Text: Ecclesiastes 1:9
This is a very familiar saying even to some who may not be very familiar with the Bible. Of course, most Bible students will know that this comes from the Word of God: “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9, ESV). But what does this really mean?
What it means (in plain terms) is that human life keeps repeating itself. It’s like a vicious circle. There is really nothing new; at least nothing really meaningful. Technologies change, empires rise and fall, fashions come and go—but the core of human experience stays the same. People still love, hate, envy, hope, and fear. Power still corrupts. Wealth still promises more than it delivers. Wisdom is still hard-earned. Death still comes for everyone. So, it’s basically, “different costumes, same play.”
What the expression “There is nothing new under the sun” does not mean.
It does not mean that God never does anything new. Ecclesiastes 1:9 does not mean that progress is impossible and that life is meaningless. Not from God’s point of view. As we study the Bible and particularly what Solomon is saying here in Ecclesiastes chapter 1, we need to look for the key point the author is trying to make. The key phrase is “under the sun”—that is, life viewed purely from an earthly, human perspective, without God’s eternal viewpoint. From that limited angle, everything feels like a loop.
This passage has a deeper message for us that can easily be missed, if we are not careful.The Teacher (traditionally Solomon) is exposing a hard truth: If you look for ultimate meaning in work, pleasure, success, or wisdom alone, you’ll end up disappointed. Why? Because everything human eventually wears out. Whether we realize that or not, everything human eventually gets forgotten, gets replaced, or ends in death. That’s why later in the book Solomon can draw such a meaningful and wonderful conclusion: “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Wisdom demands that when all is said and done, we fear God and keep his commandments.
The Bible’s tension: nothing new… and yet something radically new.
Interestingly, the Bible holds two wonderful ideas together: Nothing new under the sun (human patterns do nothing but repeating themselves), and Something new from God (redemption, new life, new beginning, new creation). Only in Christ can people truly change. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV). True and lasting changes in people must take place inside out. Only through obedience to God’s will can the man in the suit change. As the saying goes, Christianity doesn’t just change the suit. It puts a new man in the suit. True followers of Christ will do their very best to keep in step with the Spirit as encouraged by Paul in Galatians 5:16-26:
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21envy,[d] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do[e] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
The Holy Spirit is given to us as a gift when we obey the gospel (Acts 2:38) and helps us become this new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). God never stops working. He continues to make new things. In Revelation 21:5, it is written: “I am making everything new.”So, while history cycles under the sun, God breaks the cycle from above the sun. Such a wonderful accomplishment can only be attributed to the Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent God! So, what does the expression “There is nothing new under the sun” mean?Itmeans that apart from God, life keeps repeating itself—but with God, life gains meaning, direction, and true newness.
Toronto, Ontario