If you take the morning vapor and look at it as it settles in the valley, it is just a brief time and it is gone. It is beautiful but it is fleeting. By mid afternoon all of that moisture amounts to nothing. When we look at the unending cycles of nature – the wind, the water, the sunrise – the linear lifespan of a person is nothing. Against the reality of God’s Creation, the existence of the individual is small and meaningless. In history a few people are remembered, but most are forgotten.
The writer of Ecclesiastes sets up the question, “What can the individual gain that will endure and be of consequence for the ages?” The answer – nothing.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-11
1 The words of the Teacher,[a]son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
3 What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
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.
Questions
- If ‘fleeting’ is a better translation than ‘meaningless’ how is the above translation misleading?
- What great cycles in Creation are pitted against mankind’s attempts to gain?
- Why, in your opinion, does mankind long to gain riches, knowledge, or control?
- What might this passage imply about how mankind should maintain God-ordained balance in the environment?
- How should the pointlessness of hoarding affect today’s consumer society?
Plymothian 
1. It makes it seems as if everything we do, even the things for the glory of God don’t mean anything. If it is translated as fleeting, it helps the reader see that the things that they do or that they find important will not last in this life.
2. the sun rising and setting, the blowing of the wind, the flow of water
3. I think people strive for these things because they think that they will bring them happiness and satisfy a certain need that they have.
4. This passage explains that certain things in nature have a cycle that has been here since creation. Humans should not try to change these cycles.
5. It should change people’s focus and what they are striving for in life. It should also change how they treat others, in that it should make them more willing to share what they have with those that don’t.
1. meaningless is misleading in that it makes everything in life of no meaning. what Solomon is actually trying to say is that nothing lasts forever.
2. The cycles in creation that ruin mankind’s attempt at gain is a continual experience of death and life.
3. They want to gain happiness and satisfaction through monetary gain.
4. Don’t live in a way that is greedy because this will cause you to take more resources from the environment. This will negatively impact the way the environment is ran.
5. Hoarding should be an example to the society of the worthlessness of collecting material things. they should see all the items that hoarders have, and not use, and realize that there is no real gain to be had.
1.If ‘fleeting’ is a better translation than ‘meaningless’ how is the above translation misleading?
– using ‘meaningless’ in verses might demotivate readers about their lives and whatever they do. since the meaning of the adjective does not imply positive side.
2.What great cycles in Creation are pitted against mankind’s attempts to gain?
– ?
3.Why, in your opinion, does mankind long to gain riches, knowledge, or control?
-It is because human beings possess a sinful instinct to be higher than any one and desire to reach to the level of God.
4.What might this passage imply about how mankind should maintain God-ordained balance in the environment?
– humbling ourselves no matter how we are and whatever we do.
5.How should the pointlessness of hoarding affect today’s consumer society?
– It should not entice people who eager to be successful than others and to possess things which doesn’t belong to anyone else. And people also ought to realize that nothing is going to satisfy their greedy heart.
1. By using the word “meaningless”, then one might propose that the whole life of a human has no consequence, and there is no reason to live, where if the word is translated “fleeting” then life does matter, but it is very short.
2. Some cycles that cause man from gaining are like life and death. Many times when one thing dies, another is born. Also, the renewing of the seasons can stall a man’s attempt for crops.
3, Man tries to gain these things because he would like to be his own God. Man would like to control his destiny, to give himself what he thinks will bring him happiness. By controlling things, he would like to think that he can secure good fortune.
4. I think that man must plot his plans for growing plants, for travelling the seas, and for doing a great many things on how the cycle of the earth works.
5. I think it would do our society a great deal of good to just be able to let go. To be able to give to poothers and not always keep things for themselves. I am guilty of this myself. I thjink I need much more than I really do.
1) Meaningless gives the impression that there is absolutely no point to our lives, whereas fleeting just makes it seem like our lives are short in comparison with the scope of eternity.
2) The author compares the water cycle and the cycle of life and death to our attempts at gaining in life.
3) I think our desire to gain so much in life primarily comes from our inability to comprend much outside of the present, so we don’t actually think about the fact that we really “can’t take it with us” when we die.
4) Well, it should help us remeber that truthfully, a lot of what we do on earth has no eternal impact. Keeping this in mind, we should strive to live our lives storing up treasures in heaven rather than on earth.
5) It should help people to be more generous, donating their money to good causes.
1.) fleeting seems to make the point that life is short and comes to pass, but does not insinuate as much that life has all together no purpose or point.
2.) The sun sets and the sun rises, basically the world will go on as it does no matter what kind of impact you think you have on it. The circle of life will continue and when you look back the labor you out into the earth will seem like it never happened.
3.) Man desires to gain riches, knowledge, and control becuase he thinks that it will make life simpler and more enjoyable, becuase we desire to get what we want and that is what these things imply, riches buy you what you want, knowledge teaches you how to get it, and control allows you to demand what you want.
4.) The world, and the environment are meant to be dealt with in such a way that they can continue in its natural cycle, what is reaped is to be sown again, things should not be run dry and land used to its death, but rather there should be a healthy balance so that the life of the environment may be sustainable.
