Day 149: All Is Vanity

The Book of Ecclesiastes

Author and Date:

• Ecclesiastes is attributed to “the Preacher, the son of David, king in  Jerusalem” (1:1), which led to ancient Jews and early Christians to suppose that Solomon was the author.

• Today, scholars doubt Solomon’s authorship because the Hebrew used was uncommon for his day and the pedagogy (the method and practice of teaching) points to Jewish efforts to combat the Greek philosophical influence in Judah around the third century BC. 

Audience:

• The most likely audience was the Jewish people of the fourth to second centuries BC. Ecclesiastes (Greek), or Qoheleth (Hebrew), translates as “preacher,” but it can also mean “one who calls an assembly,” as in the context of someone who draws attention by proclaiming a philosophical or theological teaching loudly. 

• This technique was used by Greek teachers to attract students, and some Jewish teachers began to follow suit. 

• Ecclesiastes is one of the books of the Megillot, or “five rolls,” of the Scriptures read on certain Jewish feast days; Ecclesiastes itself was read on the Feast of Tabernacles in thanksgiving to God for the harvest.

Main Themes: 

• The Preacher begins by proclaiming that wisdom is vanity but in the end merely says that wisdom is beyond the reach of the human person and that we must put our trust and faith in God. 

• He expounds on the foolishness of pursuing happiness through pleasure, mirth, or riches and contrasts the death of the “ungodly” with that of the righteous.

• The Preacher speaks of two kinds of wisdom.

• The worldly pursuit of wisdom, as in pagan Greek philosophy, accumulates knowledge but does not answer the deeper questions of the human heart; it gratifies pride but fails to satisfy the more profound yearnings.

• Those who fear God, however, are wise when they acknowledge the transcendence of the wisdom of God, place their full faith and trust in him, and keep his Commandments.

• The Preacher does not teach of an afterlife and so does not appeal to an eternal reward in urging a right way of living; rather, the Preacher presents such a life as the key to happiness on earth.

• Within a century of its writing, the truth of the immortal human soul and the afterlife found expression in the Book of Wisdom, the Second Book of Maccabees, and the Book of Daniel.

• A few generations later, the fullness of Revelation arrived in the Person of Jesus Christ, who showed the way to everlasting life through His Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension.

Ecclesiastes 1:1 The name of this book is rooted in the Greek ekkalein, meaning “to summon out of,” which denotes the ekklesia, or “assembly,” called together by God (which is translated as “CHURCH”). “Ecclesiastes” thus signifies “one who calls together an assembly,” The Hebrew name for this book, Qoheleth, which means “one who gathers,” is translated sometimes as “the Preacher,” calling to mind an orator whose wisdom attracts a crowd. The author identifies himself as “son of David, king in Jerusalem,” and, therefore, Ecclesiastes is implicitly attributed to Solomon.

Ch 1:2 The essential theme of this book is that “all is vanity.” This idea is developed throughout the text in arguing that it is vain (prideful) and futile to pursue wisdom that is not rooted in the fear (i.e., awe and reverence) of God. An excessive concern for the goods and pleasures of earthly life lead to futility. Pride, in fact, is one of the traditional SEVEN DEADLY SINS in which all the other sins are rooted. The Jewish teachers counteracted the flawed propaganda of the Greeks with true wisdom based on the Law and the prophets. (CCC 1784, 1866, 2094, 2514, 2540)

Ch 1:3-11 This poetic passage, rich in imagery, served to communicate the truth in the fact of pagan thought. The Greeks saw the universe as being comprised of four fundamental elements: air, earth, fire, and water. Verse by verse, Qoheleth examines these elements and shows that they never undergo change within themselves. (CCC 156-159, 286)

Ch 1:12-18 Pursuit of truth and wisdom is synonymous with seeking to fulfill God’s will. As one seeks the truth about the Commandments, knowledge of God and his wisdom grows. Nevertheless, it is impossible to know God fully. (CCC 30, 216, 1978, 2813)

Ch 2:1-26 The writer admits to seeking happiness in gluttony, success, material wealth, and sexual license. However, the more he pursued inordinate pleasure, the more morally empty he became. As he turned to difficult forms of vanity, he found himself devoid of wisdom. Death will eventually come to both the wise and the vain. These verses imply that true wisdom and joy are intimately linked to living God’s Commandments. (CCC 30, 305, 1942, 2545)

Psalm 5 St. Augustine taught that the traditional title of this psalm, “For her who receives the inheritance,” refers to the Church herself, whose members are heirs to eternal life in Christ (Enarr. In Ps. 5:CCL 38:1, 2-3).

