Is Solomon Telling Us to ‘Live It Up?’
Have you wondered why the unusual Book of Ecclesiastes is in the Bible? Its strange statements include the words, “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and and drink and be glad” (8:15). And this is one of seven passages that tell us to enjoy eating and drinking. Is Solomon’s advice a “ live-it-up-and-forget-God” approach? Is this book promoting a hedonistic, pleasure-focused life?
Some people, on the other hand, say the book is advocating a pessimistic outlook on life. Hopelessness and gloom seem to pervade the book. Six times Solomon wrote, “Everything is meaningless, ” that is, futile and frustrating. Life is said to be fleeting (6:12; 7:15; 9:9; 1:10), and death is viewed with despair. Moreover, injustices are mentioned in at least six of the chapters (4, 6-10).
Solomon’s gloom surfaced when he reflected on life “under the sun,” that is, apart from God. He reported that in his hunt for happiness and his race for reality, he tried fortune and fame, wealth and women, projects and pleasures — and all of them were blind alleys, dead-end streets. Nothing truly satisfied. Pursuing them was, he said, like “chasing after the wind,” that is, they were futile, fruitless efforts. On top of that, he moaned and groaned as he thought of the many inequities and enigmas in life. How, he asked, can we detect any divine design in oppression, greed, envy, pain, war, hatred, even death? Life doesn’t add up.
Or does it? Viewed horizontally, “under the sun,” life apart from God does indeed seem purposeless and pointless. But that is only half the picture in Ecclesiastes. Solomon was showing us the dark side in order to reveal that the meaning of life is not in life itself. We must look above the clouds and see life from a heavenly, not an earthly, perspective.
Seen in context, Ecclesiastes 8:15 presents one of two keys God has given us for finding meaning, purpose, and satisfaction in life. Rather than being pessimistic and doleful, we should enjoy life, including our food and employment. Amazingly, three times Solomon said work is a gift from God (2:24; 3:13; 5:19). In 8:14 the Sage mused on the injustice of wicked people being blessed and godly people suffering. But, since we can’t solve these and other nigmas, we should not fret; we should enjoy what God has given us. Far from hedonism or pessimism, this is realism!
The second key to having a life with meaning is to fear God, a command Solomon gave five times (3:14; 5:7; 7:18; 8:12; 12:13-14). Does “fearing God” mean being afraid of Him? Sometimes. But not here. Here it means to respect Him, to revere Him, to hold Him in awe — and to trust, obey, love, serve, and worship Him. Interestingly, only three verses before 8:15, Solomon wrote “it will go better with God-fearing men, who are reverent before God” (v. 12). And in verse 17, he referred to “all that God has done.” As we fear God, we recognize that He is in control (3:14; 5:2; 7:14; 9:1) and that He will correct injustices.
In some houses the outside front door has two locks. The owner needs two keys, one for each lock. If he opens one lock but doesn’t have the key for the other lock, he can’t open the door. Similarly, we need both of Solomon’s keys. If we seek to enjoy life but aren’t fearing the Lord, we tend toward self-centered hedonism. Or if we fear the Lord but aren’t enjoying our lot in life, we move toward joyless asceticism.
The British television series Upstairs, Downstairs portrays a bi-level society in an English estate in which the servants live and work in the downstairs basement below the household members. Ecclesiastes too portrays two levels of living: those who view life apart from God live “downstairs,” they are “under the sun”; but those who take God into account are living “upstairs,” above the clouds, in the light of God’s truth.
The choice is clear. Pursue life on your own, attempt to uncover its meaning unaided, and you’ll end up empty-handed. As Solomon explained, human efforts are futile (1:12-6:9), and human understanding is inadequate (6:10-11:6). But look to God, trusting and loving Him and enjoying life while it lasts, and you have the two essential keys in our search for significance.
Roy B. Zuck is senior professor emeritus of Bible Exposition at Dallas Theological Seminary, and editor of the theological journal, Bibliotheca Sacra. He graduated from Biola in 1953 with a degree in Bible.
© Biola University 2005