Finding Meaning: Wisdom from Ecclesiastes
In this study we’re going to walk with the richest and smartest person in the world. Solomon built an enormous empire. He established trade with the surrounding nations. He was a living encyclopedia of knowledge. He lived a life of unrivaled luxury and pleasure. Yet with all he had, he shows us that all of it—every single bit of it—is nothing!
Nothing, that is, apart from God.
Let’s join Solomon on his exploration of life “under the sun.” We’ll see clues along the way of the purpose and meaning God provides when we live life keeping our perspective “above the sun.” We’ll be both challenged and encouraged to see how wonderful our God is and how much He wants for us to enjoy this brief life He’s given us.
Click Here to Watch Intro
Lesson #2 The Problem With Pleasure
THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE
Roman Catholics and many Protestants observe Lent, a time when they will fast from some desired thing for forty days prior to Easter. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, but observers use the Tuesday before as their last day to eat fatty foods. That day became known as “Fat Tuesday”—or as we commonly know it: Mardi Gras.
Somewhere along the way, Mardi Gras changed from a time to indulge in fatty foods to a pursuit of every kind of carnal and sinful pleasure. Many cities and regions celebrate Mardi Gras, but this worldly pursuit is perhaps most closely associated with the French Quarter in New Orleans.
But people don’t have to wait for Mardi Gras to pursue countless worldly pleasures. We live in a day and age where the pursuit of pleasure is available at the click of a mouse or a call on a cell phone. Today’s world lives for pleasure. If you want it, buy it. Don’t hold back from whatever you want to make you happy.
Worldly pleasures may seem enjoyable, but the enjoyment is brief and temporary. Worldly pleasures will always leave us empty.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
Ecclesiastes 2:1-3
1 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.
As you read Ecclesiastes, keep in mind the phrase Solomon frequently used: “under the sun” (Ecc. 1:3). “Under the sun” reflects a worldview where nothing exists above the sun: no heavens, nothing supernatural, and no God. So then, to live a life solely “under the sun” is to live a life without God. To view life as only “under the sun” is to have a purely secular worldview.
If this world is all there is, what’s the point? So why not pursue pleasure? If God doesn’t exist, and if this life is all there is, then perhaps I should derive what meaning I can in my personal happiness and the stuff I accumulate. Isaiah later saw this attitude in the rebellious nation: “Let us eat and drink … for tomorrow we die!” (Isa. 22:13). Solomon tested this idea to see if he could find true joy and fulfillment in pleasure.
When Solomon said, “I said to myself,” he literally said, “I said in my heart.” This was a serious search. Solomon was putting himself in the secularist’s shoes. Solomon wanted to “test” whether or not pleasure leads to lasting joy. This is an important lesson for all of us. Before we discount those with whom we disagree, it’s important to try to understand where they’re coming from. Of course, that doesn’t mean we have to know everything about others’ beliefs or that we should experience every bit of immorality and debauchery to understand the worldly person. Rather, we should examine the reasons why people are motivated to live their lives the way that they do.
Solomon mentioned two areas of pleasure he investigated:
Laughter. Sometimes we try to overcome awkward situations with laughter. We may even hope to overcome grief with laughter, but “even in laughter the heart may ache” (Prov. 14:13). Laughter is no indication of real joy. Solomon discovered that pleasure and laughter fall short.
Alcohol. Solomon discovered the use of wine did not bring fulfillment. Solomon was not talking about drunkenness. He drank wine but apparently without allowing himself to become intoxicated. He was very careful here. “I tried cheering myself with wine … my mind still guiding me with wisdom.” Solomon wanted to discover if using alcohol was “what was good for people to do under the heavens” during their short lives.
What Solomon described could be a script for one of many alcohol commercials: a mixture of alcohol and laughter. Everyone has a drink in hand and laughter abounds. Advertisers want to convince us this is the “good life.” But Solomon showed us the sobering reality that these “pleasures” accomplished nothing. “But that also proved to be meaningless.”
