The world of Ecclesiastes exists in the same plane as does the world of our day, as has the world ever since our first parents’ exile from the Garden of Eden. The names may have changed but the people are the same.
It seems like the world has lost its mind. Realities as basic as male and female are being denied. Yet at the same time, identity is being found in sexuality. Marriage as God’s building block for society is being dismantled, the result of which is societal disability and disarray. Children are being allowed to follow their heart, despite what the Bible says about the misaligned condition of that fallen human heart and the responsibility of parents to guide and protect.
The Creator’s well-crafted mechanism for a well-ordered society limps along battered and broken. Above it all, hammer in hand, stands man in rebellion against God.
Yet as current as all this is, there is nothing new under the sun.
“What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done” (Eccl. 1:9). So writes Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes.
When we look at the political landscape of our day or an educational system addicted to novelty or a depraved society conspiring against the Lord and His anointed in order to jettison any moral or normative restraint, we cringe at the downward spiral. What was once thought untenable is now embraced, what was once tolerated is now imposed.
Yet there is nothing new under the sun. The outward manifestations may differ across the ages, but the rebellion and irrationality at the core remain the same. To the question, “Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new’?” a firm answer is given. “It has been already in the ages before us” (Eccl. 1:10).