“Vanity of vanities, vanity of vanities, all is vanity!”
“What does a person gain from all the toil he takes under the sun?”

In a world that is completely incomprehensible, the evangelist hovers in the abyss of nihilism and pessimism, yet remains a man of faith.
Faith triumphs.
Not a naive, superficial faith that denies or ignores the perplexing and frightening realities of our world, but a faith that lives with unanswered questions and continues to trust in the living God, and a faith that invites readers to do the same.
In a world that still puzzles us as much as the Preacher, when we embrace the questions of faith in faith, the message of Ecclesiastes offers a surprisingly contemporary, challenging, and unique comfort.
_From the introduction

Life can be a complete mess, outrageously unfair, or just plain baffling.
We acknowledge that God reigns sovereignly, but has it always seemed that way? The evangelist desperately tries to understand the world using every rational means at his disposal, yet he consistently returns to the same conclusion.
He doesn't understand.
Could it all be nothing? The preacher wrestles with the apparent futility of life and the terrible end of death.
So he hates life, but he still loves life, and he tells us why from both sides.
So here we have a man who knows what he believes in his head, but struggles to respond honestly to what he sees with his eyes and feels with his heart.
Actually, he's like most of us.
--- From the "Introduction"

For the evangelist, God is not simply a solution to every problem.
On the contrary, his anguish is deepened by his belief in God's reality and sovereignty.
You see, this is the difficulty with biblical monotheism.
Knowing that there is a living, sovereign God is part of the problem! This is not a battle between atheism and faith.
This is a fight that takes place within faith.
It is a struggle in this world that God created, governs, and places us in, between what we know and believe to be good and true and what we observe to be meaningless and perplexing.
The evangelist wrestles with an incomprehensible God and also wrestles with an incomprehensible world.
He tries to put everything together, but is confused as far as he can see, and eventually comes to 'Hebel'.
--- 「1.
From "What is the meaning of life?"

We can choose to see what the evangelist sees and feel what he feels.
The reason I say 'choose' is because it is not easy to do so since we live in a relatively safe and comfortable environment.
We can sense not only frustration and bewilderment, but also sadness and anger in the preacher's observations of the world's evil and suffering.
What he sees is not a simple mess, but a wrong so blatant it is intolerable.
And just as the evangelist faintly resonates with God's heart as he deals with these evil realities of human life, we too can and must cultivate that resonance in our hearts.
We must not be complacent about the evil and suffering we see in the world, but must truly grieve and be angry, just as God is.
--- 「2.
From "The Mystery of Time and the Unjust World"

Subtly, our work gradually ascends to the level of priority that belongs only to God.
If our work is "for God," then it becomes our top priority because God commands it, and everything else, including our spouse and family, becomes a lower priority.
Then we end up falling into a kind of holy, spiritual workaholism.
Even 'work for God' can become a ruthless and compulsive pursuit.
The very thing we once loved can become a lonely, violent burden that robs us of rest.
Or, as the Preacher said, it could be “vain and miserable toil.”
How paradoxical and sad is it that even the so-called "work of God" can ultimately be perceived that way?
--- 「3.
From “The Duality of Work, Politics, Worship, and Wealth”

We should enjoy all of these things to the fullest extent possible while we are alive.
Of course, there will be none of these things in the tomb.
These are at least the driving force that allows us to live fully in the present.
For some people, this is their only joy.
For Christians, this is also a powerful joy in life.
Of course, we know much more than the evangelist did about what lies beyond death, but our time in this life to serve God and enjoy His gifts is truly limited.
Therefore, we must live as passionately and productively as we can.
Given the shortness of life on this earth, Christians should seize the opportunity to use it wisely.
--- 「4.
From "The Darkest Hour"

In fact, the last line of verse 13 is remarkable for its scope and potential significance.
Although the word “duty” has been added to help us understand the Hebrew meaning, the sentence simply means, “This (fearing God and keeping his commandments) is the perfect human being ('adam).”
If the Preacher's long quest can be understood as an attempt to discover what it truly means to be human, then this is his final, one-sentence answer.
This is what it means to be 'human'.
It means that it is not only a matter of our duty, but also of our 'identity'.
The essence of human life is to be found in a relationship with God, with all the relational, ethical, covenantal, personal, and emotional richness that the rest of Scripture recognizes as "the fear of God."

--- 「5.
Rejoice and remember!」 from?