Ecclesiastes removes the rose-colored glasses we often wear as Christians and tells it like it is. Three phrases capture its analysis: “vanity of vanities,” “under the sun,” and “striving after wind.” We can put them together this way: under the sun we experience vanity, and our efforts amount to striving after wind.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. (Eccl. 12:13, NKJV)
Be honest. When you look around and see the mess the world is in, does it seem that there is an all-powerful, all-wise, all-good God at the helm?
The wicked often prosper, while the righteous falter. Nations are at war. Disease is rampant. Natural disasters wreak havoc and bring great misery. Society tries its best to bring order but can make things worse by their misguided efforts.
Where is God?
That is the question addressed by the book of Ecclesiastes. It begins by saying that our eyes are not deceiving us. The world really is a mess. There is disorder, depravity, dysfunction, and injustice. The book is full of examples we can relate to.
Ecclesiastes begins, “vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Those words validate our experience. They speak to a futility to life.