Introduction
This is our fourth and final sermon on the book of Ecclesiastes. The book was probably written by King Solomon, who was famous for his wisdom. And the book contains Solomon’s reflections on what life is like in this fallen world under the sun.
So, he’s been studying what life is like. He’s been thinking about it and observing it and pondering it. He’s not relying on what the Scriptures say, but he’s been relying on his own observations. And as he’s observed life in this fallen world under the sun, he’s seen things which are not right and which are puzzling and hard to understand or to accept and which seem meaningless to him.
In the first part of the book, he reported on his search to find meaning and purpose and joy and satisfaction. And he tried searching for it in his work; and he also tried searching for it in pleasure and entertainment. But neither of these things — work or entertainment — brought him the satisfaction and joy he was seeking. They all proved meaningless.
And then in the second part, he made clear that we can’t understand God’s ways. We can’t fathom what God has done. So, there’s a time for everything. And that means good things happen to us and bad things happen to us. But we can’t understand how what happens to us fits in with the whole of our life. Something bad happens to us, or something good happens to us, and we can’t understand the reason for it. We can’t fathom it. And Solomon saw that instead of upholding justice, wicked judges and rulers deny justice to the poor. And God lets it happen. Why? And Solomon observed all kinds of oppression; and he saw that labour and success is driven by envy and not by some noble purpose; and companionship and friendships do not last; and the hard working labourer gets nothing for his labour, while the fat cats gets richer and richer. And God lets it happen. Why? What is going on in this fallen world under the sun? Who can understand what God is doing and why he lets these things happen. Who can fathom what God has done?
And in this third part of the book, which we studied last week, he made the point that, while it’s better to be wise and righteous than foolish and wicked, where does wisdom and righteousness get us in this fallen world under the sun? What advantage do wisdom and righteousness really bring us when we have to endure so many grievous or sickening tragedies in this fallen world under the sun? And do you remember some of the grievous or sickening tragedies he observed? There’s the man who has everything his heart desires, apart from the ability to enjoy it. What good is it if you have everything, but you’re not able to enjoy it, like one of those celebrities we read about who is rich and famous, but their life is a mess? And then Solomon saw a righteous man perishing in his righteousness and a wicked man living long in his wickedness. Why does that happen? You’d think God would let the righteous man, or the person who does what is right, live a long and prosperous life; and that God would bring to an end the life of the the wicked man who does evil. But that’s not what happens. And then, near the end of last week’s passage, Solomon wrote that righteous men get what the wicked deserve, while wicked men get what the righteous deserve. Why does that happen? We want the righteous to be rewarded and the wicked to be punished. But often the reverse takes place. Why does God let this kind of thing happen? Why do these grievous tragedies, these sickening things, happen? Why does God let us suffer these things and why does he let us suffer in other ways throughout our life in this world?
And so, Solomon has been observing life in this fallen world under the sun and he’s seen all these things which puzzle him and which make him conclude that everything is meaningless. It doesn’t make sense.
Of course, this is not the way it was in the beginning. In the beginning, when God made the heavens and the earth, everything was very good. It was all very good, because God made it that way. But then Adam disobeyed the Lord’s command regarding the Tree of Knowledge. And because of Adam’s sin in the beginning, sin came into the world. And since sin causes misery, then life in this world is now difficult and frustrating and full of troubles and sorrow. And it ends in death, when we return to the dust from which we came. And so, whereas once everything was very good, now everything is meaningless. It’s puzzling. It doesn’t make sense. And it doesn’t make sense, because we’re now living in a fallen world which is under God’s curse because of Adam’s sin in the beginning.
And yet, Solomon ends every part of his book by looking above this fallen world under the sun to the one who is above the sun. He looks to our Creator. At the end of the first part, he saw that contentment and joy are a gift from God which he gives to those who please him. And so, with God’s help, we’re able to find contentment and joy in this fallen world under the sun. At the end of the second part, he saw that God is able to give us gladness of heart. And when he gives us gladness of heart, then we’ll not spend much time reflecting on the days of our life or brooding over the things that happen to us which are puzzling and painful. We’ll not brood over our life, because God occupies us with gladness of heart And at the end of the third part, he concluded that there’s nothing better for us than to eat and drink, or to find contentment, and to be glad. If we have those things, which are a gift from God, then joy will accompany us in all we do.
