Sunday, September 2, 2018 pm
STUDIES IN ECCLESIASTES
(2)
Nothing New Under the Sun
Ecclesiastes 1:1-11
Last month we began a monthly study of the
book of Ecclesiastes.
This book is Solomon’s search for the meaning of life.
This is a book filled with practical wisdom for our every day
life. It was written by
Solomon, who was blessed with wisdom from God.
Solomon wisely concludes the ultimate result of life – fear God
and keep His commandments.
We will notice some of his observations on his way to that truthful
conclusion.
a.
All
(material and worldly
pursuits)
is vanity – emptiness. Vapor or breath.
It is word found about 75 times in the Old Testament, of which
38 are in Ecclesiastes.
In reference to things – the word means in the grand scheme this world,
it is nothing, worthless or without value.
In reference to mankind – it is emptiness or futility.
b.
What profit has a man
for all his labor in which he toils under the sun?
How many today, pursue wealth, fame, power, entertainment and pleasures,
or luxury - thinking that they will give one completion or fulfillment?
Only to find out that the pursuit of such things often leave you
empty. How many search for
real meaning in this life, but refuse to acknowledge God in their
pursuits, only to find themselves empty or unfulfilled?
Matthew 16:26 - what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world…?
1 Timothy 6:17 challenged Timothy to warn the wealthy not to pursue
“uncertain riches”.
Consider James 4:14 – your life is a vapor that appears for a little
while and then vanishes away.
Friends, there is futility when we put our hope in the things of
this life. 1 Corinthians
15:19 is clear that if in this life only we have hope, we are of all men
most pitiable.
c.
There is one exception
to this – if one fears God and keeps His commandments (12:12-14).
a.
One generation passes,
another generation comes
(4).
We are all going to die (unless the Lord returns).
Moses in Psalm 90:10 said, The
days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they
are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is
soon cut off, and we fly away.
Hebrews 9:27. When we
die that is it. We do not
take anything with us. This
is an oft repeated emphasis of this book.
b.
The earth abides forever
(4-7)
i.
Following up on the fate
of man’s short life, we read, “but the earth abides forever”.
The world goes on.
There is NO ONE who is so indispensable that the world cannot continue
without him. VERY few have a
lasting impact that causes their names to be remembered by any beyond
their generation. BUT
the world goes on!
ii.
The sun rises and sets…,and continues on its circuit – and with such precision that
we can tell to the second when the sun will set and rise for decades to
come. After the flood, this
was promised by God – Genesis 8:22, “While
the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and
summer, And day and night Shall not cease.”
The wind goes toward the south…,
and turns around to the north; it whirls continually and comes again on
its circuit. Like the sun,
wind are consistent (though not as exact as the sun, but somewhat
predictable).
Vs. 7 –
all rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full.
This is the general rule – lakes and the oceans generally
maintain their boundaries unless there is some extreme event.
And even then, typically they return to their boundaries.
iii.
In Genesis 1:9-10 – He
separated the lands from the seas.
Job
38:8-11, where God is questioning Job about matters he does not
understand, “Or
who shut in the sea with doors, When it burst forth and issued from the
womb; When I made the clouds its garment, And thick darkness its
swaddling band; When I fixed My limit for it, And set bars and doors;
When I said, ‘This far you may come, but no farther, And here your proud
waves must stop!’
One source appealed to the Dead Sea – which receives waters from the
Jordan, but doesn’t have an outlet, yet it has boundaries.
Psalm 33:6-9, By the word of the
Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of
His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays
up the deep in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was
done; He commanded, and it stood fast.
With our meteorology we
now understand evaporation and how it carries water and produces the
cycle of watering the earth.
ALL these things
happen day in and day out.
There is a sense in which nature is boring or mundane.
We take for granted that they will happen as expected.
iv.
Thought:
In this we find consistency.
Consider this in light of the arguments for general evolution
(from amoeba to man).
As I am studying evidences, one thing I have been considering is the
problems of beginning with atheistic evolution (naturalism).
It is ironic how the evolutionist will appeal to the constancy of
the laws of nature (that is what science is about), while saying that we
evolved (changed forms) through chance, accidents (mutations, etc.) and
catastrophe, even when everything about consistency contradicts their
theory.
Romans 1:20 – His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and
godhead…
Psalm 14:1 – the fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’.
v.
Thought:
We also find the power of God to sustain us – and we must never forget
this (2 Peter 3:5-7).
Think of the examples of our text
– we need the sun to rise and set, and at the pace it does.
Too much more in either direction (i.e. a different daily
rotation, or the earth’s circuit around the sun) and the earth would be
uninhabitable;
- Wind is also necessary for cooling and heating the earth.
- Rivers provided water which sustains our life.
GOD made these things so!
