H B Charles on Ecclesiastes

Some parents talked to a music teacher about giving their son piano lessons. When they asked how much the piano lessons would cost, they were taken aback by the music teacher's answer. There was a rate for children receiving piano lessons for the first time. It would cost double if the child had previously received piano lessons. Assuming previous lessons were an advantage, the parents asked why they cost more. The music teacher explained that it cost more because it required him to unlearn the learned before he could learn the unlearned.

 

Solomon has an all-important lesson to teach us in Ecclesiastes. He holds this critical life-lesson until the end of the book. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 concludes: “The end of the matter, all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

 

To properly understand Ecclesiastes, you must read it backwards. Each passage should be considered in light of the final call to fear God and keep his commandments. Moreover, you should mark the place of Ecclesiastes in progressive revelation. Solomon speaks truth from a limited perspective. The drama of redemption had not finished playing itself out. More specifically, the Lord Jesus Christ had not yet come.

 

How should we understand the argument Solomon makes on the way to his final point? I believe Solomon – like that music teacher – unlearns the learned before he learns the unlearned. The flesh, the world, and the devil teach lies about the meaning and purpose of life.

• Who am I?
• How did I get here?
• Why am I here?
• Where am I going?
• How can I know the truth?

Proposed answers to these big questions blitz and bombard us from every direction. We all live with assumed answers to these questions. R.C. Sproul wrote a book called “Everyone's A Theologian.” Indeed, we all have thoughts about self, life, death, truth, and God. Ecclesiastes tests our truth claims to reveal what is ultimately right and wrong. This series of tests begins in Ecclesiastes 1:12-18. Solomon will question the meaning of pleasure, vocation, wealth, fame, and success. But he begins with the folly of wisdom itself. No, Solomon does not encourage us to play the fool. He warns us about the limitations of wisdom and knowledge. Life is about more than what you know. Lawrence Richards wrote: “Man's rational capacities may guide in this life but cannot solve its mysteries.”

 

Why is it that the meaning of life cannot be discovered by wisdom and knowledge? Verses 12-18 give three reasons life is about more than you know.

 

The Pursuit of Wisdom

Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. The Queen of Sheba traveled halfway around the world to meet Solomon. She concluded that half had not been told about Solomon's wisdom and knowledge. Solomon was not a know-nothing who acted like a know-it-all. It would be fair to call Solomon the wisest fool who ever lived. Solomon is qualified to teach us about wisdom's folly because of his perspective and his pursuit.

 

The Preacher's Perspective. Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 introduces the book. Our text begins the main body of Ecclesiastes. This transition is marked by a shift from the third person to the first person. Throughout this book, Solomon speaks personally. Ecclesiastes is the autobiography of one man's search for wisdom. He introduces himself in verse 1: “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem." He reintroduces himself in verse 12: “I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.” Solomon identifies himself to establish the perspective from which he writes.

 

A Truth-Telling Teacher. Verse 12 begins with the first-person singular pronoun “I.” Solomon speaks this way throughout this text. It's a little troubling how much he refers to himself. Yet Solomon is not merely giving his personal opinion. He writes as “The Preacher.” That's the title of the book and the author. The Hebrew word is Qoheleth. Scholars disagree about how to translate the term. Most translations render it either Preacher or  Teacher. Solomon writes as one who leads the assembly of God's people to the truth.

 

A Trustworthy Teacher. This Preacher was also “king over Israel in Jerusalem.” As David's successor, Solomon reigned as king for forty years. It was Israel's “golden age” of peace, power, and prosperity. Solomon was the beneficiary of his father's godly legacy. He had a lot of time on his hands. He had untold riches to spend freely. He had access to the best scholarship. He was surrounded by learned and experienced sages. That is, Solomon wrote from a privileged perspective. If anyone could find the meaning of life in wisdom and knowledge, it was Solomon.

 

The Preacher's Pursuit. Verse 13 summarizes: “And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven.” Note five details about the Preacher's pursuit.

