To be sure, Ecclesiastes is one of the most daunting and frustrating books to sermonize. Chapters 7—10 are especially problematic with their wide assortment of proverbs and pronouncements about life’s inequities. The Preacher’s labyrinthine observations regarding life “under the sun” continually confound clergy and laymen alike. Renowned Scottish orator Alexander Maclaren, for instance, asserts in one of his sermons on Ecclesiastes 12 that the Preacher’s conclusions are a mix of untruths, partial truths, or exaggerations.(1) This is indicative of the varied and assorted opinions one can find when trying to determine the precise meaning of the Preacher’s sayings.
In fact, it is on this point that I diverge from Maclaren’s estimation ………………………..