Just as we can depend on the consistency of nature,
we can depend on Him.
IF He can sustain the boring process of nature, He can do for us
what He has promised.
Yet how many take Him for granted?
AND, let us not forget to apply these things to His word as well!
c.
The exasperation of man
(8) –
All things are full of labor
i.
Full of labor – wearisome. For us to
survive in this world, we have to work at it.
NOT just all of us as a whole, but EACH of us individually.
Every day, there are things we have to do.
Life is more about routine that spectacular.
We have to prepare our food, clean ourselves and our environment,
take care of the yard, maintain the house, etc.
We have to go to work – and spend most of our lives working, for many
just to survive. Retirement,
as I understand it, is a fairly recent thing.
For most, life is about doing what you need to do to live.
And hopefully doing it with a little dignity.
ii.
Man cannot express it. We are incapable of putting into words how futile things
are, at times.
iii.
They eye is not satisfied…the ear not filled
– a description of it never being enough.
This is not just about not being content (though that may be involved),
its an observation. Even
when we see something beautiful, we want to see it again or more of the
same. When we hear something
beautiful, we want to hear it again.
It is just another way to describe the ongoing cycle of life.
Only this deals with each of us as individuals.
iv.
Are you in a rut in this
life? Sometimes, because of the mundane nature of life – doing what
needs to be done day in and day out, going to work and doing the same
thing over and over, etc. Do
we find ourselves in a rut that begins to drag us down.
HOW ABOUT SPIRITUALLY? Do we
find the day in and day out routine of being a Christian (assuming we
are doing what we should) to become a rut?
That is life, and it requires effort and a constant “renewing of the
mind” to stay ahead of that – Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23.
v.
NOTE:
Because the world keeps turning, you need to keep working.
Just because it is boring, you can’t just stop.
d.
There is nothing new
under the sun (9-10)
–
i.
That which has been is what will be, that which is done, is what will be
done. And there is nothing
new under the sun.
Solomon has described how nature keeps working.
He has briefly mentioned man, which will be his focus throughout this
book, noting that routine of life.
I would like to add to this, the NATURE of man has not changed, nor will
it as long as this world remains.
Ever since Adam, man has been sinful and often driven by his own
selfish motives. Mankind has
been rebellious against God.
There have always been false teachers and prophets (2 Peter 2:1).
Man still thinks the same way and in general does the same types
of things. Consider the
proverbs we will study in the book (and in the book of proverbs).
General sayings written nearly 3000 years ago, yet they apply as
much today as they did then.
WHY IS IT, that a book completed nearly 2000 years ago still applies
to us today? Why can we
still learn from and apply it as the word of God?
Because it comes from a constant source (Hebrews 13:8).
The tragedy is that man thinks it is outdated and wants to change
it!
ii.
Is there anything of which it may be said, “See this is new”? It has
already been in ancient times before us.
One might
say, what about the invention of cars and airplanes?
What about computers and our technology?
What about advancements in science and learning?
So much has changed in the past several millennia (ever since God
created Adam).
While the means have changed, they are still dealing with the same
nature of man.
Airplanes and cars are still about how to get from point A to point B
Computers and our modern education are still about communicating with
each other (and not necessarily for the better).
Modern day appliances and conveniences are just different ways of taking
care of chores and tasks.
And isn’t it interesting that even with these so-called time saving
devices, we have less time now than before?
EVEN most ideas, including philosophies, are not really new.
When man supposedly comes up with a new doctrine or
interpretation of a passage of scripture, usually it has been said
before in different words.
The world is still against God, men are still selfish and filled with
the works of the flesh. Men
are still creating gods in their own image.
There is still crime being committed and thus the need for laws,
etc.
e.
There is no remembrance
of former things, nor of things to come (11)
George Santayana (1863-1952) was a Spanish philosopher who is credited
with the saying, “Those who fail to learn from history, are doomed to
repeat it.”
But Solomon alluded to the idea in the book of Ecclesiastes in this
text.
While ultimately his point is that when the average person dies, he
takes the things of his life with him and it is soon forgotten.
BUT, we CANNOT ignore the truth that man seems to fail to learn
from the past and makes the same types of mistakes and errors (not
necessarily mistakes) over and over again.
And Solomon even notes that this will continue if there be future
generations.
But we don’t have to be that way!
If we are wise, we will learn from the past and NOT repeat the
same errors our forerunners repeated before us.
And
thus we can see the challenge of the routine of life.
Life has routine and that can be a good thing (think about it –
you don’t have to learn everything over and over again).
But we don’t have to let the routine nature of life keep us from
moving forward and living
with purpose. Let us learn
from the wisdom of Solomon, that is, the wisdom of God, that we are here
for a REAL reason. Why are
YOU here? Think about it!