“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” What does man gain from all his labor in which he labors under the sun? One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever. The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hurries to its place where it rises. The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north. It turns around continually as it goes, and the wind returns again to its courses. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
Show the surrounding paragraph
Ecclesiastes 1:2-8 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” What does man gain from all his labor in which he labors under the sun? One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever. The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hurries to its place where it rises. The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north. It turns around continually as it goes, and the wind returns again to its courses. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. That which has been is that which shall be; and that which has been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there a thing of which it may be said, “Behold, this is new?” It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us. There is no memory of the former; neither shall there be any memory of the latter that are to come, among those that shall come after.
Parallel Translations
-
“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
What does man gain from all his labor in which he labors under the sun?
One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever.
The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hurries to its place where it rises.
The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north. It turns around continually as it goes, and the wind returns again to its courses.
All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, there they flow again.
All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
-
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 the sun?
One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
Show all 3 translations
-
Vanity of vanities, saith Koheleth; vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
What profit hath man of all his labour wherein he laboureth under the sun?
One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; and the earth abideth for ever.
The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he ariseth.
The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it turneth about continually in its circuit, and the wind returneth again to its circuits.
All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.
All things toil to weariness; man cannot utter it, the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Science (1)
Historical claims about the natural world, weighed against the scientific record.
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (83)
- Psalms 104:5 (v4) He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.
- Psalms 144:4 (v2) Man is like a breath. His days are like a shadow that passes away.
- Romans 8:20 (v2) For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
- Ecclesiastes 5:10 (v2) He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity.
- Psalms 39:5-6 (v2) Behold, you have made my days hand widths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath.” “Surely every man…
Show all 77 cross-references
- Ecclesiastes 3:9 (v3) What profit has he who works in that in which he labors?
- Proverbs 27:20 (v8) Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man’s eyes are never satisfied.
- Ecclesiastes 2:22 (v3) For what does a man have of all his labor and of the striving of his heart, in which he labors under the sun?
- Ecclesiastes 5:16 (v3) This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?
- Ecclesiastes 12:8 (v2) “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher. “All is vanity!”
- Ecclesiastes 2:11 (vv2, 3, 8) Then I looked at all the works that my hands had worked, and at the labor that I had labored to do; and behold, all was vanity and a…
- Ecclesiastes 6:12 (vv3–4) For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spends like a shadow? For who can tell a man what will…
- Zechariah 1:5 (v4) Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
- Mark 8:36-37 (v3) For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? For what will a man give in exchange for his life?
- John 3:8 (v6) The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is…
- Proverbs 23:4-5 (v3) Don’t weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint. Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts…
- Matthew 24:35 (v4) Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
- John 6:27 (v3) Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the…
- Ecclesiastes 2:26 (vv2, 8) For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he…
- Matthew 11:28 (v8) “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.
- Ecclesiastes 2:19 (vv2–3) Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all of my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have…
- Ecclesiastes 2:17 (v2) So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
- Ecclesiastes 2:23 (v2) For all his days are sorrows, and his travail is grief; yes, even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
- Isaiah 55:2 (v3) Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat that…
- Matthew 16:26 (v3) For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?
- Job 38:10-11 (v7) marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors, and said, ‘You may come here, but no further. Your proud waves shall be stopped here?’
- Psalms 119:90-91 (v4) Your faithfulness is to all generations. You have established the earth, and it remains. Your laws remain to this day, for all things serve…
- Ecclesiastes 4:8 (vv2, 8) There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with…
- Psalms 62:9-10 (v2) Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter…
- Psalms 89:47-48 (v4) Remember how short my time is, for what vanity you have created all the children of men! What man is he who shall live and not see death,…
- Psalms 102:24-28 (v4) I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the middle of my days. Your years are throughout all generations. Of old, you laid the foundation of…
- Ecclesiastes 2:15 (v2) Then I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart…
- Ecclesiastes 2:21 (v2) For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet he shall leave it for his portion to a man who…
- Ecclesiastes 3:19 (v2) For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they…
- Ecclesiastes 4:4 (v2) Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man’s neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
- Ecclesiastes 6:11 (v2) For there are many words that create vanity. What does that profit man?
- Ecclesiastes 8:15-17 (v3) Then I commended mirth, because a man has no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that will…
- Ecclesiastes 11:10 (v2) Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
- Habakkuk 2:13 (v3) Behold, isn’t it of Yahweh of Armies that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?
- 2 Peter 3:10-13 (v4) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be…
- Genesis 5:3-31 (v4) Adam lived one hundred thirty years, and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. The days of…
- Psalms 19:4-6 (v5) Their voice has gone out through all the earth, their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which is as a…
- Psalms 42:1 (v5) As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.
- Psalms 90:9-10 (v4) For all our days have passed away in your wrath. We bring our years to an end as a sigh. The days of our years are seventy, or even by…
- Ecclesiastes 4:3 (v3) Yes, better than them both is him who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 4:16 (v2) There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was—yet those who come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also…
- Ecclesiastes 5:18 (v3) Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors…
- Ecclesiastes 7:11 (v3) Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 9:3 (v3) This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event to all: yes also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil,…
- Ecclesiastes 9:6 (v3) Also their love, their hatred, and their envy has perished long ago; neither do they any longer have a portion forever in anything that is…
- Ecclesiastes 9:13 (v3) I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.
- Ecclesiastes 11:5 (v6) As you don’t know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don’t know the work…
- Ecclesiastes 11:8 (v2) Yes, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that…
- Habakkuk 3:11 (v5) The sun and moon stood still in the sky, at the light of your arrows as they went, at the shining of your glittering spear.
- Genesis 8:22 (v5) While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”
- Genesis 11:20-32 (v4) Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug. Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and…
- Genesis 36:9-19 (v4) This is the history of the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir: these are the names of Esau’s sons:…
- Genesis 47:9 (v4) Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. The days of the years of my life have been few and evil.…
- Exodus 1:6-7 (v4) Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation. The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and…
- Exodus 6:16-27 (v4) These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi…
- Joshua 10:13-14 (v5) The sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies. Isn’t this written in the book of…
- Job 37:9 (v6) Out of its room comes the storm, and cold out of the north.
- Job 37:17 (v6) You whose clothing is warm, when the earth is still by reason of the south wind?
- Psalms 63:5 (v8) My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food. My mouth shall praise you with joyful lips,
- Psalms 89:36-37 (v5) His offspring will endure forever, his throne like the sun before me. It will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in…
- Psalms 104:19-23 (v5) He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knows when to set. You make darkness, and it is night, in which all the animals of the forest…
- Psalms 107:25 (v6) For he commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves.
- Psalms 107:29 (v6) He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still.
- Proverbs 30:15-16 (v8) “The leech has two daughters: ‘Give, give.’ “There are three things that are never satisfied; four that don’t say, ‘Enough:’ Sheol, the…
- Ecclesiastes 4:1-4 (v8) Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no…
- Ecclesiastes 4:7 (v3) Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 5:10-11 (v8) He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity. When goods…
- Ecclesiastes 7:24-26 (v8) That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out? I turned around, and my heart sought to know and to search out, and to…
- Habakkuk 2:18 (v3) “What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions…
- Matthew 5:6 (v8) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
- Romans 8:22-23 (v8) For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first…
- Revelation 7:16-17 (v8) They will never be hungry or thirsty any more. The sun won’t beat on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne…
77 distinct cross-references across this passage (83 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (21 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6, 7 He condemneth the opinions of all men that set…
He condemneth the opinions of all men that set felicity in any thing, but in God alone, seeing that in this world all things are as vanity and nothing.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–8 Ecc 1:2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity…
Ecc 1:2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all [is] vanity.
Ver. 2. Vanity of vanities.] Or, Most vain vanity: therefore, no happiness here to be had but in the reverential fear of God, {Ecc 12:13} and this is the sum of the whole sermon, the result of the discourse, the impartial verdict brought in by one that could best tell; and he tells it over and over, that men might the sooner believe him, without putting themselves to the fruitless pains of trying any further conclusions. Sin hath hurled confusion over the world, and brought a vanity on the creature. This our first parents found, and therefore named their second son Abel, or vanity. David comes after and confirms it, {Psa 144:4} "Adam is as Abel," {a} or, "Man is like to vanity." There is an allusion in the original to their two names: yea, all-Adam is all-Abel, {b} when he is best underlaid - so the Hebrew hath it {c} - "Every man at his best estate," when he is settled upon his best bottom, "is altogether vanity: surely, Selah." It is so, it is so; you may seal to it. {Psa 39:5} But who, alas! hath believed our report? These outward things are so near to us, and so natural to us, that although we can say, nay swear, with the Preacher, "Vanity of vanities," a heap, a nest of vanities, - It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer, yet, when gone apart, we close with them; albeit, we know they are naught and will come to naught. {1Co 2:6} Neither will it ever be otherwise with us, till, with Fulgentius, we have found, after much trial, the vanity of all earthly triumph; {d} till, with Gilimer, King of Vandals, led in triumph by Belisarius, we cry out, as here, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity"; {e} till, with Charles V, Emperor of Germany (whom of all men the world judged most happy), we cry out with detestation to all our honours, pleasures, trophies, riches, {f} Abite hinc, abite longe, Get you hence, let me hear no more of you.
Read full note →
{a} Adam is Abel’s mate.
{b} Omnis Adam est totus Abel.
{c} Nitsub, fundatus, constitutus.
{d} Fulgentius triumphos Romanos ludosve cum spectarit appellavit vanitatem.
{e} Procop., lib. ii., de bello Vand.
{f} Philip. Morn.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2–8 Vanity of vanities; not only vain, but vanity in…
Vanity of vanities; not only vain, but vanity in the abstract, which notes extreme vanity, especially where the word is thus doubled; as a king of kings is the chief of kings, and a servant of servants is the vilest of servants, and a song of songs is a most excellent song.
Saith the Preacher, upon deep consideration and long experience, and by Divine inspiration. This verse contains the general proposition, which he intends particularly to demonstrate in the whole following book.
Read full note →
All, all worldly things, and all men’s designs, and studies, and works about them, is vanity; not in themselves, for so they are God’s creatures, and therefore good and really useful in their kinds; but in reference to men, and to that happiness which men seek and confidently expect to find in them. So they are unquestionably vain, because they are not what they seem to be, and perform not what they promise, content and satisfaction, but instead of that are commonly the causes or occasions of innumerable cares, and fears, and sorrows, and mischiefs; and because they are altogether unsuitable to the noble mind or soul of man, both in nature or quality, and in duration, as being unstable and perishing things. And this vanity of them is here repeated again and again; partly, because it was most deeply fixed and perpetually present in Solomon’s thoughts; partly, to show the unquestionable certainty and vast importance of this truth; and partly, that he might more thoroughly awaken the dull and stupid minds of men to the consideration of it, and might wean men’s hearts from those things upon which he knew they excessively doted.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v4 To prove the vanity of all things under the…
To prove the vanity of all things under the sun, and their insufficiency to make us happy, Solomon here shows, 1. That the time of our enjoyment of these things is very short, and only while we accomplish as a hireling his day. We continue in the world but for one generation, which is continually passing away to make room for another, and we are passing with it. Our worldly possessions we very lately had from others, and must very shortly leave to others, and therefore to us they are vanity; they can be no more substantial than that life which is the substratum of them, and that is but a vapour, which appears for a little while and then vanishes away. While the stream of mankind is continually flowing, how little enjoyment has one drop of that stream of the pleasant banks between which it glides! We may give God the glory of that constant succession of generations, in which the world has hitherto had its existence, and will have to the end of time, admitting his patience in continuing that sinful species and his power in continuing that dying species. We may be also quickened to do the work of our generation diligently, and serve it faithfully, because it will be over shortly; and, in concern for mankind in general, we should consult the welfare of succeeding generations; but as to our own happiness, let us not expect it within such narrow limits, but in an eternal rest and consistency. 2. That when we leave this world we leave the earth behind us, that abides for ever where it is, and therefore the things of the earth can stand us in no stead in the future state. It is well for mankind in general that the earth endures to the end of time, when it and all the works in it shall be burnt up; but what is that to particular persons, when they remove to the world of spirits? 3. That the condition of man is, in this respect, worse than that even of the inferior creatures: The earth abides for ever, but man abides upon the earth but a little while. The sun sets indeed every night, yet it rises again in the morning, as bright and fresh as ever; the winds, though they shift their point, yet in some point or other still they are; the waters that go to the sea above ground come from it again under ground. But man lies down and rises not, Job 14:7, Job 14:12. 4. That all things in this world are movable and mutable, and subject to a continual toil and agitation, constant in nothing but inconstancy, still going, never resting; it was but once that the sun stood still; when it is risen it is hastening to set, and, when it is set, hastening to rise again (Ecc 1:5); the winds are ever and anon shifting (Ecc 1:6), and the waters in a continual circulation (Ecc 1:7), it would be of as bad consequence for them to stagnate as for the blood in the body to do so. And can we expect rest in a world where all things are thus full of labour (Ecc 1:8), on a sea that is always ebbing and flowing, and her waves continually working and rolling? 5. That though all things are still in motion, yet they are still where they were; The sun parts (as it is in the margin), but it is to the same place; the wind turns till it comes to the same place, and so the waters return to the place whence they came. Thus man, after all the pains he takes to find satisfaction and happiness in the creature, is but where he was, still as far to seek as ever. Man's mind is as restless in its pursuits as the sun, and wind, and rivers, but never satisfied, never contented; the more it has of the world the more it would have; and it would be no sooner filled with the streams of outward prosperity, the brooks of honey and butter (Job 20:17), than the sea is with all the rivers that run into it; it is still as it was, a troubled sea that cannot rest. 6. That all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation, Pe2 3:4. The earth is where it was; the sun, and winds, and rivers, keep the same course that ever they did; and therefore, if they have never yet been sufficient to make a happiness for man, they are never likely to be so, for they can but yield the same comfort that they have yielded. We must therefore look above the sun for satisfaction, and for a new world. 7. That this world is, at the best, a weary land: All is vanity, for all is full of labour. The whole creation is made subject to this vanity ever since man was sentenced to eat bread in the sweat of his brows. If we survey the whole creation, we shall see all busy; all have enough to do to mind their own business; none will be a portion or happiness for man; all labour to serve him, but none prove a help-meet for him. Man cannot express how full of labour all things are, can neither number the laborious nor measure the labours. 8. That our senses are unsatisfied, and the objects of them unsatisfying. He specifies those senses that perform their office with least toil, and are most capable of being pleased: The eye is not satisfied with seeing, but is weary of seeing always the same sight, and covets novelty and variety. The ear is fond, at first, of a pleasant song or tune, but soon nauseates it, and must have another; both are surfeited, but neither satiated, and what was most grateful becomes ungrateful. Curiosity is still inquisitive, because still unsatisfied, and the more it is humoured the more nice and peevish it grows, crying, Give, give.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher,.... This is the…
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher,.... This is the preacher's text; the theme and subject he after enlarges upon, and proves by an induction of particulars; it is the sum of the whole book;
vanity of vanities, all is vanity; most extremely vain, exceedingly so, the height of vanity: this is repeated, both for the confirmation of it, men being hard of belief of it; and to show how much the preacher was affected with it himself, and to affect others with the same. The Targum reads, "vanity of vanities in this world"; which is right as to the sense of the passage; for though the world, and all things in it, were made by God, and are very good; yet, in comparison of him, are less than nothing, and vanity; and especially as become subject to it through sin, a curse being brought upon the earth by it; and all the creatures made for the use of men liable to be abused, and are abused, through luxury, intemperance, and cruelty; and the whole world usurped by Satan, as the god of it. Nor is there anything in it, and put it all together, that can give satisfaction and contentment; and all is fickle, fluid, transitory, and vanishing, and in a short time will come to an end: the riches of the world afford no real happiness, having no substance in them, and being of no long continuance; nor can a man procure happiness for himself or others, or avert wrath to come, and secure from it; and especially these are vanity, when compared with the true riches, the riches of grace and glory, which are solid, substantial, satisfying, and are for ever: the honours of this world are empty things, last a very short time; and are nothing in comparison of the honour that comes from God, and all the saints have, in the enjoyment of grace here, and glory hereafter: the sinful pleasures of life are imaginary things, short lived ones; and not to be mentioned with spiritual pleasures, enjoyed in the house of God, under the word and ordinances; and especially with those pleasures, for evermore, at the right hand of God. Natural wisdom and knowledge, the best thing in the world; yet much of it is only in opinion; a great deal of it false; and none saving, and of any worth, in comparison of the knowledge of Christ, and of God in Christ; all the forms of religion and external righteousness, where there is not the true fear and grace of God, are all vain and empty things. Man, the principal creature in the world, is "vain man"; that is his proper character in nature and religion, destitute of grace: every than is vain, nay, vanity itself; high and low, rich and poor, learned or unlearned; nay, man at his best estate, as worldly and natural, is so; as even Adam was in his state of innocence, being fickle and mutable, and hence he fell, Psa 39:5; and especially his fallen posterity, whose bodies are tenements of clay; their beauty vain and deceitful; their circumstances changeable; their minds empty of all that is good; their thoughts and imaginations vain; their words, and works, and actions, and their whole life and conversation; they are not at all to be trusted in for help, by themselves or others. The Targum is,
Read full note →
"when Solomon, king of Israel, saw, by the spirit of prophecy, that the kingdom of Rehoboam his son would be divided with Jeroboam, the son of Nebat; and that Jerusalem, and the house of the sanctuary, would be destroyed, and the people of the children of Israel would be carried captive; he said, by his word, Vanity of vanities in this world, vanity of vanities; all that I and my father David have laboured for, all is vanity!''
