Ecclesiastes 1

CHAPTER 1The Book of Ecclesiastes is a dramatic autobiography of King Solomon’s life when he was away from God. As the Book of Proverbs reveals Solomon’s wisdom, the Book of Ecclesiastes reveals his foolishness. This is not a book without rhyme or reasonnot just a bunch of verses stuck together. It begins with the problem stated: All is vanity in this world. Then we will find that experiments are made. Solomon will seek satisfaction through many different avenues, in many different fields. He will try science, the laws of nature, wisdom and philosophy, pleasure and materialism, as well as living for the “now.” He will explore fatalism, egotism, religion, wealth, and morality. Then in the final verses of the book he will give us the result of his experiments. Keep in mind that the conclusions in each experiment are human, not God’s truth. This is man under the sun. Do not misunderstand what is meant by “inspiration” when we say that the Bible is inspired by God. Inspiration guarantees the accuracy of the words of Scripture, not always the thought that is expressed. The context should be considered, and attention paid to the person who made the statement and under what circumstances the statement was made. For example, in the betrayal of Christ by Judas, the record of the event is inspired, but the act of Judas was not God-inspired; it was satanic. Also the statements that Solomon makes, while he is searching for satisfaction apart from God, are not always in accord with God’s thoughts. Inspiration guarantees that what Solomon said has been accurately recorded in Scripture.

Ecclesiastes 1:1

PROBLEM STATEDThat description doesn’t fit anyone except Solomon, as far as I can tell. David did have other sons, but Solomon was the only one who was king in Jerusalem. He is the philosopher here. We know that he had been given wisdom. I think that the wisdom God gave Solomon was a little different from what we think it was. We imagine that he was given spiritual insight, but Scripture does not tell us that he even asked for that. He had prayed: “Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” (1Ki_3:9, italics mine). Apparently God gave him what he asked for: wisdom to rule. He was wise in political economy and probably did a marvelous job of ruling the nation. He brought in an era of peace.

Other nations of the world went there to study and to behold the wisdom of Solomon. He gave a testimony for God through the temple with the altar where sacrifice was made for sinners. These were some of the things that the Queen of Sheba learned when she came from the ends of the earth. But in the area of spiritual discernment, Solomon was probably nil. Now we find Solomon, away from God, launching out with his experiments “under the sun.” The man under the sun is a great deal different from the child of God who has been blessed “…with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph_1:3).

Ecclesiastes 1:2

“Vanity” here speaks of emptiness. It is to waste life without any purpose or any goal. It means to live like an animal or a bird lives. There are a great many people who live like that. I was in a hotel in the Hawaiian Islands where the jet set come. They fly all over the world spending a few days or weeks in Hawaii, then at Acapulco in Mexico, and then the Riviera in France, then to Spain, North Africa, South Africa, and so on. They are world travelers. I watched these folk and listened to their conversation at the dinner table, out in the hotel lobby, and in the elevators. The thing that impressed me about them was how purposeless their lives really are. They talked about people they had seen in other places.

They talked about plays they had seen. They would ask, “Where are you going from here?” Someone would say, “Wasn’t that place where we went last year a bore!” There was no aim, no goal, no purpose in life. This is also the conclusion of Solomon. Vanity of vanities. Emptiness of emptiness. It is just like a big bag of nothing. Solomon in the Book of Proverbs gives us gems of wisdom. In Ecclesiastes he gives us globules, not of wisdom, but of folly. Then in the Song of Solomon love is the subject. Wisdom, foolishness, and loveSolomon was an expert in all three fields. He knew how to play the fool; he was wise in government; and his love life was quite a story. Solomon was the wisest of men, but no man ever played the fool more thoroughly than he did. He is the riddle of revelation. He is the paradox of Scripture. The wisest man was the greatest fool. The Book of Ecclesiastes will reveal this. “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity” is life without God. It is man walking and talking “under the sun,” trying to get something out of life. There is another class of people whom I meet in motels and hotels as I travel. These are the conventioneers. This is the day of conventions. I have listened to them and watched them. They are different from the jet set, but they, too, are looking for something. They have the big cocktail party or beer bust. Then they have a huge banquet with a big show. They try it all, but there is that note of bitterness. There are dregs left in the glass of life. Now we will find man experimenting. He is going to squeeze the juice of life out of the dry rocks of this mundane existence down here.

Ecclesiastes 1:3

Let’s keep in mind this is “under the sun”; it is man’s viewpoint. God is not giving His viewpoint here.

