The Divided Kingdom: The Rise of Idolatry
First Kings 12:1 to 16:34 and Second Chronicles 10:1 to 17:1

Solomon’s death left a gigantic hole in Isra’el’s leadership structure. David’s son, the man who gave Isra’el political cohesion, wealth, prestige, and religious unity, was dead. Who could possibly fill his place? The Bible has already introduced what would occur (see the commentary on the Life of David, to see link click Ct – The LORD’s Covenant with David). ADONAI would continue to honor the covenant with David, so Solomon’s son would have a two-tribe kingdom (First Kings 11:32-36). Because of Solomon’s idolatry, however, Jeroboam would rule the other ten tribes (First Kings 11:26-31). God had sent these infallible promises through Ahijah the prophet, so the prophecies must come true. What remains to be seen is how they will come to pass.

Sadly, Solomon’s son Rehoboam’s lack of political skill opened the door for the split (see Dc – A House Divided). Just as sadly, Jeroboam did not appreciate what Ha’Shem had done for him, for he would establish an alternative religion in his new kingdom (see Dd – Golden Calves at Dan and Bethel). Though the LORD sent prophets to warn Jeroboam to change his ways, he refused to do so (First Kings 13:1-10). As a result, YHVH condemned Jeroboam’s actions (see Dg – The Prophecy of Ahijah) and ended his dynasty after a few short generations (First Kings 15:29-30). Jeroboam’s deeds are particularly unacceptable to God because he was told that he came to power because of Solomon’s disobedience (First Kings 11:26-31). Indeed, Jeroboam’s sins are so far-reaching and repulsive that the author uses him as the example of how to define a morally deficient king (First Kings 16:7, 9 and 26).

After Jeroboam passes from the scene, several other rather nondescript kings come to power in Isra’el, and David’s dynasty continues to rule Judah. Judah’s kings, Asa (see Dk – Asa’s Reforms) and Jehoshaphat (see Dm – Jehoshaphat King of Judah), impresses the author in a positive way. None of the northern kings are righteous (see Dn – The Kings of Isra’el), yet one is significant. Omri builds a new capitol, makes an alliance with Tyre, and places his son, Ahab, on the throne (see Ds – Omri King of Isra’el). He thereby provides a stable dynasty for Isra’el. Ahab will become one of the major characters in the rest of First Kings.

Overall, these chapters present a picture of moral decline among God’s people. Certainly the nation’s division spells political decline. More importantly, Jeroboam’s decision to form a new religion tears the people apart from ADONAI, which meant that their political situation would get even worse. Prophets rebuked the kings but were ignored. A confrontation between God’s messengers and the monarchs loomed in the future.³²¹

As the Chronicler entered the Divided Kingdom, he left behind the reigns of his ideal kings. Although the number of kings during this period accomplished some remarkably positive achievements, this material is much more balanced between positive and negative events. Instead of providing the post-exilic community with extended models of faithful living, the kings of the Divided Kingdom offered contrasting scenarios of obedience and disobedience which led to divine blessing and judgment.

In addition, at this point it is important to point out that the greatest difference between Kings and Chronicles in this section is that Chronicles omits all the materials dealing exclusively with northern Isra’el. Events in the North appear only as they touched on the life of Judah. As a result, this material nearly exclusively focuses on conditions within Judah during the Divided Kingdom. This orientation reflected the Chronicler’s keen interest in Jerusalem and Judah as the center of the post-exilic restoration. From his point of view, his readers needed to concentrate their attention on events in the South so that they could learn how to further the restoration of the Kingdom in their day.³²²

The Conclusion of the Matter
Ecclesiastes 12: 9-14

The conclusion of the matter DIG: How is the Teacher described? Who is the Shepherd in 12:11? Who is speaking in 12:9-14? How does the speaker summarize his interpretation of the book in 12:13-14? How does that compare to the rest of the book living under the sun?

REFLECT: In retrospect, how do you respond to the reflections in this book? How do you feel about Solomon? Which scriptures had the most impact on your thinking? How do you think the Teacher would want you to apply his teachings to your life? How would God?

Here is the conclusion of the matter, now that you have heard everything:
fear God, and keep his mitzvot; this is what being human is all about.

Modern Gentile scholars are divided on the authenticity of this section as an original part of the book. Some consider it an editorial addition by a scribe who sought to defend the worth of the Teacher’s writing at the time when the question was the subject of debate. On the other side the famous German Lutheran theologian Franz Delitzsch (1813-1890) has written, “The spirit and tone of the book and epilogue are one. The epilogue only seals the distinction between the pessimism of the book and the modern pessimism which is without God and without a future.” He is supported by S. R. Driver, the Hebrew scholar from England (1846-1914), who asserts, “There does not appear to be any sufficient reason for doubting that 12:9-12 is written by the author of the book . . . and the author himself may have appended the two closing verses with the same purpose in view as the supposed editor.

Authority of the book (12:9-10): Solomon first referred to his personal qualifications as a wisdom Teacher – one of the three kinds of leaders (prophets, priests, and teachers) through whom ADONAI revealed His will to Isra’el (see the commentary on Jeremiah, to see link click Cw – At the Potter’s House). Solomon said he was . . . wise and imparted knowledge to the people. He took thoughtful care in producing his book; he said he pondered (carefully weighed in his mind) and searched out and set in order (carefully arranged) many proverbs, searching to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.

Wisdom with a point (12:11-12): Solomon related this book to the purpose and goal of other wisdom books. The sayings of the wise are as sharp as goads, and those given by leaders of assemblies are like firmly planted nails. Like ox goads and firmly planted nails, Solomon’s teaching, like the words of the sages, provides a guide and stimulus to godly living (see Acts 26:14 for an illustration of goads) and a secure basis for living (see Jeremiah 10:4 for an illustration of nails). Moreover, like some other words of the wise, these words have divine authority; in this case, they are given by a single Shepherd. This refers to ADONAI and His care and concern (Genesis 49:24; Psalm 80:1; and in Psalm 95:6-7 the concepts of Shepherd and Creator are combined as they are in Ecclesiastes 12:1 and 11). Because of the unique value and authority of the words of the wise – of which this book is an example – Solomon warned his son (Proverbs 1:8, 10 and 15, 2:1, 3:1, 11 and 21, 4:10 and 20, 5:1 and 20, 6:1, 3, and 20, 7:1, 19:27, 23:15 and 19, 23:26, 24:13 and 21, 27:11) and all his readers not to seek answers beyond those God had given through the wise. If they would keep looking for life’s answers in many other books – there’s no end to it; they would wear themselves out.

King Solomon’s final advice (12:13-14): The book ends, here is the conclusion of the matter, now that you have heard everything: fear God, and keep his mitzvot. These words were not added by someone other than Solomon, as some have claimed, but are the culmination of many other implicit references in Ecclesiastes to fear God and serve Him (2:24-26, 7:15-18, 11:9-10, 12:1). Here, Solomon said such reverence and service are everyone’s duty, this is what being human is all about (12:13).

The fact that revering ADONAI is every person’s responsibility is underlined by the truth that God will bring to judgment (3:17 and 11:9) everything we do (every human act), including every secret, whether good or bad (Matthew 10:26). Everyone is responsible for everything we do, whether obvious or concealed. Though this is often taken as referring to a future judgment after death, a comparison of Psalm 90:7-8 and a proper understanding of Ecclesiastes 2:24-26, 7:15-18 and 11:9-10 will show that this is doubtful.

Though a future judgment after death is indeed a solution to the mystery Solomon had observed in the unequal distribution of justice in human history (7:15 and 8:14), no evidence suggests that the Teacher believed in such a judgment. Life after death was as mysterious to him (11:8) as the unequal distribution of justice. His emphasis was on this life under the sun, and its opportunities for service (9:10 and 12:17) and enjoyment (2:24-26, 3:12 and 22, 5:18-20, 8:15, 9:7-9 and 11:7-10). He thought life after death offered no such opportunities. Therefore, he didn’t comment on any differences after death between the righteous of the TaNaKh and the wicked, the wise and the foolish, man or beast.

Many other Scriptural passages, of course, do not point out the eternal blessings of the righteous and the eternal punishment of the wicked. But Solomon lived on the other side of the cross and in comparative darkness of the progressive revelation; nevertheless, he affirmed belief in God and in His justice (3:17 and 8:12b-13). He was content to leave judgment, along with everything else, to God’s timing for He has made everything appropriate in its time (3:11). So Solomon counseled his readers to enjoy life in the fear of God as He enables. O, would the people who live on this side of the cross be as content as the Teacher was to leave the mysteries of life in God’s hands, to serve Him appropriately, and to enjoy life as He enables!³²⁰

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that knowing and loving you brings peace and joy into life. Even when things do not go as we planned, we can rest in your love and your wisdom to guide the paths of Your children. We surrender our lives to You. What a joy it is to trust You and to live our lives focused on pleasing You. Only one life will soon be past. Only what’s done for Messiah will last! In the holy and loving name of Yeshua and by the power of His resurrection. Amen

Work Diligently, Live Joyously and Responsibly
Ecclesiastes 11:1 to 12:8

Work diligently, live joyously and responsibly DIG: What does “bread” symbolize? What happens when you “cast your bread” in verse 1? What are “the many days of darkness” and why remember them? How are youth and vigor pointless? What does the long sentence from 12:1 to 15:5a describe? In 12:8 the motto is repeated from 1:2. What does this signal?

REFLECT: How well do you manage your time? Money? Emotions? In what areas of life are your “investments” too concentrated? Spread too thin? How much do “eternal concerns” affect your daily decisions? What areas of your life are least influenced by your faith in God? Which are most? How can you remember your Creator in the days of your youth?

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.

Solomon closed his discussion on people’s ignorance of the future (9:1 to 11:6) with some practical advice about their activities in view of such ignorance. To emphasize that mankind is ignorant of the future, he said: You don’t know four times in 11:2 and 5-6. But he counseled that ignorance of the future should not lead to inactivity or despair but to diligent labor.

1. Work diligently: Solomon noted that people are as ignorant of God’s dealings in human affairs as they are of the way of the wind and the formation of a baby in its mother’s womb 11:5). Moreover, people don’t know which of their ventures will succeed (11:6) or what disasters may come on the land (11:2) and wipe out the results of their labor. But in view of the possibility of disaster, a person should make prudent investments in numerous ventures into seven or eight shares, rather than putting all his “eggs in one basket,” as it were. With this strategy, a person can minimize their risk. Therefore, go ahead and cast your bread upon the waters, engage in business, because eventually you will reap a return by following this advice (11:1).

Switching to an example of planting seed and reaping a harvest, Solomon urged his readers not to sit around waiting for the most opportune moment to work, but to be diligent constantly. The future is beyond one’s control as the acts of God in nature. If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth. Whether a tree falls toward the north or the south, the place where the tree falls is where it stays. So waiting for just the right moment to plant (when there is no wind to blow away the seed) or to reap (when there is no rain in the clouds to threaten the ripened harvest) would result in inactivity (11:3-4).