Ecclesiastes 2:4-8
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart.
Since seeking pleasure for pleasure’s sake accomplishes nothing, maybe building a personal empire will give our lives the meaning we crave. Notice the self-focus in Solomon’s words: “great projects … houses … for myself.” Solomon probed meaning in four areas:
1. Building projects. Solomon was a master builder. King David had made all the preparations for building the temple, but his son, Solomon, actually built it (1 Kings 5–6), as well as his own palace (7:1-12).
2. Accumulating wealth. Wealth in the ancient world was also evidenced by how many servants you had, and Solomon had acquired plenty of them. Solomon’s wealth was not “new money”; he had servants long enough that they had children who also served in Solomon’s house.
3. Patronizing the arts. Solomon not only had an abundance of slaves, he also “acquired male and female singers.” Here was Solomon’s personal choir. He could bring them out if he wanted to be entertained.
4. Indulging himself sexually. Solomon’s downfall was his sexual indulgences with numerous women. “He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray” (1 Kings 11:3).
When we look for meaning by building our personal empires and accumulating possessions, it may appear to the world that we have it all. But “stuff” does not satisfy. It does not fill us with purpose and meaning. Possessions, wealth, and self-focus fills us with everything except what matters.
Ecclesiastes 2:9-11
9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. 10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
Solomon achieved abundant wealth, so that he could easily claim, “I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me.” That’s not bad, considering that King David was his father. Accounting for inflation, Solomon would still likely be one of the richest persons in today’s world (1 Kings 10:14-29).
The limitless pursuit of pleasure is no reward. After all his success, Solomon claimed he had earned the right to enjoy every pleasure under the sun. He saw this as his reward to himself for all his struggles.
In spite of his pursuit of pleasure, Solomon couldn’t escape “toll.” Because we’re sinners in a sinful world, we’ll never escape toil in this present life. Solomon justified his pursuit of pleasure as something he deserved, but this “reward” proved to be no reward at all.
The self-absorbed focus on our achievements leaves us empty. Solomon came face to face with everything he had accomplished and all that he had labored to achieve. His conclusion in verse 11 is startling: “meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” It’s as if Solomon was trying to exhaust all the negative vocabulary he used throughout the book to exclaim, “It all comes to nothing!”
If this life is all there is, and if we live life like Solomon, thinking that the world owes us, our job owes us, and everybody owes us for all we’ve done; then we, too, will come up empty. Pleasure and possessions may feel like a reward for our work, but it is a reward that doesn’t last.
LIVE IT OUT
Only God gives us lasting joy. Start cultivating this lasting joy in your life this week. Choose one of the following applications:
Give God the glory. How can you fight against the empty pursuit of pleasure? Identify something you enjoy—and do it. But do it to honor Christ and give God the glory.
Memorize Scripture. Memorize a passage such as Philippians 4:4-7 and recall it when you become anxious, discouraged, or the toils of your own struggle tempt you to seek “reward” in the wrong way.
Acknowledge the achievements of others. Too often, we get caught up in our own achievements. That leads to a false “reward” mentality. Contact others and thank them for their achievements. Encourage them. Consider how to do this in ways that also affirm them in the presence of others.
God is not against pleasures. Allow Him to be the source of your joy. Your greatest pleasure is God Himself.
Hope to see you on Sunday!
In His Love,
David & Susan
Solomon Today? - Tom Brady / Warren Buffett / Donald Trump
The Preacher’s search to find meaning for life continued. Surely, life is more than mere existence. Surely, God put us on this earth for a reason. So where would the Preacher turn next in his pursuit to unravel this riddle of life? Having failed to find meaning of life through wisdom, he next looked at other pleasures, specifically those associated with personal accomplishment and accumulation of wealth. With that in mind, the Preacher engaged in an experiment. He devoted himself to doing the kinds of things that he thought would bring him the greatest pleasure. Therein he hoped to find the meaning and purpose of life that had heretofore escaped him.
The greatest things in life aren’t things.
