Therefore I Hated Life - Ecclesiastes 2:17

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon said, “there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dies the wise man? as the fool”, and in chapter two and verse seventeen of his book Solomon said, “therefore I hated life”, where we read,

Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: 

for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

The verse reads, “Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me:” Solomon began with the words, “therefore I hated life”  or “wherefore, then and on this account I, Solomon, loathed, was odious to and exists as an enemy and foe to living and being alive”; “because the work” which means “since and on account that the deeds, acts and labor” “that is wrought under the sun” or “that exists as fashioned, accomplished, made and produced beneath the sun in the sky” “is grievous unto me” which means “exists as bad, disagreeable, malignant, unpleasant and evil to me, Solomon”. Solomon said he loathed living since labor that is accomplished beneath the sun existed as disagreeable and unpleasing to him. 

The verse goes on to say, “for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.” Daniel continued with the words, “for all” or “because, since and on account that each, every, the whole and the complete labor” “is vanity” which means “exists as vapor, breath and unsatisfactory emptiness” “and vexation” or “and longing, grasping and striving” “of spirit” which means “pertaining to the wind, breath and mind”. Solomon concluded that every type of work was not only disagreeable to him, but also was similar to grasping the wind or as “soap bubbles”. 

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn through Solomon how he detested life because every form of labor became unpleasant and malignant to him. He concluded it was “all” like grasping at the wind which leaves a person empty and vexed. In the grand scheme of things some people may come to this conclusion, however, God did not want it to be this way. He gave the first human beings, Adam and Eve, tasks to accomplish within His garden (See Genesis 2:15), and everyone is invited to serve in His Kingdom when they receive His Son Jesus who came into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days. When we yield to Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and equip us with a task or service within His Kingdom which will not only satisfy in this life, but will help us to enjoy our “lives” for ages and ages to come. 

Next time Solomon says, “I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".