Ecclesiastes 1:9-11

3. History repeats itself and man forgets what has gone before. Ecclesiastes 1:9-11

TEXT 1:9-11

9

That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.

10

Is there anything of which one might say, See this, it is new? Already it has existed for ages which were before us.

11

There is no remembrance of earlier things; and also of the later things which will occur, there will be for them no remembrance among those who will come later still.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 1:9-11

14.

Is Solomon contending that there is a sameness which marks all parts of man and his world?

15.

What is Solomon's answer if man were to say, See this, it is new?

16.

Does the for them of verse eleven refer to things or generations?

17.

Since the them of verse eleven refers to the earlier things and the later things, and these happen in every generation, why would someone call them new?

18.

How is this truth illustrated in Ecclesiastes 2:16? Cf. Ecclesiastes 9:5.

PARAPHRASE 1:9-11

The sun shines on all the earth and exposes the routine sameness of all the events which continue on since creation. They shall continue on the same. There is nothing new under the sun! Is something new because you in your generation have not discovered it? Is something new simply because it was forgotten by one generation? No! Sometime in the past it existed as we now discover it. All generations are similar in that they fail to remember the former things and fail to acknowledge that the same events will happen in the future. However, the routine activities of all things continue on regardless of the attitudes men have toward them.

COMMENT 1:9-11

Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 These three verses constitute his final arguments in this section. He has declared that everything has fallen beneath the curse of impermanent futility. Rhetorically he has questioned if man has any profit at all in all his work. He has illustrated that not only man, but man's world are caught in a routine sameness that is characteristic of every generation's experience. Man cannot tell everything, he cannot bear everything, and he cannot see everything. What he does perceive he concludes isn-'t new, but if man thinks it is, it is only because he does not remember what has gone before. History repeats itself. His further observation is that since human nature and nature itself never change, not only are his peers guilty of forgetting what has gone before, but those who are to come will not remember the things of today.

Solomon is really saying, He that has seen the present, has seen all things. Things are considered novel or new only because they have been forgotten. So intent is the Preacher on this point that he repeats himself in verses nine and ten.

Much of what Solomon writes throughout the book is based on this premise. For example, he speaks of how easily men are forgotten (Ecclesiastes 9:6-7; Ecclesiastes 9:15). He instructs us to enjoy today and not to fret over a tomorrow which none is able to see (Ecclesiastes 7:14; Ecclesiastes 9:7). He suggests that he sought to know wisdom, madness, and folly, and that each of these will be sought by the one who succeeds the king (Ecclesiastes 2:12). There is no lasting memory of either a wise man or a fool (Ecclesiastes 2:16). God knows that human nature is always the same and seeks to deal with man on that basis (Ecclesiastes 3:15; Ecclesiastes 6:10).

There is dispute as to whether the term things in verse eleven refers to former generations and later generations or former things and later things. The original terms could have either meaning. If one looks at the Preacher's writings in Ecclesiastes 9:6-7 and Ecclesiastes 9:15, he will discover that generations do fail to remember that which happened long ago. However, the context seems to be weakened by this interpretation. His all of verse two and his earlier things and later things of this verse encompass all the activities of each generation. This appears to be more in harmony with the question he seeks to answer: What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 1:3).

His message is simple. If one keeps his eyes upon this world alone, then his labor is worth very little. He discovers that all his labor becomes entangled in the gray maze of monotonous, endless activities of not only his own life and generation, but of every generation that goes and comes. It all fades into a similar backdrop of routine acts of nature which he so vividly describes through the activities of the sun, wind and rivers.
His toil and effort on earth profit little. He discovers that he is caught in a purposeless web, a staircase to nowhere, the proverbial treadmill. His observations grow out of a life of one who has lived through the optimum of the excitement of youth as well as the experience of fulfilled dreams which he entertained in young manhood. Now, on the edge of departure from this world, with his eyes focused on earthly values alone, he wants to know what advantage, or profit, he can claim as his own in all his labor.
When man elects to face life and interpret its mystery apart from God's help, he inevitably will come to the same conclusion. Solomon has established an inescapable principle that a wise man works in harmony with the will of God, and God alone. The first half of his book illustrates the premise set forth in chapter one verses one through eleven. Many have asked, What does the writer know of life? Almost as if Solomon anticipated the question, he takes up the challenge and turns to the task before him. He is now determined to demonstrate the wisdom of his conclusion.

FACT QUESTIONS 1:9-11

29.

What has fallen beneath the curse of futility?

30.

In what sense is Solomon teaching that history repeats itself?

31.

What is there in Ecclesiastes 1:11 that corresponds to the all in Ecclesiastes 1:2?

32.

What conclusion will man reach in reference to the question of the purpose of life, if he lives all of it purely under the sun?

33.

The first half of Ecclesiastes illustrates what premise?