Ecclesiastes 2

Ecclesiastes 2:1

B. The Vanity of Pleasure, Prestige, and Affluence (Chap. 2)2:1 Having failed to find fulfillment in intellectual pursuit, Solomon turns next to the pursuit of pleasure. It seems reasonable that one would be happy if one could just enjoy enough pleasure, he thought. Pleasure, by definition, means the enjoyable sensations that come from the gratification of personal desires. So he decided that he would live it up, that he would try to experience every stimulation of the senses known to man. He would drink the cup of fun to the full, and then, at last, his heart would ask no more. But the search ended in failure. He concludes that pleasures under the sun are vanity. His disappointment is echoed in the verse: I tried the broken cisterns, Lord, But ah, the waters failed, E’en as I stooped to drink they fled And mocked me as I wailed. B. E.Does this mean that God is opposed to His people having pleasure? Not at all! In fact the reverse is true. God wants His people to have a good life. But He wants us to realize that this world cannot provide true pleasure. It can only be found above the sun. In His “presence is fullness of joy”; at His “right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psa_16:11). In that sense, God is the greatest hedonist or pleasure-lover of all! The big lie promulgated by the movies, TV, and the advertising media is that man can make his own heaven down here without God. But Solomon learned that all this world can offer are cesspools and cisterns, whereas God offers the fountain of life. 2:2 As he thinks back on all the empty laughter, he sees that it was mad, and all his good times actually accomplished nothing. And so it is. Behind all the laughing there is sorrow, and those who try to entertain others are often in great need of personal help. Billy Graham tells in The Secret of Happiness of the disturbed patient who consulted a psychiatrist for help. He was suffering from deep depression. Nothing he had tried could help. He woke up discouraged and blue, and the condition worsened as the day progressed. Now he was desperate; he couldn’t go on this way. Before he left the office, the psychiatrist told him about a show in one of the local theaters.

It featured an Italian clown who had the audience convulsed with laughter night after night. The doctor recommended that his patient attend the show, that it would be excellent therapy to laugh for a couple of hours and forget his troubles. Just go and see the Italian clown! With a hangdog expression, the patient muttered, “I am that clown.” He too could say of laughter"Madness!"; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?“How often in life we look at others and imagine that they have no problems, no hangups, no needs. But E. A.

Robinson shatters the illusion in his poem, “Richard Cory”: Whenever Richard Cory went down town, We people on the pavement looked at him: He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored, and imperially slim. And he was always quietly arrayed, And he was always human when he talked; But still he fluttered pulses when He said, “Good morning,” and he glittered when he walked. And he was richyes, richer than a kingAnd admirably schooled in every grace; In fine, we thought that he was everything To make us wish that we were in his place. So on we worked, and waited for the light, And went without the meat, and cursed the bread; And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, Went home and put a bullet through his head. 2:3 Next Solomon, the OT prodigal, turns to wine. He would become a connoisseur of the choicest vintages. Perhaps if he could experience the most exquisite taste sensations, his whole being would relax satisfied. He was wise enough to place a bound on his Epicureanism. It is expressed in the words while guiding my heart with wisdom. In other words, he would not abandon himself to intemperance or drunkenness. There was no thought of his becoming addicted to strong drink. And nowhere in his search for reality did he suggest that he became hooked on drugs. He was too wise for that! Another thing he tried was folly, that is, harmless and enjoyable forms of nonsense. Just in case wisdom didn’t hold the answer, he decided to explore its opposite. Sometimes people who are clods seem to be happier than those who are very clever. So he didn’t want to leave that stone unturned. He turned his attention to trivia, indulgence, and amusement. It was a desperate ploy to discover the best way for man to occupy himself during his few fleeting days under the sun. But he didn’t find the answer there. 