The Book of Ecclesiastes - Part 10

Well, greetings, brethren. Good to see everybody again. And, uh, wow, it's really cold outside.

Bizarre. Yeah, as with how warm—I guess what was bizarre was how warm it was. Maybe not how cold it is now is so bizarre. I mean, it is still February, but it's sad that it's so cold after being so nice. I did see that next week's supposed to be back in the 50s, and I think even Wednesday I saw it was going to get up to 70. So that's good news that there'll be rain and stuff too. So a lot of crazy weather right now, but of course we do need the rain, and that helps everything to grow, just like we need a lot of blessings from God in our lives to help us grow. And of course we've been talking about that going through the book of Ecclesiastes and this world with all of its difficulties, but yeah, with all of God's blessings to guide us to where we need to be. I want to continue going through Ecclesiastes. I'm almost done writing it. It's very close. Of course, I think I'm close, and then I get to a section, and it takes like, wow, I can't believe how long this section took. I mean, sometimes just going through one or two verses can take forever, but it may be even in covering them here. It might seem that way, but believe me, it was much longer to try to figure them out before even going through them. So it may, you know, we just blow through a couple verses here in maybe quick time, but it's not the reality of what you have to kind of go through and trying to understand this all in context. And again, as I've mentioned before, so much of the issue here is not just being able to understand the overall message. I think we can gain that fairly simply, but yet understanding how all of this fits, all of the things that are said within the Book of Ecclesiastes, how it fits in the overall argument, that is not always so easy to see. So it's very good to go through this, because this covers the gamut of our lives, and it's good to be reminded of these things.

Well, I want to just recall a few things. I'll be referring to the outline that I gave, but you won't need that right here necessarily. I will mention it. We are currently going through the last major section of Ecclesiastes, and that runs from chapter 8 verse 16, near the end of chapter 8 verse 16, all the way to the end of the book in chapter 12 verse 14. This last major section concerns, as Dr. Walter Keiser's outline says, in Ecclesiastes' total life, it concerns removing discouragement and applying God's plan to the lives of believers. So many issues have been discussed and resolved, but there are still issues, and we've got to be able to figure out how to still navigate this life. We are currently reading the first subsection within that last part. Let's remember that each major section has three subsections and a conclusion. There's four major sections. Each major section has three subsections and a conclusion. So we're in the last major section and the first subsection within that last part, which runs from chapter 8 verse 16 up and through through chapter 9 verse 10. And Keiser says that concerns the remaining mystery in this subject must not diminish human joy. There's still a lot to deal with and to try to figure out. Life is very unpredictable and it doesn't always go so great for the righteous, and we've got to just roll with that.

There's many lessons that we need to learn. The current section that we're on right now, well, there's a first part of that major section, or sorry, that subsection, the first part of that subsection, which runs from about 816 to chapter 9 verse 3. And I labeled that section, we can't just go by what we see. We can't just go by what we see because if you did that, you'd think God must not like us very much. And he likes rich, wealthy, evil people, maybe. That's just not exactly how it goes. You know, we need to understand that God is working out a plan to which he knows all the reasons for, but we don't. We have to trust him. So this is a part of learning faith, learning trust in God despite these problems. And where we are now is in a section I titled, It's Good to be Alive. It's Good to be Alive, and that really runs from chapter 9 verse 4 up until verse 10.

Chapter 9 verse 4 up and through verse 10. That's the last part of this first subsection.

Now, in going through that, we saw that despite the problems of this life, we saw in chapter 9 verse 4 that it's better to be a live dog than a dead lion. It's better to be alive. It's good to be alive. There are many benefits to being alive. But the reason that it gives why it's better for being alive here in verse 5 is very surprising. Because the living know that they will die. And we think again, why is that so great? Why is it better to be alive because we know we'll die, whereas the dead know nothing? And I quoted Tommy Nelson here saying that life is better than death, because at least when you're alive, you know that one day you're going to die so that you can change your life and make something out of it. That is a good perspective to have. So the discussion of death here is a good reminder of our mortality. And it's a good reminder that we need to do what we can now. Because now is when we have opportunity before we go to the grave. Whereas verse 5 says, the dead know nothing, which is also reaffirmed in verse 10 that there is no wisdom or knowledge or understanding in the grave. Now, of course, many people think that's wrong because they believe in the immortality of the soul consciousness after death. But these verses very clearly show that there is no consciousness in death. And many verses in the Bible should compare death to sleep, from which we will later awake in a resurrection. So there's a lot of information here that's very important. But it's also very important to understand why Solomon is saying all this here, and for our purposes, how it needs to motivate us to live in the right way today.

