Ecclesiastes and Vanity

The book of Ecclesiastes begins with these sobering words of Solomon: "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity."  Solomon then goes into a severe indictment over the uselessness of every form of life, from wisdom to folly, from pleasure to prudence, Solomon ends this small book of wisdom before the epilogue in the same way that the book begins, "Vanity of vanities...All is vanity!"

Think of the profundity of Solomon's assertion.  The wisest man to ever live (apart from Christ Jesus) has seen everything under the sun, all of man's toil and strife as well as all of man's joys and pleasures, and Solomon's final analysis is that "All is vanity." To be sure, Solomon's verdict is more than somber, it is downright depressing but under more analysis, Solomon is painting a picture of life and wisdom.

A bit of introductory information is in order.  Ecclesiastes is one of the Old Testament Writings, the third part of the Old Testament that is more like a miscellaneous bin of various writings, like Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Esther, that do not fit with the rest of the Old Testament.  In fact, this book completes the trifecta of wisdom books, the other two being Job and Proverbs, that offer differing views on the value of wisdom.  Because of this, Ecclesiastes should be considered in relation to the other wisdom books.  That being said, Ecclesiastes does have some good and useful things to say about wisdom and life.

Although Solomon's tone is less-than encouraging in regards to the uselessness of life, he does indicate that there is value to be had in enjoying one's work (2:24), value in timing and enjoying life (3:1-113),  value in enjoying work and simple pleasures (5:18), value in mourning (6:2-4), value of enjoying work and life (9:7-9), value of wisdom (10:10), and the value of praising the Lord in the days of youth (12:1).  Sense a theme?

Solomon, though thoroughly negative in his understanding of the vanity of life, is clear that man should work hard and toil with joy while rejoicing in the simple pleasures without over indulging.  The point is that wisdom is better than folly and taking joy in simple pleasures is a good gift from the Lord that adds enjoyment to man's toil-laden life.

Although this particular discussion was information-heavy, it should still compel us to take time to day to praise God for the gift of a good cup of coffee, the joy of a nice breeze, or the kiss of a child.  God has blessed us with little gifts and we should praise Him for them!