The curse brought death. The curse brought about an end to permanence. Now, things fade, things deteriorate, things die. Chaos comes out of order. Our lives are cursed. Our daily lives are cursed. Nothing lasts, everything is fleeting.

Before I was truly saved, I was crushed under the weight of the temporary nature of life. Things did not last. Enjoyment did not last. Happiness did not last. I saw little point in doing anything because everything would fade away. I enjoyed going to amusement parks and the beach, yet I hated going at the same time. I knew the fun would fade shortly, being only a brief moment of happiness. Then the drudgery would continue. I wanted my happiness to last, but it simply wouldn’t. It was like breath on a cold day. It can be seen but for a moment, then it vanishes never to return again. My life was breath-like.

The popularized statement of the Teacher (Qoheleth) in Ecclesiastes 1:2 says “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!” But what does this mean? Sure, vanity in this sense means futile, but what is the Teacher really saying. Why is everything futile?

The Hebrew word rendered by many English translations as vanity is hebel. The meaning of this word is breath-like. It doesn’t simply mean futile, it means futile due to its lack of permanence. Life is hebel says the Teacher. In fact, the hebel is the same word as Abel’s name. Abel’s life was the personification of hebel! He did what was right and what did he get? He was killed by his unrighteous brother who got to live on. His life was not lasting, it lacked permanence. Abel was the first victim of the curse of the fall. His life was hebel, breath-like.

The Teacher in Ecclesiastes says that all life is ruled by hebel. Nothing lasts, not even the righteous for they meet the same fate as the wicked in death. Life is not worth living under the curse of hebel. I understood this as well as the Teacher of Ecclesiastes did when I was in high school. I knew that nothing lasted. Robert Frost’s Nothing Gold Can Stay froze me with despair. I wanted something lasting, but knew of nothing that did. I desired to die. I knew my life would fade as all else does, I just hated waiting for it to do so. I’d rather it end than to live with the knowledge that it would not last and eventually end. Breath-like, everything is breath-like.

So why is Christianity a religion of joy? Why is it a religion of hope and peace? Why does not the entire church shriek under the growing weight of hebel? Surely the Christian is still subject to hebel. His garden fades, his pets die. He loses loved ones to time and disease. The Christian himself dies just as the pagan.

But to the Christian, hebel was nailed to the cross. Hebel itself is fading. Christ took upon himself our sin as well as our life under hebel. His life on earth was breath-like. But, He returned. He destroyed hebel and lives in permanence. So too will the Christian. Hebel is fading. Though this life may be subject to futility and suffer from transience. The age to come will no longer be subject to it. True, lasting joy and happiness will be as permanent as Christ, as will we.

Tags: Christian Living

This entry was posted on Monday, May 18th, 2009 at 9:35 AM and is filed under Afterlife, Christian Living, Ecclesiastes, Featured, Joy, curse, death. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.