Ecclesiastes 3:18 says, I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.  Solomon saw mankind as being nothing more than beasts outside the will of God.  Some might see this as Solomon saying that there is no God so mankind is no better than the beast, who live in this world alone.  Taking in context, though, I believe he was referring to the way people live their lives outside the will of God.  We act no better than the beasts, seeking only self gratification without concern for others.  Until God is manifest in our lives, we are never what God intended us to be. Of course, denying that relationship does not change the fact that we are different than the other animals because we have an everlasting soul.  Verse nineteen says, For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.  Once again, man and beast both suffer the same fate in this world.  They both die, so if we are looking for superiority in this life alone, then all truly is vanity.  It is only in our relationship to God that we are different than the beasts.  Our soul lives on.  Verse twenty says, All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.  We were made from the dust and this body will return to dust if the Lord tarries.  We may take pride in our looks and the way our bodies are built, but they are but temporary vessels.  Verse twenty one says, Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?  We do not see the spirit of man go upward at death, nor the spirit of the beast die in the earth.  We must accept it by faith in God Who created and made man more than the animals.  Verse twenty two concludes, Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?  We cannot control what happens in this world after we are gone, so we should be content and enjoy what God has blessed us with.  Only those things done for God will have everlasting value.

Ecclesiastes 3:16 says, And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.  Solomon saw a place for judgment, and this has not changed.  There was wickedness even in the seat of judgment.  When people went to the courts of men to receive justice, it was often perverted.  Today, those who are rich and powerful seem to live under a different set of rules than do the weak and powerless.  This is not true of God's judgment.  He will always be fair in His judgment, and we will always come up short, no matter how good or how evil we are.  Verse seventeen says, I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.  Solomon was known for his wisdom in judgment, but he knew that the ultimate judge was God.  We may be able to judge a person's actions, but God judges that person's motives as well.  When we see the injustice in the world today, even in the courts of law, we can rest assured that this is not the final judgment.  God is the ultimate, everlasting authority, and if we remain true to Him, the evil of this world will never overcome us.  We are set free from the power of sin by our faith in the salvation of Christ.  This does not give us a free pass to sin, though.  Just knowing that our sins, all our sins for all time, are forgiven doesn't mean we are free to sin and that it won't ultimately matter.  When we accept Christ as our Savior, we are called to an even higher standard.  We realize that God will hold us accountable not only for our actions but for our thoughts as well.  For that reason we should always put God's will first.

Ecclesiastes 3:13 says, And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.  Solomon may have felt that everything done in this world was vanity, but he still felt that we should enjoy the fruits of our labor, since it was a gift of God.  It is when we begin to feel that we are doing everything on our own instead of everything being a blessing from God that we begin to have problems.  We start to look to the things of the world to bring satisfaction and feel that everything God blesses us with is our to use as we see fit.  This was never God's intention.  He blesses us so that we may do His work and help others.  Verse fourteen says, I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.  Solomon said the things of God are everlasting.  God created everything for a purpose, and the purpose of mankind is to love God above all else.  God gave us free will, so we may choose the things of this world over the will of God for our lives, but it does not change our true purpose.  The things we do for God last forever, and the things we do for material reasons will pass away.  The question then becomes which do we put the most emphasis on.  If all our time and energy are spent gaining and maintaining the things of this world, we, like Solomon, are going to see the futility of it all.  We must put our effort into the things of God.  His purpose for us is never going to change, no matter how much or how little we are blessed with in this world.  Then verse fifteen says, That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.  When we feel that the world has gotten so much worse or so much better than in the past, God says it is as it always has been.  We can only come to God in faith through Christ, and our past can neither save us or prevent our being saved.  As Solomon said earlier, there truly is nothing new under the sun.  God is never taken by surprise by the actions of humanity.

