# 497 Ecclesiastes – In search of meaning in life – 2:17-25 Toil – meaningless or satisfying?

As we continue following Qoheleth’s quest we discover a tension building at times as he endeavours to come to grips with his convictions verses his experiences. Remember, he was an Israelite. He was a man of faith. He understood the laws, privileges, responsibilities and blessings of being a member of the people of God. But somehow at times this did not seem to all add up in his daily experiences.  

The following verses are one example of this as we note his emotions in 2:17-18 (as follows):

¹⁷ So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. ¹⁸ I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 

Then compare them to his convictions in 2:24-25 (as follows):

²⁴ 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, ²⁵ for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 

I wonder, do you ever senses this type tension in your own life? Have you met people who have expressed to you this same kind of tension or confusion?

In a previous Blog Post # 490, I quoted the examples of Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Job and the psalmist who wrote Psalm 73, who also face similar tension. The latter wrote:

¹ Surely God is good to Israel,
    to those who are pure in heart.

² But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
    I had nearly lost my foothold.
³ For I envied the arrogant
    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. (Psalm 73:1-3)

So, I guess the question is, how do we live with this tension?

Firstly, let’s consider one of the reasons for Qoheleth’s frustration. He says:

¹⁸ I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. ²⁰ So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. ²¹ For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. ²² What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? ²³ All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.

I guess there has been numbers of people over the ages who have experienced that type of frustration after, for example, building up a business and comfortable life for their family, then watching those who will take over the business and inherit the profits bit by bit let it all slip away due to lack of enthusiasm, understanding, ability or just because of having a self-centred attitude. The story Jesus told of the “prodigal son” depicts this type of situation – see Luke 15:11-32.

But then as we move on to Qoheleth’s words in vv. 24-26, we see something of the tension as he brings God back into the situation (not that He had ever left!). He speaks of the hand of God at work in the world, and the fact that without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?

It reminds us of Paul preaching to the people of Athens when he said:

²⁴ “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. ²⁵ And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. ²⁶ From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. ²⁷ God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring. (Acts 17: 24-26)

So, back to the question, ‘how do we live with the tension?’

The following Scriptures may help as each one here has dealt with the tension mentioned above – Lamentations 3:19-27; Habakkuk 3:17-19; Job 1:21, 13:15, 42:2 and Psalm 73:23-26.

For example, Jeremiah, despite his sufferings and those of his people, he writes:

¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering…
        and my soul is downcast within me…
²¹ Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness…
²⁵ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;
²⁶ it is good to wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.  (Lamentations 3)

And then ultimately, the answer is found in having faith in Jesus who Peter spoke of in Acts 2:

²² “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. ²³ This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. ²⁴ But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him…
³⁶ “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” (Acts 2)

Jesus suffered, Jesus died and Jesus was raised from the dead. All this by the hand of God because only in Him can we have a right relationship with God, experience forgiveness of sins and, as Qoheleth says, without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?