Longing for Eden 

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C.S. Lewis introduced many to the literary concept of “sehnsucht”—a German word often translated as “homesickness” or “inconsolable longing.” It describes a pervasive yearning in the soul that earthly experiences fail to satisfy. I like to think of it as the “deepest desires of the heart.” Like the layers of an onion, peeling one back reveals another underneath. This is the beauty of desire, but also its danger; for us, as fallen children of Adam, these deep desires generally drive us from God, not to Him.

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Another great spokesman for these profound desires was St. Augustine who, in his autobiography called The Confessions, stated, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Though Lewis and Augustine approached the problem from different theological traditions, they both articulated this core issue of the restless heart. Particularly in Augustine, the restlessness drives us away from God because the sin nature holds our desires captive.

Though Lewis was no Calvinist, his concept of “inordinate desire” powerfully articulates the destructive nature of sin. These inordinate desires promise great satisfaction but deliver little. Like false gods, when we seek satisfaction of these longings apart from God, our idolatry numbs, deceives, and drives us away from true satisfaction. Lewis lamented the poverty of our choices:

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“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Lewis critiques the poverty of our idolatry, arguing that our false gods distract us not through their overwhelming strength, but because we are so “easily pleased” with temporary, cheap substitutes, missing the true, eternal object of worship. He went on to make a profound observation: all our inordinate desires and even our idols serve as universal reminders of a “far off country.”

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The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshipers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never visited.

 

Here is the trap of idolatry: the “dumb idols breaking the hearts of their worshippers” are not the “thing itself;” they are only the “scent of a flower we have not found.”

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Approaching Ecclesiastes

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This extended prologue serves as a necessary approach to the fourth book of wisdom literature: Ecclesiastes. It is the story of one man’s longings—King Solomon’s inconsolable desires. As the most powerful and wealthy king in the ancient world, he had the resources to pursue those desires wherever they led him. His story, however, chronicles how badly it all ended for him.

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Like Lewis and Augustine, Solomon finally learned the important truth: the only satisfaction for the restless heart is the fear of the LORD:

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The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14).

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Like Job, Psalms, and Proverbs, Ecclesiastes is deeply covenantal with a profoundly practical application: the fear of the LORD is the only proper response to God’s eternal covenant. In terms of the ancient covenant structure, Ecclesiastes vividly displays the fourth section: the sanctions. Sanctions are the blessings and curses for obedience or disobedience to the covenant requirements. We see the grim demonstration of those sanctions in the life of Solomon, who for too long refused to fear the LORD. It culminated in his downward spiritual spiral toward worshipping false gods like Molech and Baal chronicled especially in the 2 Kings. 

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Key Terms: Landmarks on the Roadmap of Desire

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The Book of Ecclesiastes is one of the most poorly translated and rarely taught books in the Bible, leading to interpretive confusion. My  study will focus on several key terms that act as landmarks for understanding the covenant sanctions and God’s plan for peace through the practice of wisdom. 

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1. Solomon: Shabbat Shalom 

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Solomon’s name holds significant implications within the context of God's covenant of grace. Following the Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7), Solomon was believed to be the son who would usher in the promised dynasty. His name, Solomon, derives from the word “shalom.”

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Unlike our modern, subjective definition of peace as an emotion, shalom in the Hebrew mind connotes a state of wholeness—everything existing in its proper place and order, fulfilling its eternal design. Crucially, shalom is intrinsically linked to Shabbat (Sabbath). Since the dawn of creation, Shabbat has represented the eternal rest of God, the eschatological destiny of His covenant purpose.

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Solomon’s ascent was believed to be the beginning of Shabbat Shalom for Israel. How ironic that this man whose name meant peaceful rest ran so far from God that his life was neither.

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2. Life Under the Sun 

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Variations of the phrase “under the sun” appear about 25 times and are essential for correct interpretation of Ecclesiastes. This phrase signifies life lived on the earth. In other words, it is the experience of life and work in this world. 

