THE BETTER LIFE, LIVED UNDER THE SON

Introduction
Ecclesiastes 1:1-2
Bob Bonner
November 8, 1998

Recently, I heard of a man who looked like he lived every day of his life on top of all his circumstances. He always had a smile on his face and a positive and encouraging word for you or someone else. He seemed to never have a down day. His fellow employees loved him. He came to work happy...went home excited and drove his neighbors nuts with envy. To them he held a secret to life that they longed to possess.

One morning during a coffee break, one of his fellow employees said to this happy man, “Say, pal, now I know why you’re always so cheery. You really do have it made! Just yesterday afternoon I was riding along in a taxi, and passed you. You were sitting there with this beautiful young woman whose back was to the street at this romantic sidewalk café. You and she were sitting close and you were listening intently.”

Our happy fellow leaned over and whispered in this fellow employee’s ear, “Let me tell you the truth. That lovely young woman is really my wife who was telling me she was leaving me, and what looked like a sidewalk café was really our furniture out on the street!”

The longer I live and the more I visit with people and get to know their individual life situations, I have discovered that things aren’t always what they seem on the outside. As someone else once said, “Things aren’t as bad as they seem; they are worse!”

Why is it that people keep telling us those lies like, “Things aren’t as bad as they seem; they will get better.”  Someone else aptly wrote, “Why do they keep telling us to look for the light at the end of the tunnel? Why do people conduct great seminars all around the world and tell people to smile more to believe ‘there’s a bright, beautiful tomorrow...just grab for it...go for the gusto...hitch your wagon to a star... you’ll make it someday’?” [LIVING ON THE RAGGED EDGE, Swindoll, p. 24-25] 

I’ll tell you why they tell you those things. They don’t like seeing hurting people or people who have sadness in their eyes or step. So they want to do something about it. They want to tell you things to make you feel better, to make you believe there’s purpose and happiness if we simply keep hoping. But they never tell us in what we are to hope that will solve all of life’s dilemmas or will heal all that’s ailin’ you.

Let me read to you what Chuck Swindoll once said about hope and you tell me whether or not you agree with his insights. He said, “Hope cannot exist in a vacuum where facts are ignored. The fact is that the world is not wonderful. The world is wicked, corrupt, and depraved.  And work isn’t enriching and fulfilling; it’s tiring and it’s futile and it blows up in your face. People aren’t kind and generous; people are selfish and cruel.” [Swindoll, p. 25]

Do you agree with that assessment? If you do, then this book, the book of Ecclesiastes, the book in which we are embarking on a new study is for you. This book is for those of you who are living in the trenches of life--down there in the dirt of responsibility and accountability where others are holding your feet to the fire. It’s for those of us who struggle with staying free from the demands of competition or who struggle with staying free from the pressures of deadlines. This book offers wisdom and insight as to how to cope with life as it really is.  Not life as we wish it could be, or life as it once was, X number of years ago. 

If it is warm fuzzies you are looking for in a study of a book of the Bible, then you had better pass this one up, because this book is straight talk about real life. It was written to furnish you with guidance and counsel for how to live life in the midst of evil days and times of depression.

I like a book like this, because the world I live in is written about on every page. Furthermore, when all is said and done concerning the study of this book, you will understand the secrets to living the better life, under the Son. This book has answers in it as well as a perspective that enables us to continue walking with Jesus in His power in the midst of tough times. You won’t find the answers to life’s enigmas in nature or history. But you will find some of the answers-- answers you can live with--in this book.

Our task this morning is simply to introduce you to this book. We will be looking only at the first two verses and answer who wrote this book, when he wrote it and why he wrote it. Finally, since this book is one of four books of the Old Testament that are considered Hebrew poetry, we will study several key words that are used throughout this book that we must understand if we are going to better grasp what this book is trying to teach us.

If you have your Bibles with you, open them up to the book of Ecclesiastes. Let’s begin by reading the first two verses. We read, “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”

The first question we want to address is, Who is this preacher? Who is it that has authored this book? In order to answer that question, we need to look at one more verse in this same chapter, verse 12. There we read, “I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.” With these two verses, verses 1 and 12, the author tells us that he is a preacher who was a king over Israel and a son of David. The only son of David that we know of who was also a king over Israel was Solomon. 

