May 13
Reading: Ecclesiastes 9
1 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him.
2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.
7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun.
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.
13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
Ecclesiastes 9:1 is a summary statement regarding what Solomon has observed about life in chapters 1-8. We do not understand, but we all, and our deeds, are in the hand of God. Notice the singular “hand.” It emphasizes the degree of His sovereign control. All God needs is one hand for us all. He holds everything and He has a free hand.
Verses 2-6 emphasize that we all, good and evil, are in the same situation in God’s world. We all go through the same plagues, famines, natural disasters, economic ups and downs, summers and winters, everything. Though this may be obvious, it is important to say. In this sense, no one, no ethnicity, no gender, is better than any other. All are part of the human race, and no one is winning. We all will die, though it is better to live than to die. (vs. 4)
The application of this observation in verses 7-9 is that in God’s world you might as well enjoy what God gives as long as He is giving. And work hard and play with enthusiasm, because, well, you never know. (vss. 10-12) The truth of verse 11 is obvious, startling, and disturbing. Have you ever heard the expression, “May the best man win?” Well, many times he doesn’t. This is how things really go. You might say that this is not fair. It is not right. So? It is how it is. “Time and chance happen to them all.”
We do not know the event that Solomon is reflecting upon in verses 13-18, but the lesson is clear. Solomon is not preaching a hedonism or utilitarianism. There are times when, against all odds, the light shines through and the right prevails. Sometimes one person, or ruler, can wreck everything, but we are in God’s hand and in God’s world “wisdom is better than war.”
It makes the reader wonder, “What then is wisdom and where is it found?”