Today we come to the fourth and final part of the book which runs from verse 16 of chapter 8 to verse 14 of chapter 12 where Solomon continues to point out things which are not right and which seem meaningless or pointless.
8:16+17
We begin with the last two verses of chapter 8, where Solomon says that no one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all our efforts to search it out, we cannot discover its meaning. It’s beyond us. And what he means, of course, is that we can’t understand what God has done. We can’t understand his works or his ways. We can’t make sense of his government of the world.
And look at the final sentence of verse 18: ‘Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.’ So, if someone comes along and claims that he’s worked it out, and that he understand God’s ways, that he has made sense of it all, then remember what Solomon has said: no-one can comprehend it. This man who claims to understand it is mistaken. God’s ways and God’s thoughts are above our ways and our thoughts. We cannot grasp what he has done or why.
9:1–10:20
Solomon then goes on to say in verse 1 of chapter 9 that he reflected on this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in the hands of God. And, of course, this is true of everyone. Our times are in God’s hands; and we ourselves are in God’s hands. He’s the one who controls and directs all things according to his most holy and perfect will.
However, Solomon goes on to say that no man knows whether love or hate awaits him. And he means: no one knows whether God will shows us love or hate. Will he send good things or bad things into our life? Think of Joseph in the Old Testament, who was a good and godly man. And yet, his brothers sold him into slavery and Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him and he ended up in prison. And this was part of God’s plan for him.
So, what is going to happen to us in the world? We just don’t know. We cannot tell. Here’s a righteous and wise person. But something terrible happens to him. Here’s a wicked and foolish person. But he prospers and does well. What is God doing?
And look now at verse 2: all — the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who don’t — all of them share a common destiny. And the common destiny which we all share is death and the grave. We all die. And so, this is an evil under the sun. That is to say, this is another of those tragedies which is hard to understand or to accept. It’s hard to accept that we all die, no matter what kind of life we have lived. Moreover, he says in verse 4, since this is the case, the hearts of everyone are full of evil and madness. Since good people die just like evil people, since being good doesn’t get us anywhere, then there’s no reason for being good. We may as well do what our evil hearts want us to do.
Verse 4 seems to be a positive statement about life. So, anyone who is among the living has hope. That sounds good, doesn’t it? And even a live dog is better off than a dead lion. And, according to verse 5, the dead know nothing. And so, it’s better to be alive than dead. However, what do the living know? They know that they will soon be dead. And when they are dead, they have no further reward and people will soon not remember them and they will never again take part in anything that happens. So, being alive is better than being dead. But everyone who is alive knows that they will soon be dead.
And since that’s the case, go, eat your food with gladness and drink your wine with a joyful heart. Do those things, because God favours what you do. That is, God is pleased with these things. The image of being clothed in white and anointed your head with oil conveys the idea of taking part in a celebration. So, enjoy your life. And enjoy life with your wife, whom you love.
That all sounds good. But then he goes on to refer to our life as ‘this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun — all your meaningless days.’ He says this is your lot in life. So, your life is meaningless. It doesn’t make sense. It’s full of toilsome labour and it ends in death, no matter what you do. And since that’s the case, then you may as well do what you can to enjoy it. Make the most of it. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. That’s his advice in verse 10. Do it with all your might, because in the grave, where you’re going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
From Solomon’s perspective, writing as someone who is observing life in this fallen world under the sun, it seems that death brings an end to all activity. So, enjoy what you’re doing now, because you won’t be able to do those things once you’re dead. And what Solomon seems to be saying to us in this part of today’s passage is that, since we’re living in this fallen world under the sun, where we don’t know what will happen to us, and where we do know that one day we’ll be dead, we may as well enjoy what we can while we can.
