E c l e s i a s t é s

Both Ecclesiastes and Job are grounded in the theological distinction between God the Creator and us as his creatures. It’s vital that we grasp that there is a God, and we are not him.

Solomon begins with the premise that life is meaningless—”hevel.” This idea includes the imagery of life being a vapor—ephemeral, fleeting, insubstantial, and unpredictable.

We must sit in the tension that even though we bear God’s image, we cannot understand the big questions around brokenness and injustice in the world.

Instead of striving for understanding, we should strive to trust God, to embrace the gap between his sovereignty and our limited nature.

Even in the midst of life’s brokenness, we can have hope. We are called to fear God and keep his commandments. The only way to have purpose is to keep covenant with God.

Ultimately, our hope rests in Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. He was pierced for us so that we would not be pierced. Through that lens, we look forward with hope.

When we become obsessed with finding happiness and fulfillment—whether through sex, alcohol, work, family, or any set of circumstances—we are living in denial. We then distract our souls from something more substantial that offers real hope.

We are all bent towards foolishness. Our innate desire is to live life on our terms, unguarded and unrestrained.

Wisdom comes from fearing the Lord—understanding that he is our Creator and we are mere creatures. Humility is vital for us to live wisely.

Solomon tells us through his experience that no accomplishment, status, or significance can fill the void in our souls. There is no good life apart from God.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with work, family, or enjoying what life offers—if you make it the centerpiece of your life, it will leave you empty.

Religious people think that because they do the right things, then God will work for them. Solomon exposes those props—injustice and suffering come to both the wise and the foolish.

Being wise does not insulate us from the brokenness and pain of this world. Furthermore, we cannot control what happens to all we have accomplished after we are gone.

Solomon calls us to live a small life. We cannot control the world, so we must humbly enjoy the goodness God has given us—a day’s work, a good meal, our families.

Two realities exist–God’s creation is good and he has given us joy; also, the world is fallen, causing frustration. Jesus’ death on the cross is the only thing that makes sense of both.

We must accept that suffering is part of being a follower of Jesus and willingly move into the brokenness of the world. However, we can also have hope in a certain future with him in eternity.

Solomon uses the concept of time to illustrate the nature of our broken world and the lack of control we have over it. Time is like a road we are all trapped on, and it has certain characteristics—life and death, love and hate, war and peace, etc.

This list captures the tension we all live in. We experience both difficult and beautiful things. While we cannot escape or change the world, we can enjoy what God has given us in its season.

In the beginning, God offered humanity a perfect world, but Adam chose a different world. Since the fall, we have been under a curse. No matter how much effort we put forth, there is little return.

God has planted eternity in our hearts. Because we are made in his image, we know that there is an eternal, transcendent reality beyond this world.

The only way we can find hope in the relentless march of time is by looking to Jesus, who entered time and suffered, grieved, and died for us. When we abandon our earthly hope and attach our faith to him, we can follow him out of this world.

Solomon grieves that when he looks to the place of justice, expecting to see righteousness, he finds injustice and corruption. This is normative in our broken world.

In order for us to embrace the hope that Jesus offers, we have to see the stark reality of the brokenness of the world—injustice and death are certainties for us all.

We should not react in fear or in a vain effort to correct the injustice and chaos of the world. Instead, we must look to God, a source outside ourselves, for hope.

At the fall, man sought to elevate himself to the level of Creator. In order to redeem mankind, Jesus—the Creator—lowered himself to become a creature, fully absorbing God’s judgment on sin.

Because of the gospel, there is justice. However, there is also mercy and grace. Jesus overcame death and created a way out of death if we have faith in him.

Even in this broken world, we can find joy and contentment in living a small life. We can enjoy the good things our Father has given us and seek to serve others in the world around us.

Solomon observes that many people are motivated by envy. However, pursuing success because you see others experiencing it will leave you empty and without identity.

For many, finding fulfillment in work is a natural drive. Those who are bent this way must be intentional about creating rhythms of rest, recreation, and rejuvenation. It takes faith to step back and trust in God’s ability to provide.

God created us for relationship, to be in community. We need one another to process the world around us, and God works in our lives through community.

In order to become wise, you must acknowledge that you are not. It is particularly easy for those with life experience to disregard what others say. But we must adopt a posture of humility and be open to learning from others.

Believers live in a dual reality. While the here and now may seem real and big, our invisible, eternal identity in Christ is the most important thing about us.

