Taught on 16 October 2005
This chapter concludes Solomon’s pursuit and enjoyment of wealth in his search for satisfaction.
INTRO: From Ray Stedman’s commentary.
… We are all facing to one degree or another some sort of hard times ahead. That makes everyone’s heart sink a little; we tend to react emotionally to these circumstances.
Yet our view of life may be so distorted that if hard times actually do come to us they may be the best years of our lives. That is what the Searcher (Solomon) tells us this morning in the passage in Ecclesiastes 6, where he declares that things are not what they seem to be. We think life is one way and it turns out to be something quite different. The thesis of our passage this morning is that we may be reading everything that is happening to us entirely wrong.
In Chapter 6, the Searcher of Israel, says that prosperity may not always be good; and in the first fourteen verses of Chapter 7 he takes up the opposite and accompanying truth — that adversity may not always be bad. What we need, of course, is a true view of good and evil: how to tell good when it is good, and how to recognize evil for what it is. We would save ourselves much heartache if we could do that. The wonderful thing about Scripture is that it does just that. The Searcher here gives us the true view of good and evil.
SHEPHERD NOTES: In verses 1 through 6, the Teacher described a hypothetical person who is superrich by the standards of the ancient world. He had money, things, honor among people, and a hundred children. More than that, he lived 2000 years! For the ancient Israelite, wealth, children and long life were the STANDARDS for JUDGING whether a person was rich. The Teacher contrasted this man with a fetus who is stillborn. Thus, the ultimate “have” (the superrich person) is contrasted with the ultimate “have not” (a stillborn fetus).
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Adam’s comments: It is important to remember here what we are talking about in this chapter. We are not talking about us, about us Christian saved men and women. This chapter is talking about the man or woman who doesn’t know the saving grace of God. A person who does not recognize that all good things are from God.
1 I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men:
God causes his sun to shine upon the evil as well as upon the good
Matt 5:44-45 (NIV) But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
QUESTION: Why does God cause his sun to shine upon the EVIL as well as upon the good?
Matthew Henry: “Common” mercies sent from God, more proof of God’s goodness to all.
It is given to the just as well as the unjust, so that so that we cannot know love and hatred by what is before us, but by what is within us; not by the shining of the sun on our heads, but by the rising of the Sun of Righteousness in our hearts.
The gifts of God’s bounty to wicked men that are in rebellion against him, teach us to do good to those that hate us; especially considering, that though there is in us a carnal mind which is enmity to God, yet we share in his bounty.
Those only will be accepted as the children of God, who study to resemble him, particularly in his goodness.
2 God gives a man wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.
Verses 1 and 2: Immediately, Solomon recognizes that to have abundance and possessions — all that money can buy — and yet lack the power to enjoy them is a very heavy burden to bear.
To make matters even worse, the Searcher says, material wealth and abundance can be frustrating: imagine a stranger enjoying what you cannot enjoy.
That would make one very frustrated, even resentful: “Why couldn’t I enjoy it?” he would be entitled to ask.
The key to all of this is in the words, “God does not give him power to enjoy.”
WHY WOULD GOD NOT GIVE US THE ABILITY TO HAVE PLEASURE? The answer has already been given. Look at Ecclesiastes 2: 25-26.
25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God.
Ray Stedman….”To the man who pleases him.” Again, I am afraid many people read that as though it means that some level of religious performance, some standard of morality, like joining a church or coming to meetings, is what pleases God. We must understand that the Scriptures never say that. Faith is what pleases God, believing him, taking him at his word and acting upon that word. This is what pleases God: obedience based upon faith. To such a man or woman God gives the gift of enjoying whatever he or she has. How little or how much it may be, is a gift poured out and taken from his hand. That is why gratitude, to be grateful for what you get, is the most important element of our lives.
3 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.
Why did Solomon say “a hundred children”?
Represents a long life, a lot of children and grandchildren…things that would normally make us very happy.
Then to make it even more grand he will live for MANY years, which should even make him happier.
The “reference” referring that a stillborn child is better off than he:
Matthew Henry says: “Better is the fruit that drops from the tree before it is ripe than that which is left to hang on till it is rotten.”
Job also thought of this…that it would have been better to have never been born….
Job 3:16 (NIV) Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day?
4 It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded.
In other words, the stillborn child is very sad, never knowing the light of day, knowing only darkness, with no name.
Note: Solomon was not trying to teach us anything about the eternal destiny of a stillborn child. He was just saying that the child had never seen the sun.
5 Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man–
Those that live in willful ignorance are no better than an untimely birth that has not seen the sun nor known any thing.
6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?
This man will meet the same fate as the stillborn child and will ultimately die.
7 All man’s efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.
Adam Clarke’s commentary: “When a man learns to provide for his soul as he does for his body, then he will begin to be happy.
Worldly sinful desires are insatiable.
Still focusing on “wealth” here.
8 What advantage has a wise man over a fool? What does a poor man gain by knowing how to conduct himself before others?
Conversation now shifts to WISDOM. Solomon says, “What advantage has the wise man over the fool?”
Adam Clarke’s commentary: “They must both labor for the same end. Both depend upon the labor for of themselves or others for the necessities of life. Both must eat and drink in order to live. The necessities of life are the same to both and their condition in life is nearly similar….liable to the same diseases and death.
You may be wise in your investments, careful with your money, you may pursue pleasure moderately, but it is still not going to work; if that is all you have you are no different than the fool.
“who knows how to conduct himself before the living”
Even a poor man who learns how to attract others to himself by means of his charming personality is still left empty, lonely and miserable inside.