Ecclesiastes 1:4

EXPERIMENT MADEHis experiments comprise the body of the book, extending from verse Ecc_1:4 through chapter 12, verse Ecc_12:12. Now the first thing he tries is in the realm of science. He makes a study of the laws of nature. It is interesting that Solomon tried this. Men today still go into the scientific fields of study and spend years, in fact a lifetime, studying these laws of nature. This book is remarkable in giving us these laws of nature. SCIENCEThe earth “abideth for ever” and has a stability that man does not have because man is temporary. Contemporary man is a little different from the man of the past and probably he will be a great deal different from the man of the future, but man is temporary. The continuity of mankind is maintained through births. Most of us were not here a hundred years ago, and we will not be here a hundred years from today. In fact, many of us won’t be around much longer. However, mankind will continue through succeeding generations.

Solomon has noted that: “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh.” Man is a transitory creature. Looking at life in terms of this life only, man is the most colossal failure in God’s universe. He has been around only a few years. There are redwood trees in Northern California that were here when Christ was on earth, but they are newcomers compared to rocks around us which geologists tell us have been here millions, maybe billions of years. Although no one knows how long the earth has been here, it was here before man got here, and it will be here after most of us leave. My friend, this adds a certain dimension to life that is rather discouraging and disappointing.

Man is not what he thinks he is. Now we see some very remarkable statements. Here is a revelation that Solomon made a study of the laws of nature and knew a great deal about them. It is quite interesting that these are basic in our day as far as science is concerned.

Ecclesiastes 1:5

It is very interesting that these accurate observations come from the days of Solomon. Dr. Arthur T. Pierson comments on this fact: There is a danger in pressing the words in the Bible into a positive announcement of scientific fact, so marvelous are some of these correspondencies. But it is certainly a curious fact that Solomon should use language entirely consistent with discoveries such as evaporation and storm currents (vv. Ecc_1:6-7). Some have boldly said that Redfield’s theory of storms is here explicity stated. Without taking such ground, we ask, who taught Solomon to use terms that readily accommodate facts that the movement of the winds which seem to be so lawless and uncertain, are ruled by laws as positive as those which rule the growth of the plant; and that by evaporation, the waters that fall on the earth are continually rising again, so that the sea never overflows? Ecc_12:6 is a poetic description of death.

How the “silver cord” describes the spinal marrow, the “golden bowl” the basin which holds the brain, the “pitcher” the lungs, and the “wheel” the heart. Without claiming that Solomon was inspired to foretell the circulation of the blood, twenty-six centuries before Harvey announced it, is it not remarkable that the language he uses exactly suits the factsa wheel pumping up through one pipe to discharge through another? There are three very interesting statements in verses Ecc_1:5-7.

1. “The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down.” There is a monotony in nature, but also that which you can depend upon. You can count on the sun coming up and you can depend on it going downwe still use that terminology although we know that the coming up and going down of the sun really is caused by the rotation of the earth. We are standing on a pretty solid piece of earth, and it looks to us as if the sun comes up and the sun goes down. The terminology has accommodated man in all ages. The amazing thing is the precise, regular way that the sun appears and disappears; it is obeying certain laws.
2. “The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about the north.” Today we know that the wind follows certain patterns. Even with our modern gadgets we are not able to predict it well enough to forecast the weather as we would like to. Here in Southern California where we have a monotony of good weather, the weatherman misses the exact prediction about half the time. I have watched this very carefully over the years. The Lord Jesus said, “The wind bloweth where it listeth"that is, where it wants to blow. It is blowing according to laws. “And thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth …” (Joh_3:8)we can’t tell where it is coming from and where it is going.

As I am making this study of Ecclesiastes, we have had quite a bit of disturbance across the country. Here in Southern California we never get rain in June or July or Augustbut we’ve been having showers! I couldn’t believe it when I got in my car the other night and had to use the windshield wipers. The weatherman tells us that there is a low pressure here and a high pressure there. There is movement; winds are blowing. “The wind bloweth where it listeth.” Or, as Solomon put it, “The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north.” At one place the wind is moving south and in another it is moving north. In Arizona they even had flooding in desert communities, all because of the wind.

