The Hebel of Monotony: Humility and Hope

Solomon introduces his book with a question. He wants to know the meaning of life. He begins by observing that people are busy exhausting themselves with monotonous labor, just to become weary of life, and ultimately die. So he observes no real profit in this life. He labels this monotonous reality as hebel. Christians can redeem this monotony by looking to Christ, and putting their hope in what’s to come, namely, the new. They can rejoice in the midst of this monotonous life because they know a day is coming in which the habel and monotony will be gone. There will only be a new, real profit.