Slices
Prepare
Where do you turn when life saps your energy, causing you to feel weary?
Bible passage
Everything is meaningless
1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king of Jerusalem:
2 ‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’
says the Teacher.
‘Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.’
3 What do people gain from all their labours
at which they toil under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains for ever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
‘Look! This is something new’?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.
Wisdom is meaningless
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said to myself, ‘Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.’ 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.
Explore
Ecclesiastes 1 does not seem to say anything about God. Instead, everything is meaningless (v 2)! Some Bible versions use words such as vanity, futile, useless, nonsense or pointless. Read verse 2 again using each of those words. Think about how that helps you to understand the point. The original word used is more like a whisp of breath, a puff of smoke, an unseen breeze – something that is fleeting, short-lived, brief.
Three times ‘the teacher’ refers to ‘life under the sun’ (vs 3,9,14) to speak about life without God. He uses the phrase ‘under the heavens’ (v 12) for life with God. In the rest of this chapter he uses two examples for studying the meaning of life: creation (vs 3–11) and wisdom (vs 12–18). Look at these sections again. What might we learn?
Jesus summarises the meaning of Ecclesiastes 1 in Matthew 16:26. ‘What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?’ It does not matter how hard we work, or how much we know or have. If we live without God, we live in the futility of our own thinking (Ephesians 4:17).
Respond
Culture encourages us to look for meaning in life in possessions, status and money. Where do you look for meaning in your life? Ask the Lord to give you strength to look to him alone.
Deeper Bible study
‘Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures for ever.’1
The book of Ecclesiastes is probably most famous for the Teacher’s opening words: ‘Everything is meaningless’ (v 2). It is difficult to hear this from Scripture, as we long to hear from God that our lives have meaning and purpose. It is not until verse 13 that we find out why the Teacher makes this statement. He is on a quest, beginning with the idea that God has given mankind a heavy burden. Throughout the book, this theme makes Ecclesiastes very relatable. The Teacher understands, as we do, that life is hard.
The literal meaning of the Hebrew word havel, here translated ‘meaningless’, is ‘vapour/wind/air that goes up’. The Teacher is saying everything is like vapour, impossible to hold and to grasp. It is why we see, at the end of the chapter and throughout the book, the phrase ‘chasing after the wind’ (v 17).
This chapter reminds us about our limitations as human beings. In his first poem (vs 2–11) the Teacher uses the cycles of nature and time to remind us of our insignificance. He speaks of the ancient natural patterns of the world, to show us that we are not special in the grand scheme of things. In verses 14–18, he shows that we are incapable of understanding everything; even gaining in wisdom does not tell us the meaning of life.
The challenge of Ecclesiastes is to hold this alongside the idea of a creating, redeeming and caring God. Yes, life is hard. Yes, we are limited and insignificant as human beings. Yes, sometimes it feels as if life has no meaning. Yet, the Christ of the cross understands our struggles. The God who created the universe loves us and gives us worth. In God we find meaning, even if we can’t understand everything that’s going on.
Pray for those who are finding life hard and meaningless at the moment, that God will meet them.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Jeremiah 15,16; Psalm 116
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray for Sarah and a team at Liverpool’s Hope University as this month they enter the first stage of some groundbreaking research into Hybrid Mission, interviewing young people without church connections. (This week's prayers relate to this story)
Mission Possible
This autumn, your local SU team will be at a venue near you, hosting an event for anyone looking to overcome the challenges of mission. So, whether you're a volunteer, an employed children's and youth worker, a church leader, or anyone else passionate about reaching the 95, come and join us to consider how, together, we can make effective mission possible.
Come and discover how you and your church can be envisioned, equipped and encouraged in your outreach to children and young people and discover a new chapter where mission is made possible.
