# 1 2024 Dev. Ecclesiastes1:9. Nothing New! Read all of chapter one first . We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.
Ecc,1:9 “What has been will be again what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”
Ecc.1 The word Ecclesiastes is a translation of the Hebrew word “koheleth” meaning: “one who convenes an assembly,” or “the preacher”(NIV), or as the text indicates “teacher.” This book is about the experiences throughout one person’s life, he is not named but there are indications in the text that Ecc. was probably written by King Solomon. That puts the date of writing at 970 BC to 931BC. Chapter 1 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” sets the tone for this chapter.
Vs.1-2 “Meaningless! Says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless!”’ Vs. 1 indicates that Solomon is the author of the book. What is the answer to this statement? Yes without God, your life, is indeed meaningless.
Vs.3-7 He starts with a rhetorical question; what do people gain…” from all the sweat and tears of many years of struggle “under the sun. Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.” So it would seem at that time, yet we know that it will not last forever. The author talks about the repetitive nature of our world. It is the never ending cycle of our world, no change, always the same to those who will not thank God for His creation and refuse to acknowledge God’s power and glory displayed all around us.
Vs.8-11 “All things are wearisome… The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” The author here is not speaking of technology, he is talking about the meaning of our lives on this earth. Are people happier today? The past, the present and the future will not be remembered the teacher tells us. The end of all things on earth will arrive but it will not be the end of all things, works done in the name of Jesus will survive, and those who belong to Jesus will survive forever!
Vs.12-18 The author reiterates his roots, kingship, his learning, and knowledge about “all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!” Heavy burden indeed, the weight of knowing the truth and the overwhelming rejection of the truth by so many. That rejection is “chasing after wind”, as is comparing “wisdom and folly”. Wisdom, knowledge, is more than knowing, it is doing, living it out in our lives. “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.” This is only rectified with trust, with faith, and with hope. “I am the way the truth and the life.” Jesus teaches us. Amen and amen. May God Bless us in this New Year!
© cgvanwyk, all rights reserved.
Heavenhigh 