity. Therefore, I hated life (2.17) I hated all my toil (2.18) and my toil, my hard work in pursuit of wisdom, this also is vanity (2.19). We have to wonder then what he means in 7.1-4: A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. How is the day of death better than the day of birth? In context, a man lives for a few days in a vain life without knowing what is really good (Eccl 6.12: For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?). Consequently, death is better than life because it means escape from the oppression and emptiness of life while birth introduces you to life s vanity and vexation of spirit! He then grants that it is wise, and better, to attend a funeral than to attend a party (7.2). The denouncement of laughter and a bright countenance (externals) makes the heart glad (an internal) in the sense that it brings wisdom within. However this is not deep inner happiness within because the reality of oppression in the present vain life, and death in the future are always in view. When he says later (10.19) that laughter and gladness are the good fruits of bread and wine, he means that laughter is a relative

4 '4 good; joy has a place in this vale of tears that ends in death. So, seize it when and where you can because it may be the only good you get from this life of emptiness; eat plenty of good steaks now before you lose your teeth in old age (12.1-7); seize the moment before aging, dying, and death bring utter ruin. 3 Much more can be considered, but Qohelet s view of wisdom and death reveal his emotion-laden skepticism that includes how he views God, creation, sin, God s gifts to men, and His control of life. He is hardly a man in a covenant relationship with God. III. Now we come to the narrator s interpretation of the Preacher s outlook ( ) A. First, he summarizes Qohelet s view in 12.8 (the matching bookend with 1.2): Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. 4 B. Second, the narrator compliments then criticizes the skeptical view in : Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one [a] Shepherd. The Preacher was a sage; industrious and careful. He was a wise man in the sense that he sought after wisdom. That he acted uprightly means that he gave a good faith effort to arrive at the truth. However, in performing his teacher-shepherd role, his words are like goads. They are not rods that comfort. Instead, they sting with compounded emotional intensity, repeating the refrain again and again: Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. Wisdom s pursuit discovers that all our business under the sun by God s appointment is grievous, sickening, empty, and meaningless. So, the narrator says to his son: beware of such writings, not with your head in the sand, but by careful confrontation as we are doing: (12.12): My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. As Longman puts it, the narrator says to his son, Qohelet s thinking is dangerous material-be careful (Eccl, 281). C. Third, the narrator corrects the Preacher s outlook in : The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. He is brief, even abrupt, and thus emphatic: enough of Qohelet, let s get on with what is really important (Longman, 282). Here the narrator does what the Preacher did not do, he connects fearing God with His revealed commandments. That, he says, is where the skeptic points us by contrast. The whole duty of human beings, men and women, the most important thing they can do is to keep God s commandments in fear and awe (in reverential fear). Qohelet operated outside of a covenantal relationship with God (an unbeliever with a lot of knowledge of Israel s tradition; he had bits and pieces about the Creator and the fall). By contrast, the linkage of reverential fear with the law takes us back to the covenant with Moses and the promise of Christ embedded there in the 3 So don't get too enthused about anything (don't be overly wicked or overly righteous; 7:16-17); just hang in there and make the most of it. You may salvage some of life but it is really grasping at a straw. Live with a gusto but also with somber undertones:"enjoy what you can through your empty days granted to you in your vain life!" (Crenshaw 42). Why is life ultimately vain in this preacher s outlook? 1) Man is evil and there is no hope for relationship with 4 God. 2) God's gifts (2:26; 5:19) are not tokens of His goodness and love but of man's limits and helplessness. Righteous and wicked are in God s hands and destined to the same end (9:1-2). The famous "times" passage (3.2-8) must be seasoned by 9:11 ( time and chance happen to them all in the mad race of life) and 9.12, man does not know his time: being taken in death is like being caught in a fish net or a trap.suddenly. There is definitely no sense of being loved by God in the Preacher's view. There is crookedness that cannot be straightened (7:13; 20). 3) Death is the main nemesis. There is a relative sense of being righteous verses wicked (8.12). Still they come to the same end of death (9.2-3). Death, of course, is the key enemy that renders everything meaningless.

5 '5 sacrificial system. In this context, the call to face up to the judgment to come includes the recognition that God will bring all things under the sun to a just ending (an end denied by Qohelet: Righteous and wicked are in God s hands and destined to the same end, 9:1-2. There is crookedness that cannot be straightened, 7:13; 20). But wonderfully, people who submit themselves to God in reverential fear, trust, love and respect, need not fear the Day of Judgment because in the end the main enemy of this skeptic, death, is swallowed up in victory. As Paul says (1 Cor ), O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we have the gospel in a nutshell. Jesus restores meaning in all the areas questioned by the skeptic (pleasure, work, wisdom, and life itself). By our Lord s commands, we find wisdom for each area, and thus value, meaning, dignity, and purpose for all of life, anywhere and everywhere under the sun. He conquered the biggest fear and greatest disturbance for Qohelet, death. Thus, your labor in the Lord, in Jesus Christ as your prophet, priest, and king (Mat ) is not in vain (I Cor 15.58). When the skeptical preacher s remembering is put in the right perspective by the narrator, we learn about remembering our Creator in terms of covenant redemption instead of covenant alienation (12.1-7). In summary, we are encouraged to say to ourselves, while I live, while I have life and breath, while I have eyes to see the sun, moon, and stars, while I have eyes, ears, hair, and teeth that function properly, before the dust that I am returns to dust, and before my spirit returns to God (Eccl ), I will focus my mind in a special way on my Creator and redeemer, Jesus Christ the Lord of glory, so that I may live for Him by His commandments day by day with reverence, joy, and love (Eccl ; Jn 14.15). So, live with hopeful expectation and anticipation with melody in your heart singing: Jesus lives and so shall I, death thy sting is gone forever; He that deigned for me to die, lives the bonds of death to sever; He shall raise me from the dust; Jesus is my Hope and Trust (Trinity 596). May we fall down before the majesty of God in acknowledgement that He is the Great Sabbath King and Lord of everything under the sun; may the Holy Spirit enable us to know Him in His works of creation and may He enable us to praise Him in heart and song: to the glory and honor of the Triune God now in His church and forever, amen.