Solomon is the ideal person to have written this book because of the many references made throughout this book to wisdom, wealth, and particular circumstances dealing with the rule of a monarchy. Solomon is the only one we know of from Scripture that could have known of and experienced these things. Furthermore, there are references to many costly building projects and living in the lap of luxury that can only fit the historical era of Solomon’s reign. Hence, the traditional understanding of the author of this book is Solomon, the third King of Israel.

However, not all scholars of the Bible believe that Solomon wrote this book. Some believe that someone who lived after the Babylonian exile, two to three hundred years after Solomon, wrote this book. The primary reason cited for believing that someone other than Solomon wrote this book has been a linguistic one. It has been stated by some Hebrew scholars that the Hebrew language in which Ecclesiastes was written differs from the vocabulary and syntax of Hebrew known to exist during Solomon’s lifetime. They say that the Hebrew language used in this book better fits a later stage in Hebrew history, such as A.D. 200 when the Mishnah, a collection of Jewish traditional writings, was written. In addition, they say that there are also certain Aramaic and Persian words found in Ecclesiastes that have led some to date this book after Solomon.

Yet, recent scholarship has shown that some of the features explained as characteristic of Aramaic and/or late Hebrew can also be shown in Canaanite-Phoenician literature that predates Solomon’s life. Since that is true one can throw out the idea that this book was written at a later date by someone other than Solomon. 

In my mind I am absolutely convinced that no one but Solomon could have written this book. If you ever wish to do further study into the proof of Solomon’s authorship, the late Gleason Archer, a highly respected Hebrew scholar, has written an excellent article entitled “The Linguistic Evidence for the Date of Ecclesiastes,” published in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society [12(1969): 171].

Solomon also wrote Proverbs and The Song of Solomon. Most authorities believe that Solomon wrote The Song of Solomon in his youth, during his early years of marriage, and Proverbs during the prime of his adulthood. They were both written at a time when Solomon was walking closely with the Lord.

But then some would say that Solomon had a mid-life crisis and went off the deep end spiritually. Solomon’s love for the Lord was stolen by his practice of idolatry and his love for having more wives than any other man alive. It was after this period of apostasy was over, toward the end of his life and when his recent turmoil and repentance were still fresh in his mind that Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes. 

When Solomon returned to the faith of his youth, he was a broken yet even wiser man whose motivation in writing this book was to help others learn from his education which was acquired at the school of hard knocks.

Notice what Solomon calls himself, in verse 1, “the preacher.” This word literally, means one who is “an official speaker at an assembly,” or as Swindoll calls him “the speaker of the house.” [p.15]. This word “assembly” in Greek is “ekklesia”, the word from which we get our word for church and the word from which the title of this book comes, “Ecclesiastes.”

The point of calling himself “the preacher” is this: After Solomon had tried and done everything, and had realized his foolishness and had been reconciled to God, he wanted to show us a better way, to save others from the pain and heartache which results from following after human wisdom. 

A close friend and Bible scholar, Lambert Dolphin, described this foolish kind of human wisdom from his own life. Lambert would not call himself a genius, but he is and he does know that he is quite brilliant. He said that before coming to Christ, it was hard for him to believe that God was really smarter than himself. That kind of thinking is the foolishness of human reason and it gets us in big trouble.

Having learned that lesson himself, now in his old age, Solomon is endeavoring with what time he has left to help others like himself who had gone astray, to come back to God where they belong and be reconciled to Him. He wanted them to know there is always a way back, that we worship a God who has a plan for salvation realized in the person of Jesus Christ. In essence, Solomon is saying to us, “Been there, done that, not a good idea. Here is the better way.”

I should warn you ahead of time, that if you have never read this book before, and you read through it quickly, you might walk away from a cursory reading of this book with a feeling of disillusionment, deflation, or depression.  A reason that some have that feeling about this book is due to the fact that this book is in some ways a journal of a man’s journey through life after he has turned his back on God. That kind of lifestyle produces pessimism in the heart of an individual. Yet, throughout this journal, he makes editorial comments as to what is true for a person who walks with God, rather than for one who runs from God.

