Everything is Not Enough (Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:26)
Many of us have attended graduation ceremonies before, either our own or a family member or friend’s. They are called “commencements” because they mark the start of a new chapter of a graduate’s life. Optimism usually runs high. A typical commencement speech will encourage graduates to follow their dreams. But sometimes, the script is flipped. At a University of Western Australia commencement, comedian Tim Minchin delivered a dose of realism to graduates. Lesson number one of his nine life lessons was this: “You do not have to have a dream”. Minchin said: “If you have something you’ve always dreamed of in your heart, go for it. If it’s a big enough one, it’ll take you most of your life to achieve. By the time you get to it and are staring into the abyss of the meaninglessness of your achievement, you’ll be almost dead, so it won’t matter.”
Not the most inspiring, maybe a little cynical, but definitely honest and realistic about life. I suppose it is better to hear this at commencement than to find out the hard way later. In a similar way, the Preacher of Ecclesiastes wants to spare us the regret of a life spent pursuing vanity. What are we pursuing in life? Is it better exam results, a place at a good school, a successful career, a fulfilling job, more money in the bank, a nicer home, a dating relationship, marriage, children, health and fitness, a comfortable retirement, or something else? All of us are after something we believe will give us joy and fulfilment. We assume that when we get what we want, we’ll be satisfied with success and significance.
Only God is enough.
Not so, says the Preacher. Remember that all is vanity. All is fleeting and futile. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? Nothing of lasting significance or value. Along with us, it will all pass away. But we forget this when we allow ourselves to be caught up with the cares and coveting of the world. We forget that we are short-stay visitors, not permanent residents. So, the Preacher bursts our bubble and brings us back to reality. Yet, his is not a message of gloom but an invitation to surprising joy. Instead of chasing after what we hope will give us some future happiness that will ultimately not last, we can have joy now even in our toil under the sun. In our passage, the Preacher shows us how. He invites us to learn from the bitter disappointment of his own experience. In his quest for meaning, the Preacher tried to find lasting gain in wisdom, pleasure, possessions, and work. Aren’t we also motivated by similar things? But the Preacher discovered that everything is not enough. Only God is enough. This is the big idea of our passage. Only God is enough. All is vanity, but the path to surprising joy under the sun is to know God’s gift and grace.
Wisdom is not enough (Ecc 1:12-18; 2:12-17)
In Singapore, we prize education. In a 2024 survey by the non-profit Access Singapore, about three-quarters of those polled feel it is difficult to have a successful career without a university degree. More than 80 per cent of those polled say that attending a brand name secondary school influences the opportunities one has in life. We value academic achievements. Getting good grades, acquiring knowledge and know-how are seen as the pathway to significance and success.
The Preacher thought so too. As king over Israel, he had access to vast resources of learning. Not taking his education for granted, the Preacher tells us in Ecclesiastes 1:13: “I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven.” He sought to find fulfilment and meaning through human knowledge and wisdom. But what the Preacher found instead is that there are limits to what human wisdom can know and do.
The rest of Ecclesiastes 1: 13 tells us the reason why we toil under the sun: It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. Notice how it is God who has given us this unhappy business. He has subjected creation to futility. It is God’s judgement on sinners. God made us in His image, to glorify Him. But we have all turned away from our Creator. The Bible calls this sin. God made all things good, but sin has corrupted creation. As a result, everything is broken. Life in a fallen world is full of tiredness, toil and trouble. Wisdom helps us see what is wrong with the world. Look at Ecclesiastes 1:14: “I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.” Life under the sun is fleeting, futile, absurd and elusive. Trying to control life is like trying to grab the air.
Human wisdom sees this sad state of affairs but is helpless to change it.
Human wisdom sees this sad state of affairs but is helpless to change it. As Ecclesiastes 1:15 says, “What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.” This tells us we cannot undo what God has done. Human wisdom may help us understand the world, but it cannot reverse God’s curse. Wisdom and knowledge faces the same problem of vanity. A degree from the top universities is no guarantee of happiness or fulfilment.
Ecclesiastes 1:16 tells us that the Preacher surpassed all others in wisdom and knowledge. Yet even he concludes in Ecclesiastes 1:17 that the pursuit of human wisdom is but a striving after wind. It is finally futile. This is humbling, because we typically think that the more education we have, the more successful and happy we will be. Much wisdom only leads to more vexation and sorrow (Ecc 1:18). Wisdom opens our eyes to the world’s problems, but is unable to fix all that is broken and wrong. Even the genius Albert Einstein said, “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.” Knowing more simply leads to more sadness, frustration and anxiety. For example, learning about all the diseases in the world cannot prevent illness, but it will probably make us more worried and fearful about falling sick.
