Ministries
Resources
12So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. 13Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. 14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. 15Then I said in my heart, "What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?" And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 16For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! 17So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
18I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, 19and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 23For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
24There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Before we leave Ecclesiastes 2, we should revisit perhaps the most shocking sentiment expressed in the book: "I hated life" (2:17). The reason for Qoheleth’s devastating assessment of all that is done under the sun lies in the futility of human effort and industriousness. One way or another, it will all come to nothing. Yet, his statement remains to be placed in a canonical context.
One day, Jesus was walking with a great multitude of people. They were following him, because they wanted to hear his teachings and see some of the amazing works that he did. Suddenly he turned around and said to them, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:25). If ever you wanted to lose a crowd, this is the way to do it!
Jesus' saying is every bit as shocking and appalling as Qoheleth's bitter assessment of life under the sun. It should therefore not come as a surprise that the two sayings are related. Jesus' words can be translated as follows: Love Christ so much that all other loves are hatred by comparison. Christ demands this exclusive kind of discipleship because all other ideas, ambitions, and desires in this world tend toward death. His mention of the cross is indicative of his verdict on the old creation, including our life in it. In a similar way, Qoheleth had anchored his "hatred" in the transitory nature of life.
We continue to enjoy the good things in life, and we do not hate our own folk. But if we have to choose between Jesus and this life, there should not be any hesitation: Choose Christ and the life that he affords. We should never fall out of love with Christ. If you have tasted that the Lord is good, you will want more, and you will not be satisfied with the memories of past experiences. No one speaks of this longing for God in more powerful terms than the Psalmist: "O God, you are my God. Early will I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land, where there is no water. So I have looked for you in the sanctuary, to see your power and your glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you" (Ps. 63:1-3). Today, will you confess that God's steadfast love is better than life? If, for whatever reason, this prayer does not come easy, then you may tell God about this, too, expressing your desire to learn to love only what he loves and to hate what he hates.
The author of these devotionals, the Rev. Martin Emmrich, is an ordained OPC minister (Westminster OPC, Corvallis, Oregon) as well as the author of Pneumatological Concepts in the Epistle to the Hebrews, a book on the teaching of Hebrews on the Holy Spirit. We are happy to make these devotionals on Ecclesiastes and other passages of Scripture available to you.
© 2025 The Orthodox Presbyterian Church
