ecclesiastes is a very straightforward book of the Bible.
there is no cutting corners,
no romanticized ideas of life,
of actions and events,
of anything really.
and while this might sound refreshing,
it is, instead, rather depressing.
the words of the preacher, the son of david, king in jerusalem. "vanity of vanities," says the preacher, "vanity of vanities! all is vanity." what advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun? a generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
ecclesiastes 1:1-4
these are the opening words.
everything thing is vanity,
no matter what we do under the sun,
we live, we die, but the earth remains.
and as we go on, it doesn't change.
it continues in the same manner, depressing and without hope.
but we soon learn that there is a purpose to these words.
that this book is the recording of solomon's examination of life.
and in his examination he discovers things that surprise both the reader and himself.
he saw that wisdom is striving after wind.
pleasure is futility.
he realized that though wisdom excels folly,
both the wise and the foolish die: so this too was vanity.
labor, indeed, is in vain! for we do not know who will have it after we are gone,
whether he be wise or foolish, do we?
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 to is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 2:22-23
he just lists action after action, crossing them off as pointless activities, a waste.
and then, verse twenty-four:
there is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. this also i have see that it is from the hand of God.
it is from the hand of GOD. all of this, labor, pleasure, wisdom, it is from Him.
but wait, isn't everything from Him lovely and a gift? isn't it... good?
verse twenty-five follows and with this verse we are shown the heart of the story; the purpose of the writing; the message between the lines.
for who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?
ecc. 2:25
straightforward as ever, solomon.
we see this verse interwoven throughout the rest of the book.
we see that though all these may be well and wonderful things (because, indeed, it is all from Him), it is all striving after the wind:
WITHOUT JESUS.
and it is that which makes this book beautiful and raw and true.
i do not pretend to know more than the text says, but as i read through this book and as the words flowed through me i thought of solomon.
not of a young solomon who wrote the proverbs, but an old, weary solomon. one who has searched life and its meaning and realized this:
even if you follow every command of God's, every proverb of wisdom, if you do not fear and worship the one who gave those commands; if you do not place HIM in the center of your activities, of your life, of your universe, then it is all in vain.
it is all futility.
it is all striving after wind.
<3 eva
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*this is my one-hundredth post*
*this is my one-hundredth post*
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