It seems to me, living in a western culture, that we human beings are addicted to seeking after “new things.” For example, how many people do you know (maybe you are one of them) that must simply have the latest fashion in clothes, or possess the latest version of iPhone? What is that all about? And does that latest fashion accessory or that latest gadget actually satisfy for very long? Obviously not, and of course, that is the way the manufacturers like it!
Well, Qoheleth has something to say about this issue as follows:
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.
Now, like me you may be thinking, what does he mean by the words, 9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
When I consider my life over 75 years, there have been mind boggling changes in our world, particularly when we consider technology. For example, my first job in the 1970s as a cartographic draftsman was all done with pencil and paper. Today, the same thing is all accomplished much quicker and more accurately with the use of new technology, i.e., CAD meaning “Computer Aided Design.” So, how can he say that there is nothing new under the sun?
Well, as Kidner comments:
“… what are we to make of the famous saying, There is nothing new under the sun (9)? How strictly is it meant? Probably our own popular use of it gives the best answer. We exclaim it as a sweeping comment on the human scene, not as a pronouncement about inventions. No-one – least of all Qoheleth – is going to deny the inventiveness of humanity. But plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose: the more things change, the more they turn out to be the same. In their new guise the old ways go on. As a race, we never learn.” (# 59)
And as the saying goes: “We learn from history, that we do not learn from history.” (G. Hegel)
Fortunately, as Christians we know that all is not as hopeless as described here by Qoheleth. As Wright says:
“A cyclical view of history will always end up being hopeless. The reason for that is simple. A circular or cyclical view of history lacks two things. First, it lacks a sense of purpose (theologians call that “teleology”)—a goal toward which things are moving. If you are just going round in circles, you are not “going anywhere.” No wonder it feels meaningless! And second, it lacks a sense of an end (theologians call that “eschatology”)—that God will ultimately “finish the story,” complete his purposes, and achieve the total fulfilment of his promises, so there is a future to be eagerly anticipated.” (# 60)
In the book of Revelation, we read of this eagerly anticipated future:
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away …And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. (Revelation 21: 1-6)
Is your faith in the One and only God who calls himself here the “Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End?” And if so, are you eagerly anticipating this future when God will “make everything new?” Then, we shall be satisfied for all eternity.
Worship and Wisdom - Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. 