“A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.”
Proverbs 11:28 MSG
We too have fallen victim to this experiment in flawed thinking. His mistake becomes our mistake. We convince ourselves that the more we do and the more we possess, the more fulfilled we will be. The Preacher learned his lesson. In the end, those things won’t matter. And they still don’t, but we try them anyway. The treasures of this world will fail; the desires of this world will pass away.
Only what we do and what we become in Christ will last.
Introduction: A bungee jumper experiences a rush of adrenaline, an emotional high, a thrill of excitement, a controlled near-death experience, but then they are dangling, waiting for the next joy ride. A line in a country song by Jeff Bridges says:
"Funny how falling feels like flying, for a little while.”
In the words of comedian Jerry Seinfeld: “Everybody's looking for good sex, good food, and a good laugh. They're little islands of relief in what's often a painful existence.” People on a pleasure safari soon discover that it takes a bigger thrill and a higher rush to satisfy their senses. In time, their pursuits get them nowhere. Perhaps no one was more qualified to explore the endless pursuit of pleasure than Solomon. If bungee jumping were around in his day, he would have tried it. He did not withhold any pleasure from his heart, because he considered pleasure the fair return for his labor. With all this, he was disgruntled. He had taken the jump, pursued the thrills, and, like the bungee jumper, he was left dangling.
Ecclesiastes 2:1-3
I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.
Why are pleasures of this life so attractive to us?
In spite of all the advertising around us, how can we remind ourselves that life is really about living for God, not ourselves?
I. Living for pleasure accomplishes nothing.
· Many a person has sought to find meaning in life in the pleasures of life only to come up short.
· The search for pleasure itself has led some people to turn to the consumption of alcohol, which soon became a cruel master rather than a purveyor of pleasure.
· Life is brief and need not be wasted in useless pursuits.
· We may not be as strong in managing our desires as we convince ourselves we are.
2:1 Solomon conducted his search for life’s meaning as an experiment. He first tried pursuing pleasure. He undertook great projects, bought slaves and herds and flocks, amassed wealth, acquired singers, added many women to his harem, and became the greatest person in Jerusalem. But none of these gave him satisfaction. Some of the pleasures Solomon sought were wrong and some were worthy, but even the worthy pursuits were futile when he pursued them as an end in themselves. We must look beyond our activities to the reasons we do them and the purpose they fulfill. Is your goal in life to search for meaning or to search for God who gives meaning?
Solomon mentioned two areas of pleasure he investigated:
· Laughter. Sometimes we try to overcome awkward situations with laughter. We may even hope to overcome grief with laughter, but “even in laughter the heart may ache” (Prov. 14:13). Laughter is no indication of real joy. Solomon discovered that pleasure and laughter fall short.
· Alcohol. Solomon discovered the use of wine did not bring fulfillment. Solomon was not talking about drunkenness. He drank wine but apparently without allowing himself to become intoxicated. He was very careful here. “I tried cheering myself with wine … my mind still guiding me with wisdom.” Solomon wanted to discover if using alcohol was “what was good for people to do under the heavens” during their short lives.
What Solomon described could be a script for one of many alcohol commercials: a mixture of alcohol and laughter. Everyone has a drink in hand and laughter abounds. Advertisers want to convince us this is the “good life.” But Solomon showed us the sobering reality that these “pleasures” accomplished nothing. “But that also proved to be meaningless.”
Ecclesiastes 2:4-8
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart.
Many people are driven to accomplish great things and to acquire great things, but in the end, they are still just things! Satisfying only for the moment, temporary achievements and happiness.
When have you seen an increase in possessions lead to an increase in problems?
Many people spend their lives trying to create a lasting legacy on earth. They want to be remembered when they’re gone. What ultimately matters most will not be what others say about your life but what God says.
People fail to realize that all achievements are eventually surpassed, records are broken, reputations fade, and tributes are forgotten.
