Ecclesiastes 1 reminds me of a quote by advertizing executive, Charles Peebler who boldly stated, “I am not over the hill; I OWN the hill”. He had clearly made his fortune and had all the toys to prove it. Many people disagree about the author of Ecclesiastes; however, to me it is clearly an older man that has had it all and withheld nothing from himself. I believe it is written by Solomon, but later in his life, after seeking fulfillment in every human pleasure possible. He sadly ends up empty, dry and lonely. After grabbing all the gusto he could, and he declared, “Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless“. These are the words of the preacher, “son of David, king in Jerusalem“. I believe he writes as a man now convinced life has little meaning without God at its center. He notes, “Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains… The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises… All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full“. Over time he observes the earth’s natural rhythms and sees that we do not have as much control as we think. There is no new pleasure, no new high and no new experience, nothing that will fill the void that only comes through peace with God. Perhaps aware that his own life cycle is nearing completion, he concludes with a sigh, “There is nothing new under the sun“. There is an unspoken acknowledgment that his only hope dwells above the sun. Are you still looking for heaven on earth?
Next he describes his search in academia. “I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens.” He fills his head with knowledge, learned all there was to know, studied the wisdom of God and man and yet remained unsatisfied. “What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!” Studying God’s Word without applying it to our heart is incomplete. The apostle Paul wrote, “Knowledge puffs up while love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). Comprehending God’s perfect holiness will create an awareness of our own unworthiness. Earning God’s favor through our own righteousness is impossible, “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind“. Solomon comes to a harsh realization, “What is crooked cannot be straightened“. He cannot straighten himself out. Sometimes things must be broken before they can be made straight.
If any man could be made whole through attaining knowledge, it was Solomon, “I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me… Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly… this, too, is a chasing after the wind“. Filling up onpleasuredoes not satisfy. Filling up on knowledge dose not satisfy. He adds, “With much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief“. The more we learn of the cruelty of man the more we are discouraged. In contrast, the more we learn of God’s mercy, the lighter our burden becomes. So how can we find peace with God? Jesus called to all, “Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15). To borrow from one of Mr. Peebler’s famous lines, “Got Hope?” “I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:16-19).