In my last post I took a look at the beginning of
Ecclesiastes:
The theme of the book (especially the beginning) is about
the meaninglessness of virtually everything about life. Chapter 1, which I
covered last week, took a look at the meaninglessness of the big things, namely
science/natural processes and the long arc of human history. After that the
author of the book took a quick look at wisdom, and decided that no matter how
wise one is it is still ultimately a meaningless pursuit. This point is
especially brought home in 1:18:
“For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge,
the more grief.”
To put it another way, to reflect on all things of life is
to come to the realization that the individual things people may attempt to put
meaning into will ultimately be seen as meaningless. This is especially true in
Chapter 2:1-11, the verses that I will look at again.
As I break down the scripture, keep in mind who is writing
these verses. It is either Solomon, or someone that is evoking the life and
experience of Solomon. As I wrote in my last post, Solomon was the richest and
most powerful king in the history of Israel. His life and the possibilities
therein could be matched by only a handful of people in history – at least
until the relatively recent developments of modern wealth and conveniences that
in many ways we take for granted. In short, Solomon had access to pretty much
anything that he wanted, particularly physical pleasures. In the end, it probably did not end up as
well for Solomon as one might expect.
This is the conclusion that he draws in the first verse
(2:1): “I thought in my heart, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find
out what is good.’ But that also proved to be meaningless.” And with that he
looks at several physical pleasures:
First is laughter (v. 2). “Laughter is foolish. And what
does pleasure accomplish?” No amount of entertainment or good times with those
around him could fulfill the longing in his heart for meaning. Nothing wrong
with laughter, with entertainment or with good times, but it certainly will not
be the end all be all of meaning, no matter what amount of wealth one
possesses.
The second pleasure was to embrace wine and folly (v. 3).
Folly here understood as drawing a contrast with wisdom. I take wine and
embracing folly as a way for Solomon to escape the wisdom that he has, to
escape the nagging suspicion that everything might indeed be meaningless. If
everything is meaningless, might as well numb yourself and forget about it and
do whatever comes to your mind. Solomon uses wine, but it could represent any
chemical we might take now (legal or otherwise) or any activity that we know if
not in our best interest for the momentary escape that it provides. But this
too is meaningless. No matter what is done he can never escape the wisdom that
he has and the conclusions are still there to be reckoned with.
The third pleasure he pursued was great, public
accomplishments (v. 4-6). Mentioned here are the construction of house
(palaces), vineyards, gardens, parks, water reservoirs, and probably many other
things that are unmentioned. None of these are bad things themselves, and in
fact much public good can be accomplished. I think of the many good things that
are done by philanthropists throughout history and around the world. Good
things, but ultimately meaningless in the eyes of Solomon. There is still
something else that is missing.
The fourth pleasure that he pursued was owning large amounts
of slaves and livestock (v.7). Basically Solomon was talking about owning lots
of stuff, the best possessions of the day for anyone, remindful of the bumper
sticker “He who dies with the most toys wins”. Not especially difficult to see
the modern equivalent of this situation and how that was deemed to be seen as
ultimately meaningless in the mind of Solomon. If possessions are what matter
the most, it is impossible to sate that desire and of course it is something
that cannot be transferred when you die, it is left that those that come
afterwards, something that Solomon touches on later in the chapter (especially
verses 2:17-19).
The fifth pleasure that he pursued was money, specifically
gold, silver and “the treasures of kings”, as well as territory (v. 8a). As
mentioned, Solomon was the richest and most powerful king of Israel and ruled
when Israel had the largest territory in its recorded history. The pursuit of
these were ultimately meaningless to Solomon, he took no lasting joy in them
and desired something more. Like possessions, money and territory cannot be
brought with you and they will be left to the next generation. And sure enough,
within a couple years of taking power his son, the heir and the next king,
squandered all that Solomon had built up by losing over half the territory of
the kingdom.
The sixth pleasure was the finest music (v. 8b). This
included the best singers, soloists and instruments that could be found in the
world. I personally like music as much as anyone can, but music is ultimately
as meaningful as any type of entertainment. Great to enjoy but will not fulfill
the longing in the soul.
The seventh and final pleasure that Solomon pursued in this
section was “the delights of the heart of man,” his harem and his wives (v.
8c). Solomon was not shy about the amount of wives and the size of his harem,
with both of them numbering in the hundreds, including women from all around
the world (as a side note, it was the amount of foreign women that he married
that God cited for the reason that God was going to take Solomon’s land away
from his descendants. Not away from Solomon out of favor to his father David
but from the next generation). There was no way that this physical desire could
be sated, and it was with him his entire life and was seen to be meaningless.
After looking at these different pleasures, Solomon
(rightfully) declares that became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem
before him (and after), and that in all of this he maintained his wisdom (v.
9). This is the conclusion that he came to after all of this (v. 10-11):
“I denied myself nothing that my eyes desired; I refused my
heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the
reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and
what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the
wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”
I am left with two questions. What, if anything, can be
learned from this? And what, if anything, is actually meaningful?
The first question goes to the heart of the title of this
post, “Is it good to be king?” And to expand it to a more relevant comparison,
is it good to be extremely wealthy or a person of great power? I think that the
musings of Solomon would suggest that it might not be as good as we might
imagine. He can have anything in the world and finds it all lacking, perhaps
because he cannot have the genuine things that take no money and no power to
acquire. To be king, to be powerful, to be wealthy, is realize that virtually
everything comes with a cost or an expectation of being paid back in some way.
What I think Solomon misses as much as anything, aside from true relationship
with God (which I hope to cover in a post soon), is true, meaningful
relationship. There is not a member of his court or military that will have
true relationship with him, it is having relationship with everything that he
represents and can ultimately give them (or take away from them). And with
multiple hundreds of wives and concubines, no significant relationship can be
maintained with any of them.
So, as we examine the pleasures that Solomon sought and
ultimately rejected, I think that we can start to realize what is actually
meaningful. It is nothing that can be purchased and it is not a physical
pleasure that can be fulfilled, as those will come and go and never fully be
sated. What is truly meaningful is the connection that you can have with
others, which perhaps ironically, is the very thing that is most likely to be
lost when you become a person like Solomon. The one thing he craves, something meaningful,
is something that he will never be able to achieve.
My next post will look at the other part of this, who was
God to Solomon.
No comments:
Post a Comment