HOFC Sermon Archive: Ecclesiastes Part 2: The Search for Meaning I

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SERMON TIMELINE

1. Introduction & Prologue

2. The Search for Meaning I

Today is Sunday. October 27^th, 2024

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE - Ecclesiastes 1:4-18

“A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth stands forever.

5 Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; And hastening to its place it rises there again.

6 Going toward the south, Then circling toward the north, The wind goes circling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns.

7 All the rivers go into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers go, There they continually go.

8 All things are wearisome; Man is not able to speak of it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing.

9 That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.

10 Is there anything of which one might say, “See this, it is new”? Already it has been for ages Which were before us.

11 There is no remembrance of former things; And also of the latter things which will be, There will be for them no remembrance Among those who will come later still.

12 I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I gave my heart to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous endeavor which God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves. 14 I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. 15 What is bent cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I spoke within my heart, saying, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my heart has seen an abundance of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and simpleminded folly; I came to know that this also is striving after wind. 18 Because in much wisdom there is much aggravation, and whoever increases knowledge increases pain.

INTRODUCTION

Last week, we began our series on Ecclesiastes, written by Solomon. We see from the first few verses that this book deals with vanity on earth. The seeming futility and uselessness of everything said and done under the sun.

By the end of Ecclesiastes, we will understand that the meaning of life is not found in experiencing things of this world. The meaning of life is found in serving the Creator of this world.

Ecclesiastes, though melancholy and bleak in its exposition and observations of Solomon of the world around him, by the end, will illustrate the importance of serving God throughout life.

It will answer some of life’s most difficult questions; who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? What am I supposed to be doing?

The first two chapters of Ecclesiastes Solomon will reveal ‘HOW’ he came to the conclusion that answers these questions from his observations regarding the cyclical nature of life and its apparent meaninglessness and from his experiences as he sought to find meaning through various avenues.

I. THE FUTILITY OBSERVED IN THE CYCLES OF LIFE

a. Nothing seems to change (Ecclesiastes 1:4-7)

i. The earth appears to be here forever, even as generations of men come and go.

ii. The sun is constantly rising and setting.

iii. The winds continue their cycles of whirling.

iv. The water cycles as rivers run to the seas, then, through evaporation and rain, return to the rivers again, seeing the seas are never full.

Looking at nature, it seems nothing ever changes. It just goes in circles and remains the same.

b. Nothing seems to satisfy (Ecclesiastes 1:8)

i. Despite all of our labors, man is never truly satisfied

ii. What satisfaction one may think they have is only seeming and fleeting.

iii. Given time, they will soon desire something else

1. Why is there a new iPhone every year?

2. New clothes when you already have too many to fit in the closet

3. Better job/more pay

4. Always seeking bigger, better, more.

5. They strive for even more when they obtain it because it is never enough, and they are never truly satisfied.

iv. Solomon’s observation about man and his never-satisfied desires sounds like he is speaking to those today, not 3,000 years ago.

c. There is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9-11)

i. What will be done is that which has been done

ii. If thought to be new, it is only because we have forgotten what has been thought of

1. Think of the pyramids for a moment.

2. With all of our “tech” and “wisdom,” we still struggle to figure out the forgotten technology used to build them.

3. Once we do figure it out, we will cry, “Look at this new thing!” when all the while, it was old and forgotten, but not new at all.

iii. What about computers and A.I.?

1. Different tech, but the thought and idea of robots is much older than you think.

2. A ‘machine’ or other non-living object endowed with something to make it “alive.”

iv. The word "dinosaur" was coined in 1842 by English naturalist Sir Richard Owen.

1. Does that mean they didn’t exist before 1842?

2. They were called something else, that’s all.

a. Behemoth (Job 40:15-19)

b. Leviathan (Psalm 74:14)

3. What about outside the bible? Dragon

v. What word did they use in antiquity for a robot? A lifeless object with something placed within it to make it alive?

1. Golem

vi. 500 B.C., the word ‘golem’ appears, Hebrew for “shapeless mass.”

1. In the Talmud (the Jewish civil and ceremonial laws), golem is used to describe Adam before God gave him life.

2. An inanimate object (God made Adam of dirt) with something placed within it (the spirit of life breathed into it by God) to make it “alive.”

3. Jewish mystics using the Sefer Yezirah tried making golems.

a. Using clay, wood, metals, even stone

4. Medieval mystics in southern Germany tried creating golems.

5. In the 16^th century, Rabbi Judah Löw ben Bezalel of Prague tried.

vii. A golem is the same as a robot…taking an inanimate machine and putting in A.I.

1. Though it may never succeed in self-awareness as Adam

2. Just because we don’t succeed does not mean the “idea” of robots and A.I. are NEW.

Faced with what appears to be a meaningless cycle of life, Solomon searches for man’s “purpose” in it all. He begins by sharing his own experiences.

II. THE FUTILITY OF HUMAN WISDOM

a. Solomon prefaces his search (Ecclesiastes 1:12-15)

i. Solomon states that he was given wisdom from God, which we know to be true from scripture

1. 1 Kings 3:9-12

2. 1 Kings 4:29-34

ii. He is determined to use that wisdom to seek and search for all that has been done under heaven.

1. A task that he understood God had given to all men

a. Seek and search all of creation for truth; all things in creation point to God.

i. Romans 1:20

ii. Hebrews 11:3

iii. Psalm 8:1

iv. Job 12:7-10

2. A task for which he knew he had been especially equipped

iii. Solomon summarizes what he found, having seen all the works done “under the sun.”

1. Concluding everything is vanity and equal to grasping for the wind.

2. The reality is there is little one can do to make significant changes.

b. Solomon applied his God-Given wisdom (Ecclesiastes 1:16-17a)

i. He acknowledges the greatness and wisdom he had attained by God

1. His great wisdom was an answer to prayer

a. 1 Kings 3:9-12

i. James 1:5

2. This God-given wisdom is a contrast to human wisdom.

ii. Which is why Solomon said human wisdom is madness and folly

1. Human wisdom would be philosophy.

2. Which is wisdom he set his heart to know (learn)

c. Solomon concludes human wisdom is futile (Ecclesiastes 1:17b-18)

i. Human wisdom is compared to grasping for the wind

1. It never truly provided an answer to his problem.

2. Solomon also recognizes that such wisdom. Knowledge does provide much grief and sorrow.

a. Information overload

b. One becomes burdened as they learn of many things in life.

i. Things you have no control over

ii. Yet, they are things you will worry over

CONCLUSION –

In the beginning of Solomon’s search for meaning, the wise Preacher naturally began with wisdom...

Thus he set his heart to "know wisdom."

But he found such wisdom (human wisdom) to be "grasping for the wind."

I do not believe we are to take his words as an indictment against all wisdom, just human wisdom...For there is a "God-given wisdom" for which one should seek

Proverbs 2:1-9 (Yahweh gives wisdom)

James 1:5 (Anyone lacking wisdom, ask God)

This kind of wisdom can bless one's life - Proverbs 3:13-18

It is an indictment against "human wisdom"...

A wisdom that seeks to understand life but leaves God out of the picture

A wisdom that can only leave one "grasping for the wind."

Remember what Paul wrote in contrasting human wisdom with God's wisdom:

“…by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Yahweh.” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31)

Next week, we shall continue with Solomon’s "search for meaning" and notice his observations regarding pleasure, madness, and folly.

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Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Ecclesiastes Part 2: The Search for Meaning I

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