Wisdom is not enough. It is powerless in the face of death.
This is not to say that wisdom in itself is useless. In Ecclesiastes 2:12, the Preacher again considers wisdom. This time, he compares it with madness and folly. His conclusion? It is better to be wise than to be a fool; it is better to walk in the light than to stumble in the darkness (Ecc 2:13-14). Nevertheless, the pursuit of wisdom is still vanity because there is no lasting gain from it. Why? It is because the wise man and the fool finally end up in the same place — both will die. Death is the same event (that) happens to all of them (Ecc 2:14-15). Death is the great equaliser. It is very democratic. We will all die, whether we have a PhD or a PSLE certificate, whether we are a guru or a goondu. Perhaps it is better to not be too wise! The wise man and the fool alike will finally fade away and be forgotten. Listen to Ecclesiastes 1:16: “For 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!” The futility of it all leads the Preacher to say in Ecclesiastes 1:17 — So I hated life. Pursuing wisdom leads to no lasting gain. Wisdom is not enough. It is powerless in the face of death.
Pleasure and possessions are not enough (Ecc 2:1-11)
If wisdom does not work, then let us get more practical. Let us pursue pleasure and possessions instead. The Preacher says in Ecclesiastes 2:1, “I said in my heart, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” He throws himself into living the good life by enjoying amusements, achievements, and acquisitions. As he says in Ecclesiastes 2:10, he got and did whatever he wanted: “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure.” “Pleasure” doesn’t necessarily refer to things that are forbidden or sinful; it just means “joy” and “gladness”.
So, how did the Preacher’s pursuit of pleasure pan out? Not well. He tells us in Ecclesiastes 2:1-2: “But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, ‘It is mad,’ and of pleasure, ‘What use is it?’”The outcome is no different from the pursuit of wisdom. In Ecclesiastes 2:3, the Preacher sought solace in wine. To escape from toil, many of us distract ourselves with entertainment to unwind, chill, or decompress. Our screen time keeps going up as we doom scroll and binge watch. Or, we escape into experiences like food and holidays. Such escapes may provide temporary relief and enjoyment, but they cannot give us lasting satisfaction. Laughter is mad. Entertainment is simply a means of dulling ourselves to the toils and troubles of reality. But what happens when the show’s over and the anaesthetic wears off? Some professional comedians are the most chronically depressed people around. Pursuing pleasure is vanity and a striving after wind.
What about possessions? Surely, acquiring and achieving things is more permanent than pleasure? The Preacher made great works (Ecc 2:4-6). He sought security and significance in real estate, which is not unlike how many of us think about property. It’s the safest investment, we assume. The Preacher built homes, gardens, parks and pools. It sounds like he tried to re-create Eden. But only God, not man, can restore paradise lost. Our quest for our personal Shangri-La is a fool’s errand. The Preacher also acquired great possessions (Ecc 2:7-8). He was prosperous and powerful, with much wealth and many workers. He became a crazy rich Israelite.
Fortune and fame, he had it all. He had the means to enjoy life. He got singers. This was the ancient version of Spotify. It was like having music on demand, his personal playlist of his favourite songs. He had many concubines with whom to indulge himself. 1 Kings 11:3 tells us Solomon “had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines”. The Preacher lived the life that many today dream of and aspire to. The heart wants what it wants, and whatever his heart wanted the Preacher got. Money, power, and sex — still the idols of our day — he had it all. “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. (Ecc 2:10)” The Preacher did exactly what our culture of consumerism tells us to do: Why wait when you can have it now? If you see something you like, just buy it. Be good to yourself. You deserve it. Maybe some of us dream of having it all. But will we truly be satisfied when we have it all?
The Preacher made it to the top of Jerusalem’s all-time rich and famous list. Ecclesiastes 2:9 says he became great and surpassed all who were before (him). But notice he did not allow himself to be carried away by his own success. Remember, the Preacher is still on a quest for meaning. My wisdom remained with me, he tells us. He is still evaluating whether pleasure and possessions can provide lasting gain. What is the Preacher’s verdict? He tells us in Ecclesiastes 2:11: “Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.” Ultimately, the return on investment was disappointing and dismal. It was all pointless.
