Ferguson is almost always good, of course, and this book is interesting first in that it is Ferguson, and he simply has a way of saying things. But more than that, there are few Christians who would frame their Gospel presentation with Ecclesiastes, but the book is quite simply made for it. Ferguson does not shy away from this difficult text, but skillfully applies it to the heart of the reader. I would not at all be hesitant to use this book in an evangelistic situation. ( )

My men's accountability and prayer group just finished studying through Ecclesiastes, and I found this book helped me keep my literary radar up to see Jesus in this penetrating Old Testament book. At times the Preacher of Ecclesiastes sounds strikingly contemporary--despairing, postmodern, facing the bleakness of life on earth under the sun.

Many of my contemporaries conclude life is pointless or meaningless, as the Preacher insists on pointing out the vanities and apparent meaninglessness of life. Yet he doesn't stop there, but hints throughout the book that there is meaning, there is significance, that at the end of the day humanity matters because there is a creator who is also judge, and because of his judgment all things will be put to rights.

For those who remember their creator, who remember the poor man who saved the city but was then forgotten is a type of Jesus, the true poor man who saves and yet is rejected by the world, life has significance and meaning. Life has meaning here and now, not just for eternity. The Preacher's conclusion in Ecclesiastes is to live boldly, live sensibly, and live godly (chapters 10 and first half of 11), because death comes to all and God will judge everything.

However, the New Testament witness is that there is resurrection: Jesus Christ has been raised, and that changes everything. 1 Corinthians 15 ends by reminding us that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. Its not meaningless. If you dig ditches, if you compose symphonies, if you paint, if you bake bread, program computers, advocate for the poor and oppressed, or raise children to love God and the world full of people He made in his image--those and all human cultural activities are significant and meaningful because of the judgment of God. The wonder of it all is that we don't receive the judgment we deserved: it was poured out on Jesus at the cross, and his resurrection shows that He fully satisfied the Father's wrath against our rebellion and sin.

I highly recommend Pundit's Folly for the Christ-centered perspective it brings to Ecclesiastes. The fear of God that the Preacher recommends- remembering our Creator and Judge- is most clear and most wonderful at the foot of the cross and the sight of the empty tomb.

Jesus resurrection changes everything: life is infused with meaning, it is death that is now pointlessly vain. As one Easter hymn says so well:

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal; Alleluia!
Christ has burst the gates of hell: Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids his rise; Alleluia!
Christ hath opened Paradise. Alleluia!

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