Ecclesiastes 1:1-11--Everything Is Futile

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11​
Christian Standard Bible

Everything Is Futile
1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem.

2 “Absolute futility,” says the Teacher.
“Absolute futility. Everything is futile.”
3 What does a person gain for all his efforts
that he labors at under the sun?
4 A generation goes and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets;
panting, it hurries back to the place
where it rises.
6 Gusting to the south,
turning to the north,
turning, turning, goes the wind,
and the wind returns in its cycles.
7 All the streams flow to the sea,
yet the sea is never full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than anyone can say.
The eye is not satisfied by seeing
or the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Can one say about anything,
“Look, this is new”?
It has already existed in the ages before us.
11 There is no remembrance of those who came before;
and of those who will come after
there will also be no remembrance
by those who follow them.

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First, some introduction to the book is necessary.  The purpose of this book is to take humanism, materialism, and practical Atheism (living as if there was no God, even if you really know He exists, and might say with your lips that you believe in Him, but your lifestyle says otherwise) to its logical end.  The words of the first eleven chapters are true in the sense that if the given premises are true, then these are true conclusions, but the arguments made are invalid because the premises are not true.  They therefore lead to a false conclusion and an improper worldview.  This is all corrected when we get to the conclusion of the matter in chapter 12, but you have to realize that the first eleven chapters are not to teach up how we should think, but to reveal to us the hopelessness (we might say "lostness") of someone who is not a child of God.

You may also notice that I've switched versions.  The Southern Baptist Convention has finished their work on the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) and this is the primary version/translation they will start using in their Sunday School materials and other printed materials, so they won't have to pay royalties to others. Since I'm going to be seeing much of this version at church, in my community groups, and in the Bible studies that I attend, I decided to start familiarizing myself with it here.  My choosing to use this version for myself is in no way saying that I think it's "better" than any other version I've used in the past, and whatever true and faithful version that you find most helpful for you is what you should use.  I should have some blogs on which translations are more "word-for-word" and which are more "thought-for' thought," The CSB (formerly the HCSB) is close to the middle, but trends slightly towards the word-for-word side of things.

With all that in mind, let's get started on this book of Wisdom literature.  Though the author does not name himself, the first verse tells us this is written by King Solomon.  He examines his life and all the mistakes that he has made, living a pretty godless lifestyle.  He sought pleasure in the things of this world that could never satisfy his soul.  He weighs his life and finds it void of meaning and value--he comes to the conclusion it is utterly worthless and futile (again, remember this is the conclusion of a person only looking at things "under the sun" and not considering God or eternity).  Generations come and go, but no one remembers them or the work they toiled so hard for.  The earth remains, but all the work we do to tame it and make it more habitable and hospitable decays and comes to ruin (the Law of Entropy--without constant work to maintain them, things move from order to disorder).

Life goes on well after we die.  The sun does not continue to run its course, the winds maintain their patterns, the world keeps on springing and revolving around the sun, and generations continue to be born, live, and die.  Really, we are not that important in the grand scheme of things--we're pretty insignificant.  Why then do we have such pride?  What makes us think that somehow, we are going to change the world forever?  To try to fight this natural cycle of things is wearisome, and a battle that we will lose.  It's just like how the rain must run into the streams which must in turn run their course back into the seas and oceans.  Nothing will stop this from ultimately occurring.  We may build some dams along the way to slow things down, but eventually that water will make it back to the seas and oceans to start the cycle all over again.

Doesn't it make you kind of worn out and a little depressed just thinking about it all?  That's what King Solomon is trying to impart to his son.  Don't think you are like the pagan kings that imagine themselves to be gods.  We can't control the sun, moon, stars, wind, weather, or waters.  Only God can do that.  All of this has been the same for generations ago and will continue for generations to come, "There is nothing new under the sun."  This will be a refrain that will return throughout this book both as we examine man and nature.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.

In fact, that is where we end for today.  Is there anything you can think of and point to and say that it's completely new and never been done in some way before?  Many people scoff at this and say that this may have been true for Solomon that didn't have all the technological advances of our day, but certainly he wouldn't say the same thing if he could see things today.  Actually, I think he'd come to much the same conclusion.  Is the computer not based on what God already designed in the human brain?  Did we not observe birds and other flying creatures to figure out how to make airplanes?  Isn't everything "man-made" simply derivative of something that was "God-made"?  Can man really come up with something "new"?  Solomon posits that the answer to this question is "no."  We may be "inventive," but we can't be truly "creative" where we come up with something from nothing in the way that the LORD did in Genesis 1.  We'll see this apply even to philosophies and worldviews.  People think they are studying something new or have come up with a new way of thinking or worshiping, but really it is based on something ancient.  There truly is nothing new under the sun, because the only one who can bake something out of nothing is the LORD in heaven.  Mortal man cannot work such a miracle even though great physical labor or mental gymnastics.  We still come back to the fact that things abide by the laws that God instituted at Creation and everything He has made are the only things that we have to use as models and points of reference.  Therefore, all of our work is and will always be derivative in nature.  Solomon finds this vain and meaningless because we can't really make a name for ourselves or take credit for anything--all credit ultimately goes to the LORD.