Ecclesiastes: The Futility of Life, Without God

© 2014 Troy A. Fritch, Sr.. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/18/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-3533-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-3531-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-3532-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014914760

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Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Contents

Vanity in Life Cycle and Labor

Futility of Human Wisdom

Futility of Pleasure and Wealth

Futility of Materialism

God Is: The Great Time Giver For Life’s Events

God Is: The Great Judge of Life

The Worthlessness of Oppression and Loneliness

The Worthlessness of False Worship

The Worthlessness of Hoarded Riches Is Idolatry

The Gift of Great Riches Can Be: A Curse

The Truth of This Existence;

Is NOT, What You Have Been Taught

Overcoming Oppression God’s Way

The End Will Be Better Than The Beginning,

Godly Wisdom Is The Sure Light That Leadeth To Life;

Attention To Godly Wisdom

Will Draw You Away From Sinful Desires

Heavenly Wisdom Will Affect Your Earthly Walk

Heavenly Wisdom Has An Eternal Effect On Your Soul

All Hope Is Not Lost For The Righteous:

A Living Dog IS Better Than A Dead Lion

Live Every Day For God As Though It Is Your Last

God’s Words of Wisdom, Should Shape Our Walk

God’s Word Reveals; Who Is The Fool

Many Times Sharing The Bread of Life, Seems Vanity To Us

Where Will You Be Found,

When The Days Of Darkness Come?

The Sum of The Whole Matter For Your Life

Ecclesiastes: The Futility of Life, Without God

Preface

Ga 6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

It has long been since the first man and the first woman were created and commanded to be fruitful and multiply, that mankind in his being, sought to be something more than he was not. He thought to have more than he was given and be more than the purpose he was created for. He thought to be more like God. And for this cause man was not only deceived, but disobeyed the only command that was set upon him. Thou shalt not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that thou eatest, thou shalt surly die.

In a sense, he was already something and he became nothing. Spiritually he died; physically he is dying; but worse yet, he became separated from God. Oh the tragedy!

Even though man was reduced to mere nothingness without God, he strives even today to be something. He seeks to build wealth and build fame and have riches and fortune; and many times he desires all this at any cost. Man will not stop when he reaches the moon, he must go further. Man will not stop when he’s made his millions, he must have more. If he is a successful sports figure, he must break a record. Man’s appetite for success is thus never filled…He is continually hungry for more…more of what he cannot have and more than what he is allowed to achieve.

The Book of Ecclesiastes is the account of just such a man that was granted all things, but found even though he had it all, there was one thing that he lacked and that was happiness, joy and contentment. The things that he thought made him happy, he found to be unfulfilling over time. If he thought something brought him some happiness, then more of the same thing should bring him more happiness, but he was wrong. It would not be until his near death that Solomon concluded that life in and of itself was worthless without God.

The writer of Ecclesiastes is Solomon, son of David, king of Israel and was written around the year, 977 B.C. The name Ecclesiastes means in the Hebrew language: The Preacher. It is a book about man and his futile attempts under the sun, in his attempts to reason about the meaning of life. It entails the thoughts of the age old question, Why are we here…What are we doing…Why do I feel that I am spinning my wheels and yet seem to go, nowhere? Why does life, when I deeply think about it, seem meaningless?

Ecclesiastes, is about mans’ best attempts at what he believes to be truly living and his understanding of life, whether he believes God exists or not. But somewhere created within each man is a void that he knows must be filled with something if he is ever going to feel he has accomplished living before he dies. Hopefully, along his way of life, man has gained the knowledge that a Holy God does exist; and only then does he find his significance to his existence before God brings all things into judgment. Only when a man turns his soul towards God will he know his worth?

Ecclesiastes is in five parts.

I) The Theme, All Is Vanity,1:1-3

II) The Theme Proved, 1:4-3:22

III) The Theme Unfolded In Light of Human Sufferings, 4:1-10:20

IV) The Best Man Can Hope For Apart From God, 11:1-12:12

V) The Best Man Can Hope For Under The Law Of God, 12:13,14

It is my prayer that if you know Christ as your Lord and Saviour that you will consider His Word thru Solomon’s wisdom and forsake the influence of worldly things; knowing that they are all vanity. If you do not yet truly know Christ as your Lord and Saviour and you hold dear the things of this world and yet still find no fulfillment in life; then may you prayerfully and carefully read and considered these things from Solomon, the richest and the wisest man of God and call upon Christ today; The One that is The Light of Life that you may have it more abundantly.