And then he reports something which he has observed in this fallen world under the sun which doesn’t seem right: ‘The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong.’ In other words, life doesn’t turn out as you’d expect. In an ideal world, you’d expect the swift person, the fast runner, to win the race. But for some reason, he doesn’t. You’d expect the stronger army to win the battle, but something happens and the weaker army wins. You’d expect the wise person to have what they need for life, and the brilliant, smart people to be wealthy and the learned, well-educated person to be rewarded. But often, the wise person is poor and the fool is rich. The brilliant smart people, with degrees and PHDs, struggle to make a living, while someone who knows nothing makes a fortune on TikTok. The learned, well-educated person is despised for being a know-it-all, and the people praise an idiot. Life doesn’t turn out the way we would expect, because time and chance — or perhaps it should be ‘a time of misfortune’ — happens to the swift and strong and to the wise and brilliant and learned. Something happens that ruins their lives.
And no one knows when his hour will come. That is, no one knows when bad things will happen to them. A fish doesn’t know when it will be caught in the net. A bird doesn’t know when it will be snared in a trap. And we don’t know when evil times will fall on us. One day everthing is fine; the next, there’s disaster. There’s that phone call from the police about an accident involving someone we love. There’s that meeting with the doctor, who reveals the result of a test and it’s not good. Something happens at work and everything changes. Something unexpected happens and changes everything.
Solomon then tells us a little story in verses 13 and 14 as an example of the kind of puzzling thing that can happen in this fallen world under the sun. There was once a small city with only a few people in it. A powerful king came against it and laid siege to it. The city was about to fall, but a poor, wise man who lived in the city was able to save it. He saved the city from the powerful king by his wisdom. In an ideal world, the poor wise man would be honoured by the inhabitants of the city. They would reward him for his good advice so that he would no longer be poor. But we don’t live in an ideal world. We live in this fallen world under the sun. And so, instead of honouring the poor, wise man who had saved them, the inhabitants forgot all about him.
It’s not right. This should not happen. After all, as Solomon says in verse 17, the quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a rulers of fools. We should listen to the wise, because wisdom is better than weapons of war. That’s what we should do. And that’s what would happen if we lived in an ideal world. But in this fallen world under the sun, the wise are often despised and forgotten. And according to the last line of verse 18, one sinner destroys much good. One person can undo all the good that a wise person might do. Think of the recent debates about assisted dying and how a few celebrities and a few politicians can say things to persuade the government to introduce a law that will have terrifying ramifications on so many people in years to come.
A few small, dead flies can ruin a whole bottle of perfume. In a similar way, just a little folly can ruin wisdom and honour. A little foolishness can wreck everything. The wise want to go one way, but the foolish want to go in the opposite direction. In an ideal world, we’d all follow the way of the wise. But in this fallen world under the sun, the fool is able to influence other people so that they follow him along his foolish path.
In an ideal world, no one will listen to the fool. But we don’t live in an ideal world. We live in this fallen world under the sun. And in this fallen world, people listen to fools and follow them.
If the king turns against the wise person, the wise person should not leave his or her post. Ideally, the wise person must remain calm. And yet, in this fallen world, the wise give up their post and fools take over.
Here’s another evil or tragedy which Solomon has observed: fools are put in high positions, whereas the rich — who are presumably competent — occupy low positions. In an ideal world, the country would be governed by the best, most competent and wise people. But oftentimes, that’s not the way it is. Slaves — or people who ought to be slaves — are riding on horseback. They’re in charge. Whereas princes — or people who should be princes — go about on foot like slaves. The best people are despised and ignored.
And here’s another thing that is not right and makes no sense: people who are going about their daily lives run into danger. So, a hunter digs a pit to capture his prey. But he falls into the pit. The builder who breaks down a wall in the course of his work is bitten by a snake. The person who works in a quarry has an accident and is injured. The person who is cutting wood is hit on the head by a stray piece of timber. In an ideal world, these kinds of accidents would not happen. But we don’t live in an ideal world.
A wise workman will sharpen his axe, but often we rely on brute strength. Someone may know how to charm a snake, but for whatever reason he doesn’t bother. And so, he’s bitten. A fool is consumed, or destroyed, by the words that come from his own lips. His work wearies him, because instead of working wisely, he works foolishly. For instance, he doesn’t sharpen his axe, but he relies on brute force instead. And the thing is that all of us are foolish at times and we therefore bring trouble on ourselves.
