Ecc. 1: Meaningless

Ecclesiastes 1:9 "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."

Wow, what a bleak chapter.

The teacher who was king, who I assume is Solomon, who was blessed with great wisdom and commanded the acquisition of wisdom in Proverbs, now considers its pursuit meaningless.

This idea likely comes from the idea repeated in scripture that a man's life, even the most powerful man's life, is but a vapor. It's just a brief moment in time. And the universe continues on, doing it's thing. The sun rises and sets, the wind blows back and forth, and the streams and rivers flow, in an eternal cycle. The universe completely forgets the generations of people who were here in the past, and will forget those who are yet to come. In spite of continued ideas of what we consider innovation, there is nothing new under the sun. Whatever can be seen has been. Whatever can be done has been.

So how does the one man given ultimate human wisdom now consider it's pursuit chasing after the wind? Is it sort of a "careful what you wish for" situation? Too much of a good thing? Wisdom in Proverbs was compared to honey, but even a full person is grossed out by honey.

Maybe its how the wisdom is used. Maybe its outside of a life devoted to God.