Futile Vanity
What Is Vanity
According to Ecclesiastes 1:1 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,
“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” There, enough said. All is vanity. Vanity is defined as “temporal, futile.” Five of the thirty-eight times in Ecclesiastes the word vanity is mentioned, they occur in vs. 1. It’s a broad description of life on earth or life under the sun. Everything you see is vain, temporal or futile. Seems as if life is miserable no matter what. But that’s not the context. It is, however, true that all on earth is temporal and vain. All of it. Period.
All that you have can be lost in a moment’s notice. It doesn’t take long for wind, fire, or thieves to destroy. Trusting in something other than a Holy Sovereign God only brings disappointment. Always. Tangible items do not respond or provide hope in times of great trouble. Idols are worthless in a time of need.
Solomon asks a question in Ecclesiastes 1:2 “What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun?” Jesus also made a statement about a man seeking life’s temporal things as an eternal hope, Mark 8:36 “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” Can we honestly answer that question? What eternal benefit is there if you have the entire world’s wealth, yet lose your soul to hell? Let me be clear, it’s not wrong to have wealth and possessions. The tipping point is where you place the value of that in your life.
Solomon takes a look at man’s work in this life, the fleeing moments of life, and small gain for man’s activity. What profit is there? The only lasting profits are those designed to accomplish God’s purpose for eternity. Man’s work will not last. The world will pass away. God is eternal. When Solomon speaks of labor it does not refer only to his paid work, but all that he does in life. We labor to build barns or fences. We labor in the garden and yard. He refers to this as life under the sun – and does so approximately 30 times in the book of Ecclesiastes describing daily life.
A man can build a mansion, yet a wind can destroy it. He can rebuild and an earthquake break it down. You can save thousands of dollars, yet an economic collapse can render it useless. Nothing here under the sun is eternal.
To further his conclusion, he spends vs. 3-8 trying to reason with man’s intellect and the design of God. Notice, he says one generation passes and another comes along. Year by year this occurs. Life is an endless cycle. The sun rises and the wind blows. Man cannot do anything to stop, prevent or change this. The amazing creation of God is how the rivers flow and the sea is never full. Solomon’s assessment here is beyond the human wisdom of man. No man in his wisdom could have created and designed such.
The failing of satisfaction in what man sees and ears in never ending. He will never be satisfied with what he has. There is always more to get or to gain. This is why true joy and hope is not in man nor his ways. These verses underscore the futile repetition of man’s ways.
There is nothing new under the sun (vs. 9). All is fleeting here. I have often used this verse to help me in my life when things seemingly are a struggle. A crisis or trial is not new to us in the 21st century. I remind myself we live in a fallen world. But my hope is not in this world nor the things which I possess. My hope is cemented in the work of Christ on the cross as my atonement, and He has prepared a place for me.
When vs. 11 begins to settle with us, we understand that a written record or some other object which serves as a reminder of events will be short lived. They will fade off into obscurity. Often, a famous person is only remembered by a sign on the side of the road designating that a portion of that highway is in honor of them. But the sign just fades into the landscape and is hardly noticed. Life here is but a vapor.
The conclusion is we must take all that we have in consideration in light of eternity. Everything is temporal. Nothing here brings eternal joy and hope. Everything is vanity, but God is not. He is eternal. Sovereign. On the throne. Forever. Never changing. And He is the only source of eternal joy and hope.
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