The phrase stands in stark contrast to life “above the sun.” For Solomon, that means the other world–the dwelling place of God. A failure to appreciate how Solomon contrasts two views of the meaning of life is why many readers miss the meaning of Ecclesiastes. Solomon was not saying that earthly life is worthless. Rather, he was contrasting life under the sun which is temporal to life above the sun which is eternal. 

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Too much focus on life under the sun naturally leads to a view  of the world and life where the only things that are “real” are things we can see (materialism and even atheism). While few explicitly deny God’s existence, a focus on the material world to the neglect of the invisible world often results in what I call “practical atheism.” It seems like this is what happened to Solomon and resulted in many years of destructive idolatry. 

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3. Fleeting (Hebel) 

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I would argue that the most important word in the book, used 38 times, is the Hebrew word HEBEL. Mistranslations of HEBEL as “vanity,” “worthless,” or “meaningless” have created enormous confusion. For instance, the NIV rendering: “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless” makes Solomon sound like a modern existential philosopher. Tragically, this has been the trend among many contemporary interpreters and teachers of Ecclesiastes contributing to the confusion. 

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A more accurate rendering of HEBEL is “vapor” or “smoke.” This makes the traditional translations profoundly misleading. A fragrant vapor, like steam rising from a cup of coffee, is neither worthless nor meaningless—it is delightful! However, it is fundamentally non-enduring. HEBEL is not about the meaning of life under the sun but about its duration—its transient, fleeting nature. Life under the sun is like a vapor: it exists for a brief time and is gone. It doesn't mean life is worthless; it means it doesn't last forever.

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This is a recurring theme: our years are like a sigh, passing quickly (Psalm 90:9-10). Life under the sun is HEBEL, but life above the sun is everlasting. Rejecting or neglecting the basic truth of HEBEL leads to the destructive path Solomon took, failing the Davidic covenant and adopting pagan worship.

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4.  Work and Rest in God’s Plan for Peace

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In ancient covenant structure, the requirements and obligations of the covenant are followed by the warnings or sanctions. I believe this is an important theme in Ecclesiastes also. Solomon himself experienced covenant sanctions by his failure to fear the Lord and his flight into selfish pleasure and idolatry. But, it was also evident in his abuse of God’s plan for work and rest. This is another important interpretive landmark for understanding his message. Ecclesiastes correctly views work and rest not as opposites. I like the term “paradox” here. The philosophical (and even theological) definition of paradox is not what many think. It doesn’t mean contradiction. A philosophical paradox means there are two truths that seem to be in competition but that is because both are true and rely on each other to be correctly understood. As we will see next, God’s plan to manage life under the sun is the management of work and rest. 

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Work and Toil 

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Because we live in a fallen world under the curse, our work life under the sun will continually expose the effects of Adam’s disobedience. The Hebrew word used in Ecclesiastes is AMAL and describes toil and the hardship of work. This doesn't mean work is a bad thing but it is hard! God had warned Adam this would be so because of his sin:

 

Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and have eaten from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ the ground is cursed for your sake. You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life. It will yield thorns and thistles to you; and you will eat the herb of the field. You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust.” (Genesis 3:17-19)

 

I can only introduce these themes in our summary but urge you to read the scripture references in each point. 

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• Work does not secure permanent “gain” (YITRON): What does man gain by all the toil? Because of HEBEL, work only produces temporary profit. Work cannot be a means of eternal blessing. This doesn’t mean work is worthless (as the modern mistranslation suggests). Rather, Solomon means to warn us about viewing work under the sun apart from life above the sun. 

• Work is cyclical and exhausting: If we focus too much on work under the sun, the repeated cycles of nature and human mortality are exhausting (Read 1:4–11). 

• Work creates anxiety and despair: Because all is HEBEL, the fruit of all our labor in this life will be left to others when we die. If we fail to consider this our very work will produce anxiety and despair (Read 2:18-23).

