An age old question that has been debated by philosophers, written by poets, sung by musicians, and ponder by people for centuries is this question..."What is the meaning of life?"
Many have attempted to answer this question in a number of ways. Over the next few months we are going to be discussing and answering this age old question in a sermon series I have entitled, "LESSONS LEARNED UNDER THE SUN" taken from the book of Ecclesiastes.
Before we beginning this study some background info is needed.
AUTHOR
I believe Solomon wrote it (Ecc. 1:1) and deeper knowledge about him is needed to better understand this book.
Solomon had power
He was king. David chose him as his successor, passing over his older sons. In 1 Chronicles 28:5, David says, "Of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel."
Solomon had fame
His fame was spread throughout the land. We are told that everyone was in awe of Solomon and came from all around to hear from Him.
Solomon had money
He ruled during the "golden age" of Israel. The magnificence and splendor of Solomon's court was unrivaled. He had vast stores of wealth and fleets of ships bringing him gold on a regular basis.
Solomon had women
He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. Though they got him in trouble, especially the wife he married from another nation who turned him away from God, Solomon had women.
Solomon had wisdom
God gave Solomon wisdom that is unparalleled in human history. He is the wisest man to ever live outside of Jesus Christ. He studied numerous subjects and wrote three books of the Bible (Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon and Proverbs).
In 1 Kings 4:32–34, we are told,"(Solomon) spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom."
Simply put, Solomon had it all, experienced it all and in this book writes about it all.
REASON FOR WRITING
Ecclesiastes is a book about the meaning of life and in it Solomon raises questions that the rest of the Bible was written to answer. Questions like, “Why are we here? What’s the point?”
In this sermon series we are going to look to Solomon to help us answer the age old question of “The meaning of life?"
INTRODUCTION
Like I said earlier, I believe Solomon wrote this book, and we have already discussed that he is a fascinating human being. You would think with all that he had and had experienced that he would be able to write this incredible book on how to live life to the fullest, how to get rich quick, how to become popular, how to be an influencer, at the very least, that life is good. I mean surely we are going to hear something like that from the man who had it all.
Solomon, however, begins this book by telling his readers that the whole world is a mess. He basically says, “If you are looking for meaning in this life only--in the here and now, you might as well hang it up, because 'All is vanity.'" In v. 2 he says, "Vanity of vanities...vanity of vanities! All is vanity."
The Hebrew word for vanity is the word hevel. This word is very important used 38 times in the book and 5 times in verse 2.
Hevel has a broad definition so to simply say that it means meaningless or vanity won't cut it. Although it does mean those things, it also means absurd, dissatisfying, futile, deceitful, temporary etc.
So when talking about life under the sun, Solomon is making the point that life is all of those things. What he means by using the word hevel 5 times in this verse is that life is the ultimate hevel. The point he is making is that life is ultimately meaningless, ultimately futile, ultimately absurd, ultimately dissatisfying and ultimatly short-lived.
After making this point, Solomon asks an appropriate question in v.3. He says, "What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?" He is basically saying, “If that’s the case--if all of life is hevel, what is the purpose in the effort we are putting forth?" And the answer is, "There is no advantage because in the end we die." Talk about depressing. It can be overwhelming when we consider Solomon's mindset.
But before we get too depressed, we need to make sense of the phrase "under the sun" used at the end of verse 3. If hevel is the key word in the book, this is the key phrase of Ecclesiastes used 29 times in the book.
This phrase means "Life under heaven." When Solomon uses this phrase he is giving a horizontal and limited perspective. He is looking solely at life on the earth. No revelation. No God breaking in. No God revealing anything. No God speaking. He is just looking at life on the earth. If you just looked at life and asked yourself, “Why do I work so hard and then die--What is the point?" Solomon’s answer is "There is no profit, no benefit and no gain 'Under the Sun.'”
CONCLUSION
The reason Ecclesiastes is such an important book of the Bible is because it asks questions and addresses issues that the rest of the Bible was written to answer. And what we learn as we read the rest of the book is that the best way to live life under the sun is to live life in the SON.
The Scriptures are clear that there is purpose and meaning and significance in this life, but it has to be lived in the SON.
Verse 3 is the key question that all of humanity has to ask. "In all of my work, in all of my pursuits, in all of my endeavors in life--What is the profit?" Solomon says “There is no profit or advantage 'under the sun.'" Jesus says, “There is profit and there is advantage in me.” Solomon says “There is no lasting satisfaction in life under the sun.” Jesus says, “There is lasting satisfaction in me.” Solomon says, “Life under the sun is tiresome.” Jesus says in Mt. 11, “Come to me you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Solomon says, “Ultimately everything is meaningless.” Jesus says, "If you trust in me this short breath--this short vapor of life will be extremely meaningful."
THE BEST WAY TO LIVE LIFE UNDER THE SUN IS TO LIVE LIFE IN THE SON.
