Ecclesiastes Dispels Illusions

Ecclesiastes Dispels Illusions

By Stan Baldwin

Published by Stan Baldwin

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Stan Baldwin

Cover Art Design: Lorrie Baldwin

Cover Art Picture: Ecclesiastes circa 1866 by Gustave Doré (1832-1883). Wood engraving. This work is in the public domain in the United States. This picture has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Also by Stan Baldwin, Published at Smashwords:

That Awful Silence

Symphony of Psalms

Fasting Is Feasting

The Battle Rages

To my family: Gifts of God with love and thanksgiving.

May the wise words of the Teacher bless our lives.

Lux et Veritas

Contents

Introduction

Life Under the Sun

Chasing the Wind

Timing Is Everything

The Danger Zone

Your Money or Your Life?

The School of Hard Knocks

Living with Limits

You Only Live Once

Stupidity Stinks

Risk and Reward

Make the Most of Life

Introduction

You are commended for taking on such a heavyweight. Ecclesiastes (Qohelet in Hebrew) is a difficult book, an intriguing book. Well worth the effort. You’ll be blessed. There have been some notables who were impressed with Ecclesiastes. Herman Melville, in Moby Dick, said that the truest of all books is Solomon’s and Ecclesiastes is the fine hammered steel of woe. American 20th-century novelist Thomas Wolfe wrote: Of all I have ever seen or learned, that book seems to me the noblest, the wisest, and the most powerful expression of man’s life upon this earth – and also the highest flower of poetry, eloquence, and truth. I am not given to dogmatic judgments in the matter of literary creation, but if I have to make one I could say that Ecclesiastes is the greatest single piece of writing I have ever known, and the wisdom expressed in it the most lasting and profound. Those are lofty words for an Old Testament book that gets little notice from the wider Christian community. Qohelet had something valuable to say about knowledge and truth that he wanted to pass along to his readers. That’ll be our goal: to dig up the treasures in this neglected book.

The person who wrote Ecclesiastes (traditionally King Solomon) gives several reasons to believe his words and take them to heart. One is simply his own brilliance. According to Ecclesiastes 12:9-10, Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. Some people know a lot, but they can't quite put it into words; others are good with words, but they don't know what they're talking about or they're dishonest. The Teacher, however, had both: he had tremendous knowledge, and he also had an amazing way with words. Mark Twain said, The difference between the right word and almost the right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. Ecclesiastes is lightning. The author had such a brilliant mind, such a vast range of experience and learning, such a skill for choosing just the right words, and such an unwavering commitment to telling the truth, that only a fool would ignore what he says.

Before I highlight a few of the reasons why Ecclesiastes is a difficult book, I have this utilitarian urge to posit a couple of things about why the message of Qohelet will help us day to day. Qohelet will help those of us who cling to a world of illusion. An illusory world reinforced daily and powerfully through our senses. Qohelet dispels our illusions. He’ll help us recalibrate our thinking about the universe and our place in it. He’ll help us think through popular wisdom about what’s important. Qohelet has a different perspective on pursuing education or wealth to find fulfillment and joy. He reminds us that we should live life, to enjoy life sanely, deliberately in context of life’s limitations and finality.

For those who acknowledge the illusory world we live in, Qohelet also has a message for those looking for a different way of thinking and living – who are seeking to replace illusion with truth. Qohelet is a realist. His admonition to those who acknowledge the weird, wonderful world we live in would be: understand that God exists. The universe we inhabit comes from his hand and comes to us as a gift. Our lives are a gift, offered for a short period and then taken back once again. Embrace life for what it is, rather than what you would like it to be. Live it out before God, reverencing and obeying him. This is the pathway on which joy lies, even though puzzlement and pain will also be a part of the mix. Oh, and there are never guarantees about how things will turn out. Even though Christians have a fuller word from God in Christ that expands on Qohelet’s message, it doesn’t undermine his message or make it less important that we listen to it. Christians are still called to live in this world that God has created and loves, even while anticipating a world to come. We are no less in need of advice about living and waiting, about the pitfalls of wealth and wisdom, about the folly of attempting to control our destinies, about the importance of living life fully and daily in the certain knowledge of death, about the centrality of God to the good life, and about our response to puzzlement and pain. Ecclesiastes is part of the biblical canon. It is given to us to help shape faith and life. Qohelet is a word from God for life lived today.

Now we turn to reasons why Ecclesiastes is a difficult book. Qohelet wrote in a form of Hebrew different from much of the remainder of the Old Testament, and it regularly challenges the reader of the original as to grammar and syntax. The interpretation even of words that occur frequently in the book is often unclear and a matter of dispute, partly because there is frequent wordplay in the course of the argument. The argument is itself complex and sometimes puzzling and has often provoked the charge of inconsistency or outright self-contradiction.

