5. Finding Fulfilment In Life (3)
Hymns: 539 Beyond the Sunset; 538 The New Jerusalem; 544 When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder
Study of the Book of Ecclesiastes
(Remember Now Thy Creator)
– Finding Fulfilment in Life (3)
Ecclesiastes 2:12-17
12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done. 13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. 14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. 15 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. 16 For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool. 17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Eccl. 2:12-17 (KJV)
OUTLINE
(1) Nothing New (v12-13)
(2) Inevitable Death (v14-17)
INTRODUCTION
We live in an age where the common people live like the kings. With the advancement of technology in air travel, communications and industrialization, we can have a quality of life that perhaps only kings in the past will experience.
With the rise of China, India and Asia in the next decades if the Lord tarries, we will perhaps see many opportunities for career advancement in every field like never before. China is producing 50,000 top-notch PhDs per year. They will be deployed in every field to push new frontiers in research. It seemed that the push of new technologies means that there is not a need for so much human labour.
Robert M. Goldman speaks of the Exponential Age, 4th Industrial Revolution with Artificial Intelligence, health, authonomous and electric cars, education, 3D printing, agriculture and jobs.
Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next 5-10 years. Uber is just a software tool, they don’t own any cars, and are now the biggest taxi company in the world. Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world, although they don’t own any properties.
Artificial Intelligence: Computers become exponentially better in understanding the world. This year, a computer beat the best Go player in the world, 10 years earlier than expected.
In the US, young lawyers already don’t get jobs. Because of IBM Watson, you can get legal advice (so far for more or less basic stuff) within seconds, with 90% accuracy compared with 70% accuracy when done by humans.
So if you study law, stop immediately! There will be 90% fewer lawyers in the future where only specialists will remain.
Watson already helps nurses diagnosing cancer, 4 times more accurate than human nurses. Facebook now has pattern recognition software that can recognize faces better than humans. By 2030, computers will become more intelligent than humans.
Autonomous Cars: In 2018 the first self-driving cars will appear for the public. Around 2020, the complete industry will start to be disrupted. You don’t want to own a car anymore. You will call a car with your phone and it will show up at your location and drive you to your destination.
You will not need to park it, you only pay for the driven distance and can be productive while driving. Our kids will never get a driver’s license and will never own a car. It will change the cities, because we will need 90-95% fewer cars for that.
We can transform former parking space into parks. 1.2 million people die each year in car accidents worldwide. We now have one accident every 100,000 km, with autonomous driving that will drop to one accident in 10 million km. That will save a million lives each year.
Most car companies may become bankrupt. Traditional car companies try the evolutionary approach and just build a better car, while tech companies (Tesla, Apple, Google) will do the revolutionary approach and build a computer on wheels. Mr Goldman said he spoke to a lot of engineers from Volkswagen and Audi; they are completely terrified of Tesla.
Insurance Companies will have massive trouble because without accidents, the insurance will become 100x cheaper. Their car insurance business model will disappear.
Real estate will change. Because if you can work while you commute, people will move further away to live in a more beautiful neighborhood.
Electric cars won’t become mainstream until 2020. Cities will be less noisy because all cars will run on electric. Electricity will become incredibly cheap and clean: Solar production has been on an exponential curve for 30 years, but you can only now see the impact. Singapore seemed to be moving full steam in the development of new generation cars.
Last year, more solar energy was installed worldwide than fossil. The price for solar will drop so much that all coal companies will be out of business by 2025. China has invented solar panel that is able to charge up a car with roof top panel that will propel cars without ever needing any charging.
With cheap electricity comes cheap and abundant water. Desalination now only needs 2kWh per cubic meter. We don’t have scarce water in most places we only have scarce drinking water. Imagine what will be possible if anyone can have as much clean water as he wants, for nearly no cost.
Health: There will be companies that will build a medical device (called the “Tricorder” from Star Trek) that works with your phone, which takes your retina scan, your blood sample and you breathe into it. It then analyses 54 biomarkers that will identify nearly any disease. It will be cheap, so in a few years everyone on this planet will have access to world class medicine, nearly for free.
3D printing: The price of the cheapest 3D printer came down from $18,000 to $400 within 10 years. In the same time, it became 100 times faster. All major shoe companies started 3D printing shoes. Spare airplane parts are already 3D printed in remote airports. The space station now has a printer that eliminates the need for the large number of spare parts they used to have in the past.
At the end of this year, new smart-phones will have 3D scanning possibilities. You can then 3D scan your feet and print your perfect shoe at home. In China, they already 3D printed a complete 6-storey office building. By 2027, 10% of everything that’s being produced will be 3D printed.