St. John Paul II pointed out how this psalm of supplication, like so many others in the book, contrasts the person who prays with those who do evil. Because of God’s unwavering love and constant care and assistance, we can turn to him in confidence amid all the turmoil, sin, and temptation that surrounds our daily lives. United to God, the faithful are always secure; through prayer the people of God express their trust in his mercy. It pleases God to shower his blessings upon his people and protect them with his unsurpassable goodness. (Cf. St. John Paul II, General Audience, May 30, 2001)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• With the Temple completed, Solomon leads Israel in the liturgy of its dedication during the Feast of Tabernacles (1 Kgs 8).

• Just as the cloud of the Lord’s glory had descended on the tabernacle in the wilderness long ago, so now it descends on the Temple and confirms it as the house chosen by God.

• Solomon, like David presides over the assembly as a priest-king: blessing the people with the Divine Name, leading them in the prayer of consecration, and offering sacrifices before the Lord.

(*Walking With God: A Journey Through The Bible by Tim Gray and Jeff Cavins)

• Ecclesiastes is classically ascribed to Solomon himself

• Remember, Solomon is wise

• Basically, it is about a wise person who’s looking at the world and how people are living, how he himself has lived, and is saying, “THIS IS ALL VANITY.”

• “Vanity of vanities. Everything is vanity.”

• That’s kind of a strange translation

• The Hebrew word “hevel,” which literally means vapor, is used for vanity

• So it’s kind of vanity not in the sense of being VAIN like how King Saul was so over concerned with what everyone thought of him

• This is more along the lines of VAPOR meaning MEANINGLESSNESS

• NOT vanity in terms of what people think about me

• It is unknown who exactly is the author of Ecclesiastes

• That’s not necessarily important

• What’s important is the heart at the Book of Ecclesiastes

• The big question it asks is, “Isn’t life MEANINGLESS, with all the different things you can do, all the ways a person can work to make a name for themselves, all the ways a person can simply strive to maximize pleasure in their lives. Does it amount to NOTHING?”

• It’s kind of a negative book

• But we will see that it is ultimately POSITIVE

• SO KEEP ON KEEPING ON FOR THE NEXT 5 DAYS

• This is SO good

• 1 Kings Ch 7

• King Solomon is building his OWN HOME

• King Hiram of Tyre is an artisan who is able to make these incredible columns and pillars in the Temple

• Remember in 2 Chronicles we read up to the point of Solomon COMPLETING THE TEMPLE

• But here in 1 Kings, we get the story of the task of completing the Temple with all the beauty etc.

• In our first steps into Ecclesiastes, we have the words of the Preacher

• The Greek rendering of the Hebrew is QOHELETH

• Qoheleth means “one who speaks in the assembly” 

• Hence the name PREACHER

• We recognize the vanity of creative things

• NOT vanity in terms of the opinions of others

• BUT 

• Vanity in terms of vapor

• Vanity in terms of being like PURSUING THE WIND

• YOU CAN’T CAPTURE THE WIND

• IT IS MEANINGLESSNESS

• There is something so good that the Preacher has come to this understanding

• He is saying essentially, “The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north. It just keeps going. The rivers all run to the sea, but the sea doesn’t get filled up and the rivers don’t dry out. So what’s going on? What has been is what will be. What has been done is what will be done. There is nothing new under the sun.”

• So even if you say, “Hey, this is new!” well no, not really

• This is SO GOOD for us in our day and age

• We are tempted to say, “The distress we are going through right now, this is SO NEW.”

• No, not really

• The human heart IS THE SAME

• Human relationships ARE THE SAME

• The same dilemmas that attack us may be attacking us in new ways

• The challenges we may be facing we might be facing them with a new flavor

• BUT THEY ARE THE SAME

• The struggle to LOVE each other

• The struggle to FORGIVE each other

• The struggle to KEEP GOING in the midst of what feels like meaningless toil

• That’s what the Preacher says

• We work so hard and at the end of the day, it’s gone

• In Ecclesiastes Ch 2, it is about pursuing SELF INDULGENCE

• Let’s just see if I can maximize happiness

• Let’s see if I can maximize enjoyment in life

• So I search within my mind how to cheer my body with wine 

• So the Preacher (Qoheleth) says that he makes great works, built houses, planted fine vineyards, etc.

