Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

New American Standard Version

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

Eccl. 1:2     “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,

    “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” 

Eccl. 1:3 ¶     What advantage does man have in all his work

    Which he does under the sun? 

Eccl. 1:4     A generation goes and a generation comes,

    But the earth remains forever. 

Eccl. 1:5     Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;

    And hastening to its place it rises there again. 

Eccl. 1:6     Blowing toward the south,

    Then turning toward the north,

    The wind continues swirling along;

    And on its circular courses the wind returns. 

Eccl. 1:7     All the rivers flow into the sea,

    Yet the sea is not full.

    To the place where the rivers flow,

    There they flow again. 

Eccl. 1:8     All things are wearisome;

    Man is not able to tell it.

    The eye is not satisfied with seeing,

    Nor is the ear filled with hearing. 

Eccl. 1:9     That which has been is that which will be,

    And that which has been done is that which will be done.

    So there is nothing new under the sun. 

Eccl. 1:10     Is there anything of which one might say,

    “See this, it is new”?

    Already it has existed for ages

    Which were before us. 

Eccl. 1:11     There is no remembrance of earlier things;

    And also of the later things which will occur,

    There will be for them no remembrance

    Among those who will come later still. 

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What is the purpose of life?  What is the point?  Where is the meaning?  Things are constantly in motion, yet they don't seem to go anywhere.  How will my day today be any different than yesterday?  Yes, I can see a forward motion in my life and things are always changing.  Yet what difference does it make?  What gives my life any more meaning today than it did a year ago?  5 years ago?  10 years ago?  I have all my toys and all my friends, things to keep me entertained.  I keep thinking that the next thing is going to fulfill me, bring me joy.  Yet I keep searching for it.  How is my life any better than it was 5 years ago?  What gives me any advantage in life over the settlers 200 years ago?  I have a longer life, indoor plumbing, less sickness, less fear of being killed by a wild animal, I don't have to work as hard.  Yet so many people today are on antidepressants.  So many people are in slavery to debt.  People are still dying of disease, now it's cancer instead of typhoid.  We're not killed by wild animals, we're killed by each other.  We stress out about our work instead of feeling a sense of accomplishment.  Then we have to pay $20 a month for a membership at the gym to stay in shape because we sit in front of a computer all day and eat food that is bad for us.  Has civilization really advanced or have we traded one futility for another?

I think God set this futility in motion to put us in our place.  We hope in the next big thing and He's letting us know that the next big thing can't be our hope.  After we have lived the same day over and over again He puts in us a Spirit that cries out for more.  What we experience now won't change when we die.  Our circumstances may change, but this cycle of life won't change.  We have eternity to go.  Maybe one of the torments of hell will be to continue to exist in this futility for the rest of eternity.  What Heaven offers us is eternal communion with God.  God never changes, He is constant.  But His infinate being is something that we will spend the rest of eternity searching out.  The one thing I've seen in my own life that has changed and brought meaning and joy to my life is that I know Christ more.  The work that I have done that hasn't been futile is how God has used me to help others know Him more.  I look at my own transformed life and the life of those who have been transformed around me, I see meaning and purpose.  I think we're just getting warmed up, in Heaven we will be able to search the unfathomable depths of God for the rest of eternity, always discovering greater measures of His Glory.

I think Solomon opens this way because He wants us to see the futility of life, that we can't find meaning and hope in the world around us.  He whetting our appetite to become hungry for something real, something that will fill us.  Jesus Christ.