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv2–8 Vanity - Not only vain, but vanity in the…
Vanity - Not only vain, but vanity in the abstract, which denotes extreme vanity. Saith - Upon deep consideration and long experience, and by Divine inspiration. This verse contains the general proposition, which he intends particularly to demonstrate in the following book. All - All worldly things. Is vanity - Not in themselves for they are God's creatures and therefore good in their kinds, but in reference to that happiness, which men seek and expect to find in them. So they are unquestionably vain, because they are not what they seem to be, and perform not what they promise, but instead of that are the occasions of innumerable cares, and fears, and sorrows, and mischiefs. Nay, they are not only vanity but vanity of vanities, the vainest vanity, vanity in the highest degree. And this is redoubled, because the thing is certain, beyond all possibility of dispute.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv2–8 Verse 2. Vanity of vanities] As the words are…
Verse 2. Vanity of vanities] As the words are an exclamation, it would be better to translate, O vanity of vanities! Emptiness of emptinesses. True, substantial good is not to be found in any thing liable to change and corruption.
The author referred to in the introduction begins his paraphrase thus: -
Read full note →
"O vain deluding world! whose largest gifts
Thine emptiness betray, like painted clouds,
Or watery bubbles: as the vapour flies,
Dispersed by lightest blast, so fleet thy joys,
And leave no trace behind. This serious truth
The royal preacher loud proclaims, convinced
By sad experience; with a sigh repeats
The mournful theme, that nothing here below
Can solid comfort yield: 'tis all a scene.
Of vanity, beyond the power of words
To express, or thought conceive. Let every man
Survey himself, then ask, what fruit remains
Of all his fond pursuits? What has he gain'd,
By toiling thus for more than nature's wants
Require? Why thus with endless projects rack'd
His heated brain, and to the labouring mind,
Repose denied? Why such expense of time,
That steals away so fast, and ne'er looks back?
Could man his wish obtain, how short the space
For his enjoyment! No less transient here
The time of his duration, than the things
Thus anxiously pursued. For, as the mind,
In search of bliss, fix'd on no solid point,
For ever fluctuates; so our little frames,
In which we glory, haste to their decline,
Nor permanence can find. The human race
Drop like autumnal leaves, by spring revived:
One generation from the stage of life
Withdraws, another comes, and thus makes room
For that which follows. Mightiest realms decay,
Sink by degrees; and lo! new form'd estates
Rise from their ruins. Even the earth itself,
Sole object of our hopes and fears,
Shall have its period, though to man unknown."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 Ecc 1:2. Vanity, &c. — Not only vain, but…
Ecc 1:2. Vanity, &c. — Not only vain, but vanity in the abstract, which denotes extreme vanity. Saith the Preacher — Upon deep consideration and long experience, and by divine inspiration. This verse contains the general proposition, which he intends particularly to demonstrate in the following book. All — All worldly things; is vanity — Not in themselves, for they are God’s creatures, and therefore good in their kinds, but in reference to that happiness which men seek and expect to find in them. So they are unquestionably vain, because they are not what they seem to be, and perform not what they promise, but, instead of that, are the occasions of innumerable cares, and fears, and sorrows, and mischiefs. Nay, they are not only vanity, but vanity of vanities, the vainest vanity, vanity in the highest degree. And this is redoubled, because the thing is certain, beyond all possibility of dispute.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2–8 Vanity - This word הבל hebel, or, when used…
Vanity - This word הבל hebel, or, when used as a proper name, in Gen 4:2, “Abel”, occurs no less than 37 times in Ecclesiastes, and has been called the key of the book. Primarily it means “breath,” “light wind;” and denotes what:
(1) passes away more or less quickly and completely;
Read full note →
(2) leaves either no result or no adequate result behind, and therefore
(3) fails to satisfy the mind of man, which naturally craves for something permanent and progressive: it is also applied to:
(4) idols, as contrasted with the Living, Eternal, and Almighty God, and, thus, in the Hebrew mind, it is connected with sin.
In this book it is applied to all works on earth, to pleasure, grandeur, wisdom, the life of man, childhood, youth, and length of days, the oblivion of the grave, wandering and unsatisfied desires, unenjoyed possessions, and anomalies in the moral government of the world.
Solomon speaks of the world-wide existence of “vanity,” not with bitterness or scorn, but as a fact, which forced itself on him as he advanced in knowledge of men and things, and which he regards with sorrow and perplexity. From such feelings he finds refuge by contrasting this with another fact, which he holds with equal firmness, namely, that the whole universe is made and is governed by a God of justice, goodness, and power. The place of vanity in the order of Divine Providence - unknown to Solomon, unless the answer be indicated in Ecc 7:29 - is explained to us by Paul, Rom. 8, where its origin is traced to the subjugation and corruption of creation by sin as a consequence of the fall of man; and its extinction is declared to be reserved until after the Resurrection in the glory and liberty of the children of God.
Vanity of vanities - A well-known Hebrew idiom signifying vanity in the highest degree. Compare the phrase, “holy of holies.”
All - Solomon includes both the courses of nature and the works of man Ecc 1:4-11. Compare Rom 8:22.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2–8 Vanities. Most vain and despicable, (Calmet) and frustrating the…
Vanities. Most vain and despicable, (Calmet) and frustrating the expectations of men. (Menochius) --- St. Augustine reads vanitantium, and infers that this vanity of sublunary things is an effect of man’s sin. Yet he afterwards discovered that he had read incorrectly. (Retractions i. 7.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–8 The theme proposed of the first part of his…
The theme proposed of the first part of his discourse.
Vanity of vanities--Hebraism for the most utter vanity. So "holy of holies" (Exo 26:33); "servant of servants" (Gen 9:25). The repetition increases the force.
Read full note →
all--Hebrew, "the all"; all without exception, namely, earthly things.
vanity--not in themselves, for God maketh nothing in vain (Ti1 4:4-5), but vain when put in the place of God and made the end, instead of the means (Psa 39:5-6; Psa 62:9; Mat 6:33); vain, also, because of the "vanity" to which they are "subjected" by the fall (Rom 8:20).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2–8 2. Vanity of vanities — This utterance, like a…
2. Vanity of vanities — This utterance, like a prelude, gives the solemn keynote of the book. As we proceed, we shall see that it means, not that the works of God or the callings of men are unreal and delusive, but that the struggle to satisfy the heart in worldly things is vain. By repetition the writer makes his thought conspicuous and impressive, like a proposition in science which he goes on to prove.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–8 2. Vanity of vanities] The form is the highest…
2. Vanity of vanities] The form is the highest type (as in the “servant of servants” of Gen_9:25, the “chief over the chief” of Num_3:32) of the Hebrew superlative. The word translated “vanity,” identical with the name Abel or Hebel (Gen_4:2) means primarily a “breath,” or “vapour,” and as such becomes the type of all that is fleeting and perishable (Psa_62:9; Psa_144:4). It is uniformily translated by “vanity” in the English Version of this book, which is moulded on the Vulgate as that was upon the LXX. The other Greek versions gave “vapour of vapours” (Hieron. in loc.) and this may perhaps be regarded as, in some respects, a preferable rendering. The watchword of the book, the key-note of its melancholy music, meeting us not less than thirty-nine times, is therefore, whether we take it as a proposition or an exclamation, like that of the Epicurean poet “Pulvis et umbra sumus” (Hor. Od. iv. 7. 9), like that also, we may add, of St James (Jas_3:14) and the Psalmist (Psa_90:3-10). In the Wisdom of Solomon apparently written (see Introduction, chap. v.) as a corrective complement to Ecclesiastes we have a like series of comparisons, the “dust,” the “thin froth,” the “smoke,” but there the idea of ‘vanity’ is limited to the “hope of the ungodly” and the writer, as if of set purpose, avoids the sweeping generalizations of the Debater, who extends the assertion to the “all” of human life, and human aims. It is not without significance that St Paul, in what is, perhaps, the solitary reference in his writings to this book, uses the word which the LXX. employs here, when he affirms that “the creature was made subject to vanity” and seeks to place that fact in its right relation to the future restitution of the Universe (Rom_8:20).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–8 (2) Vanity of vanities.—This verse strikes the key-note of…
(2) Vanity of vanities.—This verse strikes the key-note of the whole work. In using this expression we mean to indicate the opinion that the unity of the book is rather that of a musical composition than of a philosophical treatise. A leading theme is given out and followed for a time. Episodes are introduced, not perhaps logically connected with the original subject, but treated in harmony with it, and leading back to the original theme which is never lost sight of, and with which the composition comes to a close (Ecc_12:8).
The word translated “vanity” (which occurs thirty-seven times in this book, and only thirty-three times in all the rest of the Old Testament) in its primary meaning denotes breath or vapour, and is so translated here in some of the Greek versions (comp. Jas_4:4); so in Isa_57:13. It is the same word as the proper name Abel, on which see Note on Gen_4:2. It is frequently applied in Scripture to the follies of heathenism (Jer_14:22, &c), and also to the whole estate of men (Psa_39:5-6; Psa_62:9; Psa_144:4). The translation “vanity” is that of the LXX. We may reasonably believe that St. Paul (Rom_8:20) had this key-note of Ecclesiastes in his mind.
Read full note →
“Vanity of vanities” is a common Hebrew superlative, as in the phrases “Heaven of heavens,” “Song of songs,” “Holy of holies,” “Lamentation of lamentations” (Mic_2:4, margin).
Saith the Preacher.—Heb., said. The Hebrew constantly employs the preterite when English usage requires the present or perfect. In the case of a message the point of time contemplated in Hebrew is that of the giving, not the delivery, of the message. So “Thus said Benhadad,” “Thus said the Lord” (1Ki_20:2; 1Ki_20:5; 1Ki_20:13 and passim) are rightly translated by the present in our version. In the present case this formula is one which might conceivably be employed if the words of Kohéleth were written down by himself; yet it certainly rather suggests that we have here these words as written down by another.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv2–8 Vers. 2-11. PROLOGUE. The vanity of all human and…
Vers. 2-11. PROLOGUE. The vanity of all human and mundane things, and the oppressive monotony of their continued recurrence.
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. (comp. Ecc_12:8) "Vanity" is hebel, which means "breath," and is used metaphorically of anything transitory, frail, unsatisfying. We have it in the proper name Abel, an appropriate designation of the youth whose life was cut short by a brother"s murderous hand. "Vanity of vanities," like "heaven of heavens", (1Ki_8:27) "song of songs", (Son_1:1) etc., is equivalent to a superlative, "most utterly vain." It is here an exclamation, and is to be regarded as the key-note of the whole subsequent treatise, which is merely the development of this text. Septuagint, mataiothv mataiothtwn; other Greek translators, ajtmidwn, "vapor of vapors." For "saith" the Vulgate gives dixit; the Septuagint, ei+pen; but as there is no reference to any previous utterance of the Preacher, the present is more suitable here. In affirming that "all is vanity," the writer is referring to human and mundane things, and directs not his view beyond such phenomena. Such reflection is common in sacred and profane writings alike; such experience is universal (Gen_47:9; Psa_39:5-7 Psa_90:3-10; Jam_3:14) "Pulvis et umbra sumus," says Horace ("Carm.," 4:7. 16. "O curas hominum! O quantum est in rebus inane!" (Persius, "Sat.," 1:1). If Dean Plumptre is correct in contending that the Book of Wisdom was written to rectify the deductions which might be drawn from Koheleth, we may contrast the caution of the apocryphal writer, who predicates vanity, not of all things, but only of the hope of the ungodly, which he likens to dust, froth, and smoke. (see RAPC Wis 2:1, etc.; 5:14) St. Paul (Rom_8:20) seems to have had Ecclesiastes in mind when he spoke of the creation being subjected to vanity, (th mataiothti) as a consequence of the fall of man, not to be remedied till the final restitution of all things. "But a man will say, If all things are vain and vanity, wherefore were they made? If they are God"s works, how are they vain? But it is not the works of God which he calls vain. God forbid! The heaven is not vain; the earth is not vain: God forbid! Nor the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, nor our own body. No; all these are very good. But what is vain? Man"s works, pomp, and vain-glory. These came not from the hand of God, but are of our own creating. And they are vain because they have no useful end That is called vain which is expected indeed to possess value, yet possesses it not; that which men call empty, as when they speak of "empty hopes," and that which is fruitless. And generally that is called vain which is of no use. Let us see, then, whether all human things are not of this sort" (St. Chrysostom, "Hem. 12. in Ephes.").
Read full note →
Vers. 2-11.
Vanity of vanities.
I THE UNPROFITABLE CHARACTER OF ALL HUMAN LABOR. (Ver. 3.) Passing over the pathetic picture these words instinctively call up of human life as a ceaseless round of toil a picture which modern civilization, with all its appliances and refinements, has not obliterated, but rather, in the experience of many, painted in still more lurid colors; a picture which has always possessed for poetic minds, sacred (Job_7:1, Job_7:2) no less than profane (Thomas Hood, "Song of the Shirt"), a peculiar fascination readers may note the melancholy truth to which the Preacher here adverts, viz. that the solid outcome of human labor, in the shape of permanent advantage to either society at large or the individual, is comparatively small.
1. This cannot mean that labor is wholly useless, (Ecc_5:19) since without labor man cannot find that bread which is needful for his bodily sustenance. (Gen_3:19) It would be misconceiving the Preacher to suppose he disapproved of all that has been effected by human industry and genius to enrich, enlighten, and civilize the race, or desired to teach that men had better times of it on earth when they lived like savages upon the spontaneous fruits of the earth.
2. Nor is it likely that he designed to glance at what has been a sore evil under the sun ever since men began to divide themselves into laborers and capitalists, viz. the small portion of labor"s fruits which usually fall to the former, without whom there would be little or no fruits at all.
3. It is rather probable that the writer was thinking, not of laborers so called, to the exclusion of other workers, but of all toilers without distinction, when he said that the outcome of man"s activity, so far at least as attaining to felicity was concerned, was practically nothing.
II THE UNCEASING CHANGE TO WHICH ALL MUNDANE THINGS ARE SUBJECT. (Vers. 4-7.)
1. Illustrated in four particulars.
(1) The passing by of human generations, in comparison with which the globe seems stable (ver. 4);
(2) the daily revolution of the sun (ver. 5);
(3) the circling of the winds (ver. 6); and
(4) the returning of the rivers to the seas (ver. 7). The writer means not to assert that these different cycles have no uses in the economy of nature which uses may be here illustrated; merely he pitches upon what belongs to them in common, the element of changefulness, to him a picture of man"s condition on the earth generally.
2. Explained by four clauses. It is as if he said, "Look around and behold! All things of earth are perpetually on the move the sun in the sky, the winds in the firmament, the clouds in the air, the waters in the ocean, the rivers on the meadow, man himself upon the surface of the globe. Nothing bears the stamper finality. Everything is shilling. Nothing remains long in one stay. "All things are full of labor and weariness; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear filled with hearing (ver. 8) by which he means that the changeful condition is never done; therenever comes a time when the eye says, "Enough!" or the ear repeats, "Behold! I am full." This view of life had occurred to many before the Preacher"s day (Gen_47:9; 1Ch_29:15; Job_4:19, 20 7:6 8:9) as it has occurred to some since to the Greek philosophers who described nature as in a state of perpetual flux, to modem poets such as Shakespeare, and to sacred writers like John (1Jn_2:17) and Paul (1Co_7:31)
III THE WEARISOME MONOTONY OF LIFE. (Vers. 9, 10.)
1. What the Preacher could not have meant. That no new occurrence ever happens on the earth, that no new contrivance ever is devised, that no new experience ever emerges. Because since the Preacher"s day multitudes of new discoveries and inventions have been made in all departments of science; while in the sphere of religion at least one new thing has taken place, viz. the Incarnation, (Jer_31:22) and another will take place. (Isa_65:17)
2. What the Preacher did mean. That the general impression made by life upon beholders is that of sameness. Going back to the above illustrations, he would have said, "See how it is in nature. No doubt one new day succeeds another, one gale of wind follows another, and one body of waters hastens after another. But every day and always it is the same thing over again; the same old sun which reappears in the east; and the same gusts of wind to which we are accustomed that blow from the north to the south, and whirl about continually to all points of the compass; and the same stream that keeps on filling up its fountains and sending forth its waters to the sea. And if you will look at the world of humanity it is the same. A new generation appears on the globe every thirty years, and every hour of every day new individuals are being born; but they are substantially the same old men and women that were here before. "Fed by the same food, hurt by the same weapons, warmed and cooled by the same summer and winter" as those who preceded them, they go through the same experiences their fathers and mothers went through before them." This feeling of monotony is even more emphasized when attention is fixed on the individual. Try to think of how monotonous and wearisome an ordinary human life is! An attempt to realize this will awaken surprise.
IV THE UNIVERSAL OBLIVION INTO WHICH MEN AND THINGS MUST EVENTUALLY SINK. (Ver. 11.) So obvious is this that it scarcely needs illustration. Consider what a small portion of the earth"s incidents during the past six thousand years have survived in history, and bow few of the world"s great ones have left behind them more than their names. The memory has been preserved of a Flood, but what about the ordinary words and actions that make up everyday life during the years between the Creation and the Deluge? A few particulars have been preserved of the histories of an Abraham and a David, a Sennacherib and a Nebuchadnezzar, an Alexander and a Caesar; but what about the myriads that formed their contemporaries? How much has been transmitted to posterity of the history of these islands? How few of the events of last year have been recorded? How many of those who then died are still remembered? This is, no doubt, all as it should be; but still it is a proof of the vanity of things below, if these be regarded simply in themselves.
CONCLUSION. This view of life should not be possible to a Christian who enjoys the fuller and clearer light of the New Testament revelation, and views all things in their relations to God, duty, and immortality.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS Ver. 2.
All is vanity.