For some, Ecclesiastes is a book that underscores the futility and uselessness of work, the triumph of evil, the limitations of wisdom, the unjust treatment of the righteous and the impermanence of life. There are many expressions, words, and phrases used throughout this book that definitely leave one with that impression. Take, for instance, one of the key words of this book found in verse 2, “vanity.” This word is used 40 times in the book of Ecclesiastes alone, but only 33 times throughout the rest of the Old Testament. Hence, it is a key word. 

Throughout this book, with the use of this term, Solomon demolishes confidence in man-based achievements and wisdom to show that earthly goals--like becoming the best athlete in a particular sport, or the head of a corporation, or financial goals, or relationship goals, or early retirement goals--as ends unto themselves lead to vanity or dissatisfaction and emptiness. There is only one goal that makes life worthwhile and that is to know and walk with God.

Solomon knew what it was to make other earthly goals an end unto themselves. After he had turned his back on God and sought after his own personal goals, Solomon discovered what this approach led to. In fact he placed his motto for this type of life right here in the introduction: “‘Vanity of vanities’, says the preacher, ‘Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.’” 

As you have heard me say in the past, whenever you see a word repeated in Hebrew, that is a sign of an emphatic statement. Hence, Solomon is crying out, All in life.. (and by “all” he means all human activities and endeavors rather than this being a blanket declaration of the total uselessness of the universe)....  All human activities or accomplishments or experiences in life are nothing but “super vanity.”

This word “vanity” refers to that which is empty, futile, something that doesn’t satisfy, that which vanishes quickly and leaves nothing behind. It sometimes is translated as a “vapor.” It’s a puff of smoke that flies upward and disappears. Someone once described this word as “What is left over after you break a soap bubble.” One author and theologian, Frank Zimmerman irreverently translated this word, “Flatulence of flatulence! All is flatulence!” Forgive me for being so graphic, but I believe Solomon means to be just that right here. Hence, in modern terms of our youth, Solomon is saying to those who live apart from God and don’t see life from His perspective and they will one day look back at how they spent their lives, their conclusion will be, “All that I have invested my life in has not added up to much more than a big fart!”

But is that all there is to this book? Is this book nothing but a pessimistic look at life? No. Throughout this book there are references to life being a positive thing, a gift from God. Life, we are told several times in this book, is to be enjoyed.  In fact, “joy” is another key term used in this book. The root word for the term for “joy” used throughout Ecclesiastes is a word that means “pleasure and gladness.” It’s verb form means “to be glad, rejoice in” and appears 17 times throughout this book. Hence, in spite of Solomon’s painful experiences in life, he does not recommend either pessimism or cynicism. Rather, he exhorts us to be realistic about life and to accept God’s gifts and enjoy them.

According to Walter Kaiser, another theologian, “In Judaism, this book was read on the third day of the Feast of Tabernacles.” [p.41] That feast was a real celebration, a time of excitement. It was a time to rejoice and praise God for the bountiful harvest. You wouldn’t read a book that was depressing or meant to be pessimistic at such a joyous time. They read this book because it gave them perspective and a reason to rejoice in their knowing and following God.

Not only are we told throughout this book that life is to be enjoyed, but we are also instructed that all injustices will one day be corrected, that God is in control. Hence, we are exhorted to remember God and to fear or respect Him.

So when one stands back and looks at this book as a whole, there is one theme that stands out more than the rest. Solomon is declaring, as one who tried it for a long period of time, that life without God has no meaning. Or, if you want to look at it in a more positive statement, Solomon learned after he returned to the Lord, that joy in this life only happens as a result of making God number one.”

Allow me to briefly give you three more themes that you will discover repeatedly on the pages of this book. One comes from the often repeated expression “under the sun” or “under heaven.” This phrase is used 29 times throughout this book. It is a phrase that signals the reader that Solomon is speaking about a human perspective of life down here on earth that is totally separated from any consideration of God. It is a picture of life painted by an unbeliever who lives as though there is no God. In reality, it results in a very pessimistic view of life.

