What is the meaning of Ecclesiastes 2:11? Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished • Solomon pauses to look back at palaces, vineyards, treasuries, and public works (1 Kings 10:4–7). • The word “considered” shows deliberate reflection; this isn’t a fleeting thought but an honest audit of achievement. • Psalm 90:12 calls us to “number our days” so that we gain wisdom. Solomon is doing just that, counting up his life’s enterprise. • From the outset we are reminded that even the grandest résumé must face God’s evaluation (2 Corinthians 5:10). And what I had toiled to achieve • “Toil” points to back-breaking effort—long days, heavy decisions, sleepless nights. Genesis 3:17–19 teaches that toil became humanity’s norm after the fall. • Solomon’s toil was fueled by unmatched resources (Ecclesiastes 2:4–8), yet the experience of weariness is common to every worker, rich or poor. • Proverbs 23:4–5 warns, “Do not wear yourself out to gain wealth… when you glance at riches, they are gone.” The king’s testimony confirms that warning. I found everything to be futile • The verdict is sweeping: “everything.” Not some, not most—everything apart from God’s purpose is empty (Ecclesiastes 1:2). • Isaiah 55:2 asks, “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?” Solomon answers: nothing satisfies without the Lord. • Luke 12:15-21 echoes the futility through Jesus’ parable of the rich fool whose barns were full yet whose soul was bankrupt. A pursuit of the wind • Chasing wind is effort without substance: you feel movement but grasp nothing. Hosea 12:1 uses the same image for Israel’s alliances—busy but barren. • James 4:14 says life is “a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Wind-chasing captures that brevity. • The picture presses us to invest in what the wind cannot scatter—treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-20). There was nothing to be gained under the sun • “Under the sun” frames Ecclesiastes as an earth-bound viewpoint; remove God from the horizon and profit disappears (Ecclesiastes 1:3). • Mark 8:36 asks, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” True gain lies beyond the sun, in the eternal. • Colossians 3:2 urges, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” When we lift our gaze higher than the sun, meaning and reward return. summary Solomon’s reflective audit teaches that the most impressive achievements, the hardest toil, and the fullest coffers cannot deliver lasting profit when viewed only from an earthly vantage point. Apart from God, every project turns out to be wind-chasing; with Him, our labor “in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). The verse invites us to weigh our pursuits, shift our focus from temporary gain to eternal treasure, and find true fulfillment in the One who stands above the sun. |
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