From the description of everything in time, we learn that there is an appropriate season for every event from birth to death. Far from being masters of our own destiny, we are subject to the march of time. The way to escape despair is to acknowledge God’s sovereignty, enjoy life as His gift, and find our security and stability in Him alone through Jesus Christ.
Solomon teaches that life is to be enjoyed as a gift from God and that true joy and satisfaction come from His hand. God’s works endure forever, and He orders all events so that men may fear Him. Though life repeats itself through the seasons of time, these are not meaningless cycles, for everything serves God’s purpose. Our true security and stability are found in God alone, and only in Jesus Christ can we find hope, meaning, and peace amid the passing of time.
Solomon presents two responses to God’s ordering of time. The skeptic asks, “What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?” But the believer acknowledges the task God has given and finds comfort in this truth: God has made everything beautiful in its time, and He has set eternity in our hearts. Though life is unfathomable, believers can live with joy and purpose, knowing that God is in absolute control.
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Solomon is not prescribing what we should do, but describing what happens in life. Every event and activity occurs according to a predetermined plan and at its appointed time. Many of these seasons are beyond our control, reminding us that we are not the masters of our own fate, but live under God’s sovereign ordering of time.
Solomon observes that wisdom excels folly, yet the same event happens to both the wise and the fool. Death comes to all, and even the successful and pre-eminent are soon forgotten. He then turns to hard work and labour and concludes that all his toil must be left to another who did not labour for it. “For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief… This also is vanity.” Success, pre-eminence, and labour bring no lasting satisfaction.
Solomon withheld not his heart from any joy and possessed everything that his eyes desired—houses, gardens, riches, pleasures, and delights of every kind. Yet even while guided by wisdom, he concluded, “behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.” Wealth, riches, and pleasure brought no true or lasting satisfaction.
Solomon, the wisest king in Israel’s history, set his heart to seek and search out all that is done under heaven by wisdom and knowledge. Yet after surpassing all before him in understanding, he concluded that all was vanity and a grasping for the wind. Even great learning brought only vexation, frustration, and grief. Satisfaction cannot be found in wisdom and knowledge, for the more one increases knowledge, the more sorrow is multiplied.
Solomon observes that “there is no new thing under the sun,” for history repeats itself and “there is no remembrance of former things.” Life under the sun offers no lasting progress, no lasting satisfaction, and no lasting remembrance. But the Christian sees history moving toward God’s intended end, and knows that while men may forget, God never forgets the work done for Him. True meaning is found not under the sun, but under the Son, Jesus Christ.
Solomon observes that “labour is futile,” asking, “What profit hath a man of all his labours under the sun?” He shows that life is an endless cycle—the sun rising and setting, the wind returning to its circuits, the rivers running yet never filling the sea. All things are wearisome; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing. Under the sun, life becomes monotonous, tiring, and without lasting satisfaction.
“What is the meaning of life and is life worth living?” Ecclesiastes begins by asking what profit a man has from all his labour under the sun. Many measure life by its quality, possessions, work, pleasure, or relationships, but the preacher shows that apart from God such pursuits become labouring and gaining nothing.