If we regard this book as Solomon"s own record and statement of his remarkable experience of human life, it must be deemed by us a most valuable lesson as to the hollowness and emptiness of worldly greatness and renown. If, on the other hand, we regard the book as the production of a later writer, who lived during the troubled and depressed period of Jewish history which followed the Captivity, it must be recognized as casting light upon the providentially appointed consequences of national sin, apostasy, and rebellion. In the former case the moral and religious significance of Ecclesiastes is more personal, in the latter case more political. In either case, the treatise, as inspired by Divine wisdom, demands to be received and studied with reverential attention. Whether its lessons be congenial or unwelcome, they deserve the consideration of those of every age, and of every station in society. Some readers will resent the opening words of the treatise as gloomy and morbid; others will hail them as the expression of reason and wisdom. But the truth they contain is independent of human moods and temperaments, and is only to be fully appreciated by those whose observation is extensive and whose reflection is profound. The wise man makes a broad and unqualified statement, that all things earthly and human are but vanity.
I THIS MAY BE A STATEMENT OF A MERE MOOD OF FEELING OWING TO INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE. There are times when every man who lives is distressed and disappointed, when his plans come to naught, when his hopes are blasted, when his friends fail him, when his prospects are clouded, when his heart sinks within him. It is the common lot, from which none can expect to be exempt. In some instances the stormy sky clears and brightens, whilst in other instances the gloom thickens and settles. But it may be confidently asserted that, at some period and in some circumstances, every human being, whose experience of life is large and varied, has felt as though he has been living in a scene of illusion, the vanity of which has been perhaps suddenly made apparent to him, and then the language of the writer of Ecclesiastes has risen to his lips, and he has exclaimed in bitterness of soul, "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity!
II THIS MAY BE A STATEMENT OF PAINFUL EXPERIENCE, DEPENDENT UPON THE SPECIAL TIMES POLITICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL IN WHICH THE LOT IS CAST. Such is the mutability of human affairs, that every nation, every Church, passes through epochs of prosperity, confidence, energy, and hope; and again through epochs of adversity, discouragement, depression, and paralysis. The Israelites had their times of conquest and of progress, and they had also their times of defeat, of captivity, of subjection, of humiliation. So has it been with every people, every state. Nor have the Churches into which Christian communities have been formed, escaped the operation of the same law. So far as they have been human organizations, they have been affected by the laws to which all things human are subject. In times when a nation is feeble at home and despised abroad, when faction and ambition have reduced its power and crippled its enterprise, there is proneness, on the part of the reflecting and sensitive among the citizens and subjects, to lament over the unprofitableness and vanity of civil life. Similarly, when a Church experiences declension from the Divine standard of faith, purity, and consecration, how natural is it that the enlightened and spiritual members of that Church should, in their grief over the general deadness of the religious community, give way to feelings of discouragement and foreboding, which find a fitting expression in the cry, "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity!
III THIS MAY BE A STATEMENT OF PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTION UPON THE FACTS OF NATURE AND OF HUMAN LIFE. It would be a mistake to suppose that the cry of "Vanity!" is always the evidence of a merely transitory though powerful mood of morbid feeling. On the contrary, there have been nations, ages, states of society, with which it has been a settled conviction that hollowness and emptiness characterize all human and earthly affairs. Pessimism may be a philosophical creed, as with the ancient Buddhists and some of the modern Germans; it may be a conclusion reached by reflection upon the facts of life. To some minds unreason is at the heart of the universe, and in this case there is no ground for hope. To other minds, not speculative, the survey of human affairs is suggestive of aimlessness in the world, and occasions despondency in the observant and reflective mind. Thus even some who enjoy health and prosperity, and in whose constitution and circumstances there is nothing to justify discouragement and hopelessness, are nevertheless found, without any serious satisfaction in existence, ready to sum up their conclusions, derived from a perhaps prolonged and extensive survey of human life, in the words of the writer of Ecclesiastes, "All is vanity!
IV THIS MAY BE A STATEMENT OF RELIGIOUS CONVICTION, BOTH SPRINGING FROM AND LEADING TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE ETERNAL AND GLORIOUS GOD. The student of physical science looks at facts; it is his duty to observe and to classify facts; their arrangement under certain relations, as of likeness and of sequence, is his business, in the discharge of which he renders a great service to mankind. But thought is as necessary as observation. A higher explanation than physical science can give is imperatively required by human nature. We are constrained, not only to observe that a thing is, but also to ask why it is. Here metaphysics and theology come in to complete the work which science has begun. Human life is composed not only of movements, which can be scientifically accounted for, but of actions, of which the explanation is hyperphysical, is spiritual. Similarly with the world at large, and with human life and history. The facts are open to observation; knowledge accumulates from age to age; as experience widens, grander classifications are made. Still there is a craving for explanation. Why, we ask, are things as they are? It is the answer to this question which distinguishes the Pessimist from the theist. The wise, the enlightened, the religious, seek a spiritual and moral significance in the universe material and psychical. In their view, if things, as they are and have been, be regarded by themselves, apart from a Divine reason working in and through them, they are emptiness and vanity. On the other hand, if they be regarded in the light of that Divine reason, which is order, righteousness, and love, they are suggestive of what is very different indeed from vanity To the thoughtful and reverent mind, apart from God, all is vanity; seen in the light of God, nothing is vanity. Both these seeming contradictions are true, and they are reconciled in a higher affirmation and unity. Look at the world in the light of sentience and the logical understanding, and it is vanity. Look at it in the light of reason, and it is the expression of Divine wisdom and Divine goodness.
APPLICATION. It is well to see and feel that all is vanity, if we are thus led to turn from the phenomenal to the real, the abiding, the Divine. But it will be to our hurt if we dwell upon the vanity of all things, so that pessimism be fostered, so that we fail to recognize Infinite Reason at the heart of all things, so that we regard this as the worst of all worlds, so that for us the future has no brightness. T.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 2, 3.
Human life and human labor.
What is the worth of our human life? This is an old and ever-recurring question; the answer to it depends far less on what surrounds us than on what is within us, far less upon our circumstances than upon our spirit. But it must be acknowledged
I THAT THE WORTH OF OUR LIFE DEPENDS LARGELY UPON ITS ACTIVITIES. We have to ask How are we related to our fellows? What is the number and what the nature of the objects that minister to our comforts? What opportunities are there for leisure, for repose, for recreation? But the largest of all questions is this: What is the character of our activities? Are these congenial or uninviting, burdensome or moderate, tedious or interesting, fruitful or barren, passing or permanent in their effects?
II THAT HUMAN ACTIVITY HAS ITS DEPRESSING ASPECTS. SO depressing were they to "the Preacher," that he pours forth his dejection of spirit in the strong exclamation of the text. The valuelessness of all human labor made life itself seem to him to be vain. Three things there are that dwarf it.
1. Its slightness. A few men accomplish that which is observable, remarkable, worthy of being chronicled and remembered, making its mark on the page of history or of poetry; but how few they are! The great majority of mankind spend all their strength in doing that which is of small account, which produces no calculable effect upon their times, of which no man thinks it worth while to sneak or sins
2. Its dependence on others. There are but very few indeed whose labor can be said to be original, independent, or creative. Almost every man is so working that if any of those who are co-operating with him were to withdraw their labor, his would be of no avail; his work would be quite unprofitable but for their countenance and support.
3. Its insecurity. This is the main thought of the text. What is the use of a man building up that which his neighbor may come and pull down; of gathering laboriously together that which the thief may take away; of expending toilful days and exhausting energies on something which may be taken from our grasp in the compass of an hour, at the bidding of one strong human will; of making long and weary preparation for later life, when the tie that binds us to the present sphere may be snapped in a moment? Insecurity, arising from one of a number of sources the elemental forces of nature, the malice and treachery of men, despotism in government, the chances and changes of trade and commerce, failure of health and strength, sudden death, etc. marks all the products of human activity with its own stamp, and brings down their value, who shall estimate how much? The Preacher says to nothing. But let it be remembered
III THAT HUMAN ACTIVITY HAS ITS REDEEMING QUALITIES. This is only one view of it. Another and a healthier view may be taken of the subject.
1. All honest and faithful labor is worthy in the sight of the wise man and of the Wise One. (Pro_14:23)
2. All conscientious labor provides a sphere for the active service of God; by its honorable and faithful discharge, as in his sight, we can serve and please our Lord.
3. All such labor has a happy reflex influence on ourselves, strengthening us in body, in mind, in character.
4. All earnest work is really constructive of the kingdom of Christ. Although we see not its issues and cannot estimate its worth, we may be sure that "the day will declare it," and that it will be found at last that every true stroke we struck did tell and count for truth and righteousness, for the cause of humanity and of Christ. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 7, 8 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities,…
Ecc_1:2
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity
Read full note →
The Vanity of the world
Certainly, he, who had riches as plentiful as the stones of the street (1Ki_10:27), and wisdom as large as the sand of the sea (1Ki_4:29), could want no advantages, either to try experiments, or draw conclusions from them (Ecc_1:16-17).
Now this reflection of the same word upon itself is always used to signify the height and greatness of the thing expressed, as King of kings and Lord of lords denotes the highest King and the most absolute Lord. But, though this be expressed in most general and comprehensive terms, yet it must not be taken in the utmost latitude, as if there were nothing at all of solid and real good extant. It is enough, if we understand the words in a sense restrained to the subject matter whereof he here treats. For the wise man himself exempts the fear and service of God (Ecc_12:13) from that vanity under which he had concluded all other things. When, therefore, he pronounceth all to be vanity, it must be meant of all worldly and earthly things; for he speaks only of these. For these things, though they make a fair and gaudy show, yet it is all but show and appearance. It sparkles with ten thousand glories: not that they are so in themselves; but only they seem so to us through the false light, by which we look upon them. If we come to grasp it, like a thin film, it breaks, and leaves nothing but wind and disappointment in our hands. The subject which I have propounded to discourse of is this vanity of the world, and of all things here below. Whence is it that we are become so degenerate, that we, who have immortal and heaven-born souls, should stake them down to these perishing enjoyments?
I. I shall premise these two or three things:--
1. There is nothing in the world vain in respect of its natural being. Whatsoever God hath made is, in its kind, good (Gen_1:31). And therefore Solomon must not be here so interpreted, as if he disparaged the works of God in pronouncing them all vanity. If we regard the wonderful artifice and wisdom that shines forth in the frame of nature, we cannot have so unworthy a thought, either of the world itself, or of God who made it.
2. There is nothing vain in respect of God the Creator. He makes His ends out of all; for they all glorify Him according to their several ranks and orders; and to rational and considerate men are most evident demonstrations of His infinite Being, wisdom, and power.
3. All the vanity that is in worldly things is only in respect of the sin and folly of man. For those things are said to be vain which neither do nor can perform what we expect from them. Our great expectation is happiness; and our great folly is, that we think to obtain it by the enjoyments of this world. They are all of them leaky and broken cisterns, and cannot hold this living water. This is it which makes them charged with vanity. There are some things, as St. Austin and the schools from him do well distinguish, which must be only enjoyed, other things that must be only used. To enjoy, is to cleave to an object by love, for its own sake; and this belongs only to God. What we use, we refer to the obtaining of what we desire to enjoy; and this belongs to the creatures. So that we ought to use the creatures that we may arrive at the Creator. We may serve ourselves of them, but we must alone enjoy Him. Now that which makes the whole world become vanity is when we break this order of use and fruition; when we set up any particular created good as our end and happiness, which ought only to be used as a means to attain it.
II. It remains, therefore, to display before you this vanity of the world in some more remarkable particulars.
1. The vanity of the world appears in this, that all its glory and splendour depends merely upon opinion and fancy. What were gold and silver, had not mens fancy stamped upon them an excellency far beyond their natural usefulness? This great idol of the world was of no value among those barbarous nations, where abundance made it vile. They preferred glass and beads before it; and made that their treasure which we make our scorn. Should the whole world conspire together to depose gold and silver from that sovereignty they have usurped over us, they might for ever lie hid in the bowels of the earth ere their true usefulness would entice any to the pains and hazard of digging them out into the light. Indeed, the whole use of what we so much dote upon is merely fantastical; and, to make ourselves needy, we have invented an artificial kind of riches; which are no more necessary to the service of sober nature than jewels and bracelets were to that plane-tree which Xerxes so ridiculously adorned. These precious trifles, when they are hung about us, make no more either to the warmth or defence of the body than, if they were hung upon a tree, they could make its leaves more verdant, or its shade more refreshing. Doth any man lie the softer because his bed-posts are gilt? Doth his meat and drink relish the better, because served up in gold? Is his house more convenient, because better carved or painted? It is nothing but conceit that makes the difference between the richest and the meanest, if both enjoy necessaries: for what are all their superfluous riches, but a load that mens covetousness lays upon them? Thy lands, thy houses, and fair estate are but pictures of things. What are gold and silver but diversified earth, hard and shining clay? Think, O worldling! when thou castest thy greedy eyes upon thy riches, think, Here are bags that only fancy hath filled with treasure, which else were filled with dirt. Here are trifles that only fancy hath called jewels, which else were no better than common pebbles. And shall I lay the foundation of my content and happiness upon a fancy; a thing more light and wavering than the very air? Nay, consider, that a distempered fancy can easily alter a mans condition, and put what shape it pleaseth upon it. If a black and sullen melancholy seizeth the spirits, it will make him complain of poverty in the midst of his abundance; of pain and sickness in the midst of his health and strength. Again, if the fancy be more merrily perverted, straight they are nothing less than kings or emperors in their own conceit. A straw is as majestic as a sceptre. If then there be so great a power in fancy, how vain must all those things be which you pursue with eagerness and impatience! since a vain fancy, without them, can give you as much satisfaction as if you enjoyed them all; and a vain fancy can, on the other hand, in the greatest abundance of them, make your lives as wearisome and vexatious as if you enjoyed nothing.
2. The vanity of the world appears in its deceitfulness and treachery. It is not only vanity, but a lying vanity; and betrays both our hopes and our souls.
(1) It betrays our hopes, and leaves us nothing but disappointment, when it promiseth satisfaction and happiness.
(2) It betrays the soul to guilt and eternal condemnation: for, usually, the world entangles it in strong, though secret and insensible snares; and insinuates into the heart that love of itself which is inconsistent with the love of God. The world is the devils factor, and drives on the designs of hell. And, because of the subserviency of worldly enjoyments to mens lusts, it is almost as impossible a thing to moderate our affections towards them, or to bound our appetites and desires, as it is to assuage the thirst of a dropsy by drinking, or to keep that fire from increasing into which we are still casting new fuel.
3. As all things in the world are lying vanities, so are they all vexatious--uncertain comforts, but most certain crosses.
(1) There is a great deal of turmoil and trouble in getting them. Nothing can be acquired without it.
(2) Whether they get them or no, yet still they are disappointed in their hopes. The truth is, the world is much better in show than substance; and those very things we admire before we enjoy them, yet afterward we find much less in them than we expected.
(3) They are all vexation while we enjoy them.
(4) They are all vexatious, as in their enjoyment, so especially in their loss.
4. The vanity of the world appears in this, that a little cross will embitter great comforts. One dead fly is enough to corrupt a whole box of the worlds most fragrant ointment. The least cross accident is enough to discompose all our delights. And, besides, we are apt to slide off from the smoother part of our lives, as flies from glass, and to stick only on the rougher passages.
5. The longer we enjoy any worldly thing, the more flat and insipid doth it grow. We are soon at the bottom, and find nothing but dregs there.
6. All the pleasure of the world is nothing else but a tedious repetition of the same things. Our life consists in a round of actions; and what can be duller than still to be doing the same things over and over again?
7. The vanity of the world appears in this, that it can stand us in no stead then when we have the greatest need of support and comfort. Now in each of these the world shows itself to be exceeding vain and useless.
(1) The world appears to be vain when we are under trouble of conscience.
(2) The world is a vain and useless thing at the hour of death.
8. All things in the world are vain, because they are unsuitable. True, indeed, they are suited to the necessities of the body, and serve to feed and clothe that; but he is a beast, or worse, that reckons himself provided for, when only his bodily wants are supplied. Have we not all of us precious and immortal souls capable and desirous of happiness? Do not these crave to be satisfied? There is a threefold unsuitableness between worldly things and the soul.
(1) The soul is spiritual: these are drossy and material. And what then hath a spiritual soul to do with clods of earth or acres of land; with barns full of corn, or bags full of gold? These are too thick and gross to correspond with its refined nature.
(2) The soul is immortal; but all worldly things are perishing, and wear out in the using.
(3) The necessities of the soul are altogether of another kind than those which worldly things are able to supply: and therefore they are wholly unsuitable. Natural things may well serve for natural wants: food will satisfy hunger, and raiment fence off the injuries of the weather, and riches will procure both; but the souls necessities are spiritual, and these no natural thing can reach. It wants a price to redeem it: nothing can do this but the precious blood of Christ. It wants pardon and forgiveness: nothing can grant it but the free and abundant mercy of God. It wants sanctification and holiness, comfort and assurance: nothing can effect these but the Holy Ghost. Here all worldly things fall short.
9. The vanity of the world appears in its inconstancy and fickleness. Gods providence administers all things here below in perpetual vicissitudes. It is in vain, therefore, to expect happiness from what is so uncertain. All the comforts of it are but like fading flowers, that, while we are looking on them and smelling to them, die and wither in our hands. Is it pleasures we seek? These must vary; for where there is not an intermission, it is not pleasure, but a glut and surfeit. And hence it is that they who are used to hardships taste more sweetness in some ordinary pleasures than those, who are accustomed to a voluptuous life, do in all their exquisite and invented delights. Do you pursue honour and applause in the world? This hangs upon the wavering tongues of the multitude. Is it riches you desire? These, too, are uncertain (1Ti_6:17). Uncertain they are in getting; and uncertain in keeping, when got. All our treasures are like quicksilver, which strangely slips between our fingers when we think we hold it fastest.
10. The vanity of the world appears in this, that it is altogether unsatisfactory. That must needs be vain which, when we enjoy it in its greatest abundance, can give us no real nor solid content. Such an empty thing is the whole world. Now, the unsatisfactoriness of the world may be clearly evinced by these two things.
(1) In that the highest condition we can attain unto cannot free us from cares and crosses.
