Christian Living

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At some point in life every thinking person is confronted with the most existential questions to infiltrate the mind; what is the purpose of it all, what is life and is it worth it? All around us people are asking and not finding answers and in many instances, people are propelled beyond despair, beyond reason, beyond hope. You could reasonably expect that this would be the predicament of the average person, of those not concerned with abstract, high-order thinking, but you would not have thought such is the situation of the most gifted minds among us. But you would be wrong. Some of the very ablest, most gifted and enlightened minds have evaluated what they see as pertaining to man and his place under the sun and have concluded just like King Solomon, "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity." (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

Is it really true that no matter how you look at it, no matter from what perspective you view it and irrespective of your personal convictions and proclivity, you are forced to conclude that Solomon was right and life's meaning and tenor are all resoundingly futile?

Lots of educated people agree with Solomon.

There are many in the scientific community, and in the fraternity of philosophers, and in the corridors of our most esteemed learning institutions that whole-heartedly accord with Solomon's views and they don't just believe them in theory but engraft such views into their everyday lifestyle. If you believe that life and all its associations are unfailingly pointless then there is no need for discipline, decency, moral uprightness, fairness and equity for there is no final accounting and you can abandon yourself to an orgy of selfishness and excess without consequence.

When people have agreed with this Solomonic assertion of vanity, they move on to purge themselves of all goodness, and truth, and take hold, with fervour, the low-life to which fallen man has descended and relishes and has no desire to escape from. In truth man then becomes a repository of the gall of bitterness and a source of extremely toxic wickedness typical of the Satanic curse. In referring to the antediluvian world the Bible described similar citizens like this, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5)

Many people today believe that partying and boozing and gluttony is what life is all about for today we live and tomorrow we die; and that is that. Here I could quote you names of famous people who concur with this, but that would be of no avail for they are so many. In truth Solomon believed in this philosophy too, for here is what he says, "Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?" (Ecclesiastes 3:22) Solomon was wrong in his perception since there are many things better than self-aggrandisement and his lifestyle was the proof of his error. No wonder he died miserable and pathetic at the ripe age of eighty, even though he was gifted with so much.

To those who believe that partying and boozing and gluttony is what life is all about can be added another group; the sex addicts. It is truly amazing, but enlightening how little the lessons of history have been learnt, for Solomon was the prime example of someone who was addicted to sex since he had a harem of one thousand women, yes 1000, and wealth can't done and the highest, most prestigious position in the kingdom and yet he was overcome with the futility of it all. Here is how the Bible puts it, "And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart." (1 Kings 11:3) Remember that these were not 1000 women during his lifetime but 1000 women on call, ready to service Solomon whenever he so wished. Not only that, but some of these women were "exotic" beauties from abroad, "But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites." (1 Kings 11:1)

So you see there is nothing surprising about the present promiscuous generation of sex addicts, sexual predators, loose-living, immoral, licentious deviants for Solomon been there and done that and he bemoaned its pointlessness. There is nothing strange with some married people not understanding or caring about fidelity and trust, or some single people not valuing themselves for who they are and the contribution their chastity and virtue can make to a fulfilled and happy life. They all consent to Solomon's theory that life is fruitless, a waste of time and utterly useless and thus to be consumed with reckless abandon. In King Solomon's own words, "I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit." (Ecclesiastes 1:14)

King Solomon's decline from a righteous, godly king to a broken, disillusioned philanderer took some time and in the end he was inconsolable. It is hard to understand at which point Solomon fell from grace, but his fate was irrevocably sealed when he turned to idolatry and erected false gods everywhere to please his women.

But what did Solomon mean with his Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher talk; did he actually lose all semblance of spirituality and saw nothing but gloom and doom and hellish perdition? Here is how John Gill in his Bible Commentary commented on this text.

"This is the preacher's text; the theme and subject he after enlarges upon, and proves by an induction of particulars; it is the sum of the whole book; vanity of vanities, all [is] vanity;
most extremely vain, exceedingly so, the height of vanity: this is repeated, both for the confirmation of it, men being hard of belief of it; and to show how much the preacher was affected with it himself, and to affect others with the same. The Targum reads, "vanity of vanities [in] this world

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