When this phrase is used, it usually is found amongst the unexplained enigmas, the unresolved anomalies, the uncorrected injustices of life. Anyone who has lived very long realizes that life is full of much that we cannot comprehend or control. Hence, life lived “under the sun” is often a mystery. It is a life that cannot be fully understood; hence we must live life by faith [in who God is, His character, and what He promises, based on His always keeping His promises in the past] and not by sight.  I like the way one writer, J. Stafford Wright, put this. He said, “The book [Ecclesiastes] is a record of a search for the key to life. It is an endeavor to give meaning to life, to see it as a whole and there is no key under the sun. Life has lost the key itself. ‘Vanity of vanity, all is vanity.’ If you want the key you must go to the locksmith who made the lock. ‘God holds the key to all the unknown.’ And He will not give it to you. Since, then, you cannot get the key, you must trust the locksmith to open the doors.” [“The Interpretation of Ecclesiastes” in Classical Evangelical Essays in Old Testament Interpretation, Baker, 1972, p.140]

As a result of life being lived and searched out from the perspective of “under the sun,” there is another theme that is woven through the fabric of this book. This theme comes in the form of a warning. It is: Beware of the unrealistic optimism found in traditional wisdom. 

This is truly a good word of warning.  If you were to merely read the book of Proverbs and not study the book of Ecclesiastes you could approach life filled with unrealistic optimism that could one day leave you totally disillusioned. Let me give you just a couple of examples. According to Proverb 13:4b, “The desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.” This is the old adage, “If you work hard, you will make it to the top.” But when you read Ecclesiastes 2:22-23 it counterbalances this principle with the realities of life. There we read, “For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun? Because all his days his task is painful and grievous; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity.” In other words, hard work will not always get you what you want. You may just end up being so exhausted at night that you can’t even fall asleep.

Here’s another. In Proverbs 10:6-7, we are told “Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.” So you live a righteous life and things will go right for you, right? Not always.  Ecclesiastes counterbalances this principle with the realities of life. For we read in Ecclesiastes 8:14, “There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility.” Sometimes, the wicked or bad guys win over those who play by the rules.

Does that mean that Ecclesiastes is contradicting Proverbs? No, it is simply saying that there are some exceptions to the rule. The book of Proverbs usually looks at the opposites in life without noting the exceptions. The wisdom literature of Ecclesiastes looks at life mostly lived in the exceptions. The book of Job, like Ecclesiastes also looks at the exceptions in the rules of life, hence this warning: Beware of the unrealistic optimism found in traditional wisdom.

Overall, as we study this book, even though there are many dark places to remind us that life without God is “vanity,” the overriding principle is that: Life is not vain if it is lived according to the will of God.

What a relief it is to turn from these hopeless pessimistic views of those living under the Son, and to turn to a life lived under THE Son, who declared “I am come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly.” The Apostle Paul reminds us in I Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

If you don’t know in a personal way Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then all that you work for and live for will ultimately perish, along with your soul. But when you commit your life to Jesus He gives you the free gift of eternal life beginning right now, not just when you die. Furthermore, as He works in your life through whatever difficult circumstances you may be facing, you can be sure that while you enjoy the privilege of serving the one who loves you more than any other, Jesus Christ, that you will also be investing your years in that which will never perish, but what will go on into eternity.

If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then Solomon will be asking you over and over throughout this book, “Are you living for the Lord, under the Son?” meaning after what He deems as most important, or are you not considering what God says is best, and instead chasing after what this world’s philosophies say is most important? Remember, Solomon knew God and was blessed; but then turned his back on the Lord for years and later looked back on a wasted life. He turned skeptical, pessimistic, and cynical until he turned back to God, the one he knew had all of the answers. Remember this: The wrong vision soon causes you to adopt wrong values and you stop living for the eternal

For those of us who faithfully are walking with Jesus, there is a message in this book for us as well. To us Solomon says, “Don’t bury your head in the sand and pretend that problems don’t exist. They do! Face life honestly. It is hard. Continue to seek to look at life from God’s perspective. Don’t try to solve every problem or answer every question, because you can’t. When in doubt, obey God.”

Moses summarized it best when he said, “Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”, Psalm 90:12.

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