(2) The world appears to be unsatisfactory, in that, be our condition what it will, yet still we desire change. And the reason of this unsatisfactoriness in worldly things is, because none of them are so good as the soul is. The soul, next to angels, is the very top and cream of the whole creation: other things are but dregs and lees compared to it. Now that which is our happiness must be better than ourselves; for it must perfect us. But these things being far worse and inferior, the soul, in cleaving to them, is secretly conscious that it abaseth and disparageth itself; and therefore cannot find true satisfaction. Nothing can fill the soul but that which eminently contains in it all good.
III. But, whatever our observations are, the uses we may make of them are these.
1. It should teach us to admire and adore the good providence of God to His children in so ordering it, that the world should be thus vain, and deal so ill with those who serve it. For, if it were not so infamous and deceitful as it is; if it did not frustrate and disappoint our hopes, and pay us with vexation when it promiseth fruition and content, what thinkest thou, O Christian, would be the end of this? would any one think of God, or remember heaven and the life to come?
2. If the vanity of the world be such, and so great; if it be only an empty bubble; if it be thus unsuitable, uncertain, and unsatisfactory, as I have demonstrated to you, what gross folly then are most men guilty of in setting so high a price upon that which is of no worth nor substance? More particularly--
(1) Is it not extreme folly to lavish our precious affections upon vile and vain objects?
(2) If the world be thus vain, what folly is it to lay out our most serious cares and contrivances upon it!
(3) If the world be thus vain, what extreme and prodigious folly is it to take as much pains to secure the poor and perishing concernments of it as would suffice to secure heaven and eternal glory, were they laid out that way!
(4) If the things of this world be so vain, what inexcusable folly is it to part with the peace or the purity of our consciences for them!
(5) What desperate folly is it to purchase a vain world with the loss of our precious souls!
3. If the world be thus vain and empty, why then should we pride ourselves in or prize ourselves by any poor enjoyments of it?
4. If the world and all the enjoyments of it be thus vain, this should fortify us against the fear of death; which can deprive us of nothing but what is both vain and vexatious.
5. If the world be so vain and empty, we may learn to be well contented with our present state and condition, whatsoever it be. (E. Hopkins, D. D.)
Vanity of vanities
This is the key-note of the book. The word vanity means a breath of wind, and thus it comes to mean something airy, fictitious, and unsubstantial. As the expression, holy of holies conveys the meaning of that which is holy beyond every other thing, so this word in the sense of emptiness beyond comparison is applied by the writer to the course of nature and to the work of man. Again and again he takes excursions into the natural world, and again and again he returns to the old refrain, Vanity of vanities; all is vanity. The writer of these words felt that the order of the world was out of joint. But language like this has been more often used by those who have had bitter experience of life. Human nature is wont to turn round upon itself, and when it has drunk out the cup of indulgence will express disgust of gratifications which have ceased to please. Vanity of vanities was the speech of the great English cardinal as he lay dying and reflected that he had given the best years of his life for the present without care for the future. This was the temper of the language ascribed to Prince Louis XIV. of France when death was near at hand, and his life of pleasantry was closing. Vanity of vanities! And something like this may be heard in more than one London household at this time of the year at the close of the season. Three or four months of fatigue have been prepared for and submitted to as a military campaign would be prepared for. Time, peace of mind, health, regular hours of prayer, have been sacrificed to the pursuits of some social will-o-the-wisp. To marry this daughter, to secure this introduction, to achieve more distinction than others, have been the objects before the minds of many. And now, when time and money, health and temper have been sacrificed and nothing achieved, we hear in modern language the words of the text from numbers rushing away by express train to bury their disappointment in country villages. Vanity of vanities! This earthly life cannot possibly satisfy a being like man if it be lived apart from God. Apart from God, wisdom leads to disappointment and lands us at death in the sublime despair of philosophy. Apart from God, wealth and all that it can command yields much less satisfaction than intellectual achievement, since it is further removed from the higher and imperishable nature of man. Apart from God, Nature, regarded as matter inter-penetrated by force, presents nothing on which mans inmost being can rest. Here we have only cycles of laws repeating themselves through the ages with a momentum which mocks our intellects. Vanity, emptiness, and disappointment are traced on Nature, on wealth and thought. As a matter of fact man does not find in either real satisfaction. He finds only a wasting fever of the heart, nothing which makes him strong for life, or in the hour of approaching death. The reason is plain. All that belongs to earth has failure in it, and mans life has come under this failure as well as Nature. All we may see is not as it should be. The best of men are conscious of this. The telling of circumstance against him, the tendency downwards of which he is conscious, the precautions which he takes against himself in the shape of rule and law--all these things tell, and tell truly, of some big catastrophe from which human life has suffered in its deepest recesses. Nature, too, with its weird mysteries speaks to the same effect. And here the apostle comes to our aid when he tells us that the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope. He also says, The whole creation groaneth and travaileth together in pain until now. Nature has on it this certificate of failure. Besides this, wealth and Nature are finite, so that they must fail to satisfy a being like man. The human soul, itself finite, is made for the Infinite. The soul cannot comprehend the Infinite, but it can apprehend the Infinite. In the inmost source and heart of man God has placed a vast, unfathomable capacity for understanding Himself. Man can think of a Being who has neither beginning of days nor end of years, who inhabits eternity, and is Himself eternal. And as man struggles more and more perfectly to apprehend this Being, to reach Him, to enjoy Him, to possess Him, he feels that the counterpart of all that is deepest and most mysterious in himself is the eternal world, and that he can only really be satisfied with that, and with nothing else or less. Thou hast made us for Thyself, says Augustine, and our heaths are restless until they rest in Thee. Man is like those captives of whom we read who, once having believed a throne to be within their grasp, have never settled down as contented subjects. He is predestined for an unseen magnificence; and therefore when he turns to survey the grandest objects that woo his heart in this earthly life he can exclaim, not indeed in scorn, but in a spirit of religious and strictest accuracy, Vanity of vanities! Once more; all that belongs to created life passes quickly away. All around is vanishing. One generation passeth away and another cometh, so says the Preacher. Man fades away like the grass, so sings the psalmist. The earthly house of our tabernacle shall be dissolved, so adds one apostle. The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, so proclaims another apostle. Yes, all is passing, even the choice furniture of the human mind itself, all but the imperishable. Personality with its moral history in the past survives; all else goes, and is forgotten. And therefore it is because Nature and the outer husks of life do not satisfy that they cannot afford a stay for the imperishable soul of man. Vanity of vanities! he exclaims as he discovers their real character. But to this way of regarding the matter there is an objection. Is it a healthy one? Is it calculated to make man do his duty in that state of life in which it has pleased God to call him? Will it help him to do his duty enthusiastically and thoroughly? Is he not likely to fail, and to make life responsible for the failure? To this I say that human effort is only vanity when it is pursued without reference to God. Mans capacities are given to lead him to God, and all that leads to Him, so far from being vanity, is lasting and substantial. The man who is living for another world is not less alive to his duties here, His heart has followed his treasure; his citizenship is already in heaven; he looks at the things which are not seen: he lives as a stranger and pilgrim: he is but a soldier on campaign duty. All that comes in his way is precious, as enabling him to conquer the enemy and to reach his home. (Canon Liddon.)
The vanity of earthly things
These are the words of a wise and a bold preacher. He was wise in seeing that which men in general did not see; and he was bold in speaking so plainly that which was contrary to the general opinion.
I. The vanity of earthly things. All is vanity; that is, all things are so in themselves, when not used aright, when not employed to Gods glory, or to the benefit of those around us, or in reference to our future and everlasting welfare. We may proceed to a practical illustration and use of this declaration.
1. Let us suppose the case of riches, as being the main object of a mans desire, and the acquirement of them the great business of his life. Nay, let us suppose him to succeed--to acquire great wealth--to establish his house. But if this man be without religion, what is it all more than vanity? It is possible that all this time he may never have thought about his soul; his soul which is more valuable than all the world. To what purpose will it be when his end shall come? What will his wealth do for him in the day of account? Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days, and what is it? It is vanity, a vapour, emptiness! And what is to become of his wealth? He must leave it unto the man that shall be after him; and who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool?
2. As to human learning. It is true that learning, and ingenuity, and wit may be made very subservient to many important purposes; but if it be apart from true religion, what doth it profit? Let us suppose a man to be stored with all science, and philosophy, with the knowledge of all history, and of every art. But if he have not the knowledge of Christ; if, withal, he is sensual not having the spirit, what matters it? We have seen men endowed with extraordinary talents, great in research, quick in understanding, penetrating in intellect, rich in all the stores of recondite wisdom, versed in history, and as far as we can judge, possessing all knowledge; but where is the meekness of the Christian? where is docility, gentleness, and love?
3. As to the pleasures of life. Let a man have all the pleasure arising from intercourse with polished society, from rational conversation, from good and instructive books, from travelling at home and abroad, from various domestic recreations, according to his own peculiar turn of mind; yet, what does all this profit if he be destitute of true religion; if he be living to himself rather than to God? But we say, what will all this avail, if its votary or possessor be destitute of true religion here, and miserable and undone in another world!
4. We might go on to consider eminence of station, and elevated rank, and reputation, and extensive power, and commanding influence, and all beside that men are accustomed to seek after, and which they make so many sacrifices to obtain; and what are they all apart from true religion? Vanity of vanities. Suppose a man to have gained all The reputation and dignity in the world, what will it avail if he be destitute of the one thing needful, if he have not Sought the honour that cometh from God?
II. What is our chief good?
1. I would direct your attention to those true riches, the unsearchable riches of Christ.
2. I would recommend to you that heavenly wisdom by which you will be made wise unto salvation, which will teach you to discharge your social duties aright, and which will conduct you in safety through all the difficulties of life.
3. I would allure you to those pleasures which are for evermore.
4. I would lead you to that honour and praise which cometh from God, and which fadeth not away. (J. Maude.)
The trial of vanity
This book begins with, All is Vanity, and ends with, Fear God, and keep His commandments. From that to this should be every mans pilgrimage in this world; we begin at vanity, and never know perfectly that we are vain, until we repent with Solomon. Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. As though he were exceeding glad, that after so many dangers through the route of vanity, yet God let him see the haven of rest. The whole narration doth show that Solomon wrote this book after his fall. When he had the experience of vanities, and seen the folly of the world, what evil comes of pleasure, and what fruit groweth of sin, he was bold to say, Vanity of vanities, etc.; which he avoucheth with such a protestation, as though he would justify it against many adversaries; for all the world is in love with that which he calls vanity. To testify his hearty conversion unto Cod, he calls himself a preacher, in the witness of his unfeigned repentance; as if God had said unto him, Thou being converted, convert thy brethren, and be a preacher, as thou art a king. So when we are converted, we should become preachers unto others, and show some fruits of our calling, as Solomon left this book for a monument to all ages of his conversion. Thus having found as it were the mine, now let us dig for the treasure, Vanity of vanities, etc. This is Solomons conclusion: when he had gone through the whole world, and tried all things, like a spy sent into a strange country, as if he were now come home from his pilgrimage, they gather about him to inquire what he hath heard and seen abroad, and what he thinks of the world, and these things which are so loved among men, like a man in admiration of that which he had seen, and not able to express particularly one after another, he contracts his news into a word. You ask me what I have seen, and what I have heard, Vanity, saith Solomon. And what else? Vanity of vanities. And what else? All is vanity. This is the history of my voyage: I have seen nothing but vanity over the world. So the further he did go, the more vanity he did see, and the nearer he looked the greater it seemed, till at last he could see nothing but vanity. So his drift is to show that mans happiness is not in these things which we count of, but in those which we defer. His reason is, they are all vanity; his proof is because there is no stability in them, nor contentation of mind; his conclusion is therefore, Contemn the world, and look up to heaven from whence ye came, and whither ye shall go. This is the scope which Solomon aims at, as though we did all seek happiness, but we go a wrong way unto it; therefore he sounds a retreat, showing that if we hold on our course, and go forwards as we have begun, we shall not find happiness, but great misery, because we go by vanity. Now Solomon, full of wisdom, and schooled with experience, is licensed to give his sentence of the whole world. This is no reproach to the things, but shame to him which so abused them, that all things should be called vanity for him. If he did not things vainly, nothing should be vain in the world; whereas now, by abuse, we may see sometimes as great vanity in the best things as in the worst. For are not many vain in their knowledge, vain in their policies, vain in their learning, as others are vain in their ignorance? A spiritual eye doth see some vanity or other in everything, as appeareth betwixt Christ and His disciples at Jerusalem (Luk_21:6; Mat_24:1). They gazed upon the building of the temple as a brave thing, and would have Christ to behold it with them; but He did see that it was but vanity, and therefore said, Are these the things that ye look upon? As if He should say, How vain are you to gaze upon this! If Christ thought the beauty of His temple a vain thing, and not worth the sight, which yet was beautified and built by His own prescription, how should Solomon express all the vanity of the world, to which all men have added more and more since the beginning I Therefore when Solomon beheld such a plurality, and tot quot of vanities, like surges coming one upon another in plaits and folds, he spake as though he would show us vanity hatching vanities: Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. The first saying doth pass without let; but the last rubs and sinks not into the hearts of men so easily as it is spoken. Methinks I hear some men dispute for Baal, and bid Solomon stay before he comes to all is vanity. It may be that sin is vanity, and pleasure is vanity; but shall we condemn all for sin and pleasure? What say you to beauty, which is natures dowry, and cheereth the eye, as sweet meat doth the taste? Beauty is like a fair picture; take away the colour, and there is nothing left. Beauty indeed is both a colour and a temptation, the colour fadeth and the temptation snareth. But what say you to riches, which make men lords over the rest, and allow them to go brave, and lie soft, and fare daintily, and have what they list? Riches are like painted grapes, which look as though they would satisfy a man, but do not slake his hunger, nor quench his thirst. Riches indeed do make a man covet more, and get envy, and keep the mind in care. You shall hear them say oftentimes, It is a vain world, a wicked world, a naughty world, yet they will not forsake it, to die; like dastard soldiers, who rail against the enemy, but dare not fight against him. All is vanity; but this is vanity of vanities, that men will follow that which they condemn. Oh that here were a full end or conclusion of vanities; but.behold a greater vanity is behind; for our religion is vanity, like the Scribes and Pharisees, having a bare show of holiness, and scarce that. What then? Turn away mine eyes, and my ears and my heart too, from vanity. Try and prove thou no longer, for Solomon hath proved for thee; it is better to believe him than try with him. (H. Smith.)
The folly of Solomon
This is the substance of this great mans last estimate of life. You read it, and, as you read, you watch the writer trying to fight down the black shadows as they rise. Here and there too, all through his sermon, he will say a noble thing on the right side; as if the old power of piety was strong enough yet to burn through, and force its way to the parchment. But, when the best is said and done, the result is a belief in a God who exacts more than He gives, and punishes more readily than He blesses. And so it is that this woeful estimate of life has made this book by far the most difficult to understand in the whole range of the Scriptures. The statements in it are as positive as any other. Solomon is as clear when he says, Man has no pre-eminence over a beast, as John is when he says, Beloved, now are we the sons of God. So it comes to pass, that, if you take this book as it stands, and undertake to believe it, the result is very sad. It chills all piety, paralyzes all effort, hushes all prayer. If there is grief in wisdom, had I not better be a fool? It cannot be denied, again, that the book is but the vocal utterance of many a silent sermon in many a lonely heart. It was this, no doubt, that made it the text-book of Voltaire and the bosom friend of Frederick the Great. Its monotones of despair are echoed out of a thousand experiences. When a friend wished a great English statesman a happy new year, Happy! he said; it had need be happier than the last, for in that I never knew one happy day. When an English lawyer, whose life had seemed to be one long range of success, mounted the last step in his profession, he wrote, I in a few weeks shall retire to dear Eneombe, as a shore resting-place between vexation and the grave. When one said to the great Rothschild, You must be a happy man, he replied, I sleep with pistols under my pillow. The most brilliant man of the world in the eighteenth century said, I have enjoyed all the pleasures of life, and I do not regret their loss; I have been behind the scenes, and seen the coarse pulleys and ropes and tallow-candles. And the most brilliant poet of the last generation said, The lapse of ages changes all but man, who ever has been, and will be, an unlucky rascal. Now, then, for all this, I have but one answer. I cannot believe it. In the deepest meaning of the truth and the life, this assertion that all is vanity is utterly untrue. God never meant life to be vanity; and life is not vanity. And that we are right and all such men wrong can be proven, I think, outside our own experience, on several different counts.
1. For, first of all, this Solomon is not the right man to testify. When he said this of life, he was in no condition Co tell the truth about it, and he did not tell the truth. Universal testimony makes this sermon the fruit of his old age. If his book was the work of Solomons old age, the face of itself supplies the first reason why we have such a sermon; for the man who wrote this sermon, and the youth who offered that noble prayer at the dedication of the temple, are not the same man. The young king knelt down in the bloom of his youth, when the fountains of life were pure and clean; when through and through his soul great floods of power and grace rose to springtide every day; when the processions of nature and providence, the numbers of the poet, the wisdom of the sage, the labours of the reformer, and the sacrifices of the patriot, were steeped for him in their rarest beauty, endowed with their loftiest meaning, and filled with their uttermost power. But that old king in the palace, writing his sermon, is weary and worn; and, worst of all, the clear fountains of his nature are changed to puddles; the fresh, strong life has been squandered away; the delicate, divine perception blunted, clogged, and at last smothered to death. Can we wonder that such a man should write all is vanity, when he had come Co be the vanity he wrote? Believe me, we cannot form the true estimate when the life is ruined. What he said when he was his best self, before his ruin, was true; and the estimate he made, when he was a lower man, was as much out of true as the man was.
2. Then there was an error in this mans method of testing life, that I suspect to be at the root of much of the weariness that is still felt; and that is, the man does not seem to have tried to be happy, in making others happy, in bringing one gleam more of gladness, or one pulse more of life, into any soul save his own. In the sad days recorded here, nature, books, men, women, were worth to him just what they could do for him. He gave up the present sense of God in the soul; the high uses of worship; the inspiration hidden in great books; the deep blessedness of being father, husband, friend, teacher, patriot, and reformer; buried himself in his harem; turned a deaf ear to all the pleadings of his better angel; and, when he had come to this, who can wonder that all was vanity?
