Forsaking the cul-de-sacs
“When you learn to laugh at everything you are soon left with nothing worth the bother of a laugh. Triviality is more stifling than tragedy, and the shrug is the most hopeless of all comments on life. The function of Ecclesiastes is to bring us to the point where we begin to fear that such a comment is the only honest one. So it is, if everything is dying. We face the appalling inference that nothing has meaning, nothing matters under the sun. It is then that we can hear, as the good news which it is, that everything matters – ‘for God will bring every deed into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.’”
Derek Kidner
We all have an endgame in life.
Some take it more seriously than others, but everyone pursues something that will give their life meaning and purpose. In the book of Ecclesiastes, the writer searches for the meaning and purpose of life as he considers the treadmill of existence from a secular mindset and concludes that secularism leads to futility – a “chasing after the wind” (see 2:11). This ancient book presents us with a very contemporary theme because the things the writer pursued in a search for meaning and purpose are the very things we pursue today.
A cul-de-sac is a dead-end street or a situation in which there is no escape. It’s frustrating to go down a dead-end street because it can only take us so far until we have to turn around and go back to where we started, and that is where life “under the sun” without acknowledging God leaves us, back at the start of a search for meaning and purpose that we cannot find.
So, what cul-de-sacs is the writer leading us to forsake? Firstly, there is the cul-de-sac of self-indulgence (see 2:1-11). Secondly, wisdom and education (see 2:12-17), and thirdly, work and possessions (see 2:18-23).
“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. 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. 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. Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done? I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both. Then I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said to myself, “This too is meaningless.” For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die! So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.”
These are very contemporary pursuits and may come as a surprise, for isn’t this what everybody is doing? Do these have no merits? Indeed, these pursuits could be used as counterarguments against the writer’s assertion that “all things are full of weariness?” (see 1:8).
The writer will show us that we use these as bubbles to insulate ourselves from reality. These pursuits can only take us so far before we hit a dead end, and they leave us perplexed and disappointed in life and of life (see 2:11, 17-18, 23, 4:7-8, 5:10) and the sharp point he is going to use to burst those bubbles is the reality of death.
Facing the final curtain
“It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.”
Ecclesiastes 7:2 NIV
Would you rather go to a funeral or a party?
I’m pretty sure I know what most people would say! There are generally two types of people at a funeral. Those who can’t wait for it to be finished and those who take time to consider death and realise that one day it will be their turn. The Bible says that it is the wise person who considers death. In Pslam 90, the great Psalm of human mortality, we read:
“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
The writer of Ecclesiastes is echoing that Psalm. The fact is death is inevitable, and the writer wants us to face up to death and not hide from reality. David Gibson writes, “The person who lives like this is not morbid. On the contrary, what characterises a person who lives like this is depth; they have depth of soul, depth of character. But superficiality is the mark of the escapist who is living in denial.” (1). As the writer of Ecclesiastes has shown us, we use various cul-de-sacs as bubbles to insulate ourselves from facing the reality of death, but one day, all of our bubbles will burst. The wise person numbers their days and asks God for a heart of wisdom.
Contrary to the belief that death is cosmic sleep, the bible makes it clear that death is an intrusion. Death was not part of God’s original design. We were not made to die, but Romans chapter 6 tells us that “the wages of sin is death.” The bible’s message is a sobering one – because of our sin, humanity is alienated from God and lives under His judgment. The problems we see in society and ourselves are an end product of this alienation. So what is the solution?
Fear God
“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”— Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
Ecclesiastes 12:1, 13-14 NIV
It’s painful to face the reality of death.
In the ancient world, goads would be used to keep animals on a straight path. A goad is a rod with a sharp point used to prod the animal to stop it from going left or right. In chapter 12, the writer of Ecclesiastes tells us that his words are like goads:
“The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd.”
All of this pain has a point. God is prodding us with words of painful kindness to stop us from going down cul-de-sacs and to point us in the right direction. The good news is that if you are reading this, Derek Kidner writes, “Death has not yet reached us: let it rattle its chains at us and stir us into action.” (2).
Chapter 12 of Ecclesiastes presents us with a beautiful sequence of metaphors which bible commentators have long interpreted to be a picture of growing old, which, if we are honest, creeps up on us quickly (see 12:1-5).
“before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain; when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim; when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets. Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”
Have you ever attended a school reunion and wondered what happened to your youthful friends? That is, until you look in the mirror! These sad but beautiful word pictures in Ecclesiastes 12 are one of physical and mental deterioration until the inevitable happens (see 12:5-7). The book ends by reminding us of our mortality and pointing us away from the cul-de-sacs of this life and towards God and a purpose that will bring real meaning to our lives.
Throughout the book, the writer hints at his conclusion (see 3:14, 5:7, 8:12.) To fear God and keep his commandments is the logical conclusion because a judgment is coming. The writer wants his readers to see their need for God’s help. As Peter Barnes writes, “We live in a society which ultimately says that nothing matters because death is the end, but God tells us that everything matters because death is not the end. After death comes resurrection and judgment. This life is about dealing with that truth.” (3).
To fear God is to know and love God, but how can we begin to fear God? In his well-known hymn Amazing Grace, John Newton writes,
“Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.”
The solution to our dilemma must come from outside of ourselves. We must be brought to a recognition that before God, we are sinners in need of forgiveness, but such a recognition comes only by the grace of God. In the gospel of Matthew, we read that as Jesus taught the crowds of people who came to hear him, he said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
The solution to our problem has arrived in a person. Jesus gives our lives meaning and purpose when we come to him by faith. How can Jesus make such a declaration in the gospel of Matthew? We saw earlier that in Romans chapter 6, the bible tells us that “the wages of sin is death.” However, there is a second half to that verse:
“but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Jesus is the gift of God who offers eternal life – not only life after death but life before death because, as the writer of Ecclesiastes wants us to grasp, the alternative is gloomy indeed. You may get to the top of the ladder but find nothing there. The cul-de-sacs of this world will not satisfy. Maybe you feel that now? Perhaps you have even begun to despise life (see 2:17), but if you come to Jesus, you will find, as the hymn writer put it,
“Now none but Christ can satisfy,
None other name for me;
There’s love and life and lasting joy,
Lord Jesus, found in Thee.”
The great theologian Augustine began his work Confessions with the sentence: “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.” That is the message of Ecclesiastes. Life without God is futile. In contrast to the nihilistic philosophies of our age, we will only find true meaning and purpose when we realise that everything matters.
Notes
- David Gibson, Living Life Backwards – How Ecclesiastes teaches us to live in light of the end, Crossway, 2017, p97-98
- Derek Kidner, The Message Of Ecclesiastes – A time to mourn and a time to dance, IVP, 2023, p77
- Peter Barnes, Both Sides Now – Ecclesiastes and the human condition, Banner of Truth Trust, 2004, p92
All scripture quotations are from the NIV.
For more on Ecclesiastes see:
Reminders from Ecclesiastes in a Coronavirus Age
Related:
Confronted by Death
A Time to Die
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