BibleTools

Topical Studies

 A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z


What the Bible says about "Life is Meaningless"
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Ecclesiastes 2:3-11

Solomon kept his wits about him through all of this, but verse 11 concedes that the morning after the night before finally arrived—the time he had to give sober thought to what he had accomplished in his life. "I looked on all the works that my hands had done" coincides with the English expression, "The time came to face the facts."

He finds that, though there had been pleasure in accomplishing, he concludes there had been no real gain in terms of meaning of life. By calling his accomplishments "vanity," he does not mean that nothing was gained from them. Certainly a measure of good came from them, but they were disillusioning. They did not give him lasting satisfaction.

Money and the pleasures it can buy do not lift us out of our earthbound frustration. What is going on under the sun has to be connected to something that is happening somewhere else—in the purpose of God.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Ecclesiastes and the Feast of Tabernacles (Part 2)

Ecclesiastes 2:16

Solomon says, "Hey, I have done all these things, and after I am dead, nobody will even remember who did them." Some call the Bible—Adam and Eve, the Flood, the Exodus, and so forth—mythical, legendary, allegorical, and contrived. In fact, it has been just within the last few years that archaeologists have—for the first time ever—unearthed secular evidence for the existence for the great David!

What usually happens is that a biblical personage remains a shadowy figure until something apart from the Bible "proves" that he existed. He may be one of the greatest men who ever lived, yet the world wonders. "Did he really live, or was he just a composite figure made up by Hebrew writers trying to beef up their past?"

Solomon cries foul when he realizes that this will happen to him. He concludes, "Life is meaningless."

John W. Ritenbaugh
Ecclesiastes and the Feast of Tabernacles (Part 2)

Ecclesiastes 2:26

Is it better to receive a gift from God or to work for it in the way Solomon did? The former is preferable. With our understanding and help—if we are "good in His sight"—God can turn what would normally be meaningless and absurd into something that is profitable for us, if we allow Him.

Solomon reaches an overall conclusion here: In reality, the evil people of the world are working for the benefit of the righteous. Eventually, all will come to those God considers good. We must look at this in its full scale. Who will inherit the earth—and not only the earth, but everything in it? The sons of God. Solomon is taking a long-range view of this. The wicked will eventually be seen to have been building and gathering for the work of the righteous. All their works are a vanity to them, but they are God's gift to the righteous.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Ecclesiastes and the Feast of Tabernacles (Part 2)

Ecclesiastes 6:7

The sheer repetitiveness and monotony of having to provide food for oneself—and even eating itself has a burdensome, nagging, never-ending, profitless, and hopeless aspect to it—makes life seem like pacing a treadmill going nowhere. Sin has dragged mankind into a confusing cycle of similar events repeated endlessly throughout history. It has robbed mankind of a life of abundant hope and enjoyment without fear, replacing it with the burden of not knowing God or why one was born. This leaves life essentially directionless in terms of its most important aspect. Life and all its daily repetitions become burdens rather than joyous pleasures as God intended.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Eating: How Good It Is! (Part One)


 




The Berean: Daily Verse and Comment

The Berean: Daily Verse and Comment

Sign up for the Berean: Daily Verse and Comment, and have Biblical truth delivered to your inbox. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. See what over 150,000 subscribers are already receiving each day.

Email Address:

   
Leave this field empty

We respect your privacy. Your email address will not be sold, distributed, rented, or in any way given out to a third party. We have nothing to sell. You may easily unsubscribe at any time.
 A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
©Copyright 1992-2024 Church of the Great God.   Contact C.G.G. if you have questions or comments.
Share this on FacebookEmailPrinter version
Close
E-mail This Page