The Structure of Ecclesiastes

Is life worth living?  To the casual reader of Ecclesiastes it seems that the answer would be, "Yes, if you are successful."  Honestly, to a reader with American sensibilities, this seems super harsh.  While most of the Old Testament is written to God's people corporately, Ecclesiastes (like other Wisdom literature) is written to the individual.   To a reader with American sensibilities, this seems more appropriate or desirable

The structure proper is very simple.  A prologue, followed by a lengthy lecture, some may call a diatribe, but I prefer sermon, followed by an epilogue. Everything centers around this lecture by "The Preacher."  So, what are the elements of this diatribe?  He refers to a series of items as "vanity."  These things blatantly include wisdom, self-indulgence, living wisely, toil, wealth and honor, attempting to know God's Way, Life, and Youth or vigor.  If we read between the lines, that list would be much longer.

Many fights have been waged over this word that the King James translates "vanity."  I used to work with Dr. Dan Fredericks, who was on a translation committee for wisdom books of multiple versions that have come out in the 50 years before our time together.  His opinion ("temporary" as the correct word) was the minority opinion in each of those translations.  I do believe that as I read the book, that word leads me to the best conclusions of the text therein.

Now, whether you choose to believe that the pockets of applied wisdom come from things being vanity, meaningless, futility, soap bubbles, or even temporary may not matter.  So long as we grasp that those pockets of wisdom are pointing us to the right way of living.  I'm not sure I agree with The Byrds take that we should turn, but even the oldie Rock band understood that application in a sermon comes after setting forth observations.

While Job gains wisdom through his loss of everything, the Preacher is learning his Wisdom through having it all and realizing the folly of trying to gain peace through acquiring things. This is why this book can speak so directly to our American sensibilities, where hedonism reigns in our capitalistic society.  More than most books in the Bible, Ecclesiastes deals with the reality of the Fall on our every day lives.

GK Chesterton said that he was once better and worse than all of creation, but then God changed him.  After this, he realized that Christians are not made for this world alone.  The Preacher reconciles the futility of our life in the Fall.  However, I believe the overlooked (and essential) part to this Ecclesiastical concept of life is the phrase "under the sun."  This is why we, as Christians, live our life on this earth as homesick. A biblical balance of recognizing the good of creation, the awfulness of the Fall, and the hope we have in being recreated all working together helps us see the place of Ecclesiastes.

 We can trust this Preacher because he is living in a world, which we see so much like our own, that feel-good optimism is not the ultimate achievement, but rather that the temporary nature of our life is not final. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."  It is that World that we long for!