Ecclesiastes

Author: Solomon
Date of Writing: 10th century BC
Type of Book: Poetic
Theme: Life apart from God

Solomon wrote three books in the Bible. He wrote the Song of Solomon, full of romance and optimism when he was a young man. He subsequently wrote the book of Proverbs in his early to middle adulthood, as he compiled all the wisdom God had given him after becoming king. Then he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes when he was an old man, reflecting back on his life and on all the meaninglessness that was left.

In order to understand the book of Ecclesiastes, we need to understand what happened to Solomon in his old age. He started out great, asking God for wisdom and receiving it, plus wealth and power like no one before or after him (2 Chr. 1:7-12). Next, we read of the tragic backsliding of King Solomon in 1 Kings 11:1-4, “But King Solomon loved many foreign women… from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.’ Solomon clung to these in love. For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.” It was in this backsliding and turning away from God that Solomon reflected as he wrote this book.

Solomon looked back upon his life that had been mostly wasted, pursuing things other than God. And as a result, he had become jaded, cynical, and disillusioned. In his later years, life had become empty and unfulfilling, as the pursuit of pleasure and riches crowded God out of his life. Thus, the book presents a graphic depiction of what life looks like apart from God.

The phrase “under the sun” is used nearly thirty times. Solomon showed what the world looks like under the sun, apart from God - and the conclusion of life under the sun is vanity. The word “vanity” is used thirty-seven times. But to get the whole picture you have to read the whole book, because in the last chapter Solomon gives his deduction to all this vanity. “let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl. 12:13-14). That is wisdom.

-from Pastor Chuck Smith: The Word for Today Bible