"All is Vanity" is the title of a famous painting by the artist, Charles Allan Gilbert. This work appears to have correctly summed up the futilities of life by the portrayal of a skull. A second and more careful look at the painting reveals a young woman seated at a vanity table applying her makeup. At first glance, the eye often sees what the mind expects to see.

By and large, the Christian world has looked at the writings of Ecclesiastes and seen them as a morbid and depressing view of life. The writer comes across as tired and regretful—or as Spiro Agnew would say, "a nattering nabob of negativism." Unfortunately, this point of view has been the traditional way of interpreting the book. I would like to suggest that there is a more positive and helpful way of looking at this biblical writing.

First, the work of two individuals are represented in Ecclesiastes: the writer, who refers to himself as the Teacher, and an unknown editor, who made sure that this work was worthy of inclusion in "The Writings." The Teacher begins his work with the words, "Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity," and ends at verse 12:8, repeating the words, "Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher; all is vanity." The editor places bookends on either side of the Teacher’s book with an introduction in 1:1 and an epilogue in 12:9–14.

The first step in missing the message of Ecclesiastes is to attempt to attribute the entire book to one author or to harmonize the editor’s summation as the culmination of the Teacher’s thesis. The epilogue is not giving the Teacher’s reason for writing, but the editor’s justification for the inclusion of this manuscript in the holy writings.

The second and perhaps most important shift in viewpoint comes by understanding that the Hebrew word hebel can be translated in various ways. Interestingly, the first use of the word of hebel occurs in Genesis 3 and is the given name of Adam and Eve’s second son. None would venture to say that Abel’s life was meaningless or vain. But his life was cut short.

The common translation of hebel as vanity in Ecclesiastes has colored our understanding and influenced our interpretation of this writing. Consider for a moment the noticeable perceptional difference between the two columns below:

Meaningless	Fleeting
Worthless	Transitory
Of No Value	Momentary
Vain	Nebulous
Futile	Vapor-thin Air

In the first column, the words take on a negative connotation. In the second column, the words are more neutral in meaning. How one translates or understands the meaning of this Hebrew word affects how one reads and understands a passage.

Finally, it is important that one not read back into Ecclesiastes our New Testament understanding of life after death, or assume that the Teacher shared our Christian belief in the resurrection, or even our understanding of the final judgment. For Israel, judgment came when God delivered it from its enemies; judgment was consummated when the kingdom was restored on this earth.

Although the Christian world does not normally base its doctrinal belief concerning death on the passages in this book, Seventh-day Adventists love Ecclesiastes! Our understanding of the "mortal nature of man," and the "state of the dead" is based in large part on the "key texts" found in Ecclesiastes (3:20; 9:5, 6; 12).

Although there are hints here and there of life beyond the grave, for the most part, the Old Testament does not have a teaching of the resurrection or of heaven. It is silent on the nature of existence beyond the grave. For the Israelite, immortality lay in one’s offspring. They would live on in their children. To be barren or without children was to be cursed of God.

The Teacher stressea human mortality. Like their counterparts in the animal world, he observes that human beings are subject to the same fate: death. But unlike animals, the Teacher observes, God has "put eternity in our minds." God has given humankind a sense of the past and the future. With this capability, humankind becomes morally responsible for making decisions concerning life.

Recognition of this responsibility calls for wisdom, and thus the Teacher’s search. He applies his mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven and he finds it to be far more daunting an enterprise than he initially thought. In fact, he frequently describes it as a wearisome task. But he perseveres in his search using what we today would call scientific methodology.

Conventional wisdom says it is good to be rich, powerful, and famous. Good behavior will be rewarded and bad behavior punished. People will get what’s coming to them. The Teacher challenges these assumptions and sets out to test these beliefs and prove whether or not these premises would hold up under close scrutiny.

According to his methodology, he uses personal observations, "I saw," not second-hand accounts or anecdotes. He uses experimentation, "I tested." And he uses rational thought, "I concluded." After each "experiment" and each "conclusion," the Teacher addresses the issue of response and askes the rhetorical question, "In light of this information, how then shall we live?"

Over and over, his startling conclusions put him at odds with conventional wisdom. The race is not to the swift; the battle is not to the strong; wisdom does not ensure a livelihood; nor does intelligence ensure wealth. Bad people sometimes enjoy the fruits of a good man’s hard work. Things are not always what they seem or even what they should be.

But it is his answer to the question of what should be one’s proper response to these inequities of life that really places him most at odds with traditional thought. Seven times he reaches the same conclusion, and seven times he gives the same answer (2:24; 3:12; 3: 22; 5:18, 19; 8:15; 9:7-10; 11:9, 10).

According to the Teacher, God desires that humankind relish the simple pleasures of life and find enjoyment in the acts of daily living. He stresses that it is in the process of living—not in the end goal—that fulfillment occurs. Pleasure comes from the "doing" of our toil, not in the outcome or payback. Whatever activity our hands find to do, we should do with enthusiasm and all our might. Our attention should be focused on the journey, not on the destination. Happiness is here and now, not some future event.

Peace comes as we accept that we are creatures, not Creators, as we accept that we are mortal, not immortal. And happiness comes when we reach out with grateful hands and hearts to accept all the good gifts our gracious Heavenly Father has given us and enjoy them with thankfulness and praise.

Life is not vanity. The Teacher would never describe man’s existence as meaningless or futile. He does, however, conclude that life is fleeting and transitory; and therein lies the difference in perspectives.

Christians who have been taught that eating, drinking, and making merry is the road to perdition may find it difficult to grasp the Teacher’s counsel. The wisdom of Ecclesiastes is a hard philosophy for Protestant Christians raised to deny themselves in this life in preparation for the life to come. So maybe it is best just to interpret the book as a negative downer and to believe it is the thinking of a tired old man, living with regrets of a wasted life.

Visit Spectrum’s Message Board for an ongoing discussion of this quarter’s subject, "Ecclesiastes"

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