 

A Sincere Pursuit. Solomon says, “I applied my heart.” The heart is the seat of personhood – the mind, the will, and the emotions. It is the control center of life. Solomon's pursuit of wisdom was wholehearted, not halfhearted.

 

A Diligent Pursuit. Solomon says, “I applied my heart to seek and to search out.” The two termsare used synonymously. But there is a subtle distinction.

• “To seek” reflects the depth of his pursuit.
• “To search out” reflects the scope of his search.

Solomon pursued wisdom intensively and extensively.

 

A Strategic Pursuit. Solomon says, “I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom.” There is a difference between godly wisdom and worldly wisdom. Solomon refers to the latter here. It was more intellectual and spiritual. “By wisdom” conveys the nature of the pursuit. The end did not justify the means. Solomon strategically pursued the truth by wisdom.

 

A Thorough Pursuit. Verse 13 says, “I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done.” A college student has a major and a minor. They also have required courses that have nothing to do with their major. Solomon treated every subject as a part of his major. His pursuit or knowledge and wisdom was not selective. He wanted to know it all.

 

A Limited Pursuit. Solomon says, “I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven." “Under heaven” in verse 12 is synonymous with “under the sun” in verse 14. It is not a statement about the limitations of his search, not the location of it. Solomon was not atop a skyscraper looking down at life. He was street level, looking around with his perspective limited by the world around him.

 

The Problem of Wisdom

The text summarizes the pursuit of wisdom. Then draws some conclusions. Searching for significance through wisdom and knowledge is problematic for three reasons.

 

It is an unhappy business. Verse 13 says, “It is an unhappy business that God gives to the children of man to be busy with." “Unhappy business” points to the routine, reality, and responsibilities of life. We are all engaged in the business of life. It is a task, a toil, a trial. “Unhappy” translates the word for “evil.” It can refer to physical or moral evil. The term is used here for physical evil. Life is a bad business. Yet we have been hired to take on this business by a sovereign Employer. Verse 13 says God gives us this unhappy business. This is the first mention of God in Ecclesiastes. Solomon uses the name Elohim throughout the book. It indicates God's sovereign authority over creation, history, and providence. The one who holds the world in his hands has given us the unhappy business of life to the “children of man” – literally, “the sons of Adam.” Inherited and personal sin guarantee that we cannot master life on our own. We need God!

 

Jeremiah 9:23-24 says, “Thus says the Lord: 'Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

 

It is a striving after wind. Verse 14 says, “I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.” Very few people in the world can say, “I've seen it all.” Solomon was one such person. He had seen everything that is done under the sun. Yet he does not advise us to see as much of life as we can while we have a chance. On the contrary, he says, “Let me tell you what I have seen.” Solomon says it is all “vanity.” This is the key word of Ecclesiastes. It means empty, worthless, meaningless, without purpose, absurd. Ecclesiastes 1:2 says, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”

• “Vanity” is Solomon's definition of life.
• “Striving after wind” is Solomon's description of life.

“Striving after wind” is a graphic picture of folly, futility, and frustration. The one who strives after the wind never catches it. It is unattainable. If you somehow succeed in catching the wind, what do you have? A handful of nothing.

A Dog, to whom the butcher had thrown a bone, hurried home with his prize as fast as he could go. As he crossed a bridge, he looked down and saw himself reflected in the water. But the Dog thought he saw a dog carrying a bigger bone. Snapping at the rival, he never got the imaginary bone and dropped his bone in the water. This is how life often works. You lose what you have trying to get what you want.

 

It is an unfixable situation.Verse 15 says, “What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.”There are two problems that knowledge or wisdom cannot fix.

 

The world is crooked. “What is crooked cannot be made straight.” The Bible describes sin as moral crookedness. The term is “iniquity.” It is our inward corruption, perversion, and inclination toward sin. But here “crooked” is not about our sinful nature. It is a picture of what is wrong with the world. The world is like a car that has been in a bad accident. There are not just dents in the fender. The car thing has been totaled.

