Ecclesiastes 2:5 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Ecclesiastes 2:5

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He also made gardens, employing all his knowledge of plants acquired through many years of study. 1 Kings 4:33 tells us that he had a prodigious understanding of natural life: ‘He spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.’ He experimented with colour schemes, with water ways and made gardens which would be the envy of the kings of the surrounding nations. These were places which were a delight to be in, which could transport a soul above the daily drudgery of life which most human beings must be subject to. He created for himself a life of pure pleasure in which he did not have to work but was continually testing out new sources of interest to his mind. He recreated the beauty of Eden and tried to pretend that the fall had not taken place, transporting himself back into that ideal garden. He tasted the delights of different fruits and probably conducted plant breeding programmes to develop new varieties for his pleasure. On and on he went, trying out different ideas, imaginative and ingenious ideas, which showed his brilliance as a designer. Nor did he engage in these enterprises half-heartedly but with great enthusiasm, giving each one a fair opportunity to prove itself a true source of happiness in life. Surely all of this would bring the king satisfaction and a sense of having accomplished something wonderful, of having created true beauty which had never been seen before. But what had really changed through doing all this? Was the pleasure to be derived from it really worth all the effort put into it and did it have any lasting value? Could he take any of this or the praise due for it with him into the world to come? Was he any the less subject to the limitations placed on every human life?

Application

We hear people speak of the pleasure they have received from walking in open spaces and admiring the untouched landscape around them. They relate how a closeness to nature has relieved them from the oppressive nature of the lockdown, and recommend that all people do the same, as if this is the key to peace of heart. Others revel in the spaces they have created for themselves in their own private gardens. But do these people tell us also about the continuing ache that exists in their hearts at their own mortality, and the fact that they can take none of this with them when they leave the earth? Beautiful gardens and wide-open spaces do not belong to us if we do not know the Lord, for they are among the things that will be taken from us at the end of life. It is the meek who will inherit the earth, and the simple child of God can look at nature and see it as God’s gift to him. The He is not stealing when he drinks in the beauty, but having a foretaste of what will be his forever.

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Ecclesiastes 2:5 Commentary and Bible Study