Business Opportunities: If you think of a niche you want to go in, ask yourself: “in the future, do you think we will have that?” and if the answer is yes, how can you make that happen sooner? If it doesn’t work with your phone, forget the idea. And any idea designed for success in the 20th century is doomed in to failure in the 21st century.
Work: 70-80% of jobs will disappear in the next 20 years. There will be a lot of new jobs, but it is not clear if there will be enough new jobs in such a small time.
Agriculture: There will be a $100 agricultural robot in the future. Farmers in 3rd world countries can then become managers of their field instead of working all days on their fields. Agroponics will need much less water. The first Petri dish produced veal is now available and will be cheaper than cow-produced veal in 2018. Right now, 30% of all agricultural surfaces are used for cows. Imagine if we don’t need that space anymore. There are several startups that will bring insect protein to the market shortly. It contains more protein than meat. It will be labeled as “alternative protein source” (because most people still reject the idea of eating insects).
There is an app called “moodies” which can already tell in which mood you are. Until 2020 there will be apps that can tell by your facial expressions if you are lying. Imagine a political debate where it’s being displayed when they are telling the truth and when not.
Bitcoin will become mainstream this year and might even become the default reserve currency.
Longevity: Right now, the average life span increases by 3 months per year. Four years ago, the life span used to be 79 years, now it’s 80 years. The increase itself is increasing and by 2036, there will be more than one year increase per year. So we all might live for a long long time, probably way more than 100.
Education: The cheapest smart phones are already at $10 in Africa and Asia. Until 2020, 70% of all humans will own a smart phone. That means, everyone has the same access to world-class education.
The world that we live in has become a global village. Christians are confronted with this world’s value system daily. How will we respond to these?
The words of warning from King Solomon rings even louder today than ever before, as he directs us in the search to find true meaning and satisfaction in life.
We saw how Solomon gave himself to pleasure, laughter and wine and entertainment, planting vineyards, gardens and orchards, building projects, amassing great possessions of silver and gold, he kept not from anything his heart desires and he concluded that it gives to him no real satisfaction.
He says in verse 12 that he as king had the opportunity to try all like no other man can after him because he has been specially endowed with great power and possessions to enable him to experiment with life under the sun. At the same time, he also has in his possession God’s Word that reveals to him there is a heavenly perspective to this earthly life, there is wisdom from God’s Word that transcends this world’s wisdom.
And he says that there is nothing that we can do that he has not already done. He urges us to take him at his word.
Two thoughts:
- Nothing New (v12-13)
- Inevitable Death (v14-17)
(1) Nothing New (v12-13)
12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done. 13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
In verse 12, Solomon is asking to please see carefully with your mind’s eye the futility of pursuing this world’s pleasure and accomplishments. They do not satisfy, Solomon concluded.
Solomon tells us that it is not worth treading the path that he has treaded. Who could have done better than Solomon in pursuing this worldly life than the king himself? He was asking a rhetorical question. All that the king has done is sufficient testimony to convince all posterity the futility of pursuing this world’s wisdom and its accompanying pleasures and accomplishments.
13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. 14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness:
The literal translation: 13 And I, I perceive that there is excellency/profit/advantage in wisdom compared with folly, as there is the benefit of light from darkness.
He acknowledged that wisdom is better than foolishness as light is superior to darkness. Why is that so? Because the wise man is able to discern with his mind and avoid the pitfalls of life.
Then he adds a further thought or idea to provoke our thinking.
“And I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.” He is leading his readers to consider the ultimate event of life.
Verse 15 He sheds further light.
15 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.
And yet as he made his assessment, there is an evitable event that both the wise and the foolish cannot escape.
(2) Inevitable Death (v14-17)
14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. 15 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. 16 For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool. 17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
In this section, Solomon speaks of the brevity of life. How we all must die. None can escape. He did not say it directly but took three verses 14-16 to presents us an ultimate impasse in life that no wisdom seem to be able to overcome or conquer – the sting of death. How long more can man live?
The answer is given in Genesis 6:3. God Himself has determined that his days shall be 120 years.
Genesis 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
The LORD will judge man so that after the flood his age shall be greatly reduced to 120 years.