In watching for the wind a farmer has no idea which way it will go. He is as ignorant of that as he is something he cannot see such as a baby’s bones being formed in its mother’s womb. Mankind cannot know the future or the work of God, the Maker of everything. Using another merism – the polar opposites of morning and evening to indicate total days – Solomon urged his readers to work diligently, planting their seed all day long until evening, because they couldn’t know which planting would succeed, this, or that, or if both will do well (11:5-6). Thus, in two examples, one from maritime trade (11:1-2) and one from farming (11:3-4 and 6), Solomon urged people toward constant, diligent effort and prudent diversified investment of their energies and resources, recognizing that all is in the sovereign control of ADONAI.³¹⁷

Solomon has shown that human effort is futile because its results are not permanent and the prospect of enjoying those results are uncertain (1:12-6:9). He has also shown that people cannot know which of their efforts will succeed because they are ignorant of God’s plan and what the future holds (6:10-11:6). Now the Teacher returns to the theme of the enjoyment of life (2:24-26, 3:12 and 22, 5:18-20, 8:15 and 9:7-9), and explicitly relates it to the idea of living responsibly before God. This is similar to what he had done at the first mention of this theme (to see link click Ci – The Life of Faith). The latter theme, that of living responsibility before God, is found at both the beginning (11:9) and the end (12:13-14) of this section.

2. Live joyously: Solomon wrote metaphorically of light and darkness as figures of life (Job 3:20 and 33:30) and death (Ecclesiastes 6:4-5; Job 10:20-22 and 18:18). He characterized the future after death as obscure and mysterious, saying: everything to come is pointless (8:10). Therefore, the Teacher encouraged his readers to enjoy life as long as they live because life, like the sweet light of the sun, should be enjoyed before the coming many days of darkness, or death, their eternal home (12:5) will last forever (11:7-8).

Solomon reiterated his advice to enjoy life, emphasizing that people should do so in their youth. Elsewhere, Solomon had said that living joyously consisted of eating and drinking (2:24, 3:13, 8:15, 9:7), wearing nice clothes and pleasant lotions (9:8), enjoying marital bliss (9:9), and finding satisfaction in one’s work (2:24, 3:22, 5:18). Now he encouraged his readers to do whatever their hearts desired. Young people, if you spend your youth only having fun, if you use your early years just to entertain yourself, if you follow your heart as you live your life, and let your eyes be your guide. However, those desires should be tempered with an awareness that God will judge their sinful actions (11:9).

As previously noted in 2:24-26, 3:17, and 7:15-18, there is no reason to believe from either explicit or implicit arguments in this book that Solomon believed this judgment would take place in the afterlife. Instead, like other wisdom writers of his era, he emphasized temporal judgment within a person’s lifetime. This may even be indicated in 11:10 where the Teacher said a person should remove anger from your heart (psychological); and keep from harming your body (physical); for neither adolescence nor youth has any lasting value.

Solomon underlined the thought of responsible living in one’s youth by vividly depicting in a series of word pictures the increasing gloom and declining power of old age which culminate in death. These word pictures are arranged in three groups, each containing the word before, and modifying the basic duty: Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.³¹⁸

3. Live responsibly: So remember your Creator in the days of your youth. The command to remember your Creator means to revere ADONAI, to keep His mitzvot faithfully, to serve Him responsibly, remembering that because He created people, everyone owes Him their lives. The description for God, your Creator, emphasizes Him as the Author of life, who gives it and takes it away (12:7). Solomon advised responsible living in one’s youth, before the evil days come, that is, the days of old age when you will say, “They no longer give me pleasure” (12:1).

Using various figures to depict the declining joy and waning physical powers of old age, Solomon advised responsible living before old age set in. The miseries of old age and the approach of death are likened to recurring rainstorms. Before the sun and the light grow dim, also the moon and the stars; before the clouds return after the rain. As clouds often block out the sun, the moon, and the stars, so old age is a period of diminishing joy (light) and increasing gloom (dim), heralding the approach of the long night of death under the sun. On the day when the guards of the house are trembling, and men of courage are bent over double; when the women stop grinding grain, because there are so few; when the women at the windows can no longer see out. When the doors to the streets are kept shut; when the noise from the grain-mill fades because of loss of hearing; when a person is startled by the chirp of a bird, yet their singing is hard to hear; When they will be afraid to go up a hill because of lack of stamina, and terrors will stalk the way, even though the almond tree is in bloom as their hair turns white; when the locust can only drag itself along, and the caper berry has no [aphrodisiac] effect – because the person is headed for his eternal home, and the mourners are already gathering in the marketplace (12:2-5).

Solomon urged people to live responsibly before death comes, before the silver cord holding a golden bowl (in which the light burns) is snapped and the bowl is broken. Death is also referred to by water being unavailable: the pitcher, which holds the water, is shattered at the spring, the pulley which it is drawn from, is broken at the cistern (12:6). The final description of death, by which Solomon sought to motivate people to live responsibly was that of a reversal of creation. The dust of the body returns to earth, as it was, and the spirit (Hebrew: ruach, also meaning breath) returns to God, who gave it (12:7)! Obviously, this alludes to part of the Genesis account (see the commentary on Genesis Au – God Formed Man from the Dust of the Ground, and Breathed into His Nostrils the Breath of Life). This makes it clear that Solomon was not referring to the return of individual human spirits to Ha’Shem for judgment. Similar descriptions of the dust of the body returning to the earth are found in Job 34:14-15 and Psalm 104:29-30.

Having demonstrated the limitations of all human efforts (1:12 to 6:9) and of all human wisdom (6:10 to 11:6), Solomon then reiterated the motto with which he opened the book (1:2): Pointless! Pointless! Nothing matters at all (12:8)! As stated before, this applies to all human endeavors under the sun, and cutting God out of the picture. Obviously, however, not included in this assessment is the advice to enjoy life as God enables, a course which the Teacher repeatedly recommended (2:24-26, 3:12 and 22, 5:18-20, 8:15, 9:7-9), and which he had just discussed explicitly above. But apart from enjoying one’s lot in life (see Cr – The Crook in the Lot), life under the sun is indeed pointless.³¹⁹

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your great wisdom! You made the great, powerful and fire-breathing dinosaurs. “Look now at Behemoth, which I made along with you. He eats grass like an ox. Now look at his strength in his loins, and his power in the muscles of his belly. (Job 40:15-16). What wisdom it must have taken to create Leviathan that can breathe out fire! Out of his mouth go flames, sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke pours from his nostrils, as a boiling pot over burning reeds. His breath sets coals ablaze and flames dart from his mouth (Job 41:19-21).

Your wisdom knows and understands the future as if it was the past. You foretold thru Dani’el the future kingdoms of the world and how the last kingdom would be iron mixed with clay, but You most powerful God, will set up Your Kingdom that will never be destroyed. Now in the days of those kings [fourth kingdom-partly strong and partly brittle] (Daniel 2:40 and 42), the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will this kingdom be left to another people. It will crush and bring to an end all of these kingdoms. But it will endure forever. For just as you saw a stone cut out of a mountain, yet not by hands, crush the iron, bronze, clay, silver and gold, the great God has made known to the king what will happen in the future. Now the dream is certain, and its interpretation is trustworthy (Daniel 2:44-45). Though mankind does not know the future – You know the future with complete certainty and as we follow and trust You to lead our lives, we can rest in Your love to guide us in our lives. We love to trust and to follow You. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Interlude: Be Sensible
Ecclesiastes 10: 1-20

Interlude, be sensible DIG: What two things are contrasted in verses 1-3? What is the main point here? What is evil in verses 5-7? Where is it found? In 10:6-11, where do you see poetic justice? Random events? Cause and effect? Dry humor? What makes a good leader? What application is there between secretly talking about the king and today’s society?

REFLECT: How skilled are you in the various areas of life? In which areas do you need to develop greater skills? How can this best be done? How has something foolish you said affected others and yourself? To whom do you need to apologize because of it? What practical steps can you avoid such “foolish” conversation? What is the duty of a leader?

A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart at his left.

This chapter takes a calm look at life, sampling it at random, so as to help us to keep our own standards high, without being too surprised at the oddities of others, or taken off guard in our dealings with the powerful people of this world.

The fool: Just as dead flies make perfumed oil stink, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor (10:1). This verse pictures the principle on which the previous chapter ended; that it takes far less to ruin something than to create it. This, incidentally, is part of the advantage enjoyed by evil, and of its appeal to the vicious side of us. To put it bluntly as the Teacher does, it is easier to make a stink than to create sweetness. But in this verse, it is the sudden lapse or foolish impulse that is the trouble. There are endless examples of prizes forfeited and good beginnings marred in a reckless moment – not only by the irresponsible, such as Esau, but also by the greatly tried, such as Moses and Aaron.³¹¹

A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart at his left (10:2). This verse has a typical proverbial form that looks at the same truth from two different directions. The wise go to the right and the fools go to the left. The right hand is the place of protection (Psalm 16:8, 110:5, 121:5) and honor (Matthew 22:44). After the Great Tribulation the Judge, the judgment and those judged are identified in Matthew 25:31-33. When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne as the Judge in heavenly glory. All the Gentiles still living on the earth will be gathered before Him for judgment, and He will separate the people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats based on their treatment of the Jewish people during the Great Tribulation. He will put the pro-Jewish sheep on His right and the anti-Jewish goats on His left. As far as the anti-Jewish goats, Matthew 25:41-45 states that all who aid the antichrist in the Jewish destruction will be killed and sent to hell. Then He will say to those on His left, “Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. They will lose out on the blessings of the Messianic Kingdom.

And when a fool travels, he has no good sense, thus showing everyone that he is a fool (10:3). Comedy breaks through here, as it has often done in Proverbs of this theme. To the sharp eye of Solomon, the fool has no way of disguising what he is, except perhaps by total silence (Proverbs 17:28). Even then, his general bearing would probably give him away. But, in fact, he is too full of himself to stop from running his mouth to everyone he meets. To judge from Proverbs, his fine phrases will sound odd (Proverbs 17:7). his tactless remarks are hostile (Proverbs 18:6); and when you talk to him, he is not really listening (Proverbs 18:2). If he has a message for you he will get it all wrong, and if he comes out with a sage remark, it will backfire (Proverbs 26:6). Fortunately, you can sense his approach and get away from him as fast as you can (Proverbs 17:12).

