Ecclesiastes speaks honestly about the deep questions every human being wrestles with at some point in life. The author, King Solomon, doesn’t pretend life is simple. Instead, he honestly assesses the realities of work, pleasure, success, failure, time, death, and meaning.
Solomon makes an astonishing statement in Ecclesiastes 1:2, “ ‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’” In his book, Solomon is putting the burden of proof on the reader to prove him wrong.
The book of Ecclesiastes can be read as the journal of an old king Solomon, sharing his experience, reflections, and knowledge with a younger generation. In the early part of Solomon's life, he used the wisdom that God gave him to rule well. But later in life, Solomon didn’t apply the godly knowledge and wisdom God gave him. Later in his life Solomon traded his relationship with God for an adventure of trying to find fulfilment in life without God. That led to his conclusion that life is meaningless. Solomon made the case that all we experience in life is temporary and has no lasting impact in the world. All of life is vapor; it has no substance.
Solomon pursued four paths:
1. The path of Intellectualism (1:12-15). After Solomon studied, investigated, researched and read, he concluded there is not enough knowledge to explain why things are the way they are. There is no information or knowledge to make the wrongs right. Knowledge and wisdom have their limitations. We can’t learn enough or know enough to understand and make sense of life.
2. The path of hedonism (2: 1-3, 8-10). Solomon said, “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure.” He discovered that nothing “under the sun” has the capacity to sustain pleasure indefinitely. The phrase “under the sun” describes life experienced without God.
3. The path of materialism. Next, Solomon pursued achievement or work. He worked hard all day and went to sleep at night still thinking about work; his mind couldn’t rest. He built a lot of stuff, and had only limited time to enjoy his achievements. When he died, he would leave it all behind. Solomon tried everything there is to try in life, and concluded, “There must be more to life. There must be more. Life under the sun is like vapor, like mist, like smoke. It's meaningless.”
4. The fourth path: living life under the SON of God – NOT under the SUN (chapter 12).
“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them.’” Solomon intentionally referred to God as Creator and said to young people, “Remember. Act on what you know to be true. Live your life in alignment and in relationship with your Creator.” Solomon says in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
This life on earth is not meant to bring us lasting pleasure because we are not made for this world. We were created for life with God. So don’t pursue the things of this world with the expectation that they will satisfy. Pursue your Creator, and He will satisfy you.
“Here is the conclusion of the matter,” Solomon writes, “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of mankind” (Ecc. 12:13).
The only way to find meaning, purpose and fulfillment in life is to remember your Creator – fear God and obey His commands.