2:4, 5 So Solomon decided to embark on a vast real estate program. If education, pleasure, wine, or folly didn’t hold the key, then surely possessions would. He built luxurious houses, and planted for himself vineyards by the acre. From what we know of Solomon’s building programs, we can be sure that he spared no expense. He built enormous estates with parks and gardensliteral paradises. Orchards with all kinds of fruit trees punctuated the landscape. It’s easy to imagine him taking his friends on guided tours and having his ego inflated by their expressions of awe and enthusiasm. Probably none of his guests had the courage to say to him what Samuel Johnson said to a millionaire who was taking a similar ego trip. After seeing all the luxury and magnificence, Johnson remarked, “These are the things that make it hard for a man to die.” The world still has its share of the deluded millionaires, like the king in Andersen’s tale, The Emperor’s Clothes. This king went on parade in what he wanted to believe were stunningly beautiful clothes, but a little child could see that he was stark naked. 2:6 Such vast estates needed irrigation during the hot, dry summers. So Solomon constructed aqueducts, lakes, and ponds, with all the necessary canals, ditches, and ducts to transport the water. If the accumulation of possessions could guarantee peace and happiness, then he had arrived. But like the rest of us, he had to learn that true pleasure comes from noble renunciations rather than from frenzied accumulations. He was spending his money for what is not bread and his wages for what does not satisfy (Isa_55:2). 2:7 Battalions of servants were needed to operate and maintain the king’s grandiose estates, so he hired male and female slaves. What is more, he had slaves that were born in his housean exceptionally important status symbol in the culture of that time. To Solomon, as to most men, one aspect of greatness lay in being served. To sit at the table was greater than to serve. A greater than Solomon came into the world as a Slave of slaves and showed us that true greatness in His kingdom lies in servanthood (Mar_10:43-45; Luk_9:24-27). The largest herds and flocks ever owned by any resident of Jerusalem grazed in the pastures of Solomon’s ranches. If prestige was the key to a happy life, then he held the key. But it wasn’t, and he didn’t. Someone has said, “I asked for all things that I might enjoy life; I was given life that I might enjoy all things.” 2:8 And what shall we say about his financial resources! He had silver and gold in abundance and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. This may mean the taxes which he collected from those under him or wealth taken from conquered territories, or it may refer to objects of art which were presented to him by visiting dignitaries, such as the Queen of Sheba. He tried music. Music has power to charm, they say. So he assembled the finest singers, both male and female. The Jerusalem News probably carried rave reviews of all the public concerts. But of course the king had private performances toodinner music, chamber ensemblesyou name it. Yet I think his disappointment was well expressed by Samuel Johnson in The History of Rasselas, The Prince of Abyssinia: I likewise can call the lutanist and the singer, but the sounds that pleased me yesterday weary me today, and will grow yet more wearisome tomorrow. I can discover within me no power of perception which is not glutted with its proper pleasure, yet I do not feel myself delighted. Man has surely some latent sense for which this place affords no gratification, or he has some desires distinct from sense which must be satisfied before he can be happy. And he tried sex. Not just wine (v. 3) and song (v. 8) but women as well. Wine, women, and song! The meaning of the word translated musical instruments in NKJV is actually unknown, and this rendering was chosen chiefly by context. The NASB renders the last clause “the pleasures of menmany concubines.” The Bible tells us factually (though not approvingly) that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1Ki_11:3). And did he suppose this was the way to happiness? Just think of all the jealousy, gossip, and backbiting possible in such a harem! And yet the delusion persists in our own sick society that sex is a highway to happiness and fulfillment. Within the God-appointed bounds of monogamous marriage, that can be true. But the abuse of sex leads only to misery and self-destruction. A victim of today’s sex-obsession felt afterward that she had been cheated. She wrote: I guess I wanted sex to be some psychedelic jackpot that made the whole world light up like a pinball machine, but when it was all over I felt I had been shortchanged. I remember thinking, “Is that all there is? Is that all there really is?” 2:9 So Solomon became great. He had the satisfaction of outclimbing all his predecessors on the prestige ladderfor whatever that satisfaction is worth. And his natural wisdom still remained with him after all his experiments and excursions. He hadn’t lost his head. 2:10 In his search for satisfaction, he had placed no limits on his expenditures. If he saw something he desired, he bought it. If he thought he’d enjoy some pleasure, he treated himself to it. He found a certain sense of gratification in this ceaseless round of getting things and doing things. This fleeting joy was all the reward he got for his exertions in pursuing pleasure and possessions. 