Vain world
[Ecclesiastes 1:1-11]
What do you think life is? I think life is vain. If we talk about life, I would like to say ‘a fleeting life.’ Here, the word “fleeting” means there is nothing between, there is no time, there is no residence, it changes quickly and be free of (Internet). As I went through this word on the internet, I got to know the word “a spring dream". The meaning of the word “a spring dream” is ‘a scene of the spring dream.’ This word is referred to ‘a vain movie or a fleeting thing’ (Internet). So people often think of life as a day dreaming. The Psalmist Moses prayed: "Teach us to number our days aright" (Ps. 90:12). We should also pray like Moses. In this prayer, there are two kinds of meanings: (1) ‘Teach me the vanity of life’ and (2) Teach me how to value life’. Then how do we know the vanity of life? There are three:
(1) First, life is vain because it returns to dust. Look at Psalms 90:3 - “You turn men back to dust, saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men.”
(2) Second, life is vain because it is short. Look at Psalms 90:4-6 - “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning - though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.”
(3) Third, life is vain because there is hard work and sorrow in lifetime. Look at Psalms 90:10 - “The length of our days is seventy years-- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.”
Today's passage Ecclesiastes 1: 1-11 is the introductory part of the whole Ecclesiastes. This introductory part can be divided into two parts; the first part is verse 1. This Bible passage says that the author of Ecclesiastes is Solomon, King of Jerusalem, son of David. That is, Solomon is the "Teacher" who wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes. The second part is verse 2-11. This Bible passage says that the world is vanity. In this second part of the world where we are told that the world is vanity. The Teacher we have heard of him saying, "Vanity of vanities, Vanity of vanities! All is vanity" (v. 2). This confession is a conclusive confession from the experience of King Solomon the Teacher who took everything in this world and enjoyed it. The confession is that "everything is in vain". What is interesting here is the meaning of Hebrew in the word "vain" which King Solomon speaks here is "breath". This is figure of speech that means “a fleeting thing that is opposed to the solid and enduring things”(Ps. 90:9) (Park Yun-sun). According to John MacArthur, the word “vanity” is used by King Solomon the Teacher in at least three meanings in his entire book of Ecclesiastes:
(1) The first means is that what the people under the sun do is fleeting. In other words, our life is like being "a fog that shows and disappears for a moment" (Jam. 4:14).
(2) The second meaning is that what the people do under the sun is futile or meaningless. It focuses on the weakening effects of human experience on this planet in the cursed state of the entire universe.
(3) The third meaning is that what people do under the sun is incomprehensible or enigmatic. This is the conclusion that comes down to the inexplicable questions of life (MacArthur).
Today, under the title of "Vain world," I would like to think of four things why this world that we are living in is vain. Hopefully, through today's Word, I hope we will realize more of the vanity of this world. I hope and pray that we can live the meaningful life in this vain world with the wisdom that God gives to us so that our life can be remembered in the sight of God.
Why this world we live in is a vain world?
First, the reason why this world is vain is because it is useless. In other words, this world is vain because there is no gain.
Look at Ecclesiastes 1:3 - “What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?” This means that all the labor we do away from God under the sun is of no benefit or remnant. This reminds me Psalms 90:10 – “The length of our days is seventy years-- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” Moses the man of God (Ps. 90) tells us that the life of seventy or eighty flies swiftly and those years are full of trouble and sorrow. What do you and I are going to say when we look back in those seventy or eighty years of our life and think about what we have left behind in all our labors? This is what the Teacher King Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 5:15-16: “Naked a man comes from his mother's womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand. This too is a grievous evil: As a man comes, so he departs, and what does he gain, since he toils for the wind?” He says that all the labor in this world apart from God is a labor to catch the wind. How can we catch the wind? It is a vain labor that has no benefit for us. So King Solomon said, "The work of life that has left God is nothing after his death" (1: 3) (Park Yun-sun). Therefore, the Teacher says that the world is vanity and vanity.
Second, the reason why this world is vain is because life ultimately returns to dust.
Look at Ecclesiastes 1:5-6 - “The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.” This means that the people in this world are energetic when they are young but eventually they return to the dust without much activity (Park Yun-sun). No matter how young we were when we were hot-blooded and strong (Ps. 39: 5) we must realize that eventually we came from dust and we go back to dust. We must remember that “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field” (1 Pet. 1:24). We must realize that eventually the grass will wither and the flowers will fall (v. 24). We must remember that “Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it” (Ps. 39:6). Our life is like a wind. As the wind blows to the south and turns to the north, round and round it goes, ever returning on its course (v. 6), our life was made with dust so it will eventually return to dust. Therefore, the Teacher is saying that the world is vanity and vanity.
Third, the reason why this world is vain is because there is no satisfaction with human greed.
