Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

1. Read Ecclesiastes 1:1–2. The word “vanity” is used 38 times in the book of Ecclesiastes. It is the Hebrew word hevel. It means something like “vapor” or “breath,” although the Preacher leaves his meaning unexplained here. Do you think the Preacher really means everything is meaningless? Does that include godliness and God? Or is it short of that? Explain.
2. Read Ecclesiastes 1:3–11. Taken as a whole, this passage paints a portrait of immense frustration. Does anything here resonate with you? Do you ever feel a sense of frustration with life that is similar to what this passage describes? Explain.
3. On his quest, Qoheleth tries many approaches to life. But at the end of them all, he is still left with the seemingly incurable frustration that he hasn’t found the “good life” he’s looking for. In what ways have you tried to create the “good life” for yourself? Talk about some of the things you have tried that haven’t really worked out the way you had hoped.
4. Who is someone whose life you are occasionally (or frequently) envious of? What is it about their life that you want to be true of your own?
5. Vanity of vanities! All is vanity. This is the chorus that echoes over a life that views God only from a distance. But what about those who do fear the Lord? What does Ecclesiastes mean for those who have already come to the end of themselves and have thrown their souls down upon the mercy of God?
6. If you are someone who only views God from a distance and fails to fear Him, then let Ecclesiastes show you the vanity of living like that. But if you have already thrown yourself down on the mercy of God, then receive the offer Jesus holds out to you in view of life’s frustrations. Read Matthew 11:28–30, and go to God in prayer, voicing every frustration and receiving the rest He offers you today.