Ecclesiastes is a series of reasonings by Solomon
Ecclesiastes is a series of reasonings by Solomon
Ecclesiastes is a series of reasonings by Solomon from which a core teaching can be extracted by God's children in every generation, of the utter futility of life apart from God; of basing one's values in life on earthly possessions and self-gratifying pleasures; and of relying solely on human effort and wisdom to achieve lasting happiness and satisfaction from life.
The key word in Ecclesiastes is vanity, which means something transitory, hollow, vain, empty, meaningless. From a New Testament Christian perspective this expresses the futility of life apart from God. Vanity translates from the Hebrew word hebel, meaning literally, "breath", which explains Solomon referring to it as "grasping for the wind" (CP Ecc 1:14, 17; 2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 6, 16; 5:16; 6:19).
The theme of Ecclesiastes from a New Testament Christian perspective, is the hollowness of natural man's accomplishments, and the complexity of life without God as the central focus. The lives of those in which God is not the central focus, are purposeless and meaningless (CP Ecc 1:2; 12:8).