Ecclesiastes Chp 1: All is Vanity

It is important to establish who wrote the book of Ecclesiastes for this book is all about man on this earth, and ends with the duty of the whole matter, and that is to fear God and to keep his commandments. The writer identifies himself as the son of David, king in Jerusalem. It is further shown to be Solomon by V13 and 16, "I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven...Lo, I am come to great estate and have gotten more wisdom that all they that have been before me in Jerusalem."  1 Kings 3:9-12 is Solomon asking God for wisdom and God's response: "Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad..and the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.  And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee."

Chapter 1:2-3 "Vanity of vanities saith the preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.  What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under sun?  One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth forever." 

What is vanity?  According to Websters 1828 dictionary, vanity is emptiness; want of substance to satisfy desire; uncertainty.   Man in his fallen state is full of desires but nothing he can gather or buy can truly satisfy him for he is lost.  Even though an unsaved person might deny that this is true, they know in their heart that it is true for they desire more and more.



Generations of man come and go, but the earth abides forever.  Nothing changes.

V8 "..the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing."

Man is always looking for more..

V9-11  "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.  Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new?  it hath been already of old time, which was before us.  There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after."

This book is all about the heart.  Though with passage of time technology and science change and in that way new things are opened up, the basics are always the same.  Man's heart is always the same, his desires,  his motives, his thoughts, his dreams, the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, these things never change, none of these things are new.  They are from the beginning and will be until the Lord Jesus comes again.

Regarding "there is no remembrance of former things",  it does say in Revelation 21:4-5 that the former things have passed away, "Behold, I make all things new", but this is not the meaning of this particular verse in the book of Ecclesiastes.  Solomon is saying that man lives in the present, there is no remembrance of things that came before him, neither will those that come after him remember the things that came before them.  Man is concerned for the most part about the present, and about his future, but in his unsaved state, he is not concerned about his eternity.

In V13 Solomon says that he "gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under the sun." but in V14 he says "I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity (emptiness) and vexation of spirit (irritated; troubled; agitated; disquieted; afflicted.)  Much as Lot's righteous soul was vexed as he saw what was going on in Sodom.

In V18 Solomon says "..in much wisdom is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow."

Regarding the state of man, to understand and discern what is going on, can bring much sorrow and grief.  Sometimes it is easier to be a mushroom, to be kept in the dark, or to be an ostrich and hide ones head in the sand. 

Where will this book lead?   To God, as all things do.
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