The social tightrope: If a ruler gets angry at you, stay at your post, because calmness soothes great offenses. The Teacher, here, advises those who serve the king to counter his anger with gentleness. Solomon offers another example of how foolishness can wreak havoc in society, the placement of fools in positions of authority. This practice has not stopped and we can see evidence of it even today. The Teacher describes it as being evil. Another evil I have seen under the sun, cutting God out of the picture, the kind of mistake rulers make, is that fools are promoted to high positions, while the rich occupy low places. This thought continues as he presents us with a vivid picture of this social tightrope. I have seen servants riding horses, while princes walk on foot like slaves (10:4-7). Usually, the most important and privileged people rode horses (Second Chronicles 25:28; Escher 6:8-9), while slaves or servants walk alongside to tend to their masters’ needs. Here, however, we have the exact opposite, the ruler’s simple mistake results in a totally chaotic society.³¹²

Plain facts of life: He who digs a pit may fall into it; he who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a serpent. He who quarries stones may get hurt by them, he who chops wood puts himself in danger (10:8-9). If the hatchet’s iron blade is blunt, and its user doesn’t sharpen it, he will have to exert more effort (10:10); but the expert has the advantage of his skill. If a snake bites before it is charmed, the snake-charmer has no advantage (10:11). The outlook behind these pointed remarks is not fatalism, as verses 8 and 9 may suggest on their own, but elementary realism. The blinding glimpse of the obvious in verse 10, backed up by the dry humor of the next verse, dispels any doubt. We are asked to use our minds, and to look a little way ahead. For there are risks in any vigorous action and the person we call “accident-prone” usually has himself to blame, rather than his bad-luck. He should have known; he should have taken care. But Solomon drops a hint of a parable by talking of a pit and of a serpent; for the pit that traps its maker was a proverbial picture of poetic justice, and the unnoticed serpent was the very image of lurking retribution. This is how the prophet Amos saw it (Amos 5:18-20 and 9:3); so too did the witness of Paul’s encounter with the viper (Acts 28:4).³¹³

Sense and nonsense: Solomon has stated elsewhere his belief in the relative superiority of wisdom over folly, though such sentiments are usually accompanied by an indication that wisdom itself is not ultimately to be prized. Such qualifications are not found here; these proverbs are remarkably similar to those found in Proverbs 10:8 and 21, 15:2 and 18:7. While the words of the wise result in positive effects, the fool’s speech ends in disaster. The words spoken by the wise bring them favor, but the lips of a fool swallow him up (10:12). Using a merism, a figure of speech in which polar opposites are chosen to indicate totality, Solomon characterized a fool’s speech as starting with foolishness and ending with wicked madness (10:13). While the fool’s speech might seem insane or silly to start with, the end result is insanity. A fool keeps talking and talking, yet no one knows what the future will bring – can anyone tell a person what will happen after he’s gone (10:14)? In other words, the fool is going on and on about something for which he has no information and about which he can gain no knowledge – the future, a subject about which the Teacher has already told us that is no knowledge (6:12, 7:14, 8:7). The efforts of a fool wear him out; he doesn’t even know the way to town (10:15)!³¹⁴ This is a proverbial expression for extreme ignorance, like the modern proverb, “He doesn’t know enough to come in out of the rain.” This is why the fool finds his work such a chore.

The immature ruler: Woe to you, land, when your king is immature, and your leaders start their parties in the morning! Such a land is in trouble. It is not only the king who lets the nation down, however, it is also the leaders. In contrast to the gluttonous leaders, happy are you, land, when your king is well-born, and your princes eat at the proper time, in order to stay strong, not to get drunk! In good, practical wisdom, Solomon warns against laziness by pointing out the consequences. When the owner is lazy, the roof sags; when hands are idle, the house leaks (10:16-18). People who sit around and do nothing will end up with disaster on their hands. The book of Proverbs considers such sluggards, at least implicitly, to be fools (Proverbs 6:6, 26:16).³¹⁵

In the proverb of verse 19, the first two lines may tie in with the feasting scenes, good and bad, he opened the paragraph in verse 16. Parties are made for having a good time, wine adds cheer to life, and silver has an answer for everything (10:19). The point is not that every man has his price but that every gift has its use – and silver, in the form of money, was the most versatile of all. Feasting for happiness is a good thing, but excess is pointless. God’s wholesome gifts are good, and their proper use is delightful. Then, we are back at it again with men of power and intrigue. Don’t insult the king, not even in your thoughts; and don’t insult the wealthy, not even in your bedroom; for a bird in the air might carry the news, a creature with wings might repeat what you said (10:20). They are not comfortable company. To the twentieth-first century reader there is something familiar in their too-sensitive ear for whispers, but they need no electronics for their espionage. They would not have reached their dizzying political heights, and stayed there, without a sixth-sense for dissidents. Practical as ever, Solomon sees this as a fact of life, and ends the chapter with advice on managing to live with it. To survive is the first step, even if it is by no means the last. Now the Teacher can lead us on towards the climax of the book (to see link click Cy – The Conclusion of the Matter).³¹⁶

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that You, Almighty God, are the most powerful Ruler in the universe. You are also totally holy. Seraphim . . . called out to another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, is ADONAI-Tzva’ot! The whole earth is full of His glory (Isaiah 6:2a, 3). The wise person is the one who fears and loves You! The fear of Adonai is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline (Proverbs 1:7). Thank You that in Your love and Your wisdom you choose to adopt as your children (Ephesians 1:4-5) those who fear and love You (John 1:12). We love to worship and follow You, our wonderful and wise Heavenly Father. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

A Third Summary: A Backward Glance Over
Ecclesiastes 7:1 to 9:18

The Teacher’s calling, like Jeremiah’s, could be summed up as to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant (Jeremiah 1:10). By the end of Chapter 9, he has made his case against our self-sufficiency. In the first half of the book, whose progress we briefly recalled in the first (to see link click Cm – The First Summary: A Backward Glance Over Ecclesiastes 1:1 to 4:8) and second summaries (see Cp – A Second Summary: A Backward Glance Over Ecclesiastes 4:9 to 6:12), left us little reason to be complacent, and the past three chapters have been sharpening the issues.

Unlike their predecessors, the Proverbs and reflections in 7:1-22 brought us no rest from our main preoccupation. With few exceptions the sayings were harsh (7:1-4); even, at one point, cynically asking, “Who can be compared with a wise person (8:1); pushing the worldly up against the harsh implications of death (see Cu – Love or Hate?). Chapter 2 had already made the point that the wise man is as mortal as the fool (see Cd – The Search for Satisfaction). But now comes the pressing question, whether wisdom, in any serious sense, is attainable at all. Wise as a man might be in the many details of life (8:1-6 and 9:13-18), it became clear that he would never find his way through to the heart of the matter, never even be sure that the truth, if he ever did discover it, would be worth looking at. Who can discover it? (7:24); Who can tell someone else what is to come? (8:7); No one knows whether love or hate awaits them when they die (9:1).

In other respects as well, the picture has darkened. Now there were glimpses of immorality: of injustice not only widespread, but admired (8:10), and of humanity not merely being weak but fully planning to do evil . . . with foolishness in their hearts (8:11 and 9:3). And along with the ravages of death which had been emphasized throughout the book there emerged the hazards of time and chance (9:11-12), to make further havoc of man’s calculations.

Despite all of this, there were a few flashes of better things, keeping some hope alive in us, to be fostered and justified in the remaining chapters. For at last, Solomon has finished his work of demolition. The site has been cleared: now he can turn to building and planting. Whether we regard the next chapter as the modest beginning in that process, or as an interlude to relieve the tension, comparable with 4:9 to 5:12 and 7:1-22, it will allow us to catch our breath before returning to the burning question of the book:

Does life have any point to it, and if so, what is it?

For starters, then, there are matters of common sense for us to take notice of, which are as much a part of wisdom and sound living as are the questions we must face to stretch our understanding of God. We steady ourselves with reminders to be sensible (10:1-20), so that we may step out more surely upon the call to be bold (11:1-6), joyful (11:7-10) and godly (12:1-14).³¹⁰

Love or Hate?
Ecclesiastes 9: 1-18

Love or hate DIG: What is the crucial question that the Teacher asks here? Why does Solomon say that our world under the sun gives us no clue as to what God thinks of us? What does the statement, “For God has already accepted your deeds” mean? Why are time and chance paired together? What do we learn from the little parable at the end of the chapter?

REFLECT: Do you feel you deserve a reward in this life for your righteousness? Or would some kick-in-the-pants be more appropriate? In what ways do you feel you receive the benefits of faith in this life? Given the unexpected nature of life, how do you prepare yourself for such disruptions? How can you best help others through them?

In a life under the sun, apart from God, no one can tell if He loves, or hates us.

Before the positive emphasis of the final three chapters can emerge, we have to make sure that we shall be building on nothing short of hard reality. In case we should be cherishing some comforting illusions, Chapter 9 confronts us with the little that we know, then with the vast extent of what we cannot handle: in particular, with death, the ups and downs of fortune, and the erratic kindnesses of those around us. But first it asks the crucial question, whether we are in the hands of Friend or Foe.

Love or hate? So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them (9:1). When we read the words of David in Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God, the dome of the sky speaks of the works of His hand,” it is obvious that we have a powerful and glorious Creator. But it takes more than that to know what He thinks about us? Whether we take the words love or hate here to be a biblical way of saying “acceptance” or “rejection,” or to have their simple, primary sense, we shall have, either way, only an uncertain answer about the Creator’s character from the world we live, with its mixture of delight and terror, beauty and ugliness. But then Solomon makes matters more difficult for us, supposing that we are reasoning only by what we see under the sun, cutting God out of the picture. Then, for good measure, he presents us with three uncomfortable facts before he ends the chapter.

Death: Anything can happen to anyone; the same thing can happen to the righteous as to the wicked, to the good and clean and to the unclean, to someone who offers a sacrifice and to someone who doesn’t offer a sacrifice; it is the same for a good person as for a sinner, for someone who takes an oath rashly as for someone who fears to take an oath (9:2).  Our world under the sun gives us no clue as to what God thinks of us. Things that are supposed to matter most to Him turn out to make no difference – or none that anyone can see – to the way we are disposed of in the end. Moral or immoral, religious or profane, we are all mowed down like grass. In a thousand years, as we say, it will all be the same thing.

Yet, while death seems to say this – and it has a way of getting the last word – we find ourselves protesting immediately. The Teacher speaks for all of us when he cries out: This is another evil among all those done under the sun, that the same events can occur to anyone. Truly, the human mind is full of evil; and as long as people live, folly is in their hearts; after which they go to be with the dead (9:3). When we look at the world as it reveals itself to us, with death being the universal obliterator, and with evil running riot, those two things are not unrelated. To live in an apparently pointless world is deeply disillusioning, and disillusion breeds destructiveness or despair – the madness of the violent or the hopelessly withdrawn.

As a result, is despair all that’s left? Apparently not, for the human race would have perished long ago. And Solomon agrees. Life is decidedly worth living. After all, even at its worst, life is better than nothing, which is what death appears to be. For as long as a person is linked with the living, there is hope – better to be a living dog than a dead lion (9:4)! The robust good sense of this popular proverb paves the way for a spirited refusal in the next two verses to let death browbeat the living before their time. The sarcasm seems obvious to most. For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; there is no longer any reward for them, because all memory of them is lost. What they loved, what they hated and what they envied all disappeared long ago, and they no longer have a share in anything done under the sun (9:5-6).³⁰⁶ The advantage to the living is simply consciousness; they are aware and the dead are not. Thus, while the living may be better off than the dead, they are nonetheless miserable.

