Ecclesiastes 2:18-26 – a verse by verse devotional commentary

Main Reading: Ecclesiastes 2:18-24

When I was growing up, my dad worked at Fair Vending Company. It was great at first and was owned and operated by an ambitious, old entrepreneur. But when his kids took over...the ship began to sink. Such is life. And you see this frustrating pattern played out in this reading from Ecclesiastes.

v. 18-23 — “I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.”

Many people take pride in their work. Some are even “work-a-holics.” These people find their identity in a job, a title, or a full resume of professional accomplishments. When you start out as a young professional, you might be motivated by the idea of “becoming somebody” or “making something of your self.” But behind all those career motivations—if we can be honest—is an interest in having money.

We want to find financial success so that we can have a house, provide for a family, and be comfortable. There’s nothing really wrong with that, just as long as this idea of an easy life of wealth doesn’t become your sole purpose of existence…If this life has become all about acquiring stuff, security, and a savings account, you’re in for a rude awakening when you die and all of it disappears…Wealth can’t be truly enjoyed because you can’t keep it! [You’ve no doubt heard the illustration that you’ve never seen a U-Haul being towed by hearse]. Even if you could keep your money in the next life, it wouldn’t be worth anything…Because money is only valuable when there’s something to exchange it for.

Solomon figured this out. It’s not bad to be a hard worker who finds success…But if that’s where you’re looking for joy and meaning in life, you’ll be disappointed. One day, you’ll have to leave it all behind…In the last section, I pointed out how Solomon’s words:

“I built houses, I planted gardens, and I bought slaves” (Ecc. 2:4-8) were similar to

the words of the Rich Fool in one of Jesus’ parables: “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry” (Lk. 12:19). And there’s a detail that makes this connection even more explicit…Solomon questions whether living for work is worth it, because you’ll have to leave it all behind (v. 18-19). And God’s words to the Rich Fool deliver the same reality check. "But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’" (Luke 12:20).

For Solomon, the idea that everything he worked for—everything he explored & searched for meaning in—would be handed to someone else who came after him is a great injustice!

Solomon had a legitimate fear of who would eventually inherit this empire he had built…

And his dread over his descendants ends up being somewhat justified…The only son of Solomon that the Bible tells us about is Rehoboam. While some indeed grew tired of Solomon, 10/12 tribes split off under Rehoboam (1 Kings 11:11-12, 35-36, 12:1-14)!

Even if it feels like you’ve somehow managed to gain something in this life, someone else will come right behind you and screw it all up! No matter how well you write your last will & testament, things can still go wrong with your estate… And with that reality looming over us, it’s no wonder that Solomon says “All man’s days are filled with sorrow and his work is frustrating” (2:23). He’s echoing a Psalm from centuries before spoken by Moses. "The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away" (Psalm 90:10).

Now, many people hear Solomon and the Psalms say: “Life is short and meaningless,”

so they complain and conclude that we should just give up and quit our jobs. But here’s what Solomon goes on to say:

v. 24-25 — “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?”

Martin Luther wrote that this verse is Qohelet’s “principle conclusion” and “a remarkable passage”—the main point of the whole book.

All of a sudden, Solomon sounds like he’s telling us to party! And, in fact, this text was read every autumn at the annual Feast of Tabernacles, a giant camping trip to commemorate how God brought Israel through the wilderness. But what changed? Why—after 2 chapters of saying “life sucks” and “nothing has meaning” Does he say “there’s nothing better than enjoying life”? Well, because God has entered the picture!

As soon as Solomon quit testing pleasure, seeking wisdom, gathering stuff, acquiring treasure, ruling over his own life, making things for himself, He realized something… All the good things in the world that he’d been chasing can only be given by God.

v. 26 — “For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.”

Here, he spells it out. Solomon wanted wisdom. He needed knowledge. And he just couldn’t seem to find pure joy. But here’s what he discovered: all these things he’d been striving for will be given to those who please God. Now, that’s somewhat of a strange thing for Solomon to say… We actually have Bible verses that say Solomon displeased the LORD.

"So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done...And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice" (1 Kings 11:6, 9).

But, again, here’s we must realize that none of us have pleased God by what we have done… There was only one Man to ever do that. And when He arrived on the scene,

this is what happened: "And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16-17). So, if you’re going to be pleasing to God, you have to be related to—united with—this Man in some way.

The New Testament reveals that we are in Christ by faith in Him—and because of that

“without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). “And how does this work?” you might ask. Well, it’s simple.

When Jesus died, after His 33 years of hard work, wisdom, and obedience, He left us an inheritance. Jesus died, and all the benefits of His work, the fruits of His blood, sweat, toil, & tears get passed down to us—the people who didn’t work for it!

And so, now, we no longer have to live a life that tries to manipulate our monotonous existence, Or endlessly chase after a guaranteed, comfortable future to benefit us… Instead, we live by this promise of eternal life. We can now work—enjoy our work—and drop the self-centered outlook on things by leaving an inheritance for our children (Pr. 13:22). And we can find pleasure in life knowing that God gave us "richly all things to enjoy" (1 Tim. 6:17)!