THE FIRST PART: A BIRD’S EYE VIEW OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
The Books of Poetry
Message Eight—Ecclesiastes
Scripture Reading: Eccl. 1:2, 14; 3:11; 12:13-14; Rom. 8:20; 2 Cor. 4:18; Phil. 3:7-8
I. The subject of Ecclesiastes is the teachings of Solomon, showing that the human life in the corrupted world is a vanity, a chasing after the wind—Eccl. 1:2, 14; 12:8:
A. The contents of Ecclesiastes are a description by Solomon, after his falling away from God and returning back to God, concerning the human life of fallen mankind under the sun, which is in the corrupted world—1 Kings 11:1-8; Eph. 2:12.
B. Through all the positive and negative experiences of the human life under the sun, Solomon was deeply impressed and occupied with the vanity of vanities of the human life under the sun in its falling away from God—Eccl. 1:2; 2:26.
C. Through this fall of man, man and all the created things that had been committed by God to his dominion were brought into the slavery of corruption, made subject to vanity; thus, the human life in the corrupted world also became a vanity, a chasing after wind—Rom. 8:20-21; Eccl. 1:14.
D. No matter how good, excellent, marvelous, and wonderful a thing may be, as long as it is of the old creation, it is part of the vanity of vanities under the sun; only the new creation, which is in the heavens and not “under the sun” is not vanity but is reality—Eccl. 1:2; 12:8.
II. “He has made everything beautiful in its own time; also He has put eternity in their heart”—Eccl. 3:11:
A. “Eternity” is “a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy” (The Amplified Bible):
1. God created man in His image and formed in him a spirit that man may receive and contain Him; in addition, God put eternity, an aspiration for something eternal, in man’s heart so that man will seek God, the eternal One—Gen. 1:26; 2:7.
2. The Only One in the whole universe is eternal, the eternal God—1 Cor. 8:6; Isa. 40:28.
B. Hence, temporal things can never satisfy man; only the eternal God, who is Christ, can satisfy the deep sense of purpose in man’s heart—2 Cor. 4:18.
III. In all his experiments Solomon encouraged, according to God’s economy, the fallen men under the sun to enjoy what God has given to them that they may exist and afford God the opportunity to carry out His eternal purpose in choosing and predestinating them for the issue of the Body of Christ and to maintain the fallen man of God’s old creation to be the provision for God to bring in His new creation in Christ out of the old creation—Eccl. 2:24; 5:18-20; 1 Tim. 6:17; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15:
A. “Here is what I have seen to be good and what is pleasant: to eat and to drink and to taste enjoyment in all his labor by which he labors under the sun during the few days of his life, which God has given him; for this is his portion”—Eccl. 5:18.
B. We should live a life that we may testify Christ and minister Christ to others to glorify God, we need the material things and physical matters; but we should not be attracted, captured, and usurped by them—2:24-25; 1 John 2:15-17:
1. Moses, choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin, considering the reproach of the Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked away to the reward—Heb. 11:24-26.
2. “But what things were gains to me, these I have counted as loss on account of Christ. But moreover I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ”—Phil. 3:7-8.
C. Today all things of the old creation are under the slavery of corruption; if we do not escape “the corruption which is in the world by lust”, we will share in its vanity—Rom. 8:20-21; 2 Pet. 1:4.
D. The way to get out of this vanity is to come back to God and take God as man’s everything, redemption, life, wealth, enjoyment, pleasure, and satisfaction, that man still may be used by God to fulfill His original purpose in man for the fulfillment of His eternal economy—Rom. 12:13.
Ministry Excerpts:
THE CONTENTS OF ECCLESIASTES
The contents of Ecclesiastes are a description by Solomon, after his falling away from God and returning back to God, of the human life of fallen mankind under the sun, a life in the corrupted world. According to this book human history, from its beginning to the present, is vanity. Through all the positive and negative experiences of the human life under the sun, Solomon was deeply impressed and occupied with the vanity of vanities of the human life under the sun in its falling away from God.
