What’s the Point: A Conclusion
This was originally posted at my old blog. I am transferring much of that content to my newer blogs now.
In his book, Qoheleth has raised some of the “big questions” in life, particularly those about the future. No one controls, nor even knows, what lies ahead for him/her in this life, as Qoheleth reminds us (6:12, 7: 13-14). In fact, not only can we not control “the big picture”, we often do not even exercise self-control over our own action, but are easily entangled in things we later regret (8:7-8). The only thing that is certain in our future is old age (if we make it that long) and death (12:1-8).
Death. It is certain to overtake us all, and it is this thing that is so bothersome to Qoheleth, even stealing his joy when he does run across the good things in life. Death is the same end which all are destined to face, whether wise or foolish (8:7-8, 2:14-16). Pleasure and long life are of no use because death still awaits (7:2, 6:3-6).
And after death? We are forgotten, we lose hope, and no longer participate in life “under the sun” — we disappear, even the memories of us (9:3-6). And who knows if our fate is even any different from the animals (3:18-21)? We might like to think ourselves a higher life form, but at the end of it all, it’s pretty much the same for us and them.
And the most frustrating part….
You can’t take it with you (5:15-17, 2:18-21). Qoheleth longs for eternity (3:11), if just so that he can enjoy without end the good things he’s tasted in life. For him, if anything is to last (and thus satisfy his desire), it must transcend life, death, and time.
Qoheleth, though, does come to some sort of conclusion which seems to satisfy him. In 12:13-14, he writes:
This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.
Though this comes at the end of his book, it is not the first time that Qoheleth has hinted that his conclusion will finally get back at something “over the sun” (as opposed to the view of life “under the sun” which he has been pursuing). At least twice, Qoheleth says that life under the sun is beyond comprehension, even for the wise man (11:5, 8:16-17). He also alludes to his conclusion in 3:9-21, when he reminds us quite clearly that the summum bonum cannot be found under the sun. If there is nothing that transcends this life, death, and time, then truly all is meaningless, for Qoheleth.
For many readers, this conclusion is not quite satisfying. It seems to be a sort of cop out, something like wishful thinking. It almost looks like Qoheleth is saying, “Well, this life is pretty meaningless without something that transcends the physical world. So, let’s believe in this Great Transcender, bow down to him, and count on him to give us meaning.” I think many people have read Qoheleth this way, even those who have found his conclusion appealing. I have even heard the book called Qoheleth’s apologetic for his faith, saying that he seeks to offer this defense of his faith by taking a look at the grimness of the alternative. To me, that sounds like wishful thinking indeed. If one doesn’t like the alternative, that is no reason to choose to believe in fictions.
However, I think that is not a fair view of Qoheleth’s work. I don’t think he is attempting to defend the reasons why he believes in God. If you look at it, the question of God’s existence is not raised at all in Qoheleth’s writing (nor in much of the Bible at all). Evidence for and/or against God’s existence won’t be found in this book. It assumes all along that there is a God, but Qoheleth is willfully living apart from him. From the first chapter of the book, Qoheleth already takes for granted that God is there, and blames him for laying a heavy burden on mankind (1:13). Perhaps it is this burden he blames on God that makes Qoheleth want to live under the sun. He doesn’t really say what prompted this decision. One way or another, he decides to go it on his own, without consideration of what he believes to be the realities other than (or beyond) the physical ones. At the end of all that, his conclusion was that life without those realities was not really worth it all, and was empty and meaningless.
I don’t know on what grounds Qoheleth believed in the existence of God. He doesn’t share that in his writings here, nor is it a central theme to any of the books in the Bible or extra-biblical Hebrew Wisdom Literature to my knowledge. The only real focus on apologetic issues in the Bible is in the New Testament and is focused on whether Jesus was in fact God in the flesh — the existence of God is pretty much taken for granted. It seems that the common thinking in Hebrew Wisdom Literature, like the Bible, is that evidence for God’s existence is elsewhere, and not in these writings. I think stepping back away from treating Qoheleth’s book as trying to “prove” something helps make it more meaningful. It isn’t an attempt to prove anything. It is almost a resignation to what Qoheleth sees as inescapable — that real meaning won’t be found apart from realities that lie somewhere other than under the sun.
