Lesson 3

Lifestyles Of The Rich And Miserable

Ecclesiastes 2:1-26

A disturbed and deeply troubled man went to a psychiatrist in hopes of relieving his anxiety. He awoke melancholy every morning and went to bed in the evening deeply depressed. His day was marked by darkness and clouds. In desperation, he sought the counsel of this doctor. The psychiatrist listened to him for almost an hour. Finally, he leaned toward his patient and said, "You know there's a local comedy club. I've been told that the comic whose act is presently there is a real clown. He's leaving them in the aisles, getting rave reviews from the critics. Maybe he is the one that will bring back your happiness. Why don't you go see this professional comedian and see if you can't laugh your troubles away?" With a downcast expression, the patient muttered, "Doctor I am that comedian."

The picture that is painted for us of the lifestyle of the rich and famous is unquestionably enviable. What if you had as much money as Donald Trump or were as handsome a couple as Richard Geer and Cindy Crawford? What if you were as powerful as the Kennedys? What if you lived in a mansion in Beverly Hills and vacationed on the ski slopes of Aspen or the beaches of Wahkiki? What if you made your millions by playing basketball like Michael Jordan or by being funny like Bill Cosby or by pretending you are someone else like Mel Gibson or Michelle Pfieffer or by singing like Billy Ray Cyrus or Whitney Houston or by dressing up to have your picture taken like Christie Brinkley? What if you could drive any car you chose or eat anything you wanted or afford anything and everything your heart desired? We see these people and read about them in the media and we think, "Wow! What a life!" But the public perception of the rich and beautiful is not whole story. There is not enough money to insulate you from misery. There is not enough beauty to guarantee you a happy and healthy marriage. Behind the pretty portrait there is often much private pain.

The Book of Ecclesiastes allows us a "behind the scenes" peek at a man who had everything at his fingertips - wealth, intelligence, power, women and yet he came to the point where he said (2:17) "I hated life ... all is vanity." But before we get to that conclusion, let's back up to the beginning of the chapter and see how he got there.

Solomon's search for the meaning and purpose of life began, according to 1:13, in the classroom. He reports to us that he "gave (his) heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven." We would say that he educated himself about every aspect of life. But the answers were not in the science books or the history books or the philosophy books. His research led him to conclude (1:14) that "all is vanity." So in chapter 2, Solomon left the classroom and headed for the playground. For him, life was a laboratory in which to experiment with one thing after another.

His Bold Options In Life, 2:1-11.

He tested his own heart to see how he would respond to two common experiences.

He Tried A Life Of Enjoyment, 2:1-3. These verses list several words associated with "if it feels good, do it" philosophy - mirth, pleasure, laughter (carries the ide of sport), madness (foolishness), wine (partying), folly (silliness). The court jesters were the comedians of the ancient world. They had their games and sports and past times. These all give a moment of pleasure and relief but it doesn't last. There is more to life than video games, sporting events, movies, television, boating, fishing, hunting, four-wheeling, softball, bowling, golfing, bicycling and amusement parks and parties. People pay to buy experiences which, at best, are temporary escapes from the burdens of life. There is more to life than fun and games and sex and surrounding yourself with beautiful and expensive things. 1 Kings 10:18 -22 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold. The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays. And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom. And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. For the king had at sea a navy ... once in three years came the navy ... bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. 1 Kings 4:22-23 And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal, Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallow deer, and fatted fowl. He was surrounded by fabulous furnishings and ate a feast at every meal. He had women everywhere. 1 Kings 11:3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. If sensual things were his motive, he had a thousand women to choose from. If politics was the reason, no doubt he had great political influence. There was lots of laughter. And where there is laughter there is usually liquor, v.3. "I decided to cheer myself up with wine. At the same time my mind was still thinking wisely." That's a common fallacy. Wine and wisdom don't belong in the same sentence! You cannot be filled with both. "I wanted to find a way to enjoy myself, to see what was good for people to do during the few days of life." Solomon was not planning on becoming a drunk, only a connoisseur of wines. No one ever sets out to become a drunk. No one ever decides that they are going to become addicted to alcohol or drugs. They only drink because of peer pressure, or in order to get a good feeling and have fun.

Ah, yes. Fun. The goal and purpose of life. Life was one party after another. But how do you feel after the party is over? Empty and disappointed? Prov. 14:13 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness. Why do we set out to have fun and end up disappointed? Perhaps because pleasure seeking is basically selfishness and selfishness destroys true joy. Selfishness leads us to exploit other people which leads to broken relationships and unhappiness. Pleasure seeking leads to misery also because of the law of diminishing returns. If you live for pleasure alone, enjoyment will decrease unless the intensity of the pleasure increases. For example, the more you drink, the less enjoyment you get from it. That means more drinks and stronger drinks in order to have the same pleasure. The sad results is desire without satisfaction. You can substitute almost any purely pleasurable experience (drugs, gambling, sex) and get the same result. "I said to myself, I will try having fun. I will enjoy myself. I will cheer myself up with wine. I will live it up, laugh it up, love it up. But I found out that this is also empty and useless. It is foolish to laugh all the time."

He tried a life of enjoyment and found it empty. So have others. The list is long of famous people who seemed to have it all but ended up depressed or even dead. Think of Marilyn Monroe, Janis Joplin and Jimmy Hendrix, John Belushi, David Kennedy, Karen Carpenter or more recently Princess Dianna, Lady Sarah Ferguson, River Phoenix and Lewis Billups.

He Tried A Life Of Employment, vs. 4-11. What about hard work and success? Does working hard and being successful bring lasting happiness? Perhaps the meaning of life is related to hard work. Solomon tried this, too.

