…Although wisdom is better than folly, wisdom encounters a massive limitation: it cannot stop death. The wise man dies just like the fool. The end of hebel is death. Death is the sudden period at the end of the vapor. “Yes, it is better to be able to see where you are going (be wise) but don’t expect wisdom to save you from the fate common to all living things.” –Brian Borgman
Ecclesiastes 2:12-26
Death Comes to Us All (2:12–17) The investigation continues. This section (2:12–16) resumes the discussion from 1:16–18. Qoheleth is going to “face” wisdom, madness, and folly. Why does Qoheleth include madness and folly? He is probably reminding us of the inclusive nature of his investigation; nothing was off the table. Qoheleth is not going to kick wisdom to the curb. He will not give up on wisdom.
“For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done” (2:12b)….In context this line states that there is little chance that humans will behave with greater wisdom than their first ancestor, Adam, who came directly from the hand of God.” Perhaps Qoheleth is suggesting that “nobody is going to come along and solve the mystery……Who can do more than he has done in exploring this mystery?” Solomon describes what he saw: “Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness” (2:13).
Qoheleth’s diagnosis: wisdom is the only way to get the advantage. He knows wisdom has its limitations, but at the end of the day, he refuses to give up on wisdom. “Limited it may be, but it is still indispensable.… As God’s gift it is light; as man’s possession it is sight.” Wisdom is not only light, but it is also sight. The wise person, says Solomon, “has his eyes in his head,” which is to say that he can see. The fool, on the other hand, “walks in darkness” (cf. Prov. 4:18–19; 22:3). As Qoheleth turns to ponder, and maybe even reassess wisdom and folly, his conclusion is crystal clear: wisdom is better than folly just as sure as light is better than darkness and sight is better than blindness.
…Although wisdom is better than folly, wisdom encounters a massive limitation: it cannot stop death. The wise man dies just like the fool. The end of hebel is death. Death is the sudden period at the end of the vapor. “Yes, it is better to be able to see where you are going but don’t expect wisdom to save you from the fate common to all living things.” This is most troubling to our tour guide. He does not like where this journey has led.
Paraphrasing Qoheleth’s reflections in 2:16 on the inevitable sound like this: “If I die just like the fool who couldn’t care less, then why have I spent so much time being wise? As I reflected on this, it was vapor! The fool is vapor. His folly is vapor. The wise man is vapor. His wisdom is vapor. Both will die, both will be forgotten.” After this sobering reflection, Qoheleth summarizes his investigation so far…. “So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vapor and a striving after wind” (2:17).
There are a few observations about Solomon’s startling statement. “So I hated life!” ……But why are his feelings so strong?……The expression of hatred for this life is more a mark of piety than a mark of bitterness. If Qoheleth had not felt the deep pain of hebel, then the curse wouldn’t have been a curse. Qoheleth’s bubble burst, and the joy got sucked right out of his life. He looked at his toil, he looked at his wisdom, he thought he had grasped the reward, and it became hateful to him because in the end, it was simply a breath. Nothing lasts. In addition, the toil was grievous. Everything is still vapor, and all the efforts and attainments are a great vexation to the spirit because it is still an impossible task. The hunger for more, the hunger for permanence, and the hunger for significance and reward don’t just linger. They consume this brief blip on the screen we call life. The hunger is never satisfied. When we think it is, it is satisfying like Chinese food is filling. We just hunger again in half an hour. Qoheleth felt the pain of hebel deeply.
The conclusion is powerful: it is good for man to enjoy the simple pleasures of life, eating, drinking, and laboring under the sun. He should recognize that those simple pleasures are from the hand of God; they are indeed gifts from Him. “What spoils them is our hunger to get out of them more than what they can give.”…. ). If we live life, eating, drinking, and working, without recognizing that these are God’s gifts to us; if we live life and think these things are rewards to be earned rather than gifts to be enjoyed, then hebel will crush us with disappointment.