In college, James Dobson’s goal was to become the school’s tennis champion. He felt proud when his trophy was prominently placed in the school’s trophy cabinet. Years later, someone mailed him that trophy. They had found it in a trashcan when the school was remodeled. Jim said, “Given enough time, all your trophies will be trashed by someone else!”
Living to create an earthly legacy is a shortsighted goal. A wiser use of time is to build an eternal legacy. You weren’t put on earth to be remembered. You were put here to prepare for eternity.
One day you will stand before God, and He will do an audit of your life, a final exam, before you enter eternity. The bible says, “Remember, each of us will stand personally before the judgment seat of God…Yes, each of us will have to give a personal account to God.”
God wants us to pass this test so He has given us the questions in advance and there are only two:
1. What did you do with My Son, Jesus Christ? Did you accept what Jesus did for you and did you learn to love and trust Him?
2. What did you do with what I gave you? What did you do with your life – all the gifts, talents, opportunities, energy, relationships, and resources God gave you? Did you spend them on yourself, or did you use them for the purposes God made you for?
II. Possessions fill our lives with everything except what matters.
· Human accomplishments are noteworthy, but if they are undertaken only for selfish purposes, they will fall short of having any long-lasting meaning or effect.
· Possessions are not evil in themselves, but they will not provide lasting satisfaction.
· Other people are not to be valued only for what they can do for us, but as individuals who have value and purpose in God’s sight for His holy purposes.
· In the end, what we have done or what we possess won’t matter if we are without the Lord.
1. The Characteristics of the Pleasure-Seeking Life
What are some signs that indicate one is seeking pleasure to find meaning? Solomon’s journal reveals several.
• A pleasure-seeking life is abnormally busy (vv. 4, 11). Busyness is not wrong in itself, but it causes pleasure-prone people to neglect relationships with spouse, family, friends, and God. Busyness drives these people. Rarely do they think they have accomplished enough. As a result, they strain every minute starting more projects while burning the candle at both ends. They operate on the precept that a reputation for busyness is a sign of success and personal importance.
• A pleasure-seeking life is gratified only by accomplishment and the symbols of triumph (v. 9). The pleasure-seeking life is often a constant pursuit of gaining more—more attention, more power, more titles, more degrees, more material assets, more, more, more.
• The pleasure-seeking life is unordered and undisciplined (v. 10). Solomon couldn't say no. He operated according to the maxim, "If it feels good, do it." The pleasure seeker is out of control because they lack discipline. Life contains no order. Whims dictate their actions. They avoid discipline like the plague rather than desire it.
Since seeking pleasure for pleasure’s sake accomplishes nothing, maybe building a personal empire will give our lives the meaning we crave. Notice the self-focus in Solomon’s words: “great projects … houses … for myself.” When we look for meaning by building our personal empires and accumulating possessions, it may appear to the world that we have it all. But “stuff” does not satisfy. It does not fill us with purpose and meaning. Possessions, wealth, and self-focus fills us with everything except what matters.
2:4-6 Solomon had built houses, a temple, a kingdom, a family (see 1 Kings 3-11). In the course of history, they all would be ruined. In Psalm 127:1, Solomon wrote, “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” This book is part of Solomon’s testimony to what happens to a kingdom or family that forgets God. As you examine your projects or goals, what is your starting point, your motivation? Without God as your foundation, all you are living for is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 2:9-11
I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
Why is it sometimes good to deny ourselves something we desire?
III. Pleasure and possessions may feel like a reward for our work, but it is a reward that doesn’t last.
· We may accomplish our heart’s desire, but those desires are void of meaning if they exclude God.
· A good effort can produce positive results, but they are not the results that give lasting meaning to life.
2. The Consequences of Pleasure-Seeking Life (v. 11)
Solomon examined his situation. He looked at his life, his stuff, his clutter, and observed, “I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind” (v. 11). Revealed in his pitiful summation are the consequences of a pleasure-seeking life.
