1. Series - ‘How can I make sense of life?’
Today
‘Is it OK just to eat, drink
and be merry?’
Ecclesiastes 2:17-26

2. Key to understanding Ecclesiastes
Viewpoint 1
Viewpoint 2
‘Secular’ person
‘Spiritual’ person
Earthbound
Heaven bound
(under the sun)
God not in view
God included
Meaningless
Meaningful

3. Theme of the Book
‘Without God,
everything is
meaningless’

4. 1. Life with God out of the picture
Ecc 2:17-23
2. Life with God included
Ecc 2:24-26

5. Hard work isn’t the key to a meaningful existence
So I hated life, because the work that is
done under the sun was grievous to me.
All of it is meaningless,
a chasing after the wind.
Ecc 2:17

6. “We have always had a sense that work is
not only a necessity, it is a duty and
indeed a virtue … Work is not merely a
way of receiving a pay packet, but a
means whereby everyone in the
community benefits and society is
enriched … we need to establish a
national purpose that has a real meaning”

7. Hard work isn’t the key to a meaningful existence
1. Work is grievous (Heb ‘rah’)
2. Hates all he’s amassed because:a. Everything left to someone else - 2:18
b. Beneficiaries might be wise or foolish - 2:19
c. Everything left to those who haven’t
worked for it - 2:21

8. Hard work isn’t the key to a meaningful existence
What do people get for all the toil and
anxious striving with which they labour
under the sun? All their days their work is
grief and pain; even at night their minds
do not rest. This too is meaningless
Ecc 2:22-23

9. God ‘worked’ in creation
In the beginning God created the heaven
and the earth
Gen 1:1
By the seventh day God had finished the
work he had been doing; so on the
seventh day he rested from all his work
Gen 2:2

10. Work is a God-given Privilege
The LORD God took the man and
put him in the Garden of Eden to
work it and take care of it
Gen 2:15

11. Work is a God-given Privilege
By the sweat of your brow you will
eat your food until you return to
the ground
Gen 3:19a

12. Work has a Purpose
Satisfaction for the Creator
God saw all that he had made,
and it was very good
Gen 1:31

13. Work has a Purpose
Satisfaction for us?
So my heart began to despair over all
my toilsome labour under the sun.
Ecc 2:20

14. Work has a Purpose
Satisfaction for us?
A person can do nothing better than to eat
and drink and find satisfaction in their own
toil. This too … is from the hand of God, for
without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?
Ecc 2:24-25

15. The people of Judah and Israel were
as numerous as the sand on the
seashore; they ate, they drank and
they were happy
1 Kings 4:20

16. Solomon’s daily provisions were 30 cors of
the finest flour and 60 cors of meal, 10
head of stall-fed cattle, 20 of pasture-fed
cattle and 100 sheep and goats, as well as
deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice fowl
1 Kings 4:22-23

17. Work has a Purpose
Serving others
... serve one another in love
Gal 5:13
... whatever you do, do it all for the
glory of God
1 Cor 10:31

18. Work often results in Pressure
Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest
Matt 11:28
Come with me by yourselves to a quiet
place and get some rest
Mark 6:31b

19. Do you see the work you do as a privilege?
How can you find greater satisfaction
in what you do?
Are you a pleasure to work with?
Are you obedient and dependable?

20. Do you treat others fairly?
What difference would it make if you
worked for Jesus?
Are you where God wants you?
Do you pray daily about your work?
Do you feel guilty about taking time out?

21. Bring God into the Picture
for without Him, who can eat or find
enjoyment? To the person who pleases
Him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and
happiness, but to the sinner He gives the
task of gathering and storing up wealth to
hand it over to the one who pleases God
Ecc 2:25-26a