I invite you to open a Bible to Ecclesiastes and to read the second chapter on your own, taking a moment to reflect on the text in silence.
The second chapter of Ecclesiastes has three sections, each of which speaks to the vanity of a certain approach to life. Pleasure, wealth, wisdom, and toil are each revealed to be temporary. While they are not completely worthless, none of them provide eternal fulfillment and to seek permanence in any of them is fruitless.
The author claims to have indulged in every pleasure and attained unsurpassable wealth, but in so doing found nothing of value. Wine, while providing temporary joy, is perhaps the most obviously unsustainable avenue. It is a direct example of a hedonistic philosophy that seeks happiness directly in the moment, with disregard for the future at its most extreme form. But Solomon quickly moves onto building magnificent places and seeking vast entertainment. His glory and seemingly unlimited wealth proved no better than drunkenness because one does not become fulfilled by being entertained. In its most simple distillation, this section warns the reader that wealth and entertainment are not permanently meaningful, even though one can enjoy them temporarily.
Solomon then discusses wisdom and folly. While wisdom is better than folly, it does not protect one from death. Neither the wise nor the foolish endure forever, even in history’s memory. But wisdom is not to be discarded, and foolishness it not to be celebrated. This section makes an important point as we move forward through the book of Ecclesiastes, which is that impermanence alone does not make something evil. As long as its temporary nature is remembered, and one’s ultimate goal lies in God, that which is vanity can be good.
The third section in chapter two explores the temporary possession of wealth through the separation of one from their wealth through death. While gold does not rot, it must be passed down to an heir. The first section warned against placing ultimate value in wealth because it cannot provide permanent meaning during one’s life, and this section makes the parallel but inversed claim. The results of one’s hard work will remain in the world after the passing of the one who earned it, and there is no predicting the worthiness of its inheritor. The value passed on may be squandered and destroyed, thereby rendering one’s toil a waste. Solomon responds to this sad reality by exhorting the reader to enjoy their toil and its results while they can. This is to be done not in the spirit of hedonism warned against above, but with the knowledge that temporary gifts can and should be enjoyed as temporary while one is alive. God has gifted the possibility of enjoyment, especially the simple joys of eating and drinking, to us as a comfort as we live under the sun.
This week, watch and see how you are caught in temporal priorities. What gives you purpose in your work, and are you working towards something that will ultimately lead to fulfillment? As you eat and drink, remember that the everyday joys of life are wonderful gifts that come and go with the rest of life’s turmoil.
Logan Abraham 