Ecc 1:4-11 | KingComments | STEP | The Preacher gives some examples in of the endless cycle of life with all its events. He points to ‘the law of repetition’. He observes an endless circular movement. This circular movement works in the atmosphere of nature and in that of human life. History also repeats itself countless times. Movement, however, is not progress. Everything remains as it was, without all of these movements bringing about any real change in a person’s life, so that he will have full fulfillment, full satisfaction, and a full and uninterrupted happiness. Generations come and go ( ). They enter the stage of life, cross it with a few steps, turn their pirouettes, make their bow and then disappear again from the stage. The stage, the earth, is always the same, as well as the game and the roles, the masks and the clothes. Only the actors change. How futile is all that. Life is a never ending theater play with ever-changing players and a never-changing decor. In that respect, life can also be compared to a home trainer. You cycle, but you do not move one inch forward. Nobody stays alive on earth all the time. Seen “under the sun”, a person’s life is futile like a vapor ( ), goes faster than a weaver’s shuttle ( ), and is as momentary as the grass ( ; ; ). We receive our earthly possessions from others, and a short time later we have to hand them over to others. These possessions are no more essential than the life lived with them. Each generation works during the short time of its stay on earth for its existence. Then life is over as far as that generation is concerned and it disappears again. The next generation shows the same picture, as well as the next. And so on and so forth. Life, limited to here and now, can be seen as a ‘rat race’. The ‘rat race’ is a concept that refers to the futile attempts of a rat to escape from a treadmill in which it runs endlessly and keeps it running at the same time. It is a good illustration of a series of endless or useless actions that offer no prospect of result. The only one who remains is the earth that carries all these generations. That shows the contrast between the brevity of life and the (seemingly) permanent existence of the earth. There is no hope for change: the coming and going of the generations is as unchanging as the fact that the earth is fixed. Thus is the perception of the Preacher and of anyone who looks at life with a sober view, without looking at or thinking about the origin of the generations or of the earth. In the Preacher looks at creation. He observes a lot of activities. At the same time he notes that there has been no progress. Just as there is no advantage for man to all his work ( ), so there is no advantage for creation to all its work. It is with so many things in nature just like with the changing of the successive generations of . The Preacher mentions as examples the sun ( ), the wind ( ) and the water of the rivers and the sea ( ). Look at the sun. The sun is the source of light for the earth. It always remains the same and always does the same work. It always illuminates the same world and always does so at the same time. Every morning the sun rises and every evening it sets. It always rises at the same place and always sets at the same place. So it goes on endlessly, invariably, day in, day out. The fact that the heavens tell the glory of God, that creation is the work of His hands, and that He has given the sun its place in it ( ; ), is not taken into consideration by the Preacher. By looking at the sun in this way, the Preacher in fact says that creation does not reflect God’s glory if you do not involve Him, but that creation illustrates all man’s senseless work. After the sun, the Preacher points to the wind ( ). The sun goes from east to west, the wind turns from south to north. Life is like the wind, which is constantly turning. The wind is much more unpredictable in its movements than the sun, which follows a fixed, predictable course along the sky. But despite all the twists and turns of the wind and the unpredictability of its course, everything remains the same. The wind is invisible, but we feel it and perceive it by the movement of the clouds and leaves on the tree. But when it has blown and the wind has subsided, what has essentially changed? Nothing, right? Even if a storm has wreaked havoc, nothing changes. Man calculates the damage and builds up what has been destroyed, or starts a new life somewhere else. Only when a person in the storm recognizes the speaking of God and allows Him into his life, something essentially changes. The third example in creation with which the Preacher compares life is that of the water that flows through the rivers to the sea ( ). The rivers constantly bring water to the sea. You would say that the sea should get full one day, shouldn’t it? But no, the sea never gets full. The rivers keep on flowing, without ever finishing their work to fill the sea. Our saying “carrying water to the sea” indicates the same: it is a pointless activity. In this example we can also think of the endless cycle, for “all the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, there they flow again.” We know that the water that the rivers bring to the sea evaporates. This creates rain which is poured out again at the place where the rivers originate. This water brings the rivers back to the sea, to evaporate again, after which the cycle begins again (cf. ). The unchanging course of the sun, the restlessness of the wind and the insatiability of the sea fill the lives of every generation. Man is constantly restless and imperfect. He is always hectic in search of more, without ever becoming satiated. His spirit knows no rest. But all his hurry and work does not make any impression on the firmness and movements of nature. Nothing changes in the firmness of the earth and the cycle of nature. Despite the fact that creation is always in motion, it is not capable of satisfying man, who only has the earth as his horizon. This dissatisfaction is heavy and so wearisome that it cannot be expressed in words ( ). How different it is for him who knows God and involves Him in his life. Such a person also knows difficult situations in his life, for which he lacks the words to describe them, but he has the Holy Spirit Who gives words to his sighs ( ). “The eye” of man is always looking for new things. If you’ve been somewhere once or maybe even a few times, you’ve seen enough of it. At some point it bores you. It is like a movie. If you have seen it once or maybe even twice, then you want to see something else. You are looking for variety. So it is with “the ear”. At first it absolutely loves a certain song, but if it has heard this song more often, another song must come. Looking for something new is always the same song. The Athenians of ancient times sang it as well. They “used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new” ( ). The new was interesting for a while, but then they wanted to hear something new again. Eye and ear cannot be saturated by earthly things and philosophies. Nothing that belongs to this creation is capable of permanently satisfying the heart and giving it lasting happiness. No matter how much effort someone makes, there is no saturation on earth. It is only with the Lord Jesus. The eye that sees Him and the ear that hears Him is truly happy ( ). There is plenty of joy when the eye sees Him ( ). There is complete joy when there is fellowship with Him ( ).

