Ecclesiastes 1:2

"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

The preacher here is Solomon. He is approximately 55. He has been king over Jerusalem for 38 years. He has broken fellowship with the Lord. The judgment of the Lord is upon him in the form of three people who have risen against him.

I can see Solomon surrounded with splendor. Servants, slaves, wives, concubines, everyone and everything at his immediate demand....but he is not content. He once walked with his Lord. He once cherished wisdom and truth. He walked in them and held them close. Now they haunted him. Now wisdom mocked him and the truth was far from him and yet, it was there alright, He knew it and it's in Ecclesiastes for anyone who wishes to find why this broken man is crying "vanity of vanities, all is vanity".

Websters defines vanity as, "Emptiness; want of substance to satisfy desire; uncertainty; inanity." The word translated vanity comes from the Hebrew root word habal which means "to be lead astray". This is what happened to Solomon.

"When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods" (1 Kings 11:4). Solomon was lead astray and the result was emptiness; want of substance to satisfy desire; uncertainty; inanity.

I wonder if Solomon realized at this point just how patient the Lord had been with him. It was probably within the first couple years of his reign he "made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about" (1 Kings 3:1). "And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house, And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come" (2 Chronicals 8:1,11).

It was after taking Pharaohs daughter that Solomon asked for wisdom and had his second personal encounter with God. During the 20 years of building the house of the Lord Solomon took other wives from the countries around about him which the Lord had forbidden. I don't think he built any alters to other gods at this time though. This seems to happen after the last of his father David's advisors dies off. It seems that Solomon had at least 20 years of purely undeserved blessing culminating in the glory of the LORD filling the Temple (2 Chronicals 7:1).

Are not all our blessing purely undeserved? The very fact we are saved is undeserved favor of our God. One day our undeserved favor from the Lord will culminate in His glory filling the New Jerusalem upon a new earth where we will dwell with Him forever "and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: And there shall be no more curse" (Revelation 21:4,22:3).

Praise God!