Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 – a verse by verse devotional commentary

Main Reading: Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

v. 1 — “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.”

Well, it’s time to gather around and hear The Preacher. He’s calling together a congregation to hear what he has to say, and that’s why they call him קהֶלֶת Qoheleṯ—in Hebrew it means one who gathers a group. This title, "The Preacher," is unique to Ecclesiastes. But the related word, which refers to the assembly being preached to, is all over the Old Testament.

"Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law" (Deuteronomy 31:12).

"I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD" (Psalm 40:9).

Things were slightly different back then, when it came to preachers, kings, & congregations… Nowadays, you’ll never see a king or political leader delivering a sermon—most of them are hardly at church! But, in Old Testament times, kings were often responsible to pull everyone together and preach (1 Kin. 8:1, 2 Kin. 23:1–2, 2 Chron. 34:29–30). So, here, the preacher is the king. And, more than that, he’s the son of David.

Just so you know, this is the same introduction given to King Solomon in the Book of Proverbs. [That’s one big reason why tradition has it that he’s author]. And once you hear this Preacher talk about his experience with riches, accomplishment, & building projects,

you’ll start to believe that if Solomon isn’t the author of this book, it’s at least about him.

Now, if it’s the case—that Solomon wrote this book—some things may seem a little odd…

[The style of Hebrew and the figures of speech seem more recent than his lifetime, and he claims to be wiser than all the kings who ruled before him in Israel (but David was the only one)]. But even if Solomon himself didn’t write it…it’s clearly from his perspective, and maybe someone dug through his diary and wrote this from his entries.

With that in mind, everything you’re going to hear in this book comes from a man who was king! This is not a list of complaints from someone who had a hard, unfortunate life…It’s not from someone who was homeless, orphaned, terminally ill, or living paycheck to paycheck…

This guy had everything a man could want! Not only was he a king—he’s Israel’s most successful king. 1 Kings 4:25, 5:3-4 10:23, 27. There was no war, poverty, or lack under Solomon’s reign…and, yet, he still has this to say:

v. 2 — “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”

My parents worked several jobs so they could send me to a private Christian school, and starting in 7th grade, we had what was called “Ministry Team.” For 12-15 minutes after lunch, your classmates and a few juniors and seniors would meet for a devotional. Well, Ecclesiastes was the first book that my first ministry team ever went through together…I’m not telling you this to claim that I have great insights to share from that experience…In all honesty, I don’t remember anything about Ecclesiastes from back then. The only thing I can vividly recall is this word, “vanity”—I remember hearing the passages read and thinking to myself “Wow, this book sure is using the word ‘vanity’ a lot—and I don’t even know what it means!” So, maybe that’s you. Vanity isn’t a word we use often. The Hebrew word is הֶבֶל hevel, and it means unsatisfactory, meaningless, empty, unsubstantial, or worthless.

But, in this context, we’re not just talking about vanity…Solomon has in mind the vanity of vanities! When a Hebrew writer says “___ of ___” they’re expressing the most extreme level of whatever they’re talking about. The holiest place was the “Holy of Holies” [innermost Temple area where only priests could go]. The greatest love song in the Bible is the “Song of Songs” [aka Song of Solomon]. The highest ruler in the universe is the "King of kings” and “Lord of lords.” So, in verse 2, when the Preacher says the vanity of vanities—the emptiness of emptiness—he’s about to reveal the most useless, empty, and unsubstantial thing ever.

On top of that, you’ve got all this repetition going on: “vanity of vanities, he says, vanity of vanities,” What’s that about? Well, the Hebrew language doesn’t have superlatives [like bad, worse, & worst], So, they repeat things, instead, to get their points across [“Moses, Moses,” “Holy, Holy, Holy,” “Surely die/dyingly die” (Gen. 3)]. So, you’ve got repetition and superlatives, which means Solomon is really trying to let you know that he’s about to, once and for all, reveal what is the most pointless thing on the planet. And what might that be? Everything. “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”—everything this life offers is meaningless!

Some places in the Old Testament, הֶבֶל hevel—vanity—is translated as vapor [“Man is like a breath/vapor” (Ps. 144:4)] But we’re talking about the vapor of a vapor. Picture that for a second…A vapor coming off of a vapor! You thought a vapor—gas—was nothing, now just think of breath having breath, exhaust having exhaust! Solomon is saying: “Hot air, hot air, everything is hot air.”

A lot of people have the attitude that art, fun, hobbies, leisure, and things like that are meaningless. Then, this book comes along and says “No, it’s pretty much all meaningless!”

But, now, I don’t want you to think everything in the world is bad automatically…We know that God created everything and, in the beginning, it was good. But once sin entered the world, listen to what has happened: "For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope" (Romans 8:20). After The Fall, God made sure that this life would be so unfulfilling that we’d have to find satisfaction in the best thing in the universe—Him. So, Solomon said “everything is meaningless,”, and now he’s gonna start giving examples of everything:

v. 3 — “What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?”

