Ecclesiastes Week 4 - Folly and Toil

Despair over the fleetingness of life and insecurity over having no control of one’s legacy can be discouraging, leading us to wonder; “what is the point of trying?”

David Guzik, in his commentary on Ecclesiastes, says it this way; “If death ends it all, then this life is robbed of true meaning. Even the good and great accomplishments of this world are unbelievably temporary, and therefore ultimately meaningless.”

In light of this, Solomon turned his heart and ‘despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.”

But because of the resurrection of Christ, this is not the experience of a Christian!

“For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 

“Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that our labor in the Lord is not in vain.” -1 Corinthians 15: 53-58

Prepare for this week’s teaching by reading Ecclesiastes 2:12-26 alongside 1 Corinthians 15.