3. But now I must state the reason, that to me is greatest of all, why I know all is not vanity. A thousand years after this sad sermon was written, there was born of the same great line another little Child. He had no royal training, no waiting sceptre, no kingly palace, but the tender nurture of a noble mother, and, from the first, a wonderful nearness to God,--and that was all. He grew up in a country town that had become a proverb of worthlessness. The good He knew, and the bad He knew, as I suppose it was never known before. The human heart was laid bare before Him down to its deepest recesses. None ever felt, as He did, the curse of sin, or had such a perfect loyalty and love for holiness. Nature, Providence, Heaven, and Hell were actual presences, solid certainties to His deep, true sight. Listen while I try the ring of a few sentences from each of them. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, cries the first preacher. Blessed are the poor, blessed are the mourners, blessed are the quiet, blessed are the hungry for the right, blessed are the giving and forgiving, blessed are the pure-hearted, blessed are the peace-makers, and blessed are the sufferers for the right, cries the second. Be not righteous overmuch, cries the first. Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect, cries the second. That which befalleth a beast, befalleth a man, cries the first. The very hairs of your head are numbered, cries the second. There is no knowledge, nor wisdom, nor device in the grave, cries the first. I go to prepare a place for you; and I will come again, and take you to Myself, that where I am there ye may be also, cries the second. This last preacher tested life also. Whatever can be done to prove all is vanity, was done to Him. Giving out blessing, getting back cursing. Surely, if over man would write Vanity of vanities over life, this was the man to do it. God was to Him the Father. The future life was more of a reality than the present. He saw resurgam written over every grave, and could see past sorrow and pain, the perfect end, and say, Of all that My Father has given Me, I have lost nothing: He will raise it up at the last day. Then, if I cannot see heaven of myself, let me look at it through His eyes. If earth grows empty and worthless to me, let me believe in what it was to Him, and be sure that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; so, holding fast by faith in Him, I may come at last to a faith in earth, and heaven, and life, and the life to come, and all that is most indispensable to the soul. If I cannot pray because I see no reason, then that bonded figure on Olivet is my reason. If I cannot distinguish between fate and providence, let me rejoice that He can, and that my blindness can make no difference to His blessing. (R. Collyer.)
All is vanity
I. In what sense we are to understand that all is vanity, The Preacher is not speaking of religious practices, or of any actions immediately commanded of God, or directly referred to Him; but of such employments as we pursue by choice, and such works as we perform in hopes of a recompense in the present life; such as flatter the imagination with pleasing scenes, and probable increase of temporal felicity; of this he determines that all is vanity, and every hour confirms his determination. The event of all human endeavours is uncertain. He that plants may gather no fruit; he that sows may reap no harvest. Even the most simple operations are liable to miscarriage, from causes which we cannot foresee; and if we could foresee them, cannot prevents. The rain and the wind he cannot command; the caterpillar he cannot destroy, and the locust he cannot drive away. But these effects, which require only the concurrence of natural causes, though they depend little upon human power, are yet made by Providence regular and certain, in comparison with those extensive and complicated undertakings, which must be brought to pass by the agency of man, and which require the union of many understandings, and the co-operations of many hands. The history of mankind is little else than a narrative of designs which have failed, and hopes that have been disappointed. To find examples of disappointment and uncertainty, we need not raise our thoughts to the interests of nations, nor follow the warrior to the field, or the statesman to the council. The little transactions of private families are entangled with perplexities; and the hourly occurrences of common life are filling the world with discontent and complaint. The labours of man are not only uncertain, but imperfect. If we perform what we designed, we yet do not obtain what we expected.
II. How far the conviction that all is vanity ought to influence the conduct of life. Human actions may be distinguished into various classes. Some are actions of duty, which can never be vain, because God will reward them. Yet these actions, considered as terminating in this world, will often produce vexation. There are likewise actions of necessity; these are often vain and vexatious; but such is the order of the world, that they cannot be omitted. He that will eat bread must plough and sow. What then is the influence which the conviction of this unwelcome truth ought to have upon our conduct? It ought to teach us humility, patience, and diffidence. The consideration of the vanity of all human purposes and projects, deeply impressed upon the mind, necessarily produces that diffidence in all worldly good, which is necessary to the regulation of our passions, and the security of our innocence. He does not rashly treat another with contempt who doubts the duration of his own superiority: he will not refuse assistance to the distressed who supposes that he may quickly need it himself. He will not fix his fond hopes upon things which he knows to be vanity, but will enjoy this world as one who knows that he does not possess it.
III. What consequences the serious and religious mind may draw from the position, that all is vanity. When the present state of man is considered, when an estimate is made of his hopes, his pleasures, and his possessions; when his hopes appear to be deceitful, his labours ineffectual, his pleasures unsatisfactory, and his possessions fugitive, it is natural to wish for an abiding city, for a state more constant and permanent, of which the objects may be more proportioned to our wishes, and the enjoyments to our capacities; and from this wish it is reasonable to infer that such a state is designed for us by that Infinite Wisdom, which, as it does nothing in vain, has not created minds with comprehensions never to be filled. (John Taylor, LL. D.)
Is all vanity
How are we to regard this utterance as to the vanity of all things, the profitless character of human labour, the wearisome monotony of the world? Must we indorse it, because we find it here in the Bible? Or, must we, on the other hand, condemn it and denounce it, as if it contained no truth whatever? I submit that we need do neither. We may believe that Ecclesiastes had been taught by his own experience some valuable lessons as to the practical conduct of life, and that he was able to give some very wise counsel to those younger than himself; and yet we may also believe that this wisdom was dearly bought, and that his outlook on the world, when he became a sadder and a wiser man, was largely coloured by his own past conduct. A man who outgrows his sins and follies may not always outgrow, in this world, all their consequences. A penitent profligate may be able to give us very sound advice; but it does not follow that his estimate of human affairs is altogether accurate and healthful. We are not bound to indorse the view which regards all things under the sun as simply presenting the aspect of a vain and wearisome monotony; but we may learn wisdom from the fact that even the outlook of a religious man may be coloured by a long course of previous irreligion and worldliness. Whilst, however, we are not bound to indorse this melancholy estimate of Ecclesiastes, and whilst we may regard it as coloured and exaggerated by the weariness begotten of his former life, we need not denounce or condemn it as if it were simply the utterance of a morose pessimism or a sated worldliness. There is an element of profound truth in this estimate of the things seen and temporal. A Christian apostle tells us that the creature was made subject to vanity, and to the bondage of corruption. Another Christian apostle reminds us that the world passeth away and the lust thereof--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Thomas a Kempis, in his Imitation of Christ, tells us that all is vanity, except to love God and to serve Him only. One of our own novelists, in his Vanity Fair, has torn aside the mask which hides from view the hollowness of that glitter and show which are so apt to fascinate the inexperienced. Few thoughtful men reach even middle life--not to speak of old age--without being at times oppressed by the thought of lifes sameness, or without being at times impressed with a sense of the unsubstantial and unsatisfying nature of earthly things. Human life may vary from age to age in some of its details; but, in its great broad features, it is unchanging. Birth, death, work, rest, health, sickness, pain, pleasure, hope, fear, loss, gain, friendship, love, marriage, parenthood, bereavement, virtue, vice, temptation, remorse--these things were all familiar to the generations that have gone before us; they are familiar to us; they will be familiar to those who are coming after us. And, as to the transient, uncertain, perishable, and unsatisfying nature of mere earthly happiness--of happiness due to mere earthly pleasures, pursuits, and consideration this has been the trite theme of all the ages. Looking at human life apart from God and immortality--looking at the things seen and temporal apart from the things unseen and eternal--we perceive that there is a profound element of truth in the utterance, All is vanity. Lastly here, we must not forget that this book was written at least two thousand years ago. Since Ecclesiastes meditated on the problems of human life, one really new thing has been seen. The Sun of Righteousness has risen upon the world with healing in His wings. (T. C. Finlayson.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v2 Ecc_1:2. Vanity.] The Hebrew word is Hebel (Abel) the…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Ecc_1:2. Vanity.] The Hebrew word is Hebel (Abel) the name given to one of the sons of Adam. The subjection of the whole creation to vanity was soon observed and felt.
Read full note →
Ecc_1:5. And hasteth.] The verb signifies to hanker after, to be eager for. There is a joyous eagerness appearing in the daily course of the sun. The expression corresponds to Psa_19:5 : “He rejoiceth as a strong man (a hero) to run a race.”
Ecc_1:13. To seek and search out.] In the sense of to try, or thoroughly to test. The Preacher sought that knowledge which is attained by investigation, as distinguished from that which is arrived at by preconceived opinion, or taken upon trust. By Wisdom.] In the Book of Proverbs, this word is equivalent to piety; but in Ecclesiastes it signifies science or sagacity.
Ecc_1:15. Made straight.] The exact force of the Hebrew verb is to come into position. The meaning is, there is a seeming imperfection in the world; man cannot bend the stubborn system of things to what he regards as his own idea of the best.
Ecc_1:17. To know madness and folly.] His aim was to discover the worth of wisdom by its deviation from folly. For this purpose it was necessary to have a knowledge of both. Hieronymus says, contrariis contraria intelliguntur, opposite things are understood by opposite.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Ecc_1:2-11
THE LOWEST POSSIBLE ESTIMATE OF HUMAN LIFE A RESULT OF THE DENIAL OF THE SOUL’S SUPREME HOPE
Apart from God and immortality, human life, in all its departments and issues, must be regarded as a failure. “All is vanity.” We have:
I. The failure of all Human Labours. “What profit hath a man of all his labour?” It cannot be denied that work and industry have their uses and rewards—they are necessary to the very existence of society. But they yield no lasting profit for man—they do not put him in possession of the chief good. Why do they fail to secure this result?—
1. Because they do not employ the whole capacity of man. In many departments of industry, work is but a dull and weary round. The same course of things goes on from day to day, without variation. After the first difficulty of learning his task is over, a man works mechanically. Even in those labours requiring great intellectual skill and culture, some of the higher powers of the soul are left unemployed and unsatisfied. The Reason which apprehends eternal truth, and the Conscience which is sensitive to eternal law, may be dormant in the midst of great mental activity. A man may be engaged in the highest earthly work, and yet the sublimest powers of his nature may lie unused.
2. They are only accepted as a sad necessity of his position. Man does not labour because he delights in it; but because he is forced to join in the struggle for subsistence. Human labour is weariness and toil. Even the nobler exertions of the intellect exhaust the powers. The necessity for labour is a bitter draught for man.
3. They yield no lasting good. Some kinds of labour are for the supply of necessities, and some for ornaments to beautify and adorn life. The necessities recur again, and a fresh demand is made. The glories of this life soon clog the sense—they cease to please—there is no felt satisfaction. The fairest scenes soon fade and languish in our eye. All earthly pleasures lack the quality of permanence. The darkness of the shadow of death takes the fairest colours out of life.
II. The failure of the Individual Life. “One generation passeth away,” &c. If we deny man’s supreme hope of being with his God for ever, the highest account we can give of life is—that the race is immortal, but the individual perishes. Humanity survives, but the separate souls which have composed it, which have lived and worked here, are gone for ever. They have come from forgetfulness, and sink thither again. The only constant remainders of all this glory and activity are the earth and man—the type preserved, the individual lost. This rapid extinction of the individual life, as compared with the permanence of the scene on which it is manifested, appears:—
1. From the uses of History. For what purpose is history, but to give us an account of past generations? It is necessary because they are gone. Their voices are hushed, and their thoughts and deeds can only reach us through literature, which embalms the past. History is written that the deeds of men may not altogether fail of renown.
2. From our own observation of Human Life. We see the world around us in fixed and constant outline, and the busy multitudes upon it. But the separate individuals composing these drop away, one by one, out of our sight. “He changes their countenance, and sends them away.” Compared with the ever-during world, the life of man here is but a sudden flash in the darkness of eternal night. This is a melancholy view of life.
(1.) It makes the final cause of man’s existence an inscrutable mystery. If this life be all, we ask—why was such a creature made with capacities which the world itself cannot satisfy? Why should man be endowed with marvellous powers which have no room for expansion here? If there be no immortality, surely man was made in vain.
(2.) Abates the value of every fact in the universe. Our own existence is the fact of the greatest importance to us. What is it to us that even God Himself exists, and that His works will ever furnish a sublime theme for contemplation, if we ourselves sink into eternal oblivion?
(3.) That dead matter has a longer range of existence than human life, is a crushing humiliation for the soul.
III. The failure of Man’s Hope of Progress. If God and the prospect of a future life be shut out, all hope for any real progress for the race is but a delusion.
1. Nature does not indicate such progress. There is everywhere movement, activity and change; but no tendency of things to a higher state. All move in one regular, unvarying round. There is no onward march to the distant goal of perfection. Thus, water appears as vapour in the clouds, as liquid in the river; then it runs into the sea, and is raised to vapour again. It is driven in this endless round from age to age. The winds are lashed around their fixed circles. Even every separate particle of air performs its little journey, to and fro, by an invariable law. Even where there is apparent progress, there is no real advance. Life itself only passes from growth to decay.
2. Our experience of Human Life does not indicate it. The same classes of events constantly recur. History repeats itself. Given the facts of sin—evil propensities, and the forces of temptation, and it is not difficult to predict human conduct. As the underlying facts of depravity are pretty constant, it follows that one age is but the repetition of another. There is nothing absolutely new, even in mental effort. The grandest utterances of genius are but the expression of the inarticulate aspirations, or dumb agonies felt by myriads of minds and hearts long before.
3. There is no real progress, notwithstanding the activity of human invention and discovery. The mind of man will exert itself to fight with his hard conditions. But all his power does not avail to rend the iron bonds of his destiny. Thus, progress in medical science may restore health for a time, but cannot finally turn aside the common fate of death. The dominion of man over nature may be enlarged by his inventions, and his enjoyments multiplied; but the sad and severe facts of our existence still remain. Man by his genius has done much to conquer the wild forces of nature, yet by these he is often vanquished. He has assayed to conquer the winds and the ocean, but tempests and shipwrecks remind him that his sovereignty over nature is not complete. No human power or talent can banish the curse, and restore Paradise.
IV. The Failure of Man’s Hope for Fame. “There is no remembrance of former things,” &c. It is natural to cherish a desire to be remembered. We cannot resign ourselves to the thought that our names and deeds shall quickly be lost in forgetfulness. Hence the restless pursuit of fame. But even this poor consolation is denied us. If we have no hope of living with God hereafter, there is no earthly immortality of any kind for us.
1. The best men are soon forgotten. The wise, the good, and the great of past ages pleased and blessed their generation, and lived for awhile in the memory of posterity; but in the course of revolving years, they have entirely faded out of remembrance. No skill or goodness can preserve the majority of mankind from oblivion.
2. The world’s greatest benefactors are unknown. This is true of the inventors of the most useful arts—of those who have devised principles of action which have changed the currents of a nation’s history—their names are unknown. Those are not the greatest names that survive in history. The men whose thoughts were the deep foundations for changes and events are hidden in forgetfulness. Even the names of the authors of several of the sacred books are unknown.
3. The roll of fame cannot be practically enlarged. The human memory is not infinite. As new names are added to the roll of fame, other names must vanish from it. We can have no consolation from any hope of fame. Let us seek to be dear to the remembrance of God.
OPPOSITE IDEAS OF LIFE: THE MATERIALISTIC AND THE SPIRITUAL. Ecc_1:2-11, contrasted with 1Jn_2:17, Joh_1:51, Jas_1:25, Heb_11:4.
There are two very opposite ideas of human life—Materialism propounds the one, Spiritual Christianity the other. Let us contrast these two ideas.
I. The one idea represents life as a transient appearance, the other as a permanent reality. Solomon says, speaking out the philosophy of Materialism, “One generation passeth away,” &c. “All is Vanity”—a mere pageant, an empty show. A whole generation is but a troop of pilgrims pursuing their journey from dust to dust. They soon reach their destination and disappear: but the earth, the old road over which they trod their way, “abideth for ever.” To-day I walk through the bustling thoroughfare of a commercial city. Merchants, artizans, the rich, the poor, &c., rush by me. Thirty years hence, a greater throng, it may be, will rush through these streets; but they are not the same men, women, boys and girls. In the view of the Materialist—
“Life’s but a walking shadow—a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more.”
In sublime contrast with this is the teaching of the New Testament: “He that doeth the will of God, abideth for ever.” “He that believeth on Me shall never die.” It is true that the earth is a thoroughfare for generations; but it is not the whole journey of man. All who have ever trod this earth are living, thinking, conscious still.
II. The one idea represents life as an Endless Routine, the other as Constant Progress. “The sun also ariseth,” &c. Solomon saw the sun, the wind, the rivers moving in an invariable circle, returning ever to the point whence they set out. He compares this to human life—a mere endless routine. It is true that nature moves in a circle—that the motion of all organic life is from dust to dust. This is, says the Materialist, but a figure of man’s moral history; there is no progress, it is an eternal round. Place against this the idea of Spiritual Christianity: “Hereafter ye shall see heaven open,” &c. Souls do not revolve in such fixed cycles. Their destiny is not to roll, but to rise. The true path of the soul is like Jacob’s ladder, “from glory to glory.”
III. The one idea represents life as Unsatisfying Labouriousness, the other as Blessed Activity. “All things are full of labour.” In every part of nature, hard work is going on. It is especially so in human life. There is labour of the brain as well as of the muscle. Materialists say that this labour is necessarily unsatisfying. This is true to him. Labour, if not inspired by the right spirit, fails to yield true satisfaction. On the other hand, Christianity teaches that labour need not be unsatisfying. A good man is “blessed in his deed.” Labour inspired with the spirit of love to God will be eversatisfying.
