Early in my writing in this blog, I wrote on the topic of “What Jesus Probably Didn’t Mean”. I really enjoyed finding the intended meaning of the phrase, by simply considering the context of the passage. It was usually very challenging!
It has been quite a while since I had considered that series, and when I was “a pondering”, I considered that the Word, apart from the gospels, has provided numerous sayings or phrases we hear in our day to day lives.
Let’s take a moment to consider Ecclesiastes 1:9 and what it’s original intent as compared with our understanding today
Ecclesiastes 1:9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.
How often have you heard a peer or friend speak on nothing new under the sun, and think of the great philosopher Solomon as he wrote Ecclesiastes.
He began his treatise speaking of the vanity, or emptiness of life under the sun. One on the greatest kings mankind had ever seen, Solomon understood the futility of life under the sun. He constantly uses the term “under the sun” to speak of his arena of his experience of futility.
Ecclesiastes 1:3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 1:14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
I won’t labor my reader with a complete list of verses Solomon uses “under the sun”, for it is many, but we should note that Solomon commonly connects the idea of nothing new, of futility and vanity of life with our lives under the sun.
And as he states, there is nothing new under the sun.
For our modern use of this phrase, we often use it to refer to the monotony of life, the constant waking up, and laying down, the repetition of life, and that all our experiences are similar to all our previous experiences. Tedious repetition, boring, lacking in any variety, a numbing, ponderous, drab and wearisome experience.
We use it to complain about our dreary experience, and for the most part so does Solomon. He defines it over and over again in the book, even to the point that the description of tediousness and vanity becomes wearisome.
And yet he adds the restriction to this discussion of a drudging life as being “under the sun”. This restriction is what our modern society has so sadly missed, for we surely do have a repetitive life from cradle to grave, and if without any hope from beyond the sun, it can become a most numbing experience, an experience that shows no hope of changing.
Yet Solomon implies that beyond the sun, there is not this vanity of life. If only One who is beyond the sun could provide a life that is not full of tedium and vanity. But our culture ignores this exception, assuming that this is it, there is no more, only adding to the vanity of life the option of only hopelessness.
When you hear the phrase “nothing new under the sun”, it would be wise to remember that the One above the sun, has come down below the sun, to provide a connection to life beyond the sun.
He has provided a life that can transform the tediousness to a life of purpose and with a goal we do not deserve. Let this culture repeat this phrase, for they know not the One above the sun, but let us also remember that in the day to day life we have been given, He who is beyond the sun provides us purpose, guidance, strength and a goal to honor Him.
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Considering the Bible 