How does Ecclesiastes specifically the pronouncement that “all is hevel” (1:2) tie into biblical wisdom theology? 

Wisdom theology can be described as general observations about how God ordered the world in creation.  This ordered creation is reliable, regular, coherent and ethical, as seen and taught in Proverbs. If we link Ecclesiastes with wisdom, then we must connect “life under the sun” as coming from creation. However, Ecclesiastes 1:14-15 reminds us that this same creation has been made crooked by man’s rebellious sin:

I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and shepherding the wind.What is crooked cannot be made straight,
and what is lacking cannot be counted.

The good life of eating, drinking, and being merry has been made crooked. It cannot be made straight [by us]. Let’s look into what the scriptures reveal about the “good life” now under the sun. This life is defined by God at creation. The good life is the life he intended for us but since it’s been corrupted by humanity’s rebellion it is now under the curse of the fall. This good life is a gift of God that requires nothing from us and it is impossible for us to achieve it in ourselves. Meanwhile our frustrating life “under the sun” is under sin. Therefore under sin, we naturally set up false meaningless idols. Ecclesiastes reminds us of our inability to set up a good life apart from God. In I Corinthians 15:32 Paul picks up on the Ecclesiastes language, and he says if Christ is dead then everything is vanity, “What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’ But Christ is risen! Therefore the work we do is not in vain.” Even before Paul, Jesus illustrates that the good life is not brought about by our own works but it is the already accomplished work of God. He does this with a negative and positive example. Earlier in the parable of the rich fool, Jesus quotes the rich man saying haughtily “I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, and be merry’.” (Luke 12:19). 

God chastises him for his prideful covetousness because he was trying to store up treasures for himself apart from God. In the parable of the prodigal son, the son returns home and the ever watching, joyous father commands his servants to “bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.” (Luke 15:23).

In our verses above, the preacher of Ecclesiastes is alluding to Genesis 1-2 where God took joy in His created work. After God had formed and filled creation, God pronounced it “good.” (see also Gen 1:10, 12, 18, 21, and 25).  What is interesting to note is that at the end of day 6, the day He created man/woman the pronouncement is: “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good…”(1:31).  God’s delight in and joy with His creative work is found in the word “good” or “very good”.  This same goodness is repeated in Ecclesiastes:  

“There is nothing better for people than to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in their work.” (2:24)

“...all adams [everyone] should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil” (3:13)

“Right now, immediately [behold!]I have seen what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people: to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all their hard work under the sun…” (5:18)

“Go, eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart,” (9:7)

“A feast [bread] is made for laughter, and wine makes life merry,” (10:19)

Taking joy in the hard work you do each and every ordinary day, you can say it was a “good” day’s work!  What a blessing God has given to us.  Think about how even more fulfilling it is to see the fruit of your labor since as a result of our rebellion our toil has been compounded with thorns and thistles. 

I (Steve) can fondly remember a childhood memory of spending summers with my grandparents. Every morning, noon, and evening (the cool of the day) we would sit to eat.  Grandpa and I would wash our hands and sit at the table. Grandma would bring the food and place it on the table before us.  Once, being impatient and hungry, I reached my hand out to grab some of the food.  To my surprise, my hand was slapped by my grandpa. He said, “Young man we have not first thanked our heavenly Father for this provision.” and with that he reached out his big, calloused, gentle hand which had just reproved me, and took my red hand into his. With the other, I took grandma’s hand and thanked God for his provision and blessing.  Like my grandpa’s reproving yet gentle, calloused hands, our God reproves us but then blesses us with a feast worthy of the Lamb.  

Notice also Genesis 1:29-30, “And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.  And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.”

In this very first chapter of God’s word, God is providing a bountiful feast for His creation!  The preacher of Ecclesiastes is picking up on God’s blessing for his covenant image bearers and says there is no better blessing than to eat and drink. Now imagine eating and drinking, but with and in the presence of our loving, Holy God.  Just two chapters later, in chapter 3 God is said to be walking in the garden “in the cool of the day”, possibly coming to join His beloved image bearers for supper.  Unfortunately, they had already eaten and now would be reproved for partaking of the tree which was forbidden, just like my time with my grandparents. Just like Eve, I reached my hand out to grab the forbidden food.

COVENANT MEAL OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

We have seen the connection with God’s creation.  We have also considered the connection with the covenant meal in Exodus 24 with the 70 elders, Moses and Aaron, and his sons. They ate with Yahweh on the mountain.  Now in the New Testament, John particularly writes from the understanding that Christ is the substance of all the old covenant feasts instituted by God for His people, which points them to their Savior. All the synoptic gospels record the Passover meal before the crucifixion of Christ.  This is the meal in which Jesus institutes one of the sacraments for His church to participate in until He comes back for her and all who persevere and have faith in Him and we feast with our God and Savior. 

