It Doesn't Matter Series

It Doesn’t Matter Ecclesiastes 9

This year’s Kentucky Derby winner is a horse called Rich Strike. This was a horse that wasn’t even in the race until 31 hours before the race began. 2 other horses had to scratch before Rich Strike even qualified for the race, but it wasn’t supposed to win. The odds were 80:1, meaning those that know horse racing were willing to pay out $80 to each 1$ bet on the horse. SO those that bet one the horse won big, because it wasn’t supposed to win.

One of the most famous unlikely victories in recorded history is the Battle of Rorke’s Drift. Just over 150 British and colonial troops successfully defend a farmhouse against an intense assault by 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors in 1879. The massive but piecemeal Zulu attacks on Rorke's Drift came very close to defeating the much smaller garrison. After repeated attacks, the Zulu force was depleted and no reinforcements were sent for further assaults on the position. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the combatants, it was the largest number of Victoria cross medals awarded by the British Government at any one battle. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the British lost only 17 dead to 351 Zulus.

One of the contestants on last year’s show Alone, the survivalist show, has a master’s degree in Experimental Archaeology from the University of Exeter, as well as a PhD on the microscopic analysis of prehistoric processed skin artefacts. She said that she hoped to win the $500,00 prize money so she didn’t have to worry about paying her bills or putting food on the table, since she doesn’t make much money with her degrees.

A British trash collector named Michael Carroll, was 19 when he bagged a lottery prize worth $14.4 million in 2002. He went a bit crazy: moved into a mansion, bought gold jewelry and got addicted to drugs and alcohol. He found himself in prison a couple of times, and the prize money was gone within 10 years. Carroll took a job at a cookie factory in Scotland, making only $300 a week. More recently, he was delivering coal for a living. He says he's grateful for the work and a second chance at life. Carroll says he's happy to be alive, sober and out of jail, so he can spend time with his young daughter.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 “Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them.”

Solomon has spent a lot of time examining life, “under the sun,” as he puts it. And this chapter shows a transition of sorts.

9:1 Indeed, I took all this to heart and explained it all: the righteous, the wise, and their works are in God’s hands. People don’t know whether to expect love or hate. Everything lies ahead of them.

Solomon is finally starting to recognize the superiority of God. It doesn’t matter who we are, or what we do. We are all in God’s hands. We can’t predict the future.

2 Everything is the same for everyone: there is one fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as for the one who takes an oath, so for the one who fears an oath.

It doesn’t matter how good we are, or how evil, how much we strive to serve God, or put ourselves first. We are all afforded only one opportunity to get it right. We only have this life. Excuses don’t matter. Our religious status doesn’t matter. Our appearance to those around us doesn’t matter. When death comes for us, we can’t avoid it.

3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one fate for everyone. In addition, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live—after that they go to the dead.

Solomon says it is evil that we all only get the one chance. It doesn’t matter the opportunity we have, Solomon says too many use it for evil. They think that this life is it, so it doesn’t matter how they act.

4 But there is hope for whoever is joined with all the living, since a live dog is better than a dead lion.

As long as we are alive, we have hope. We have an opportunity to make our lives right. IT doesn’t matter, right up unto the time of our death.