Under the cloud of death, the next three verses brighten up the passage as far as anything under the sun can. So go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God has already accepted your deeds (9:7). At first, this jars the reader. Does this mean that Solomon believes that God gives people unlimited approval of their actions? Heaven forbid! This merely summarizes what he had previously said about the enjoyment of life: (a) wealth and possessions, which stem from one’s labor, ultimately are gifts from God (5:18-19); (b) only ADONAI gives the ability to enjoy the fruits of one’s labor (2:24, 3:13, 5:18); and (c) the ability to enjoy those things depends on whether one pleases YHVH (2:26). So the statement: for God has already accepted your deeds means that possessing God’s gifts and the ability to enjoy them are evidence of God’s prior approval that one can do so. If God had not approved of the gifts, one could not enjoy them.³⁰⁷

The Teacher continues his call to enjoy life. He warns his readers to waste no opportunity or expense to seize whatever good things life has to offer. Let your clothing always be white, and never fail to perfume your head. Enjoy life with the wife you have loved throughout your meaningless life that he has given you under the sun, all the days of your futility; for that is your allotted portion in life and in your labor that you work at under the sun. Whatever task comes your way to do, do it with all your strength; because in sh’ol, where you will go, there is neither working nor planning, neither knowledge nor wisdom (9:7-10). This ends Solomon’s appeal to enjoy life in the present, especially in view of death. He urges his listeners to act now, because death brings everything to an abrupt stop.³⁰⁸ But death is not the only hazard.

Time and chance: Yet another thing I observed under the sun is that races aren’t won by the swift or battles by the strong, and that food doesn’t go to the wise or wealth to the intelligent or favor to the experts; rather, time and chance rule them all. For people don’t know when their time will come any more than fish caught in the fatal net or birds caught in a snare; similarly, people are snared at an unfortunate time, when suddenly it falls on them (9:11-12).

Time and chance are paired, no doubt, because they both have a way of suddenly taking matters out of our hands. This is obvious enough where chance is concerned – for providence operates in secret, and to our human perspective is largely made up of steps into the unknown and events out of the blue, any of which may change our lives forever. With regard to time, it has already been shown (to see link click Cj – All in Good Time) how relentlessly our lives are swung from 0ne extreme to another by the tidal pull of forces we do not control. All this counterbalances the impression we may get from the maxims about hard work, and that we can achieve success. It seemed to Solomon that in this life, we are truly like fish taken in by an evil net, or else unaccountably spared by the masters of our fate and captains of our souls.

Wisdom and folly: The third fact to upset our calculations is presented to us rather sadly in a little parable. Here is something else I have seen as wisdom under the sun, and it seemed important to me: there was a small town with few people in it; and a great king came to attack it; he surrounded it and built massive siege-works against it. Now there was found in it a man who was poor but wise, and by his wisdom he saved the city; yet afterwards, nobody remembered that poor man. So, although I say that wisdom is better than strength, nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised; nobody pays attention to what he says (9:13-16). We can immediately identify with the people in the small town, and feel their relief when the amateur strategist brings off his masterpiece. If we are honest, we may still see ourselves in the last scene, when they totally forget the man who saved them. But the parable is not a moral tale to show what people should do; it is a cautionary tale to show what they are like. If we are to identify with anybody, it is with the poor wise man – not as though we should imagine that we are universal consultants; simply that, sadly enough, we should learn not to count on anything as fleeting as public gratitude.

In the pattern of this chapter this is one more example of what is unpredictable and cruel in life, to sap our confidence in what we can make of it on our own without God in the center of it. A wise man speaking quietly is more worth heeding than the shouts of a ruler commanding fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but a person who makes a mistake can destroy much good (9:17-18). The last two verses give an extra boost to the parable by showing first how valuable and then how vulnerable wisdom is. We are left with more than a suspicion that in human politics, the last word will regularly go to the loud voice of verse 17 or the cold steel of verse 18. Seldom to truth, seldom with any value.³⁰⁹

Frustration
Ecclesiastes 8: 1-17

Frustration DIG: What reasons are given for obedience in verses 2-5? How will the wise person know the right time and judgment? Who seems to be the subject of Solomon’s frustration? What is the problem in verse 11 and who is responsible for it? In verses 12 and 13 what injustice does the Teacher see? In what ways will it go better for the God-fearer?

REFLECT: What sort of injustices (personally, family, occupationally, nationally) are most likely to arouse you to act? Where do you draw the line? How does your search for answers to life’s problem affect your relationship with God? How easy is it for you to trust in Him when the answers are unattainable? What can be done to develop such trust?

Solomon gives us a ray of hope in the midst of our frustration.
Even with limited knowledge, we can see for Whom we have been made.

At every turn in this chapter we will face our inability to master our own affairs. In one instance after another we see our inability to control our life under the sun, cutting God out of the picture.

Beyond our reach (8:1): In the previous teaching (to see link click Cs – The Search Goes On) Solomon informed his readers that wisdom was ultimately beyond their reach, saying: Whatever exists is far off and most profound – who can discover it (7:23-24)? What he did discover was the deep depravity of mankind. In light of the end of Chapter 7, the only possible answer to the rhetorical question at the beginning of Chapter 8: Who can be compared with a wise person? Is no one! Understanding this, the second part of the verse, then, must be sarcastic. Who else knows what a thing means? Wisdom lights up the face and softens a grim appearance (8:1). One can imagine the cheery, happy-faced king, at this point in the book, rejoicing in the carefree expression of others who claimed to be wise.³⁰¹

No choice (8:2-9): Solomon begins this section on the word of the king by warning that his hearers should be careful to obey, because of the oath before God. Don’t be in a hurry to leave his presence and don’t persist in doing what is wrong, for he does whatever he pleases. Then he adds another reason for the reader to obey the king quietly: After all, his word is final; who can challenge him, “Why are you doing that?” Thus, it would be fruitless, even dangerous, to question his actions, and better just to do what he says. Whoever obeys his command will never come to harm, and the wise person will know the right time and judgment. For everything there is a right time and a judgment, but there is no real benefit to anyone since people are greatly troubled by uncertainty over the future. Now we come to the crux of the matter. Solomon stated his belief that there is a right time for everything. But now he admits a paradoxical truth: since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come? No one knows the right time. It’s beyond our ability.

Now the Teacher shows us four other instances where we have no control. Just as no one has the power to keep the wind from blowing, so no one has power over the day of death. If one is drafted to fight a war, one can’t send a substitute; likewise, the wicked won’t escape death by their wickedness. Solomon ends with a summary statement. He asserts that his remarks are based on his observation of life. All this I have seen, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun where people have the power to hurt each other.³⁰²

Frustration (8:10-13): There are few things more obnoxious than the sight of wicked men flourishing and complacent. Yet wickedness respected and given the appearance of holiness is even more sickening. The villains are honored at the very scene of their sinful behavior. The dictator or the corrupt politician may have bent the rules, it will be said; but after all, they got things done, they had flair, they lived in style. This is too much for Solomon. He is stung into one of his rare declarations of his own faith, dropping the veil of secularism which he normally adopts for the sake of the discussion. It has happened before (2:26; 3:17; 5:18-20; 7:14), and in the final chapters it will no longer be the exception, but the rule.³⁰³

Thus, I saw the wicked buried; they had even come from the Holy Place. This verse clearly pinpoints the source of Solomon’s frustration. He sees an unusual connection between the Holy Place and the wicked that contributes to his feeling that the wicked do not get what they deserve. The wicked may in fact die, but even then, they are praised in the city where they did their evil deeds and religious posturing. It is the fact that the wicked continue to receive the praise owed the righteous that frustrates the Teacher. But those who had acted uprightly were forgotten in the city. Thus, it leads him to utter his conclusion that everything to come is pointless (8:10).

Solomon asserts that when there is no apparent punishment for evil, then it will flourish because the punishment decreed for an evil act is not promptly carried out; therefore, people who plan to do evil are strengthened in their intentions. The lack of retribution was at the heart of the Teacher’s frustration. For a sinner can do evil a hundred times and still live a long life; although I know that in the end things will go well with those who fear God, because they fear Him (see Psalm 73). But things will not go well with the wicked; and, like a shadow, he will not prolong his days; because he doesn’t fear God (8:11-13). The image of a shadow is appropriate here because as the day ends, the shadows gradually lengthen. Thus, the lives of the wicked will not grow longer as they approach the end of their days.³⁰⁴

Small expectations (8:14-15): There is something frustrating that occurs on earth, namely, that there are righteous people to whom things happen as if they were doing wicked deeds; and, again, there are wicked people to whom things happen as if they were doing righteous deeds. I say that this too is pointless. No one gets what they deserve! The righteous do not get rewarded, they get punished; the wicked do not get punished, they get rewarded. So I recommend enjoyment – the simple satisfactions are the soundest – a person can do nothing better under the sun than eat, drink and enjoy himself; this is what should accompany him as he does his work for as long as God gives him to live under the sun (8:14-15).

The riddle remains (8:16-17): If we needed reminding that hard work and simple living can only postpone our ultimate questions, never settle them, then this sequel to the bland advice of verse 15 should be enough. The very busyness of life worries us into asking where it is all taking us, and what it means, if, indeed, it does mean anything. When I applied myself to gain wisdom and to observe how people occupy themselves on earth, that people’s eyes don’t see sleep either by day or by night, then, on looking over all of God’s work, I realized that it is impossible to grasp all the activity taking place under the sun; because even if a person works hard at searching it out, he won’t grasp it; and even if a wise person thinks he knows it, he still won’t be able to grasp it (8:16-17). We hardly need the Teacher to point out that this is the very question that defeats us. The world’s long line of philosophies, each one in turn exposing the omissions of the ones before them, makes this all too clear.

But Solomon gives us a ray of hope. He says, “For it is God’s work that puzzles us.’ It is not a fable told to us by some idiot. Yet, what if it is told to an idiot. The chapter seems to end on such a note. It allows our wisest men and women no prospect of success. Nevertheless, we can pick up its meaning much better if we catch Solomon’s illusion that it is impossible to grasp all the activity taking place under the sun, and then compare that to 3:11, “but in speaking in human terms, we can’t fully comprehend, from beginning to end, the things God does.” Even though we have limited knowledge, we can contemplate eternity. Although in time, we can see God’s work in frustrating flashes. However, the very fact that we can think about the big picture of the universe and long to see it, is evidence enough that we are not entirely prisoners of our world. In more promising words, it is evidence of not only how, but for Whom we have been made.³⁰⁵

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that You are both holy and love. You do not let evil go unpunished, but wisely allow evil’s pain and suffering to draw me closer to Yourself during hard times, and cause me to look to You for wisdom and comfort. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). You looked down on Isra’el during the days of the prophet Jeremiah and saw with great sadness that Your people worshiped idols, though the prophets warned them not to. In wisdom, You disciplined them to bring them back to the love and joy that You had for them. Now all discipline seems painful at the moment – not joyful. But later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11). You used Babylon to conquer Isra’el and Your wise discipline worked, for after the 70 years captivity Isra’el never again worshiped idols. Thank You, loving Father, that You are Almighty! Evil will be punished and Your righteousness will triumph! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Search Goes On
Ecclesiastes 7: 23-29

The search goes on DIG: What are Solomon’s goals? What is meant by “the scheme of things?” How are both men and women responsible for “the scheme of things?” What is the result?

REFLECT: Are you ignorant of “the scheme of things” or all too aware? In what positive ways can you increase wisdom in your life? Are you a snare to others, or upright? How so?

Sense futility was not the first word about our world, it doesn’t have to be the last.

