This Meaningless Life
An Introduction to the Futility of Life Under the Sun

"Futility of Futilities!" says the Teacher.
"Futility of Futilities! Everything is futility."
Ecclesiastes 1:2

 

Everything is futility. The Teacher - or "Preacher" as some translations call him - punches you constantly with that thought. Four times in the second verse alone. He uses hebel, the Hebrew word translated "futility," 37 times in Ecclesiastes. How can he say such a thing? What does he mean?

      Introduction: Preliminary Concerns

  1. Why the Book of Ecclesiastes?
  2. What translation should I use?
  3. Why does this book make some people so uncomfortable?
  1. The Thesis: “Everything is futility”
    1. The main portion of the book begins and ends with this statement (1:2 and 12:8).
    2. The Hebrew word for “futility” is used 37 times in Ecclesiastes
      1. The Hebrews used letters to stand for numbers as well (A is 1, B is 2, that kind of system)
      2. The numerical value for hebel (futility) is... 37
      3. There are 222 verses in Ecclesiastes — 37 x 6, the number of futility times the number of man.
  2. The background of the statement, “Everything is futility.”
    1. The Fall
      1. God created everything “very good” (Gen 1:31). “Futility” is not the state of things as they were created.
      2. Adam and Eve fell from the perfect state in which they were created, bringing death (Gen 2:16,17; 3:1-13,19).
    1. The Curse
      1. Because of man’s fall, God cursed mankind (Gen 3:16,17-19).
      2. And God cursed his creation (3:17-19)
    2. The double-meaning of Adam’s name.
  3. The meaning of the statement, “Everything is futility.”
    1. The English Translations
      1. Vanity — KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV, NRSV, NASB (1:1 - 6:2, 12:8)
      2. Futility — NASB (6:4 - 11:8)
      3. Meaningless — NIV
    2. The meaning of Abel’s name (Gen 4:1-8)
    3. The meaning of the Hebrew word hebel which is translated “vanity,” “futility,” or “meaningless.”
      1. Breath — a thing that doesn’t last; that which is insubstantial, fleeting; a thing without power.
        1. Job 7:16 — I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone, for my days are a breath.
        2. Psalm 39:4-11 —
            4Lord, make me to know my end
            and what is the measure of my days,
            That I may know how frail I am.
            5Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths,
            And my age is as nothing before You;
            Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor.
            6Surely every man walks about like a shadow;
            Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches,
            And does not know who will gather them.
            7 “And now, Lord, what do I wait for?
            My hope is in You.
            8Deliver me from all my transgressions;
            Do not make me the reproach of the foolish.
            9I was mute, I did not open my mouth,
            Because it was You who did it.
            10Remove Your plague from me;
            I am consumed by the blow of Your hand.
            11When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity,
            You make his beauty melt away like a moth;
            Surely every man is vapor.
        1. Psalm 62:9 — Surely men of low degree are a vapor, Men of high degree are a lie; If they are weighed on the scales, They are altogether lighter than vapor.
        2. Psalm 144:4 — Man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow.
        3. Isaiah 57:13 — When you cry out, Let your collection of idols deliver you. But the wind will carry them all away, A breath will take them.
      2. Futility — something pointless or vain.
        1. Job 9:29ff. — If I am condemned, Why then do I labor in vain? 30If I wash myself with snow water, And cleanse my hands with soap, 31Yet You will plunge me into the pit, And my own clothes will abhor me.
        2. Job 35:16 — Therefore Job opens his mouth in vain; He multiplies words without knowledge.
        3. Psalm 94:11 — The LORD knows the thoughts of man, That they are futile.
        4. Isaiah 30:7 — For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.
        5. Isaiah 49:4 — Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain.’
      3. Everything is futility because life is a breath; we don’t live long enough to see the fruit of our labor. (More on this in a later lesson. For now, see Ecclesiastes 2:7-19).
      4. Everything is futility because life is frustrating and futile. We lack the power to accomplish what we want. (For now, see Ecclesiastes 1:14,15)
  4. The scope of the statement, “Everything is futility.”
    1. “Under the sun”
      1. Most evangelicals want to say this means in this life apart from a relationship with God.
      2. Ecclesiastes won’t let them:
        1. 5:13-20 (esp. v. 18).
        2. 8:14-15
        3. 9:9
    2. “Under the sun” means “in this world.”
      1. 6:12
      2. 9:3-6
    3. And specifically “in this cursed world.”
      1. 1:14,15
      2. 3:16
    4. There is no insult or offense to God in calling this cursed life frustrating and futile
      1. Jesus himself laments this fact — Isaiah 49:4
      2. The New Testament reminds us again and again that there is nothing of lasting value in this life (for example Matthew 6:19; 1 Timothy 4:8, 6:7).
    5. Rather the phrase is God’s insult to us. Ecclesiastes is a slap in the face, reminding us how powerless we are to bring about permanent change in this life.
  5. The obvious need of man for whom “everything is futility” (under the sun).
    1. The power to effect change
    2. The life to enjoy that change
    3. An existence not under the sun
    4. These things are only available through the resurrected Jesus.
      1. The Book of John
      2. 1 Corinthians 15:17-19,58 — Without the resurrection our faith is “vain” (the Greek word for vain translates the Hebrew word hebel) because it is “for this life only”, i.e. life under the sun.
      3. Romans 5:12,17 — We “reign in life.” We have power and life through the resurrection.
      4. 2 Corinthians 5:17 — We are new creatures in a new creation, no longer under the old sun.
      5. Revelation 21:1 — Yet we await the final consummation of that new creation.
      6. Romans 8:18-23 — The final resurrection will redeem creation and our bodies from futility.
      7. Philippians 2:16; Revelation 14:13 — And we shall discover that our labor was not in vain.
 Download Word document of this page

Contents

Go on to Week 2 (The Author and His World)