The Futility Of Life Without God Series

The Futility of Life Without God

Ecclesiastes 7:1-14

Rev. Brian Bill

September 21-22, 2024

Sometimes people ask me if I’d rather officiate at a wedding or a funeral. A wedding celebrates a beginning, a funeral acknowledges an ending. Both are occasions where friends and family gather together to share an important event in someone’s life. While I’ve not been doing weddings because of other responsibilities, a wedding is a joyful celebration and an opportunity to affirm God’s design of one man and one woman uniting in a covenant commitment before a holy God.

But when I’m asked the question which one I’d rather do, my answer often surprises people because I’d rather lead a funeral service. It’s because a funeral helps us realize death is our destiny and gives me an opportunity to present the gospel. We actually find biblical support for a funeral being better than a festival in Ecclesiastes 7. We’ll get to that in a bit.

Before we read this passage together, let’s make some observations.

1. Chapters 1-6 deal with the pursuit of meaning, while in chapters 7-12 we’re given principles for living.

2. This chapter begins with a number of practical proverbs, much like we find in the Book of Proverbs, also written by Solomon.

3. Wisdom literature often shifts topics rapidly, which we will see in this chapter.

4. This chapter serves to answer the two questions asked in 6:12: “For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?” We’ll learn what is good and what will last.

5. The key word in this chapter is “better,” used seven times in the first 14 verses. This word literally means, “much more better” and can be translated as, “to a greater advantage and degree, superior in quality, more excellent.”

Let’s read 7:1-14, giving special emphasis to the word “better.”

“A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.

Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise

than to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools; this also is vanity. Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart. Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools. Say not, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun. For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it. Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.”

After reflecting on this passage, I wrote down this summary statement: Since God wants better for us, we must give Him our best.

1. It’s better to have a good reputation than to have great riches. We see this in verse 1: “A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.” The word “name” in Hebrew refers to reputation or character. Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches.”

In that culture, “precious ointment” was pricey perfume or costly cologne, often used to make people smell good in hot weather when baths were infrequent and deodorant nonexistent. The idea is your name is either sweet or smelly, fragrant or foul. Proverbs 27:9 says, “Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.” Our reputation travels further than the scent of perfume. In that culture, dead bodies were anointed with costly perfume to mask the smell of death. Solomon is saying something like this: “It’s better to finish out life with a good reputation than to have lots of money for a fancy funeral.”