The honest admission of failure to find wisdom – of watching it, in fact, recede with every step one takes, discovering that none of our investigations ever gets to the bottom of things – this is, if not the beginning of wisdom, a good path to that beginning. After the ambitious quest of Chapter 2 (to see link click Cd – The Search for Satisfaction), the search has moved to less exotic areas, delving into common experience, pausing at times to see what can be made of life from day-to-day, whatever its ultimate secrets. At this level the findings may have been shrewd enough, even too shrewd. But tested by wisdom, they have not given even a hint of a reply.²⁹⁷

Inaccessible wisdom: All this I tested by wisdom and I said, “I am determined to be wise” – but this was beyond me. Whatever exists is far off and most profound – who can discover it (7:23-24)? Solomon realized that wisdom cannot answer the ultimate questions, especially about death. This confession has a devastating finality. It could be the epitaph of every philosopher, and set on their mantle like an urn full of ashes.

The search goes on: So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly. Solomon, in his search into the nature and reason of things had been miserably duped. I find more bitter than death, the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare. Here the Teacher speaks with godly sorrow. He now discovered, more than ever, the evil of the great sin of which he had been guilty, the loving of many foreign women. “Look,” says the Teacher, “this is what I have discovered: Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things – while I was still searching but not finding – I found one upright man (Hebrew: adam) among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all” (7:25-28).

Like any unanswered question, this riddle about life had been a stimulus at first. The series of verbs, to understand . . . to investigate . . . to search out, conveys the eagerness of the quest. But it is part of man’s condition that though he may try and pursue wisdom in a kind of detached inquiry – trying to get his mind around it while still being aware of evil as folly and madness – he must also turn to human relationships in his search for the world’s meaning, yet see them through the distorted lens of sin.²⁹⁸ Using hyperbole, therefore, Solomon said that such upright men are extremely rare, hence, one in a thousand.

Then the Teacher added that not one such woman may be found. This does not mean that one out of every thousand men are pleasing to God and that no women at all please Him. Such a point hardly fits Solomon’s argument. Instead, in the last line of 7:28, Solomon used (a) a kind of complementary parallelism in which the generic term for man (Hebrew: adam) is explained as also including the feminine gender in the sense of mankind, and (b) a kind of graded numerical sequence in which the second of two terms gives the climax or point, such as in Proverbs 30:15, 18, and 21. In this parallelism and numerical sequence his purpose was to say that upright people – both men and women – are not only scarce, but are nonexistent; there is not one among them all. This is also supported by the fact that the Hebrew word for they is used in 7:29.²⁹⁹

In the last verse of Chapter 7 Solomon gives us a more concrete conclusion on human nature than he could reach solely by his experience. Only this have I found: God created mankind upright, but they (both men and women) have gone in search of many schemes (7:29). He turns to what has been revealed in the Torah, drawing on Genesis Chapters 1-3, although the vocabulary is different. For instance as God completed His acts of creation, including man and woman, He pronounced the results were very good. There were no problems with the work of His hands. This relates to the Teacher’s statement that humanity was created upright, in a moral and not an intellectual sense.

However, while ADONAI created humanity without any moral blemishes, men and women have gone in search of many schemes. When we hear this phrase it reminds us of Genesis 6:5 when ADONAI saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The word for schemes in Ecclesiastes is related to the word thoughts in Genesis, in that both are words formed from the verbal root hsb, meaning to think or to calculate. There is an obvious contrast with the word upright, which determines the morally negative tone of hsb.³⁰⁰ But sense futility was not the first word about our world in Genesis, so it doesn’t have to be the last (see Cy – The Conclusion of the Matter).

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that all wisdom is in Messiah. In Him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden (Colossians 2:3). When we do not know what to do, we can run to Yeshua who has promised to give us wisdom. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all without hesitation and without reproach; and it will be given to him (James 1:5).

Real wisdom is listening to You, God, and walking in a holy fear of You. The fear of ADONAI is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline (Proverbs 1:7). It is wise to honor You as our Lord and to believe in Messiah’s death and resurrection. For if you confess with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart it is believed for righteousness, and with the mouth it is confessed for salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever trusts in Him will not be put to shame” (Romans 10:9-11).

Thank You that in Your omniscience wisdom You knew what a great and costly sacrifice it would be for You to redeem people, but You chose to be the Lamb of God (John 1:29), paying for our punishment (Second Corinthians 5:21). We worship You! Wisdom tells us to trust in You even when this world laughs at us, mocks us, or martyrs those who love You. Loving You is well worth whatever it costs. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). An eternal home in heaven (John 14:3, 6) awaits all who believe in Your Name. Thank You for being so wise and so loving. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Crook in the Lot
Ecclesiastes 7: 13-22

The crook in the lot DIG: What observations inspire the warnings in verses 15-18? What is meant by overly righteous or overly wicked? Would the Teacher say, “Nothing in excess, everything in moderation?” How does such a view square with genuine fear of the LORD? Is verse 20 a confession, an excuse, or an accusation? What light does it shed on verse 19? What is the danger of paying too much attention to gossip? What theme unites 7:19-22?

REFLECT: If God put a crook in your lot, would you try to make it straight? Would you get rid of your disability or disease? Would you change your job or your financial situation? Would you change your appearance, or your abilities, or your situation in life? Or would you trust God for all the crooked things in life and wait for Him to make them straight, even if you had to wait until the resurrection, just like Yeshua did when He died on the cross?

In His sovereignty over our suffering, God is at work to accomplish our spiritual good.
We are, therefore, called to trust Him, even when things seem to be crooked.

Maybe your life is so carefree that you have been untouched by human suffering. Then again, maybe not. Maybe you have had to deal with a lot of brokenness: chronic illness, depression, anxiety, personal betrayal, broken relationships, false allegations, destructive sins, bereavement and sorrow. When things like this happen to us or the ones we love, two things can happen. We can turn away from the Lord in pain and anger, or we can run to the Lord, believing in His sovereignty over our lives, seeking His help and comfort.

The sovereignty of God (7:13-14): Consider the work of God (7:13a). The command here is to consider – to make a careful observation of the way God works. Solomon noticed the world around him. He studied the seasons of life, learned when it was time for this and time for that. He watched the way people worked and played. He saw how they lived and how they died. Here, he invites us to join him by considering the work of ADONAI in the world. Then the Teacher asked a rhetorical question: Who can make straight what He has made crooked (7:13b)? The answer, of course, is no one. Things are the way God wants them to be; we do not have the ability to overrule the Almighty.

When the Teacher is talking about something crooked, he is talking about some trouble we have in life that we wish we could change, but cannot. It happens to all of us. We struggle with physical limitations. We suffer the breakdown of personal or family relationships. We have something that we wish we didn’t have, or don’t have something we wish we did. Sooner or later, there is something in life that we wish to God wasn’t there. According to Solomon, ADONAI has given each of us a different situation in life. This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them – for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth, possessions and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil – this is a gift of God (5:18-19). When some people here Solomon talk along these lines they assume he is a fatalist. Some things in life are straight, other things are crooked. But whether things are crooked or straight, there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. It all comes down to fate, or predestination.

But there is another way to look at these verses. We need to see our situation in terms of the sovereign goodness of God. If there is a crook in our lot, it is the work of God, which it would be futile for us to try and change. One way to see the difference between despairing of our lot and hoping in YHVH is to compare Ecclesiastes 7:13 to what Solomon said back in Ecclesiastes 1:15. The wording in the earlier verse is almost identical: What is crooked can’t be straightened. Notice, however, that the first time the Teacher made this statement he left ADONAI out of the picture, giving us a clear, old picture of man’s life without God. But here in Chapter 7, Solomon brings God back into the picture. He looks at the world according to the LORD, and puts both the straight things and the crooked things under His divine care.

It is still true that there is nothing we can do to straighten out what is crooked. We cannot change what God has done unless, and until, He wants to change it. We do not have the power to edit God’s agenda. But far from driving us to despair, the sovereignty of YHVH gives us hope through all the trials of life. We do suffer the frustration of life in a fallen world. But the Bible promises us that God has a plan to set us free from all this futility, and that as He carries out the plan He is working all things together for our good (Rom 8:20, 28).

Trusting in the sovereign goodness of God helps us know how to respond to both the joys and trials of life. Whether we are having a good day or a bad day, there is always some way for us to glorify God. So the Teacher says: When things are going well, enjoy yourself; but when things are going badly, consider that God made the one alongside the other, so that people would learn nothing of their futures 7:14). This perspective puts today and every day under the sovereignty of God. Some days are full of prosperity. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and ll is right with the world. Every good day, every tasty meal, every financial windfall, every meaningful conversation, every single pleasure, every success in ministry – every blessing of any kind at all is a gift from God’s grace that calls us to joy.

Not all days are like that, of course. Some days are full of adversity rather than prosperity. The sun is not shining, the birds are not singing, and nothing seems right with the world. It looks like our trials will never end, and we wonder if we have even one friend in the world. Yet, this day also comes from the hand of Ha’Shem; it is under His sovereign care. The Teacher does not have the heart to be joyful on such a difficult day, but he does call us to consider the ways of YHVH. When adversity comes, we should recognize that this too is a day that the Lord has made.

We must entrust every day of our lives to the loving care of a sovereign God, then we will be ready for anything and everything that life throws at us. In his comments on this verse, Martin Luther advised, “Enjoy the things that are present in such a way that you do not base your confidence on them, as though they were going to last forever . . . but reserve part of your heart for God, so that with it, we can bear the day of adversity.” Whatever trials we have in this life, it helps to go through them with Yeshua at our side. If we are wise, we will offer whatever joys we experience back to God in thanksgiving. This is all part of what it means to consider the work of God (7:13a). Solomon is telling us to accept what ADONAI has done and surrender to His sovereign will, praising Him for all our prosperity and trusting in Him through every adversity.²⁹³

Two dangers that lead to destruction: If the Teacher’s perspective seems a little simplistic so far, a little too easy, then we can probably relate to what he says next. No sooner has he told us to consider the works of God than he struggles with God’s sovereignty. Remember, Solomon promised that he was totally committed to telling us the truth about life. What he tells us here is that sometimes life can be desperately unfair. In my pointless life, I’ve seen everything – from the righteous person perishing in spite of his uprightness to the wicked one who lives a long life in spite of continual wickedness (7:15). That is exactly the opposite of what most people expect. The righteous people ought to rejoice in their prosperity, while the wicked suffer adversity until they finally admit that God is in control. All too often, what we see instead is what Solomon saw: righteous people dying before their time while their enemies kept on living. Godly pastors are martyred for their faith, while their murderers live to terrorize the congregations of God another day. Innocent victims get cut down in the prime of their life, yet their attackers never get caught. It’s just not fair!

There are some crooked things in life that we wish we could straighten out. But since we can’t, the Teacher gives us some practical advice: So don’t be overly righteous or overly wise; why should you disappoint yourself? But don’t be overly wicked, and don’t be foolish; why should you die before your time (7:16-17)? Solomon is not being cynical here. If that was what he meant, then he would have had to be looking at life under the sun again, leaving God out of the picture, and thinking about good and evil the way that only an unbeliever can. No. When he tells us not to be overly righteous, he meant they should not depend on their own righteousness or wisdom to guarantee God’s blessing because they might be disappointed like ones whom Solomon had seen perishing in spite of their own supposed righteousness (7:15).