2:11 Then he took stock of all that he had done, and of all the energy he had expended, and what was the result? All was vanity and futility, a grasping for the wind. He hadn’t found lasting satisfaction under the sun. He found, like Luther, that “the empire of the whole world is but a crust to be thrown to a dog.” He was bored by it all. Ralph Barton, a top cartoonist, was bored too. He wrote: I have few difficulties, many friends, great successes. I have gone from wife to wife, from house to house, and have visited great countries of the world. But I am fed up with devices to fill up twenty-four hours of the day. The failure of pleasure and possessions to fill the heart of man was further illustrated by a fictional character who only had to wish for something and he got it instantly: He wanted a house and there it was with servants at the door; he wanted a Cadillac, and there it was with chauffeur. He was elated at the beginning, but it soon began to pall on him. He said to an attendant, “I want to get out of this. I want to create something, to suffer something. I would rather be in hell than here.” And the attendant answered, “Where do you think you are?” That is where our contemporary society isin a hell of materialism, trying to satisfy the human heart with things that cannot bring lasting enjoyment. 2:12 Because of the disheartening outcome of all his research, Solomon began to consider whether it’s better to be a wise man or a fool. He decided to look into the matter. Since life is such a chase after bubbles, does the man who lives prudently have any advantage over the one who goes to the other extreme, having a good time in madness and folly? Being an absolute monarch, and a wise and wealthy one at that, he was in a good position to find out. If he couldn’t find out, what chance did anyone succeeding him have? Anyone who succeeds the king could scarcely discover any new light on the subject. 2:13 His general conclusion was that wisdom is better than folly to the same degree that light excels darkness. The wise man walks in the light and can see the dangers in the way. The fool, on the other hand, gropes along in darkness and falls into every ditch and trap. 2:14 But even granting that advantagethat the wise man’s eyes can see where he’s goingwhat final difference does it make? They both die eventually and no amount of wisdom can delay or cancel that appointment. It is the lot of them all. 2:15 When Solomon realized that the same fate was awaiting him as awaited the fool, he wondered why he had put such a premium on being wise all his life. The only redeeming feature of wisdom is that it sheds light on the way. Apart from that, it is no better. And so the pursuit of wisdom is also a great waste of effort. 2:16, 17 He continues this idea into verses 16 and 17. After the funeral, both the wise man and the fool are quickly forgotten. Within a generation or two, it is as if they had never lived. The names and faces that seem so important today will fade into oblivion. As far as lasting fame is concerned, the wise man is no better off than the fool. The chilling realization that fame is ephemeral and that man is quickly forgotten made Solomon hate life. Instead of finding satisfaction and fulfillment in human activity under the sun, he found only grief. It troubled him to realize that everything was vanity and grasping for the wind. A former athlete who had achieved fame said: The greatest thrill of my life was when I first scored the decisive goal in a big game and heard the roar of the cheering crowds. But in the quiet of my room that same night, a sense of the futility of it swept over me. After all, what was it worth? Was there nothing better to live for than to score goals? Such thoughts were the beginning of my search for satisfaction. I knew in my heart that no one could meet my need but God Himself. Soon after, I found in Christ what I could never find in the world. 2:18 One of the greatest injustices that bothered Solomon was that he would not be permitted to enjoy the wealth which he had accumulated. C. E. Stuart wrote: Death is a worm at the root of the tree of pleasure. It mars pleasure, it chills enjoyment, for it cuts off man just when he would sit down after years of toil to reap the fruit of his labor. And he has to leave it all to his heir. 2:19 The galling thing is that the heir may not be wise. He may be a spendthrift, a dummy, a playboy, a loafer, but he will inherit the estate nevertheless. He will preside over the dissipation of a fortune for which he neither labored nor planned. This really nettled Solomon. Perhaps he had a premonition that it would happen in his own family. Perhaps Solomon foresaw that his son, Rehoboam, would squander by his folly all that he had toiled so hard to accumulate. History tells us that Rehoboam did just that. By refusing to listen to his older counselors, he precipitated the division of the kingdom. When the Egyptians invaded Judah, he bought them off by giving them the temple treasures. The gold shields went to swell the coffers of Egypt, and Rehoboam had to substitute brass shields in their place (see 2Ch_12:9-10). 