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ECCLESIASTES – LESSON ONE

I. THE VANITIES OF LIFE (1:1-18)

A. Prologue: “All is vanity” and “What profit hath a man of all his labor wherewith he laboreth under the sun?” (v. 1-11)

1. Asked in context of experiencing:

(a). Passing generations on an abiding  earth (v. 4)

(b). The sun, the wind, and the waters repeating their circuits (v. 5-7)

(c). The fact man is never filled, with seeing and hearing  (v. 8).

(d). The fact that there is no new thing under the sun (v. 9-10).

(e). Generations will not be remembered when they pass from this earth (v. 11).

         B. The vanity of human striving after wisdom and knowledge (v. 12-18).  

1.   Seeking things after wisdom is a sore travail God has given man with which

      to be exercised (v. 12-13).

2. Knowing that some things cannot be changed – effort to do so is striving after the wind (v. 14-15).

(a). That which is crooked cannot be made straight.

(b). That which is wanting cannot be numbered.

  3.   Solomon’s experience in having knowledge and wisdom causes him to

                              conclude that it is striving after the wind, and increasing knowledge increases

                              sorrow (v. 16-18).

QUESTIONS:

1. What do you see in generations, the sun, the wind, and the waters of rivers that back up the preacher when he says, “all is vanity” ?

2. How long will the earth abide?

3. The Book of Ecclesiastes is:

(a). Pessimistic in its outlook on life.

(b). Realistic in its outlook on life.

(c). Instructive in showing man life under the sun is best lived in the context of acknowledging and honoring God.

     

4. Who is “the preacher”?

5. What did the preacher conclude about some works done under the sun after he applied his wisdom?

6. What also did the preacher know when he sought to know wisdom?

7. What goes along with gaining much knowledge and wisdom in matters done under the sun?