IV. The one idea represents life as Doomed to Oblivion, the other as Imperishably Remarkable. “There is no remembrance of former things” &c. Men and their doings are speedily lost in forgetfulness. Time wipes out the names of famous men from the most durable marble—moulders the metal, stone, parchment and paper on which they were inscribed. Such is the gloomy idea of Materialism, and it is partly true. Posterity soon forgets the greatest of its ancestors. Yet they are remembered by their friends, and their God. No soul can be forgotten. The good man “being dead, yet speaketh.”
Christianity teaches that man will ever live in the memory of those who love him. The genuine disciple of Christ has his name written in an imperishable book—“the Lamb’s Book of Life” [Homilist].
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Ecc_1:2. The duty of teaching, in the imperishable pages of Revelation, the emptiness of earthly glory was not laid upon one who had never tasted it, and who would naturally feel a sense of disgust at what he could not reach. It was Israel’s most magnificent king, whose name was the equivalent for earthly grandeur and state, who was commissioned to preach this lesson to the Church.
This description cannot be applied to God, for He is self-existent, and of infinite glory; nor can it be applied to the whole existence of those who are partakers of the Divine nature. All that is not God—not with Him—not like Him—is vanity.
That the word vanity should most properly describe the state of the world is no reflection on the Creator. Sin has invested the whole scene of man with this terrible property. “The creature was made subject to vanity.”
We have two opposite conditions described in the Bible, “God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.” “All is vanity.” But the fall of man has intervened. The fall of the highest involved a corresponding reduction all along the scale of nature.
The present state of things is not eternal—it is only one of transition. It was not the beginning, and will not be the end of God’s ways. The Gospel has for its object the “regeneration” of Society. The second head of humanity will make all things new. Death, the master-stroke and crowning power of vanity, will be destroyed; the children of God will be delivered from the burden and vanity of earthly existence. This is the hope in which we are saved. (Rom_8:24.)
We must feel our emptiness before we can partake of the Divine fulness. To dwell in our true home—which is God—is the soul’s refuge from the vanity of life.
The soul’s true good springs from another order of things than the present. It can only be secured to us by the kingdom of heaven.
A true sense of the vanity of life shows us our need of God and immortality.
1. It saves us from the false pursuit of happiness.
2. It reconciles us to the loss of the world.
3. It teaches us to prepare for a higher destiny. There is a “better and an enduring substance.” Men are taught by the vanity of life their need of heaven.
There are different ways of meeting this painful fact of human life:—
1. The Stoical. We may harden our hearts, and look down upon the ills of life with the lofty bearing of a severe philosophy.
2. The Epicurean. We may strive to drown all painful feeling in a reckless devotion to pleasure. “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.”
3. The Christian. He projects the Divine glory within him upon the outward world, and regards this life as but one step in the path of eternal progress.
The thinkers of all ages, whether within or without the area of revealed truth, have felt the present disordered condition of the world. This feeling has sometimes led to atheism, and sometimes to some desperate or vague hope. Lucretius could see no hand of Eternal Wisdom in the plan of creation—nothing but a disordered and confused mixture. Man has always felt that Paradise is not here.
Christ will restore Paradise, and usher in a new creation in which will be nothing vain. He will be mindful of that world where He was entertained so long, and which was the nurse of His humanity.
What the Spirit of God meaneth by vanity, the Spirit of God can best tell us; who doth Himself explain it, when the Prophet Jeremiah acknowledgeth, “Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit” (Jer_16:19). The vanity, then, whereof the preacher speaketh, is the lying promises of contentment which worldly things make, and the no profit which is made of them. “Vanity of vanities,” that is, the vanity of them is even more than vanity: and as if he would say more, but could not, he saith the same again: and lest he should not have said all, yet he addeth, “All is vanity” [Jermin].
This verse, if they who are great in this world were wise, they would write on all their walls and garments, in their common meeting places, in their private houses, on their doors, in their entries, and above all in their consciences, so that they might always see it before their eyes, always consider it in their minds [St. Chrysostom].
Ecc_1:3. Human labour has some present profit and advantage, it trains the physical, and intellectual powers, gives sustenance, comfort and adornment of life. It prevents man from being vanquished by the powers of nature. But without a divine principle in the soul, and a high aim, the profit it brings vanishes with the departing breath. It wants the stamps of immortality. Life’s labour will not be in vain for those who live for ever in God’s sight.
The curse inflicted upon us signifies something more than the necessity for work. It is labour—all that is painful and distressing in work. In the future world, there will be work in the sense of the highest activity; but, “They rest from their labours.”
If a man has no hope of heaven, where is the profit of all his earthly labour?
1. In any true satisfaction with it. In looking back upon all his labour, a man must discover that it is far from being perfect. He has to lament mistakes, and movements foolish and unprofitable.
2. In true enjoyment. Man, even in the most favourable conditions, has but few days of rapture—painful thought and anxiety damp his pleasures.
3. In the issues of it. When all is done, and he looks into the future, nothing remains but a dreary blank.
He alone has lasting gain who works for a world higher than this.
He who does not find God loses all the labour of his life.
This fruitlessness of man’s labour he doth restrict only to things under the sun, that is, of an earthly and temporary concernment, on which man spends his time and pains which should be employed about things above the sun, or of a heavenly and eternal concernment, which are of a higher rise and nature, and so are expressed by “things above.” … Nothing can be esteemed the true profit of a man’s labour of body and spirit, but that only which will abide, and continue with him; and therefore, his profit cannot in reason be thought to consist in earthly pleasures which are momentary (Job_20:5), nor in “riches which take wings” (Pro_23:5), nor in worldly glory which “descends not after him” (Psa_49:17), but is only to be found in fellowship with Christ, which may be in some measure continued with him along the course of his pilgrimage here, and shall never be interrupted hereafter [Nisbet].
The sun is the master-workman of the world, labouring continually, and labouring under his great Master, God, to minister unto the inferior creatures of the world, as the Hebrew name of it (Shamesh, i.e. to minister or serve), doth notify unto us. Under this master-workman are all other labourers; he calls them up to their labour; he oversees their labour; he appoints unto them their time of ceasing from labour. But although we labour under him, yet unless the end of our labour be for something above him, it will not profit us; unless as he calls us to labour, so we call upon God for a blessing on our labour, we shall have no comfort in it [Jermin].
This speech of Solomon’s is the speech of every soul, when being spoiled of those things which are here, she goeth to that life which is hoped for [Gregory Nyssenus].
Ecc_1:4. Every object in the material world, by its persistence, preaches to us the brevity of our life. We stand upon our own monuments; the earth is the great tomb of man.
Generations entering life bring with them powers and capabilities; going hence they take away with them character.
How little possession we have of the present world! We cannot carry hence its wealth or glory. But we can bear away the “pearl of great price.”
God does not give to man an earthly immortality. The individual man passes away, and the wastes of death are repaired by fresh life. This arrangement serves:—
1. To abate human pride. No man can glory, or boast himself against God, when he remembers that he has no power over his own life.
2. To curtail human experience and knowledge. There is not time to learn all the lessons of the ages, and to search out all what could be known here.
3. To cast the soul upon God. He remains when generations pass away.
The whole company of men and women upon the face of the earth are in a continual motion towards death and eternity: whatever they be doing, their course that way is never interrupted. And therefore as every man in particular should look upon himself as being shortly to bid farewell to all his earthly contentments, never to meet with them again, that thereby his heart may be weaned from delighting in them as his portion, that he may be moved to seek after that which will abide with him when he is gone out of the world. He may thus have true comfort, considering that neither his sufferings in the world can be long, nor his combat with his spiritual enemies, nor shall he be long holden from the possession of his blessedness [Nisbet].
The earth the Time-Residence of Man.
1. It is ready furnished. God has prepared it by His power and wisdom. The generations of the past have prepared it by their genius and skill. We enter into the heritage of those who have gone before, are rich with the spoils of time.
2. It is a place of moral education. We are here to be trained for a superior life.
3. It may be made the first stage in eternal progress. God always begins with the lower, and imperfect stages—darkness before light,—chaos before order,—“First that which is natural, and afterwards that which is spiritual.”
The passing away of generations does not interfere with their relations to God. He is God of nature, but much more of man. He will not suffer His own image to be effaced by death. The generations who pass away still live before Him. Thus the dominion of God over intelligent creatures is ever enlarging.
The earth remains:—
1. As the scene of moral trial for successive generations.
2. As the scene of depravity, and of redemptive power.
3. As the scene of restored Paradise.
The melancholy sadness which touches the heart, when reflecting upon the rapid flight of the generations of men, appears in the earlier poetry. Thus Homer:—
The race of man is like the race of leaves:
Of leaves, one generation by the wind
Is scattered on the earth; another soon,
In spring’s luxuriant verdure, bursts to light.
So with our race; these flourish, those decay.
[LORD DERBY’S TRANSLATION.]
Ecc_1:5. The sun cannot break away from the line of his course in the heavens, nor can man by all his boasted skill get rid of his sad inheritance of sin, want, weakness, and death. All human beings are driven through this sad and weary round.
The course of the sun an emblem of human life.
1. The rising sun is an emblem of the freshness and eagerness of youth. The youth is longing to enter into the serious business of life—“Eager to run the race his fathers ran.”
2. The sun’s course in the heavens is an emblem of the untried day for man. Whether the day will be clear or dark is uncertain. What will he become? is a question we may ask tremblingly of every child.
3. The setting sun is an emblem of the manner of our departure from the world. We may sink down in the terrible gloom of sin, or our evening sky may be pure.
This frailty of man is illustrated by the sun, who keeps a constant, orderly, and swift motion toward the place of his rising and setting; and he is said to “haste toward” (or “pant after,” as the word signifies) the Orient, or place of his rising, because, however, his motion be no less swift toward the Occident, or place of his setting; yet his rising is most desired and remarked by men. But as for man, when he has once gone down to death, he shall rise no more to the enjoyment of his earthly contentments, and therefore these are not to be sought after as his chief happiness [Nisbet].
The reign of law is a theme for grateful and admiring contemplation; yet, it must be confessed, that this endless uniformity of nature has a depressing influence on the human heart. Nature preaches no doctrine of a sublime progress—she seems to forbid the soul to rise into a freer element.
Ecc_1:6. The wind appears to be a wild and irregular power, yet it is under the control of law. The most furious storms run their cycles in obedience to the eternal conditions laid upon them by the Creator. So human history may seem to be but a succession of events without order or plan, but there is a Supreme Governor over all.
Our eye cannot trace or follow the wandering courses of the wind,—nor can we trace the ways of God through human history.
We have here the vanity of man compared to the wind; and though that may be conceived to be of all things most vain, most light; yet here man’s vanity is shown to be greater. And whereas Job saith, “O, remember that my life is wind”; the Preacher saith, that it is more vain than wind. For though the wind pass on speedily, and pass away quickly, though most inconstantly it pass from place to place, and every way turneth itself, which our translation hath “whirleth about continually,” yet it returneth still, and going from the world, it cometh back to the earth again. But it is not so with man; and that which Job speaketh of himself, is true of every man, “when a few years are come, I shall go the way whence I shall not return.”—The passing breath of man’s life hath no return. But though man being gone from his natural life cannot return, yet being gone from his spiritual life, he may and should return. And like the wind, having wandered here and there, and whirled about continually in the giddy mazes of iniquity, it were good that he would return according to his circuits, and go back to God by the contrary courses of amendment. We are to return:—
1. From a foolish mirth.
2. From an unprofitable sadness.
3. From a vain ostentation.
4. From a hidden pride. For these being the vanities of the world, from these we must return in order that we might go to God, and come to happiness [Jermin].
Ecc_1:7. The river, as it runs into the sea, is an illustration of human life. It rises in obscurity, and after a longer or shorter course, falls into the great ocean. Some rivers are insignificant, others run through many countries, and give names to towns along their banks. But all have one common destiny. Such is the life of man—obscure in its beginning, of greater or less renown in its progress, and in its close disappearing in the great ocean of eternity.
When a river is kept within its banks, it carries life and fertility far and wide: but when it overflows its banks, spreads destruction. So human life, when it leaves the channels of truth and right, only spreads evil and sorrow.
God preserves the balance of the powers of nature, appointing all things by weight and measure. Shall He not be as careful and exact in His moral government of man?
The rivers run toward the sea, and yet the sea is never full, because the waters are drawn up thence into vapours and clouds to distil down upon the earth, to water it, and fill the rivers again. But as for frail man, he is carried away as with a flood, and never returns again to the enjoyment of his earthly pleasures [Nisbet].
Saint Gregory in a moral sense applieth this verse unto preachers, who having studied and meditated of heavenly things, do then send them forth for the watering of the Lord’s fields; and when they have done so, do then return to study and meditation again. Because unless they do this, “an inward ignorance will dry up the outward words of their preaching” [Jermin].
Let us comprehend that we can only then be happy and make others happy, when, as nature unconsciously obeys natural laws, we obey with clear consciousness the commands of virtue and the laws of nature for the spirit-world [Wohlfarth].
Ecc_1:8. There is no pause in the battle of life. Man must wage a continual warfare against want and death, or else be vanquished.
There is a sense of languor and weariness in all human effort. Nothing goes on with lively vigour, but everywhere the spurand the whip are required. The earth will not yield her fruit to man with ease and profusion—it must be wrested by hard labour.
Labour is not an unmixed evil. The good Providence of God has mitigated the curse, and made it full of blessing. Labour has stimulated invention, and developed the powers of man. Nature offers opposition to him; hence the plough and the ship. He is born ignorant; hence the school, where he labours to conquer that condition. Labour has served to modify the virulence of depravity. How much worse would human nature be, were the necessity for labour done away with? The bonds of toil have done much to restrain the fierce passions of men.
To the pious soul, labour only tends to sweeten the prospect of heaven. Rest will be delightful after toil.
Language breaks down under the task of representing the greatness and extent of the labours of men. No one mind can understand every department of human industry. Words fail fully to represent the present world—how much more the activity and glory of the invisible kingdom!
The abundance of phenomena which presses on eye, ear, and the remaining senses, is endless; there are always objects which the eye must see, does see, and brings to him who would gladly close his labours [Hitzig].
The issues of men’s labours are unsatisfactory. When the utmost is done, the eye and ear desire more. The void, produced in the soul by the fall, cannot be filled up by wealth, worldly glory, or even by the superior treasures of the intellect. No mere idea, or vague sense of some mysterious power, but the Living God alone is the satisfying portion. A nature capable of being filled with all the fulness of God must be discontented with any other portion.
The soul’s powers of inner vision and hearing are satisfied when God appears.
Such is the curse which the Lord hath put upon all earthly things sought after as man’s best portion, that his unsatisfaction after attainment of them is no less than it was in the pursuit; but rather still growing, as thirst doth in some distempered persons, by drinking. Till lost man close with God, reconciling Himself to him in Christ, and hear the joyful sound of His Spirit speaking pardon and peace through the promises, had he never so great plenty of sensible delights (in themselves never so ravishing), this may still be truly said of him, “the eye is not satisfied,” &c. [Nisbet].
It is a great mercy, always to receive for the supplying of our want, and never to want the need of receiving [Jermin].
The immortal essence of the soul can by no means repose in the empty creature; it seeks ever farther, and will ever have more; it is a fire that burns without ceasing, and would gladly seize all things [Berleb. Bible].
Ecc_1:9. If we understand these words of the things themselves, and of the works of God, they would not be true. For God is every day doing what is new; but we do nothing new, because the old Adam is in all. Our ancestors abused things just as we abuse them Alexander and Cæsar had the same disposition; so had all Kaisars and Kings; so have we. As they could never be satisfied, so never can we; they were wicked; so are we [Luther].
The study of history affords no hope that man, by any power of his own, can rise above the vanity of his condition. Human life of to-day contains no element which past generations did not possess—there is nothing fresh. As the old was bad, it is an evil that there is nothing new.
With advanced civilization there is a multiplying of the enjoyments of life, and a refinement of pleasure. But this does not bring us nearer to complete satisfaction—to the chief good. New appliances for comfort only generate new wants, and what was at first a luxury, becomes a necessity. We may add new links to the golden chain of pleasure, but only to increase the power of it to bind us faster.
We cannot be altered from below, but only from above. “Behold I make all things new,” is the regenerating word for man. The new creation begins where vanity begun—with man. When he is created anew in Christ, all things will be new.
The delights of novelty are only prepared for man in Christ. He alone can give us material for new songs. Our life here is a weary round—a depressing sameness, but heaven is eternal progression in light and love.
Our longing for something new is a proof that religion is necessary to bring true rest to our soul. Man expresses the voice of nature, which seems to be restless and uneasy in its present bonds, and to yearn for perfection.
Even in the things of the material world which surrounds us, there is an element of life, a yearning of what is bound, which, like that of the Memnon statue, unconsciously sends forth symphony, when the ray touches it from above [Schubert].
1. There is no new earthly delight to be found out by men, besides one of these three idols, pleasure, profit, and honour, which the men of this world have always, since the beginning, been worshipping.
2. Nor is any new course to be found out for attaining these, the like whereof for substance, and no less effectual for the end, hath not been essayed before.
3. Nor any new success of these courses to be expected, but the same disappointment and vexation their fathers had found to deter their children from idolatrous courses (Jer_16:19) [Nisbet].
In order to the solid satisfaction of man’s soul, there must be a newness, either of the kind of the delights which he enjoys, or of the relish and sweetness he finds in them; which is only to be had in things spiritual and heavenly, in fellowship with God, and tasting how gracious He is; which is no less fresh, sweet, and new, even after many tastes of it, than it was at first. Yea, the oftener any taste spiritual comforts, the sweeter and newer they are; but the most desirable of earthly delights, the more they are enjoyed, the more they are loathed. So that they become old in a moment, and sooner than they can be called new [Nisbet].
Ecc_1:10. Men suddenly rejoice in some boasted discovery for healing the hurt of humanity. See, this is new! But the old wounds still remain. The true Healer of man is Divine, and comes from above.
