In the last couple of years that I was raising my granddaughter, she and her friends found a new trend. Shopping thrift stores and buying all the ‘mom jeans’ they could find. You are familiar with mom jeans, right? Those high-waisted jeans were all the fashion in the late ‘80’s and early 1990’s but that style had gone the way of shoulder pads, embroidered jeans, and velour tracksuits. And I found myself saying to her, “What’s old is new again.”
My son called me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I could transport one of my granddaughters somewhere. As she walked to the car, I started smiling and as she got in I touched her pants and questioned, “corduroys?!” Yes, and she has more than one color. So does her sister. I told her “Your grandma used to wear cords. Oh, how I loved my cords!” And then I added, “What’s old is new again.”
Many styles come and go and come back again. What one generation tires of, the next embraces. And that brings us to today’s idiom, “there is nothing new under the sun”.
Often attributed to Shakespeare, (as he used a similar line as the opening of his 59th sonnet) the phrase in fact comes from the Bible and specifically Ecclesiastes 1:9. As I reread this verse today, I realized that we may have very well gotten two idioms in this one verse. Let’s take a look.
“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
I have often heard, and said, “what’s done is done.” I wonder if that expression came from this passage? I could find nothing on-line today. But it sounds reasonable.
On to today’s expression, “What’s old is new again.”
To put those words in their true context, we need to back up to the beginning of this chapter: “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 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. “Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”?...” Ecclesiastes 1:1-10 ESV
It all sounds so daunting; so depressing. Where is the hope?
But Solomon, son of David, began to realize what many of us do, chasing after things that bring us pleasure, people that bring us joy, circumstances that substantiate us, it is all in vain if we don’t have our eyes fixed on Heaven.
Do you remember what Solomon asked of God? Asked from God? The story is in 1 Kings chapter 3.
“…the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” verse 5.
“…give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil…” verse 9.
“behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart…” Verse 12.
The very next story, starting in verse 16, is the story of the two women, both having given birth. One baby had died, and one woman had lied, and Solomon used his God-given wisdom to sort out the details. He was indeed a very wise man. He also saw the evil that lives in men’s, and women’s hearts, he began to realize all too well how short this life is.
Back to today’s expression: nothing new under the sun.
“And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
“I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
“For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.”
Do you suppose Solomon had one of those “be careful what you ask for” moments? He knew that with much wisdom came much aggravation.
Well, that’s a look at today’s saying, or expression: “There’s nothing new under the sun.” It seems a bit depressing to me because that also includes the brevity of life. We have so little time on planet earth. Where is the hope?
Solomon’s father, King David had the answer: my hope is in You.
“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is.
You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
at best, each of us is but a breath.” Interlude
We are merely moving shadows,
and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.
We heap up wealth,
not knowing who will spend it.
And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?
My only hope is in you.” Psalm 39:4-7 NLT
Our hope, our only hope, is in Jesus. That is good news! That is the best news ever!
by Jeanette Stark – Friday, June 30, 2023
Opmerkingen