Scripture Daily

Context No. 1549 of 4322 · Ecclesiastes

Context · Reflection

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11: in context

1I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure;” and behold, this also was vanity. 2I said of laughter, “It is foolishness;” and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?” 3I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold of folly, until I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their lives. 4I made myself great works. I built myself houses. I planted myself vineyards. 5I made myself gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit. 6I made myself pools of water, to water the forest where trees were grown. 7I bought male servants and female servants, and had servants born in my house. I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all who were before me in Jerusalem. 8I also gathered silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men: musical instruments of all sorts. 9So I was great, and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained with me. 10Whatever my eyes desired, I didn’t keep from them. I didn’t withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor, and this was my portion from all my labor. 11Then 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 chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

The Preacher describes an experiment. He set out to find meaning in pleasure and achievement, denying himself nothing. He tried laughter and wine; he built houses, planted vineyards and gardens and orchards, made pools, gathered flocks and herds, amassed silver and gold, acquired singers and every delight. He became greater than all before him in Jerusalem, and whatever his eyes desired he did not withhold. And then he rendered his verdict: I looked on all my works and all my labor, and behold, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

The Preacher had what most people spend their lives pursuing, and more. Pleasure, wealth, great accomplishments, grand projects, every desire indulged, achievement beyond anyone before him; he held the whole of what the world offers as the meaning of life, and he denied himself none of it. And having tasted it all, he pronounced it empty: all was vanity and a chasing after wind. This is a testimony worth hearing from someone who actually reached the summit the rest of us only climb toward. We tend to assume that if we could just get enough, the pleasure, the success, the possessions, the achievements, we would find the satisfaction we are looking for. The Preacher got all of it, and found it did not satisfy; at the top of everything, there was still emptiness, a chasing after wind. This does not mean pleasure and work and building are worthless; the point is that they cannot bear the weight of being life's meaning. When we make them the point, the thing that will finally satisfy, they fail us, as they failed the Preacher who had them in abundance. There is a mercy in his testimony, if we will hear it. He spares us the disillusionment of spending our whole lives chasing what he has already proved cannot satisfy. The satisfaction we seek is not found by accumulating more of what the world offers; the Preacher had it all and found it empty. What actually satisfies must be sought elsewhere, in the God the rest of Ecclesiastes points us back toward.

Am I assuming that enough pleasure, success, or possessions will finally satisfy me, when the Preacher, who had them all in abundance, found them empty, a chasing after wind, and will I heed his testimony and seek what satisfies where it is actually found?

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