He administered massive works. He built houses, v. 4, see also I Kings 7:1-12, II Chronicles 8:4-6. And of course he built the Temple, I Kings 5ff. He built vineyards and gardens and orchards and forests - his landscaping was magnificent,v.5. He made pools of water and developed irrigation systems, v.6.

He appointed many workers, v.7a. According to I Kings 5:13-18, there were 183,300 men involved in the construction of the Temple alone. Solomon had lots of people under his control and a large personal staff.

He acquired much wealth, vs. 7b-9. There were flocks and herds. At the dedication of the Temple alone Solomon offered as sacrifices 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep, I Kings 8:63. There was gold and silver. Solomon became a collector of the "peculiar treasure of kings." Rich people are almost always collectors - art, automobiles (chariots), stamps, coins, rare books, jewelry. Poor people barely survive. They can't afford to collect anything. Solomon was surrounded by the best of live entertainment. You don't need a Boss sound system when you have your own orchestra and singers available at any time.

Self denial was not in Solomon's vocabulary, vs. 10-11. Anything that he saw and wanted, he got for himself. For some that would be clothes, shoes, tools, cars, furniture, toys, gadgets, conveniences. If you stopped your reading in verse 10, you might conclude that this brought fulfillment. But that's not the final verdict. There was a certain degree of joy in doing the work but what happens when the task is finished? Someone has defined achievement as "the death of endeavor and the birth of disgust." Someone else said that "success is full of promise until men get it and then it is a last year's birds nest from which the birds have flown." Over-achieving can be a form of escape from an empty life. Even work can be a substitute for living a meaningful life. Isaiah says (55:2) Wherefore do ye ... labor for that which satisfieth not? The final verdict about trying a life of employment is stated in verse 11. Solomon tested life. he tried a life of enjoyment and a life of employment and concluded that both led to vanity - emptiness.

His Bleak Outlook On Life 2:12-23

When Solomon says in verse 12, "I turned myself to behold" he is saying, "I considered things from another viewpoint." He looked at his wealth and his wisdom in light of the certainty of death. The certainty of death is a major theme in Ecclesiastes. In considering life, we must also consider the certainty of death. "Philosophy is no other thing than for a man to prepare himself to die."

In verse 12, Solomon says, "I've done it all! What is there left for me to experience?" He recognized that wisdom is better than foolishness, as light is better than darkness and sight is better than blindness, vs. 13-14a. However, both the wise and the foolish have some things in common, 14b-15. Both of them die, 16. Both the wise and the foolish are quickly forgotten. Biographies of the great men and women of history get shorter and shorter with each new edition of the encyclopedia. Is there any value to wisdom? It takes a long time to learn how to live and then you die!

"Therefore, I hated life" Solomon concludes in verse 17. Solomon Hated His Life. Life is burdensome and grievous (painful) and empty. Solomon seems to have a death wish. He is not the first in the Bible to wish for death. There was Job and Moses and Elijah and Jonah all of whom eventually changed their mind. Perhaps Solomon is contemplating suicide. There are an estimated 400,000 suicide attempts annually in the U.S. by some studies and 40,000 who succeed. People hate their life and in a moment of weakness make a very wrong decision. The Bible tells us that we should "love life" (I Peter 3:10; Psalm 34:12). Perhaps it was not suicide that is being considered here only an expression that life had become utterly disgusting to Solomon.

Solomon Hated His Labor, vs. 18-23. Even his wealth was a source of misery to him. "You can't keep it," he says in verse 18. "You die and leave it someone else." "There are no pockets in shrouds." Money is a medium of exchange. It is useless unless it is spent. You cannot eat it but you can use it to buy food. You cannot keep warm with it but you can use it to buy fuel. The Wall Street Journal called money "A universal passport to everywhere except heaven and a universal provider of everything except happiness." You die and leave all that you have acquired and you don't know but that that person will waste it away, vs. 19-20. Solomon's son, Rehaboam, did just that. He squandered his father's kingdom away.

Because you leave it and because you cannot protect it, Solomon decided that you really cannot enjoy the fruit of your labor as you ought to, vs. 21-23. Work during the day (v.22)and worry during the night v.23) caused Solomon even to hate his labor and hate his life.

His Balanced Overview Of Life, 2:24-26.

Is it wrong to have any fun? Is it wrong to work hard? Absolutely not! The Bible commends both. Christianity has a strong work ethic. Christians ought to enjoy life the most, 1 Tim 6:17 ... the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. The problem is balance. We humans tend to go toward extremes. It is that extreme that leads to emptiness. If the pursuit and purpose of your life is pleasure, the result is bound to be pain. If you are an over-achiever - living for acquiring and building things - you are headed down a road that leads to a wrecked life.

In the final three verses of this chapter, Solomon helps us locate the proper balance, read vss.24-26. These words do not promote fatalism but faith. Thank God for what you have earned and acquired and enjoy it to the glory of God. The blessings of life are from the hand of God (24) and the ability to enjoy blessings also comes from God (6:2). A farmer once said, "Thank God for food and for good digestion." God not only gives us bounty but for his people he adds (26) "wisdom and knowledge and joy" - three gifts which enable us to appreciate our blessings.

The real issue seems to boil down to whether the person is a sinner or one that is "good before God." Is his life being lived with or without God. Without God, life is travail (toil) in which a person only heaps up more things to leave behind. With God, life is living most for eternity and enjoying what you have now to the glory of God. In the end, it's all going to belong to the people of God anyhow. Prov 13:22 A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

Chuck Colson wrote, "Life isn't like a book. Life isn't always logical or sensible or orderly. Life is a mess most of the time. And theology must be lived in the midst of that mess." Amidst the mess we looking for meaning to life. It is only possible to have purpose in living when you belong to God and you are living your life for Him.

1 Cor. 15:19 If in this life only we have hope ..., we are of all men most miserable.

Col. 3:2, 23-24 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.