If our worth is found in what we own, then what will our worth be when what we own is no longer found?
On Coney Island, off the coast of Punggol, there is an abandoned mansion that used to be owned by the wealthy Haw Par family. The sea-front villa was a grand and beautiful house in its day, but today it is overgrown by the surrounding forest and in disrepair. It’s a stark picture of faded glory, of the transience of life under the sun. In the New Testament, the apostle John warns us about worldliness. The desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride in possessions seduce us into loving the world. But this world is passing away, along with all its desires. Why pour our lives into pursuing things that will not last? If our worth is found in what we own, then what will our worth be when what we own is no longer found?
Work is not enough (Ecc 2:18-23)
Many of us have a love-hate relationship with work. We don’t like it, yet we look to work for our meaning and significance. In our culture, work is seen as the pathway to self-fulfilment, to make a name for ourselves. Work is no longer just about earning a living; it is about finding our “calling”. Work has become the centre of our identity and purpose.
By all accounts, the Preacher had a spectacularly successful career. He accomplished much through his work. The houses, vineyards, gardens, parks, and pools he built would have left their mark on the landscape. Some see work as an opportunity to make a difference, to leave a lasting legacy. The Preacher tempers our expectations — “I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to man who will come after me” (Ecc 2:18). Despite his success, the Preacher hated his toil because its fruit was so fleeting. However successful our jobs and careers are, it will all come to an end. One inescapable truth confronts us all: We will die.
This is the fundamental reason why work is ultimately hevel, vanity. We cannot keep working 9-9-6 forever. Death will put a stop to our work, and we must leave it to whoever comes after us. What is more — and this is especially frustrating — we have no control over the person who will inherit our life’s work. Look at Ecclesiastes 2:19-20 — “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. So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labours under the sun.”
In fact, we do not even have to wait till death to experience this. Many of us know the difficulties of workplace transitions. We toil long and hard over a project, building it from scratch and getting it going. Then, because of a decision from top management that is beyond our control, all that we have worked for is taken away and given to someone else. It does not matter how much time, energy and effort we have invested. Someone else will take charge of what we’ve done. This person may be wise or he may be a fool. He may build on what we have achieved, or he may tear it all down. Have you heard of the “third-generation curse”? Studies find that around 70 per cent of wealthy families lose their wealth by the second generation, and 90 per cent by the third. Our life’s work will not last. It vanishes like hevel, like vapour. All is vanity and a striving after wind.
For the sake of their careers, many give up time with their families, they sacrifice their health, they put life on hold. The plan is to make enough money and then enjoy retirement. But how can we be sure that we’ll get there? Death disrupts our plans. It prevents us from enjoying the fruit of our toil. Listen to Ecclesiastes 2:21 — “Because 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.” Unlike us, this person did not put in the effort or hours. Yet, he or she will enjoy what we have done. And, the irony is that the greater our success, the greater the anticlimax! Whatever grand plans we had for our work, death stops our ambitions short. What is beyond our time is beyond our control.
To be clear, work itself is not a result of humanity’s fall into sin. But work has been affected by the fall. In a broken world, work is toil. We must be realistic about work. It cannot give us the lasting gain we want. What do we get from our toil under the sun? As Ecclesiastes 2:23 states, “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.” We suffer stress, anxiety, burn-out, illness, restlessness, and sleepless nights. Less than a generation ago, it wasn’t unusual to work for one company our whole lives. But the social compact is changing; life-long employment is no longer guaranteed. Layoffs, short-term contracts and gig work are the norm nowadays.
To worship work is to worship a god with firing power, who is as unpredictable as the economy
With ever-evolving technology, our skills, experience and jobs are becoming obsolete faster. All this uncertainty has worsened our toil. To worship work is to worship a god with firing power, who is as unpredictable as the economy. Do not try to find ultimate fulfilment and meaning in work. It will disappoint us. There is no lasting gain from work. Death will see to that. Or, the next recession or retrenchment.
Only God is enough (Ecc 2:24-26)
The Preacher punches us in the gut before he puts the wind in our sails. He has shown us how wisdom, pleasure, possessions and work are not enough. In order to see the One who is truly enough for us, the Preacher must first clear the clutter that blocks our view. Indeed, all is vanity. But this doesn’t mean we cannot have joy now. The Preacher hinted at this in Ecclesiastes 2:10: “My heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.” In Ecclesiastes 2:24-26, the Preacher tells us how.