To help us avoid thinking of ourselves too highly, the Teacher warns us not to be – so to speak – too righteous. We should never think that we are too good to suffer, or that it would be unfair if someone likes us to have a crook in our lot. Yet, it is often tempting to say, “God, I don’t deserve this. Don’t you know who I am? And it’s only a short step from there to saying, “Who does God think He is anyway?”

That is not to say that we should be unrighteous, of course. Solomon warns against this mistake in verse 17, when he tells us not to be too wicked. His point here is not that it’s okay for us to be a-little-bit wicked, as if there could ever be such a thing. Rather, the Teacher’s point is that there is a danger in giving ourselves over to evil. It is one thing to sin from time to time, as everyone does. Solomon will say in verse 20, “For there isn’t a righteous person on earth who does only good and never sins.” Though he believed that complete righteousness is unattainable, and that some foolishness is unavoidable, he never advocated folly or wickedness. Instead, he advocated living life in light of God’s judgment (11:9 and 12:14). Though he had observed exceptions to the doctrine of retribution (7:15 and 8:10-11), he nevertheless believed that God would judge (3:11 and 17). Therefore, people should avoid foolishness and wickedness as much as possible and live wisely and as righteously as possible.

Thus, there are two dangers for us to avoid: self–righteousness and unrighteousness. Both errors will lead to destruction; they may even lead to an untimely death. But there is a way to avoid both dangers, and this is to live every day in the fear of God. Solomon says: Don’t grasp just one of these rules; take hold of the other as well; for he who is in fear of God will live by both of them (7:18). To fear God is to know that He is God and we are not. It is to hold Him in awe for His majestic beauty. It is to have respect for His mighty and awesome power. This helps us not to pretend to be something that we’re not. It also keeps us from living a wicked life, because when we understand God’s holiness, the last thing we will want to do is fall under Ha’Shem’s righteous judgment.²⁹⁴

Solomon gives wisdom high value. To a wise man wisdom is better protection than ten rulers in a city. Power from within is needed more than advice from without. Also, don’t take every word spoken seriously, such as when you hear your servant speaking badly of you; because often, as you yourself know, you have spoken badly of others (7:19 and 21-22). Our own experience is sufficient proof that vindictiveness arises from human sinfulness and is frequently inaccurate.²⁹⁵

Why God allows suffering: When we really fear Ha’Shem, it will help us to look beyond our present difficulties and see the work of God, accepting all the crooked things in our lives until He chooses to make them straight. But as with many who have suffered greatly, we ask why does God leave some things crooked, even when we pray for Him to make them straight? Let’s look at the four main reasons:

First, the cooked things in life are a test to help us determine whether we really are trusting in Messiah for our salvation. Think of Job, for example, who was afflicted with many painful trials in order to prove the genuineness of his faith. Our own sufferings may have the same purpose by the grace of God, they confirm that we are holding on to Messiah, and that He is still holding on to us (see the commentary on Jude, to see link click Bb – To Him Who is Able to Keep You from Stumbling).

Second, God carefully designs whatever crooks we have in our earthly lot to turn our hearts away from this pointless world and teach us to look for happiness in the world to come. Suffering is part of our preparation for eternity. Consider the Prodigal Son (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Hu – The Parable of the Lost Son and His Jealous Brother), who didn’t return to his father until he had lost everything he had. His sufferings were part of a pilgrimage that led him back home where he belonged. When something in life seems crooked, remember that a day is coming when God will make it straight.

Third, God uses the crooked things in life to convict us of our sins. The reason that anything is crooked at all is because there is sin in the world, including our own sin. The Spirit often takes the crooks in our lot and uses them to touch our conscience, reminding us of some particular sin that we need to confess. It would be a mistake to think, every time we suffer, that this must be because of our sins. But it would also be a mistake to miss the opportunity that every trial brings to repent for any unconfessed sin.

Fourth, God may use the crooked things in life to correct us for our sins. There are times when suffering serves as an instrument of God’s justice. So it was for David, after he had murdered Uriah. Ha’Shem justly decreed that the sword would never depart from his house (see the commentary on the Life of David Dd – Nathan Rebukes David). When we suffer it may be because, as a consequence for our sin, we are under discipline of God (see the commentary on Hebrews Cz – God Disciplines His Children).

These are not the only reasons why ADONAI makes some things crooked. Sometimes God allows us to suffer in order to keep us from committing sin, or else to uncover a sinful attitude of the heart so deep that it could only be revealed by suffering a painful trial. Or maybe – and this is the happiest reason of all – God puts a crook into our lot in order to display His grace through our godliness under trial. We are prone to “fits of spiritual laziness.” But when we have a crook in our lot, it rouses us from our spiritual slumber and produces many acts of faith, hope, love, self-denial, and other graces.

The Shepherd’s crook: The point in listing these possible reasons for our suffering is not to suggest that we can always figure out why ADONAI has put some particular crook in our lot. Rather, the point is that God knows why He has put it there. When something in life seems crooked, we are usually quick to tell YHVH how He should straighten it out. Instead, we should let the Lord straighten us out! In His sovereignty over our suffering, God is at work to accomplish our spiritual good. We are, therefore, called to trust Him, even when things seem to be crooked.

Whenever we have trouble believing that God knows what He is doing, we should consider the work of our Savior. Remember that our Good Shepherd once had a crook in His lot – a crook that came in the shape of a cross. In His prayer at the Garden of Gethsemane, Yeshua asked His Father if there were any way to make the cross straight instead of crooked. But there was no other way. As Yeshua considered the work of ADONAI, He could see that the only way to make atonement for our sin was to die in our place. So, Messiah suffered on the crooked cross that it was His God-given lot to bear. And He trusted His Father through His sufferings, waiting for Him to straighten things out when the time was right by raising Him up from the tomb on the third day.

If God can straighten out something as crooked as the cross, then surely we can trust Him to do something with the crook in our lot. This was the testimony that James Montgomery Boice gave the last time he spoke to his congregation at Philadelphia’s Tenth Presbyterian Church. Dr. Boice had been diagnosed with a fatal and aggressive cancer; by the time he announced his illness, he had only weeks to live. This was the crook in his lot. So, in his farewell address Dr. Boice raised a serious question that was based on the sovereignty of God. “If God does something in your life,” he asked, “would you change it?” To say this in a way Solomon would have said, “If God put a crook in your lot, would you try to make it straight?”

Well, would you? Would you get rid of your disability or disease? Would you change your job or your financial situation? Would you change your appearance, or your abilities, or your situation in life? Or would you trust God for all the crooked things in life and wait for Him to make them straight, even if you had to wait until the resurrection, just like Yeshua did when He died for you on the cross?

Dr. Boise answered his rhetorical question by testifying to the goodness of God’s sovereign will. He said that if we tried to change what God has done, then it would not be as good; we would only make it worse. The Teacher who wrote Ecclesiastes said something similar. Consider the work of God, he said: Don’t try to straighten out what God has made crooked (7:13). Our Savior would say the same thing. “When you consider the work of God,” He would say, “remember most of all, My love for you through the crooked cross, and trust our Father to straighten everything out in His own good time.”²⁹⁶

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that Your love and presence is the most awesome reward that anyone could have. When we need someone to talk to for guidance or just for fellowship, people are often busy or gone, but You are always with those who love You. Yeshua answered and said to him: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him (John 14:23). We can live with the comfort of knowing that You are always available to help us. For God Himself has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you,” so that with confidence we say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear” (Hebrews 13:5c-6). Thank You for being so wonderful. In Your holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Interlude: More Reflections, Maxims and Home Truths
Ecclesiastes 7: 1-12

Interlude: More reflections, maxims and home truths DIG: How does the Teacher go about searching for answers to his question? “What is good?” Is anything absolutely good, or are there some things only relatively better? In each of the couplets in 7:1-4, which is the better thing and why? What is the reason behind the advice given in verses 5-7?

REFLECT: How sincere is your quest for the “good” things God provides in life? How do you recognize them? When are you confused, how do you decide who to listen to? How do you know when to advise? Rebuke? Praise? As compared to dwelling in the past or longing for the future, how much time do you live in the present? Do you enjoy it?

With a sure touch Solomon now brings in a stimulating change of style and approach. Instead of reflecting and arguing, he will bombard us with proverbs, with their strong impact and varied angles of attack. The opening ones are strikingly cheerless; the rest (for the most part) are provocatively cool but clever.

You might as well face the facts (7:1-6): A good name is better than perfumed oil, and the day of death better than the day of birth. Better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for all are destined to be mourned; the living should take this to heart. Grief is better than laughter, for sadness can improve a person. The thoughts of the wise are in the house of mourning, but the thoughts of fools are in the house of pleasure. It is better to hear the rebukes of the wise than to listen to the songs of fools. For the laughter of fools is like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot; this too is pointless.

Nothing in the first half of verse 1 prepares us for the body-blow of the second half. There is something like it in the previous chapter (6:1-6), but that was speaking of special cases. This saying is so sweeping and so contrary to our normal thinking that we must take a leap into the B’rit Chadashah, where Paul proclaims that: Life is Messiah, and death is gain (Philippians 1:21a). But the Solomon of Ecclesiastes has already refused the assumption that there is life after death (3:21). So, we must read on and hope for a clarification in the verses that follow.

And sure enough we find the answer spelled out most clearly at the end of the next verse, especially in the saying: the living should take this to heart. In other words, the day of our death has more to teach us than the day of our birth. Its lessons are more factual and ironically, more vital. On the day of our birth (and to draw on the next couple of verses, on all festive occasions) the general mood is excited and friendly. It is no time for dwelling on life’s shortness or on human limitations: we let our hopes and dreams get in the way. On the day of our death, on the other hand, the mood is thoughtful and the facts are plain. If we shrug them off, it is our fault. We shall have no better opportunity to face them.

The great psalm of human mortality puts it with majestic simplicity: Therefore teach us to count our days, so that we will become wise (Psalm 90:12). Like the psalm, the passage before us has a positive result in view, which is clear from its insistence on the word better, and especially from the last part of Ecclesiastes 7:3 which says: For sadness can improve a person. The thought of sadness not only being replaced with laughter but itself preparing us for the truest form of joy – unlike the hectic, empty cheerfulness of fools – can be most clearly seen in the analogy of childbirth, whose pains prepare the way for a special joy. When a woman is giving birth, she is in pain . . . but when the baby is born, she forgets the suffering out of joy that a child has come into the world (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Kw – Your Sorrow Will Turn to Joy).

You might as well be rational (7:7-12): But oppression can make a wise man stupid; also, a bribe can destroy understanding (7:7). The end of something is better than its beginning, so the patient is better than the proud (7:8). Don’t be quick to get angry, for only fools nurse anger (7:9). Don’t ask why the old days were better than now, because that’s a foolish question (7:10). Wisdom is good, along with possessions, an advantage to all who see the sun (7:11). For wisdom is a shelter, and money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom keeps the one who has it alive (7:12).