5.) The pointlessness of hoarding should effect our society by making us less materialistic as we come to a realization that none of these worldly possessions will last forever nor give us purpose or worth while on earth.
1.If ‘fleeting’ is a better translation than ‘meaningless’ how is the above translation misleading?
fleeting implies just a meaning of time-length. But the author does not focus on just time length of our lives. meaningless indicates not about the time length of our lives, but about the ultimate goal or value of our lives in the verses.
2.What great cycles in Creation are pitted against mankind’s attempts to gain?
some cycles might be illustrated as limitations of human faculty such as death, limits of physical body, time limits of work ability..etc.
3.Why, in your opinion, does mankind long to gain riches, knowledge, or control?
toil is what we must bear to live our lives. many times it is not an easy, enjoyable part of our lives, since we must make a lot of efforts for the labors.
in some parts of our lives to gain riches, knowledge, or control can offer a convenient life in this vertical competitive society.
4.What might this passage imply about how mankind should maintain God-ordained balance in the environment?
this passage implies that there is no creature on the earth that human can control by the own will of men, but only God is able to control all the creature.
the big cycle of the environment is established by God and we are under the cycle which is not changeable without the creator,God. Therefore the fact humbles us to maintain God ordained balance and completely rely on Him in the environment.
5.How should the pointlessness of hoarding affect today’s consumer society
It should help people to turn the eyes to hungers’ needs.
1. If “fleeting” is a better translation than “meaningless”, then the meaning of this passage changes from saying that there is no point in life, that we have no purpose to saying that our life and our work is short compared to all of creation.
2. The cycles of life and death, age, as well as the seasons and days are all great cycles in creation that are pitted against mankind’s attempts to gain.
3. Mankind longs to gain riches, power, and control because of our sin nature. These things are not things that Adam and Eve worried about in the Garden, but as soon as sin entered in, they became concerned about them.
4. This passage implies that mankind should maintain God-ordained balance in the environment because nature and the way creation works has been going on forever, and our lives are short, so we should not think that we have a better way of balancing things than what has already been done.
5. The pointlessness of hoarding to affect our society today and make people realize that they really don’t need all that stuff. It is not helping their lives, and they are only here for a short time. When people are so focused on stuff, they miss out on interactions and experiences that are much more valuable and long-lasting than acquiring more and more stuff.
1. fleeting sort of implies that theres no point to life, but really there is.
2. well everybody dies and thats definitely not gain. no one is omnipotent or omniscient so that limits us too.
3.we have sin natures that tend to want to exalt ourselves. and by our earthly standards, power and money make us look great.
4. it implies that we have no power over the cycle of nature.
5. hoarding is simply making earthly things gods. and so storing up earthly gods will gain no heavenly treasures because they are pointless.
1. If ‘fleeting’ is a better translation than ‘meaningless’ how is the above translation misleading?
The word meaningless implies that nothing can give it meaningless and leads one to question why we are doing them in the first place. Why find any joy in life if it is only meaningless?
2. What great cycles in Creation are pitted against mankind’s attempts to gain?
We are always trying to control oil and the amount of fumes we put into the air. We are messing this world up by not considering that the earth is a treasure to be cared for.
3. Why, in your opinion, does mankind long to gain riches, knowledge, or control?
Because we are sinful fallen creatures that have rebelled against a holy and righteous God, our hearts will always long to sin.
4. What might this passage imply about how mankind should maintain God-ordained balance in the environment?
We are to focus not on the temporary things of this life but on the things in Heaven.
5. How should the pointlessness of hoarding affect today’s consumer society?
They need to realize that it is all meaningless and temporary and that in the end it all doesn’t matter.
1. the word “meaningless” suggests negativity and no hope, whereas “fleeting” does the opposite– it suggests freedom.
2. gaining and losing… if a man attempts to gain something for his own betterment, he is more likely losing something more important.
3. because, once knowing of good and evil, man became sinful by wanting to be equal to God instead of underneath Him.
4. we aren’t supposed to worry about earthly things– we should worry about what God has for us that is not material.
5. they need to come to the realization that, what they are doing is not only extremely unhealthy to their physical and mental beings, but it also shows an extreme weakness in their spiritual lives as well. one that hoards doesn’t truly trust God.
1. If ‘fleeting’ is a better translation than ‘meaningless’ how is the above translation misleading?
– ‘meaningless’ sounds negatively and it implies that it does not have any value, but ‘fleeting’ is more likely to mean ‘not lasting for a long time’
2. What great cycles in Creation are pitted against mankind’s attempts to gain? Generations come and go but the earth remains forever.
3.Why, in your opinion, does mankind long to gain riches, knowledge, or control? because they consider our earthly living important and they want to live happily and easily with those riches, knowledge and power they get.
4. What might this passage imply about how mankind should maintain God-ordained balance in the environment?
– It implies that we should let things come and go and not try to hold anything??
5.How should the pointlessness of hoarding affect today’s consumer society?
Whether they save valuable things for the future or not, our lives are short. Therefore, they need to realize that everything we do does not last long.