Pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Ecclesiastes 4:10
Ecclesiastes may seem like little more than a string of musings from an embittered sage. Any coherent message we do find is steeped in futility. Chapter 4 is typical as the philosopher surveys “toil and all achievement” (v. 4) through a bleak, earthbound lens. “There was a man all alone,” he says. “There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth” (v. 8). When we live for ourselves, contentment eludes us.
The writer provides hope, however: “Two are better than one” (v. 9), and “a cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (v. 12). Left to ourselves, our human pursuits are truly in vain. God intended for us to live in community, interdependent on each other. Most of all, He wants us to live with Him at the center of our lives (see 12:1, 13-14). In Him, toil becomes teamwork as He helps us accomplish what He wants us to do.
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