How to Teach and Understand Ecclesiastes 1

Since “all Scripture is God-breathed,” we ought to teach the whole counsel of God… including those passages we are tempted to avoid because they’re so tricky. We want to give a few examples about how to teach tough passages in order to encourage you to teach the whole counsel of God. Read the rest of the series here: Teaching Tough Passages.

In Barna’s recent report on Gen Z, they found “the top three things Gen Z want in their career are to have enough money to support themselves and their loved ones (47%), to have a good work-life balance (40%), and to have enough money to pursue their dreams and passions (35%).” In other words, Gen Z is incredibly materialistic. Yet, as well reported in Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation, Gen Z is also incredibly anxious with more people being diagnosed with anxiety disorders than any other generation before them. 

Now imagine a teenager arriving at youth group and being told to open their Bible to Ecclesiastes 1:1-11. They read along and find the author, “the Preacher,” saying that everything is “meaningless” (NIV) or “vanity” (ESV). As they move into the passage, they find the Preacher saying that nothing in this world will satisfy us (1:8), and that nothing we experience or do is new in the grand scheme of things (1:9-10). Finally, the Preacher finishes by saying that nothing we do here will be remembered by those who come after us (1:11). Cue the existential crisis!

The problem is, that’s the opposite of what the Preacher’s wisdom is trying to accomplish. Misunderstanding this difficult passage could even exacerbate their current faith struggles. So how do we handle texts such as Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 in a way that brings clarity and joy in Christ?

See Below the Surface

First, we need to recognize the initial reaction some students may have. On the surface, this text seemingly confirms everything they may fear: their life is pointless, nothing will ever satisfy them, and no one will remember them after they die. Anyone teaching this text should recognize that, at the outset, some hearers might become very disheartened or even frightened at what these verses appear to be teaching. 

Youth leaders, however, would be mistaken in trying to rush through the uncomfortable emotions this text stirs up. The Preacher’s whole point is to get us to see how temporary and frustrating life in a fallen world can be. It is good to have students sit with that. Encourage them to wrestle with the idea that so much of what they live for will one day be gone - whether five minutes or twenty-five years from now. Help them see that the Preacher is confirming what they experience in their daily lives: that so much of their zealous pursuit of success will be full of frustration and disappointments. 

See the Author’s Intent

Next, you want to get into the meat of the text itself. Depending on your translation, verse 2 will either say that all is “meaningless” (NIV), “futility" (NASB), or “vanity” (ESV). No matter the translation, don’t fall into the trap of reading into this verse that the Preacher is saying that nothing in life or “under the sun” matters. As you continue to read Ecclesiastes, you find that there are plenty of things that matter to the Preacher. The words “vanity”, “futility”, and “meaningless” are translations of a Hebrew word that refers to mists and vapors. What the Preacher is saying is that so much of life is temporary and fleeting, marked with frustrations and disappointments. Just like the streams run to the sea and yet the sea is never full (1:7), so we work tirelessly but are never satisfied. 

Our students play their sports, hang out with friends, and work hard at school, yet if they are honest, they recognize that these things don’t seem to be fully satisfying them. In fact, the very things they run to for satisfaction and comfort may be the very things causing them to be weary and exhausted! They fail in sports, their time with friends comes to an end, their school performance falls short of expectations. What a vicious cycle that we all, including our students, find ourselves in: a life of endless pursuits and few victories. 

The Preacher doesn’t stop there. He also says life is repetitive: “what has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun (1:9).” Prepare for students to object to this point. Surely there are new things! George Washington wasn’t using TikTok or drinking Starbucks. The Preacher’s point is not that there aren’t new inventions or new types of drinks. The point is that just like we have lived during the arrival of new technologies, so has every other person who has ever lived, whether it was an automobile or an iPhone. 

See Beyond the Text Itself

At this point you’re probably thinking: what youth worker in their right mind would teach this kind of lesson to students? Even though we have established that the Preacher isn’t trying to make us nihilists, we need to also emphasize what he is trying to do: pointing us to where true purpose and meaning are found. Ultimately, it is in Christ that our students will find these things. It is in the person and work of Christ that they will find a God and a kingdom that lasts forever. The Preacher wants us and our students to see past the vanities of this world and look to Christ, at whose right hand are pleasures forevermore (see Psalm 16:11).

In Ecclesiastes 1:10, the Preacher poses the question, “is there a thing of which it is said, “see, this is new?” I am thankful for one commentator who points out the many times the works of Christ and the hope they bring in the New Testament are defined as new. Jesus uses the image of new wine and new wineskins to describe what He came to Earth to do (see Luke 5:36-39). On the night He is betrayed, Jesus inaugurates the Lord’s Supper as the sign of the new covenant (Luke 22:20) which is language taken from Jeremiah 31:31-34. Finally, John sees Jesus in Revelation 21 bringing about the new heavens and the new earth upon His return. As the seemingly repetitive, mundane, and tiring patterns of life pile up on us, we remember our God has mercies that are new every morning, and we look forward to what He will do for those who trust Him.

Students regularly feel the effects of our sin-stained, vanity-filled world. When they experience graduations or friends moving away, when they become frustrated in their efforts at school or sports, and when they feel like they live a repetitive or mundane life, they may feel like it’s all temporary, meaningless, or futile. They may struggle to cling to the eternal hope promised to believers. As you teach Ecclesiastes 1:1-11, remind them that there is no hope of freedom from sin and its effects apart from Christ. By grace through faith, however, we can experience the work that Christ has done and will do in the future, which fills our life with an unshakable purpose, a meaningful existence, and a guaranteed inheritance. And even though students will still experience the frustrations and tragedies of this life, by faith in Christ they will do so with their eyes on that which will never pass away: the ultimate glory of Jesus.