Ecclesiastes: Is Life Lived in Vain?

Ecclesiastes 1:1-2 (CSB)

The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem.

“Absolute futility,” says the Teacher.“Absolute futility. Everything is futile.”

Ecclesiastes is an unusual book of the Bible, isn’t it? Is everything futile? Is life lived in vain? Today, we are going to answer that question, but first, a little background about this book.

Most people agree that Solomon, who became king after his father David died, wrote Ecclesiastes. Although there is some debate that maybe someone else wrote it, given the experiences the “teacher” mentions, it’s only logical, though, that the author is Solomon.

But I think you’ll agree that if we only read the beginning of Ecclesiastes, it seems rather out of place in the Bible, especially if we take select verses by themselves. Take verse 10:19, for example: “A feast is prepared for laughter, and wine makes life happy, and money is the answer for everything.” Sounds like the world’s basic philosophy of life, doesn’t it? Ecclesiastes is a fluid thought, though, so we need to read it in its entirety for it to make sense.  

Ecclesiastes was included in the Bible, so we shouldn’t dismiss it, thinking that it contradicts God’s word. But is Solomon correct? Is everything meaningless? Are we struggling through this life in vain? Have you ever had thoughts like this? Solomon was wrestling with deep existential thoughts. He should probably get more credit than he’s given for being the first philosopher. It’s proof of his intelligence.

If you remember, the Lord came to him in a dream and told him he could have anything he wanted. Instead of saying riches or a long life, he asked the Lord for wisdom, and God granted him wisdom. And because he asked for wisdom, God also gave him riches. So, Solomon became the wisest, richest ruler that had ever lived. With all this wisdom and blessing from the Lord, he must have been the greatest, most faithful follower of God, right? Surely, he would be too wise to disobey God’s laws.

Well, I think we all know what happened. For all his wisdom, Scripture tells us that in his old age, all his many wives and concubines turned his heart away from God. He followed other gods and set up places to worship them. 1 Kings 11:6 says, “Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and unlike his father David, he did not remain loyal to the Lord.”

How can someone who had so much wisdom fail so miserably? Shouldn’t wisdom have kept him from all this foolishness? We can’t ask him directly, but we kind of can. As we read through this book, we can get a further glimpse into his line of thinking.

Let’s look at more of what Solomon wrote, condensed for length, in 1:3-2:11:

3 What does a person gain for all his effortsthat he labors at under the sun?

8 All things are wearisome,more than anyone can say.

9 What has been is what will be...there is nothing new under the sun.

11 There is no remembrance of those who came before;and of those who will come after...there will also be no remembrance.

14 I have seen all the things done under the sunand found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

17 I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge...I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.

18 For with much wisdom is much sorrow;as knowledge increases, grief increases.

2:1 I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good.”But it turned out to be futile.

10 All that my eyes desired, I did not deny them.I did not refuse myself any pleasure...This was my reward for all my struggles.

11 When I considered all that I had accomplished...I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind.There was nothing to be gained under the sun.

These are the words of someone who has experienced everything. Someone who has “been there, done that,” and he basically says, “it’s all the same.” There is nothing new. He says the more he knows, the worse he feels. You know the saying, “ignorance is bliss”? I think Solomon would agree with that. He is a man deeply unsatisfied.

Picking up in chapter 2:17-23, he says, “Therefore, I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind. I hated all my work that I labored at under the sun because I must leave it to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile. So I began to give myself over to despair concerning all my work that I had labored at under the sun. When there is a person whose work was done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a person who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great wrong. For what does a person get with all his work and all his efforts that he labors at under the sun? For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.”

Solomon is reflecting on his life. No one had the wealth, resources, power and wisdom that Solomon had. Yet, he is stating that all that he accomplished and experienced was ultimately meaningless! He hated life. Is Solomon correct? Do we live this life in vain? Is everything futile? So many people agree with this idea that there is even a philosophy of life based on this concept. It’s called Nihilism.

If I didn’t know that God is real, I would most likely be a nihilist. A nihilist rejects the value and meaning of life because they think there are no principles or purpose in living. I don’t see how people who do not believe in God can be anything but a nihilist. For what is the purpose of life if God doesn’t exist? A nihilist thinks that true knowledge is impossible, all of life is meaningless, and nothing can actually be known or understood because everything is pointless.

At this point in this book, it seems like this is Solomon’s philosophy, but how can this be? Why would Solomon, who literally had everything that anyone could ever want, hate life? He says that he hated all the things he worked for because he knew he “must leave them to the one who comes after” him. This tells me he at least had wisdom enough to know that he can’t take all the stuff he’s acquired with him when he dies.

