When I told my local pastor that my Bible study group was reading Ecclesiastes, his initial reaction was, “Woah, I hope everything’s okay.” I laughed, but found myself thinking about his concerned response the rest of the day.
For those not in the know, Ecclesiastes is a book of the Old Testament that focuses on pondering mortality, purpose, and generally coming to terms with the struggle of life. Even before studying it, I also was under the impression that Ecclesiastes was full of hard truths and dismal realities.
And that impression isn’t without reason. At a glance, this part of the Bible doesn’t immediately feel helpful or uplifting. It doesn’t seem to claim the same promises of other books of the Bible either.
Yet despite its bleak start, Ecclesiastes is uniquely full of hope and promise for Christians. It has some real gems that have deeply encouraged and instructed me on how to better follow God. It is ancient wisdom, yet eerily relevant to the complicated and distracting world we live in.
How does Ecclesiastes uniquely offer good news?
Why does Ecclesiastes get a bad rap?
Ecclesiastes is unlike any other book in the Bible. In it, the author (largely thought to be King Solomon) wonders about big ideas like:
- the nature of life
- how meaningless people’s endless work and suffering feels
- how we inevitably grow too old and bitter to truly enjoy the good things life provides
It serves as a sort of follow-up to the idealistic wisdom of Proverbs. What do you do with the fact that “life under the sun” involves endless work just to eat, maybe enjoy some pleasure, and then die? If this is true for everyone, what makes honouring God worth it? What makes following him different from any other life path?
Like my pastor alluded to in his comment, Ecclesiastes is generally simplified to be an existential, depressing book. It makes a lot of life look bleak and purposeless. The author famously declares over and over that life is “vanity,” or in other translations, “meaningless.” He especially wrestles with death: you can’t lengthen your life. And all your labour may be in vain because, as soon as you die, someone else will be doing that same work, with no credit to you. Cheery, right?
It’s important to remember that Ecclesiastes is not unique in its depiction of hardships. While the Bible is full of praise and worship of God’s comfort, authority, and desire to see good, these positive things don’t exist in a vacuum. The Bible is full of tragedy, from Adam and Eve’s first sin at the very beginning of the Old Testament, to the disobedience of churches at the very end of the New Testament. Part of the beauty of this contrast between divine goodness and human evil is how God stays faithful, gracious, and compassionate through everything.
Even in the worst of life—in the things that feel most meaningless—you can still hope in God.
So, if the Bible contains so many examples of human tragedy, why is Ecclesiastes so special? It comes down to the author’s desire to get to the bottom of what makes life worth it.
Ecclesiastes’ search for meaning
The premise of Ecclesiastes is that of a wise man (or teacher) looking at all he’s experienced in life, all that he’s observed in others, and asking: Is this it? What is my purpose? Where can I find fulfillment?
He breaks down everything considered to give meaning to life: pleasure, wealth, wisdom, accomplishment. But he always arrives at the same conclusion: None of these things matter when you die. None of them point to anything greater than yourself. So why do you strive for them?
More importantly, what should you strive for instead? In a way, the author is testing a hypothesis, looking for the cure for life’s hardships.
As Christians, the “Sunday school answer” seems obvious. Jesus is the only one who can take away your sins and point you to the love of God which outweighs any sort of wealth or accomplishment.
But that’s not really the most practical answer for someone who’s desperate for meaning and only sees suffering. When I go through challenging times, it’s difficult to remember that God is there. My first instinct is to grab onto other things, like my schedule, my finances, or my hobbies. It takes time for me to look to God, even if I know he’s there.
One interesting thing about Ecclesiastes is how God becomes crucial to the author’s outlook on life. Ecclesiastes entertains a world where God is absent. In one scenario after another, the reader begins to feel that something is missing; some perspective on the big picture isn’t there. And it is at this point that God becomes the main player.
Once God enters the picture, Ecclesiastes’ message changes. It’s no longer about how pointless it is to work and earn and die. It’s about how God provides for us, how he equips us for the world, and how he creates good things for us, despite the hardships.
It becomes a story of redemption and sanctification.
Handbook to a way of life
Going through Ecclesiastes with my Bible study group made me reconsider its edgy reputation. Most of us desperately needed to hear its reassurance, even when it comes across as bleak:
You can’t control your life, so why focus so much on the struggle?
You can’t finish your work, so why define yourself by it?
You aren’t capable of living forever, so why sink so many resources into your longevity?
Ecclesiastes recognizes that all these struggles are real and felt, but they are not the end.
Ecclesiastes offers a really down-to-earth reading of living well:
- enjoy the time you have
- give thanks for the beauty you get to experience
- aim to live humbly
This is not to say that doing these things automatically protects you from all suffering. But it turns out that that’s not the point.
Learning to live well as Ecclesiastes describes it helps us know if we’re actually trusting God when troubled times come our way. If we don’t live humbly, are we really allowing God to be at the centre? If we worry about wasting our time in a mad dash to be productive, how can God work in us?
Yes, the struggle is real. The constant stress and worry about affording rent. Finding joy in job hunting. Feeling caught in the endless cycle of trying to get enough sleep, keeping your place clean, and still somehow trying to squeeze in social time while classes get harder and harder.
It’s right amidst these hard things that the direct statements in Ecclesiastes are a breath of fresh air.
The core of Ecclesiastes
Times are tough. No matter which part of your life is a struggle for you, Ecclesiastes recognizes that all these struggles are real and felt, but they are not the end. There is more to your life than your current suffering. Though we tend to get caught up in the weeds of disappointment and doubt, we do have a greater purpose. Only by looking at life from all angles does this greater purpose begin to take shape.
If you have found yourself in the position of the teacher, confused about God’s goodness in a world that seems not to care, I would highly recommend reading Ecclesiastes. It helped me when I was wrestling with all the rough patches I’d been through, and reminded me that God has it all under control. I pray that it does the same for you.
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