EVERYTHING IS HEVEL

“‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ Says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” Ecclesiastes 1:2

Now, when we read this verse, it can be a bit confusing. How is everything meaningless? But what we must understand is that the word meaningless is not exactly the right word in this context. The word meaningless has come from the Hebrew word ‘Hevel.’

Hevel is better described as like vapour or smoke. This demonstrates two things. Everything is temporary or fleeting and everything is like an enigma or paradox.

This word is repeated more than 30 times in the book showing how much emphasis the author is putting on it, it must be something really important…...

“Hevel, hevel, everything is utterly hevel”

Everything is Temporary

Imagine this: you are a worker for a magazine company and you work there for a while, moving up in ranks until you become the boss of this company. You then begin to build great wealth and you save some, spend some, buy a great house and you live like this for some time. You then decide that you are too old to enjoy or use it anymore, so you put it away for your children or grandchildren for when you die.

So eventually, you pass away and it is then distributed to your children who go off and spend the money on many different types of things like a house or car, only for the cycle to repeat itself.

Oh “Hevel”

Now imagine this scenario: you are a worker for that magazine company and you decide that you are going to live your life for the parties, for the Friday and Saturday nights, the thrills in life.

Now, you can spend as much time doing these things as you want, but Monday will always come. You will eventually have to go back to work to earn the money just to survive.

In both these situations, everything is hevel, nothing is certain, and nothing really will gain much in the end.

“Hevel”

We can spend our whole lives working and achieving because we think that it makes our life meaningful, but we should really stop and consider the path of time.

This is the harsh reality of life, no matter what we do on this earth, we will all eventually be erased by time and death.

Time

Despite all of human efforts, we haven’t really made much of an impact on the world.

And yes, we develop technology, live and fight wars but really, if we climbed a mountain, the mountain wouldn’t care. It will still be there today, tomorrow and for years to come. Just like the oceans and the sun.

No one will remember us or anything we do in a few hundred years, and soon enough, time will erase us and everyone we ever knew or loved.

You may be thinking, ‘but what if I have a lasting effect on humanity and make huge advancements that change the world?’

Well, this is great, but what point is it really?

You may get to see it come to pass a little, but who knows what will happen after you die. Will people use it or understand it correctly? Will it even be relevant or useful to future generations?

We won’t know.

“Hevel”

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that making advancements is a bad idea, but what I am trying to do is challenge you to think of life a bit differently.

Everything is like an Enigma

The word enigma means ‘something that is mysterious or difficult to understand,’ and I believe that this is so true in life.

There are so many questions that we can ponder upon and spend our lives exploring, but in the end, we may never find an answer or it may just lead to more questions.

The pursuit of knowledge and wisdom is endless, and there are so many things that are difficult for us to understand. Questions like..

What is the meaning of life?

What is my purpose?

What happens after I die?

And these are just a few examples.

There is so much we don’t know, and we will never know it all, And what good does knowing it all do anyway? What do we achieve from it?

But, How can everything be an enigma? There are so many things that we understand?

Maybe, but it also says that an enigma is something that is mysterious. Wouldn’t we agree that life is mysterious? That everything is not always as it appears to be?

Take appearance for example. We could be a model, with the perfect body, and perfect clothes, perfect make-up and be absolutely beautiful but, would this make you happy?

We might think so at first, but ask any supermodel and see if they have ever hated their body.

‘Oh, but they are so beautiful, how could they ever think that.’ The reality is, ‘nothing is as it seems’. Things may seem one way, but in actual fact they are another.

Nothing is certain, everything is unpredictable and mysterious,  like chasing after the wind.

Oh “Hevel.”

Death

Death is something that not many people like talking about or are comfortable discussing, although it is very important.

Death is the great equaliser. It doesn’t care whether you are rich or poor, wise or foolish, it will always take over at some stage. Death is what makes everything hevel.

It doesn’t matter if we are wise, it won’t make us live longer. Sometimes wise people live short lives and foolish people live long lives. There are no guarantees in the game of life.

Wisdom and riches are “hevel.”

What now?

The author of Ecclesiastes says that while wisdom and the fear of the Lord helps us live greater lives, it is ultimately all hevel, just like wealth, status and pleasure.

So, we now know all life is “hevel”, like a vapour or smoke, what now? How do we live in the midst of this “hevel?”

Accept it………..

We must accept that all of our life is out of our control, there are no guarantees. No matter how hard we try to control it, there is nothing we can do.

Oh “Hevel”

So in this ‘accepting’, we open ourselves up to experiencing and living in the amazing gifts of God; Love, friendship, family, or something as simple as a good meal and a sunny day.

Having gratitude for these seemingly small things, means that we can live free of the labels of this world and just be happy. Anyone can do this, rich, poor, wise or foolish.

It will change your life.

Conclusion

We see in Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and verses 13-14, “Now all has been heard: here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”

This means, fearing God and trusting him by listening and putting into action what He tells us. This is what we were put on earth to do. When we do this, we are opening ourselves up to the hope of a life without “hevel”, one filled with joy and laughter.

Live with these truths and know that God is on our side always.

“Hevel, hevel, everything is utterly hevel.”

For more on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrsQ1tc-2wk&list=PLH0Szn1yYNeeVFodkI9J_WEATHQCwRZ0u&index=37