The Alternative to Pessimism
Solomon reaches a turning point. God steps fully into view, and the world opens beyond the limits of life under the sun. Work, joy, and time itself are revealed as gifts rather than prizes. Meaning no longer rises from human effort. It descends from the hand that governs every season.
The Failure of Wisdom
Wisdom promises clarity, but it cannot save. In Ecclesiastes 1:12–18, Solomon exposes the hard truth every perceptive man eventually faces: the more clearly you see the world without God, the more painfully you realize how little you can fix.