The Heavy Burden
Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

1. The First Experiment: What Is the Advantage of Wisdom?
   1. The Preacher reminds us of his Solomonic identity
      1. He does this obliquely, never here or anywhere else naming the name of Solomon
      2. But it is clear that whoever is speaking is speaking in the character of Solomon, the wisest and most powerful king of Israel.
      3. So from the beginning he forestalls the objection that his experiment failed because he was not sufficiently wise to know and powerful to execute what was right.
         1. Thus we know that he had as much wisdom as a man has ever had (cf. v. 16)
         2. And he had as much power as a Hebrew has ever attained. He was the great king over all of Israel
   2. He searches everything that is done (by God or man) under the sun
      1. He explores "by wisdom."
         1. Why do men do what they do?
         2. Why does God do what he does?
         3. How can a man organize things to his advantage?
         4. How can he accomplish what he desires and secure what he needs?
         5. How can he achieve permanence and remembrance and rest?
      2. This exploration is "an evil task" or "a heavy burden" (v. 13)
         1. He confesses that God has given this task to "the sons of man"
            1. There is probably a play on the word "man" here, which is the same as the word for "Adam."
            2. (However, the phrase "sons of Adam" would ordinarily be written differently in Hebrew, so the translation "sons of men" is correct.)
            3. Ecclesiastes uses this phrase 10 out of the 16 times it occurs in the Hebrew Bible.
         2. Thinking back to Adam, we realize that God did indeed give to Adam the task of searching out by wisdom all of God's works and all his own as well
         3. But this task is a burden and a heavy one for the children of Adam because they labor under the curse.
         4. So the thing for which we were created becomes intolerable when pursued under the curse and in the shadow of death.
         5. Yet God has not taken away the task
      3. All the deeds he saw were futility
         1. He cannot literally have seen all deeds, but if history repeats itself as he claims, then effectively he has seen all deeds by observing his own generation.
         2. No one could command and make things stand fast.
         3. No one could establish the work of his hands
         4. No one could live forever to enjoy what he had labored for.
         5. It is like chasing after wind. Who can catch or contain it?
         6. Life has become crooked (because of the curse) and man cannot straighten it out.
         7. Man is missing what he needs to do what God created him to do (glorify God and enjoy him forever). The lack is so great it cannot be quantified.
2. The Preacher Reflects on the Results.
   1. There was no one wiser or more powerful (16a)
      1. He had attained greatness
      2. He was the wisest man that ever lived
      3. Yet it wasn't enough.
      4. When will someone come along and say, "Behold, One greater than Solomon is here!"?
      5. Until that day, all wisdom and power are futility.
   2. He conducted the experiment rigorously and exhaustively (16b,18a)
      1. He not only observed wisdom and knowledge but madness and folly
      2. Yet he was not able to discern the difference or to detect the advantage of wisdom over folly, of knowledge over madness.
   3. Yet he found no profit in wisdom but only sorrow (17b,18)
      1. And so this observing was nothing more than a chase after the wind.
      2. And so far, the only thing wisdom does is tell the wise man that life is full of pain and sorrow.
      3. One is tempted to conclude that therefore wisdom is worse than ignorance (if not folly)
      4. And The Preacher will come very close to saying that.
      5. But he will ultimately conclude that there is a (limited) advantage to wisdom under the sun.
      6. Nevertheless, his first experiment in that direction must be deemed a failure.
      7. So before he returns to the question of wisdom he must explore the benefits of pleasure. Perhaps there he will find the antidote to the pain his wisdom has brought on him.

Go on to Week 4 (2:1-26)

Go back to Week 3a (1:1-11)

Contents