We can’t hang on to the rewards of this world any more than we can grasp the wind.īeginning with chapter 5 in Ecclesiastes, Solomon’s tone changes. Our projects, our hard work, our rivalries, alliances, and successes-nothing will last. The things we pour our lives into on earth won’t last. Solomon’s conclusion was that, apart from seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness (see Matthew 6:33), life has no meaning. Trying to make a lasting name for oneself (4:16).Envious competition with one’s neighbor (4:4).Thinking one can control the outcome of his life (2:26).Rewarding oneself with pleasure (2:10–11).Pursuing wisdom and the understanding of madness and folly (1:16–17).All things done “under the sun,” that is, in a human life lived apart from any consideration of God (1:14).In Ecclesiastes, Solomon lists the various vain pursuits that are equivalent to chasing after the wind: Solomon learned too late that seeking meaning through abundance was only chasing the wind (Ecclesiastes 2:11). He also collected thousands of horses and chariots, importing them from Egypt, also in direct disobedience to God’s law.

Rather than trust in the God who had blessed him so abundantly, Solomon followed the world’s custom, believing that he could secure peace with the nations around Israel. The custom in other nations of the day was for kings to marry daughters or sisters of foreign kings in order to form alliances with those countries. His first mistake in chasing after the wind was to multiply foreign wives for himself in direct disobedience to God’s orders in Deuteronomy 17:16–17.

He wrote Ecclesiastes at the end of his life as he reflected upon lessons learned. Yet, despite those gifts, he began to drift away from God’s commands (1 Kings 11:3–4). He had power, position, prosperity, and great wisdom: all gifts from the God who loved him (2 Chronicles 1:7–12). Chosen by God from infancy to be the next king after his father, David (2 Samuel 12:25 1 Chronicles 28:6 29:1), Solomon had everything he could need for a lifetime of success. Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes as a personal benediction, sharing what life had taught him.

The author of Ecclesiastes learned that pursuing meaningless things-things that do not have eternal significance-is only chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 1:14 speaks of chasing the wind as it relates the theme of the whole book: “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” Chasing the wind is a metaphor for pursuing futility. The book of Ecclesiastes uses the phrase chasing after the wind at least seven times.

A Striving After Wind by Norma Johnston