Jesus came from glory to live a small life for us, so we can be content and live small lives—looking forward to eternity with him.

We must not approach God in a mindless, half-hearted, or self-focused manner. Instead, we should engage our whole selves when we worship God.

These faults are rooted in a lack of understanding of who God is. Fearing God is about realizing how big and powerful he is and how small we are.

We all fear something. If we fear God, then we don’t have to fear death. Indeed, he is worthy of our fear, and it brings us to a posture of worship.

Those who worship money are never satisfied. As you consume money, it becomes more likely that money will consume you.

Instead of building wealth for ourselves, our driving purpose should be building God’s kingdom. Money is an indicator of the heart—we must consider why we save, why we spend, and why we give.

Health and wealth are gifts from God, not something we should strive for.

While some wisdom provided by the teacher solves problems, human wisdom cannot resolve our greatest problem—sin and death.

Experiencing sadness and contemplating death have a refining influence in our hearts. They give us perspective and clarity around our decisions.

Because we live in a fallen world, we will not always be right. It’s important for us to be able to receive criticism and correction.

Growing in patience doesn’t require work; it requires understanding that God is in charge.

When we endure suffering and worship God, we get clear that we don’t simply need what God provides—we need him.

God created a good world for us, but Adam chose a downward path, and each of us has confirmed his or her own choice to sin. While we cannot escape this path towards death, Jesus came and created a way out of this world if we embrace him through faith.

There is beauty in wisdom. However, wisdom does not come automatically with age. We must seek it in every season of life, setting aside distractions and living out what God has called us to do.

It is vital that we obey and not evaluate the authority God has placed over us. While it is not natural to obey God and others, there is great freedom and clarity in resting in God’s sovereign authority.

Living on this earth means that we will experience uncertainty, injustice, and death. While our culture is preoccupied with fixing these problems, we are called to embrace being a creature.

Owning our identity as God’s creatures means we don’t live in anxiety over the world’s brokenness. Instead, we can live a small life—take responsibility for what God has entrusted to us and enjoy the good things he has given us.

Part of living within the scope of our responsibility is confessing our sin to those in authority over us. This practice develops humility and honors God’s sovereignty.

From what we observe in the world, everyone suffers the same fate.

Instead of living in denial about the realities of this world—its unpredictability, injustice, and fragility—embracing its brokenness leads us to our need for a greater hope outside this world.

When we live a small life and don’t hang the weight of our souls on what it offers, we can find enjoyment in simple things like good meals, hard work, and marriage.

In heaven we will not need wisdom, we will need forgiveness.

The book of Ecclesiastes guarantees loss. But the gospel guarantees our ultimate win. It is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.

A small sin can ruin a lifetime of work. This truth should put us on guard so we live in such a way that sin has no place in our lives.

Others can see the folly of a fool’s choices in a way that he cannot. We must develop a healthy distrust of our own thoughts and feelings.

The world tells us that our feelings produce truth and should drive our actions. As believers, we cannot be defined by our feelings. Instead, we acknowledge that God defines who we are.

When the world does not work for us, we are reminded that we must place our hope in something outside this world.

Applying wisdom should not be ignored nor delayed, even though it does not guarantee insulation from pain.

Indulging oneself at the expense of others leads to ruin. Living in moderation allows others to be blessed by our leadership.

Our hope cannot be in the current world changing and getting better, but in the future world that is coming.

There are times when we must think strategically, and there are also times when risk is necessary and fruitful. On this earth, there will always be tension between the two.

Just as we cannot understand the wind or a baby being formed in the womb, so we cannot understand the God of the universe.

Wisdom is important, but it is not the cure to our brokenness. Only the gospel can resolve our greatest problem—separation from God.

The wisdom of the gospel is counterintuitive. What the world considers foolish is wise, the weak defeat the powerful, and the insignificant take on importance.

Jesus is the only true wisdom. He has the power to make us right with God when we put our faith in him.

God created us with great capacity for delight, and he made everything delightful for us. It is an act of worship to enjoy the good gifts he has given us.

To enjoy this world, we must live in the moment. Part of delighting in the present is knowing that hard things are coming.

We are free to exercise our will and enjoy life, but we are accountable to God for how we steward what he has entrusted to us.

Only in the present can we fear God and keep his commandments—not the past nor the future.

Jesus is the source of our hope. Because of his resurrection, we can look forward to a new earth and new, glorified bodies to enjoy his creation.