Written by: “Qoheleth”: teacher, collector(s), assembler(s)” - (Eccl. 1:1).

Hebel (literally “Vapor”)

• Also translated as meaningless, vanity or emptiness.

• The sense seems to be the passing and unsubstantial nature of things – “like a vapor.”

• And this “vapor” of our life is also elusive, lying outside our control, a “chasing after the wind.”

Hebel (Vapor)

• All one knows is the certainly of the grave, and yet one should live life as a gift from God.

• Satisfaction is found by enjoying life now and not trying to control everything, because it will all evaporate in the end.

• Qoheleth’s wisdom is not altogether comforting.

Hebel (Vapor)

• Nothing human is permanent or new.

• Wisdom, as useful as it is, only brings more sorrow because now one understands the “vapor” of everything.

• The desire for gain results in the oppression of others.

• Labor and achievements spring from envy.

Hebel (Vapor)

• What is the profit of working hard when it all goes up in smoke?

• Pleasure, alcohol, houses, gardening, building projects, servants, livestock, music, sex, hard work, rewards – all are meaningless in the end.

• So how do we live wisely in a world where the only certainty is death?

• Reality isn’t as neat as some expressions of traditional wisdom might lead one to think. (i.e. Proverbs and Job’s friends).

• The real world is not as predictable as those who see a sure cause and effect to everything.

• Life in the present world doesn’t add up.

• The ways of the Creator are past finding out.

Four Realities from Ecclesiastes

1. God is the single indisputable reality, the Creator of all and the one from whom all life comes as a gift, including its burdensome nature.

Four Realities from Ecclesiastes

2. God’s ways are not always, if ever, understandable.

Four Realities from Ecclesiastes

3. From the human side, what is “done under the sun” (in this life) is not tidy, it doesn’t add up, it is not the way things should be.

(i.e. The wicked prosper and the righteous suffer).

Four Realities from Ecclesiastes

4. The great equalizer of everything is death, which happens to the rich and poor and wise and foolish alike. Once you’re dead you’re dead, therefore, everything is meaningless. (9:5-6).

(Qoheleth has no hope of a resurrection or an afterlife).

Why is Ecclesiastes in the Bible?

1. To show us the prescription for living in a world with an absent God.

2. To describe a secular humanism that leaves the reader cold. (7:15-18).

Why is Ecclesiastes in the Bible?

3. To show us the best way that we can live if everything is meaningless.

4. To serves as a reverse argument for know-it-all “wisdom”.

Why is Ecclesiastes in the Bible?

5. To exposes the logical conclusion of a secular philosophy which hopefully begs the question, “Is this all there is to life?”

6. To act as “pre-evangelism”: Showing a person the folly of their life philosophy before exposing them to another.

Written by: “The Teacher” (Qoheleth – Eccl. 1:1).

A second author? (see Eccl. 12:8-14).

Qoheleth’s musing are “upright and true” (12:10). The purpose of life is to “fear God and keep his commandments.” (12:13). In the end “God will being every need into judgment” (12:14).