If you know anything about ancient Egyptians, they believed that after they died, they could take all their possessions with them to the afterlife. The wealthy Egyptians built giant pyramids to hold all the stuff they would need after death. I bring up the Egyptian concept of the afterlife because one of Solomon’s wives was the daughter of a Pharoah. 1 Kings 11:1-4 tells us, “King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter, […] women from the nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, ‘You must not intermarry with them […] because they will turn your heart away to follow their gods.’ […] He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred who were concubines, and they turned his heart away. When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been.” Why did Solomon, who was supernaturally wise, fail to follow God’s ways? If Solomon, for all his wisdom, can’t follow God, is there any hope for the rest of us?

Solomon was wise enough to know the Egyptians were wrong—you can’t take it with you when you die—yet, for all his wisdom, Solomon made terrible choices. Knowing the right thing to do, and actually doing the right thing, are clearly two different things. I think that is why we see him, here in Ecclesiastes, regretting so many of those choices and hating his life.

Let’s keep reading what he wrote. Chapter 3 is perhaps the most well known of the chapters, but verse 1 is a good summary; it says, “There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven.” Solomon saw that God created our lives to move in seasons. Much like the earth cycles weather seasons, everything moves in cycles. Then, Solomon’s conclusion in light of all this is seen in 3:22, which says, “I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies?”

Solomon is saying: enjoy the moment, enjoy the present, because no one can see the future. No one can see what will come next. If we live for however many years long, then die, evaporating into nothingness, why would anything matter? Shouldn’t we just “live it up” as much as we can today?

Even though work, riches, pleasure or success cannot offer us fulfillment, we don’t need to be nihilistic in our attitude. This life is not pointless. Thinking that “things” alone can give our lives meaning is pointless, though. Even a lot of unbelievers realize that “things” don’t bring fulfillment. When you ask people at the end of their life what was important or what they regret, they don’t wish they worked more or acquired more. One of the most common things people say is they wish they had worked less. They regret they didn’t spend more time with their loved ones, spending time on the things that really matter.

We must remember, though, that this is Solomon’s conclusion as someone who was not following God’s ways. Chapters 4-11 are full of specific observations and things that he regrets. He gives advice on how to live, what to avoid, and what to do. Finally, at the end of chapter 11:9-11, Solomon says: “Rejoice, young person, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the desire of your eyes; but know that for all of these things God will bring you to judgment. Remove sorrow from your heart, and put away pain from your flesh, because youth and the prime of life are fleeting.”

Solomon is saying, ‘Do whatever your heart leads you to do. Live it up while you’re young, do whatever you want, but remember that God will judge you for everything you do.’ And he adds, in 12:1, “So remember your Creator in the days of your youth: Before the days of adversity come, and the years approach when you will say, ‘I have no delight in them’.” Then, almost as an aside, he states again, in 12:8, “’Absolute futility,’ says the Teacher. ‘Everything is futile.’”

Finally, Solomon ends in 12:13-14, saying, “When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: fear God and keep his commands, because this is for all humanity. For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.”

In all of this, Solomon’s not wrong. Youth is fleeting. We are older longer than we are young. Why waste your youth feeling sorrowful? And, God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil. Again, Solomon shows his wisdom, while at the same time showing us how he regrets the time he spent pursuing vain endeavors.  

I like how the ERV version translates those end verses. 12:13-14 says, “Now, what should we learn from everything that is written in this book? The most important thing a person can do is to respect God and obey his commands, because he knows about everything people do—even the secret things. He knows about all the good and all the bad, and he will judge people for everything they do.”

The purpose of our life is to fear God and keep His commandments. This gives our life meaning. If we pursue anything else and expect those things to give us fulfillment—it won’t work. Only by following God will we find fulfillment. It seems like by the end of his life, Solomon understood this. He did everything under the sun and ended up hating life. He found it unfulfilling and meaningless. It was all in vain. He lived life to the fullest, according to the ways of the world, and he discovered it did nothing to give his life real purpose or meaning. It was not satisfying in the end. It was “absolute futility.”

But if we remember that the purpose of life is to follow God, then everything we do will be seen as a gift from God. The things that God gives us to enjoy or work at are not the meaning of life, but are a gift from God. As Jesus said in John 10:10, “I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.”

We will only have proper thinking if we have a proper perspective, though, and the only way we can have a proper perspective is if we set our minds on Christ. Colossians 3:2 tells us to, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” If we set our minds on things above, then we will understand that life is bigger than what we can see here on this earth. This life is just a blip compared to eternity with Christ. When I had doubts about going to Bible college or doubts about homeschooling, those doubts were a result of incorrect thinking. I had to spend time in prayer so Jesus could show me where my thinking was off. He would remind of what is actually important in life. I had to spend time with Him though, or “enter the sanctuary of God,” as Asaph concluded in Psalm 73, in order to have my perspective changed and stop doubting. Now, in hindsight, I am so thankful that I obeyed when God called me to Bible college, and I have never regretted His call to homeschool.

