Introduction to Ecclesiastes

Forty-two. Yes, 42. If that just made you chuckle or brought a smile to your face, then you know what I’m talking about. If you are bewildered, then I’d like to refer you to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which started as a BBC comedic sci-fi radio series, followed by a TV show and then a series of books and a movie. In The Hitchhiker’s Guide, the number 42 is extremely significant. In fact, it is given as the “The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything.” Unfortunately, no one knows the question. We come to learn that the earth was built as a giant computer meant to discover that Ultimate Question. But just as the earth is about to produce the computed result, it is destroyed by a Vogon constructor fleet to make way for a hyperspace bypass. I find the humor in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to be hilariously funny, but as you might imagine, there is also despair, because overarching everything is futility, meaninglessness, absurdity.

And that brings us to Ecclesiastes: Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. (Ecc. 1:2) That opening statement fairly well sums up “the Preacher’s” observation of life. To many, that sure doesn’t sound like Christianity — or does it? Like Job, Ecclesiastes recognizes hard realities — particularly the hard reality of death that is common to all. This book provides a sobering (some would even say cynical) assessment of the full spectrum of human endeavors and pursuits. It recognizes that in the face of death, self-interested “accomplishments” are all for nought. Nothing ever really satisfies or provides personal gain in any enduring fashion. Ecclesiastes thus stands firmly against any sugar-coated, “pie in the sky” view of human existence.

So what’s the difference between Ecclesiastes and The Hitchhiker’s Guide, aside from the former being ancient and the latter being a good deal more humorous? Both see a lot of futility and absurdity in life. But whereas The Hitchhiker’s Guide evidently never finds any real meaning in life (certainly not when 42 is the Ultimate Answer), Ecclesiastes suggests that it is life without God that is meaningless.

We’ll get more into the details as we go through Ecclesiastes, but for now I commend to you the attached paper, “Two Themes in Ecclesiastes” by Deacon Todd.

By the way, “Ecclesiastes” is the romanized transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew “Kohelet” (or “Koheleth“, or “Qoheleth“, or “Qohelet“), translated here in the ESV as “Preacher”. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesiastes. Let’s see what this Preacher has to say.

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One more thing…

The midterm elections are upon us, and there’s one verse in Ecclesiastes that is highly relevant, but that we won’t reach until after November 8. That verse is Ecc. 10:2: A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left. Just sayin’… 🙂