• Work never guarantees mastery or justice: Much of our motivation springs from envy and competition with others. I suspect Solomon was what we might call a “perfectionist” who sought to be the best in anything he did. Excellence and competency are not wrong in themselves. However, for most perfectionists, they tend to produce frustration and rob them of rest and peace in their frantic effort to achieve them (Read 4:4).

 

Rest as Release 

 

Work and labor under the sun is a necessary part of life and even a gift from God with its own rewards. Unlike the law instruction found in Exodus and Leviticus, Solomon describes rest not as ritual and ceremonial compliance to the sabbath prohibitions but as a proper “rest” from labor evident in specific habits of life. 

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• Rest is a balanced approach to labor: Solomon said, “Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and striving after wind” (Read 4:6). This is a practical application of his message about balance. I would paraphrase it like this: for every two portions of labor, make sure you have one portion of rest (in other words, “quietness”). When Solomon talks about quietness or rest he is not commending laziness! In the sabbath commands God said, “six days shall you labor and do your work but the seventh you shall do no work.” This is the balance; it is God’s plan for peace to balance periods of work with periods of rest. 

• Sleep is a gift and part of rest: If you struggle with insomnia or sleep disorders you are very aware how important it is and how true Solomon’s observation is: Sleep is a gift from God. Though there can be medical reasons we cannot sleep, in general, God grants the gift of sleep to one who maintains the balance, laboring honestly but in correct proportion. Too much work can rob us of sleep (Read  5:12).

• Joy as rest: Often missed by the existential interpretation of Ecclesiastes are the 17 “joy texts.” Joy is another landmark term pointing to rest and a proper understanding of work under the sun. (Read 2:24–26; 3:12–13; 3:22; 5:18–20; 8:15; 9:7–10; 11:7–12:1). When we view the gifts God grants in this life as from his gracious hand and respond to them with gratitude, it produces the joy of rest. For example, the joy of food, drink, and relationships; the joy that comes from diligent work with our hands. 

The “paradoxical” tensions of work and rest are managed when we recognize that work under the sun, though never fully satisfying, is a good gift from God. Wisdom means not one or the other but embracing both. Here again is the link to shabbat shalom. ​

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The Fear of the LORD

 

The final landmark phrase is Solomon’s summary conclusion—a familiar theme throughout all wisdom literature. How can creatures, living under the sun, avoid the abuses of HEBEL? I said above that a paradox is not two contradictory statements but two truths that are in tension with each other and must be held together by a third. 

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Solomon doesn’t use this language of paradox but I believe he lays out the strategy with his final term: the fear of the LORD. 

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​In his mature philosophy of wisdom, written perhaps in his old age, Solomon graphically describes the onset of aging, urging youth to learn the lesson of wisdom sooner rather than alter (what he failed to do): “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come” (12:1-7).

• The “keepers of the house tremble”: Our arms and legs become infirm.

• The “strong men stoop”: Back pain and arthritis set in.

• The “grinders cease”: Teeth fall out.

• The “almond tree blossoms”: Hair grows white and eventually falls out.

 

The  “days of trouble to come” includes these reminders of HEBEL in all of us. But they also include the sanctions and consequences of our sinful disobedience, notable in Solomon’s own experience of destruction and distress in his flight from God. 

 

How do we maintain the balance of work and rest? How do we live our lives under the sun without neglecting the truth of life above the sun? Solomon summarized it like this, calling it the “end of the matter.”  

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This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil. (12:13, 14)

It is impossible to “remember your creator” without also fearing God and keeping his commandments. The final words, “God will bring every work into judgment,” provide the definitive HEBEL test. 

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And this brings us back to where we began the lesson: the satisfaction and fulfillment of our deepest longings. The solution to Lewis’s inconsolable longing and Augustine’s restless heart is not found in life under the sun. That doesn’t mean that this life is meaningless. But it does mean that shabbat shalom requires a growing experience and appreciation of life above the sun evident in the fear of God. This fear is the covenantal response that leads to love and obedience:

Hear O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength (Deuteronomy 6:4, 5).