Ecclesiastes
Ecclesia--Greek Word for assembly, church. Ecclesiastes--the one who speaks to the assembly, the
preacher.
Ecclesiastes 1:1,2
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
The preacher’s message to the assembly is that everything is vanity. 9-word message that sums it all
up. What do we do with the depression of Ecclesiastes?
Ecclesiastes 1:3-11
3What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
4One generation passes away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abides forever.
5The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
6The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually,
and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
7All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come,
thither they return again.
8All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled
with hearing.
9The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done:
and there is no new thing under the sun.
10Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which
was before us.
11There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that
are to come with those that shall come after.
The circle of life makes life vain, nothing you do matters, nothing you do is original, nothing you do
will last. Everything on earth just goes around and around with no point or variation. It just goes and
goes and has been and will.
Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under
heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of
spirit.
15That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
16I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more
wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of
wisdom and knowledge.
17And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is
vexation of spirit.
18For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
Solomon set his heart on learning, finding out what the point is to life. He’s the smartest man ever
and he’s depressed. He’s seen it all. The more you know the sadder life becomes. Ignorance truly is
bliss.
Ecclesiastes 2:1-3
I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold,
this also is vanity.
2I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
3I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay
hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under
the heaven all the days of their life.
Having a good time, drowning out reality with pleasure accomplishes nothing, still leaves you empty.
You can take his word for it or try it youself.
Ecclesiastes 2:4-11
I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:
5I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits:
6I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:
7I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of
great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
8I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me
men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and
that of all sorts.
9So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom
remained with me.
10And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy;
for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.
11Then 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 workaholic tries to escape reality by keeping busy, keeping irons in the fire and this turns out to
be just as vain--someone else will get the benefits of your work, you will die and your kids will blow
your money anyhow.
Ecclesiastes 2:17-19
Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is
vanity and vexation of spirit.
18Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man
that shall be after me.
19And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my
labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also
vanity.
All this observation makes a guy truly hate life because seriously, what’s the point? Is this point
contrary to Scripture? Is there some biblical message that makes earthly things valuable?
2 Corinthians 4
--Paul gave up all for others. Many of the others are blinded by the god of this world, who is not the
God of heaven. Paul endured all manner of junk for the sake of the Gospel, this is only possible with
an Ecclesiastes view of life! Things that are seen are temporal!