The Book of Ecclesiastes

Check out the So We Speak podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Ecclesiastes is part of the “Wisdom Literature” in the Old Testament. Wisdom literature attempts to wrestle with the big questions about the meaning of life and how to live life well. Ecclesiastes is not a godless book, but it describes what a godless universe looks like – devoid of meaning – and what life under God’s provision looks like in this world.

A long-standing tradition says that Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes around 900 BC. However, a common critique would say that based on linguistics within that timeframe, the Hebrew and Aramaic suggests a different timeframe (closer to 200BC) and author. However, Solomon is the most likely candidate to have authored this book simply based on tradition and being one of the sons of King David blessed with wisdom from God. According to 1 Kings, Solomon wrote and collected thousands of proverbs. We can conclude that he wrote Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

Finding an outline or a discernible organizing theme in Ecclesiastes is notoriously difficult. It is more of an exploration than an explanation of the meaning of life.

Chapters 1-2 deal with exploring the world and coming to realize that all is vanity.

Chapters 3-5 discusses the sovereignty of God in the vanity of life.

Chapters 6-11 describes God working behind the scenes in the life of humanity to bring about his purposes.

Chapter 12 contains a summary of the book.

Ecclesiastes deals with the meaninglessness of life apart from an understanding of God. Without a God-centered understanding of the world, all things will be meaningless, monotonous, and depressing. God provides meaning, direction, and joy in life despite the evil we see around us and ourselves.

There are parts of Solomon’s description of reality that sound existential to our ears. The author describes everything as “vanity of vanities” and “meaningless” outside of understanding God’s purpose for humanity. The exact same thing can be said for the worldview that is existentialism. The difference is Ecclesiastes is not about “meaning-making” (as in existentialism) but about receiving the meaning from God. Meaning is given to creation and humanity by God.

This book is also powerful because it deals with “real life” – not what we want life to look like based on our modern-westernized worldview. Ecclesiastes addresses the hardship of life, war, toil, and pain. It embraces the reality of hardship and also addresses God being at the center.

Despite its hopeless beginning, Ecclesiastes ends with the hope that God will (one day) right every wrong and judge with perfect justice.

“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

Resources:

Joy At the End of the Tether – Doug Wilson

Brittany Proffitt lives in Dallas, TX, holds a BA in Religion, and is a student at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is passionate about Scripture and how God’s Word impacts individuals’ hearts and lives.

Give

Subscribe to the Daybreak Devotions for Women

Be inspired by God's Word every day! Delivered to your inbox.


More from Cole Feix

  • featureImage

    The Pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and…Beauty? Suggested Reading on Arts and the Christian Life

    When someone mentions “the arts,” what do you think of? I believe a typical picture includes an “anything goes” attitude, whether in the artist’s lifestyle or in the art’s production itself. The arts typically get relegated into a culturally liberalized category, often leaving Christians scratching their heads, wondering if bringing art in any form into the church is a wise decision. Before I jump into book recommendations on this topic, let me begin by providing a brief survey of beauty in wors

    9 min read
  • featureImage

    Podcast – Villains of the Bible: Herod

    Check out the So We Speak podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.Herod is one of the most well-known villains in the Bible. Without the biblical accounts, historians might have convinced us that he was a successful ruler. Born in 73 BC and dying in 4 BC, Herod lived through significant events in Roman and Middle Eastern history. He rose to power through his alliance with Mark Antony, who supported him in exchange for the wealth Herod could generate through taxation.Herod had no royal lineage to ju

    2 min read
  • featureImage

    The Ḥesed of God, Part 1: Hope and Joy in the Midst of Despair

    Hesed.Hesed is a rich Hebrew word and unfortunately it is extremely challenging to find a word that even comes close in English. The closest our Bibles come to is steadfast love, lovingkindness, or mercy. Yet even these fall short. Hesed is viewed as God’s covenantal, loyal and enduring love for his people, a love that pursues his people when they have done nothing but reject him (think the Israelites in the wilderness). It’s a covenantal loyalty that is unwavering and not based upon the conditi

