The Few Days of This Life
--
Ecclesiastes Two --
Solomon said that life is nothing but vanity.
"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity
of vanities; all is vanity." (Ecclesiastes 1:2) He had pursued knowledge
and learning only to find that it was vain. Knowledge did not give him joy, it
only increase his sorrow. In Ecclesiastes two he continued to show the sorrows
and vanity of this world.
Solomon
had searched for, but he had not found "true happiness." He did not
find true happiness in pleasure, laughter nor wine. He realized that the days
of the children of men on earth were only a few. What good thing could a man do
with his brief earthly life?
Solomon
had, (1) built houses and planted vineyards for himself, (2) made himself
gardens and parks, (3) planted in them all kinds of fruit trees, (4) made pools
from which to water the forest of growing trees, (5) bought male and female
slaves, and had slaves that were born in his house, (6) had great possessions
of herds and flocks, (7) gathered for himself silver and gold, (8) got both men
and women singers, (9) had many concubines, (10) he became great and surpassed
all who were before him in Jerusalem, (11) gained much wisdom, (12) did
whatever his eyes desired, (13) kept his heart from no pleasure, and (14) found
pleasure in all his toil. However, his sad statement was, "Then I
considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it,
and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to
be gained under the sun."
All
the things that Solomon pursued proved insufficient to make a man happy. He
said he had thought that there was advantage for the wise person over the fool.
But he said; "Yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of
them." "What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then
have I been so very wise?" The wise die just like the fool dies. This led
him to say, "I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after
wind."
Solomon
then pondered how far the business and wealth of this world would go towards
making men happy. He said he spent his life gaining "stuff" only to
leave it to "the man who will come after me." He did not know whether
that man would be wise or a fool and yet he would be master of all that Solomon
had toiled for. His conclusion was "this also is vanity." "What
has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath
the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow and his work is a vexation. Even
in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity." He said that
the best a man can do is eat, drink and enjoy the fruit of his toil because he
will leave it all and it will be given to the man of God's choice.
Solomon
said he sought true happiness in wine. But, he did not find it there. He was
very careful in this matter as he said, "Yet acquainting mine heart with
wisdom." He wanted his mind alert enough to see what was good for man
"under the sun." He made great works, built houses and
planted vineyards yet did not find true happiness. The orchards and
trees did not satisfy his soul. He made pools of water for beauty, for fish and
for irrigation. Yet, his soul was still dry and parched. All of his servants
and cattle could not satisfy that longing within. Silver and gold still
left him poor and bankrupt in soul. Joyful singing did not even produce peace
within. Even Solomon's greatness and wisdom did not satisfy his soul. He saw
whatever he wanted to see and did whatever he wanted to do. Yet he said, "Then
I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do:
and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit
under the sun."
The
Vanity of Living Wisely -- Ecclesiastes 2:12-17:
Solomon
reflected on what a common man could do to find true happiness when he, with
all his resources, had not been able to do so. He could only say that natural
wisdom and knowledge exceeds folly. He said a wise man uses his eyes to make good judgment,
but a fool just walks in darkness. Sadly, he said the same end comes
to both the fool and the wise. "This is all vanity."
Solomon considered
what he had accomplished by seeking wisdom. Was he a better man for his entire
search for true happiness? Had it made him a happier person? Would his wisdom
protect him from the end that would come to a fool? "Then I said in my
heart, that this also is vanity." The conclusion that Solomon will
ultimately reach is that the death of a righteous man is different from the
death of a wicked man. That is why we must fear God and keep His commandments.
The
Vanity of Toil -- Ecclesiastes 2:18-23: When Solomon stopped to
consider his life he hated what he had done. He had spent his life collecting
stuff to leave to someone else. He realized that the person that he left all
this to might be a fool and squander it all away. These possibilities lead
Solomon to despair. "Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair
of all the labour which I took under the sun."
(Ecclesiastes 2:20)
Solomon
even contemplated the fact that all his possessions might
be left to a person that had made no effort to help gain them. What advantage
is it to a man when he has acquired all these things only to leave them to be
possessed by another? The poor soul that pursues wealth might not even be able
to sleep peaceably at night. He might be eager so to get wealth and so anxious
about keeping it, that his sleep is not sweet and refreshing to him. "This
is also vanity."
The
vanity of Gathering -- Ecclesiastes 2:24-26: Solomon
said that the best thing that a man can do is enjoy in a cheerful and
comfortable manner the good he has received from the hand of God. He should be
content, thankful, and look upon the things that he has as blessings of divine
goodness. No person had a greater opportunity to enjoy life than did Solomon.
Yet he found that to have the heart to do so was a precious gift from God. He
concluded that if God had not given a person the heart to use these
possessions, he never would really be able to enjoy them.
The
person that can enjoy the comforts of this life is the person that is good in
God's sight. Keeping God's commandments is the way to enjoy the goods of this
world. Things will not make a soul
happy. The good we can have from them is for our body only. There is nothing
better for a man than to make a sober and cheerful use of the things he has in
God's service. The good things that we enjoy are gifts of God's providential
bounty to us. Riches are a blessing or a curse to a man according to the use he
makes of them.
The
sinner has a life of disappointment because he is an enemy of God. Sinners miss
true happiness because they are focused on this world instead of God.
The all-wise God has provided salvation
through Jesus. To inherit eternal salvation man must hear the gospel (Romans