One of the sayings from the Bible that has passed into everyday usage is found in the verse above - “There’s nothing new under the sun!” In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon (the wisest man that ever lived, with the exception of Jesus Christ) gives us his assessment of things, having used all the wisdom that he possessed to try to understand life in the world.
For those who have read, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” this is essentially the same as trying to find the answer to “life, the universe and everything” but from a point of view where the correct question is unknown.
Solomon’s answer is rather more solemn than the “42” that is calculated by the computer in The Hitchhiker's Guide: it is “meaningless” (vanity)! In other words, looked at from this “under the sun” perspective which Solomon adopts, everything that happens in the world has no point and no purpose.
In the first chapter of his book, Solomon considers human generations (which come and go), the sun (which goes round and around the earth), wind (which blows in one direction, then another, then back to the first, over and over again) and the water in the oceans (which evaporates, falls on the land and runs back into the sea, over and over again). “It’s all full of weariness,” he says, in summary, “there is nothing new in any of these things” and nothing that can truly satisfy our itching ears and our longing eyes. What happens today has happened before and will happen again. There is nothing of which one can truly say “this is new!” So Solomon’s great wisdom actually brought great sorrow as long as he was taking this “under the sun” point of view.
And that is what we find today, too, isn’t it? The things in the world that we think will satisfy are a complete let-down if we actually manage to get them - recognition, wealth, belongings, fame, popularity. That is why some of the wealthiest people are the least happy, and why there is a sad, self-destructive end to the lives of many lottery winners.
But you have to come to Ecclesiastes understanding that Solomon is looking at the world “under the sun.” He is looking at life through a lens in which man has no relationship with God - or at least one in which that relationship is not one of love, joy and peace. The “here and now” is all there is to live for - let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die - and it’s pointless.
How different is the perspective of the believer! We belong to a God Who loves us and has given a staggering demonstration of the extent of that love, as we have just been considering at Easter. In Christ, we are lifted above the world and its tunnel vision “under the sun”. Our eyes are opened to see the unseen spiritual realm and we understand that these things are the eternal, worthwhile ones, whereas the here and now does not last. The world deceives us and cheats us. In Christ alone there is abundant life - life with purpose here, and a hope and a glorious future to come!
There is nothing new under the sun - not even a pandemic. But we belong to a God and a Savior Who has purposed to make all things truly new, to eradicate all the effects of sin in His creation and to save to the uttermost (to all eternity) all who come to Him through faith!
Revelation 21:55 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