• The pleasure-seeking life becomes engulfed by a disease of consumerholism. Their life is the constant pursuit of possessions. They work to buy more stuff. They have homes to have a place to put their junk. They move to bigger houses because they have accumulated more stuff. We couldn't function without some belongings in our life. And nothing is wrong with having possessions. The problem is the excessive desire, the inner compulsion, the undisciplined craving that results in addiction. The demise begins not with having possessions, but when those possessions have us.
• Consumerholism leads to emptiness (v. 11). When everything is taken away there is nothing. Pleasure has not filled the void. Their lives continue the yearning for meaning and purpose.
3. The Cause of the Pleasure-Seeking Life
The heart of the pleasure-seeking person reveals the reason for such futility. The cause may not be apparent at first. But a thorough examination discloses the reason for the redundancy in his vocabulary and reveals the flaw in his thinking. In verses 1-11, 21 times Solomon used the pronoun I and 21 times he employed the words me, mine, or myself. That is 42 references to himself. Ego filled his heart. The big "I," controlled his life. He had pushed God out of his life.
The pleasure-seeking life leaves no room for God.
2:11 Solomon summarized all his attempts at finding life’s meaning as “chasing after the wind”. We feel the wind as it passes, but we can’t catch hold of it or keep it. In all our accomplishments, even the big ones, our good feelings are only temporary. Security and self-worth are not found in these accomplishments, but far beyond them in the love of God. Think about what you consider worthwhile in your life – where you place your time, energy, and money. Will you one day look back and decide that these, too, were a “chasing after the wind”?
Conclusion: Have you smothered God out of your life with your pleasure-seeking activity? Is God just another aspect of your external world? Have you pushed God out of your heart? Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. What does God see in your heart?
Solomon achieved abundant wealth, so that he could easily claim, “I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me.” That’s not bad, considering that King David was his father. Accounting for inflation, Solomon would still likely be one of the richest persons in today’s world (1 Kings 10:14-29).
The limitless pursuit of pleasure is no reward. After all his success, Solomon claimed he had earned the right to enjoy every pleasure under the sun. He saw this as his reward to himself for all his struggles.
In spite of his pursuit of pleasure, Solomon couldn’t escape “toll.” Because we’re sinners in a sinful world, we’ll never escape toil in this present life. Solomon justified his pursuit of pleasure as something he deserved, but this “reward” proved to be no reward at all.
The self-absorbed focus on our achievements leaves us empty. Solomon came face to face with everything he had accomplished and all that he had labored to achieve. His conclusion in verse 11 is startling: “meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” It’s as if Solomon was trying to exhaust all the negative vocabulary, he used throughout the book to exclaim, “It all comes to nothing!”
If this life is all there is, and if we live life like Solomon, thinking that the world owes us, our job owes us, and everybody owes us for all we’ve done; then we, too, will come up empty. Pleasure and possessions may feel like a reward for our work, but it is a reward that doesn’t last.
LIVE IT OUT
Only God gives us lasting joy. Start cultivating this lasting joy in your life this week. Choose one of the following applications:
Give God the glory. How can you fight against the empty pursuit of pleasure? Identify something you enjoy—and do it. But do it to honor Christ and give God the glory.
Memorize Scripture. Memorize a passage such as Philippians 4:4-7 and recall it when you become anxious, discouraged, or the toils of your own struggle tempt you to seek “reward” in the wrong way.
“4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Acknowledge the achievements of others. Too often, we get caught up in our own achievements. That leads to a false “reward” mentality. Contact others and thank them for their achievements. Encourage them. Consider how to do this in ways that also affirm them in the presence of others.
The meaning of life is wrapped up in the glory of God. In calling His elect, God says, “Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them” (Isaiah 43:7, NLT). The reason we were made is for God’s glory. Any time we substitute our own glory for God’s, we miss the meaning of life. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:24–25). “Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).
God wants us to know the meaning of life. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). A “full” life is logically one that is meaningful and devoid of aimless wandering.
God is not against pleasures. Allow Him to be the source of your joy. Your greatest pleasure is God Himself.
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