Troy A. Fritch, Sr.

9th December, 2013

This Book Is

Dedicated

To The Manifold

Grace Of

Almighty God

That I’ve Experienced

In My Life.

To Him Be All The Glory, Power And Honor,

Amen

~1~

Ecclesiastes: The Futility of Life, Without God

Vanity in Life Cycle and Labor

Ecclesiastes. 1:1-11

We know that whatever man sets his heart on, exercises a mighty influence on life, and leaves a stamp upon his character. He that follows after vanity; becomes vain.

Andrew Murray

As we live in a world that is ever consumed by want; which according to God is covetousness… the breaking of the 10th Commandment written by God Himself; we should be reminded that without God as not only being The Creator, but also the giver of life, that therefore, all of life itself is worthless if God be so far from us.

The Book of Ecclesiastes is believed to be the last and final writing of King Solomon. It was written long after he was appointed King of Israel by his father King David…Long after Solomon asked God for wisdom to rule over the people of Israel…Long after Solomon wrote all of the wise proverbs and somewhere near the time of his death did Solomon write this great book.

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

Ecclesiastes was written near the end of Solomon’s life… his was a life that had been blessed by God. Solomon would be known as the wisest and the richest of any man to ever walk the earth. For 40 years under the reign of King Solomon, Israel would experience peace with all her neighbors and become a great place of trade and commerce in the entire region. She would be known for her great wealth, her great power and her mighty army. With Solomon as her king, she was known for her extravagant palace for her king and for the most beautiful temple that had ever been built for a God. But Israel was most known for the place where this true God, The God of the universe would come and set in the Most Holy place, The Holy of Holies within the temple walls of Jerusalem.

But even with all that God had blessed Solomon with, he was still a man that fell into covetousness and lust beyond any other man. His lusts’ would lead him away from God to serve other gods and eventually write this Book known as Ecclesiastes; The futility or worthlessness of life without The True and Living God. When Solomon had grown old (for of the burdens and decays of age he speaks feelingly in Ecclesiastes 12:1-14), he was, by the grace of God, recovered from his backslidings; and nearing the end of his life, he dictated his observations of life. Here he wrote his own experiences. This is what the days of life speak. This is the wisdom which God entreated him with and his study of what a multitude of years had taught him and he now passes these truths’ on to us.

2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

If the 12 chapters of this book were to be contained in one flowing sermon message to be preached from the pulpit by the man of wisdom, Solomon would call his message vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Worthlessness of everything that exists is worthless, all is worthless. It could be called, The Meaningless life of Man, All Is Meaningless.

In all of the wisdom of the many years of walking with God, Solomon realizes the truth about this existence we call: Life. Life by itself, or life in itself, is vanity and worthless. Life in itself has no purpose and is meaningless, if it is without God; it has no direction, nor does it have any hope without God. Life in itself is aimless, meaningless and pointless; it is without purpose when you narrow it all down. And this you will see in the observances that Solomon came to know and understand as he relays his message to you and me.

But come to know this one thing dear friend, that in the end of his message of despair and before Solomon closes Chapter 12, he will close by way of exhortation and uplifting hope…an eternal hope through a Savior; only then all is not lost and life will have meaning and purpose. And that hope is; that we must remember our Creator, to fear him, and to keep His commandments if life is to have meaning or purpose at all.

Solomon begins our thought process into this dark aboding existence of what we believe to be life, with one great, deep and well thought out but sad truthful question that is to be meditated on and examined for our personal life.

3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

Let that question sink in for a moment will you; before you read on. Look at it and read it again. What profit? To what good is it all? What is really gained of all the time and effort and sweat and tears and worry, in all the tasks and work load that you pile upon yourself…What good comes from it in the end?

So you are either single or married and have a house and 2.3 kids and a dog. And you have nice cars and bank accounts and stocks and swimming pools and big screen T.V.’s and smart phones. And let’s not leave out the exotic vacations where we usually spend more than we can afford. Quite frankly if you live in a capitalistic country, you can work or labor as Solomon calls it, and have whatever you want and still not have enough to satisfy your soul.