It is obeying certain laws as it is blowing. How did Solomon know that? He didn’t have the gadgets which we have nor the background on which to base his conclusions. 3. “All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full.” Solomon is tacitly speaking of the law of evaporation, of the elevation of moisture into the air. Then the wind comes along, blows that moisture over the land, and it pours out on the earth. The whole process follows certain definite, specific laws. There is nothing haphazard happening, although we may think so. Including verse Ecc_1:4, we have four remarkable statements concerning the laws of nature that make sense and fit right into what men know today. Compare this with other writings that come from one thousand years before Christ. You will find a great deal of false conclusions and superstitions in contrast to the accuracy you find in the Word of God. Here is another remarkable observation

Ecclesiastes 1:8

This may not have seemed true before, but since the advent of television it is obvious. Many people watch television for hours day after day. Why? Because the eye is never satisfied with seeing; the ear is never filled with hearing. Most of us love to go to new places and see new scenes. This is one of the enjoyments of life. It is one of the things we can enjoy in this big, wonderful country. I get kidded because I come from Texas, but I must say in all honesty that I have never been in a state that I didn’t like. They are all wonderful. We live in a wonderful country and in a wonderful universe. Man cannot exhaust the exploration of the universe. The more he learns, the more he sees that he should learn. The more he learns, the more he sees how much more there is to learn. This is frustrating. The physical universe is too big for little man. Yet man alone of all God’s creaturesas far as we knowis able to comprehend the universe. When a dog bays at the moon, I don’t think he knows the distance to the moon, and I don’t think he cares. I don’t think he recognizes that he lives in a vast universe. I believe that the world of a dog is a very small world. It is no bigger than a bone most of the time. But the eyes and ears of man are never satisfied; he wants to explore.

Ecclesiastes 1:9

People think we have come up with something new when we have manufactured a new gadget. I remember what a novelty the telephone was. In West Texas we were on a party line, and when the telephone would ring, you could hear a dozen receivers being taken off the hook. That was the best way to make a public announcement in those days! You say, “Well, television is new, how can it be said that there is nothing new under the sun?” Let me illustrate this. My grandfather courted my grandmother on an old horsehair sofa in a very staid living room in Mississippi. He proposed to her there. She accepted, and they were married. My dad courted my mother on a trainhe met her in a day coach. They traveled by horse and buggy to Tyler, Texas, where they were married. I proposed to my wife down in Texas, as we were sitting in a car.

My little grandson may propose to his wife in an airplane or maybe even in a space capsule. You may ask, “Isn’t that new?” No, not really. The feeling that my granddad had when his proposal was accepted is the same feeling that I had, and I don’t think my little grandson will feel any differently. There is really nothing new under the sun. The environment may change, and there may be new gadgets around, but there really is nothing new under the sun. Man stays the same.

Only the stage setting may vary a bit from age to age. It is said that the atom bomb is new, but the atom has been around for a long time. Actually, the atom is older than man, although man did not know it existed during all that time. All man has accomplished is to make the little atom a very difficult neighbor. The nosy human should have let sleeping dogs lie, but we probe around. Perhaps you are asking, “Well, isn’t the computer new?” Not really. God created us with computer brains and electric nervous systems. A mechanical computer brings to man no deep and abiding satisfaction. Man has learned that none of these gadgets contributes anything really new to him. There is one exception. There is one thing that is newthe New Birth. This is something that comes when you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior. This, my friend, is about the only thing new that will come your way.

Ecclesiastes 1:11

Solomon had tried to find satisfaction in the study of science, but he had to come to this conclusion. Man tries to be important. He tries everything in the world to keep himself before the public, but it isn’t long until he passes off the stage. “There is no remembrance of former things.” Do you remember who were the popular entertainers of fifty years ago? Do you remember the popular athletes of fifty years ago? Could you name the president of the United States of fifty years ago? Our memories aren’t very long. The Scripture says that we spend our time down here as a tale that is told and we can’t go back over it again. You see, this man Solomon is making tremendous experiments, and he is making them in the laboratory of life. He is trying everything that is available to man. In his day and position he was able to go into any field that he chose. Not many men today would be able to do what Solomon did. He first gave himself to the study of the laws of nature, as we have seen, but he found nothing he could learn in nature or in science which was new in the sense that it would bring new life to him. Solomon’s next experimentation will be in the area of wisdom and philosophy.

Ecclesiastes 1:12

WISDOM AND PHILOSOPHYSolomon spent a lot of time studying the philosophy of the world. He lived nearly a thousand years before Christ, and since we live two thousand years on this side, three thousand years have elapsed. Man has come up with a great deal of gadgetry in that time, but actually man doesn’t know any more about philosophy and wisdom than he knew three thousand years ago. There has been no improvement in philosophy and wisdom, neither do they satisfy the heart.

