Vanity of Vanities - Ecclesiastes Chapter 1

Ecclesiastes was one of the first books my wife and I read together when first starting to date, it was even one of the first books I read as a believer. In very incomplete thinking, I remember being so melancholy throughout and after the read. “You’re telling me God that these past 21 years before knowing You were all meaningless?” At first glance how do you not think similarly? The emotional roller coaster the author may put you through can leave feelings of confusion and gloominess of life itself. Was my life meaningless before God? Hard to say. But we can hold truth to a statement that will be expanded throughout Ecclesiastes:

Life without God is vanity. The vanity of vanities.

What is vanity? Your bible most likely has vanity or meaningless, but in Hebrew the word is habel (hab-ale’). There are three major definitions:

1.     Something transitory [of brief duration] and unsatisfactory

2.     Breath; vanity; idol

3.     Meaningless and purposeless

James said regarding not waiting to do good, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away (James 4:14).” While Job was in the middle of his sufferings cried out, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope. Oh, remember that my life is a breath! My eye will never again see good (Job 7:6-7).” Asaph sang in the Psalm about God’s kindness towards rebellious Israel, “For He remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again (Psalm78:39).”

Our life is a vapor. A midst in the wind.

Go get a cologne or perfume bottle and spray it in the air. Go outside and see someone smoke a cigarette. The midst, the smoke, the vapor. Here for a second, gone the next. Even though you can see it, smell it, even taste it; you’ll never be able to grasp it in your hands. It’s gone too soon.

Maybe the concept of life being vapor allows us to digest the word habel rather than meaningless. Because come on, everything is meaningless? Do I even have to start naming things? Even my teenage stepdaughter said, “Things must have a meaning. If God created things, then they must have some kind of meaning.”

Now we must propose the question if God gave us life, why wouldn’t He attach meaning or substance to it according to Solomon’s opening of Ecclesiastes?

            We must consider the person of Solomon for context. Estimated becoming king of Israel at 20 years old and dying around 60 with Ecclesiastes being written closer to the end of his life. Debatable of being considered greatest king of Israel in history alongside his father David. Under his reign was the construction of the first temple in Jerusalem, a large expansion of territory for Israel, economic prosperity, great wisdom, and many other milestones. In conclusion, life is vanity. Meaningless. No substance.

            Solomon first uses the vanity/grief of wisdom to explain his position. His pursuit of wisdom leads not only to being wise but also fell into madness and folly (foolishness). But didn’t God first give Solomon wisdom? Correct. During Solomon’s dream in 1 Kings chapter 3, God tells Solomon to ask for anything and He will give it to him. Solomon responds with a desire of wisdom because he acknowledges a need for an understanding mind to govern the people and discern between good & evil. I’m sorry for my ignorance, but how does that lead to, “And I set out my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven… (Ecclesiastes 1:13)”? Did I miss something? This leads to the next point:

Our unsatisfaction with what God has given us can lead to abusing what God has given us, resulting in grief.

Solomon had the God-given wisdom. God gave him such a wise & discerning mind that “none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you (1 Kings 3:12).” But it wasn’t good enough. He needed to know everything under heaven. What is Solomon left with? Grief. Knowing he will never be God. Knowing he wasted years chasing after wisdom instead of God. Wisdom became an empty idol for Solomon. This is the vanity of life. Chasing idols and not God himself. This is chasing after the wind and spoiler alert; you’ll never catch it. You’ll never be satisfied outside of God. You have a better chance of eating cotton candy until you feel full, and good luck with that one.

“There is nothing new under the sun.” Look at Eve in the garden in Genesis 3. Seeing the fruit was good, touching it and not dying, eventually being deceived of what the serpent told her. Even though God gave Adam and Eve access to all the tress except this one (coincidentally being the tree of knowledge of good & evil), they still ate. They wanted more. After what happened? Separation from God. Physical death later. Grief.

Was my life meaningless before meeting God? Hard to say. But what I do know is that life with God, is abundant with meaning to where my prior life looks meaningless. A boy who was at the end of himself with no hope stopped chasing life to find hope and found the God who gives hope. Keep in mind I said with God. Just because you knew God like Solomon doesn’t mean you can’t stray off the path. Just like the Trinity coexists with one another in tight fellowship, so are we supposed to have fellowship with Them. For however long we have left on earth, and forever in eternity.