• He doesn’t just talk about that base level of happiness or pleasure that is found in wine or food

• But he surrounded himself with BEAUTY

• So basically, the NEXT house we buy will make us happy

• Yeah, you can spend all you want on your dream house but within 3 years it’s not going to be your dream house anymore

• You will continue to PURSUE PURSUE PURSUE

• The human heart ALWAYS wants more

• The eyes keep SEEING but doesn’t GET FILLED UP

• The ears keep HEARING but doesn’t GET FILLED UP

• We realize THAT IS MEANINGLESS

• Living for pleasure in this world is MEANINGLESS

• BUT…

• What if I have WISDOM?

• Preacher says, “And then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light differs from darkness. The eyes of a wise man are in his head but the fool walks in darkness.”

• It is way better to be wise than to be foolish

• AND YET…

• “I perceive that one fate comes to ALL OF THEM. What befalls the fool will befall me also.”

• So since we are both going to die, why would I have been wise?

• THAT IS MEANINGLESS

• “For of the wise man as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten.”

• So can you remember the name of your great-great grandmother? What about your great-great grandfather?

• Your great-great grandchildren WILL NOT REMEMBER YOUR NAME

• Who here can name all the U.S. presidents?

• Not I, said the fly

• We just recognize that the day will come when NOBODY on this planet will even remember OUR NAME

• THEY WON’T REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT US

• Here is Qoheleth who says our so-called legacy will GO AWAY

• THAT IS MEANINGLESS

• Qoheleth says how he can accumulate all these things and pass on this amazing legacy to his family just like David to Solomon or Solomon to Rehoboam

• But maybe that son will be an idiot

• Maybe they won’t care about those things they were given

• How many times have you been bequeathed something from your grandmother or grandfather that was their prized china collection?

• Maybe you appreciated a little bit, but nowhere NEAR how much they did

• That is THIS TYPE OF VANITY

• The ultimate thing the Preacher is highlighting is this:

• IF YOU ARE LIVING IN THIS WORLD SIMPLY FOR THIS WORLD, IT IS MEANINGLESS 🤯🤯🤯

• IF YOU ARE LIVING IN THIS WORLD A LIFE APART FROM GOD, YES, TIME WILL ERASE EVERYTHING

• TIME WILL ERASE EVERYTHING

• BUT…

• IS THERE MORE THAN TIME????

• If you are just looking for THIS life, then do whatever you want, because NONE of it matters

• BUT…

• If there is MORE THAN THIS LIFE

• If there is ETERNITY

• If there is an actual PURPOSE TO THIS LIFE

• Even if our choices don’t endure in THIS WORLD but they will endure in ETERNITY, THEN LIFE MATTERS

• This is what we will explore over the next four days

• ONLY IF GOD EXISTS

• ONLY IF GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR OUR LIVES

• ONLY IF GOD CARES ABOUT US

• ONLY IF WE ARE MADE IN HIS IMAGE AND LIKENESS

• DOES ANY CHOICE OF OURS MATTER...AT ALL

• If all that there is is THIS life, then EVERYTHING IN THIS LIFE WILL PASS AWAY

• If all there is is THIS WORLD, then EVERYTHING IN THIS WORLD WILL PASS AWAY

• That’s just how life is

• It is PASSING

• BUT…

• If there is more to this life than JUST THIS LIFE

• If there is the Lord God who SEES ALL THINGS

• And if there is the Lord God and your life MATTERS TO HIM

• THEN EVERYTHING WE DO MATTERS TO HIM

• So in our journey we are going to come to the question of meaning VS. meaninglessness

• The ONLY thing that can make this life MEANINGFUL is the REALITY that there is MORE THAN JUST THIS LIFE 🤯🤯🤯

• 4 more days until our next Messianic Checkpoint

• But in these days as we are facing the battle between MEANING and MEANINGLESS, KEEP PRAYING FOR EACH OTHER

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise and we thank you. And we do rise early and we pray to you. And we listen to your Word, whether early or midday or whatever random time of the day, Lord God. We allow you to speak your Word to us. Your Word of the story of Solomon building his own home and the Temple being constructed and the Word of the Lord from Ecclesiastes coming face to face with the limits of human living. The limits of human life, the limits of human strength, power, wisdom, work, and memory. With you, Lord God, though, righteousness and goodness and justice endures forever with you, Lord God. Our works endure forever. Without you, we can do nothing. But with you, all things are possible. Help us to do all things with you and for you and for the glory of your name. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”