The Prologue
Ecclesiastes 1:1-11
Running in Circles
There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.
Harry S. Truman (1884–1972)
We have need of history in its entirety, not to fall back into it, but to see if we can escape
from it.
José Ortega y Gasset (1883–1955), Spanish essayist, philosopher. The Revolt of the
Masses, ch. 10 (1930).
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
George Santayana (1863–1952), U.S. philosopher, poet. Life of Reason, “Reason in
Common Sense,” ch. 12 (1905–6).
I. Futility of futilities (v. 2)
A. What does this expression remind you of?
1. What was the innermost part of the tabernacle?
2. What was the innermost part of the temple?
B. The symbolism of that innermost part (Hebrews 9:3,11,23,24)
1. It is a copy of heaven (Heb 9:23,24)
2. It is not of this creation (Heb 9:11)
C. By contrast everything "under the sun" (i.e. of this creation) is the exact opposite —
futility of futilities.
II. There is no profit in labor under the sun (v. 3)
A. Labor is a creation ordinance (Genesis 2:15)
B. But labor fell under the curse (Genesis 3:17,18)
C. And is therefore subject to frustration and futility.
D. The only profit we can hope for is out from under the sun. We need nothing less than
a new heavens and a new earth.
III. Life is a great circle (a "weary go-round" as Charles Bridges puts it) (vv. 4-11)
A. Generations come and go (v. 4)
B. But the earth stands forever
1. Typical OT language — Psalm 104:5, 119:90.
a) Yet Psalm 104 uses this image to speak of God’s sovereignty and Psalm
199:90 to speak of his covenant faithfulness
b) The Preacher is not comfortable with God’s sovereignty because he cannot tell
whether God will use it in his favor. So God’s sovereignty only serves to
emphasize man’s powerlessness (3:1-8 v. 9ff.)
c) And The Preacher is not content to know that God is faithful unless he can
discern that by observation (9:1,2)
2. So the Creation, far from evidencing God’s love and faithfulness, is pressed into
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service to mock man in his impermanence.
3. Contrast between God's works and man and his works.
4. Shows the seeming hopelessness of waiting for a new heavens and a new earth.
The old one was built to last. This demonstrates the radical nature of the work of
Christ.
5. The new heavens and the new earth will relate to the old as the resurrection body
relates to the old body.
C. Even creation itself parodies the futility of our endeavors (vv. 5-7)
1. The sun goes around in a circle and wears itself out and gets nowhere (v. 5)
a) Compare to Psalm 19:6
b) It is not that the sun's course itself is futile, but that the Preacher presses even
it's motion into service as a description of our futility.
2. The wind blows around in circles
a) Compare to John 3:8
b) Again, the wind is not itself futile. Indeed, it becomes a picture of the very
opposite of futility.
c) I believe Jesus had Ecclesiastes 1:6 in mind when he spoke these words. The
creation and we are to be redeemed from futility, not discarded and replaced.
3. Streams flow into sea but can't seem to fill it. They end up where they started.
D. So our endeavors run in circles and have no fruition (vv. 8-9)
1. All things (or, as I prefer to translate it, "words") are wearisome (v. 8a)
a) The eye and the ear are like streams rushing to the sea: they just can't seem to
get their task done (v. 8b)
b) They need to see and something they've never seen and heard before
(1) 1 Corinthians 2:9
(2) Paul quotes from Isaiah 64:4 and 65:17. Note the reference there to the new
heavens and the new earth.
2. And no matter how many cycles we run through, nothing changes (vv. 9-11)
a) Remember the observation of George Santayana quoted at the beginning of
this outline.
b) The irony is that those who do know history are still doomed to repeat it.
(1) Because everything gets done over and over (v. 9)
(2) There simply aren't any new things to do (v. 10)
(a) If anything in the old creation could have saved you, it would have
made itself known long ago.
(b) No, you need the one who declares, "Behold, I make all things new"
(Rev 21:5).
c) And a further irony is that we don't really know history anyway (v. 11).
(1) We don't remember things of old
(2) Those who come after won't remember us.
(3) This also shows the futility of those who hope to gain a sort of immortality
through fame that endures after death. We need a better immortality than
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that.
3. The lack of “remembrance”
a) This is a major theme of this book, and we’ll treat it more carefully later
b) For now, let’s note that the first time the verb “remember” is used in Scripture
is in Genesis 8:1 — “God remembered Noah...” (and saved him in the flood).
c) We think also of the thief on the cross — “Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).
d) Clearly “remembrance” is more than simply calling to mind. It bears
connotations of salvation, of remembering in order to help and to intercede.
e) It is this remembrance that man needs and that he cannot find anywhere...
under the sun.
E. Compare vv. 4,9-11 with 2 Peter 3:3-7,10-13
1. Unbelievers mock by saying everything goes on the same; there are no changes.
2. Yet that's exactly what Ecclesiastes 1:4,9-11 seem to be saying.
a) Remember this is life under the sun.
b) This is life as it seems to man not as it looks to God.
3. Peter responds to the objection by pointing to Noah (2 Pt 3:5,6)
a) God clearly announced his intention that the earth should not continue in an
endless cycle.
b) There will be a judgment day (2 Pt 3:7)
c) And the heavens and the earth will be renewed to an entirely different kind of
existence (2 Pt 3:10-13)
d) And because of this, Ecclesiastes can end by saying "Fear God and keep his
commandments . . . for God will bring every deed into judgment" (Ecc
12:13,14).
(1) Don't be fooled by appearances; things won't go on this way forever.
Prepare for judgment.
(2) But the Ecclesiastes makes this point by first giving due weight to
appearances . . .
(3) And by pointing out the futility of looking for fruition for one's deeds short
of the new heavens and the new earth.
Note, lastly, the chiasm of verses 4-11. Verse one is the introduction. 2 and 3 are the thesis
statement. And then comes the chiasm:
Men are impermanent (Generations come and go) — v. 4
The sun and wind go in circles getting nowhere — vv. 5,6
The streams never seem to complete their task of filling the sea — v. 7
All words are wearisome; more than one can express — v. 8a
The eye and ear never complete their tasks of seeing and hearing — v. 8b
Men go in circles, getting nowhere, doing nothing new — vv. 9.10
Men are impermanent; they come and go and no one remembers them — v. 11