‏ Ecclesiastes 1:4-11

Illustrations of Meaninglessness

The Preacher gives some examples in Ecc 1:4-11 of the endless cycle of life with all its events. He points to ‘the law of repetition’. He observes an endless circular movement. This circular movement works in the atmosphere of nature and in that of human life. History also repeats itself countless times. Movement, however, is not progress. Everything remains as it was, without all of these movements bringing about any real change in a person’s life, so that he will have full fulfillment, full satisfaction, and a full and uninterrupted happiness.

Generations come and go (Ecc 1:4). They enter the stage of life, cross it with a few steps, turn their pirouettes, make their bow and then disappear again from the stage. The stage, the earth, is always the same, as well as the game and the roles, the masks and the clothes. Only the actors change. How futile is all that. Life is a never ending theater play with ever-changing players and a never-changing decor. In that respect, life can also be compared to a home trainer. You cycle, but you do not move one inch forward.

Nobody stays alive on earth all the time. Seen “under the sun”, a person’s life is futile like a vapor (Jam 4:14), goes faster than a weaver’s shuttle (Job 7:6), and is as momentary as the grass (Psa 103:15; Isa 40:6-7 ; Isa 51:12; 1Pet 1:24). We receive our earthly possessions from others, and a short time later we have to hand them over to others. These possessions are no more essential than the life lived with them.

Each generation works during the short time of its stay on earth for its existence. Then life is over as far as that generation is concerned and it disappears again. The next generation shows the same picture, as well as the next. And so on and so forth. Life, limited to here and now, can be seen as a ‘rat race’. The ‘rat race’ is a concept that refers to the futile attempts of a rat to escape from a treadmill in which it runs endlessly and keeps it running at the same time. It is a good illustration of a series of endless or useless actions that offer no prospect of result.

The only one who remains is the earth that carries all these generations. That shows the contrast between the brevity of life and the (seemingly) permanent existence of the earth. There is no hope for change: the coming and going of the generations is as unchanging as the fact that the earth is fixed. Thus is the perception of the Preacher and of anyone who looks at life with a sober view, without looking at or thinking about the origin of the generations or of the earth.

In Ecc 1:5-7 the Preacher looks at creation. He observes a lot of activities. At the same time he notes that there has been no progress. Just as there is no advantage for man to all his work (Ecc 1:3), so there is no advantage for creation to all its work. It is with so many things in nature just like with the changing of the successive generations of Ecc 1:4. The Preacher mentions as examples the sun (Ecc 1:5), the wind (Ecc 1:6) and the water of the rivers and the sea (Ecc 1:7).

Look at the sun. The sun is the source of light for the earth. It always remains the same and always does the same work. It always illuminates the same world and always does so at the same time. Every morning the sun rises and every evening it sets. It always rises at the same place and always sets at the same place. So it goes on endlessly, invariably, day in, day out.

The fact that the heavens tell the glory of God, that creation is the work of His hands, and that He has given the sun its place in it (Gen 1:14-19; Psa 8:3), is not taken into consideration by the Preacher. By looking at the sun in this way, the Preacher in fact says that creation does not reflect God’s glory if you do not involve Him, but that creation illustrates all man’s senseless work.

After the sun, the Preacher points to the wind (Ecc 1:6). The sun goes from east to west, the wind turns from south to north. Life is like the wind, which is constantly turning. The wind is much more unpredictable in its movements than the sun, which follows a fixed, predictable course along the sky. But despite all the twists and turns of the wind and the unpredictability of its course, everything remains the same. The wind is invisible, but we feel it and perceive it by the movement of the clouds and leaves on the tree. But when it has blown and the wind has subsided, what has essentially changed? Nothing, right?

Even if a storm has wreaked havoc, nothing changes. Man calculates the damage and builds up what has been destroyed, or starts a new life somewhere else. Only when a person in the storm recognizes the speaking of God and allows Him into his life, something essentially changes.

