Ecclesiastes 1

6/9/02

SCC

Here is a rhetorical question which expects a negative response. The word advantage refers to what remains in the sense of a net profit. He is not saying there is nothing good about work but that the work engaged in does not yield a long-term profit. The phrase under the sun is also used 29 times and means on the earth, life here and now. Just last nite I had loaded the dishwasher with a number of glasses that had been used throughout the day. Later still, out of nowhere, an hour or two later were another 5 glasses I had to somehow stuff into that dishwasher to get washed. So much of our work is cyclical and forever it seems. I mean, how many times have we washed those exact same glasses! Work is futile because it produces nothing ultimately satisfying to us.

(1) The endless cycles of life 4. The searcher has discovered that humanity is transient while nature is permanent. A generation comes and goes, goes and comes-the human race passes on from this life but the earth remains forever. The point is that since man is not permanent it is obvious that his work cannot be either on this earth. His work may outlive him, like a building it’s builder or a company it’s founder but even building come down and businesses bought out, disappear or close.

(2) The endless cycle of nature 5-7. In nature many things recur in cyclical pattern. A. The cycle of the sun apparently rising and setting 5. Scurrying around the dark side of earth while we are sleeping only to be there in the east again when we awaken. That has been going on as long as time has existed. It is endless and repetitive. B. The circuit of the winds blowing toward the south and then turning to the North 6. Swirling here and there always in a circular pattern. C. The cycle of evaporation 7. We never have a rainstorm that makes it unnecessary to have more rainstorms. Our work is never complete in the sense that we never finally arrive at point where no more work is necessary. There is always more that needs to be done. Our garden is an example. Any homeowner knows this.

A. An Investigation of human achievement 12-15 The writer tells us of the unique resources he had for investigating life 12. King of Israel, possessed superlative wisdom he made an exhaustive study of human activities 14. The highest authority none could challenge, peace in the land 40 yrs, amassed greatest wealth in history of his realm, investigated widely. He concludes that its all a grievous task. Striving after wind 14 verifies that in his search he found no type of effort or action that can produce something ultimately permanent and therefore satisfying. In 15 he quotes a proverb meaning that it is difficult for man to discover answers to life because when he sees something wrong there is an inbuilt difficulty, something wrong inside of man, his sin nature, that prevents him from correcting it. This a one of greatest frustrations in life that no matter how hard you try some things cannot be made straight. Information, connections, power, none of it can help.

B. An Evaluation of Human Achievement 16-18. In this investigation he used wisdom, human intelligence to ferret out truth and meaning. But it was inadequate to turn up any meaningful activity in human experience. Consequently wisdom was in this respect no better than madness and folly 17. In the end greater wisdom had only brot greater grief, mental anguish and pain, emotional sorrow. There a 2 things we cannot know from only studying life under the sun apart from God revealing it to us.

(1) History is linear rather than cyclical. Reincarnation comes from cyclical view ensuring absence of any meaningful judgment, can make it up in next life.