Because all is hevel or vanity, we cannot expect any lasting gain from toil under the sun. This is the reality of life in a fallen world, where everything is fleeting and futile. Yet, we can still have joy amid hevel. But we have to realise that our self-striving will get us nowhere. We should humbly acknowledge our limitations. We cannot control or manipulate life for lasting gain. Insisting that we can will only make us more anxious, angry, frustrated and bitter. But joy in our toil is possible if we acknowledge that only God is enough. The way to joy now is by knowing God’s gift and knowing God’s grace.
a. Know God’s gift
“There 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, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? (Ecc 2:24-25)”
The Preacher’s advice here sounds like “eat, drink, be merry, for tomorrow we die”. Is he saying that since all is vanity, we might as well just have a good time before we die? The Preacher is not advocating such a hedonistic, cynical way of life. Do not miss the key point of his counsel to us: Instead of all our self-striving for personal gain, it is better to eat and drink and enjoy our toil, because all these things are “from the hand of God”. It is futile trying to find fulfilment under the sun without God. So far, the Preacher’s quest has been man-centred, focused on himself. But we cannot leave God out of the picture. All things come from God, who sovereignly rules over all things. All things, life and death and everything, are in his control. He is the Giver of gifts, as well as the Giver of the enjoyment of the gifts.
The Giver is the source of meaning and joy, not the gifts.
Our problem is that we tend to forget the Giver. We make too much of things like wisdom, pleasure, possessions and work. We chase after them without God, expecting them to give us lasting fulfilment and happiness. Not surprisingly, everything is vanity. Such things cannot bear the weight of expectations we put on them. They cannot give us the gain we seek. So, instead of seeing these things as ultimate, we should receive them humbly as gifts from God. The Giver is the source of meaning and joy, not the gifts. Instead of seeing our toil as a means for gain, we can simply be thankful to God for our toil and be happy in it.
The simple provision of eating and drinking is a gift from the good God, reminding us to be satisfied in Him. Enjoy God now. The present is His gift to us. Do not postpone joy. Delight in whatever God has given to us now, rather than always anxiously aiming for something more in the future. Enjoy God’s gifts the way we enjoy food. We cannot hoard that enjoyment for a later time. No, the joy is experienced as we eat and drink. Savour God’s gifts when He gives them. The basic things of life are sweet and good; they are daily reminders of God’s faithfulness and goodness. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10:31)
God graciously gives us many such gifts to enjoy throughout our lives. Every meal is an opportunity for joy in our toil. Do not waste these opportunities by being so set on striving for gain that we forget God and His daily gifts for our joy. Do not overlook the basic things of life. Many of us have the good habit of giving thanks before a meal. Let us mean it and be grateful to God for His good gifts. Only God is enough. This is the key to contentment. As one Christian writer (Jeremiah Burroughs) said it well: “Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.” Recognising that God is enough is the secret to being happy and content whatever our lot under the sun.
b. Know God’s grace
We can have joy by knowing God’s gift, and by knowing God’s grace. In Ecclesiastes 2:26, the Preacher pulls back the curtain and looks beyond life under the sun to God’s judgement — “For 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.” Beyond life under the sun, things are not meaningless for there will be a judgement to right all the wrongs. The just God will call us to account and make a distinction between “the one who pleases him” and “the sinner”. The sinner is the one who rejects God, refusing to be satisfied in Him. But without God, we will be left with nothing in the end, regardless of how much we may have accumulated for ourselves under the sun. Without God, everything is fleeting and futile, and a striving after wind.
The only way for us to please God is to trust in his Son, Jesus, to save us.
The one who pleases God, on the other hand, will gain wisdom, knowledge, and joy. But the question is: How can we please God? We have all sinned. According to God’s perfect justice and righteousness, we deserve his wrath against us. But God, who shows grace to undeserving sinners, has sent his Son for us. Hebrews 11 says it is impossible to please God without faith. Therefore, the only way for us to please God is to trust in his Son, Jesus, to save us. Jesus died for sinners, so that we can be forgiven and made right with God if we have faith in him. Jesus rose from the dead, to give us life and hope beyond the vanity of living under the sun.
Human wisdom is futile and fleeting, but in Christ we have wisdom from God. He is our righteousness, our holiness, our redemption. Only in Christ alone can we please God. So, know the grace of God by believing in Jesus. Only he can rescue us from the vanity of life under the sun. Jesus is worth living for. So, follow Him. As the missionary Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”