Panting after this illusion of novelty is a sign of secret dissatisfaction. It robs us of that quietness which is the only solace of our life.
Politicians trace the evils of society to bad laws, and by reforming legislation endeavour to increase social happiness. But no alteration of outward circumstances can restore the soul to true happiness and peace. When the light of life shines within, all things become transfigured by that light.
To be acquainted with the history of past events, especially that which is recorded in Scripture, is of singular use to the people of God to guard them against offence, fretting, or being discouraged at the apprehended newness of their trials, or temptations; and to draw their hearts from following those sinful courses, which others have in their experience proved to end in so much vexation. And while we are taken up with any earthly delight as new, we prove ourselves to be unacquainted with things that have been before, and like children brought from the country to some great city, and there ravished with every trifle as new, which experienced persons are not affected with [Nisbet.]
Ecc_1:11. The vast mass of human deeds are buried in oblivion. History gives but a scanty outline of what has been. “One Cæsar lives, a thousand are forgot.”
Even literature fails to preserve some from forgetfulness and neglect. Libraries are often the cemeteries of departed reputation. The books which are never disturbed in their dusty beds speak eloquently of the failure of many to secure a lasting fame, though they were above the average of humanity.
The world soon forgets even those who have blest it with good words and deeds. Nothing can save us from the fate of oblivion but a place in the infinite memory of God. The good, in whatever world, are in God’s sight—ever in His remembrance. “Nevertheless, I am continually with thee.”
It is some kind of preservation of things that are not, that they are not forgotten; and because this might seem to mitigate the vanity of worldly things the Preacher showeth that there is “no remembrance” of things, neither of “former things,” nor of things present when they shall be gone, neither of things which shall be. So that as Hugo de Sancto Victore speaketh: “Not only their presence by perishing is taken away, but their memory also by oblivion is blotted out. Wherefore let this check the great minds of some, who think to do some great thing by which they will be remembered, and let it make them to seek after righteousness; for it is the memory of the righteous that is blessed” [Jermin].
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH. Ecc_1:12-18
SPECULATIVE WISDOM APPLIED TO THE FACTS OF EXISTENCE
I. The exercise of it is Divinely appointed for all. “God hath given this sore travail to the sons of men.” We are not left to choose whether or not we will think upon the mysteries of nature, of human life, and destiny. We are bound to exercise thought and investigation.
1. By the nature of the powers of the human mind. We cannot be content with a passive, indifferent gaze upon the world around us, and the scene of man. We are constituted by our Creator speculative beings. In the pauses of the world’s labour, a sense of the harmony of nature is forced upon us, we feel ourselves in the presence of some mysterious Power. Man is conscious of wants and cravings which belong not to the body. He has pains and pleasures in which the physical part of his nature does not share. The mind is ever groping for some solvent idea that will adjust the discrepancies that appear in this life. Man cannot rest in merely seeking the satisfaction of his bodily wants, and in studying the system of nature only as it affects these. He must speculate upon nature, himself, society.
2. By the necessities of our present position. Man must maintain his sovereignty over nature, must bear undisputed sway over the wildest animals, and win spoils and tribute from the mine, the forest, the ocean, and the air. Without thought and the power of contrivance, he must soon cease to be lord of this lower world; for in all other respects, the brute creation would be his superiors. Man holds his position by the power of reason. He is forced to reflect upon the facts of his mysterious existence, as it touches, at one extremity, all that is vile and base; and on the other, all that is noble and divine. Hence the religious instinct in man, which no culture, or refinement, or boasted supremacy of reason, can ever destroy.
3. No superiority of outward condition can discharge us from the necessity of this exercise. “I was king.” High social position, and profusion of earthly splendour cannot shut out thought and reflection on the system of nature, and the painful mystery of life. Pleasure, and a lofty feeling of importance cannot wholly occupy the mind. Pale and anxious thought can break through the charmed circle of kingly dignity.
II. The Issues of it are Unsatisfactory. Mere human knowledge and speculation upon the mysteries of life, yield no results of permanent value.
1. They do not satisfy the intellect. However wide the empire of science may expand, the mind will pant after the undiscovered regions beyond. The vain pursuit, without the help of revelation, of the ultimate truth concerning nature, man, and God, must ever keep the mind unsatisfied.
2. They do not satisfy the heart. The heart has infinite longings beyond the power of expression, and a faculty of vague prophecy of some glory beyond the experience of this life. It cannot be satisfied by human speculation or science; it must meet the loving heart above. It longs to know of a love which is powerful, and a power which is kind. The investigation of matter, force, of the vast machinery of nature, were we conscious of no loving heart above, would be painful. Knowledge and speculation, which must end with death, have poor comfort and hopeless issue. We can have no true consolation unless we feel that there is life above and on before.
3. They are powerless to improve the condition of which we complain. The vanity to which creation is subject cannot be removed by our wisdom, ingenuity of contrivance, or of speculation.
(1.) Man cannot alter the system of things in accordance with his own ideal of the best. “That which is crooked cannot be made straight,” i.e., brought into position. In the arrangements of the world there are, apparently, imperfections. We can imagine a kinder, less destructive, and more peaceful system of things. While pain, suffering, death, and decay remain, this life cannot be the ideal best. But we have no power to alter the frame and disposition of nature, nor the hard conditions of our life. There are mysteries, anomalies, and crooked things in human life; but we cannot bring them to an ideal perfection.
(2.) Man cannot supply fatal defects. “That which is wanting,” &c. Mere human wisdom sighs in vain for that which would restore the lost harmonies of creation, but it will not be supplied. The lost and forgotten spell of power is only supplied to the new man in Christ, who lives in a new creation.
III. The Divine Purpose in it has a moral significance for Man. “To be exercised therewith.” The intention of God hereby is to afflict man’s mind, and to humble him.
1. His pride of power is humbled, so that he might feel his need of redemption. When a man feels that his own strength is of no avail, then he has a motive for depending on the strength of God. He wants a strong deliverer. The boast of power is but empty and vain when a man feels that there is no one to save him from death.
2. His vain presumption of wisdom is humbled. God allows man to try the strength and capacity of his mind in the application of his speculative wisdom to life; gives him difficult problems, as a severe discipline, so that his reason might be humbled. This exercise is a pain and a perplexity. Pain and suffering have a tendency to throw the mind back upon itself, and to force us to seek relief in another.
IV. The Difficulty is only increased by Superior Powers of Investigation. “In much wisdom is much grief,” &c. An increase of human knowledge and power of speculation does not banish the painful impression the scene of life makes upon the mind.
1. Some subjects of investigation are painful in themselves. History is chiefly a record of oppression—wrong—cruelty—war. The history of the conflict of opinion reveals base passions—pride of intellect—great mental labour, ending at last in some pitiful and controverted conclusion. We feel that, after all, human wisdom has done little to settle the great questions—the mystery of life, and the ultimate destiny of man. Even Ecclesiastical History is a fearful record of ambition, strife, and corruption of the truth. The more knowledge of this kind, the more material for melancholy reflection.
2. The results of our investigations fail to satisfy the whole of our nature. Science only gives us facts and laws, not a personal God. The study of mankind intensifies our pity—our suspicion; or awakens envy—aspirations in us that will never be satisfied. Our studies of nature and of man, as far as they are guided by human wisdom alone, only tend to make us sad. They leave the deepest yearnings of the soul unsatisfied—we still cry out for the “Living God.”
3. There is an oppressive sense of imperfection when we have done our best. The increase of knowledge only convinces us of our hopeless ignorance; the infinite unknown rises up before us to humble our pride. The more deep and extensive our study, the more it is seen how one subject is closely related to another, till we are forced to despair of surveying the whole scene of truth, even from the loftiest elevation of the mind. If there be not an Infinite Intelligence, the whole universe cannot be comprehended by any one mind. The little knowledge, which is all the wisest can attain to, is humbling—a sorrowful portion.
4. Mere human knowledge, as far as the individual is concerned, is of brief duration. “Art is long; life is short.” If this life be all, our own wisdom must soon perish. Why trouble ourselves, if life is so soon to end for ever, to gather stores of knowledge, only to increase the tenderness of our nature to all painful impression?
“Who would put forth one billow from the shore,
If the great sea be—Death?”
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Ecc_1:12. The Royal Preacher had full opportunity for a practical acquaintance with the theme of his discourse. He tried the world at its best; and if it had any solid joys, he could have discovered them.
High social position, and the activities of public life, are favourable to large and correct views of human things. A practical man is able to form juster views than a recluse. Theories of human nature, shaped by lonely meditation, away from the busy activities and strifes of men, are often dispersed by the stern facts of life. The true instructor of the Church mingles with men.
“In Jerusalem”—the home of Divine Revelation. Solomon had the advantage of studying the inspired records. He possessed a national history in which the hand of God could be plainly traced. He was the representative of God in a political system where Divine laws ruled national life—the first outline of that Kingdom of God which a greater than Solomon came to establish.
The true preacher arises from the midst of the Church. He has Divine facts. He enters into the possession of the rich heritage of the past.
He had not yet put off his royal robes, he had not yet laid aside his crown; and yet, considering the vain uncertainty, and speedy passing away of worldly greatness, he rather affirmeth himself to have been than to be. “I was King” [Jermin].
The eminency of a man’s place and employment, whether ecclesiastical or civil, as also the dignity and privileges of the people over whom he hath charge, should be so far from making him slack and negligent in pains for bettering his gifts—as if his measure of these were sufficient already, seeing he is so employed—that on the contrary, the consideration thereof should stir him up to the greater pains and diligence, that he may grow in abilities for the more faithful and successful discharge of his employment; for the consideration of Solomon’s office in the Church and State of Israel may be looked upon, as here mentioned by him, as a special motive to that exceeding great diligence afterwards described [Nisbet].
Ecc_1:13. In all real study, the heart must be engaged as well as the head—there must be desire as well as power.
Love is always ready to explore its object.
We must not be content simply with a knowledge of the facts of human history. We should study the principles underlying them, and their tendencies—their bearing upon the purposes of God here, and hereafter.
The most precious things of truth lie not on the surface, before the careless eye. They are hidden in the depths, and greatly embedded, and can only be gained by laborious toil. The best teachers can but tell us where to dig for the precious ore: the labour which puts us in possession of it must be our own.
God is educating the human race by forcing upon everyone the painful problems of life—by the discipline of sorrow and humility—also, by means of punishment.
Even the inspired teachers of the Church had necessity for laborious study and thought. The Church should value the products of long and careful meditation.
“To search out … concerning all things that are done under heaven.” This involves—
1. The study of moral helplessness. The facts of evil, in human conduct, must be admitted. Unaided by a Divine power, man cannot lift his own burden—he must lie crushed by the load. 2 The study of a severe moral conflict. The grace of God is in the world opposing sin, and modifying the facts of depravity. As a resultant of these forces, this world is neither a Paradise nor a Hell.
3. The study of great possibilities for the future. The consequences of human conduct are projected beyond the world. The great harvests of thought and action only ripen in eternity. Man, in his degradation, still has powers capable of God, and of all the improvements of eternity.
He who came to us from above the sun can alone redeem us from all the evils under it.
There is nothing which God hath made, or doth, neither anything which He ordereth, or permitteth to be done, but it deserveth man’s serious thoughts, as that from whence he may learn something for his profit. The study of the creatures will proclaim to him the glorious properties of his Maker. The study of human affairs may teach him what is for the advantage of his worldly estate, yea, even the greatest miscarriages in the world may afford him either matter of caution to beware of the like, or of praise that men are restrained from miscarrying further, or of comfort that God is bringing good out of it. The children of God may lay out their wit sometimes in considering what happiness the creatures and human endeavours about them can yield, still putting the same in the balance with what is to be had in communion with the Lord, so that comparing Christ, the true Apple-tree, with the trees of the wood, “His fruit may be the sweeter to their taste;” and comparing the excellent knowledge of Him with what may be known and enjoyed of other things, these other things may become dross and dung in their esteem [Nisbet].
Behold here the royal student, and see the matter, the method, the manner, the diligence of his studying.
1. The matter is “all things that are done under heaven,” as the ethics of the manners of men, the civil histories of the deeds of men, the natural history of the works of God.
2. The method of his study we have, in that it is said, “by wisdom,” for that is the only right method of well seeking anything. Method is the wise part of study, but an unwise method is a methodical folly.
3. The manner of his studying we have in that “he sought and searched.” He sought things unknown, and searched deep things.
4. The diligence of his studying we have in that he gave his heart unto it. He went about it not only with a willingness, but with a love which locked him up, and held him hard unto it [Jermin].
Ecc_1:14. If men had only disappointment of their hopes to look for, while they neglect the new and living way to felicity, and seek happiness in vain and sinful courses, their misery were the less. But besides this, they shall find the issue of their course to be an eating up and gnawing away of their spirit, and that they have been feeding upon the wind, while delighting in things earthly as their best portion. Such is the signification of the original words “All is Vanity and Vexation” or gnawing away of the spirit, or feeding upon the wind [Nisbet].
The most diligent study of human life only reaches the miserable conclusion, that “All is Vanity.” Yet, an exercise yielding no satisfactory results in the looked-for direction, may be salutary. God often educates the human race by failure. Amidst the wreck of our earthly hopes, we are ready to grasp the hand stretched out to save, and to draw us to the shores of life.
Worldly things do not feed our souls, but rather the hunger of our souls [St. Bernard].
The “Vanity,” etc., may be referred unto his seeing and knowing, the knowledge of man being such as is full of vanity and unquietness,—unquiet in the getting; unquiet being gotten, lest forgetfulness should lose it again; and vain where it is greatest, because it is far from the perfect discovery of anything. For this world, and the things in it, are a book of that largeness and greatness, that none is able to read it over [Jermin].
Ecc_1:15. Mere earthly wisdom and skill fail to bend the perverse direction of human things into the true position. Sin has produced this deformity. In the world above, there is nothing crooked: all is exact—regular—beautiful.
Men have tried several expedients to lessen the evils of life, and to perfect society,—the dominion of arms—wise government—education—the supremacy of the church—the assertion of the social principle. But none of these can bring about a state of things in which all will go on smoothly. In the best ordered conditions of society, there must be imperfections which man can never remedy. Our only hope for the world is the answer to the prayer, “Thy Kingdom come.”
Even when our souls are renewed by grace, the evils of life remain. Grace does not straighten the natural crookedness of things. “The body is dead, because of sin.” All the world’s glory leads to the grave, and death is the sum of all vanity.
Whatever is wanting to make the world and man perfect, we cannot supply from hence. The true remedy for our fatal defects is not a philosophy, but a revelation.
When the perfect world is displayed to the inner vision, we are reconciled to the irregularites of the present.
With man in this life, the quid est is far below the quid opostet.
The present state is a discipline in Christian toleration. We must acknowledge imperfection, and be content to endure, and to wait for the glory of the perfect world.
1. Before men get grace to choose Christ for their portion, and so to be made new creatures, there is nothing but crookedness, and contrariety in their nature and actions to what is truly good and right in the sight of God.
(1.) Their understanding is crooked, so that it cannot discern things spiritual; and hath upon it strong impressions contrary to the truth.
(2.) Their will is crooked in regard of its averseness both from passive and active obedience to their Maker.
(3.) Their affections are crooked in so far as they loathe and weary of what God approves and commands. They love and delight in what He abhors; whence it is that every step of their walk is a turning aside to their crooked ways.
2. There are not a few things wanting to fallen man considered in his natural estate. He is spiritually destitute. He wants life—health—food—raiment—a sight and feeling of his wants, and the desire to have them supplied. Yea, he wants the art of numbering out his wants to Him that can supply them.
3. The rectifying of this crookedness of man’s nature and actions, and the supplying of his spiritual wants, is a work that surpasseth the power of the creatures, and requireth a creating, infinite power for the doing of it. Only the infinite virtue of Christ’s death can crucify the old man, and make the sinner a new creature; which is to make straight that which is crooked. Only he whose understanding is infinite, who numbers the stars, and hath in Himself all fulness, knows the number of our wants, and can supply them all [Nisbet].
Ecc_1:16. It is salutary, at times, to enter the secret chambers of our own heart, to speak freely there, and thus be our own audience. We should know what lies within ourselves—what is the extent of our power. If we would avoid the ruin of our spiritual fortunes, we must learn to take reckoning with ourselves.
The more we commune with our own hearts, the more cause have we for humility; for the best discover imperfections. Yet, as we discover in ourselves powers and capabilities which make religion possible, this duty should serve to inspire hope. The Divine hand has something to lay hold of in man.
The very names of the early kings, who had been before Solomon in Jerusalem (such as Melchizedek), show that they had higher purposes and aims than the other kings of the earth.
Each one should enlarge his original capacity. The gifts of God must be improved by our own industry, or their energy and value will grow less.
A great estate without wisdom does not add to the true dignity of the owner. Wisdom and knowledge are necessary even to extend the uses of riches, and to increase the enjoyments of life. Riches without culture and study only increase the temptation to coarse pleasures.
The experience of wisdom and knowledge is better than wisdom itself, for the habits and principles acquired by long and careful meditation are of greater value than the mere facts of knowledge.
The treasures of the mind become the more endeared by long possession.
The Lord’s people should not satisfy themselves with the simple notional knowledge of the truth, unless they have also the experimental knowledge thereof, which consists in our discerning evidently the things we know in the causes thereof, and by their effects upon ourselves or others.… The more outward advantages and accommodations men have for acquiring knowledge, and the greater inward qualifications, the more should their heart be set upon enriching themselves therewith; otherwise the Lord will challenge them sadly for abusing His gifts contrary to the end for which He gave them [Nisbet].
Ecc_1:17. To attain a true knowledge of man, it is necessary to study all the facts of his nature and condition, and not to make a selection of the most pleasant and favourable. Goodness and truth are not only to be investigated in themselves, but also in their counterparts, evil—error—and confusion.
Man does not originate the objects which his science investigates. The specimens are selected by nature. We must accept the facts of human life, however painful the study of them may be.