Look at Ecclesiastes 1:8 - “All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.” “The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing” means that the desire of man cannot be satisfied even as “All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full” (v. 7) (Park Yun-sun). Indeed, the "the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does" of people seem to have no end (1 Jn. 2:16). I think our greed is endless. That’s why King Solomon said “his eyes were not content with his wealth” (Eccl. 4:8). And yet, we seek this thing in this futile world to satisfy its endless greed. But in the end, we are not satisfied. What King Solomon did was he denied himself nothing his eyes desired and he refused his heart no pleasure (2:10). Although King Solomon enjoyed whatever he saw and wanted and that was the reward for all his labor (2:10) this was his confession: “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun” (v. 11). In conclusion, the Proverbs says: “Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man” (Prov. 27:20).
Nowadays science has developed so much that new machines are keeps on coming out. But would these machines be able to satisfy the Christian minds who have become new creations in Christ? I don’t think so. As time goes by, new things will come out. And more they come out people will keep on buying them. But I think buying them will never satisfy their hearts. The reason I think that way is because what Ecclesiastes 3:11 says: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men ….” God has given us a longing for eternity. So we can never be satisfied with momentary things in this world. Therefore, pursuing momentary things is a useless thing, just like trying to catch the wind. Indeed, this world is vanity and vanity.
Lastly, the reason why this world is vain is because people of the future will not remember people of this age.
Look at Ecclesiastes 1:11 - “There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.” King Solomon said, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time” (vv. 9-10). The meaning of this word is that 'there is no new thing in this world, and people are not satisfied because they are only repeating old things' (Park Yun-sun). So King Solomon said, ‘This world is vanity because the people of the future will not remember the people of this age’ (v. 11) (Park Yun-sun). No matter how much wealth, authority, and power you have, what is left of it when you die? Will you not be forgotten after many years pass by after you die? One generation goes and one generation comes (v. 3). And because the past generation has been forgotten, this world is vanity and vanity.
When a lion is alive, it is a king of the mountains. But after it dies, a dog bites its bones and walking around (Park Yun-sun). If it dies, there is no use at all. A living dog is better than a dead lion. Although you enjoy so many things when you are alive, you cannot prevent from dying. And there is no use after death. When the time passes, everything will be forgotten. It is a vain and vain world indeed.
Then how shall we live in this vain world?
First, although the work of life in this vain world that was done outside of God has nothing left, we who believe in Jesus should ask God for wisdom so that we may live in this world wisely.
Why should we seek wisdom from God? The reason is that only wisdom is profitable for success (10:10). We should seek the wisdom
of heaven (Jam. 3:17-18) to the God who gives it generously (1:5). And we must live wisely in this vain world with the wisdom God gives us.
How should we live wisely in this vain world? We must live a life of obedience to the Word of God and fearing God with the wisdom God gives us.
This is a truly successful life in God's sight. This is a meaningful life that leaves a life-long achievement.
Second, we should pray like this: “"Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life” (Ps. 39:4).
Like the psalmist David, we should pray to God to teach us how fleeing our life is. Our lives came from dust and have to go back to dust. And the short seventy or eighty years of given life in this vain world, how should we live wisely? I found an answer from Ecclesiastes 7:2 - “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.” In other words, we must live this world with a death perspective. As we pray to God “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12), we must live, by God’s wisdom, in this limited and precious time that is given to us in this earth for the glory of God.
Third, we must abandon our greed and be content and satisfied with only Jesus.
This is what the psalmist Asaph confessed in Psalms 73:25 - “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.” There is only Jesus who can satisfy our souls in this vain world. Only Jesus can satisfy our souls. The reason is that our soul desires eternity so only the eternal Jesus can satisfy our souls. We must learn to be content whatever circumstances, whether in abundance or in need (Phil. 4:11). We must be satisfied with only one Jesus. We must be content with Jesus and obey God's Word. And we must live in pursuit of eternity.
Lastly, we must try to live a life that God will remember.
No one will remember us after we die. Of course, we do not know our children and grandchildren will remember or not, but as time goes
by, people will not remember us. But we are the people whom God remembers. The reason is that we are precious and honorable in God’s sight
(Isa. 43:4). Cornelius was a man whom God remembered (Acts 10: 4). Like Cornelius, we must live a life that God will remember. Like Cornelius,
who lived a life of prayer and relief that God remembers, we must live the life that God remembers that is meaningful in God’s sight in this vain world.
This world we live in is a vain world. A world without any profitable, we who must return to the dust are greedy in this vain world.
But we are not satisfied. That’s why this world is the vain world. This world is the vain world because the people of future generations will not
remember people of this age. How should we live in this vain world? We must live profitably in this vain world with the wisdom God gives us.
And for a given period of time in this world, we should live in contentment with Jesus alone without being greedy. We must be the God’s people
who obey the God’s word in fearing God so that we may be remembered by God.