There are almost as many moods and positions here as there are sayings, but a certain low-key approach to the subject marks most of them. Meeting the man of the world who lives under the sun, cutting God out of the picture, is not lofty ground. The Teacher points out that there are self-evident advantages in trying to make sense of life, instead of relapsing into cynicism and despair.

In verse 7, we can recognize the essence of a maxim which, in modern times, suggests that all power tends to corrupt. It is interesting that the implied appeal here is for one’s self-respect, for no-one willingly makes a real fool of himself – which is what the cruel or corrupt official is doing by definition, since he acts without reference to the merits of the case. His mind had been tampered with. It is now the tool of greed, not the servant of truth.

Taking verses 8 and 9 together, we are again shown the purely foolish side of attitudes which the believer would condemn on biblical principles, but principles which have little appeal to the worldly man. Whether or not we regard patience as a virtue and being aggressive as a vice, we can at least see the practical good sense of self-control; of following a matter through instead of dropping it at the first affront to our dignity. It is not the only kind of area in which doing the wrong thing can also be described as childish.

Verse 10 is even more crushing. To sigh for “the good old days” is really unrealistic. It is a substitute not only for action but clear thinking. The clear-eyed Solomon is the last person to be impressed by this golden haze of the past. He has already declared that one age is very much like another. What has been is what will be . . . and there is nothing new under the sun (1:9). All this, he now implies, is too obvious to be worth arguing. The Teacher only needs to ask us to talk more sensibly.

What follows in verses 11 and 12 is an unusually mundane estimate of wisdom. It is clear that wisdom is being treated on much the same footing as money, for its utility value, as a comparable or added insurance against the risks of life. If so, it is hardly a flattering comparison for something whose true worth is incalculable: For wisdom is better than pearls; nothing you want can compare with her (Proverbs 8:11). Verse 12 may be claiming that wisdom, unlike money, is life-giving, but it would be in keeping with the modest aims of this passage if it had no more than its practical, protective value in mind. The phrase in 7:11b, an advantage to all who see the sun, may well be a double-edged remark, a reminder that there is a time-limit to the help that even wisdom, at this level of general good sense, can offer. It pays no dividends in the grave.²⁹²

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that You have planned a wonderful future for those who love You. Living with our eyes on the present, even in the best of times, will never satisfy.

As we live praising You for all You have done for us, only then can we be satisfied with life. Satisfaction is an internal feeling of peace and joy. David found great satisfaction in the midst of a terrible time. He was fleeing and was in the wilderness of Judah, yet he made time to look up to You, and see your steadfast love, for which he rejoiced. O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh faints for You, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding Your power and glory. Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You . . . My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips, when I remember You upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for You have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy (Psalm 63:1-3 and 5-7). Thank You that no matter how hard our circumstances, Your love is always steadfast! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

A Second Summary: A backward glance over
Ecclesiastes 4:9 to 6:12

In our first summary (to see link click Cm – The First Summary: A Backward Glance Over Ecclesiastes 1:1 to 4:8), we were reminded how widely the opening chapters had ranged in search of a satisfying end to life. Then, for a while, the quest appeared to have been called off. From 4:9 to about 5:12 we could pause to look around and study the human scene with some detachment. The comments were as intense as ever, but the tone was cool, almost accepting. Yet this was irony, not acceptance. From 5:13 onwards we were no longer spared the concern that the world’s anomalies and tragedies should arouse us. We sampled its searing disappointments; the sudden ruin of a life’s work (5:13-17); the glittering achievements that brought us no happiness (6:1-6). There was a glimpse of better things at the close of Chapter 5, a token that Solomon would lead us to an answer in the end; but the relief was short-lived. Chapter 6, which started by exposing a few empty lives, went on to uncover our human anthill, endlessly and pointlessly busy (6:7-9), and finished by dismissing our fine speeches about progress (6:10-12). For all his talk, man on his own has no ability to change himself; no permanence. He is alone with no purpose under the sun, for cutting God out of the picture.²⁹¹

The Bitterness of Disappointment
Ecclesiastes 5:13 to 6:12

The bitterness of disappointment DIG: What is the grievous evil of 5:13-15? Of 5:16-17? How do “wealth hoarded” and “wealth lost” (5:13-14) fit into this observation? What is the evil in 6:1-2 and 3-6? What belief influences the Teacher’s conclusions in 6:6b?

REFLECT: What priority does the pursuit of wealth and work have in your life? Is this necessary? What are you expecting your life’s work will give you in the end? How much joy do you experience in your toil under the sun? What would help you enjoy work more?

For the past chapter-and-a-half of Ecclesiastes we have been more concerned with living sensibly in the world as we find it – and this included the world of our religious obligations – than with wondering whether we are getting anywhere. The question has been reflected twice in the comment: This too is pointless (4:14 and 5:10); now it is again the center of attention as Solomon names some of the bitter anomalies of life. He will end Chapter 6, and with it the first half of his book, by pressing the question he had earlier seemed to answer: Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?

The crash (5:13-17): I have seen a grievous evil under the sun, cutting God out of the picture: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit. Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind? All their days they eat in darkness,  with great frustration, affliction and anger.

A miniature case-history now brings us face to face with frustration – for Solomon prefers to show us samples from life rather than abstractions. Here, then, is a man who loses all his money in one-fell-swoop, leaving his family destitute. It might have made sense if he had made a bad business deal or gambling. However, in fact he worked very hard for his money, but now, as it turned out, it has ruined his life twice over . . . once for the getting and once for the losing. And if this case is an extreme one, we all will face something like it. For everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. Solomon’s own life was not as dramatic as the man in this example. The Teacher was merely pointing out what happens, not what ought to happen, in a fallen world. A grievous evil is perhaps the nearest expression for it. That is how he introduced the topic in verse 13, and he repeats it in verse 16. This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind?²⁸⁷

A more excellent way (5:18-20): This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them – for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil – this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with joy in his heart.

The next three verses turn away from that which provides no meaning, wealth, to that which at least dulls the pain. These verses express a similar sentiment to what we have already encountered in 2:24-26, 3:12-14 and 3:22, and what we will find in 8:15 and 9:7-10. As there, we do not have a statement of almost boundless optimism, but of resignation to the limited best that life can offer. That is, in the light of the absence of a meaningful life under the sun, Solomon advocates a life pursuing small pleasures afforded by food, drink, and work. But not everyone can enjoy their reward in this life. One can feel his envy as he describes those to whom God has given riches and the ability to enjoy them. They are the ones, unlike himself as the speech continually testifies, who are able to take his advice and enjoy life now.²⁸⁸

The tease (6:1-6): I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind. God gives a man wealth, possessions and honor, so that his heart (literally: soul) lacks nothing at all, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is pointless, a grievous evil. A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man – even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

Once again, Solomon supports his case that there is no ultimate meaning in wealth. He knows this, so in reality, it’s pointless. He has consistently maintained that pleasure is all there is during one’s earthly existence under the sun, so enjoy it now, if you can. So he describes the situation to follow as evil. There are some people who have it all – money, material blessings, and power – who cannot enjoy it. The Teacher blames God for this. After all, most people don’t even have wealth and power, and they live on the fantasy that having it would result in satisfaction. Supposedly a divine tease! Ha’Shem not only prohibits the rich from enjoying their wealth but also adds further insult because strangers enjoy the fruits of their labor instead. Thus, Solomon pronounces this predicament as pointless.

Next, the Teacher leaves the issue of wealth and takes up a similar issue with children and long life. He takes exception to the common biblical teaching that rejoices in large numbers of children (Psalm 127 and Proverbs 3:2). He finds it more than conceivable that a person may be blessed with abundant offspring and a long life but could still be utterly miserable. So unhappy, indeed, that a stillborn baby’s fate is much preferred to the life of one to whom God has given riches, long life and many children, but not the ability to enjoy it all. According to Solomon, both the stillborn’s fate and that of those who are not permitted to enjoy life are horrid. The advantage, however, goes to the stillborn because he lacks consciousness, and as a result, never experiences the hardships and misery of the present life under the sun.²⁸⁹

All this is extremely damaging to any rose picture of the world. Solomon is very far from giving that man rights which God ignores; it is rather that man has needs which God exposes. Some of these, as we have seen, are the kind that the world under the sun cannot begin to meet, since God has given human beings an awareness of eternity (3:11); others, more limited, are of a kind that the world can satisfy for a little while, but none with any certainty or depth. If this is a hardship that weighs heavily on mankind (6:1), it is also a useful thing. The world itself is made to say to us: Get up, go away! For this is not your resting place, because it is defiled, it is ruined, beyond all remedy (Micah 2:10 NIV). But we are, for the moment, not encouraged to glean any wisdom from it, for in itself, the human rat race (to see link click Cl – The Rat Race) makes no sense at all. So the chapter will wind its way down to a depressing and uncertain finish, well suited to the state of man on his own.

Unanswered questions (6:7-12): The purpose of all toil is to fill the mouth, yet the appetite is never satisfied. What advantage do the wise have over fools? What do the poor gain by knowing how to conduct themselves before others? Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is pointless, a chasing after the wind. Whatever he is, he was named long ago, and it is known that he is merely human; moreover, he cannot defeat what is mightier than he [death]. There are many things that only add to futility, so how do humans benefit from them? For who knows what is good for someone during life, during the days of his pointless life spent like a shadow? Who can tell what will happen under the sun after a person is gone (6:7-12)? The thoughts and questions of the chapter’s final paragraph pick up some issues that have met us along the way, to substitute the motto of the book: Pointless, all is pointless!

The first of them, in verse 7, makes the point that is as real to the modern man in the rat race as it is to the primitive peasant scraping a bare living out of the soil: that he works to eat, for the strength to go on working to go on eating. Even if he enjoys his work and his food, the compulsion is still there. His mouth, not his mind, seems to be the master.

When we object that men have more in them than this, and better things to live for, verse 8 doesn’t let us pass without a challenge. Wisdom, for example, may be infinitely better than foolishness, as we saw earlier (2:13), but is the wise man better-off than the fool? Materially he may or may not be, though surely he deserves to be; and we have already seen that death will level the two of them with complete indifference (see Cg – Death Renders Wisdom and Folly Pointless). As for happiness, the wise man’s clarity of vision is not all joy. For in much wisdom is much grief; the more knowledge, the more suffering (1:18).

As if sensing that we may still be unconvinced, since we rate the quality of a man’s life higher than its comforts, Solomon asks the hard-headed question of 6:8b. What does a poor man, however well thought of, actually get for his pains? It’s a fair question. To quote a famous saying, “To arrive is, for most of us, better than to travel hopefully.” That is the force of 6:9a, and its common sense allows us no daydreams. The trouble is that to “arrive” is, in any ultimate and satisfying sense, beyond our power. Whatever we achieve under the sun will melt away as foolish as if chasing after the wind, whether it’s the poor man’s self-help or the rich man’s success.

Is this defeatism or realism? In terms of life under the sun it is entirely realistic, as the argument of the book has already shown. Whatever brave words we say about mankind, or against his Maker, verses 10 and 11 remind us that we shall not alter the way in which we and our world were made. These things are already named and known, which is another way of saying, with the rest of Scripture, that they owe their being to the command of God. And now this command includes the sentence passed at Adam’s fall. Naturally we find this quite disturbing and want to protest. The idea of disputing with the Almighty (6:10b-11) fascinated Job, who abandoned it only after much heart-searching; and Isaiah earned a classic rebuke when Ha’Shem said: Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a broken, discarded piece of pottery, or a potsherd, among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, “What are you making?” Does your work say, “He has no hands” (Isaiah 45:9)? Yet we still find it easier to dream about the way things ought to have been rather than face the truth of what they actually are.

