Arguably the most profound book in the Hebrew Bible, rivaled only by Job , Ecclesiastes confronts the hard questions about
human life that few of us would dare to ask, let alone attempt to answer. The central question explored by the author, commonly believed to be King Solomon, is how human beings ought to live in a world where misfortune strikes randomly, evil undermines good, life is short, and death is inevitable.
The author, who refers to himself as the Preacher, laments that in the final analysis “all is vanity.” Human beings strive for great achievements and work to build something lasting, but these prove to be vain ambitions. Labor is vain because once a person dies, the memory of what they accomplished in their life is forgotten, and the fruit of their labor falls into the hands of those who waste it. The accumulation of wealth is vain because all your days are cursed with anxiety, and when you die you can’t take any of it with you. The pursuit of wisdom is vain because God is inscrutable, there is no end to knowledge, and the more you know about the evils of this world the more pain you feel.
Pleasure is vain because it does not accomplish anything.
There are numerous reasons for believing that King Solomon authored Ecclesiastes . For one thing, he identifies himself as David’s son and a king in Jerusalem. What’s more, we know that Solomon was famed for having the gift of wisdom, and whoever wrote Ecclesiastes is sharing what he has learned at the
conclusion of a life lived in pursuit of wisdom. But also there are few people in biblical history who possessed the magnitude of wealth and power to be able to pursue the kinds of pastimes and pleasures that the Preacher claims to have indulged in. With his tremendous wealth he built houses, planted vineyards, constructed ponds, purchased slaves, acquired flocks of animals, and took pleasure in innumerable concubines. It is from this experiment in hedonism that he comes to the conclusion that the pursuit of pleasure is ultimately a vain exercise.
The Preacher does acknowledge that there is a measure of good in possessing wisdom. Wisdom can prolong your life, it can deliver you from danger, and it can help you to know your place before God. Yet he also warns that anything pursued in excess will ultimately disappoint. “Do not be excessively righteous, and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?” he asks. For whatever virtue you possess, whether wisdom or otherwise, it cannot make you immune from ill fortune or the oppression of evildoers. The sufferings inflicted by those in authority can drive even the wisest person mad. And if you happen to be a poor man, even if you are wiser than the king himself and single-handedly deliver a city from disaster, most likely your contribution will quickly be forgotten.
The conclusion the Preacher comes to is this: Fear God, keep his commandments, and be content with your lot. Rejoice in your labors, enjoy the wife of your youth, and don’t fret about tomorrow. Eat, drink and be merry, knowing that your days are fleeting under the sun. Because only God knows the appointed time for everything. Only he knows what fortune or misfortune will befall you on any given day. And in the end he will bring the deeds of every human being to light and judgment, whether good or evil.