Chapter 1 Vanity of Vanities

The book opens with “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” 1:2.
That is a pretty sad start to any book. In my mind, I see the preacher. He is sitting hunched over his desk in his deep purple robe. He has fought how to write this. He doesn’t really want to write it. He is compelled though, compelled to tell what he has learned in his years of life. He is compelled by God’s own spirit to write this sad, sad love story and so he starts by telling us it’s all “vanity”.
So what is “vanity”? Dictionary.com defines vanity as many things. The most apt definition in this case is “something worthless, trivial, or pointless”. When I was an English teacher, I played a game where I would use the definition in place of the word. “Trivialness of trivialness, says the preacher, worthless of worthlessness. All is pointless.” Wow, that kind of brings me down. The book doesn’t get a whole lot better after that.
“All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing,” (Ecc 1:) We talk about stress and depression like they are new. The preacher says there is nothing new under the sun. As people we have this need for more. We need more speed. We need more stuff. The problem is that everything we need more of is vanity. Even though I really like the motorcycle and my smart phone, there is no real value in them. They are pointless. The more we seek to gain wisdom, the more we see that there really isn’t much of value in this world.
The preacher saw it. He said he searched out wisdom and found that “It is an unhappy business that God has given the children of man to be busy with” (1:13). This preacher was king over Israel. He had bunches of wives, money, and the esteem of people all over the world. He was the most influential man of his time and all he could say was-this sucks.
He ends chapter one saying “In much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.” (1:18)
And this is a joyous love story? Yes, it is. The preacher, most commonly assumed to be Solomon, is setting the stage for us. I think there is a fallacy generally held among believers. This fallacy is that if God loved us, we would not have pain or sorrow or “much vexation”. Even within groups where people know better, there is an underlying current that says “if you are depressed or sick or facing challenges, it means that God is angry with you.”
The preacher is saying no, that isn’t the case. Everyone faces challenges. Even the most wise, wealthy man in the entire world can see that the world is an awful place. Everything we do is pointless. We keep chasing things that don’t matter. We chase wisdom only to find out that the more you know, the more you realize that things are not good.
God knows we are living in a sinful and fallen world. He knows that we want things that don’t matter. This love story is letting us know that He knows.