The Teacher's description of his accomplishments sounds a lot like that of most of us in the developed world today.
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. - Eccl. 4-10 NIV
Yet in the end, he would cry
"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." - Eccl. 1:2 NIV
Nothing we do is of any lasting value, nothing we do can change the course of events. Generations come and go, the sun rises and sets, the wind blows round and round, what has been before will be again...there is nothing new under the sun. And yet, we're here. God has placed each one of us here, in this day and age, for such a time as this. The question that Solomon asked is the same one we face today. What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? - Eccl. 2:22 NIV
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