Ecclesiastes 9: 1 – 18
Hey, Wise guy!
1 For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them. 2 All things come alike to all: One event happens to the righteous and the wicked; To the good, the clean, and the unclean; To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner; He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.5 For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun. 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; For God has already accepted your works. 8 Let your garments always be white, and let your head lack no oil. 9 Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. 11 I returned and saw under the sun that—The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them. 13 This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: 14 There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it. 15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man. 16 Then I said: “ Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. 17 Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard rather than the shout of a ruler of fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war; But one sinner destroys much good.”
After examining religious experience, Solomon now considers those who are God’s children to the world to see if there is a difference. He will conclude that their isn’t any difference He first will establish the fact that El Shadai – Almighty God Is in complete control over all of us and that we are all accountable to Him.
1 For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them. 2 All things come alike to all: One event happens to the righteous and the wicked; To the good, the clean, and the unclean; To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner; He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
We are reminded of our dependency upon Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High – for everything. The term ‘in the hand of God’ means in God’s control and possession. We see these words of wisdom relative to this point in the following Scripture;
Matthew 19, “26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
I also like the fact that our Precious Holy God Is not a respecter of persons - 2 All things come alike to all: One event happens to the righteous and the wicked; To the good, the clean, and the unclean; To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner; He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath. All people are treated the same by God. Thus, it does not matter how holy you try to act. You are the same in God’s eyes. Have you ever thought about some of the men and women who go around in black silk shirts which have a white slit in their collar? What’s up with that? Are we supposed to think that they are someone special in the eyes of God. This verse tells us plainly that those Reverend so and so are not closer to God than us as the book of Romans chapter 2 teaches, “11 For there is no partiality with God.”
In verse 3 we come to awareness that we are all evil - Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.” Madness is paralleled with folly. It possibly means wild behavior.
If given the right opportunity and in the right situation, we all turn toward the dark side. This verse reveals that we cannot escape this condition no matter how much we fake it. One time this lady corrected a Pastor and disagreed with this Scripture passage. She used an infant as an example that a child is innocent. The Pastor asked the lady if a child will cry if he/she is not wet or wants food. The lady replied of course the babies cry for no special reason. Then the Pastor replied they are lying, thereby showing the sin nature. What are the words a child speaks after ‘dada’? They have an uncanny response to say, ‘no’, or ‘mine’. Our Holy Master knows us completely and He knows our bent towards evil, yet in an amazing way, He still loves us.
The book of Jeremiah chapter 17 presents our depravity in a more eloquent way, “5 Thus says the LORD: “ Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD. 6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. 7 “ Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit. 9 “ The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. 11 “ As a partridge that broods but does not hatch, so is he who gets riches, but not by right; It will leave him in the midst of his days, and at his end he will be a fool.” 12 A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. 13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake You shall be ashamed. “ Those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.” 14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise. 15 Indeed they say to me, “ Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!” 16 As for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd who follows You, nor have I desired the woeful day; You know what came out of my lips; It was right there before You. 17 Do not be a terror to me; You are my hope in the day of doom. 18 Let them be ashamed who persecute me, but do not let me be put to shame; Let them be dismayed, but do not let me be dismayed. Bring on them the day of doom, and destroy them with double destruction!
One thing that we have that we take for granted is ‘hope’. I love the song in the musical Annie. I just love the encouragement she displays Here is what she sings. Perhaps you too will record these in your memories.
The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
There'll be sun!
Just thinkin' about
Tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs,
And the sorrow
'Til there's none!
When I'm stuck a day
That's gray,
And lonely,
I just stick out my chin
And Grin,
And Say,
Oh!
The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
I love ya Tomorrow!
You're always
A day
A way!
For it is a while that we are alive that we have hope, for life is still ahead, even if the quality of life is not what we expect it should be. This is what Solomon wants us to understand.
4 But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.5 For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun.
The dogs described in the bible are not the wonderful loving pets we have but rather they are scavengers who lived wild. Therefore, it is quite obvious that a live lowly animal is better off then a dead king of the beasts. Death eliminates any advantage that one has over another.
Another key point that Solomon informs us is that death will extinguish any opportunities that we now have. Look again at what he says, ‘ 6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun.’ Unless you are a great person, like a President, or artist, everything about you is forgotten. This is pretty pathetic isn’t it?
So, what is the point here? Solomon reminds us that it is better to be alive and looked down on [like a dog] rather than dead and being honored [as the lion] because the living have a consciousness. While you are alive there is hope that you will make an impact for the Honor and Glory of God not just for mankind’s’ benefit, which works will all fade away. We therefore advised to find joy in our present lives.
7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; For God has already accepted your works. 8 Let your garments always be white, and let your head lack no oil. 9 Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.
Considering the uncertainty of the future, Solomon recommends enjoying life as it was designed. Life is God’s gift to us and we need to appreciate it.
What does bread and wine remind you of? Yes, communion. It is a symbol of comfort and cheer. Our Lord Jesus taught us to do this act in ‘remembrance’ of Him, until He comes again. So, the first thing in our lives should be keeping our Adoni Yeshua – our Lord Jesus Christ in sole prioirity in our hearts and thoughts. He rightly deserves this at a minimum from us. [ I love You Precious Holy King].
