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"This also is vanity"

Text: Ecclesiastes 2:15

THE GRIM REALITY OF DEATH

Solomon struggled greatly with the reality of death. He was overwhelmed with the thought of his own mortality.

“So I said in my heart,
‘As it happens to the fool,
It also happens to me,
And why was I then more wise?’
Then I said in my heart,
‘This also is vanity.’
For there is no more remembrance of the wise
than of the fool forever,
Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come.
And how does a wise man die?
As the fool!”
Ecclesiastes 2:15-16

1. Grappling with a sense of futility

a) The fool dies.

b) So does the wise man.

c) What was the point of becoming wise then?

d) A sense of despair is felt.

e) “This also is vanity”

i) This was the thought that Ecclesiastes opened with.

ii) “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

iii) This thought continued to prevail (Ecclesiastes 2:15).

2. No remembrance

a) This is a sad reality.

b) No fool would ever be remembered fondly.

c) But the wise would also be forgotten in time to come.

i) He may be “remembered” for a short while.

ii) But eventually, that memory is lost forever.

3. How does the wise man die?

a) He dies as the fool dies.

b) Death is the great leveller.

c) Death does not respect the wise anymore than it respects the fool.