Ecclesiastes, it could be said, is not the true Gospel. It is part of God’s word, but Qohelet never takes a godly or Christian approach to dealing with life’s sufferings. Ecclesiastes is never quoted in the New Testament, but Paul does address the same topic in Romans 8:18-22. Two phrases from Ecclesiastes are seen here: futility, verse 20, the same as vanity in Ecclesiastes; and “slavery to corruption,” verse 21, equates to death as seen in Ecclesiastes. Life’s pain and difficulties are summed up in the groaning of verse 22.
Futility continues under Grace because we are still waiting for the redemption of our body. The Christian life is not about finding shelter from the world but about meeting God in the midst of it. “The God of scripture is a no-nonsense God who is not interested in our wearing masks or maintaining well scripted roles. He’s not interested in how together we can appear but in how much we truly belong to Him. Books like Ecclesiastes show us how it’s done. We must be as honest before God as Qohelet about our struggles with the absurdity of life.”
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