What profit hath a man of all his labor: Anything under the sun? How about eternally speaking? Is all of our labor in life sufficient enough to make us truly happy in this life and carry us yet to the heavens and God’s eternity? And for this, I now appeal to men’s conscience: What profit have you gained of all the pains you take? Where will it all go and where will it all end up after your dead? Have you ever thought about that? How about then; after your dead? Was it all worth it?

Jesus said this: For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Mark 8:36

And isn’t this what most of us are doing, seeking to gain our piece of the world and make our mark before we leave? Now I’m not saying that we should all just sit back and not work or not enjoy the things of this life; that would be absurd. Nor should we feel guilty for having an abundance of wealth or material things that were gained in the right and proper way, but what are you working towards is the point Solomon wants you to think about. What do you treasure?

Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Might we stand back and look at the big picture for a moment? NO one goes to a museum and stands with their nose pressed flat against a painting but yet that is how we view our life. We are so engulfed in this existence that we are way to close and one can never get the full view of what The Artist intended. Because in context there is certain work done under the sun, but we shall soon learn of a work that is done somewhere else.

A little over a year ago my dad passed away. He had retired from a factory job where he had worked for over 25 years. And although he was only somewhat disabled at the time of his retirement, he could still get around and do many things… especially worry. It would be only 10 short years after he retired, that he suffered a stroke, losing the abilities of his right hand and was later diagnosed with diabetes. He had to have his right leg amputated and half of his left foot and would have to be confined to a nursing home for the next five years.

He worried about his home and his car and whether or not he would get to drive again. He worried about what little money he had and how bad the weather was going to get. He concerned himself with everything except one thing, his soul. He stood too close to the painting of life and could not see the bigger picture.

Praise God, that before he died, I was given the opportunity to present the True Gospel of Christ to him on a day when his mind was sharp and clear. I showed him from the bible who Christ is and what He came to do. And with tears flowing over my dad’s elderly checks, he prayerfully bowed his head to The One who is True Life and asked Jesus for forgiveness and that He would come into his heart. What a privilege for me and peace of mind that finally, after 70 years, my dad got it, coming to the realization that what he believed about life and what he was told by a certain church he attended about God; in his own words, was a lie according to The Bible. He finally understood the big picture.

After he died; the sad but true reality of all that my dad was and all that he had hoped for and all that he had worked for; was reduced in the end, to the contents that would fit into two boxes. His entire life! I wonder how many boxes there will be that tell your life’s story?

What makes the world go round? What you think is most likely the same as my dad thought. It is labor. The word signifies both care and toil. It is work that wearies and tires men. There is a constant fatigue in worldly business in the hopes of a big payoff and a life of leisure in the end that you can’t even take with you. It is labor under the sun; this is a phrase that is also particular to this book, where we meet with it twenty-eight times. And it is for this very reason that it is.

Contrary to some beliefs: there exists a world above the sun. There exists a kingdom, not of this world, that is more real than this one under the sun… a world which needs not the sun, for the glory of God is its light, where there is work without labor and the profits are beyond great, such as the work of Christ as He ministers in the Great Tabernacle of The Almighty, a temple built without hands. Mark 14:58

But Solomon here speaks of the work under the sun… the pains of which are great and the gains little if any, the profits few. It is under the sun, under the influence of the sun, by its light and in its heat; as we have the benefit of the light of the day, so we oftentimes have the burden and heat of the day; and therefore in the sweat of our face we eat bread. But in the dark and cold of the grave lay the weary of all their labor, dead and finally at rest.

Death being the end result; what profit has a man of all that labor?

The Bible calls the wealth of this world substance. So is all of our labor truly profit towards true wealth or not? In short, the wealth and pleasure of this world, if we had ever so much, are not sufficient to make us happy or filled, nor will it be our portion for us in the end.

As to the body, and the life that now is; what profit has a man of all that labor? What does your life consist of? Jesus said:

Luke 12:15…for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Life and living according to Christ who spoke this verse says for all that you have that you call yours; that is not life. As was stated earlier:

Mark 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

The fruit of our labor in this world is only meat that perishes along with our body.

