Day 149: All Is Vanity (2024)

This episode explores themes of life's inherent vanity and the quest for meaning through biblical texts, focusing on Solomon's narratives and the wisdom book of Ecclesiastes.

1. Life's material pursuits and achievements, though substantial, are inherently transient and ultimately futile without spiritual purpose.
2. The pursuit of wisdom, while valuable, also leads to the realization of life’s inherent limitations and the inevitability of death, making it seem futile in the absence of eternal perspective.
3. True fulfillment and meaning are found not in earthly accomplishments or pleasures but in a life oriented towards God and eternal values.
4. Father Schmitz emphasizes the importance of recognizing life’s fleeting nature to focus on what truly matters - spiritual growth and alignment with divine purpose.
5. The episode invites listeners to reflect on their life's purpose and the legacy they wish to leave behind, highlighting the importance of living beyond mere temporal existence.

1: Solomon’s Architectural Endeavors

Father Schmitz describes King Solomon's extensive projects, focusing on the construction details of his palace and other buildings. He uses this as a metaphor for life's grand but transient efforts. Father Mike Schmitz: "Solomon's architectural feats are not just physical constructs but reflections of our own life’s works and their impermanence."

2: Introduction to Ecclesiastes

This chapter introduces the themes of Ecclesiastes, discussing the philosophical perspective of life's vanity through the wise King Solomon's eyes. Father Mike Schmitz: "Ecclesiastes opens a window into the soul's dark night, questioning the value of life’s toils in the absence of God."

3: Vanity and Earthly Pleasures

Schmitz explores the emptiness of self-indulgence and pleasure, illustrating Solomon's experiments with luxury and pleasure, which he ultimately finds unsatisfying. Father Mike Schmitz: "Even in abundance, Solomon finds the pleasures of life wanting, pointing us towards deeper, more enduring satisfactions."

1. Reflect daily on your life's pursuits and align them with eternal values to ensure they hold lasting significance.
2. Embrace simplicity and contentment, recognizing the transient nature of material gains.
3. Cultivate a habit of mindfulness and prayer to stay focused on spiritual growth rather than temporal achievements.
4. Engage in regular community service to embody and practice the values of charity and humility.
5. Study wisdom literature to deepen your understanding of life's deeper meanings and how to navigate its complexities.

Today we begin reading the book of Ecclesiastes! Fr. Mike helps us understand the central theme of this book of wisdom literature- the meaning of life. What truly matters in this passing life? It's only because God exists that everything matters because our choices and lives will endure into eternity. Today's readings are 1 Kings 7, Ecclesiastes 1-2, and Psalm 5.

People

Solomon

Books

The Book of Ecclesiastes, The Bible

Content Warnings:

None

Father Mike Schmitz
Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a year podcast is brought to you by ascension using the great adventure Bible timeline. We'll read all the way from Genesis to revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story. Today, it is day 149. We are reading from one kings, chapter seven.

We're also beginning today, five days of the Book of Ecclesiastes, one of the wisdom books. We're reading ecclesiastes chapter one and chapter two. We're also praying psalm five today. As always, the Bible translation that I'm reading from is the revised standard version, the second catholic edition. I'm using the great Adventure Bible from Ascension.

If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com bibleina year. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking subscribe. And that would be wonderful. Now, quick, one quick note before we begin. Ecclesiastes.

We're continuing with King Solomon in one, kings seven. He's gonna be building his own home and some other kinds of things. We're gonna see some of those dimensions. Like yesterday, we followed the building, the construction of the temple, and what that looked like. Today, it's Solomon's.

Some other buildings that he's building. Ecclesiastes, it's one of the, as I said, one of the books of wisdom literature. And so it is classically ascribed to Solomon himself, remembering that Solomon is the wisest man who ever lived. This book of ecclesiastes, this book of the Song of Solomon, is, um, basically a wise person who's looking at the world and looking at how people are living and looking at how he himself has lived, and is saying, this is all vanity. In fact, it'll say vanity of vanities.

