1) Grab a Bible because you will need it to make any headway in this journey.
2) Listen to this quote from Tom Wolfe, a notable journalist and author:
“For of all I have ever seen or learned, this book (Ecclesiastes) seems to me the noblest, the wisest, and the most powerful expression of man’s life upon this earth – and also the highest flower of poetry, eloquence, and truth. I am not given to dogmatic judgments in the matter of literary creation, but if I had to make one I could say that Ecclesiastes is the greatest single piece of writing I have ever known, and the wisdom expressed in it the most lasting and profound.”
Tom Wolfe was not a pastor or theologian. He was a writer and somewhat of a political figure who has been utterly awe-filled by Ecclesiastes' grip on him and the incredible ingenuity found within the contents of its pages.
"The Teacher":
There is little debate over the authorship of this book. The author himself claims that he is the "Teacher" and the "son of David, king in Jerusalem." Most have attributed authorship to King Solomon, and there is no valid reason to suppose otherwise at this point.
As we begin our study of the text I am going to again suggest that this entire book is Solomon's response to the question "What is the meaning of life?" or, "What are we here for?" With that in mind, envision Solomon as addressing this question head on right off of the bat.
Solomon begins the first 11 verses with the phrase, and his initial answer to that question, with:
"Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!"
He shouldn't have any trouble grabbing peoples' attention with an introduction like that, don't you agree? Let's not hop over this too quickly here, though, because even though it initially seems as though Solomon is saying the exact same thing over and over again, he is actually saying 3 things:
1) There is some sort of "meaningless" that exists...
2) How meaningless is this meaninglessness? "Utterly meaningless," he says...
3) What is utterly meaningless? "Everything is utterly meaningless" he says...
So, he is not just saying that there is some meaninglessness out there, but that everything is meaningless...or, utterly meaningless is everything. In other words, he is saying that there is no meaning in all that he sets his eyes upon...no meaning in all that he has experienced so far. To him, there seems to be some sort of cosmic emptiness going on in all that can be seen. And, guess what, that is actually what he says over the course of the next several chapters....that even though the material world exists, that there is "life" and "reality", it is somehow void of some sort of essence that Solomon is clearly longing for and the whole created realm has not yet found a way to escape that void-ness, emptiness, or meaninglessness and acquire something essential.
Depressed at all yet? Just wait, it gets much worse!
For this study, we are just going to focus in on the first 11 verses in chapter 1. The Teacher begins by telling us that everything that is apparent is utterly meaningless. He, then, immediately begins to tell us why this is the case, the climax of which, for chapter one, is found in verses 9 and 10:
"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, 'Look, This is something new?' It was already here already, long ago; it was here before our time."
So, let's back track to frame all of this correctly...allow me to paraphrase what is being said here
Us: "Solomon, what is the meaning of life?"
Solomon: "There is none, everything is utterly meaningless."
Us: "Everything? How can this be? Why is everything meaningless?"
Solomon: "Because humankind and all of creation cannot escape the viscous cycle that it finds itself in. No one can shake the cosmos out of their funk. There is nothing to fix the fact that humanity labors and toils on this earth, but in the end they will lose the very little that they have gained whenever they die. The earth and life go on as usual as the millions die throughout the the ages. They live short lives filled with pain and suffering, endless labor and little fruitfulness, only to die and never be remembered or thought of again. Furthermore, humankind never has his fill...the eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear enough of hearing and nothing on this earth can change that fact. We are a people who work and work in order to find some sort of satisfaction which, once felt, only slips right through our fingers just like sand. We never have been, nor will we ever be satisfied in essence until something new comes along and changes the system; in other words, does the impossible."
How are you doing so far with the fact that Solomon, the Teacher, is telling you that your life is utterly meaningless? That, you will never get your "fill" even though you will spend the entirety of your few years on this planet desperately trying to gain something that is fulfilling. Furthermore, all that you have worked for will come to an utter standstill once you die and you will be forgotten by all...that, even your face will fade from the memory of loved ones, and once they have passed as well, you will never again be remembered on this earth. That, in the end, all that you are and all that you have worked for will fade away, never to be thought of or cared for again.
Why is it this way? Solomon tells us "because, that is the way it has always been."
I ask again: Depression sinking in yet? If so, good. If not, you've utterly missed the point.
Here is where I want to take a moment to pause and reflect on something extremely important before we finish our first study. Allow this text, this book to do its job....let it in and let it break you. Whether or not you are a Christian/believer or not, that doesn't matter at this point (and yes, Solomon addresses this believer/non-believer tension in later chapters). No matter where you are at on your faith journey, I know one thing beyond a doubt to be true of you; if you have taken the time to truly examine these verses, you not only know them to be true but you also feel them to be true. Ecclesiastes is a common ground for all because it speaks a truth so deep about us all...a truth that none can deny.
Feel the weight here. Let the wound bleed. Embrace the tension; don't run from it or ignore it or, before long, you will realize that you are running from reality itself.
"It hurts" you say, "The thought is too depressing; too much to bear."
Well, yes, I am fairly certain that is what Solomon was hoping you would experience in reading his words.
A lesson that too few people learn is that there is tremendous value in learning how to mourn over things that need to be mourned over. We live in an age and within a culture that is incredibly cowardly towards true mourning. We desensitize ourselves to true pain, preferring numbness over true awakening, drunkenness over sobriety. There are some truths that require pain in order to be learned. Listen to Solomon's warning in Ecclesiastes 7:2:
"It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of the mourning, but the heart of fools in the house of pleasure."
He also says in my favorite Proverb that:
"Blows and wounds cleanse away evil and beatings purge the inmost being." -Proverbs 20:30
Those who have mourned, deeply and truly, understand what this verse is saying. Those who have resisted pain, seeking to cower and run from it, have no idea what this verse means. Furthermore, I think that Solomon is using metaphor here, because I don't recall ever reading about him receiving beatings. Not that literal-physical beating is excluded from what he is saying here, but the essence is found in the fact that the human soul prospers under unjust suffering in this life. That, pain brings about the essence of the human spirit as heat brings about the the flavor in tea.
We don't get too far into Ecclesiastes before we realize that Solomon's desire is for us to mourn over the situation that not only we, but the entire created realm finds itself in. That, there is something going on here that we need to mourn over and that we have no way of digging ourselves out of our own finiteness, impotence and mortality.
Before we end, (just in case you get too depressed!) you need to think of something of tremendous significance if it has yet to cross your mind. Solomon wrote this during a certain time within history. This book doesn't necessarily cover the entirety of reality as we know it today. Granted, everything that was occurring during his day, everything that he mourned over and called "meaningless" is very much so still in effect today. However, something new has happened since Solomon's time...that new thing that would come and interrupt the system that Solomon was longing for has now appeared and is in the process of turning the world on end. Where all of creation at one time was under the headship of one man, it is now under the headship of the 2nd man...the one they have called "anointed one," "God with us," "savior," and "Lord." He is the very one through whom the early Church preached that the "New Creation" has now been set in motion because this new man escaped the meaninglessness of the old way through His resurrection. He is the very One who Paul says is the recapitulation of all things (Ephesians 1:10).
If Solomon lived during our day, he wouldn't say to us:
"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, 'Look, This is something new?' It was already here already, long ago; it was here before our time."
But, he would tell us that that "something new" has indeed come and something new has been done under the sun.
The Christ has come and all things are being made new. There is no longer utter meaninglessness in everything, but He has brought meaning to everything.
In the Christ's own words, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."
How? Find out in the following weeks.
TJ
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