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Scripture Reading
Introduction
Last week we began our study in this book of Ecclesiastes.
This is a wisdom literature book, and was written by Solomon as he looked back on his life, and saw the vanity of so much that takes place under the sun.
Verse 2, which we looked at last week, speaks about how everything under the sun, all that goes on is vanity.
And so Solomon will continue to present this thesis, all through his teaching.
As we come to this text today we look at Solomon’s focus on the toil and labour of man being vanity.
As we consider this text, let me begin by asking this question: “Have you ever thought to yourself, ‘if only I could have a little bit more, then I’d be happy?’”
If I could just reach this pay grade;
If I could just achieve this position in the workplace;
If I could just make enough to buy this house, or that car;
If I could just have enough to be able to do the things I like to do;
If I could just make enough money to retire at 35…??
I would suggest to you that our day is a day of rampant materialism.
Of course, it is all coined in the phrases of progress, making profit, getting more and better for the benefit of society.
But I want to suggest to you that more and more people are falling prey to the trap of materialism.
Keeping up with the Jones’...
But as we will see today, through our great teacher who had it all, this is ultimately vanity.
This morning we will be focusing our attention on verses 3 to 11, where Solomon speaks concerning the toil of man, the labour of man under the sun.
In verse 3 he asks...
And this is a valid question, and a question that we should be asking ourselves, particularly as Christians.
Because we too can so quickly lose perspective, and forget what our chief aim and goal in life is.
And our own lives can so quickly become this meaningless repetitive cycle, and we become despondent.
1.
No Advance in Much Activity (vv.4-7)
As we begin our look at what Solomon says concerning this toiling under the sun being meaningless, the first point of consideration as Solomon shows it is that there is no advance in much activity (vv.4-7)
In these verses, he uses poetic language about various examples in nature to indicate ongoing motion in life, without there being much achieved through that motion.
He begins in verse 4 by saying:
As Solomon ponders his own life, and looks back on how things have unfolded, it strikes him that generations are always coming and going.
An older generation is dying away, and younger generations are coming through.
This emphasizes the probability of Solomon being older as he writes this, and looks back on life.
I must admit, this is something that I’ve thought a little more about since I’ve gotten “older”!
When I was young I gave little thought to other generations, particularly older generations.
My mind was wrapped up in wanting to grow and experience the world.
I was busy about my own business and things that needed to be done.
My first thought of how quickly life passes by came when Cindy and I had our first child, and suddenly I was the parent.
I certainly didn’t see myself qualified…
But it really struck me just how quickly ones years in youth go by.
I had always seen my parents as super-wise and mature.
But here I was as a new parent, thinking surely I couldn’t be parenting material?!
That was the first time I really started thinking about how quickly life passed by.
I look back on my years even in Malelane - Cindy and I been here for close to 14 years.
I remember arriving here and many of the younger people who have now gone off to University or College were only 4, 5 or 6 years old...
Suddenly they’re leaving home.
I’ve also had in the past 2-3 years, the first 3 deaths of people who were close to me.
My dad’s mom, followed by my mom’s father, and then more recently my own mom.
There’s nothing like the passing of a loved one to slow you down to really consider just how brief this life is, and how a generation comes and goes.
The fact is that our lives here are over in a mere moment.
They are but a breath.
The earth continues it’s course, with everything in the natural realm carrying on as it always has.
But a person's life is so short and brief.
Psalm 90 speaks well of the brevity our lives.
And so, as Solomon observes the labour and toil of man in this world, he is struck by the fact that these labouring souls are merely going to pass away as did previous generations.
There never really is any progress.
Jerome said, “What is more vain than this vanity: that the earth, which was made for humans, stays — but humans themselves, the lords of the earth, suddenly dissolve into the dust?”
With that in the mind of Solomon, he goes on to explain the futility of the labours of man under the sun by using three further examples from nature.
In verse 5, 6 and 7, he uses these examples to explain the monotonous routine of the created world, and how it all seems to actually be so pointless.
He begins in verse 5 by saying:
The point here is simply that the sun goes up and down, over and over again.
But it just keeps on doing the same thing, with no apparent final goal being achieved.
There is certainly movement, but there is no progression.
Now we need to recognise that Solomon is not saying that there is absolutely no meaning to the sun being in the sky.
In Psalm 19:1, Solomon’s own father David had proclaimed...
But the question of Solomon here is one of the long term meaning and goal for things.
Is there something that ultimatley is achieved as an end goal.
The sun rises and the sun sets.
Over and over it does this..
Same old, same old.
In verse 6, Solomon turns his attention to the blowing of the wind.
In this case, he looks at the wind blowing around him, and wonders, what is the meaning of it all.
Simply carrying on it its cycle of blowing.
He refers here poetically of the wind blowing to the south and then turning to the north.
In this poetic piece, this would simply be to work in tandem with the rising and setting of the sun, which is an east / west direction.
Again, the emphasis is how this all just continues round and round in cycles.
The third picture from nature that he gives is from verse 7.
This is actually not a very good translation in the NIV.
A better translation can be found in the New Revised Standard Version...
He beholds the rivers flowing into the sea, and yet the sea never becomes full.
In the minds of the Israelites, a great example for them (and perhaps a picture they would have had in their minds) would have been the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea has the Jordan River and other rivers and streams flowing continuously into it.
The sea itself is surrounded by mountains - it’s actually a Lake.
But there are no waters that flow out of the Dead Sea, only waters that flow into it.
In fact, the Dead Sea is well below Sea Level, so there would be no way for water to flow out… it’s at it’s lowest point that it’s going to reach in-land!!
The point that Solomon makes here is clear - the water just keep on running their course, and they never seem to really make a difference.
There is no real change taking place in the Sea Level.
In all three of these examples from nature, Solomon expresses the fact that there is no real meaningful difference taking place.
As it was in years gone by, so in current times, and so it will be in times to come!
The point he brings across is that there is much activity, but no real advancement or achievement.
A great example of this is work around the house.
What do you have to show for all the work you do around the house?
There are always more meals to prepare, more floors to scrub, and more clothes to wash.
But the same is true of our day to day work in the workplace.
2. The Conclusion: All Things are Wearisome
With Solomon having presented his thoughts on this continuous motion in the world, without actually achieving much at all, he brings his conclusion in the first line of verse 8:
“All things are wearisome...”
That really is the summary as Solomon beholds
the generations coming and going,
the sun in the sky, running its course
The wind blowing around
The rivers all flowing into the seas.
This is wearisome...
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