 

You cannot straighten out this crooked world. This does not mean you shouldn't try to make a difference in the world around you. But do not think you will straighten out what is crooked. Why?Ecclesiastes 7:13 says, “Consider the work of God: who can make straight what has been made crooked?” The crookedness of the world is the work of God to show us that we cannot make it without him.

 

The world is lacking. “What is lacking cannot be counted.” During a do-it-yourself project, you discover that you do not have a critical piece you need. But you figure a way to rig the thing to get the job done. Many people live this way – building life on our own, rigging what we lack along the way. Solomon says we do not know how bad things really are: “What is lacking cannot be counted.”

• It's not that we are missing this or that.
• We are lacking so much that it cannot be counted.

My dad was always teaching me something. With a sense of wonder, I would say, “I didn't know that.” My father occasionally responded, “Son, there's enough you don't know to start a whole new world. That's what Solomon is saying here. You are busy trying to build your life without God. But you are lacking enough to start a whole new world.

 

The Pain of Wisdom 

The text falls into two sections.

• Verses 12-15 summarize Solomon's pursuit of wisdom.
• Verses 16-18 are a restatement of verses 12-15.

Yet this second section is not redundant. Solomon repeats himself for emphasis and to move the conversation forward. Verses 16-18 make three emphatic points about wisdom's folly.

 

Wisdom is limited. Verse 16 says, “I said in my heart, 'I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.'” Solomon not only talks about himself; he talk to himself. The preacher is not just talking to the congregation. He is speaking to his own heart. Eric Ortlund said, “One of the fascinating things about Qoheleth is that he does not just make observations; he also observes himself observing. He thinks about his own thinking.”

 

Solomon tells his heart about the great wisdom he has acquired. He has surpassed all who were in Jerusalem before him. His heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. It may seem that Solomon is boasting and bragging. That's not the case. Under the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he is making a point for our benefit. Solomon was in a unique position to answer the questions of life that we wrestle with. Yet the wisest man who ever lived was left with questions he could not answer. Wisdom is limited. You cannot figure out life on your own.

 

Wisdom is empty. In high school, a teacher asked me to stand up in front of the class and make an argument against abortion. Then he asked me to give an argument for abortion. His point was that it is ignorant to only know your position. Wisdom and knowledge involve knowing both sides of an issue. Solomon models that principle in verse 17: “And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly.” Solomon did not drink poison to prove that it was dangerous and deadly. He factored in all the relevant positions.

• He read secular and religious philosophers.
• He studied old and new schools of thought.
• He considered liberal and conservative arguments.
• He followed Republican and Democratic politicians.
• He watched Fox News, CNN, and MS Now.

Verse 17 draws a conclusion about all knowledge and wisdom that does not factor in God: “I perceived that this also is but a striving after the wind.”

 

Wisdom is sorrowful. Verse 18 is another proverb: “For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.” Why is applying the heart to wisdom and knowledge vanity? Because the more you know, the more it hurts. Ignorance is bliss. What you don't know won't hurt you. But much wisdom brings much vexation. To increase wisdom is to increase sorrow. A young person makes a foolish decision that breaks his parents' hearts. While he revels in his folly, his parents grieve because they know the consequences of his decision. It happens in many and multiple spheres of life. It happened to Jesus. The disciples couldn't understand Jesus wept over Jerusalem. But he knew what would happen, and they did not.

 

Solomon gives good instruction in this text. But he does not have the last word. Matthew 12:42 says, “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”Jesus is greater than Solomon!

• His name is greater than Solomon.
• His throne is greater than Solomon.
• His wisdom is greater than Solomon.
• His wisdom is greater than Solomon.
• His power is greater than Solomon.
• His love is greater than Solomon.
• His blood is greater than Solomon