Everything is vanity. Well, one thing to keep in mind, that's kind of a strange translation. It's the hebrew word hevel, which is a word that means vapor. I guess that's so kind of vanity in the sense of not vanity. I'm so vain.

We said King Saul was inordinately preoccupied with what people thought of him. That's vanity. This is more along the lines of vapor, meaning meaninglessness. So vanity in terms of meaninglessness, not vanity in terms of what people think of me. So just keep that in mind.

The author of the book of ecclesiastes is kind of, it's ascribed to someone like King Solomon, the wisest. It is unknown exactly who is the author of ecclesiastes, but that isn't necessarily important. What's important is the heart of the book of ecclesiastes. And the big question it asks, which is, isn't life in face of all these things? All the things that you can do, all the ways a person can work to make a name for themselves, all the ways a person can simply strive to maximize pleasure in their life?

Is it all meaningless? Does it amount to nothing? And so it's going to be a kind of a negative book, but it's going to be ultimately positive. And so it's, I just invite you to hang with us for the next five days as we go through ecclesiastes. As I said, it's day 149.

We're reading first kings, chapter seven, ecclesiastes one and two. We're praying psalm five.

Solomon's house and other buildings. Solomon was building his own house 13 years, and he finished his entire house. He built the house of the forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits and its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. And it was built upon three rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars, and it was covered with cedar above the chambers that were upon the 45 pillars, 15 in each row.

There were window frames in three rows, and window opposite window in three tiers. All the doorways and windows had square frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers. And he made the hall of pillars. Its length was 50 cubits and its breadth 30 cubits. There was a porch in front with pillars and a canopy before them.

And he made the hall of the throne, where he was to pronounce judgment, even the hall of judgment. It was finished with cedar from floor to rafters. His own house, where he was to dwell in the other court, back of the hall, was of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken in marriage. All these were made of costly stones hewn according to measure, sawed with saws back in front, even from the foundation to the coping, and from the court of the house of the Lord to the great court.

The foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of eight and ten cubits. And above were costly stones hewn according to measurement. And cedar. The great court had three courses of hewn stone round about and a course of cedar beams. So had the inner court of the house of the Lord and the vestibule of the house works of Hiram the Bronze and king Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre.

He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And he was full of wisdom, understanding and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work. He cast two pillars of bronze. 18 cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits measured its circumference.

It was hollow and its thickness was four fingers. The second pillar was the same. He also made two capitals of molten bronze to set upon the tops of the pillars. The height of the one capital was five cubits and the height of the other capital was five cubits. Then he made two nets of checker work with wreaths of chain work for the capitals upon the tops of the pillars.

A net for the one capital and a net for the other capital. Likewise, he made pomegranates in two rows round about the one network to cover the capital that was upon the top of the pillar. And he did the same with the other capital. Now, the capitals that were upon the tops of the pillars in the vestibule were of lily work, four cubits. The capitals were upon the two pillars.

And also above the rounded projection which was beside the network, there were 200 pomegranates in two rows round about. And so with the other capital, he set up the pillars at the vestibule of the temple. He set up the pillar on the south and called its name Jachin. And he set up the pillar on the north and called its name Boaz. And upon the tops of the pillars was lily work.

Thus the work of the pillars was finished. Then he made the molten see. It was round ten cubits from brim to brim and five cubits high. And a line of 30 cubits measured its circumference. Under its brim were gourds for 30 cubits compassing the sea round about.

The gourds were in two rows cast with it. When it was cast, it stood upon twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The sea was set upon them and all their posterior parts were inward. Its thickness was a handbreadth and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held 2000 baths.

He also made the ten stands of bronze. Each stand was four cubits long, four cubits wide and three cubits high. This was the construction of the stands. They had panels and the panels were set in the frames. And on the panels that were set in the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim.

Upon the frames, both above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths of beveled work. Moreover, each stand had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and at the four corners were supports for a laver. The supports were cast with wreaths. At the side of each, its opening was within a crown, which projected upward one cubit. Its opening was round, as a pedestal is made, a cubit and a half deep.

