3 Days of Prayer and Fasting (2024/08)

¹ The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

² Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

³ What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

⁴ A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.

⁵ The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.

⁶ The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north;

around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.

⁷ All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full;

to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.

⁸ All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it;

the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

⁹ What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done,

and there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰ Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”?

It has been already in the ages before us.

¹¹ There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance

of later things yet to be among those who come after.

It says in verse 8, “All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.” The word “filled“ there is the same word that was used in verse 7, when it said, “All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full.“ The author of Ecclesiastes is suggesting that the pattern of creation is mirrored in the condition of humanity. No matter how many streams, for how many years, flow into the sea, no matter how many rainfalls empty into the sea,“the sea is not full.” Humans are similar, and verse 8 mentions three things about us that are never satisfied or filled. Like the sea that is always being filled yet is never full, our mouths never have enough of speaking, our eyes never have enough of seeing, and our ears never have enough of hearing. We will never get to a place where we have said enough or seen enough or heard enough to remedy the weariness of all our toil here on earth. This is why it is foolish to try to fill and satisfy ourselves here on earth, to seek fulfillment here “under the sun.”

Remember that we’re a bucket without a bottom. We will never be filled, so it is futile to try to fill ourselves. As 4th century African pastor Augustine says to God in his Confessions, “Thou movest us to delight in praising Thee; for Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee” (Confessions, 1, 1.5). Our hearts are restless until they find rest in God, because God has formed us for Himself. What are the things in life that you’re seeking to be filled and satisfied by? Is it relationships? Is it success? Is it respect? Is it fame? Is it affection? Is it sex? Is it money? God says in Jeremiah 2:13, “… my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Life “under the sun” can never fill us. It was never intended to.

Verse 11 continues this thought, “There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.” Being forgotten is a deeply disturbing idea to the Biblical imagination (cf. Isa. 26:14). But being forgotten is the lot of all those who live in this fallen world and toil on this cursèd ground. Even the most well-known, most famous people throughout history, are not known today like they were known in their own days.

Maybe you’re consumed with leaving a lasting legacy, with making a difference in the world, maybe you want to break new ground in your research, but there is nothing new under the sun. That’s the humbling wisdom of Ecclesiastes. We jostle with one another in order to get ahead, we compete against one another for scarce resources and opportunities in this rat race of life, not realizing that we’re all on a hamster wheel.

But if we know that we’re on a hamster wheel, if we know how cyclical this fallen world is, then we’re not going to run ourselves haggard and work our fingers down to the bone in order to achieve something and find significance, because we know that we’re not going to find significance that way. And knowing this gives us the presence of mind and the sense of humor to enjoy the ride, and to love one another better along the way. Does that mean we don’t work hard anymore? Not at all. We work hard, but not for the sake of “gain“ or “profit,” so that we can get some kind of guaranteed outcome or reward here on earth, not so that we can be filled and satisfied under the sun, or do something new and leave a lasting legacy. No, we work hard for the sake of faithfulness to God, for the glory of God, because our righteous toil, even in this futile and disappointing world, is pleasing to Him.

It says in verse 4, “A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.” Contrast the brevity of your life with the longevity of the earth, the transience of your life with the permanence of the earth. The Preacher uses examples from nature in verses 5-7 to illustrate this truth. “The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.” Do you see the cyclicity, the circularity, of it all? The whole creation comes and goes. In Hebrew, this fact is emphasized all the more by the repetition of words. In verse 4, it says “a generation goes, and a generation comes.” The word “goes” in Hebrew is the same word that is translated “blows” and “goes” in “in the wind blows“ and “around goes the wind” in verse 6. The same word is translated “run” and “flow” in “all streams run“ and “the streams flow“ in verse 7. Similarly, the word “comes” in “a generation comes“ in verse 4, is the same Hebrew word that is translated as “goes down” in “the sun goes down“ in verse 5. So, then, the coming and going of generations is mirrored in the comings and goings of the sun and the wind and the streams. Everyday, the sun rises and the sun sets. Everyday, people are born and people die. Sunrise, sunset, “a generation goes, and a generation comes.”

There is no escape from this cycle of life and death, except in Jesus Christ. As it says in 2 Corinthians 5:14-17, “[Christ] has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. … Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” This sinful and fallen world is hevel, it’s but a breath, but Jesus came to redeem His children, and indeed the whole creation, which has been “subjected to futility” and is stifled by its “bondage to corruption” (Rom. 8:19-23). By dying on the cross for our sins, and being raised from the dead as the “firstfruits” of resurrection life, Jesus makes us something that is truly new! And Jesus promises in Revelation 21:5, “Behold, I am making all things new.”