Life’s Like a Can of Peaches (2:18–23) For all who missed it the first time, Qoheleth shouts it again: “I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun” (2:18).….. Qoheleth describes that reality from an adult perspective. Expectations are built up. Then once they come and go, disappointment sets in. The feeling of no satisfaction falls. Depression is the result. Is all the anticipation worth such a letdown?……To make matters worse, Qoheleth is also aware that everything he toiled for, everything he acquired will be left to someone who comes after him. There is the realization that his life will end, but life will continue, and he does not know what will come after him (2:12, 18; 3:22; 6:12; 7:14; 9:3; 10:14). All his attainments will go to someone. At this point Qoheleth is tormented by this great unknown. “Who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? He will have control over all that I toiled for.” This too is hebel (2:19). At this point, hebel is not just breath but the frustration that it brings.
Qoheleth is in deep despair about the fruit of his labor under the sun, knowing that his legacy will be left to one who did not earn it, will not appreciate it, and may even mismanage it”……All the grief, all the labor, all the sleepless nights, and then it is all gone. But there is hope in his last statement of verse 23. He says, “For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.” Yes, there is hope and it is this: “Qohelet’s despair is also hebel. It does not endure forever. Qohelet’s disappointment turns to acceptance when he learns to appreciate the ability God gives us to find enjoyment in our work.” In other words, the disappointment is a breath and in grasping that reality, he is empowered to see the joy of a fleeting life and all it entails……Wisdom has shed its light and brought him to a more solid perspective.
As the first leg of the ride comes to an end, Qoheleth tells us, “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind” (2:24–26). This is far more spiritual than it sounds……The conclusion is powerful: it is good for man to enjoy the simple pleasures of life, eating, drinking, and laboring under the sun. He should recognize that those simple pleasures are from the hand of God; they are indeed gifts from Him. “What spoils them is our hunger to get out of them more than what they can give.”
“For apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment” (2:25). If we live life, eating, drinking, and working, without recognizing that these are God’s gifts to us; if we live life and think these things are rewards to be earned rather than gifts to be enjoyed, then hebel will crush us with disappointment. “For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy” (2:26). The one who has received God’s favor, God gives the gift of not only wisdom and knowledge but also enjoyment. The capacity to enjoy the gifts of God is a gift from God, “but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God” (2:26). Doug Wilson makes a key observation: “The message here is twofold. God is the One who gives things, and God is the One who gives the power to enjoy things. These are distinct gifts … just as a can of peaches and a can opener are distinct gifts. Only the first is given to the unbeliever. The believer is given both, which is simply another way of saying that he is given the capacity for enjoyment.”
This is the first corner of the puzzle. It is a powerful remedy for the despair caused by hebel. Life is a gift from God. Labor is a gift from God. Food and drink are gifts from God. Each gift is given to us to enjoy. Life is brief. It is a passing shadow; it is a fleeting moment. But it is a gift. The last line of the corner piece, “This also is vanity and a striving after wind” (2:26), reminds us that the enjoyment of these gifts is also a breath. Thus, the reality of briefly enjoying these gifts is not designed to bring another disappointment. It is designed to launch us into the relentless, vigorous pursuit of God in the enjoyment of these vaporous gifts. Don’t waste your breath! –Brian Borgman
We will either learn this lesson from Ecclesiastes, or else we will learn it from our own melancholy experience. Just ask Tom Brady, the star quarterback of football’s New England Patriots, who wanted to know, ‘Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there’s something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, “Hey man, this is what is.” I reached my goal, my dream, my life. Men, I think, “It’s got to be more than this.” I mean this isn’t, this can’t be what it’s all cracked up to be.’ When the interviewer asked, ‘What’s the answer?’ Brady could only say, ‘I wish I knew. I wish I knew.’……….
Our unsatisfied longings are a spiritual clue that we were made to enjoy the pleasures of God. This world leaves us with what social critic Andrew Delbanco has described as an ‘unslaked craving for transcendence’. This is by design. If we were able to find lasting satisfaction in earthly pleasure then we would never see our need for God. But satisfaction does not come in the pleasures themselves; it is always sold separately. Our dissatisfaction should point us back to God—not away from Him, but toward Him.-Phil Ryken
Soli Deo Gloria!
Recommended Resources:
“Living Life Backward: How Ecclesiastes Teaches us to Live in Light of the End” By David Gibson
“Don’t Waste Your Breath: Ecclesiastes and the Joy of a Fleeting Life” By Brian Borgman