Perhaps you’ve already noticed that the book of Ecclesiastes is cyclical. If you’ve ever experienced trauma, then maybe you can relate to the cycle of grief. Often, we work through a traumatic event, get to the other side and think, “Okay, I made it.” Then a few months later, we find ourselves wrapped in grief again, trying to figure out what went wrong and mourning the lost life or relationship all over again.

Life is not a straight line of increase and progress. The Teacher mimics this human process, so we can expect him to return repeatedly to topics he’s already covered, such as death, injustice, and work. He’ll even repeat six times his call to enjoy God’s gifts amid this upside-down world.

In Ecclesiastes 12, the Teacher mourns death for the first time. In particular, he tells us that “the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered” and that “like the fool, the wise must too die” (v. 16). If you think that it is not the way it should be, then the Teacher agrees with you: “This too is meaningless,” he laments (v. 15).

The Teacher will soon offer a solution to this tragedy of life under the sun, but today we sit with him in this reality: The same fate—death— awaits both the wise and the foolish. That fact bothered the Teacher, and it likely bothers many of us. But is also urges us toward a relationship with God, who rescues us from eternal death. Christ died so that we might live! Will you trust Him today?

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