“this short, monotonous life is a gift. Doing laundry, changing diapers, mowing your lawn, living day after day, is a gift…There is not much new about the gift, but there is One who is making all things new, who after He has given you this short life as a gift, will give you the gift of a new creation, where the wonder of it all will never grow old.”   –Brian Borgman

Chasing After The Wind: Qoheleth is an analyst. He is not detached from his analysis; he is fully invested. He wants to get to the bottom of his question in 1:3, “What is the advantage in all our toil, in this vapor of life?” Qoheleth is determined to use all his available resources, which are vast. He is fully equipped with God-given wisdom (1 Kings 4:29–34). But as he surveys the task before him, he acknowledges, it is a “lousy job.” The job does not belong uniquely to Qoheleth, God gave it to the children of men. But Qoheleth is uniquely qualified for this “unhappy business.” Qoheleth begins with his conclusion (1:14) and says, “I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vapor and a striving after the wind.” Everything everyone does is temporary. In the end, all our activities are trying to shepherd the wind. The reason why such an endeavor is vapor and shepherding the wind is because what is crooked cannot be straightened (1:15). We are wired to straighten crooked things, but God has only given the desire, not the necessary strength. In addition to that, life under the sun is like a big puzzle, and God has made sure that some key pieces are lacking…..

Qoheleth then makes one other stark conclusion in verse 18. I paraphrase it like this: “The more you know, the more you hurt”……If you think about life, if you wrestle with hebel, if you see the bent things in life, and notice some pieces are missing, you will know grief. If you take creation, life, and the fall seriously, you cannot take life lightly. This does not mean that wisdom has no advantage, it does. What it does mean is that wisdom is limited in what it can do in unlocking the mysteries of life and making sense of hebel. This is not Qoheleth surrendering. Instead, he moves forward knowing his limitations. Nothing new is under the sun. Everything is merely a breath.

There is nothing inherently wrong with a good laugh, a glass of wine, or personal achievement. There is nothing wrong with enjoying music or intimacy with one’s spouse. But these things can never satisfy the heart in and of themselves. The very things that Qoheleth thought would vaporize hebel get vaporized by hebel.

Wisdom does not mitigate the transience of life….yet, but be assured, this short, monotonous life is a gift. Doing laundry, changing diapers, mowing your lawn, living day after day, is a gift…There is not much new about the gift, but there is One who is making all things new, who after He has given you this short life as a gift, will give you the gift of a new creation, where the wonder of it all will never grow old.

Life is a vapor. What then is the advantage of a life filled with such toil? Is there anything that can mitigate the pain of hebel?…Those related questions lead Qoheleth into one of the most notorious parts of the book. We should, however, not simply read 2:1–11 as some hedonist experiment in pleasure. Instead Qoheleth is emphasizing a diligent effort for “earned pleasure.” Graham Ogden notes, this is “not a self-indulgent flight, but a scientific experiment.”

Qoheleth begins his quest….. At the end of the day, Qoheleth sat upon a mountain of wealth and achievement. His own assessment of his attainments and position is stunning. He said, “Then I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also, my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heartfound pleasure in all my toil and this was my reward for all my toil” (2:9–10). At last! Some advantage in this vaporous life was finally his. He had fame. He had unlimited resources. His accomplishments were truly epic…. The value hard work has is the pleasure one feels in doing it (2:10), but no amount of work can produce material benefits that can be grasped and permanently gained ‘under the sun’ (2:11).” There is nothing inherently wrong with a good laugh, a glass of wine, or personal achievement. There is nothing wrong with enjoying music or intimacy with one’s spouse. But these things can never satisfy the heart in and of themselves. The very things that Qoheleth thought would vaporize hebel get vaporized by hebel. “Happiness is a vanishing vapor. All our bubbles burst eventually.”The bubbles we think will make us happy will indeed burst. We better be sure that we have something more substantial than bubbles. – Brian Borgman