LIVING LIFE FOR OURSELVES IS NOTHING MORE THAN SOAP BUBBLES

Meaningless! says the Teacher. Utterly meaningless!
 Everything is meaningless” In fact this dismal theme brackets the entire book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament (1:2 and 12:8).

Nevertheless, the author has a purpose and here it is. You don’t hear this immediately upon reading the first two chapter but the author extends an invitation to enjoy life as a gift from God. "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? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." (2:24-26).

Before announcing that life is a gift from God to enjoy, the author realistically prepares for that conclusion by speaking to the restlessness of life (1:1- 11). So much in life appears to be futile and worthless when viewing life from a leave- God - out - of the - picture, secular worldview. Therefore the author completes the corollary. Life is a gift from God to be enjoyed but without God life is hollow.

EVERYTHING IS MEANINGLESS

What kind of world are we living in? No matter how it may be described, God does have a word for us. It comes in Ecclesiastes, one of the canonical wisdom books. Ecclesiastes is a series of lectures in the Old Testament that speak about life, reality, and values for wise and successful living. Ecclesiastes has sometimes been misunderstood or neglected.  Some have considered it to be the strangest book in the Bible. The author has been accused of scepticism, fatalism, and pessimism. That's not an accurate appraisal. I recommend the following perspective. Approach the book with an open mind. Discard unflattering assumptions. It is possible to understand what the author was communicating to an Old Testament community of faith and to discern robust recommendations and warnings about life and for living in this age.

The descriptor "son of David" identifies the author as a male and although the author's personal name has not been divulged, the options are narrowed. "The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem …" (1:1). From among David's sons, it was Solomon who had a reputation for communicating wisdom and truth. He is called qoheleth meaning teacher as he takes on the role of a sage, a wise man, a scholar, a wise and older tutor of wisdom.  Like other sages of his day, Solomon spoke to the young people of his day. His primary audience was young adults embarking on life and making decisions about their priorities, their values, and their purposes in life.

The author begins the book by describing everything in life as vanity or meaningless. “Meaningless! Meaningless! says the Teacher. 
Utterly meaningless!
 Everything is meaningless” (1:2). How long would you stay with a counsellor who spoke like that? He must have something more to say. 
He does.