The third example in creation with which the Preacher compares life is that of the water that flows through the rivers to the sea (Ecc 1:7). The rivers constantly bring water to the sea. You would say that the sea should get full one day, shouldn’t it? But no, the sea never gets full. The rivers keep on flowing, without ever finishing their work to fill the sea. Our saying “carrying water to the sea” indicates the same: it is a pointless activity.

In this example we can also think of the endless cycle, for “all the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, there they flow again.” We know that the water that the rivers bring to the sea evaporates. This creates rain which is poured out again at the place where the rivers originate. This water brings the rivers back to the sea, to evaporate again, after which the cycle begins again (cf. Amos 9:6).

The unchanging course of the sun, the restlessness of the wind and the insatiability of the sea fill the lives of every generation. Man is constantly restless and imperfect. He is always hectic in search of more, without ever becoming satiated. His spirit knows no rest. But all his hurry and work does not make any impression on the firmness and movements of nature. Nothing changes in the firmness of the earth and the cycle of nature.

Despite the fact that creation is always in motion, it is not capable of satisfying man, who only has the earth as his horizon. This dissatisfaction is heavy and so wearisome that it cannot be expressed in words (Ecc 1:8).

How different it is for him who knows God and involves Him in his life. Such a person also knows difficult situations in his life, for which he lacks the words to describe them, but he has the Holy Spirit Who gives words to his sighs (Rom 8:26).

“The eye” of man is always looking for new things. If you’ve been somewhere once or maybe even a few times, you’ve seen enough of it. At some point it bores you. It is like a movie. If you have seen it once or maybe even twice, then you want to see something else. You are looking for variety.

So it is with “the ear”. At first it absolutely loves a certain song, but if it has heard this song more often, another song must come. Looking for something new is always the same song. The Athenians of ancient times sang it as well. They “used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new” (Acts 17:21). The new was interesting for a while, but then they wanted to hear something new again.

Eye and ear cannot be saturated by earthly things and philosophies. Nothing that belongs to this creation is capable of permanently satisfying the heart and giving it lasting happiness. No matter how much effort someone makes, there is no saturation on earth. It is only with the Lord Jesus. The eye that sees Him and the ear that hears Him is truly happy (Mt 13:16). There is plenty of joy when the eye sees Him (Psa 16:8-11). There is complete joy when there is fellowship with Him (1Jn 1:4).

There Is Nothing New Under the Sun

“That which has been” are the circumstances (Ecc 1:9). A man always finds himself in certain circumstances given and directed by God (Gen 8:22) which greatly determine his life. “Which has been done” are the human efforts. Man always tries to create the most favorable circumstances for his life. So he has always been busy in and with his life and so he will always be busy. What he invents to make life more pleasant, is only building on what has already been invented (Gen 4:20-22). There is quite simply “nothing new under the sun”.

Start to involve God in all things and all things will gain their meaning. Everything remains subject to the laws God has laid down in creation. Nothing can break these laws. Therefore, nothing really new can ever come, only variations on what has always been and will always be.

Although there is constant change, there is nothing really new (Ecc 1:10). Everything is a repetition of what has been before and what will soon be over, while the heart remains empty and hungry. A new discovery or invention does not change anything essential to man or to creation. It does not make him happier or more satisfied.

We also find out that the progress that has been made also has unforeseen disadvantages. We need to come up with another solution for that too. All efforts for something new proves the emptiness of man at the same time. Man dreams of realizing ‘Utopia’, the ideal society. Although the dream shatters again and again, man still believes in it because he is blind to the fact that he has not made any real progress.

There are new things, but they belong to another world, the world above the sun. So there is the new birth, or the birth from above (Jn 3:5). And he who has repented is “a new creation” (2Cor 5:17). “A new song” will be sung (Rev 5:9 ; Rev 14:3) and there will also be “a new heaven and a new earth” (Rev 21:1). This all comes from Him Who is unchanging in Himself, but Who makes new things out of Himself over and over again. He will make everything new and create a situation that has never existed before and that will never end (Rev 21:5).

If we say of something that it is new, it is because we do not remember “the things of the past” (Ecc 1:11). As the ancient Greeks said: ‘All learning is only remembering’ (mathesis is anamnesis). Someone can gain ‘eternal fame’ through a particular achievement, but that ‘eternal fame’ is of no use to him who has accomplished it. His achievement survives him, but what use is it to him when others remember him after his death? Can that give him any cooling if he is in the place of torment? Can all of those after whom streets or cities have been named (Psa 49:11-12), draw any comfort from it in hell? If anyone knew anything about it, what satisfaction would it offer in that world where other standards of judgment are applied?

Future generations make the same mistake that all previous generations have made, namely that they learn nothing from past things, from the past. They do not remember the lessons history teaches. It is simply forgotten that all technological progress does not mean progress or improvement of human nature.