In a TIME article “You Should Live So Long”, dated 12 Nov. 1990, it was reported that human lifespan has an upper limit. “Since the mid-19th century, average life expectancy at birth has nearly doubled: from 40 to 75. Today, many people live past 100, and the oldest individuals have reached either 115 or 120…So it comes as something of a jolt to be told by the experts that human beings have taken life about as far as it can go…There seems to be a kind of built-in biological limit programmed into the cells of the human body. In laboratory experiments, human cells divide only about 50 times before they begin to fall apart like old jalopies…The best way to combat cellular aging is to postpone its effects at the molecular level. Basic research is now underway to understand the mechanisms that make human cells wear out and to try to find the genes that cause the major degenerative diseases of old age – arthritis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease…In the unlikely event that scientist manage to unlock the secrets of aging, some experts believe tomorrow’s children could reach 130, 150 and even 170. But the authors of the Science report are extremely dubious. Among the increasing numbers of aging baby boomers…very few people are going to live past 110 or 120.”
16 For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.
Can I be wiser in the light of this inevitable event that will happen to both the wise and the fool? On earth, the wise man is no more remembered than the fool, with time man forgets even great men and how the wise man have to die even as the fool. So he lamented, what is the difference?
Therefore, he concluded that he was disillusioned with life as he pursues life with an earthly perspective.
As he looks at this life on earth, the inevitably of death makes life “meaningless” lamented Solomon. The wise man and the fool cannot escape death. He says I tried to live wisely and I tried to live foolishly and even to go after madness. If the wise and the fool will have to die anyway is there a difference whether you are a wise man or a fool?
The fool is one who is morally deficient. Why do I need to obey God’s law and walk in the light when whether I obey the law or not I still die? Why not do what I want? If this life is temporal and there is no eternal life then it is pointless to talk about meaning and value because I cannot carry anything with me when I die, right?
Solomon is teaching us the concept of value and meaning in life. If death ends everything, he is right to conclude that he “hated life” in verse 17. What difference does it make anyway! But dear friends, death doesn’t end all. If we take a peek at the end of the book, Solomon revealed to us that there is such a truth as God’s judgment. This Solomon will reveal right at the end of this book, that death does not end all, “hear the conclusion of the whole matter, Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man for God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil”.
Solomon tells us that every man perishes one day. Whether you are wise or foolish, you have to die, in other portions he mentioned whether wealthy or poor, man or animal all have to die. Then what is the difference? Is there any difference? No, there is no difference by the standards of this world’s wisdom. If there is no wisdom that conquers death, this earthly life is a big disappointment.
We said this before and it is worth repeating. This word “vanity” means “vapour” or “breath”. This world’s ambitions, desires and pursuits Solomon concluded give no real satisfaction to the soul for when we breath our last breath, that’s it, we leave behind the fruits of all our labour, we cannot bring with us. He is teaching this concept that anything that is of real value must be eternal. What is of value must be able to last.
When death comes it puts a stop to man’s earthly ambition, man’s ambition is rudely interrupted. It seemed that men is left without choice, there is a lack of a better option, when death strikes. That is why he laments is there no difference between the wise and the foolish seeing that both must also die? Any difference between the rich and the poor, man and beast, when all must die! If we speak of this temporal life, everything is the same at the end. That is why it is vain and empty. Why strive so hard then? He was clearly discouraged if he pursues to the end the logic of life under the sun.
Dear friends, anything of value must be able to last. If it does not last then what is the point of pursuing it? We will be disappointed by it. This was the disappointment that Solomon wanted to convey.
He said “17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous (evil, distress, misery) unto me: for all is vanity (vain, empty, transient, disappoints, it just cannot satisfy) and vexation of spirit (a frustrating and distressing effort). Eccl. 2:17 (KJV)
And with all his wealth, power and might, man could not buy time. If he could use his earthly resources to buy life he would have spent every cent he has to prolong his life. But he was without choice when death knocks.
Solomon was clearly discouraged when he pursued to the end the logic of life under the sun. He says he hated life, what is the use of living this life when everything is so transient.
Thank God Solomon was given heavenly wisdom to know that death does not end all. Hebrews 9:27 “…it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
Solomon says at the end of his discourse in chapter 12:13-14.
“13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Eccl. 12:13-14 (KJV)
If there is no eternal judgment, let’s do whatever we want. There is no moral system to talk about. There is no meaning to talk of morality. If there is no eternal judgement let us do whatever we want, why do we need a moral system anyway? Whatever we do, we do, whether we behave morally or wantonly there is no difference, like the people after the Haiti earthquake who looted the shops.
CONCLUSION
It is my prayer that having searched and seen Solomon’s futile search for wisdom outside God, we will eventually come back to our Creator and receive the greatest wisdom. The greatest wisdom leads us to Christ, our Creator, Sustainer and Saviour through this earthly sojourn and after eternality in heaven.
Solomon says there is no need to go through life to know the futility of this world’s wisdom, so that we will come early to real wisdom and devote our life to Christ. These passages help us to understand life under the sun is vain so that we will be wise unto salvation. May we truly take heed and re-order our lives. Amen.