If Solomon was given the opportunity to live his life over, do you think he would have done things differently? It seems like it to me. We have an advantage over him, though. We have all of Scripture and the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us. We can even take Solomon’s advice: we should fear God and keep His Commandments, while enjoying the many gifts that He gives to us. Throughout every season of our lives, there are so many things to be thankful for. The greatest being the gift of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ.

A life that’s lived apart from God is meaningless, and Solomon felt the way he did because he was not following God’s ways. He was following his own way, pursuing fleshly desires, focusing on material things, storing up treasures on earth, and he ended up worshipping false idols. It’s only because he was gifted with so much incredible wisdom that, in the end, he was able to reach the correct conclusion that life lived in that way is absolute futility.

As people who don’t want to live like the world, we don’t have to fear that our life is futile or meaningless. Of course, when we stray off God’s path and we spend time on things that don’t matter, then yes, those things are futile endeavors. Those things will get burned up in the end. The things that do matter, the things we did for God’s glory, those things will last for all eternity. We will be rewarded for our good works done for Jesus.

What Solomon is recorded as saying does line up with the rest of Scripture. Even those odd verses, like the one I mentioned at the beginning of this sermon, which says, “A feast is prepared for laughter, and wine makes life happy, and money is the answer for everything.” As people, we do prepare feasts to bring us joy; wine was originally created for good; and money does seem to be the answer for everything. Unfortunately, people overindulge in food and alcohol and so things that were made to be good have become stumbling blocks and must be regulated or avoided. The love of money is the root of all evil; however, money is essential for survival. The key is that we need to look to God to be our true source of joy, and our financial provider. Instead of worshiping money, we should rely on God and use the money He gives us for His purposes. So, rather than simply looking at Ecclesiastes and taking all of Solomon’s advice at face value, we need to make sure that we’re viewing his advice through the proper lens of faith—with hearts that are enlightened.

Ephesians 1:18-19 says, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.”

God has a greater purpose and calling for our lives than the ideas the world offers us. What is success in the eyes of the world compared to the wealth of His glorious inheritance if we follow Him? As Jesus said in what Mark 8:36, “For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life?”

I want to tell you something that sounds simple, but for some reason, is difficult to remember: the way of Jesus is the exact opposite of the way of the world. The world wants us to find our identity and value in what we do. Jesus tells us to find our identity and value in Him.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” Our job is to seek the kingdom of God, not to seek “things” for ourselves. He tells us, I have a greater calling for you. He said, in Luke 9:23, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

If we are seeking first the kingdom of God, above all other things, then it doesn’t matter if we are not doing all the things that the world would have us do or chase after. Jesus has a greater calling on our lives than what the world recognizes as “success.” Solomon did all the things. He was the greatest, the wealthiest, the most successful, the smartest, the most recognized and rewarded. Yet, at the end of the day, he said it is “absolute futility.”

He’s right, by the way. It is absolute futility to try and find meaning in the stuff of the world. It’s all meaningless. It’s a waste of time. If we are trying to build things that God has not called us to, then it’s all in vain. Psalm 127:1, which, by the way, is a psalm of Solomon, says, “Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain; unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain.”

Jesus echoes this same thought in John 15:5 (NIV), which says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Jesus is saying that true fruitfulness, meaning, purpose, and eternal value come only by abiding in Him. Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing of any value. It’s all meaningless apart from what He has called us to do.  

If we are running after things that the Lord has not called us to do, then we are doing those things in vain.

Instead of focusing on meaningless things, we should focus on becoming who Jesus has called us to become.

Jesus has a greater calling for you. It’s not to do for Him, it’s to be for Him. He’s far more concerned about who we are than what we do. Of course, our actions prove who we are. But we could do all the right things and still be completely corrupt inside our hearts. God sees into our hearts, and His concern is that we are abiding in Him. That’s our priority. That’s what gives our lives meaning and purpose.

Without Christ, life is absolute futility. But with Christ, life has purpose, and we bear lasting fruit.

All the things we focus on that do not glorify God—those things will be burned up. But all the things we did that bring glory to God, those things will last for eternity. Not only is life without God lived in vain, but life in Christ is where meaning is found.

So, is life meaningless? No, but life apart from God is meaningless. Life with God is full of meaning. What Solomon learned the hard way, we can embrace with joy: Fear God, obey Him, and enjoy the gifts He gives in every season.

Let’s stop building what the world says matters and start building what God has called us to become. Because only what is done in Christ will last, and only then will our life have meaning.

Pray: Heavenly Father, we love You and praise You. Please forgive us for focusing on things that are meaningless. Help us to focus instead on following You. Please help us become the people You have called us to become. Please shape us more and more into better reflections of Your son Jesus. When we start to doubt and feel pressure to be like the world, please draw us to You, so You can give us eyes to see correctly. Help us remember that Your goal for us is that we become more like You every day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.