Qoheleth (the Teacher) ends the book of Ecclesiastes by telling us that after all he’s done and experienced, having looked all over the world, gaining more wealth and knowledge than anyone else, and after experiencing every pleasure there was, he realized that absolutely nothing held value; there was no meaning in any of it.
The only thing that really mattered was God.
He tells us in chapter 12, verses 13 and 14:
13Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
14For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
Qoheleth is letting us know that the only thing we need to do is focus on God.
The only thing that matters is fearing God and keeping His commandments.
That’s it.
That’s our whole purpose.
We don’t need to chase after fame and fortune.
We don’t need to try to experience all the worldly pleasures.
We only need to look to God, fear Him, and keep (obey) His commandments.
It is when we do these things that we will find fulfillment and peace.
The Teacher tells us he found out this truth first hand. He shares several examples of times he learned these truths about God. A few examples include:
In chapter 2 the Teacher tells us he discovered toil is meaningless.
The Teacher sees how a person works hard all their days to build a good life and fortune, only to leave it all behind when they die. He realizes he has no way of knowing whether the person receiving it will take care of it or squander it.
He finds this meaningless and a great misfortune.
He realizes a man “can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God.” – 2:24 (NIV)
He goes on to ask for without God, who can eat or find enjoyment? ( NIV)
In chapter 3 he wraps up this thought by saying, “I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his toil – this is the gift of God.” –3:12-13 (NIV)
The Teacher has realized it is neither the toil nor the products of that toil that satisfy – it is that God gifted them these things that satisfies man.
The teacher also tells us he has learned that while wicked men may commit many crimes and still live a very long life, things go better for God-fearing men, who are reverent before God. –8:11-13 (NIV).
The wicked men may live a long life, but things will not go well for them and their days will be empty. When their time on this earth is over they will have nothing to show for it.
Both the wicked and the God-fearing men will be judged by God. The wicked men will suffer because they did not honor and revere God. The God-fearing men will be rewarded because they honored God with their lives.
In chapter 12 the Teacher shares the importance of honoring God from a young age.
He urges everyone to remember their Creator while they are young.
Life goes by quickly and before you know it, it’s over.
There will come a time when the days of trouble come and the years approach but we will say we find no pleasure in them: –12:1 (NIV)
These are the days of our old age.
Our sight will go dim, our hearing will fade, and our bodies will fail us.
At this point our spirits will return to God.
There is nothing we can do to change or avoid that.
Whatever we do, God will bring us to judgement –11:9 (NIV).
For this reason we would be wise to remember God while we still have time.
We shouldn’t spend our lives on pleasure, but rather on the God who judges every deed.
It is fearing and honoring God that brings true meaning to life.
Our Teacher, Qoheleth has made it clear that honoring God is the wisest thing we can do. It’s what really matters in life.
Through all of his searching, experiencing, and examining, he has found there is nothing else that matters or gives fulfillment.
Our focus should be fearing God and obeying Him during whatever time He gives us on this earth.
This is truly the only thing that gives life meaning.
Everything else is meaningless! Utterly meaningless!
We’ve come to the end of our walk through Ecclesiastes. While we’ve covered several themes in the book, we’ve barely scratched the surface. There is so much more wisdom to be found within its chapters.
These posts were written to serve as a “jumping off place” to help you see certain things that will hopefully help you begin to better understand the book.
I encourage you to read it and see what else you can learn from the Teacher.
If you want to talk about this series, or have any points you would like to bring up or discuss, please feel free to either email me or to comment below!
(This is the 6th and final post in a series on the book of Ecclesiastes. The series is a brief overview designed to give you a gentle introduction to the book. You can find all the posts here.)