Mist under the Sun

Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity. Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I? For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. Ecclesiastes 2:18-26

The sun rises and sets on everyone. 

Both the wise and the foolish dwell under the same sun. when one leaves his habitation under the sun, he may take nothing with him; he leaves it all to another man. The toil that one works by the sweat of his brow is common among those who dwell under the sun. Everyone goes to bed and wakes up to work; this also is vanity. However, the word translated vanity shouldn’t be construed and meaningless—without meaning. It is more rightly translated “beyond meaning.” God’s system is so complex that it goes beyond the understanding of even Soloman. It would be expected that after enough repetitions of “going to bed and waking up for work” one would be able to come to an end of his need to work. And yet the sun still rises and sets.

You are but a mist. 

Just as the sun turns water into vapor, so your life under the sun will become like a mist and vapor that quickly fades away. This too is vanity, not because it lacks meaning but because it goes beyond our comprehension. All that is beneath the sun fades away like a distant memory of a shadow. And all the good work we do with the sweat of our brow from the sun’s heat becomes as nothing. As powerful as the sun is, it is only one of many stars and suns in the universe—many larger and stronger than it. And though the sun remains established in the heavens while all that is under it vanishes, you and I are far more valuable than the sun.

You are more valuable than the sun.

The sun and the hosts of heavens in all their glory do not display the glory of God. Of everything in creation, you display God’s glory the most because you are made in His image. You are creative, loving, and set apart in a different way than the rest of creation. Though the universe seems permanent while humans fade away, the universe will fade away while you remain forever. Thus, fading away from a universe that will fade away essentially loses nothing. This also goes beyond our understanding that you, a tiny part of the universe, are far more permanent than the entirety of it all. Both the wise and the foolish dwell and fade under the same sun, but the wise prepare for life once they are no longer under the sun.