This Sunday I’m beginning a new sermon series based on one of the most confusing books in the entire Bible: Ecclesiastes.

I first seriously encountered Ecclesiastes when I was in high school. Candidly, it was a dark time in my life. It was only a few months, but at the time it felt like I would never escape the feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness and utter desperation I was feeling (in other words, I was a teenager!).

During that time, my pastor preached a message from Ecclesiastes, skimming the surface of several passages throughout the book. I can’t remember a thing he said, but I remember it being a breakthrough! Ecclesiastes met me in the throes of real life in a fallen world, and made sense of some of the difficulties and frustrations I was facing.

Like nowhere else in Scripture, Ecclesiastes deals with the temporal, fleeting nature of life in a world that still awaits complete redemption: the world you live in! If you’ve ever dealt with boredom, repetition, frustration, unfairness, absurdity, or wasted effort, then Ecclesiastes has something to say to you.

I don’t like to lecture too much when I’m preaching (despite what you may think!) so let me share a handful of random thoughts about Ecclesiastes that will help you understand what we’re studying together before we actually dive in.

First, understand that Ecclesiastes is Hebrew poetry. That doesn’t mean it rhymes (most of the time). But it is different from prose in important ways. For example, poetry is terse; there is a lot of meaning bound up in a small amount of words. You have to slow down and chew on what you’re reading rather than rushing ahead to the end.

That goes against our modern mentality, doesn’t it? Many people don’t want to read at all, and those who do read like to devour as many pages per hour as their eyes can consume.

But you can’t read poetry like that. There are no extraneous words; each one has a wealth of meaning. So you have to slow down and think.

As poetry, Ecclesiastes often uses obscure or arcane language. A good poet has a wealth of vocabulary that goes beyond the average person’s, and a good poet uses his vocabulary in ways that stretch your imagination. It will make you scratch your head, but when you “get it” you’ll be delighted with the wealth of wisdom you encounter.

Second—and speaking of wisdom—it’s important to note that Ecclesiastes is “wisdom literature.” Basically what that means is that the Holy Spirit used a unique method to inspire the biblical writer to compose this particular portion of the Word of God. It’s not direct dictation like you see in Isaiah or Jeremiah. It’s not law handed down from Mount Sinai or testimony recorded by an eyewitness. It’s divinely inspired reflection on the created world.

The sage says “I have seen…” and then reflects on what he sees. All along, the Holy Spirit supervises the process so that every word is in fact the Word of God. Our job, though, is to look not only at the words but also view our world the same way we’re being shown in the pages of the book.

Third, Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon. I am underscoring this because most Bible scholars don’t think this is true. In fact, many interpreters believe that the author (whoever he is) is offering a cynical or even godless take on life, and that godless take is then framed by a later editor who reminds us at the end of the book that we’re supposed to fear the Lord.

But that’s not at all what you’ll find if you read this book carefully and faithfully. It’s obviously written by Solomon (see 1:1, 12) and a perspective of God-fearing faith is represented throughout the book.

Finally, it might help to understand that the key word in the book (hebel, translated “vanity” in most versions) literally means “breath” or “vapor.” To me, “vanity” connotes emptiness or worthlessness, and that’s not what this word is intended to communicate! Solomon is reminding us: “All is breath; fleeting, ephemeral, airy, un-lasting.

That doesn’t mean it’s all bad. It’s just that in this world—under the sun—we’re still groaning, waiting for the redemption of the body and of all creation.