A while back, I mentioned that I was preparing some lessons from the book of Ecclesiastes to present at the Harding University Lectureship. It’s been interesting for me to work through this book. I feel like I’ve grown a lot in understanding this unusual book.

Some of the best insights I’ve found came from Ryken’s Bible Handbook and from the Literary Study Bible, with Dr. Leland Ryken leading the team that prepared notes on this book. Dr. Ryken worked on the translation of the ESV; in one interview he noted:

“I think that Ecclesiastes 1:2 should be translated “vapors of vapors.” I’ve been walking around as though missing an arm or a leg ever since losing that vote.”

One of the first insights that I’ve gained into Ecclesiastes is the dual vision present throughout the book, the difference between the view from “under the sun” or “under heaven” and God’s point of view. Much of Ecclesiastes shows us the limited earthly view rather than the heavenly perspective. A key idea is found in chapter 5:

“God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” (Ecclesiastes 5:2)

As we read through Ecclesiastes, we need to get a feel for the times when the author is speaking from a divine viewpoint and when he is portraying typical human interpretations.

I’m doing a four-lesson series this fall on Ecclesiastes. I did one class on Ecclesiastes last year, but I’ve never done a series.

Right now, I have the view that Ecclesiastes has to be taken as a whole. I know that there are lots of neat passages in Ecclesiastes, like “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” However, I think that Ecclesiastes describes a man’s spiritual journey. Along the way, he lays out some of his own ideas, like “And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 4:2-3) Someone might say, “The Bible teaches that it is better to never have existed.” I say, “The Bible tells us about a man that said that once.”

We read Job and understand that much of what is said in the first chapters isn’t correct. We read Psalm 73 and recognize that the author expresses frustrations in the first part of the psalm that don’t coincide with his current views. I believe that parts of Ecclesiastes faithfully records the spiritual journey of a man who, in the final chapters, comes to recognize that in the end what matters is fearing God, obeying him and preparing ourselves for judgment. So much of what is said in the first chapters seems to fail to take into account the idea of life after death, the idea of eternity. This leads to a despairing view of the futility of life. In the end, the writer gains a little more perspective.

Those are my current thoughts on Ecclesiastes, but I’m early in my study. What do you think? Is everything in the book a pronouncement from God? Or do parts of the book reflect human thinking?