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Ecclesiastes: The Enigma of Life Under the Sun | The Question of Happiness

January 19, 2025
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

¹I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. ²I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” ³I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. ⁴I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. ⁵I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. ⁶I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. ⁷I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. ⁸I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man.

⁹So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. ¹⁰And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. ¹¹Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

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Purpose

To discover and experience Jesus Christ in our midst

To cultivate mutually encouraging relationships

To participate in God’s mission to the world 

Opening Prayer

Almighty and everlasting God, who governs all things in heaven and earth: mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and grant us your peace all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Responsive Prayer — Psalm 37

Trust in the Lord, and do good;

Dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord,

And he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;

Trust in him, and he will act.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

And your justice as the noonday.

Summary and Connection

Ecclesiastes is classified as wisdom literature, and its author identifies himself as Qoheleth, which is often translated as “Preacher” or “Teacher.” Throughout the book, the author instructs the readers to think critically by asking meaningful questions about life and its purpose. It is often described as the question book that the rest of the Bible answers. In today’s passage, Qoheleth explains how he tried every pleasure he could find under the sun; the result was but vanity. The Teacher asks questions about pleasure and happiness and their significance in our lives. We are in a new sermon series called Ecclesiastes: The Enigma of Life Under the Sun, and this week we will see that true happiness and everlasting pleasure are only found in Jesus.

Discussion Questions

1. Looking at the Bible

Observation: Read the passage privately. What does the text say? What is the theme of this passage? Do you notice any keywords?

• In his book “Pure Pleasure,” Gary Thomas writes that too often Christians feel guilty about pleasure – they “think of holiness and pleasures as opposites … seeing holiness as the main threat to their pleasure.” What do you think about this statement? What does the Bible say about pleasure?
  

2. Looking at Jesus

At Central we believe that all of Scripture points to Jesus. In other words, Jesus is the theological center of the Bible. Every passage not only points to Jesus, but the grand narrative of the Bible also finds its fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus.

• Jesus is described as “a Man of Sorrows” (Isaiah 53). The gospel accounts record the Son of God weeping (John 11:35), deeply troubled in spirit (John 13), and angry (Mark 11), but there are no verses indicating that Jesus laughed. Even the Old Testament verses of God laughing are about his scoffing at the wicked (Psalm 2:4; 37:12-13). What is our image of Jesus laughing? Does God laugh?

3. Looking at Our Hearts

• In today’s passage, the Teacher literally tries every form of pleasure and concludes that “all was vanity and a striving after the wind” (verse 11), which is a response to his question in 1:3. St. Augustine wrote, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Have you felt a restlessness of the heart in the striving after the wind? Or have you experienced the true peace that God offers to our hearts? 

4. Looking at Our World

• In the movie “Pursuit of Happiness,” the protagonist Chris Gardner says, “It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking, how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue, and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?” Can happiness be attained? Discuss this with your group members.

Sending

• View Study Guide Notes

  Question 1: The Bible often warns us about the pleasures of the world, and people who seek such pleasures are described as foolish and sinful (Proverbs 21:17; Luke 8:14; Romans 13:14; Ephesians 2:3). The Apostle Paul warns Timothy that in the last days people will be “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:4). However, false interpretation and mishandling of the Scriptures can lead Christians to believe that all pleasure is vain and meaningless, as our passage suggests. This can lead to extreme conclusions such as Stoicism (a Greek philosophy that encourages a state of mind called apatheia — from which we get the word apathy — in which one is not affected by emotions or pleasures) or asceticism (a strict lifestyle that abstains from all forms of pleasure).

  On the other hand, every good thing is a gift from God, and pleasure is one of those gifts. The problem is not in the pleasure itself but in where we find our pleasure. C.S. Lewis wrote:

  It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

  Ecclesiastes is teaching us that all the pleasures found in this world (under the sun) are like “chasing after the wind” (verse 11). The Teacher is indirectly guiding us to divert our attention from this world and turn it toward God, the giver of true pleasure. As David wrote in the Psalter, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalms 16:11) and “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalms 37:4).

  Question 2: In verse 2, the Teacher describes laughter as madness. In ancient culture, laughter was seen as frivolity, and it would be ill-behooving for generals or gods to be seen laughing in public; they were to embody gravitas. Cicero advised moderation of humor to maintain dignity, and the historian Tacitus often criticized leaders who indulged in excessive humor or mockery, as it was seen as unbecoming of their status. Perhaps this affected the perception of God, and we may have developed a rather stern image of Jesus. However, we can deduce from other passages that Jesus had an open, cheerful personality. He describes himself as “gentle and meek” (Matthew 11:29), and the “socially-neglected” (the women, Gentiles, children, tax-collectors) loved to be in his accepting presence. God isn’t a cosmic killjoy; rather, he came to make our life abundant (John 10:10) and our joy full (John 15:11). The God who rejoices over us with gladness and signing (Zephaniah 3:17) promises us that he will restore our laughter (Luke 6:21).

  Question 3: In his commentary, the Old Testament scholar Robert Alter comments on verse 2 that “mirth … proves to be no more than a transient excitation, leading to nothing and providing no lasting satisfaction.” Qoheleth tried every pleasure the world had to offer, but his heart was never satisfied — all was vanity. In the book of Jeremiah, God rebukes Israel for forsaking God who is the fountain of living waters and instead pursuing broken cisterns that cannot hold water (Jeremiah 2:13). The Bible repeatedly warns that the pleasures of the world are not from God and are transient — ”the world is passing away along with its desires” (1 John 2:17). Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).

  In “The Lord of the Rings,” J.R.R. Tolkien describes an exchange between Gandalf and Pippin. Pippin is walking along with Gandalf, and he hears the wizard suddenly laughing. Tolkien writes:

  Pippin glanced in some wonder at the face now close beside his own, for the sound of that laugh had been gay and merry. Yet in the wizard’s face he saw at first only lines of care and sorrow; though as he looked more intently he perceived that under all there was a great joy: a fountain of mirth enough to set a kingdom laughing, were it to gush forth.

  While the Qoheleth viewed mirth as no more than a transient excitation, Gandalf had under him a fountain of mirth enough to set a kingdom laughing. The Apostle Peter also wrote that although we have not yet seen Jesus, we believe in him and “rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8). Jesus gives us the living water that satisfies our hearts — the fountain of joy that runs within us, no matter the circumstances.

  Question 4: The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man?” The response is, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” John Piper combines the two tenets of the answer — glorifying God and enjoying him — to conclude that “God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him.” God created us for glory but also for his pleasure (Revelations 4:11). Being a loving, relational God, he seeks to share that pleasure — the joy and happiness — with us, his beloved creation. Once we understand that glorifying God and seeking happiness and pleasure are the same, our efforts to obey him and please him become the very act of pursuing our true joy — ”the joy of the Lord becomes our strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). As the Apostle John wrote, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).