Ecclesiastes 1:14

All systems of philosophy lead up a blind alley. You can make the same experiment yourself. You can spend your time in studying this subject, and you will find it is actually a waste of time. We are living in a day when educators are declaring that all the past methods of education were just a waste of time. I wonder how good our present method is. I think that it is also a waste of time. Man can never learn the really important thinghe cannot know God by wisdom and philosophy. His knowledge of God comes only through revelation. Philosophy generally leads a person to a pessimistic viewpoint of life. You cannot take natural manman who is a lost sinner alienated from Godand give him an education, expecting that education to solve the problems of his life. It will not do that. Philosophy and psychology cannot change human nature, nor can they correct the old nature of man.

Ecclesiastes 1:15

“That which is crooked cannot be made straight"as the twig is bent, the tree inclines. The tree grows crooked because the twig was bent. You and I start out in life with an old nature. We can educate it and do many things to improve it, but, as the Lord Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” It will always be flesh, my friend. That is the reason we must have a new nature”…that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (Joh_3:6). For a time we thought that education would solve the problems of life. Now higher education, in fact all education, is coming under the scrutiny of a great many thoughtful people. A committee to study higher education has come up with a novel explanation of our present conditions. They say the rebellion and the general immorality in our schools is taking place because the young people today are more inquiring and more interested in politics and what is happening in their world. I agree that people are more aware of the many terrible things that are happening. The media gather news from the four corners of the earth and broadcast it the same evening.

This makes us more aware of what takes place in the world than ever before. There was a time when it took six weeks to complete all the information after an election; so it took that long to find out who had been elected president. Today they can tell you who is going to be elected before they have the election! So I agree with the fact that young people are more aware today. But I heartily disagree with the implication that the things happening on our campuses are actually an improvement because the young people are so well informed. There is a deterioration on our campuses.

We have come to the day when evil is called good, and good evil. Only an educated man could come up with the conclusion that the deterioration on campuses is not deterioration but actually improvement! If you believe fairy stories, you may want to believe that, but we need to face reality. Education cannot solve the problems of life. Neither can psychology provide the answer. In our day there are clever men and women who have come up with little psychological cliches to explain and solve the problems of life.

They coat them with a little Bible, like a bitter pill that is covered with a sugar coating, to make them appear as the biblical solutions. My friend, the Word of God in its entirety contains for the Christians the answers to the problems of life. There are no easy solutions. Studying the Word of God requires a great deal of time and effort and mental “perspiration.” Oh, how that is needed among Christians! Solomon discovered that wisdom and philosophy did not provide the answers to the problems of life.

Ecclesiastes 1:16

I believe that Solomon was led to a certain amount of arrogance, a certain amount of conceit, since he was wiser than the others. Paul writes that “Knowledge puffeth up …” (1Co_8:1). It can inflate an individual like a balloon if he feels that he is a little smarter or better educated than those around him. Remember that education is based on experience, and experience cannot be trusted. Experience must be tested by the Word of God. Unfortunately, many folk today are testing the Word of God by their experience. My friend, if your experience is contrary to the Bible, then it is your experience, not the Word of God, which is wrong.

Ecclesiastes 1:17

“To know madness and folly"it is interesting that wisdom and playing the fool are not very far apart. Many smart men in the history of the world have played the fool. Solomon is the notable example of that. King James of England, the one for whom our King James Version of the Bible is named, certainly was not capable of translating. He was called James the fool, because that’s what he was, although he thought he was a very smart individual. Our nation has produced a generation that thinks it is very intelligent and very smart. Yet we cannot even solve the problems that are about us, much less the problems of the world. Solomon gave his heart to know wisdom and also to know madness and folly. He did both. “I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.” In other words, it was not worth the effort.

Ecclesiastes 1:18

Joy and satisfaction do not increase in ratio to the increase of knowledge. Someone has said that when ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise. There is a certain amount of truth in that. In much wisdom there is much grief. The more we know, the more we increase our problems. Life has become more tedious, has produced more tensions, and all of our scientific gadgets about us are making life almost unbearable.

A Christian friend said to me the other day, “I think I will lose my mind if I don’t get away from these computers that are controlling life today. The machines that we think are so wonderful and practically worship are drowning us in pollution and driving us to madness.” How accurate Solomon was in saying “in much wisdom is much grief,” and Solomon did not live in the machine age. He did not see the industrial revolution, but he knew what he was talking about.