Ecclesiastes

The Great Experiment

“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

~ Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, ESV

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The Title1. Latin Vulgate: Liber Ecclesiastes2. Greek: ekklesiastes3. Hebrew: Qoheleth. • The Hebrew word is related to

the term for ‘assembly’.• It may be a title for someone

who addresses an assembly. Hence, it is often translated “Preacher.”

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The Author1. How does the author describe himself?

• “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.” (1:1)

• “I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven.” (1:12-13a)

• “I said in my heart, ‘I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” (1:16)

• “So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem.” (2:9)

• “Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.” (12:9-10)

2.Solomon seems to fit the description the best and is regarded by most scholars as the author.

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The Theme1. The goal is to answer one

question – “What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:3)

2. What is the goal of life? What is the purpose of life?

3. The book then is a description of the experiment that the Preacher conducts to answer this question. It is this quest for the good life – a satisfied and profitable life – that Solomon presents to us.

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Outline of the Book of Ecclesiastes1. Introduction and Theme (1:1-3)2. First Catalog of Vanities (1:4-2:26)3. Poem: A Time for Everything (3:1-

8)4. Fear God, the Sovereign One (3:9-

15)5. Second Catalog of Vanities (3:16-

4:16)6. Fear God, the Holy and Righteous

One (5:1-7)7. Life ‘Under the Sun’ (5:8-7:24)8. The Heart of the Problem: Sin

(7:25-29)9. More on Life ‘Under the Sun’ (8:1-

12:7)10.Final Conclusion and Epilogue

(12:8-14)

Ecclesiastes

Chapter One

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Ecclesiastes 1:1-3“The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?”• The term vanity is used over

thirty times in the book.• The Hebrew word literally means

‘vapor’ or ‘breath’.• It implies emptiness or the

inability to find complete satisfaction.

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reEcclesiastes 1:4-11In these verses we have the first listing of activities that do not bring a satisfactory conclusion regarding the life of man. When reviewing nature, the Preacher determines that there is monotonous repetition:1. Mankind (vs. 4)

• Generations come and go.2. Sun (vs. 5)

• The sun performs its duty – the same each and every day.

3. Wind (vs. 6)• The wind never seems to stop and moves

in all directions, but it seems to do it all over again.

4. Water (vs. 7)• Every day the rivers pour water into the

sea, but it doesn’t complete its job or fill it up.

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reEcclesiastes 1:4-11Nothing new ‘under the sun’:1. Man cannot utter or explain the reasons

for all of nature, despite gathering as much information as possible through the senses (sight and hearing) that God provided (1:8)

2. There is nothing new under the sun but all things repeat themselves as they have from the beginning (1:9-10).

3. All of the men and actions that have happened before fade into and out of the memory. Even those that have not yet come, they will fade into the memory not long after they have been gone. (1:11)

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Ecclesiastes 1:12-181. Since the Preacher could not find

satisfaction in his view of nature, he turns his attention for the first time to wisdom.

2. He applies his heart – the seat for both emotion and understanding – to seek out and search for wisdom. He was successful in finding wisdom.

3. The conclusion from wisdom.• “It is an unhappy business…”• “…all is vanity and a striving after

wind.”• “What is crooked cannot be made

straight…”• “For in much wisdom is much

vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.”

Ecclesiastes

The Great Experiment