We have arrived in our study of Ecclesiastes at what the Preacher calls “the end of the
matter”. The matter under consideration, if you have a long memory, was this: “What
does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” What is the point of man’s existence? Why
are we here? This was the question he set out to answer.
Through twelve chapters, the Preacher has undertaken the task of examining the
experience of being human from every possible angle in hope of gaining insight
into its meaning and purpose, always using only what he could observe and infer
from the input of his senses. What he discovered was that when you approach the
big questions of life in that way, the experience is frustrating and the
answers elusive.