2:20 The prospect of having to leave his life’s work and wealth to an unworthy successor plunged the Preacher into gloom and depression. It seemed so senseless and incongruous. It made him feel that all his efforts were for nothing. 2:21 The whole idea distressed him, that a man who builds up financial resources through wise investments, shrewd business decisions, and skillful moves is forced at death to leave it to someone who never did a lick of work for it or expended an ounce of worry. What is this but an absurdity and a great calamity? In spite of Solomon’s finding, parents throughout the world still spend the best part of their lives accumulating wealth that will be left to their children. They altruistically describe it as their moral obligation. But Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown suggest, “Selfishness is mostly at the root of worldly parents’ alleged providence for their children.” Their first thought is to provide luxuriously for their own old age. They are thinking primarily of themselves. That their children inherit what is left is only the result of the parents’ death and the laws of inheritance. From the Christian perspective, there is no reason for parents to work, scrimp, save, and sacrifice in order to leave money to their children. The best heritage to bequeath is spiritual, not financial. Money left in wills has often caused serious jealousy and disunity in otherwise happy and compatible families. Children have been ruined spiritually and morally by suddenly becoming inheritors of large bequests. Other evils almost inevitably follow. The spiritual approach is to put our money to work for God now and not to leave it to children who are sometimes unworthy, ungrateful, and even unsaved. Martin Luther felt he could trust his family to God as he had trusted himself. In his last will and testament he wrote: Lord God, I thank You, because You have been pleased to make me a poor and indigent man upon earth. I have neither house nor land nor money to leave behind me. You have given me wife and children, whom I now restore to You. Lord, nourish, teach and preserve them, as You have me. 2:22 Solomon concludes that man has nothing of enduring value as a result of all his labor and heartache under the sun. He strives, he plods, he frets and fumesbut for what? What difference does it all make five minutes after he dies? Apart from revelation, we would come to the same conclusion. But we know from God’s Word that our lives can be lived for God and for eternity. We know that all that is done for Him will be rewarded. Our labor is not in vain in the Lord (1Co_15:58). 2:23 For the man who has no hope beyond the grave, however, it is true that his days are filled with pain and vexatious work, and his nights with tossing and turning. Life is a king-sized frustration, filled with worry and heartache. 2:24 This being the case, a logical philosophy of life for the man whose whole existence is under the sun is to find enjoyment in eating, drinking, and in his labor. The Preacher is not advocating gluttony and drunkenness but rather finding pleasure wherever possible in the common things of life. Even this is from the hand of Godthat men should enjoy the normal mercies of life, the taste of good food, the refreshment of table beverages, and the satisfaction that comes from honest work. Man does not have the power of enjoyment unless it is given to him by God. A later preacher, the Apostle Paul, confirmed Solomon’s outlook. He said that if there is no resurrection of the dead then the best policy is, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” (1Co_15:32). Solomon adds that the ability to eat and find enjoyment in other ways comes from God. Without Him, we cannot enjoy the most ordinary pleasures. We depend on Him for food, appetite, digestion, sight, hearing, smell, memory, health, sanity, and all that makes for normal, pleasurable experiences. 2:25 In verse 25, he adds that he was able to enjoy all these things more than anyone. John D. Rockefeller had an income of about a million dollars a week, yet all his doctors allowed him to eat cost only a few cents. One of his biographers said that he lived on a diet that a pauper would have despised: Now less than a hundred pounds in weight, he sampled everything (at breakfast): a drop of coffee, a spoonful of cereal, a forkful of egg, and a bit of chop the size of a pea. He was the richest man in the world but did not have the ability to enjoy his food. 2:26 Finally, the Preacher felt that he observed a general principle in life that God rewards righteousness and punishes sin. To a man who pleases Him, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy. But to the habitual sinner, He gives the burden of hard work, accumulating and piling up, only to see it taken over by someone who strikes God’s fancy. What could be more fruitless and defeating than that?