Matthew 26:17 says, “Now on the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?”

Jesus' disciples come to Him and ask about the preparation for the Passover feast instituted in Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23.  He tells them to go to a certain man’s house and tell him that “the Master” will celebrate the Passover feast at his house. Now we come to the heart of the Matthew 26 text, verses 26-30:  

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

The highlighted and underlined portions show the connections with our Ecclesiastes texts, with eating, drinking, and finding joy in our labor or work.

Reflecting the importance of the Eating, Drinking, and Being Merry

Notice the very first phrase in verse 26, “And as they were eating…”.  Why is this important?  Most western Christians see the Lord’s Supper, as less of a meal, and more of a ritual involving a tiny plastic cup and a small square piece of wafer or bread.  What stands out from the text is this is a meal or feast! As they are eating this meal together Jesus takes the loaf of bread from the table and breaks it, and then thanks the Father for the bread, and passes a portion of the bread to each of His disciples. He tells them that the unleavened bread is now to be thought of as His body broken and bruised for us. Then in verse 27, Jesus takes the cup he is drinking from and tells the disciples that the wine they are drinking is His blood of the New Covenant. The disciples all understand that Jesus is saying He is the Passover Lamb. His blood reminds us of the Passover when the Israelites applied blood to their doorposts so that God’s destroyer would “Passover” and not slay their firstborn sons.  Jesus is now saying that because of His shed blood, God passes over our sins and forgives us!  Like with the bread, Jesus thanks the Father and blesses the wine.

In verse 30, everybody at the supper sang a hymn before finishing the meal.  It was not just a song to conclude the “service”, the actual singing itself was the important part.  Most of the time singing expresses joy.  This meal was indeed a feast to enjoy.  They were with the Savior and a feast they had celebrated all their lives was now re-imagined through Jesus' body and blood broken and shed for the forgiveness of their sins.

In verse 29 Matthew chooses to examine the sacrament of the Lord’s supper. “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.”

Here Christ alludes to Isaiah 25 and the feast to come in the consummation or the second coming of Jesus.  Notice first that Jesus says this is His last meal and He will not drink wine again until He drinks with them in the kingdom.  Once again our destinies lie in eating a feast with our paschal lamb and God! Jesus knows He is soon to be sentenced to death and to die the death that we deserve.  He is the innocent Lamb of God.  What is important to understand is that the Lord’s Supper (feast) instituted by Jesus for us is to enjoy a meal together to remember and dine with our wonderful Savior through His Holy Spirit. This covenantal sacrament shows to all who participate in this meal that Jesus is coming again to eat with His people.  That the meal looks and feels like a shadow of the coming feast with our God, is beside the point. Partaking in the communion feast is a celebration of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, our Master and Savior.  Consider A.A. Hodges beautifully phrased expression of this:

It [the Lord’s Supper] marks the central, vital, epochs in the believer's life and intercourse with heaven. It marks hence the successive stages of his pilgrimage along the King's highway toward the New Jerusalem and banqueting halls of our Father's house. It is consequently the central ordinance in the whole circle of church life, around which all other ministries of the Church revolve, and through which we have exhibited to the outward senses the indwelling of God with men, the real presence and objective reality of "the Holy Catholic Church" and the reality and power of "the communion with the saints.

We have now seen the bigger picture. That is, feasting and enjoying the fruits of our labor in Ecclesiastes points us forward to the feast we enjoy with our God in the Consummation.  Imagine today eating a meal with the God who created all things to be enjoyed for His glory.  It is no wonder His disciples sang a hymn with their Savior at the end of that feast.  Revelation and Ecclesiastes both tell us that it is truly a blessing from God to eat and drink “under the sun”. However, it will be even more wondrous when we eat and drink and rest with Him at the wedding feast of the Lamb.  

Application/Exhortation:

Matthew 11:28-30, “Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Hebrews 3-4 speaks of us holding fast to faith in Christ. In this, God secures eternal rest for us.  The eternal rest is actually our inheritance from God. God’s people inherited the promised land in the OT.  Each time we assemble together, united to Christ as His family, we eat and drink a meal with our Savior. We are celebrating and looking forward to the consummation rest we have inherited in Jesus. Hopefully when we celebrate the Lord’s supper will have a more wondrous meaning and significance each time you dine with Him.

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