Verse eight ended with a time to love and a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace.  Ecclesiastes 3:9 says, What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?  Solomon was still questioning what we gain by working in this world.  After all the contrasts of the things that life offers, Solomon was again questioning what difference it all made.  Once more Solomon was looking at life from the temporary nature that it has.  If we are labouring simply for material gain, we will find the same to be true.  Only those things done for God have everlasting value. Verse ten says, I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.  God made man to care for the earth, and after the fall, He said man would toil for his living.  We were never intended to just sit back and enjoy the things of the earth, but were created for God to use us for His purpose.  So, if we are living and working outside the will of God, there is no profit in anything we do.  Verse eleven says, He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.  Solomon could not understand all the work that God was doing in the world, and neither can we.  We live in this temporary world, and cannot understand all the works of God, but we can rest assured that He is in control and that His works are indeed beautiful.  Verse twelve concludes, I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.  There really is no good in living simply for the things of this world.  We are called to rejoice in God and do good, which is to follow God's will, in our lives.  That is the only way to true happiness.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 is a very familiar passage of scripture, though not everyone may know that it is scripture.  ECC3:1  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:  ECC3:02 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;  ECC3:03 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;  ECC3:04 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;  ECC3:05 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;  ECC3:06 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;  ECC3:07 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;  ECC3:08 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.  It seems best to print the verses all together and look at them individually.  There really is a season for everything, and though we don't always acknowledge it there is a purpose for everything.  We may not always see it, but the purpose is there.  There is a time to be born and a time to die.  It is what we do between those two that matters.  Planting and plucking are variations of the same.  We plant gardens and wait for the harvest.  The time to kill we often are to good at, but the time to heal we often forget.  I think we have to be very careful about when we say it is time to kill, though.  A time to kill may apply more to killing for food than killing each other.   Sometimes things must be broken down before they can be built up again.  We may have to break down old walls and habits to build up new works of God.  There are indeed times when tears and mourning are appropriate, but through Christ there is even more reason for joy.  This world is not the end.  The contrasts continue in the next four verses, and we can see all this in the world today.  Nothing stays constantly good or bad, but God remains the same through it all.  We just need to ensure that through it all that we are working for His glory under His leadership.

Ecclesiastes 2:24 says, There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.  Solomon decided after all his seeking for purpose that man should eat, drink, learn to enjoy his labor in his soul.  We are not created to live simply to chase material things, but we can still enjoy the things that we acquire, as long as we do it under God's leadership.  As long as we recognize that all things come from Him then they do not become an end unto themselves.  Solomon said he saw this enjoyment of things as they were intended to be used as being from the hand of God.  How much or how little we have is not what creates problems.  It is when we are not content with what God has blessed us with that we begin to have problems.  Verse twenty five says, For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I?  I think Solomon was saying that no one was going to be in a position to find happiness in the things of this world than he was, and after all his attempts to find happiness, he finally realized that it came from being content with his needs being met by God.  We as followers of Christ need to learn that lesson.  We are never going to find happiness in the things of this world outside the will of God.  Solomon with all his riches couldn't, so we should not be surprised if we cannot.  Verse twenty six says, For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.  I believe Solomon was saying that those who follow God have the wisdom to be content with what God provides and to use it for His glory.  The sinner, on the other hand, is ruled by acquiring or keeping the things of this world in an attempt to find happiness.  This pursuit of material things to find happiness and purpose outside the will of God only brings dissatisfaction to the soul.  We must put it all in God's hands if we are going to find peace and joy.

Ecclesiastes 2:21 says, For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.  Solomon said that those who lived and worked wisely would eventually leave what they had attained to someone who had not worked for it.  He saw this not only as vanity, but as a great evil.  Of course he knew he couldn't take the things of this world into the next, but he felt it was evil to leave everything to someone who could waste it all away.  If Solomon had been using his wisdom and wealth to benefit his subjects, those he was to be a righteous king over, he might not have had this problem.  He could have seen what his labor accomplished and not have had to be upset that he would have worked to leave everything to another.  Solomon was still focused on himself and not on what God had done for Him.  When we begin to feel that everything that we have gained in life is due to us, it can become a source more of stress than joy.  We wonder how we can keep it and control it.  If material blessings are seen to be from God and are put under His control, this will not be the case.  Verse twenty two says, For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?  As Solomon continued to look back on his life, he saw little of value in it.  If we live our lives only to amass the things of this world, ultimately we are going to look back the same way.  As followers of Christ, we are called to do everything for the advancement of His kingdom, not to look at all the blessings of life as being for our own purpose.  Verse twenty three states, For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.  I believe  Solomon was saying that when our total focus is on gaining and keeping the wealth of the world, there is never any rest.  We end up working by day to gain it and worrying at night how to keep it, and it all passes to someone else when we die.  That is indeed vanity, or nothingness.