The book of Ecclesiastes is to the Bible as a formal gown is
to a county fair. It just doesn’t seem to belong there! Its thinking is so
different from any other Biblical book that many people wonder how it was ever
included in the Old Testament in the first place! Here’s how different the book of Ecclesiastes is. What doesn’t belong in this group? Puppy… kitten… bunny
rabbit… rhinoceros. Of course, all four are animals. But putting a rhinoceros
right next to three fluffy, cuddly little critters just doesn’t seem right. That’s how many people feel about Ecclesiastes. It does talk
about God… a few times. And it certainly considers the meaning of life, which
is certainly a suitable topic for the Bible. But while the Psalms and the
Proverbs and even the book of Job affirm that life is good, and believe that
justice ultimately prevails, Ecclesiastes doesn’t buy any of it. It’s the
“minority report” of Old Testament wisdom literature.
Everything that Ecclesiastes believes is built on the Hebrew
word “hevel.” It is used three times in the first verse, and almost 40 times in
the entire book (which, by the way, is only 12 chapters long). “Hevel” is
translated a variety of different ways depending on which Bible you’re reading.
· The King James Bible translates it as “vanity,”
and so does the New Revised Standard Version.
· The New International Version translates it as
“meaningless.”.
· The New English Bible translates it as
“emptiness,” while the Jewish Publication Society translates it as “futility.”
· Possibly the best translation is the one
that Eugene Peterson used in his Bible paraphrase The Message. He translates “hevel” as “smoke.”
The Hebrew word “hevel” literally means “vapor.” When you go
outside on a cold day and you can see your breath, that’s “hevel.” The steam
that comes out of a pot of boiling water is “hevel,” and so is the smoke rising
from a campfire. “Hevel” is mist. You can see it, but you can’t touch it. And
it’s brief – very, very brief. At best, you can see “hevel” for a couple of
seconds. After that, it dissolves into the air around it. That’s why it seems
to me that “brief” would be the best way to translate this Hebrew word that is
so full of shades of meaning.
Ecclesiastes claims that everything we do and even who we
are is “hevel.” Listen to the list of things that Ecclesiastes identifies as
“hevel.” Wealth and possessions are “hevel.” So are all our great plans, as
well as the fame that sometimes results from them. Youth and strength are
“hevel,” and so is beauty. Even wisdom is “hevel,” and certainly our own lives
are, too. All of them are “hevel” – very, very brief. And Ecclesiastes has a
point. Remembering that everything we have and everything we do is “hevel” is
not a bad thing.
Lots of people seem to forget that these days, don’t they? They
worry about money like it will help them live forever. They accumulate “stuff”
as though having enough of it will make them the winners at the game of life.
(Have you seen the bumper sticker that says, “The one who dies with the most
toys wins”? That’s their philosophy of life in 9 words!) They have a horror of
aging, and so they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on Botox treatments
and face lifts and tummy tucks. And they jump on each self-help fad with an
energy that can only be described as desperate. They want to keep themselves
forever young and healthy, and be rich and beautiful. And, of course, it never
happens. It can’t happen! Every king,
emperor, or pharaoh who ever lived died in the end. Yes, everyone’s life is
brief… and no one has ever figured out how to take it with them. Not one.
It makes me wonder what the author of Ecclesiastes would say
to us if he (or she) were here today. Perhaps he (or she) would give us some
advice.
First, put things in their proper perspective. If everything
is “hevel,” then it is foolishness to rely on it too much. Wealth, possessions,
fame, health – all of it is “hevel,” and one day it will all be gone. Isaiah
asks us, “Why do you work for things that don’t satisfy?” (Isaiah 55:2a), and
Ecclesiastes would echo that question. Relying on money or fame or good looks
is like relying on smoke! Now, to be sure, none of these things are bad. Ecclesiastes
doesn’t say that. In fact, they are
gifts from God. “Go, eat your food with gladness,” advises Ecclesiastes
(9:7-9). “Drink your wine with a joyful heart. Always be clothed in white, and
always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your spouse, whom you love,
all the days of this brief life that God has given you under the sun – all your
brief days.” I’d say that’s pretty good advice. And it’s also good advice to
remember that none of it will last forever.
Second, we should put ourselves in proper perspective, too. Lots
of people think that they’re pretty important. You know the type. In their
opinion, if something happened to them, the sun might not rise tomorrow. Well,
Ecclesiastes begs to differ. Wall Street banker or housewife, rock star or
homeless man, four-star general or fourth grader – not a one of us is indispensable! Our lives are brief, and the world keeps right on going whether
or not we are in it. So, what’s the good
news, preacher? If our lives are so short and we’re so unimportant, what’s the
point of doing anything? Why not just give up?
Well, that’s certainly the conclusion that some folks come
to. But not Ecclesiastes. As brief as our lives may be, Ecclesiastes reminds us
that those lives are bound up in God – and God is the one thing in our lives that
is not “hevel”! That may be the most important advice that the author of Ecclesiastes would offer us if he (or she) were here today. God is the one
constant that we can rely on, no matter who we are and no matter what our
situation may be. Our lives are like a breath that appears one moment and
vanishes the next; but God is from everlasting to everlasting, more reliable
than the mountains. And because God is reliable, we never need to worry about what
will happen to us from one minute to the next. Now, we let’s have no illusions
– life is not easy. The author of Ecclesiastes would be the first to agree with
that. But he (or she) would also be the first to remind us that bad times don’t last.
Bad times don’t stay around forever! They are “hevel,” too. And God is here
with us, no matter what happens. God is truly our Rock, the One on whom we can always
rely.
“Hevel.” Vapor… mist… smoke… like a breath. Yes, that’s what
we humans are. But thanks be to God that God is anything but “hevel”! How does Isaiah put it? “All people are like grass, and their glory is like the
flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of
our God will endure forever.” (Isaiah 40:6b, 8)
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