seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Ecclesiastes 9:1 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. 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,[a] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.
As it is with the good,
so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
so with those who are afraid to take them.
so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
so with those who are afraid to take them.
3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. 4 Anyone who is among the living has hope[b]—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!
5 For the living know that they will die,
but the dead know nothing;
they have no further reward,
and even their name is forgotten.
6 Their love, their hate
and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
in anything that happens under the sun.
but the dead know nothing;
they have no further reward,
and even their name is forgotten.
6 Their love, their hate
and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
in anything that happens under the sun.
7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
11 I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.
12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:
As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so people are trapped by evil times
that fall unexpectedly upon them.
or birds are taken in a snare,
so people are trapped by evil times
that fall unexpectedly upon them.
13 I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me:14 There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 15 Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.
17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner destroys much good.
than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner destroys much good.
a. Ecclesiastes 9:2 Septuagint (Aquila), Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew does not have and the bad.
b. Ecclesiastes 9:4 Or What then is to be chosen? With all who live, there is hope
Solomon was so wise he saw the futility of life without hope. Christians have hope because they have eternal life to look forward to. Solomon did NOT have that. He's right... in his day... everyone came to the same fate. Good people fought for every nibble.... and bad people took what wasn't theirs to take.
This is from the easy English site.
Nobody knows what will happen in the future. God has authority over people’s actions. We are responsible for our actions. However, God can reduce the damage that people might want to do. But people cannot know what God has prepared for each person. A good man may not have an easy life. But whatever happens during their life, all people have the same fate finally. If they are good, they will die. If they are bad, they will die. Those who offered gifts to God were serious about their religion. Other people did not offer anything to God. But all people will die. Some people promised things. They would or they would not do something for God. They promised God in a serious way. And they expected punishment if they did not do that thing. Other people did not promise things to God. But all people will die. (The Teacher was thinking as human beings think. That is why he made all these remarks. But God has told us that we can live for always after death.)
People do not think that their life is fair. It is painful for them to realise the truth. Everyone must die. Some people may be wicked and be foolish all through their lives. But their lives will end in the same way as other people’s do.
The Teacher is encouraging people to enjoy their life. That is what God intended. People’s nicest clothes in those days were white clothes. They wore them on special occasions. People used oil on their skin. The hot sun would burn them, but the oil prevented that. ‘To put oil on the head’ sometimes referred to God. It meant that he was blessing a person in a special way. That person would be very happy (Psalm 23:5).
A man can still enjoy his life, even if he sometimes has troubles in this world. His wife, whom he loves, will help him. His wife is God’s gift to him. She will be his companion and she will encourage him in his duties during his life (Genesis 2:18). People should use all their mental and physical energy to deal with their responsibilities. When people have died, they just lie in a grave. They will be unable to work. They cannot use their ideas. They will be unable to discover new things and they will never become wiser.
This is from enduringword.com.Go, eat your bread with joy: From outside of his under the sun premise, we see a touch of humor in the Preacher’s analysis. “Life is utterly meaningless, and our common death and destiny prove it to be so. So forget about all I have said and have a good time.” It is small hope given to despairing men and women, but it is the best he can do.
For God has already accepted your works: Given the recent emphasis on the sovereign power of God (Ecclesiastes 7:13, 9:1), we sense both fatalism and wishing in this statement. Perhaps the sense is, “God has already accepted your works – I hope; because if He hasn’t, there is nothing you can do about it.”
Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity: Clearly, Solomon knew that enjoying the good things at hand in this life – bread, wine, garments, comforts (let your head lack no oil), and a wife whom you love – none of these took away the meaninglessness of life. “Make your vain life a little better,” he counseled.
Now, wise king Solomon, king David's son, and the great great whatever grandfather of Jesus of Nazareth, asked for wisdom and God was happy to give it to him. Then, wise king Solomon realized that no matter how good or how bad humans are at living... they were all going to die. Wisdom has a cost... it cost Solomon his hope.
I've told this before... my mother believed in reincarnation. I asked her once.... if she passed and had a chance to live on in Heaven... why would she choose to come back to earth???? Her response was simple. "So I can do it better!" My mom believed heaven would be the chance to correct her mistakes???? My mom believed that heaven would be a chance to make God smile over something she got right this time. IMHO... that's trying to be perfect. No human is perfect no matter how hard we try.
I went to a Bible study with some neighbors not long ago. I probably wrote about it. I brought up the "everybody in the Old Testament died" topic. I said... with the exception of a handful of humans God plucked from earth..... everyone in the Old Testament died. They did not have Salvation. Christ hadn't been here yet. My neighbors would not except that scenario. One of them asked her preacher son.... who told her "the quick and the dead in Christ will rise".
IMHO.... her son was trying to be nice to his mother... who obviously had a problem with Ruth, Naomi, Solomon, Joseph, Job.... all of those wonderful Bible characters not greeting her at the pearly gates. He was trying to leave her with hope that they might be there. Her preacher son didn't tell her the whole story IMHO....
If Jesus conquering death and opened ALL the tombs..... when were these people going to have the opportunity to choose Christ over the world?
Solomon was right. In the Old Testament.... everyone was doomed to death.