Man was created by God with the highest and most noble purpose, that is, to express God in His image with His divine life and nature. But God’s enemy, Satan the devil, came in to inject himself as sin into the man God created for His purpose. Through this fall, man and all the created things that had been committed by God to man’s dominion were brought into the slavery of corruption and made subject to vanity. Thus, the human life in the corrupted world also became vanity, a chasing after wind. The writer fully realized this and stressed this to the uttermost in his description. Yet he was not fully disappointed in this; rather, he instructed men that there is a way to escape this vanity, i.e., to come back to God and take God as man’s everything, man’s redemption, life, wealth, enjoyment, pleasure, and satisfaction, that man may still be used by God to fulfill His original purpose in creating man, for the accomplishing of God’s eternal economy. (Holy Bible Recovery Version, Eccl. 1:2, footnote 1)
THE VANITY OF HUMAN LIFE
Man fell away from God, and sin through Satan came in to frustrate man from receiving God for his satisfaction. Yet the desire for God, the seeking for God, still remains in man’s heart. History tells us that over the past six thousand years many wise, great, philosophical, and thoughtful men have given the same testimony that nothing can fully satisfy man. Regardless of what they could get from the world, what they could attain, or what they could obtain, nothing can satisfy them because within them there is a seeking heart for God (Eccl. 3:11). This is why the wise King Solomon, after his many human experiences, concluded, “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity” (1:2). Everything under the sun is vanity of vanities if one does not have God. God created purposely within man a desire for Himself. The monks in Buddhism and the nuns in Catholicism have this desire, but they do not have the proper understanding of how to seek God. God has given man a heart that is seeking after Him for satisfaction. (Crystallization-Study of Song of Songs, msg. 24)
Solomon set his heart to seek and to search out all that is done under the heavens, and he observed that all the works of man under the sun are done in cycle, going on and on, remaining the same generation after generation, like the phenomena in nature. All things are wearisome, nothing is satisfying, there is nothing new, and nothing is remembered. In his conclusion after all his experiments in the human life, all is vanity and a chasing after wind. Such a conclusion of the wise king by his wisdom may be considered a history of the vain life of a fallen man. His conclusion in this book is like a dirge to a man whose end is in misery. (Holy Bible Recovery Version, Eccl. 1:13, footnote 1)
IMPLANTING ETERNITY IN THEIR HEART
God created man in His image and with a human spirit for man to receive and contain Him. Ecclesiastes 3:11 also says that God put eternity in man’s heart. The things in this universe are mainly of two categories: temporal things and eternal things. Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:18 said, “We do not regard the things which are seen but the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” This verse is the proper explanation of Solomon’s word in Ecclesiastes 3:11. The wise king said that God created everything beautiful in its own time and also put eternity in man’s heart. This matches our human experience. Regardless of how rich or successful a person becomes, he still feels empty. Man has a deep desire for permanent things, and the only things which are permanent are the eternal things. The Amplified Bible says that eternity in man’s heart is “a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun, but only God, can satisfy.” We have a sense of a purpose which nothing can satisfy but God. Only God can satisfy the sense of purpose in our heart.
In God’s creation of man there are three striking things: His image, our human spirit to receive Him, and a divinely implanted sense of a purpose in our hearts working through the ages which all things under the sun cannot satisfy—only God. The romance depicted in Song of Songs does not start from the Lord but from the seeker. A person becomes such a seeker because within him there is a sense of purpose to seek something eternal. Nothing can fulfill or satisfy this sense of purpose but God Himself, who is Christ. Many people would think that we are wasting our time, but actually we are redeeming the time. Those who pursue temporary things are wasting their time. They are busy for nothing. Anything they are busy for is temporary, not eternal. Only One in the whole universe is eternal, the eternal God. (The God-man Living, msg. 1)
SOLOMON ENCOURAGING THE FALLEN MEN
TO ENJOY WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN THEM
In all his experiments Solomon encouraged, according to God’s economy, the fallen men under the sun to enjoy what God has given to them that they may exist and afford God the opportunity to carry out His eternal purpose in choosing and predestinating them for the issue of the Body of Christ and to maintain the fallen man of God’s old creation to be the provision for God to bring in His new creation in Christ out of the old creation. This is proved by the apostle Paul’s preaching in Acts 14:15-17 and 17:24-31.
Here we should note that for us to live a life that we may testify Christ and minister Christ to others to glorify God, we need the material things and physical matters. But we should not be attracted, captured, and usurped by them. If we are usurped by them, we will suffer their vanity. We are living in the world and passing through the “vanity fair,” but we should not linger in it for its vainglory. Today all things of the old creation are under the slavery of corruption. If we do not escape “the corruption which is in the world by lust”, we will share in its vanity. (Life-Study of Ecclesiastes, msg. 2)
ENJOYING GOD’S PROVISION
Man should enjoy God’s provision for his living and the marriage life for man’s existence and multiplication to replenish the earth (Gen. 1:28) that it may be possible for God to save some of them in order to produce the church—the Body of Christ—which will issue in the New Jerusalem as God’s eternal enlargement and expression according to God’s eternal economy.
The unveiling of the above points of the writer’s experiments and searching and testing should not be considered the divine revelation from God, though they are included in the Scriptures. They are the conclusion of the writer’s research in his experiments of the fallen men’s human life under the sun. All the concluding words may be considered as proverbs, words of wisdom, directing the fallen and aim-missing men to return to God and receive Him according to His New Testament economy in His Son as their Redeemer and life that they may be regenerated to be the God-men for the accomplishment of God’s eternal economy. (Life-Study of Ecclesiastes, msg. 2)