There is an old tradition among the Jews that Solomon wrote Song of Songs when he was young, Proverbs when he was middle-aged, and Ecclesiastes when he was old. The reason for this is that, whereas Song of Songs is full of youthful optimism, Ecclesiastes feels as if its author was jaded and burdened by a sense of the futility of life.

This rings true in view of phrases like "this is vanity and a chasing after wind," which appears seven times in the New Revised Standard Version, along with two other variations on it.1 In Prophets and Kings, Ellen White writes, "By the spirit of inspiration the king recorded for after generations the history of his wasted years with their lessons of warning" (79). So it is that Ecclesiastes provides lessons of warning as to excess in life—excesses of pleasure, wealth, and even knowledge.

In chapter 6, the author speaks of the "evil" that he has seen (and more than likely experienced) "under the sun"—that those to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor end up seeing others enjoy them. This is because they "can’t take it with them." This, he says, is "vanity; it is a grievous ill."

Beyond this, the writer says that if a man begets a hundred children—which was probably true for him (1 Kings 11:3) given his thousand wives and concubines—and yet is not able to enjoy life’s good things, such a person would be better off having been stillborn.

"All human toil is for the mouth, yet the appetite is not satisfied"; and more than this, "wandering desire" is also "vanity and a chasing after wind." These phrases—"the appetite is not satisfied"; "wandering desire"—call to mind what is known as the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism.2

Siddhartha Gautama who lived some four hundred years after Solomon, also grew up the son of a king. Siddhartha grew up in a palace in what today is Nepal, near the Indian border. When he was in his twenties, he became discontented and left the palace in search of Truth. After six years of practicing asceticism, he came to the point at which he saw the futility of asceticism, as well. He then arrived at what he called "the middle path" between excess and asceticism.

The truth of life as Siddartha saw it was that life is full of suffering, and the cause of suffering is desire and ignorant craving. These ideas made up the first two of the Four Noble Truths. When he made this discovery, Siddhartha was said to have "awakened" to the truth of life. And Buddha means "the Awakened One."

The Buddha and Solomon both came to the point in their lives where they saw the futility of desire and ignorant craving; they came to see the pursuit of desire as "chasing after the wind." "For who knows what is good for mortals while they live the few days of their vain life," Solomon says at the close of chapter 6, "which they pass like a shadow?" According to the Buddha, it is good for mortals to follow what is know in Buddhism as the Eightfold Path, a worthwhile endeavor. Solomon similarly avoided mere pessimism, as seen in his concluding advice: "Fear God," he says, "and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone" (Eccles.12:13).

Later, Jesus would echo this theme: "’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ’You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matt. 22:37–39). In view of the futility or vanity of human existence, what matters is how we live our lives.

Years ago, when I first started in the ministry, I was the youth pastor of a large church. On one occasion, I remember asking the youth this question: "If there is no heaven, and when we die we just end up in the grave, how would you live your life differently?" The youth said they would party!

My response was that if the only reason you live a good life is for future reward, you are probably not living your life for the right reason. I told them that even if heaven did not exist, I would still live my life exactly the way I do because it is the right thing to do. As Ecclesiastes would say, "Hold God in awe, and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone."

So it does matter how we live our lives.

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Notes and References

1. Ecclesiastes 1:14; 2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 16; 6:9. Chapter 1:17 simply says "a chasing after wind," and 5:16 says "toiling for the wind."
2. For a discussion of Buddha and the Four Noble Truths, see Huston Smith’s The World’s Religions (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991), 82–112.

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