The knowledge of the world’s madness and folly teaches a man to value true wisdom. The knowledge of disease is necessary to discover the means for the preservation of health.
A close examination of human effort will discover that many actions reputed wise must be charged with folly.
We must study the madness and folly of the world only in order that we might hate and avoid them. Men survey, and lay down in the map, the features of barren and inhospitable countries where they never intend to dwell. They construct charts, which, though they mark the positions of safe anchorage and secure havens, yet, for the most part, indicate the dangers which are to be avoided by the mariner. The rocks and shoals, and sandbanks of life must be studied.
And that he might the better know wisdom, he laboured not only to know it in itself, but to know it also by conparing it with madness and folly, that the foulness of the one might set out the beauty and clearness of the other. And first he sought to know wisdom, that knowing madness and folly, he might as well hate, as know them [Jermin].
Astronomers determine the distance of a heavenly body by observing the different directions it bears when viewed from two positions widely apart. So the observation of man from the extremes of moral conduct (wisdom and folly) is necessary to our complete understanding of his real position in the moral universe.
Ecc_1:18. This is true.
1. Of the knowledge of nature. As we increase our knowledge of the facts and laws of the universe, our ignorance becomes more and more apparent. There is an ever-deepening sense that the mystery of the ultimate facts of nature retires into closer seclusion, and becomes altogether unsearchable by us. As the sphere of light enlarges, so does the circumscribing sphere of darkness.
2. Of our knowledge of mankind. One result of an extensive study of human nature is, that we have less faith in it as we grow older. Our suspicion increases. The sins and follies of men fill the righteous soul with grief.
3. Of the knowledge of ourselves. The study of our own heart and life gives us reasons for humility and grief. The stronger the light by which we observe ourselves, the more will evils and deformities be revealed.
4. Of our knowledge of the Heavenly World. The more we learn of the nature of that world, the more we have reason to blame ourselves that it has so little effect upon us.
The increase of human knowledge renders the soul more sensitive to influences—increases the power of feeling pain and distress—complicates grief.
Wisdom reveals defects, dispels illusions, and destroys the contentment and fancied security of ignorance. The laughter of fools is loud, for wisdom would chastise the fervour of their joy. The failure of our highest faculties to give us true happiness casts us at the feet of God, “in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life.”
Every increase of the Godly sorrow of the righteous has comfort in the bosom of it, and always joy at the back of it [Nisbet].
All human wisdom labours, and has care and sorrow for its reward; the further wisdom looks, the greater is the labyrinth in which it loses itself. It is with reason as to the eyes with a magnifying glass, when the most delicate skin becomes disgusting, the most luscious dish a mess of worms, and the finest work of art a mere botch. We see the impossibility of removing all inequalities of human society, and we see in it an overwhelming number of faults and failings; yea, the weakness of our senses and judgment leads us to find faults in beauties, because we examine all things only fragmentarily [Harman].
In respect of the contemplation of truth, knowledge causeth delight; but in respect of the things known, it causeth sorrow. Now if they be good things which are known, then the sorrow is from the great labour which a man must take to attain the knowledge of them; and from the little perfection of knowledge to which his great pains hath brought him. If they be evil things which are known, then his sorrow is that he is subject to them [Jermin].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v4 Ecc 1:4. - 1Jn 2:17.
Ecclesiastes
WHAT PASSES AND WHAT ABIDES
Read full note →
Ecc 1:4. - 1Jn 2:17.
A great river may run through more than one kingdom, and bear more than one name, but its flow is unbroken. The river of time runs continuously, taking no heed of dates and calendars. The importance that we attach to the beginnings or endings of years and centuries is a sentimental illusion, but even an illusion that rouses us to a consciousness of the stealthy gliding of the river may do us good, and we need all the helps we can find to wise retrospect and sober anticipation. So we must let the season colour our thoughts, even whilst we feel that in yielding to that impulse we are imagining what has no reality in the passing from the last day of one century to the first day of another.
I do not mean to discuss in this sermon either the old century or the new in their wider social and other aspects. That has been done abundantly. We shall best do our parts in making the days, and the years, and the century what they should be, if we let the truths that come from these combined texts sink into and influence our individual lives. I have put them together, because they are so strikingly antithetical, both true, and yet looking at the same facts from opposite points of view, But the antithesis is not really so complete as it sounds at first hearing, because what the Preacher means by ‘the earth’ that ‘abideth for ever’ is not quite the same as what the Apostle means by the ‘world’ that ‘passes’ and the ‘generations’ that come and go are not exactly the same as the men that ‘abide for ever.’ But still the antithesis is real and impressive. The bitter melancholy of the Preacher saw but the surface; the joyous faith of the Apostle went a great deal deeper, and putting the two sets of thoughts and ways of looking at man and his dwelling-place together, we get lessons that may well shape our individual lives.
So let me ask you to look, in the first place, at-
I. The sad and superficial teaching of the Preacher.
Now in reading this Book of Ecclesiastes-which I am afraid a great many people do not read at all-we have always to remember that the wild things and the bitter things which the Preacher is saying so abundantly through its course do not represent his ultimate convictions, but thoughts that he took up in his progress from error to truth. His first word is: ‘All is vanity!’ That conviction had been set vibrating in his heart, as it is set vibrating in the heart of every man who does as he did, viz., seeks for solid good away from God. That is his starting-point. It is not true. All is not vanity, except to some blase cynic, made cynical by the failure of his voluptuousness, and to whom ‘all things here are out of joint,’ and everything looks yellow because his own biliary system is out of order. That is the beginning of the book, and there are hosts of other things in the course of it as one-sided, as cynically bitter, and therefore superficial. But the end of it is: ‘Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter; fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.’ In his journey from the one point to the other my text is the first step, ‘One generation goeth, and another cometh: the earth abideth for ever.’
He looks out upon humanity, and sees that in one aspect the world is full of births, and in another full of deaths. Coffins and cradles seem the main furniture, and he hears the tramp, tramp, tramp of the generations passing over a soil honeycombed with tombs, and therefore ringing hollow to their tread. All depends on the point of view. The strange history of humanity is like a piece of shot silk; hold it at one angle, and you see dark purple, hold at another, and you see bright golden tints. Look from one point of view, and it seems a long history of vanishing generations. Look to the rear of the procession, and it seems a buoyant spectacle of eager, young faces pressing forwards on the march, and of strong feet treading the new road. But yet the total effect of that endless procession is to impress on the observer the transiency of humanity. And that wholesome thought is made more poignant still by the comparison which the writer here draws between the fleeting generations and the abiding earth. Man is the lord of earth, and can mould it to his purpose, but it remains and he passes. He is but a lodger in an old house that has had generations of tenants, each of whom has said for a while, ‘It is mine’; and they all have drifted away, and the house stands. The Alps, over which Hannibal stormed, over which the Goths poured down on the fertile plains of Lombardy, through whose passes mediaeval emperors led their forces, over whose summits Napoleon brought his men, through whose bowels this generation has burrowed its tunnels, stand the same, and smile the same amid their snows, at the transient creatures that have crawled across them. The primrose on the rock blooms in the same place year after year, and nature and it are faithful to their covenant, but the poet’s eyes that fell upon them are sealed with dust. Generations have gone, the transient flower remains. ‘One generation cometh and another goeth,’ and the tragedy is made more tragical because the stage stands unaltered, and ‘the earth abides for ever.’ That is what sense has to say-’the foolish senses’-and that is all that sense has to say. Is it all that can be said? If it is, then the Preacher’s bitter conclusion is true, and ‘all is vanity and chasing after wind.’
He immediately proceeds to draw from this undeniable, but, as I maintain, partial fact, the broad conclusion which cannot be rebutted, if you accept what he has said in my text as being the sufficient and complete account of man and his dwelling-place. If, says he, it is true that one generation comes and another goes, and the earth abides for ever, and if that is all that has to be said, then all things are full of labour. There is immense activity, and there is no progress; it is all rotary motion round and round and round, and the same objects reappear duly and punctually as the wheel revolves, and life is futile. Yes; so it is unless there is something more to be said, and the life that is thus futile is also, as it seems to me, inexplicable if you believe in God at all. If man, being what he is, is wholly subject to that law of mutation and decay, then not only is he made ‘a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death,’ but he is also inferior to that persistent, old mother-earth from whose bosom he has come. If all that you have to say of him is, ‘Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,’ then life is futile, and God is not vindicated for having produced it.
And there is another consequence that follows, if this is all that we have got to say. If the cynical wisdom of Ecclesiastes is the ultimate word, then I do not assert that morality is destroyed, because right and wrong are not dependent either upon the belief in a God, or on the belief in immortality. But I do say that to declare that the fleeting, transient life of earth is all does strike a staggering blow at all noble ethics and paralyses a great deal of the highest forms of human activity, and that, as has historically been the case, so on the large scale, and, speaking generally, it will be the case, that the man whose creed is only ‘To-morrow we die’ will very speedily draw the conclusion, ‘Let us eat and drink,’ and sensuous delights and the lower side of his nature will become dominant.
So, then, the Preacher had not got at the bottom of all things, either in his initial conviction that all was vanity, or in that which he laid down as the first step towards establishing that, that man passes and the earth abides. There is more to be said; the sad, superficial teaching of the Preacher needs to be supplemented.
Now turn for a moment to what does supplement it.
II. The joyous and profounder teaching of the Apostle.
The cynic never sees the depths; that is reserved for the mystical eye of the lover. So John says: ‘No, no; that is not all. Here is the true state of affairs: “The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”‘ The doctrine of the passing generations and the abiding earth is fronted squarely in my second text by the not contradictory, but complementary doctrine of the passing world and the abiding men. I do not suppose that John had this verse of Ecclesiastes in his mind, for the word ‘abide’ is one of his favourite expressions, and is always cropping up. But even though he had not, we find in his utterance the necessary correction to the first text. As I have said, and now need not do more than repeat in a sentence, the antithesis is not so complete as it seems. John’s ‘world’ is not the Preacher’s ‘earth,’ but he means thereby, as we all know, the aggregate of created things, including men, considered apart from God, and in so far as it includes voluntary agents set in opposition to God and the will of God. He means the earth rent away from God, and turned to be what it was not meant to be, a minister of evil, and he means men, in so far as they have parted themselves from God and make up an alien, if not a positively antagonistic company.
Perhaps he was referring, in the words of our text, to the break-up of the existing order of things which he discerned as impending and already begun to take effect in consequence of the coming of Jesus Christ, the shining of the true Light. For you may remember that in a previous part of the epistle he uses precisely the same expression, with a significant variation. Here, in our text, he says, ‘The world passeth away’; there he says, ‘The darkness has passed and the true light now shineth.’ He sees a process installed and going on, in which the whole solid-seeming fabric of a godless society is being dissolved and melted away. And says he, in the midst of all this change there is one who stands unchanged, the man that does God’s will.
But just for a moment we may take the lower point of view, and see here a flat contradiction of the Preacher. He said, ‘Men go, and the world abides.’ ‘No,’ says John; ‘your own psalmists might have taught you better: “As a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed.”‘ The world, the earth, which seems so solid and permanent, is all the while in perpetual flux, as our later science has taught us, in a sense of which neither Preacher nor Apostle could dream. For just as from the beginning forces were at work which out of the fire-mist shaped sun and planets, so the same forces, continuing in operation, are tending towards the end of the system which they began; and a contracting sun and a diminished light and a lowered temperature and the narrower orbits in which the planets shall revolve, prophesy that ‘the elements shall melt with fervent heat,’ and that all things which have been made must one day cease to be. Nature is the true Penelope’s web, ever being woven and ever being unravelled, and in the most purely physical and scientific sense the world is passing away. But then, because you and I belong, in a segment of our being, to that which thus is passing away, we come under the same laws, and all that has been born must die. So the generations come, and in their very coming bear the prophecy of their going. But, on the other hand, there is an inner nucleus of our being, of which the material is but the transient envelope and periphery, which holds nought of the material, but of the spiritual, and that ‘abides for ever.’
But let us lift the thought rather into the region of the true antithesis which John was contemplating, which is not so much the crumbling away of the material, and the endurance of the spiritual, as the essential transiency of everything that is antagonism to the will of God, and the essential eternity of everything which is in conformity with that will. And so, says he, ‘The world is passing, and the lust thereof.’ The desires that grasp it perish with it, or perhaps, more truly still, the object of the desire perishes, and with it the possibility of their gratification ceases, but the desire itself remains. But what of the man whose life has been devoted to the things seen and temporal, when he finds himself in a condition of being where none of these have accompanied him? Nothing to slake his lusts, if he be a sensualist. No money-bags, ledgers, or cheque-books if he be a plutocrat or a capitalist or a miser. No books or dictionaries if he be a mere student. Nothing of his vocations if he lived for ‘the world.’ But yet the appetite is abiding. Will that not be a thirst that cannot be slaked?
‘The world is passing and the lust thereof,’ and all that is antagonistic to God, or separated from Him, is essentially as ‘a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanishes away,’ whereas the man who does the will of God abideth for ever, in that he is steadfast in the midst of change.
‘His hand the good man fastens on the skies,
And lets earth roll, nor heeds its idle whirl.’
He shall ‘abide for ever,’ in the sense that his work is perpetual. In one very deep and solemn sense, nothing human ever dies, but in another all that is not running in the same direction as, and borne along by the impulse of, the will of God, is destined to be neutralised and brought to nothing at last. There may be a row of figures as long as to reach from here to the fixed stars, but if there is not in front of them the significant digit, which comes from obedience to the will of God, all is but a string of ciphers, and their net result is nothing. And he ‘abideth for ever,’ in the most blessed and profound sense, in that through his faith, which has kindled his love, and his love which has set in motion his practical obedience, he becomes participant of the very eternity of the living God. ‘This is eternal life,’ not merely to know, but ‘to do the will’ of our Father. Nothing else will last, and nothing else will prosper, any more than a bit of driftwood can stem Niagara. Unite yourself with the will of God, and you abide.
And now let me, as briefly as I can, throw together-
III. The plain, practical lessons that come from both these texts.
May I say, without seeming to be morbid or unpractical, one lesson is that we should cultivate a sense of the transiency of this outward life? One of our old authors says somewhere, that it is wholesome to smell at a piece of turf from a churchyard. I know that much harm has been done by representing Christianity as mainly a scheme which is to secure man a peaceful death, and that many morbid forms of piety have given far too large a place to the contemplation of skulls and cross-bones. But for all that, the remembrance of death present in our lives will often lay a cool hand upon a throbbing brow; and, like a bit of ice used by a skilful physician, will bring down the temperature, and stay the too tumultuous beating of the heart. ‘So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.’ It will minister energy, and lead us to say, like our Lord, ‘We must work the works of Him that sent Me while it is day; the night cometh.’
Let me say again-a very plain, practical lesson is to dig deep down for our foundations below the rubbish that has accumulated. If a man wishes to build a house in Rome or in Jerusalem he has to go fifty or sixty feet down, through potsherds and broken tiles and triturated marbles, and the dust of ancient palaces and temples. We have to drive a shaft clear down through all the superficial strata, and to lay the first stones on the Rock of Ages. Do not build on that which quivers and shakes beneath you. Do not try to make your life’s path across the weeds, or as they call it in Egypt, the ‘sudd,’ that floats on the surface of the Nile, compacted for many a mile, and yet only a film on the surface of the river, to be swept away some day. Build on God.
And the last lesson is, let us see to it that our wills are in harmony with His, and the work of our hands His work. We can do that will in all the secularities of our daily life. The difference between the work that shrivels up and disappears and the work that abides is not so much in its external character, or in the materials on which it is expended, as in the motive from which it comes. So that, if I might so say, if two women are sitting at the same millstone face to face, and turning round the same handle, one of them for one half the circumference, and the other for the other, and grinding out the same corn, the one’s work may be ‘gold, silver, precious stones,’ which shall abide the trying fire; and the other’s may be ‘wood, hay, stubble,’ which shall be burnt up. ‘He that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.’
So let us set ourselves, dear friends! to our several tasks for this coming year. Never mind about the century, it will take care of itself. Do your little work in your little corner, and be sure of this, that amidst changes you will stand unchanged, amidst tumults you may stand calm, in death you will be entering on a fuller life, and that what to others is the end will be to you the beginning. ‘If any man’s work abide, he shall receive a reward,’ and he himself shall abide with the abiding God.
The bitter cynic said half the truth when he said, ‘One generation goeth, and another cometh; but the earth abides.’ The mystic Apostle saw the truth steadily, and saw it whole when he said, ‘Lo! the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v2 "Vanity," in Ecclesiastes, and usually in Scripture, means, not…
Vanity
"Vanity," in Ecclesiastes, and usually in Scripture, means, not foolish pride, but the emptiness in final result of all life apart from God. It is to be born, to toil, to suffer, to experience some transitory joy, which is as nothing in view of eternity, to leave it all, and to die. See Rom 8:20-22.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv4, 7 General Information:
General Information:
The writer is presenting the natural order of life as he understands it.
Read full note →
hurries back to the place
This speaks of how the sun sets at the end of the day and is soon ready to rise again, as if it were a person that quickly ran from the place where it sets to the place from which it rises. AT: "quickly returns to the place" or "quickly goes to the place" (See: Personification)
translationWords
generation
earth
eternity
raise
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv2, 3, 4, 7 1:2-11 The Teacher begins by observing that each natural…
1:2-11 The Teacher begins by observing that each natural and historical activity is accentuated by its circular repetitive rhythm of coming and going, being and not being. This can lead to the despairing cry that everything is meaningless. The Teacher moves rapidly from subject to subject and finishes this section with the topic he started with, using a literary pattern that mirrors the circularity he describes in nature and in human history.
1:2 Everything is meaningless . . . completely meaningless (literally vapor of vapors, everything is vapor): Wherever “meaningless” occurs in this book, the Hebrew word hebel (“breath, vapor”) is behind it. The Teacher’s conclusion is that everything is a transitory and meaningless vapor.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.