When considered in the larger context of the OT, Ecclesiastes stands out as an unusual book whose connection with the main stream of biblical tradition seems tenuous. There is nothing here of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; of the Exodus; of God’s special dealings with Israel in the Promised Land; or of prophetic hope in a great future. Instead we find ourselves apparently reading about the meaninglessness of life and the certainty of death, in a universe in which God is certainly present, but is distant and somewhat uninvolved.

So what can we learn from this unusual piece of writing? Well, to clarify: I don’t subscribe to the charge that Qohelet is filled with contradictions, heresies and licentiousness. Rather, he reveals truth in ways different from historical and prophetic literature.

Consider the authorship of Ecclesiastes. In truth, we do not know who the author is. The book effectively veils the writer’s identity so that we are forced to focus on the content. This pattern was typical of ancient Near Eastern literature, where it was commonplace to write anonymously. Conversely, in the Greek pattern, the author usually proudly proclaimed his or her identity – a pattern still evident today. So we have difficulty digesting or paying attention to an idea unless it is personified in a personality. Perhaps one lesson we need to learn is that ideas don’t always need personality.

Consider another example: The text of Ecclesiastes is filled with what appear to be contradictions. In one place pleasure is condemned (What does pleasure accomplish? 2:2) and in another place endorsed (I commend the enjoyment of life, 8:15). Two theories have regularly been put forth to try to explain these contradictions. According to the quotation theory, the author of Ecclesiastes quotes people he does not agree with in order to highlight his own view. The addition theory, by contrast, maintains that a later editor added material in order to correct the author’s view. But an even better explanation is that by the placing of these contrasting statements side by side, the author reveals a deeper truth on the subject – revelation through comparison and paradox.

Or consider a third example: The tone of Ecclesiastes is often seen as gloomy. Perhaps the most well-known and oft-quoted verse in the whole text is 1:2 (Everything is meaningless), although 12:7 (The dust will return to the ground it came from) will win no happy-face awards. As one commentator says, The emphasis [in 1:2] lies on the passing nature of existence and on its elusiveness and resistance to human and physical control. It is true that death is a frequent topic in Ecclesiastes. Yet one does not come away from reading this book seeing death as victor. On the contrary, life is the theme – more specifically, the life we have in God. Like many existentialists, Qohelet seems to say that such a life can only be fully enjoyed in the context of death and futility.

These are odd times, paradoxical times, aren’t they? It is a time of unparalleled discovery and knowledge. Science has made it possible for us to approach the distant stars and microscopic DNA. We know more than our ancestors could have ever dreamed. Yet somehow we don’t seem to understand the many facts of our existence with any more understanding than our ancestors. Nevertheless, when all is said and done, Ecclesiastes will encourage us to fall at the feet of God and find our meaning in life through him.

Chapter One: Life Under the Sun

I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 1:14

Have you ever had the Sisyphus syndrome?

According to an old Greek legend, a king named Sisyphus offended the gods, and they decided to punish him. They ordered him to push a heavy, round stone to the top of a mountain. But every time he got to the top and let go of the stone, it would roll right back down to the bottom, and he'd have to start all over again. Push it up, watch it roll down; push it up, watch it roll down; push it up, watch it roll down; over and over and over again for all eternity. That's the Sisyphus syndrome: always working hard and never accomplishing anything. Know the feeling?

The Sisyphus syndrome can hit students. You get up and go to school and come home. The next day you get up and go to school and come home. The next day you get up and go to school and come home. Each day you go to class and do your homework, and what's the reward? More classes, and more homework!

The Sisyphus syndrome can also hit stay-at-home moms. You change one diaper, but soon there's another diaper, then another and another. You make a meal for your family, but soon the meal is digested and you're making another meal. You scamper here and there picking up around the house, but the next day the place is as messy as ever, and you're picking up all over again. It's like shoveling snow in a blizzard.

The Sisyphus syndrome also hits people on the job. You slave away to finish a pile of paperwork, and tomorrow there's an even bigger stack waiting for you. Or you finish one unit on the assembly line just in time to do the next, then the next, then the next. Or you're a trucker, driving mile after mile after mile to haul one load, only to pick up the next load and drive mile after mile after mile with it. Or you're a farmer doing all the same things you did last year, or a store manager stocking the same shelves again and again, or a salesman giving the same sales pitch again and again and again. Whatever your job is, don't you sometimes feel like you're pushing a stone to the top of the mountain only to have it roll down so that you have to start all over again?

Nobody is immune to the Sisyphus syndrome. No matter how exciting something looks from the outside, it can seem routine and useless to the person doing it. A professional athlete going from game to game and hotel room