    3 min read
  • featureImage

    The Power of Praising God in Prison

    Life can be challenging at times. Jesus made it clear that following him doesn’t exempt us from suffering. In fact, following Jesus guarantees suffering and persecution. “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (John 15:18). As followers of Jesus, we will face trials, rejection, and hardship. So, what do we do when life gets tough? Throughout the Bible, we find stories of faithful people enduring trials not because they disobeyed God, but because they followed him. One of th

    3 min read
  • featureImage

    Podcast - Villains of the Bible: Sennacherib

    Sennacherib’s story takes place in the eight century BC. He makes the villain list because of his invasion of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. His father, Sargon, came to the Assyrian throne in 722 BC which was the same year they conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Sargon’s body was never recovered after he died in a battle in Turkey. It was believed that because his body was not recovered after battle, this was a curse from the gods, and he was doomed to wander the afterlife begging for foo

    2 min read

Editor's Picks

  • featureImage

    Gratitude on the Go — Carol McLeod Ministries

    In case you have forgotten this important piece of information about my life or have somehow missed it – my daily walks are nothing if not legendary . I have had numerous divine appointments with needy, hurting people as I saunter along my 3-mile route in the neighborhoods near my home.

    7 min read
  • featureImage

    It’s crazy to be ‘crazy busy’

    By Elizabeth Prata SYNOPSIS The seventh day, sanctified by God for rest, underlines a universal need for downtime. Studies indicate productivity diminishes beyond 55-hour workweeks, showing GodR…

    8 min read

More from Cole Feix

  • featureImage

    The Pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and…Beauty? Suggested Reading on Arts and the Christian Life

    When someone mentions “the arts,” what do you think of? I believe a typical picture includes an “anything goes” attitude, whether in the artist’s lifestyle or in the art’s production itself. The arts typically get relegated into a culturally liberalized category, often leaving Christians scratching their heads, wondering if bringing art in any form into the church is a wise decision. Before I jump into book recommendations on this topic, let me begin by providing a brief survey of beauty in wors

    9 min read
  • featureImage

    Podcast – Villains of the Bible: Herod

    Check out the So We Speak podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.Herod is one of the most well-known villains in the Bible. Without the biblical accounts, historians might have convinced us that he was a successful ruler. Born in 73 BC and dying in 4 BC, Herod lived through significant events in Roman and Middle Eastern history. He rose to power through his alliance with Mark Antony, who supported him in exchange for the wealth Herod could generate through taxation.Herod had no royal lineage to ju

    2 min read
  • featureImage

    The Ḥesed of God, Part 1: Hope and Joy in the Midst of Despair

    Hesed.Hesed is a rich Hebrew word and unfortunately it is extremely challenging to find a word that even comes close in English. The closest our Bibles come to is steadfast love, lovingkindness, or mercy. Yet even these fall short. Hesed is viewed as God’s covenantal, loyal and enduring love for his people, a love that pursues his people when they have done nothing but reject him (think the Israelites in the wilderness). It’s a covenantal loyalty that is unwavering and not based upon the conditi

    3 min read
  • featureImage

    The Power of Praising God in Prison

    Life can be challenging at times. Jesus made it clear that following him doesn’t exempt us from suffering. In fact, following Jesus guarantees suffering and persecution. “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (John 15:18). As followers of Jesus, we will face trials, rejection, and hardship. So, what do we do when life gets tough? Throughout the Bible, we find stories of faithful people enduring trials not because they disobeyed God, but because they followed him. One of th

    3 min read
  • featureImage

    Podcast - Villains of the Bible: Sennacherib

    Sennacherib’s story takes place in the eight century BC. He makes the villain list because of his invasion of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. His father, Sargon, came to the Assyrian throne in 722 BC which was the same year they conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Sargon’s body was never recovered after he died in a battle in Turkey. It was believed that because his body was not recovered after battle, this was a curse from the gods, and he was doomed to wander the afterlife begging for foo

    2 min read