At its opening there were carvings, and its panels were square, not round, and the four wheels were underneath the panels. The axles of the wheels were of one piece with the stands, and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. The wheels were made like a chariot wheel. Their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast. There were four supports at the four corners of each stand.

The supports were of one piece with the stands, and on the top of the stand there was a round band, half a cubit high, and at the top of the stand, its stays and its panels were of one piece with it, and on the surface of its stays and on its panels, he carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths round about. After this manner, he made the ten stands. All of them were cast alike of the same measure and of the same form, and he made ten lavers of bronze. Each laver held 40 baths. Each laver measured four cubits, and there was a laver for each of the ten stands.

And he set the stands, five on the south side of the house and five on the north side of the house. And he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house. Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of the lord. Two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars, and the 400 pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were upon the pillars, the ten stands and the ten lavers upon the stands, and the one sea and the twelve oxen underneath the sea.

Now, the pots, the shovels, and the basins, all these vessels in the house of the lord, which Hiram made for King Solomon, were of burnished bronze. In the plain of the Jordan, the king cast them in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarathan, and Solomon left all the vessels unweighed. Because there were so many of them, the weight of the bronze was not found out. So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the Lord. The golden altar, the golden table for the bread of the presence, the lampstands of pure gold, five on the south side and five on the north.

Before the inner sanctuary, the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold, the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for incense and fire, pans of pure gold and the sockets of gold. For the doors of the innermost part of the house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the nave of the temple. Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things which David, his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

The Book of Ecclesiastes, chapter one. All is vanity. The words of the preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the preacher. Vanity of vanities.

All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes round to the north.

Round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness. A man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

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. Is there a thing of which it is said? See, this is new. It has been already in the ages before us.

There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to happen among those who come after vanity in seeking wisdom. I, the preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem, and I applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun. And behold, all is vanity, and a striving after wind.

What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered. I said to myself, I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me. And my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. And I applied my mind to no wisdom and to no madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.

For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. Chapter two. Vanity in self indulgence. I said to myself, come now, I will make a test of pleasure. Enjoy yourself.

But behold, this also was vanity. I said, of laughter, it is mad. And of pleasure, what use is it? I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine, my mind still guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven during the few days of their life. I made great works.

I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools, from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me.

In Jerusalem I also gathered for myself silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines. Man's delight. So I became great and surpassed all who were before me. In Jerusalem.

Also my wisdom remained with me, and whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil. And this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it. And behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Vanity of folly and toil. So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king only what he has already done. Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. The wise man has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness.

And yet I perceived that one fate comes to all of them. Then I said to myself, what befalls the foolishness will befall me also. Why, then have I been so very wise? And I said to myself that this also is vanity, for of the wise man as of the fool, there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten how the wise man dies, just like the fool. So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool, yet he will be master of all. For which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun. Because sometimes a man who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by a man who did not toil for it.

This also is vanity and a great evil. What has a man from all the toil and strain with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of pain, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his mind does not rest. This also is vanity.

There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also I saw is from the hand of God. For apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment, for to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity, and a striving after wind.

Psalm five. Trust in God for deliverance from enemies to the choirmaster for the flutes, a psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O Lord. Give heed to my groaning. Listen to the sound of my cry, my king and my God.

For to you do I pray, O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice. In the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you, and watch, for you are not a God who delights in wickedness. Evil may not sojourn with you. The boastful may not stand before your eyes. You hate all evildoers, you destroy those who speak lies.

The Lord abhors bloodthirsty and deceitful men. But I, through the abundance of your merciful love, will enter your house. I will worship toward your holy temple in the fear of you. Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies. Make your way straight before me, for there is no truth in their mouth.

Their heart is destruction, their throat is an open sepulchre. They flatter with their tongue. Make them bear their guilt, O God. Let them fall by their own counsels, because of their many transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you. But let all who take refuge in you rejoice.