You can hardly read anything more counter-cultural than Ecclesiastes…In the “American dream,” work has become way more than producing goods and selling services…Work now produces your identity. You don’t just have or do a job—today—you are your job. And the world all around us is urging us to run, and run, and run so we can to stay up-to-date…but what’s the point? You can never catch up anyways! Our consumer culture is designed to be so fast and so busy and so distracting that you never get around to asking questions like: “what’s the meaning of all this?”

This is the sad reality of our fallen world. This is life “under the sun,” Solomon says—a phrase he’ll use 29 times. So, we must ask ourselves: “what can be gained by living like this?” “What good is it to live and die by results in this world?” “Why am I so disappointed in my works and my rewards?” There’s nothing really to be gained in this life…and, for The Preacher, gain isn’t just having leftovers after cooking a nice homemade meal, or having extra money to put in your savings account after paying your bills, we’re talking about gain in the sense of actually adding something of substance to your life. Any gain you might think you’ve made is kinda like the stock market…It may go down and cause you to panic. But it may go up—however, you haven’t truly gained anything until you sell your shares, or in this case, until you die. Solomon’s question in verse 3 calls to mind Jesus’ question in Luke 9:25 and Mark 8:36, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?"

v. 4-7 — “A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.”

There’s nothing quite as humbling as this: “When you die, the sun will rise the next day,

the waves will crash and the world will move on.” In a generation or two, people might be aware of your name, but they really won’t know you. And if they do have anything to associate with your name, it might be all worst things about you! That’s how this works. The earth keeps going on like this…

In one sense, God built the earth to last, so it’s a good thing that it “remains forever.” "Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast" (Psalm 119:90). But really what this means is that, now, in a fallen world, we’re making no progress at all. We mow the grass, and it grows back…We wash the dishes, and they get dirty again. We do the same chores over and over…It is the same thing over and over again. We’ve been told a lie that this world is “going somewhere!” and humanity is “going places!” but it is not. There is no evolution…we are not going anywhere better on this earth…Human beings are not getting better.

And just to illustrate this never-ending cycle, we’ve got the sun in the sky every morning; rising and setting. [This isn’t some sort of scientific statement; we know the earth is moving, not the sun, but even weathermen and meteorologists still say “the sun rose”] The sun wakes up every morning, rushes to it’s position in the sky and then rushes back to where it came from. Seriously, this is how the Hebrew describes it: the sun שָׁאַף shaʾaph—the sun pants and inhales. So, just picture the sun running around a track gasping for air—even the stars are tired of this life! The same goes for the wind…it is constantly blowing, going, and blowing but never seems to get anywhere. And water too—rivers flow to-and-fro but they never arrive at a destination of rest…

v. 8 — “All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.”

Now, despite the cycles and the monotony, we’re over here making ourselves weary looking for new things to see and hear! There’s nothing new and yet we’re never satisfied and always searching. Our eyes want shiny new toys to look at and our ears want a new piece of gossip to devour, and even these things don’t end up satisfying our cravings. And for all our efforts to create or discover something new, nothing really changes…

v. 9-10 — “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, 'See, this is new’? It has been already in the ages before us.”

You’ve probably heard the phrase: “the more things change, the more they stay the same”

It’s all too accurate…Life is a lot like Groundhog Day with Bill Murray—every day is exactly the same. We’re stuck on a hamster wheel of trying, trying, trying but we don’t make any progress. There’s nothing new under the sun—no one’s ever gonna discover an 8th day of the week or a 25th hour in the day. Now, I’m not denying new inventions…this is just an acknowledgment that, in the past, there was death, taxes, and disobedient children, and in the future it’ll be the same way. The future is simply a repeat of the past, though it may feel new because this is the first time it’s happening to you. Sure! We’ve cured diseases and advanced technology. But then what happens? Other diseases—pandemics even—pop-up! And technology causes new problems. We’ve merely kicked the can down the road to a new area of meaninglessness. And if there is anything new today, people won’t care about it tomorrow…

v. 11 — “There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.”

If you haven’t gotten the message yet…let me just ask you: “Can you name your great grandparents?” Probably not. Odds are, you never met them. And, if you did, you’re in the lucky 1/3 of the population. Most people are forgotten—even Joseph—who’s story takes up 13 chapters in Genesis and was the second command in all of Egypt—died and was forgotten. "Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph" (Exodus 1:8). The point is—“there is no remembrance of former things”—most great things in history come crumbling down when the subsequent generations take over…and everything we’re working on now will end up the same.

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Everything The Preacher has said is true, but there was one kink in this broken and repetitious system…Something happened in creation to where, instead of everything being pointless, it all has meaning. Something occurred, and now the rising and setting of the sun—day & night—no longer feels like an endless cycle…it now resembles a death and resurrection!

There was something that took place in this world that was a new thing—the first and

only new thing—where God Himself said “Behold! I am doing a new thing” (Isaiah 43:19).

Something happened in this world that says: “Behold! I am making all things new!” (Revelation 21:5).

Something’s happened to where all your toil—your labor—is not in vain but in the Lord!

"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Something has happened to where generation will come and go, but you will not be forgotten, God will remember you forever. "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me" (Isaiah 49:15-16).

And that something is when God the Son came to join us under the Sun in the person of Jesus Christ.