Then we are encouraged to enjoy life in our daily appearance. We are not to go around in sack cloths and ashes, but in joyful attire. White garments and ointments were symbols of joy and purity.
Then we need to place the emphasis of concern toward our marriages. It should be a joyful experience. I know you all are in agreement with me that if you are not revealing satisfying married lives, it will be displayed to others what you really are enduring, and that my friends is a horrible existence.
The last point of our lives recommends how we tackle work. Most people hate their jobs. If you remember the words from our Holy Father to Adam in the Garden of Eden, that we are to labor all our lives. Work is what we must do. Our Holy Ruler does not want us to live the life of Riley
Work is a good thing for us. Do you want to hear a scary statistic? You hear people wanting to store away money for retirement. Oh, really? 80% of those who retire die within 18 months.
The apostle Paul put everything listed here together for us as how we should live in his advice in chapter 3 of the letter to the Colossians, “1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. 8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. 12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. 18 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. 20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. 22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. 23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.”
Solomon now recognizes that things do not always go as planned or expected. It is not difficult to think of situations where the strongest do not win, the wise fail, and the intelligent are unrewarded. We say when we hear of these situations that it is ‘unfair’. This world is cursed. It is not the way our Holy God designed it to be.
11 I returned and saw under the sun that—The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.
People do not succeed always because of their talents or abilities. Success is largely a matter of chance. We do not know what will happen. Some people start a business and fail. Others pick up their ideas and succeed. Have you ever seen the commercial about this company that will take your ideas and help you submit them to companies for development? This business has office all across the US and yet the only thing that they can say that they successfully helped someone was a guy who made a drive through car wash for kids. The kicker line is that they say at the end of the commercial is that most submissions are not successful. If that be so, then how can they stay in business? Could it be that they somehow take a person’s idea, modify it slightly and submit it as their own?
I learned this first hand when I was younger. I looked at the Post Office and realized that their service was not in line with other services. I designed a business that anyone could go in at convenient customer hours and have mail boxes, purchase stamps, mail packages, mail through any other service such as UPS, or Federal Express.. So, I laid out my idea and submitted it to this company that advertised help on processing new businesses or ideas. They came back to me that it would cost me over $15,000 to represent me. I had thought that I would only give them a cut in my royalties from developing these new businesses. I did not have the money to proceed with my idea. Funny thing happened though a little less than a year later. I walked into this new business call ‘Mail Boxes USA’ and the whole business including my layout of the store was right there before my eyes. Hymn? I wonder where that idea came from. I guess it was just a coincidence that someone else was thinking and planning to do the same exact business item by item that I thought of.
12 For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them.
Are you aware that corporations are not created to exist for any long period of time. Our present leader with his disciples commented that there are certain corporations that are too large to fail so they came up with a massive bailout. Solomon points out to us in verse 12 that we humans do not know what the future holds. What was greatly successful in the past can fail in the future. Look at the telephone. About what percent of people today have a land line phone in their homes? I do not know of any study where these statics are listed, but I think that you will agree with me that we are all switching to cell phones.
You can have a successful thriving business and nature can destroy that within a day. Just look at the news each day and you will agree.
13 This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: 14 There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it. 15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man. 16 Then I said: “ Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
Solomon teaches me a great thing here but it does not eliminate my difficulty in dealing with this major problem and that is my friends’, people who are ‘ungrateful’. Solomon use a story here to point out this rotten attitude of people. A poor but wise man delivered a city under siege by some clever plan. He wasn’t rewarded nor even recognized for his ability after the danger was over.
To provide a nice gift for families at my church, I contracted with this popular TV and video performer to come and do a live show at our church. After he came here I had to stop and seriously consider if this guy was even a Christian, especially by the way he acted in our presence. He yelled at everyone who was helping set up. He criticized everything from the food and snacks to the people in attendance. Once the lights came on he was back in character with a big smile and pleasant personal display. He wound up selling around $10,000 of his products along with a hefty contracted honorarium.
Once he found out that we had a somewhat potential influence in hundreds of other churches he tried to solicit my help. I told him that I would never bring him back to our church nor recommend him to any other. His inconsiderate unthankful attitude stunk. He tried to make excuses for his behavior, but I wouldn’t buy it. I told him that it was like him inviting me to his house for dinner. Once there I would proceed to insult his wife, his kids, the meal, his house and every thing nasty that could spill out of my mouth. It was insane that I was an invited guest. I did not have to come to his house at all. So, was the way this man acted toward his brothers and sisters who just tried to help him and others and so likewise do we see this sinful description of a ungrateful person.
17 Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard rather than the shout of a ruler of fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war; But one sinner destroys much good.”
Look at the entertainment section of the news and you will see society’s position in regards to this position. We honor wealth, attractiveness, and success above wisdom. Yet, the proper and smart way is to heed wisdom for that takes what one has and enhances it benefits.
The statement ‘do not judge a book by its cover’ has more meaning to me now. Do not show me all the outside glitter. It is what’s inside that matters.