But this truth, to be the whole truth, must include what we are becoming and what will become of us. Part of this, that we shall die, we know only too well; the rest, too little. So the chapter, at this mid-point in the book, ends with a string of unanswered questions. The secular man, heading for death, and being swept along by the currents of life under the sun can only ask who knows what is good . . . ? Who can tell what will happen after I am gone (6:12)? This is a double puzzle. He is left with no absolute values to live for (what is good); and no practical certainties (what will happen) to plan for.²⁹⁰

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that You have planned a wonderful home of eternal peace and joy for those who love You. Behold, the dwelling of God is among men, and He shall tabernacle among them. They shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them and be their God. He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Nor shall there be mourning or crying or pain any longer, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:3b-4).

Your home in heaven will be a place of peace, without shame, for all who love and worship You. For if you confess with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart it is believed for righteousness, and with the mouth it is confessed for salvation. For the Scripture says: Whoever trusts in Him will not be put to shame (Romans 10:9-11).

We do not have to know all the answers to life, but what is important is to know and to love you! Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you . . . My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, (Psalms 63:3, 5). Your love satisfies and is the answer to why we live. It is a joy to love You and to look forward to spending eternity with You. In Yeshua’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Interlude: Some Reflections, Maxims and Home Truths
Ecclesiastes 4:9 to 5:12

Interlude: Some reflections, maxims and home truths DIG: Why are two better than one? Why was the old king so unpopular? How does 5:7 summarize the message of pious talk? Of popular acclaim? What is the reason for the oppression in 5:8-9? Why should we not be surprised by this? Why do the three proverbs (5:10, 11, and 12) prove to be pointless?

REFLECT: How can you be a part of a three-stranded cord? When facing poor or evil leadership, when are you most patient? Most prayerful? Most pushy for change? Most “quick with your mouth?” How do you become part of the solution instead of part of the problem? What do you do when you make a hasty promise that you cannot keep?

Having looked at the poverty of the lonely miser, whatever his outward success, we now reflect on something better . . . and better will be the key word here (4:9 and 13, 5:1 and 5), as it very often is in the value-judgments of the Wisdom writers.

Companionship (4:9-12): Two are better than one, in that their cooperative efforts yield this advantage: if one of them falls, the other will help his partner up – woe to him who is alone when he falls and has no one to help him up. Again, if two people sleep together, they keep each other warm; but how can one person be warm by himself? The thoughts are simple and direct; they apply to many forms of partnership, not the least (though not explicitly) to marriage. With graceful conciseness they depict the profit, resilience, comfort and strength given to a true partnership; and these are worth the demands it takes to achieve it. Such demands are not clear here, but there would hardly be the need to explain the benefits of partnership if it involved no cost. It’s obvious price is the person’s independence because once we have a partner/companion we must take into consideration their interests, listen to their opinions, adjust to their pace and style of living, and generally have their back.

Moreover, an attacker may defeat someone who is alone, but two can resist him; and a three-stranded cord is not easily broken. An obvious example of this blessing, and famous among believers, is the strength brought to a marriage, or indeed any human companionship, when ADONAI is the Chief Strand makes it a three-stranded cord that is not easily broken. But perhaps it would be nearer Solomon’s thought to read this metaphor in purely human terms, so that if it were applied to marriage, the third strand would appropriately be the gift of children, with all that adds to the quality and strength of the original tie. Even so, we are probably being more specific than he intended.

Popular acclaim (4:13-16): Better a youth who is poor but wise than a king who is old but foolish, no longer willing to listen to advice. True, he rose from prison to be king; Yet, while ruling, he became poor. I observed that all who live and walk under the sun, cutting God out of the picture, took the side of the youth mentioned first who would rule in place of the king, and that no limit was set for the number of his subjects. Nevertheless, those who come afterwards will not regard him highly. This too is certainly pointless and feeding on wind. This paragraph describes the short-lived popularity of the rich and famous. It shows the faults of both sides, beginning with the stubbornness of the man who has been too long in the saddle – who is out of touch and out of sympathy with the times, forgetting what it was to be young as he once was. There is enough likeness to the earlier and later life of David for us to reflect that the finest of men can go this way and be the last to recognize it. But the portrait is not really designed to be historical.

So it may come to it that a better man comes after him, and he is better if he has the right qualities, whatever his lack of years or standing, as 4:13 points out. Solomon, with his way of bringing the scene vividly before us the teeming mass of men, all on the side of the newcomer, young as he is. Yet, he too will eventually go the way of the old king, not necessarily for his faults, but simply because he gets old and is no longer interesting. He had reached a pinnacle of human glory, only to be stranded there.

Pious talk (5:1-7): Watch your step when you go to the house of God. Offering to listen is better than fools offering sacrifices, because they don’t discern whether or not they are doing evil. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. For God is in heaven, and you are on earth; so let your words be few. For nightmares come from worrying too much; and a fool, when he speaks, chatters too much. If you make a vow to God, don’t delay in discharging it. For God takes no pleasure in fools, so discharge your vow! Better not to make a vow than to make a vow and not discharge it. Don’t let your words make you guilty, and don’t tell the Temple official that you made the vow by mistake. Why give God reason to be angry at what you say and destroy what you have accomplished? For [this is what happens when there are too] many dreams, aimless activities and words. Instead, just fear God!

Continuing with his interlude of portraits, Solomon turns his observant eye on the worshiper. Like the prophets, he presses reality in his realm; though his tone is quiet, his words are razor-sharp. Whereas the prophets hurl their criticism against the hypocrites, the Teacher’s target is the well-meaning person who likes to “play church.” But who listens with half an ear, and never quite gets around to do what he has volunteered to do for God.

Such a man has forgotten where and who he is; above all, who ADONAI is. The repeated use of the word fool is scathing, for to be casual with YHVH is evil, a sin, and something that will not go unpunished. Lest we think that this is just a piece of limited harshness in the TaNaKh, the B’rit Chadashah is equally as harsh with its warnings against making pious words pointless or treating lightly that which is holy (see the commentary on First Corinthians, to see file click Cb – The Answer: Honor the Body). No amount of emphasis on grace can justify taking liberties with God, for the very concept of grace demands gratitude, which cannot be casual.

Going back over these verses in more detail, we are reminded by the opening words: Watch your step, of the pains Ha’Shem took to guard His earthly Tabernacle in earlier days, even by the threat of death (Leviticus 15:31). At one level this makes it clear to us both the cost of our admission to the heavenly Tabernacle, and the purity that is demanded of us (see the commentary on Hebrews Cg – Messiah’s Sacrifice Opens the Way to God), while at another level it brings home to us the regard we should have for the Church of God, the Living Temple (see First Corinthians Av – God’s Spirit Lives in God’s Temple).

The word listen in 5:1b has the double force in Hebrew which it sometimes has in English: to pay attention to and to obey. So this saying is close to the famous words of Samuel: to obey (literally to listen) is better than sacrifice (First Samuel 15:22). Here, however, the pointlessness of worship is unwitting; one’s sin is that of a fool rather than a reprobate, if that is any comfort! The Teacher would hardly encourage us to think so. His reminder that Ha’Shem takes no pleasure in fools is as quietly crushing a remark as any in the book.

Official predators (5:8-9): If you see the poor oppressed, rights violated and justice perverted in the province, don’t be surprised; for a high official has one higher watching him, and there are others above them. But the greatest advantage to the country is when the king makes himself a servant to the land.

So, reflections on coping realistically with life continue, with the Teacher now turning a watchful eye on bureaucracy. If the picture doesn’t claim to be universal, it is still familiar enough. We can see a mass of officials frustrating the citizen who presses for his rights. He is easily obstructed and defeated. As for moral responsibility, it can easily be side-stepped by blaming the system, while ultimate authorities wield their power at a distance far from the lives of the people they affect. Everyone at the top gets a pass no matter what they have done, then whatever justice is left over trickles down to the masses. Small wonder the citizens at the bottom of such a structure found justice hard to come by. True to the viewpoint of the book, the comment on all this is realistic. After all, if we are looking at a world under the sun, on its own terms of total secularism, we could not expect too high a moral tone, either from the system in place or any other. The Teacher pins no hope on any utopian scheme or revolution. He knows the true nature of mankind.

Money (5:10-12): The lover of money never has enough money; the lover of luxury never has enough income. This too is pointless. When the quantity of goods increases, so do those who consume them; so the only advantage to the owner is that he gets to watch them do it. The sleep of a working man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the overfullness of the rich won’t let them sleep at all. The subject of money is one of the most compelling, as Yeshua implied when He warned us against making it a second god (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Dr – Store Up Treasures in Heaven, Where Thieves Do Not Break in and Steal). The three sayings above show money for what it is, by pointing out the craving it creates, the parasites it attracts, and the suffering which is its typical reward.

Verse 10 is a little classic on the love of money, a fitting companion to the famous saying in First Timothy 6:9, “Those whose goal is to be rich fall into temptation; they get trapped in many foolish and hurtful ambitions which plunge them into ruin and destruction.” Here the interest is psychological, though the final remark: This too is pointless, drives home the ultimate lesson to be learned from it. The unappeased craving it creates is very obvious in the gambler, the tycoon, and the well paid businessman who never has enough – for the love of money grows by what it feeds on. But it may also show itself more subtly in a general discontent: a longing not necessarily for more money but for inward fulfillment. If anything is worse than the addiction money brings, it is the emptiness it leaves. Mankind, with eternity in his heart, needs better nourishment.²⁸⁴

The first half of verse 11 offers yet another proverb about the problems associated with wealth and perhaps gives us a reason why no one finds satisfaction in it. As one’s means increase, so do the “bills.” Whether those who consume them are creditors or extended family members, it makes no difference to the point of the verse. The second half of the verse draws out the implication of the first. The one who has the money seldom has the opportunity to really enjoy its fruits. The wealth that is pursued takes on a life of its own and starts to control the person pursuing it. All the owner can do is stand and watch as his problems gather momentum.²⁸⁵

In verse 12 we now read the third reason in as many verses why money is more of a problem than a blessing. The rich cannot sleep well because they overindulge themselves to the extreme and worry about losing their money. This is what happens when affluence and indulgence join hands. The irony is that the working man sleeps soundly even though his stomach is not as full.

Have you turned away from the weariness of money and every other good thing to find your joy in God? Anyone who doesn’t have joy in life must be looking in the wrong place. The way to find joy is to pray, “Lord, You know how empty I feel right now. Help me turn away from all the things I am using to fill the empty spaces in my life and fill me with your grace instead.” Solomon teaches us to depend on God’s many gifts. This is part of his answer to the problem of life’s pointlessness. The person who learns this lesson will seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with joy in his heart (5:20). When we learn to take pleasure in ADONAI we experience so much joy that life’s short pointless troubles are all but forgotten.²⁸⁶