Life Under the Sun

Life Under the Sun

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

“If Proverbs is like math, mostly dealing in equations in which one thing adds up to equal another, then Ecclesiastes is like music, all mood with melody and tone. If Proverbs is like meteorology giving us indicators so as to predict certain outcomes, then Ecclesiastes is like the actual weather, fickle and unpredictable in its ability to rant with storms or breathe easy with a mid-morning breeze.”

~ Zack Eswine

Main Idea: ​​​​Life under the sun is fleeting and elusive, inviting us to humbly embrace this reality before the Lord.  

I. The Preacher (1:1)

Though there is debate over the author of Ecclesiastes, it is clearly written in the “Solomonic” tradition after King Solomon, the “Son of David.” Whether he is the author or not, we are to read this book in light of his kingship, wisdom, wealth, and extravagance.

Within Ecclesiastes, we hear from two distinct voices:

  1. The “Preacher” (Heb. Qoheleth), sometimes translated as the “teacher, philosopher, or quester.” His name literally means ‘one who speaks to the congregation.’

  2. The Author (cf. Ecc. 12:9ff), who remains anonymous and comments on the preacher’s wisdom.

II. The Message (1:2-3)

Thesis statement 1A: “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” 

“Vanity” (Heb: hebel) lit. means smoke, breathe, or vapor. This multifaceted metaphor teaches us two realities:

  1. Life is short & fleeting (cf. Ps. 144:3-4, Jas. 4:14)

  2. Life is elusive & enigmatic

“Ecclesiastes is a meditation on how life seems to elude our grasp in terms of lasting significance. If we try to gain control of the world and our lives by what we can understand and by what we can do, we find that the control we seek eludes us.”

~ David Gibson

Thesis statement 1B: “What does man gain by all his toil at which he toils under the sun.” 

The Preacher’s vantage point is human experience here in this world ‘under the sun,’ not beginning with divine commandments or prerogatives. Looking ‘under the sun’ for ‘gain’ - something leftover of value or permanence - will net us nothing. 

III. The Reality (1:4-11)

To prove his thesis, the Preacher poetically tells us:

  1. Nothing really changes (1:4-7)

  2. Nothing really satisfies (1:8)

  3. Nothing is really new (1:9-10)

  4. Nothing (and no one) will really be remembered (1:11)

​​“The horror of the Same Old Thing is one of the most valuable passions we have produced in the human heart - an endless source of heresies in religion, folly in counsel, infidelity in marriage, and inconstancy in friendship.”

~ C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

IV. The Hope

The Preacher is inviting us to consider life under the sun in a different way: what if we stopped looking at life as ‘gain’ (1:4), and instead receive it as a gift? 

Because life under the sun is ‘vanity,’ we should simultaneously enjoy it and embrace it for what it is. As we embrace the fact that life is short and elusive, we are freed up to enjoy its simple pleasures with thanksgiving for what it is, not what we wish it might be. 

Mark 8:36: “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

Romans 8:18–21:  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

The glory and hope that awaits us is rooted in the eternal work of Jesus Christ.

  • Jesus really changes things 

  • Jesus really satisfies the deep longings of our soul (Ecc. 3:11)

  • Jesus really will make all things new

  • Jesus really is remembered