The Strand Study Bible

ECCLESIASTES

ECCLESIASTES

1007

of “ sore travail .” 1:14 Solomon said that his long hours of study became burdensome, yet he passed on in the conviction that his search would eventually lead to satisfactory answers. It did not. This expression ( vanity and vexation of spirit ) is more accurately rendered “ like chasing the wind .” The more Solomon said he learned, the more he realized how many questions remained unanswered. The more he played (Eccl 2:4-11) and worked (Eccl 2:14-22) freely (Eccl 2:24-26), the more it frustrated him. Why? For the same reason it frustrates you. No matter how much “freedom” a person has to pursue his dreams, he never has enough. Thus, to chase one’s temporal dreams in life is to “ chase the wind .” Interestingly enough, Solomon used this expression ( vanity and vexation of spirit ) ten times in Ecclesiastes. The reason the number ten should “catch your attention” is because ten is the number in the Bible that signifies “ the perfection of Divine order ; the completeness of order ; the summing up of the whole .” Every ten digits begin a new series of numbers, correct? Marking the entire round of anything is therefore the ever-present signification of the number ten. It implies that nothing is wanting; that the number and order are perfect; and that the whole cycle is complete. Noah was the tenth generation from Adam, which “summed up” that age before the Flood. You have the Ten Commandments , which “sum up” all the commandments. We are told to tithe ten percent of our income. You have the ten plagues in Egypt, signifying the complete circle of God’s judgment. Thus, the reason the number ten should catch your attention is because ten “ sums up the whole of something ,” and in this case, in Ecclesiastes, it “ sums up what we waste our time pursuing and focusing our life upon .” Note the following eight “ works that are done under the sun ” that we waste so much time pursuing and focusing our attention upon: Solomon said that these eight “ works that are done under the sun ” are the things that consume most of our attention in life, and these are the things that won’t amount to a hill of beans in eternity. It won’t matter how much you knew or how much you played or how much you labored and what you accomplished or how much freedom you enjoyed or whether you were oppressed or not. The only thing that will matter is what you did with your knowledge of God (Eccl 12:13). The wisest man who ever lived warned us not to “ chase the wind .” He warned us not to pursue knowledge and pleasure and work and freedom and politics and appetites ; he warned us not to be taken out of our game (spiritually speaking) through oppression and/or the disruptions of life . You’ll either keep the eternal perspective on purpose or you’ll “ chase the wind .” It’s your choice. NOTE –The realization that human wisdom fails to answer life’s basic problems is painful for the humanist who has never found God. Most people don’t like to face up to it, but the experience of men throughout history coincides with Solomon’s statement that the philosophical endeavor (psychology - I Cor 15:45) is “ like chasing the wind .” Dr. David G. Myers in Psychology notes: Meaning, modern psychology and its multiple theories of human behavior didn’t even begin to raise its ambiguous head until about 400 years ago. Dr. David G. Myers reminds us on page two of his work that it was in the 1600s that modern science was born, laying a foundation for the future science of psychology. Interestingly enough, in the last 400 years scientists have been able to make great strides in space technology and nuclear research, but the elusive goal of peace in their own hearts continues to escape their grasp. General Omar Bradley said it best when he said: We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount…The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. 6 Sadly, we have spent millions of dollars researching the problems of human behavior, yet violent crime continues to increase and mental disorders are more prevalent than ever before. One might think that after thousands of years of studying the philosophical endeavor we would have solved most of these vexing difficulties, but that has not been the case. In fact, a depth of despair concerning these questions unparalleled in history marks our day. Though it is painful to admit, we must face the fact that our world, despite its advances in “modern psychology,” is still filled with misery, fear, doubt, mistrust, and unhappiness of every kind. A close examination of philosophical thought from the time of the early Greeks to the present confirms the fact that psychology has done nothing more than go in circles for the last 2,000 years. Early Greeks One brilliant thinker (such as Socrates) sets forth a carefully manufactured belief system, only to be demolished by another man of equal learning (such as Plato). He in turn sets up his own schema only to be riddled by the bullets of a third man’s reasoning powers (such as Aristotle). This endless process of going in circles has repeated itself continually throughout the centuries. These opposing views continued in force down through the centuries so that by the time of Christ, the thinkers of the day had stopped After the flourishing of prescientific psychology in ancient Greece, the next 2000 years failed to offer many enduring new insights into human nature… Indeed, most of the scientific story of our self-exploration has been written in but the last historical eye blink of human time. 5 1. knowledge (1:15-17) 2. pleasure/joy (2:4-11) 3. labor (which is mentioned twice – 2:14-17 & 2:18-22) 4. free will (freedom) (2:24-26) 5. oppression (4:1-4) 6. disruptions of life (loss of work, loss of health, broken relationships, etc.) (4:6) 7. politics (4:13-16) 8. appetites (6:7-9)