Let them ever sing for joy, and do defend them that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord, you cover him with favor as with a shield.

Father in heaven, we give you praise, and we thank you. And we do rise early and we pray to you, and we listen to your word, whether early or midday or whatever random time of the day. Lord God, we just, we allow you to speak your word to us, your word of the story of Solomon building his own home and the temple being constructed, and the word of the Lord from ecclesiastes, of coming face to face with the limits of human living, the limits of human life, and the limits of human strength and power and wisdom and work and memory. With you, Lord God, though righteousness and goodness and justice endures forever with you, Lord God, our works endure forever. Without you, we can do nothing, but with you, all things are possible.

Help us to do all things with you and for you and for the glory of your name. In Jesus name we pray. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Oh, gosh.

Okay. This is so good. I. Okay. First kings, chapter seven.

First things first. Here we are, we have King Solomon. What's he doing? He is building, because remember, we talked about this before. Solomon is the builder, and so he's building his own home.

And then we go back to Hyrum, how Hiram is an artisan, and he's able to make these incredible columns, these incredible pillars, essentially in the house of the Lord with all the stuff and all the pomegranates and all. It's beautiful. And we keep this in mind that while in two chronicles, which we departed from for just a moment, we'll come back to that in roughly, I don't know, 15 days or so, we had the story of Solomon completing the temple. But here in one kings, we have the story of him in the action, the very task of completing the temple. And we get some of the, a hint of the beauty of the temple, just that's what we heard.

Now, in one kings, chapter seven. But in our first steps into the book of ecclesiastes, one of the things we have is, okay, the words of the preacher. Now, the greek rendering of the Hebrew is Coaleth. So the hebrew word is Coaleth. And this is a greek rendering of the hebrew word coaleth, which is one who convenes or speaks in the assembly, that is from.

That's a note from the great adventure Bible, if you'd like to know this. Hence the name preacher. The preacher says, such and such. Okay, so that's coaleth. One of the things that we recognize is the vanity of created things.

Again, not vanity in terms of what others think or inordinate preoccupation with the opinions of others, but vanity in terms of vapor. Vanity in terms of, like, it's a pursuit of the wind. You can't capture it. It's meaninglessness. And there's something that's so good about the reality that the preacher.

The reality that the wise one has come to this understanding. The wise one has come to, because he's saying, essentially, okay, so here's what happens. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north. Just keeps going. And then the rivers, they all run to the sea, but the sea doesn't get filled up, and the rivers don't dry out.

So what's going on? And there's what has been is what will be. What has been done is what will be done. There's nothing new under the sun. Even if you say, hey, this is new.

No, it's the same thing. And this is so good for us. In our day and age, we can say, okay, oh, gosh, the distress we're going through right now. This is so new. Like, well, no human heart is the same.

Human relationships are the same. The same dilemmas that attack us. Yeah, they might be attacking us in new ways. The challenges we're facing. We might be facing them with a new flavor, but they're the same.

The struggle to love each other, the struggle to forgive each other, the struggle to keep going in the midst of what is simply what feels like meaningless toil. And that's what Coaleth says. That's what the preacher says. I am just working so hard. And what happens is, at the end of the day, it's gone.

At the end of the day, I just end up working. And so, in chapter two, it talks about this, what it says. How about let me pursue self indulgence. Let me just see if I can maximize happiness, maximize enjoyment in life. And so I searched within my mind how to cheer my body with wine.

And here is coaleth. Here's the preacher who sang. So what did I do? I made great works. I built houses and planted vine vineyards for myself.

I made pools and all these kind of things. And it was interesting because he doesn't just talk about that base level of happiness, that base level of pleasure which is found in wine or in good food. But he also talks about, okay, I'm going to surround myself with beauty. So I made, as it says, I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself, basically.

Okay, you guys, I'm going to move into the next house. The next house we have. It's, that's our dream house. And then we'll be happy. There's a radio personality.