In an ideal world, our king or those who govern us would be people of noble birth. Instead of living indulgent lives, instead of partying all the time, they would be self-controlled and disciplined. They would eat and drink to make themselves strong and they’re not given to debauchery. That’s what would happen in an ideal world, but we don’t live in that world.
In an ideal world, no one is lazy. And so, when our house needs work done to it, we’d do it straightaway. But since we don’t live in an ideal world, then often we let the rafters sag and the roof leak.
In an ideal world, we’d be able to eat and drink and enjoy laughter and be merry. And we’d have the money to afford it. But in this fallen world under the sun, many people don’t have the money they need for even basic things.
In an ideal world, what we say would be kept confidential. But we live in a fallen world where people break confidences and get us into trouble. ‘A little birdie told me’, is an expression which means someone told me a secret. And in this fallen world people pass on secrets to one another all the time.
And so, the whole of chapters 9 and 10 are about the ways things should be in an ideal world, and the ways things are in this fallen world under the sun. Why is the world they way it is? Why does God allow things to be this way? Why do these evils or tragedies take place? It doesn’t make any sense. But this is the world we live in.
11:1–12:8
Solomon begins chapter 11 by telling us to cast our bread upon the waters, because, after many days, you will find it again. The commentators discuss what this means, because it’s not clear, but perhaps the best explanation is that he’s encouraging us to prepare for the future. So, be generous with what you have now, because you’ll see the benefit later. Give portions to seven or eight people, because surely one of them will come to your aid when disaster strikes?
But notice what he says in the second line of verse 2: ‘for you do not know….’ You do not know what disaster may come on the land. We don’t know what a day may bring. And I think that helps us to understand the next verses. So, we try to predict some things. We try to work out what will happen in the future. Someone studies the clouds to see whether they’re full or not and whether it will rain or not. Someone studies the wind to try to figure out which way it’s blowing. And so, if I cut a tree down, will it fall to the north or south? This way or that way? And is now the best time to plant seed, because which way is the wind blowing and will it blow my seed away? And perhaps I shouldn’t reap my crops now, because it looks like it might rain.
So, we try to predict the future. But whoever watches the wind will not plant and whoever watches the clouds will not reap. We can spend a lot of time trying to predict what will happen. But then we experience ‘paralysis by analysis’: we’re afraid to act because we’re not sure what’s the best option. We don’t know the path of the wind. We don’t know how a baby is formed in a mother’s womb (or they didn’t know in Bible times). And we can’t understand the work of God and what he’s doing in this fallen world under the sun.
Someone wonders should I go out in the morning or is the evening the best time? And Solomon says do both, because you don’t know whether one will work or whether the other will work. We don’t know, because the outcome is in the hand of the Lord and we don’t know what he is doing in the world. He may bless our efforts or frustrate them. We don’t know.
Light is sweet, Solomon says in verse 7. And it pleases the eye to see the light of the sun. In other words, life is good. An in an ideal world, life would always be good. But we don’t live in an ideal world. And so, days of darkness are coming. There will be days of misery and sadness and sorrow. In this fallen world under the sun, there are times when life is good. But there are also evil days, days which grievous tragedies occur, when God sends trouble into our lives. We don’t know when those days will be, but they are coming. And so, while we can, enjoy life, says Solomon.
And be happy when you’re young. That is, be happy when you’re in the prime of your life. Let your heart give you joy in those days and follow the ways of your heart. Some of the commentators wonder whether Solomon is advocating hedonism or a life of pleasure-seeking. But I think the reminder in verse 9 of God’s judgment to come rules out hedonism. He knows that God will bring temporal judgments on us when we sin against the Lord without confessing it or turning from it. And so, he’s not teaching us to sin, but to find joy in what is good. And he says we should banish anxiety from our heart and cast off the troubles of our body, for youth and vigour are meaningless. I think the Hebrew word translated ‘meaningless’ here should be translated ‘brief’. The Hebrew words means ‘mist’ or ‘vapour’ and mists and vapours, like youth and vigour, are temporary.
