ECCLESIASTES, primer

ECCLESIASTES
What can people do to find satisfaction and happiness?
Read ECCLESIASTES to find out what one wise author says about the meaning of life.


What Makes Ecclesiastes Special
The book’s title comes from the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew word Qoheleth, which means “one who assembles.” The author is not known, but many suggest he was a teacher, preacher, or philosopher. The author is not telling a story, but is sharing his thoughts on the meaning of life. He uses saying, proverbs, and poems to illustrate his point. A key phrase, “nothing makes sense,” begins and ends the book (1:2; 12:8), and is repeated throughout the book, emphasizing that the answers to many of life’s questions are not easy to find.

Why Was Ecclesiastes Written?
This book is a search for meaning in life. The writer sees that from the human viewpoint life is full of contradictions and mysteries. Hard work is a gift from God (5:19), but work can be painful and senseless (2:17), because after people die they won’t have anything to show for their hard work (5:13-15), and others will get to enjoy their wealth (6:2). When people are poor, no one pays attention to them (9:16), but being wealthy doesn’t guarantee happiness and satisfaction either (2:4-11; 5:10-12). Wisdom is better than foolishness, but whether a person is wise or foolish, everyone dies (2:13-16; 3:20), and knowing too much can be painful (1:18). Above all, human wisdom cannot help people understand the ways of God (8:17), who makes everything happen (3:11; 6:10; 7:13, 14; 9:1). People are to respect and obey God (5:7; 8:12, 13; 12:13), for God will judge what they do (12:4; 3:17). But the same thing happens to all people, whether they live right or sin (9:2).

With life being so full of contradictions, where do humans find meaning? The meaning in life, as ECCLESIASTES proposes is in remembering God, the creator and giver of life, work, wisdom and everything that makes life pleasurable.
Even if ECCLESIASTES acknowledges the tensions and contradictions of life, and even if it begins negatively by saying that life is meaningless and useless, yet, it ends with a positive challenge, “Respect and obey God! This is what life is all about.” (12:13). Life’s complete fulfillment can only be found in having a right relationship with God. In God, life is worth living.

Famous Verse: Ecclesiastes 12:1a
“Keep your Creator in mind while you are young!”