Sim Chen Xing

In a previous post (Reflections on Ecclesiastes), I explored how the book of Ecclesiastes can be read as a portrait of the Teacher’s life—from youthful ambition to a sobering confrontation with death. In this post, we return to the prime of the Teacher’s life and examine his reflections on work and the meaning of life as captured in Chapter 2.

“I undertook great projects… I amassed silver and gold for myself… I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me… I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure…”
(Ecclesiastes 2:4–10, NIV, abridged)

The Teacher had everything. Projects, possessions, power. He had wisdom and pleasure. He was, by every worldly standard, successful. And yet, when he looked back at it all, he lamented:

“Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”
(Ecclesiastes 2:11, NIV)

Why? Because they are all pointless. Just like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Ecclesiastes explores the deeper issue of work and of life. It begins from the lowest physiological level (working to gain sustenance and to live) to the highest level (working for self-actualisation purposes), and beyond. The Teacher explores both the practical (such as who do I hand over my work to) and the meaning of the work (such as the reasons behind his ambitions). “Meaningless”, he argues. “A chasing after the wind”.

The Futility Is Final

At the heart of Ecclesiastes, the Teacher is asking a deeper question — what is the purpose of life? But more accurately, he is trying to ascribe meaning and purpose to life by examining the value of the human experience.

Value is something we ascribe to an object, an event, or an experience. And what is valued by one may mean nothing to another. What is precious to us today may become obsolete tomorrow. This is highlighted in the lament of the Teacher:

“No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.”
(Ecclesiastes 1:11, NIV)

As mortal beings who are limited by space and time, we are unable to escape the grasp of time. It is impossible to turn back the wheel of time and relive an experience we once enjoyed. No amount of regret can bring us back a second. And when we reflect on certain good memories in our lives, all we can do is to face that aching desire as we relive that incident within our memory. Worse, even that memory is not the exact same experience of the actual event. Therefore, that too, is meaningless.

“Time is just memory, mixed in with desire.”
—Tom Waits, The Part You Throw Away

There will come a time when all the things we hold dear fades away. The friendships we build, the milestones we celebrate, the impact we made, the achievements we had, the tears we shed—nothing lasts. Everything will disappear with time. Nothing will be remembered.

“For the living know that they will die… Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.”
(Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, NIV, abridged)

Therefore, as we reflect on life, the obvious conclusion is the finality of futility. Nothing we do matters. Nothing does. Not our work, not our bonds, not our knowledge. Nothing.

The Zero-Sum of Our Contribution

I think, one of the greatest lament of the Teacher in chapter two is the lament of meaning. Consider the Teacher’s contributions to the world—his wisdom, his labour, and his innovations. All of these are swallowed up in the repetition of time. Everything he wants to do, “has been done”. Everything he has done, “will be done again”. (See Ecclesiastes 1:9). His work—though impressive—is nothing but a shadow of what has been done before. And whatever he has done, someone will do it again. Nothing new is added to the world. The net contribution of his life to humanity? Zero.

So he questions: Why strive? Why pour in effort when everything is cyclical, fleeting, and soon forgotten? Meaningless!

To make matters worse, he realises his hard-earned accomplishments could be handed off to a fool.

“Who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil…”
(Ecclesiastes 2:19a, NIV)

Even if he finds joy in his toil, there’s no guarantee that his legacy will be honoured—or even maintained. The successor may not share his values, and all his work may be undone.

It is on this note that the Teacher let out a sigh. He said,“My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil” (Ecclesiastes 2:10b, NIV). If there is no value in everything he does, then surely the resulting reward (or the fruit of his labour) is his reward. However, in a separate account, he also reasoned that it is better to have “a small serving of vegetables with love than a fattened calf with hatred” (Proverbs 15:17, NIV). He is asking himself this question — what’s the point of having all these good food and wine when he is filled with “hatred for life” and “anxiousness”; when all his work is filled with grief and pain (See Ecclesiastes 2:17-18, 22-23)? He reasoned that everything was still meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing is gained under the sun (See Ecclesiastes 2:23). What’s the purpose of temporal earthly enjoyment? What is the meaning of temporal delight? Does restlessness and anxious striving justify the temporal pleasures of life? The Teacher reasons that everything—even the best moments of satisfaction—is ultimately meaningless.

The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.
(Ecclesiastes 5:12, NIV)

Enjoyment is from God?

Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 may sound like the Teacher is attributing the ability to enjoy pleasure to the Lord. But is this what the Teacher really meant?

A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?
(Ecclesiastes 2:24-25, NIV)

On the surface, it sounds like the Teacher is telling the readers to recognise that they can eat and find enjoyment in God. However, if we dig a little deeper, we see a footnote (especially in the ESV and in other translation) stating that the verse can be translated as “for apart from me who can eat or who can have enjoyment?” (See Ecclesiastes 2:25, ESV). The interlinear Bible gives us greater clarity on this passage’s true intent (See: https://biblehub.com/text/ecclesiastes/2-25.htm). In essence, what the Teacher is saying is this — who can truly enjoy life more than he did? He recognise that he is the person who pleases God because God gave him wisdom, knowledge, and happiness. But to sinners (or everyone else), God gave the task of gathering and storing up wealth to be handed to him, the Teacher, the King. Yet, he argues that this too, is meaningless (See Ecclesiastes 2:26). What is the purpose of all these? Meaningless! A chasing after the wind.

The Paradigm Shift in Christ

My study of this chapter led me to 1 Corinthians 15 where Paul speaks of Jesus’ resurrection. In Ecclesiastes, the Teacher examined a world without God. But in 1 Corinthians 15, we see a world where Christ has risen. He wrote, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, NIV). In one stroke, Paul lays down a vastly different theology of work than what the Teacher wrote in Ecclesiastes.

“I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”
(1 Corinthians 15:9-10, NIV).

Why? Because Christ has risen. If Christ has not risen, Paul argues that his preaching is useless and so is their faith. What’s worse, if Christ has not risen, then Paul will be found to be a false witness, their faith will be futile, and everyone will still be in their sins. And if Christ has not risen, then Christians will be the most pitiful of people (See 1 Corinthians 15:12-19). He argues this because if Christ has not risen, then the net value of his work is not zero but negative. Here, Paul revived the language of the Teacher in Ecclesiastes and brought back the Epicurean school of thought of pleasure. Paul cites, “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32; See also Isaiah 22:13). This school of thought is deeply secular and is a complete disregard for the presence of God. In this worldview, there is no afterlife, no God, no consequences, nothing. Hence, the best thing that man can do is to pursue pleasures and avoid pain in moderation.

But Christ is risen! So, does this apply to us who have the knowledge of the resurrection? No! Paul writes, “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, NIV). Paul argues that there is life after death. At the moment of death, we “will not all sleep” but “we will all be changed”. The perishable vessel that is our body will become imperishable. The mortal will become immortal (See 1 Corinthians 15:53-54). The value of the work of our hands, therefore, will no longer be temporal. Rather, it will be eternal. The fleeting nature of our work will no longer be meaningless, but meaningful.

If the Teacher argues that value is fleeting because of death in Ecclesiastes, then eternal life in Christ might also mean that the value of our work is retained for eternity. So, no matter the work that we do–they are not meaningless, but meaningful.

But is this really the case?

Understanding our Value in Christ

At this juncture, I can’t help but wonder if our work is indeed meaningful in the eyes of God. According to Isaiah, our work, no matter how good, are like “filthy rags” in the sight of God (See Isaiah 64:6). From this account, it appears that our work is valueless before God. Yet, in the same passage, Isaiah posited that God is our Father. We are the clay and He is the Potter (Isaiah 64:8). Essentially, what Isaiah was saying is this — because God is the Potter who shapes and mould us, our value comes from God. And if our value comes from God, then nothing else matters.

This Holy Week, as we reflect upon Christ’s work on the Cross, may we also reflect upon the love of God. Paul writes, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, NIV). Now, if our entire being is redeemed by the life of Christ, then the value of Christ indwells within us. Paul writes, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, NIV). What Paul is saying is this — if we are in Christ, our very life and our body is made sacred. It is no longer valueless, but of the greatest value. Therefore, let no one belittle you because you are sacred in the eyes of God.

If we are redeemed by Christ through His death and resurrection, then we ought to devote ourselves to the things of God. It is on this note that Paul urges us to “offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1, NIV).

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
(Ephesians 2:8-10, NIV).

Therefore, for the Christian, value is not tied to anything that we have done. Neither is value tied to our being. Rather, value is tied to the completed work of Christ on the Cross.

This Holy Week, may we reflect on the immense love of God displayed through us. Let us remember what God has done and our value in Him.