And when we’re young, we should remember our Creator. That is, you should acknowledge God when you’re in the prime of your life and before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will find no pleasure in them. So, acknowledge God in the prime of your life, before it’s too late. And although the details of the following verses are difficult to interpret, it’s clear that he’s referring to death, when the sun has gone down on someone’s life and everything has become dark and gloomy. People in a house are mourning and normal activities, like grinding flour, cease. Someone has died and has gone to their eternal home and the ones who are left are mourning.
So, remember your Creator in your youth or in the prime of life. Acknowledge him. Worship him, before the silver cord of life is severed, before the golden bowl is broken, before the pitcher is shattered and the wheel is broken. Remember God while you can and before death comes and the dust returns to the ground and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Remember him. Acknowledge him. Do it now and not later, because death is fast approaching.
12:9–14
And so, we come to verses 9 to 14 of chapter 12 which is the epilogue to the book. I said in my first sermon on Ecclesiastes that some commentators believe the epilogue was written by someone other than Solomon. However, I’m happy to take it that Solomon wrote all of the book including the epilogue. And that means he’s describing himself. He’s the Teacher or Preacher who was wise and who imparted knowledge to people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. He searched to find the right words and what he wrote was upright and true.
And he says that the words of the wise are like goads and nails. A goad is a stick with nails sticking out of it, which a farmer would use to encourage his cattle to move. And the words of a wise man are like goads, because they move us in the right direction. And Solomon, our Teacher and Shepherd, points out the right direction for us in verses 13 and 14, which form the conclusion to the whole book: fear God and keep his commandments. In other words, worship God and walk in his ways. This is the whole of man. That’s our duty. That’s our purpose. That’s what we’re to do.
Conclusion
We don’t live in an ideal world. We live instead in a fallen world under the sun, where lots of things happen which puzzle us and which seem pointless to us. So, people work hard but they don’t get any sense of purpose or meaning from it. Other people turn to pleasure and entertainment and they too are left unfulfilled. That’s the lesson of the first part of the book. Things happen in our life which we can’t make sense of. And people work hard, but they get little for their efforts, while fat cats get richer. That’s the lesson of the second part. Someone has everything, except the ability to enjoy it. And a righteous person gets what the wicked deserve, while the wicked get what the righteous deserve. That’s the lesson of the third part. And life doesn’t turn out the way we’d expect so that the person who deserves to do well doesn’t, and the person who deserved to do badly becomes rich. And people don’t do what they know they should do. And we don’t know what tomorrow will bring or what the future holds, because no one is able to comprehend what God is doing. No one can fathom what he has done. It’s beyond us, because his ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not ours. That’s the lesson of the fourth part.
But we should remember that contentment and joy are a gift from God. And when God gives us gladness of heart, we’ll not brood over our life. And in this fallen world under the sun, there’s nothing better for us than to find contentment and to be glad. If we have those things, which are a gift from God, then joy will accompany us in all we do. And while we go on living in this fallen world under the sun, we should worship God and walk in his ways. Instead of worrying why this happened or why that happened, instead of trying to figure out what God is doing and instead of trying to predict the future, instead of doing any of those things, worship God and walk in his ways.
And we should worship God and walk in his ways, because the God who made us has also redeemed us by his Son who came into this fallen world as one of us; and who suffered the frustrations of life in this world; and who then gave up his life on the cross to pay for our sins, so that we could have everlasting life in the new and better world to come, where there will be no more sin or misery, no more curse, no more sorrow or sadness or frustration or death. In that new and better world to come, everything will be very good once again. In fact, everything will be perfect and we’ll be happy for ever and we’ll be content for ever and we’ll be fulfilled and satisfied for ever as we gaze on the glory of God in the face of Christ our Saviour. And we’ll worship him and we’ll walk in his ways for ever. In other words, we’ll do what we were made to do and we’ll do it perfectly because we’ve been perfectly restored in Christ our Saviour.
And in the meantime, we should worship God and walk in his ways and trust our Heavenly Father to give us contentment and gladness of heart while we go on living in this fallen and puzzling world.
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