Episode Details

Pray

Read: Ecc 2:18-23.

Meditation

Ecclesiastes is like a labyrinth, a giant maze. One of the things Solomon does in this maze of life under the sun is show us which paths not to walk down, the dead ends, and which paths we should walk down, the paths that lead and instruct us in the fear of the Lord. Remember, that is where Solomon wants to take us ultimately. This book is designed to teach us to fear God. We see this clearly in Ecc 12:13, where Solomon says that the end of the whole matter is to fear God. His ultimate destination, if you like, in the labyrinth of life, is to teach us to fear God as we live our lives.

In Ecc 2:18-23, Solomon is showing us a dead end in the labyrinth: the frustration of work. In verse 18 he says, I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun. His soul is vexed. In fact, in verse 20 he says, I gave my heart up to despair. Solomon is recalling and recording the way he felt about his work.

The first obvious question is this: Why did he feel this way? Why is he so vexed and troubled? Why does he consider his work and turn to despair?

To put it bluntly, the reason Solomon is in so much despair here is a reason that will largely be completely foreign to the average modern person. If we get depressed about our work or do not like it, we might feel that way because our boss is overbearing, or we are not having fun in the job we are doing, or the pay is low, or our colleagues annoy us or make life for us, or we are discontent because we think the grass would be greener elsewhere. I am not trying to undermine these things, because they can be valid challenges. But what Solomon is getting at is far deeper.

Let me put it this way: Have you ever thought about what work would look like if the fall had not happened? That is a serious question. It is not one we often ask. We can imagine what relationships might look like without the fall. There would be no hatred, selfishness, bickering, fighting, or anger. Relationships would have been harmonious, loving, and selfless. Things would have been great. But what about work? If the fall had not happened, what would work have been like?

Many things might come to mind, but perhaps the most obvious is that there would be no retirement. With no death and no aging, retirement would not exist. It opens up a whole new idea about work. You would not have just a few decades to develop your skills and experience. You would have endless centuries. Year after year to work, grow, build, develop, achieve, and complete projects. It is hard to imagine. Forget about leaving a legacy; you would live a legacy and build one that kept going.

This may sound strange, but I want to put to you that this is actually what work was supposed to be like. Yet there is an even deeper question here. When you take the limitation of time out of the equation, you are forced to ask: Why do we have work? Why do we get up day after day and do things? Let me give you a few answers from the modern mindset: you work to get money; you work to get the stuff you need to live, such as food, a place to live, and transport; you work to enable you to do the things you actually want to do. Work, for many people, has become a means to different ends.

I want to put to you that this is very far removed from what God intended for work and from what Christ intends for us in work. In Genesis 1 we find out what work is for. In Genesis 1 verse 28 we read: And God blessed them. And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

Fill the earth and subdue it. That is what work is about. It is about developing God’s creation so that God may be glorified. In Christ we are restored to this calling, and even to a higher ca