It talks about how he says, yeah, you can spend all you want on your, on your dream house. I got to tell you, within three years, it's not going to be your dream house anymore. And that sense of, like, you're just, you're going to continue to pursue, pursue, pursue, because the human heart always wants more. And that's what he says. He says the eye keeps seeing but doesn't get filled up, and the ear keeps hearing but doesn't get filled up.

And so we realize that's meaningless. So living for pleasure in this world meaningless. He goes on to say, well, what about, what about wisdom? What if I am the wisest person around? And he has this great example where he says, I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.

Yeah, it's way better to be wise than to be foolish. It says, the wise man has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet, so the wise man has eyes he can see, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceive that one fate comes to all of them, because what befalls the fool will befall me also. So basically, we're both going to die.

So why would I have been wise? And it says, and that's meaningless. And this is so good, because again, it goes on to say, for if the wise men, as of the fool, there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in days to come, all will have been long forgotten. Basically, I remember hearing someone ask the question. They said, can you remember, what's the name of your great great grandfather?

What's the name of your great great grandmother? Like, one day your great grandchildren will not know your name. I mean, even, even that sense that he asked the question, he said, who here can name all the presidents? The president of the United States? We might know the last couple.

Maybe you'll know the last 20. Maybe you know the last 30. But who can name all of them? Yet at one point, they were in charge of the country in which many of us who are listening to this live. And if you're not from the United States, like, what can you name the prime minister or the whatever?

Another way to say it is we just recognize that the day will come when nobody on this planet will even remember our name. They won't remember anything about us. And so here is Kolath, here is the preacher who says then what we're living for. To be a legacy to live a legacy to be remembered that's going to go away. That seems meaningless.

And even the last one, he says here in chapter two, talks about how I could accumulate all these things and pass on a legacy to my family. I could pass on a legacy to my kids. I could work so hard, like King David did, and passed it on to his son, Solomon, or like Solomon did, passing on to his son, rehoboam. And what happens is, maybe my son will be a fool. Maybe the person who gets my stuff won't know what to do with my stuff.

Maybe they won't value my stuff. How many times have you been bequeathed something from your grandmother or grandfather, like in their will, that was their prized China collection or their prized whatever their thing was? And you're like, oh, yeah, I guess grandma liked this thing. I guess grandpa thought this was important and you maybe appreciated it a little bit, but nowhere near the way they appreciated it. That is just, wow, all vanity.

And so what's happening, though? The ultimate thing that the preacher is highlighting is this. If you're living in this world simply for this world, it's meaningless. If you're living in this world, a life apart from God, yes, time will erase everything. Time will erase everything.

But this is where coalesce goes to. This is where the preacher goes to. Is there more than time? You know the days. If you're just living for this life, you're right.

Do whatever you want, because none of it matters. But if there's more than this life, if there's eternity, if there's actually a purpose to this life, where in some way, even if our choices in this world don't endure in this world, they will endure in eternity, then. Then life matters. We're going to be exploring this for the next four days after today, this reality that only, only if God exists, only if he has a purpose for our lives, only if he cares about us, only if we're made in his image and likeness, does any choice of ours matter at all. Because if all there is is this life, then everything in this life will pass away.

If all there is is this world, everything in this world will pass away. And that's just how life is. It's passing. But if there's more to this life than just this life, if there is the Lord God, who sees all things and all things matter to him. If your life matters to him, then everything we do matters to him.

And so in our journey here with the preacher with coaleth in the book of Ecclesiastes, we're going to come face to face with the question of meaning or meaninglessness. And the only thing that can make this world and make this life meaningful is the reality that there's more than just this life. Okay, so here we are taking our first steps, our last steps in one kings for the next couple days. But we have four more days before our next messianic checkpoint. So we have four more days of first kings, four more days of ecclesiastes, and then we launch into the gospel of Mark.

But in these days, as we're facing the battle between meaning and meaninglessness, let's keep praying for each other, because I'm praying for you. Please, please pray for me. My name is Fr. Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow.

God bless.