Vanity of vanities; all is vanity

To prove the vanity of all things under the sun, and their insufficiency to make us happy, Solomon here shows that the time of our enjoyment of these things is very short.

4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

You and I along with every living breathing soul, continues in the world but for one generation, which is continually passing away to make room for another, and we are right now passing with it.

James 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

Of our worldly possessions we may have labored for or we may have received from others, either as a gift or by inheritance, must very shortly be left to others when we’re gone.

We may be quickened to do the work of our generation diligently, and serve it faithfully, but in so living this life, it will be over shortly.

In all of our futile labor to gain great gains, what worth of it is there in the end of life as we can take nothing from this life with us?

Later in this Book, Solomon will say:

Ecclesiastes 5:15 As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.

Oh! We will soon pass away friend and yet this present world will go on without us, just as it has gone on after the generations before us.

Surly, all is vanity!

Furthermore, we read that generations pass away but the earth abideth forever, states that the world is held in a stability that no science, however great can understand, but the Bible tells us how it is held together.

Hebrews 1:1-3 ¶ God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

That’s right! Jesus Christ, The Son of The Living God, made the worlds and has from the beginning, held it all together by the power of His Word! The world is fixed and permanent, while man is temporary. Do you still think all of your labor is so great and marvelous when compared to Christ?

Solomon now tells for certain, that the world continues on as it ever had before we came and that it will continue on long after we leave, should Christ tarry in His return, by accounting the operation of nature from man’s perspective in this present world. Just as we are born and live and die in a natural cycle, so the world at large operates in cycles.

5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.

6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.

7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

Solomon points out the natural order of things and just as he pointed out that all of our labor is vanity, so the earth in all of her labor seems vanity. Look at these verses again.

The sun comes up, the sun goes down- only to race towards the dawning of a new day, which really is not a new day to the sun, but is only a new and refreshing day for us. Here is the interesting thing about the painstaking effort called labor. Something or someone does the work and puts in the time but someone else reaps the benefits from all the effort. In talking about the sun, the sun labors to produce all that light and heat but we are the recipients of all the labor of the sun. Now we know by science that the world is spinning on an axis in space and yet we still call it sunrise and sunset. The sun is an inferno of fiery gasses that produces all of the necessary light and heat for us to exist. Does the sun receive any benefits from all its efforts? No, but we do. Therefore all of the labor of the sun benefits nothing for itself and its labor is vanity.

As for the wind, it blows south and then it blows north; it whirls around blowing from east to west and turns back on itself to blow east again. The wind keeps the air we breathe from becoming stagnant… it helps the ships as they sail, it aids in the pollinating of flowers. The wind turns giant windmills to produce electricity and provides fun for boys and girls to fly a kite. Many things benefit from the labor of the wind. But the labor of the wind for the wind itself gains nothing for itself. This is vanity.

The water cycles of all the streams and rivers continually flow into the sea. This continual moving of the water causes our water not to become stagnant thus making some of it suitable for drinking. It also aids ships as they move about from place to place, it waters all the living things on the earth and turns water wheels and water turbines creating electricity. And for all of the labor of the water we are beneficiaries. But the labor of the water for the water gains nothing for itself. This is vanity.

And thus is Solomon’s final conclusion on the labor of all things in the world:

8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

There seems that there is nothing we can’t do to make use from the labor of all things in this world whether they are provided by nature or off of the backs of men. The wants and needs are endless. The more we see and hear causes us to want to see and hear more things; but at what cost? Buildings are built and then torn down to make way for something new. Certain clothing is in and then it’s out only to come right back again. Why? Because the eye is never satisfied with what it sees!

Look at the countless hours wasted on television, movies and video games. What we see must get more violent, more racy or bloodier. We want to be wowed with high definition and 3D graphics and stunning animations. And for all the things we let our eyes labor to see, even though it does nothing to prolong our life, still yet we want all the more. The eye is never satisfied, nor is the ear content with its possibilities either.

From music and movies and sitcoms come laughter and learning; things we can use to our benefit by the labor of the ear and to increase knowledge. But with it also comes vulgarities, spewed from the mouths of athletes, musicians and actors spilling unto our population and our young people at such a rate that most are too ignorant to realize its abnormality. Most believe that those wicked souls are somehow cool and sound tough because of their rants causing our teenagers and many adults to want to be just like them.