9 Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Now we have moved from “wealth”, then “wisdom”, to a roving dreamer who wants more and more.
Better to take pleasure in what you have (what the eyes see), than to daydream about pursuing something more.
SUMMARY SO FAR: (Shepherd Notes) The intellectual seeks knowledge with the same zeal by which the miser seeks money. Both are driven by the “appetites.” Their motives are not really all that different. Both seek permanence and significance in the face of death and a tumble into meaningless.
And here is the answer, here is the “reason” why you can not be happy without God…verse 10
10 Whatever exists has already been named, and what man is has been known; no man can contend with one who is stronger than he.
Stedman: – The Searcher (Solomon) is telling us here that God has decreed that enjoyment cannot be found by effort, by work, and by the pursuit of pleasure. Enjoyment must be taken as a gift from God’s hand; that decree is as unalterable as the law of gravity. You may not agree with God about it, you may not like it, but there it is; it cannot be changed.
OUR study book said: “Solomon says we should celebrate and enjoy life for what it is–a precious gift from God. God made life to be enjoyed, not to be collected.
The Searcher points out three things about this:
First, God decreed it before man was ever created Whatever exists has already been named ” — before it happened. Even man did not come to be before he was named in the mind and thought of God; and God created this strange law of life before man ever appeared on earth.
Secondly, it was decreed in view of what man is: ” what man is has been known.” God made us. He knows what we are like, how we function, what will satisfy and what will not. In view of that, he set up this decree that enjoyment cannot be found from the possession of things. Jesus stated that very plainly: “A man’s life does not consist of the abundance of things which he possesses.”
Then, thirdly, the Searcher says that it was decreed in spite of man: ” no man can contend with one who is stronger than he.” How are you going to change the laws of God? They govern your life whether you like it or not. Though this may appear to be very much against us, nevertheless there is nothing we can do about it.
” no man can contend with one who is stronger than he”. When Job was discussing his dilemma with his “friends”, he said this….
Job 33:12 (NIV) “But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than man.
11 The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone?
C.S. Lewis said: “To argue with God is to argue with the very power that makes it possible to argue at all.”
Shepherd Notes: Now that we have fallen, and now that the knowledge of good and evil has enslaved us in death, we realize that an excess of words (knowledge) will not save us.
Our study books said ” Solomon is basically saying that we can talk back to God allwe want, but we will just end up frustrated.” God says “Life is to know me.”
Before reading verse 12: QUESTION: How many times in life do we think “WE” know what is good or bad for us? How many times have you really wanted (or even prayed) for something only to find out later that it would have not been good if that would have happened?
What are some of the times when “we” are making decisions based on what WE think is good or bad for us?
12 For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? Who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone?
First he asks “Who knows true value in life?” Where is the man who understands everything, who knows what in life is good and what is bad?
“Who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone”?
In other words, “Who can what the results of our present choices will be?” In other words, we don’t even know what we should wish for.
QUESTIONS from the study book:
1) What are some lessons you have learned that have had a “high tuition.” Are there things you did not learn except from experience? What was the process like?
“high tuition”…. When you walk away from God, God does not walk away from you. I forfeited many years of joy and peace while trying to run my own life apart from God.
Are there things I did not learn except from experience? I learned about how “hard” life can be apart from God. My rough times eventually drove me back to God, but I don’t feel any better because I have experienced those times. I only experienced those times because I was outside the will of God. God never intended those hard times for me, I caused them because of my sinful behavior. I didn’t have to go through those hard times.
2) What are some of the things you do just to enjoy life?
Pray. Get close to God. Enjoy the peacefulness of his STRENGTH and his love.
Eat dinner as a family. Sit, talk, laugh, smile, cry, etc. Get to really know them, how they think, how they act, what their friends are like. Sometimes I use these conversations to “shape” their thinking, to teach them Christian principles.
Reading the bible…sometimes it can be a real comfort. A calmness in the storm.
3) You can be miserable or you can be happy. Think back to times when you have made that choice. What factors influenced your attitude? How do we make the choice to be happy?
Factors influencing my attitude: The more I read the bible, and the closer I get to God, the more I know when I am sinning by my ungodly attitude. When I get angry at my wife, or my co-worker, God’s holy spirit convicts me of that sin much more than in the past.
I have actually thought in my mind…. you can make a choice here… you can just walk away from this anger or you can chose to be sinful and angry…..
4) Why is it so hard sometimes to chose to be happy, rather than choosing to be angry or sad?
Our pride. Sometimes choosing to be happy means forgiving others of something they have done to us. Our pride wants to pay them back or to get angry.
5) Talk about a time when God used “hard times” to drive you back to the throne of Grace.
LOOKING AHEAD TO CHAPTER SEVEN
Stedman: If prosperity is not always good, as he has clearly shown in Chapter SIX, then it is equally true that adversity is not always bad. Suppose the hard times do come? Many good and even great things can come out of that.
1) A Life Well Lived, A Study of Ecclesiastes. 2005. Tommy Nelson. Broadman & Holdman Publishers, Nashville, TN.
2) Shepherd’s Notes. Ecclesiastes / Song of Solomon. 1995. Broadman & Holdman Publishers, Nashville, TN.
3) Adam Clarke’s Commentaries. First release in England in 1810. Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN.
4) Ray C. Stedman, Title: Why does God allow This? Series: Things that Don’t Work: Ecclesiastes
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 4:1-5:20 Message No: 4 Catalog No: 3809 Date: October 10, 1982
5) Matthew Henry’s Study bible, World Bibles, 1994.
6) Thru the Bible with Vernon McGee. Thomas Nelson INC, Nashville, TN. 1983.