Ah, caution is needed when all of your time is spent in the presence of what tickles your senses. Where you spend your time causes you to want more, so much more that your mouth can’t utter what more there will be.

So then, where is the best place to spend your time? In the presence of The Lord is where God wants you to be. He will cause your heart to want more of Him.

James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

To the double minded, that is; those that say they know God or have a relationship with Him must exclusively and wholly choose Him and His High Ways and turn from the ways of the world in which we live. But that is easier said than done, I know. But for those that are double minded, that is being mindful of God and the world simultaneously is impossible.

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

What is being commanded here by Christ, in simplistic terms means; pick a side. Get off of the fence. I often use this phrase in my preaching: Those that sit on the fence wind up with splinters in their end, and you can take that physically or spiritually, which ever you prefer. Both are true.

But having a real relationship with God is not what most desire. Instead, they want more of the world and to acquire more material things, so that in their vain minds they can believe that they are someone and that they have finally arrived…even think they are someone when they are not.

So called new worldly things wait on the horizon for the worldly man or woman and must yet be invented. So that they might say: Now that’s new! I must have that!

But believe it or not, all things will be invented from old original materials that already exist. Solomon makes a startling announcement that will have you jumping from your seat in denial.

9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

There is no new thing that is new under the sun…the key words here are; there is nothing new. The world boast in its new inventions, it boast in its new fashions…it boast in its new music, new cars, new ideas, and the list goes on. But it’s all being done before with things that already exist. People live under the illusion that we have come up with something new when something is made. This leads to the answer of the question itself? Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new?

The thing that is: the metal, the wood, the wool, the oils even the atom all existed until man discovered uses for these things. All of the materials to manufacture what suits our needs and desires are all harvested out of the earth; all the materials were made by God and cannot be replicated, they can only be made useful or assembled in different ways and means, but are all together nothing new.

For something to be truly new, man would have to make something that does not exist and make it from nothing. Only then would there be something new. It is repeated by way of question: Is there anything of which it may be said, with wonder, See, this is new; there never was the like? The answer from man’s perspective would be yes, but to God, He made ALL things.

John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

The universe and all its contents were made by God. The expression cannot be limited to any one part of the universe. It covers each and every molecule in everything which exists—all the vast masses of material in the physical world plus the Spiritual world all came from God according to John 1:3, that is, all the animals, plants, trees and humans…all the gasses, liquids and metals…all the light and heat and lack of. All Things, great and small, Physical and Spiritual, that compose the worlds, came from GOD.

What is there in the kingdom of nature of which we may say, This is new? What is there in the heavens, that never was before, which could be said is new? The works were finished from the foundation of the world. Let’s look at it this way. A scientist goes on an under-water expedition, and while down on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, he sees and records something that had never been seen before. Is it truly something new? No! It is a new discovery to man, but whatever the scientist found had been there long before he went looking for it.

What about High Definition for T.V.’s or the so Called God particle as science deems it that exist in space? Is it new? No! It all existed until man finally discovered it, then looked into the properties and found uses for these things, that we believe is new, or that’s different, when in reality man is creating nothing. To truly lay claims to something new, let man make something from nothing, only then can he corner the market on his new thing. Until then, everything that is and will be, are not new.

But if you don’t care to believe in the existence of just such a God and His creating all things, but choose to boast man and what his vast intelligence has done as great and marvelous works of labor, than let me ask you this, Are we any better for all of the things that claims to being something new?

Are we better off because of the inventions of man? Listen to what I’m asking you. I didn’t ask if certain areas of life are easier because of the high efficiency front load washing machine or the computer or the internet. I asked, for all that the things that have been invented, is man any better? Read on to find the truth.

As we have more and more of the possibilities to gain more substance, is mankind any different than in generations that came before us?

Men’s hearts, and the corruptions of them, are still the same; their desires, and lusts and hatred and killings and fornication and adulterating and pursuits, along with man’s complaints are still the same; Just watch the nightly news for your answers; Man is ever the same as he ever was… he will not change, because he cannot change, it is his nature not to change. But I warn you; how God deals with mankind who refuses to seek Him for this true and living change, God will be the judge and His righteous judgment will also remain the same according to the scripture,

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

With all that has been said thus far; Do you really want something new to see and hear and