We see in 9.6, we look there, in Ecclesiastes 9 verse 6, it had said that those who die, you know, their love, hatred, and envy are passions. Really, all of their emotions in that sense perish. And it says, nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun. And back in verse 5, it says they had no more reward. And of course, that reward refers to what happens in the present life. And we also saw that the fact of reward in this life, you know, that there is a reward within this life, means that this life is not all bad. It isn't. There is a good share for us now. And the next verses that we go through, and we already looked at them, but we're going to look at them again in a different way. But the next verse is, encourage us to receive that good share. But I do want to say, and this is something I added since I spoke here last, a course that is still in light of the fact that there is future reward in another life, yet to come, the ultimate hope that Christians rely on. As Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 15, 19, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable. You know, if this is what it was about, it wouldn't be so great because things don't always go so great for us here in this life. And this isn't all we have to look forward to. We have something to look forward to that's far beyond anything that this life has to offer. That's not to say again that this life has nothing to offer, and there are many joys that God wants us to receive now. Now, the verses that follow in Ecclesiastes 9 take us back to the book's refrain about finding enjoyment in living. But now with strong exhortation and specific directives, as I noted before, these verses 7 through 10 give the longest sequence of imperatives or commands, the longest set of instruction in the entire book of Ecclesiastes. Verse 7 starts with go, get moving, be up and about. Let's look at the verses again. Verses 7 through 10. We'll read these here. Go eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart. For God has already accepted your works. Let your garments always be white, let your head lack no oil. Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life, which He's given you under the sun all your days of vanity. For that is your portion in life and the labor which you perform under the sun.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. For there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you're going. So we're told to eat joyfully and drink merrily because it says in verse 7, For God has already accepted your works. And we looked at that before. The NIV renders that phrase, God has already approved of what you do in terms of eating and drinking with joy. The sense is, go enjoy things. For that's what God wants you to do. Now, that doesn't mean anything goes because we have to keep this in the context of the overall message. And we know that the book is going to tell us you'll fear God and keep His commandments.

That's what we need to be doing and to be looking to judgment that's coming. These are things to keep in mind, but God still wants us to enjoy this life that He's given us. Now, of course, enjoying pleasures we saw in life is not the answer to life's problems, but it's part of the answer. It is part of the answer. But if that becomes the whole focus, it can add to the problems. We're not careful. We must certainly be on guard in all that we do.

One of the best ways we saw to keep the good things in life in proper perspective is to praise the giver of all good things for all of His gifts. We saw 1 Thessalonians 5, 16-18, rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. So we rejoice to enjoy, yes, always, but pray without ceasing in everything. Give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

So we have that enjoyment, but we have to balance it with following God, of course, and remembering to give God thanks for everything that He gives us to enjoy. He wants us to enjoy life while constantly keeping Him in mind and giving Him thanks, and that's where we ended last time. And so now we'll pick it up here again. Let's note the particulars of what we're told to enjoy in the refrain of Ecclesiastes 9, where we just read that.

Verse 7 again tells us, to eat your bread with joy and to drink your wine with a merry heart. And verse 8 says, let your garments always be white, let your head lack no oil. Kaiser notes, wine and bread, the staff of life, are frequently representative in Scripture of that which God gives to comfort and cheer us.

And he gives some verses on that. And in fact, he notes, these are mentioned alongside oil as given to man by God in Psalm 104, verse 15. Let's look at that. I'd like you to hold your place here in Ecclesiastes, and let's turn over to Psalm 104. Psalm 104, and we'll read verse 15. Psalm 104, 15 tells us, and wine that makes glad the heart of man oil to make his face shine, and bread which strengthens man's heart. Notice all three things there. You've got wine, oil, and bread. So these, and we're encouraged to make use of these here in Ecclesiastes. Now, the wine, gladdening the heart, refers to lightening the mood and promoting positive social interaction in moderation.

There's certainly no condoning of drunkenness here. If you flip back to Ecclesiastes there, no condoning of drunkenness here, which is denounced in the next chapter. In fact, you can flip over to Ecclesiastes 10.17, the next chapter, and it's going to mention about proper feasting. Prince is feasting at the proper time. It says the end of that verse, end of 10.17, for strength and not for drunkenness.

So there is no condoning of drunkenness here. Solomon is not telling us to go that way, but we can have wine in moderation to make Mary and to lighten the mood. The eating and drinking together, as in past refrains, imply companionship, enjoying good fellowship with others. It isn't saying, go get some wine and huddle over in the corner and start tipping the bottle back. That's not the point. This is talking about enjoying companionship in meals when we're eating with other people. It's not just talking about being isolated and being by yourself.

Meals, in that day, were all about social interaction, and that's certainly part of it here, too. Having your garments always white referred to wearing clean, comfortable, and festive clothes. Light-colored clothing reflected the heat in the warm climate of the Middle East. But, of course, white clothes would easily show dirt and needed to be washed more frequently. And, as Kaiser notes, because ordinary people could not maintain and perpetually clean their cool and pleasant white garments, as could people of wealth and rank, they reserved such clothes for especially important or festive occasions.

Accordingly, white garments became emblems of joy and festivity. You might remember the Levites adorned in white linen when David had the Ark of the Covenant brought to Jerusalem, back in 2 Chronicles 5.12. The NIV Cultural Background Study Bible says this, scholars have understood the color white to symbolize purity, festivity, or elevated social status.

In both Egypt, the story of Sennuhe, and Mesopotamia, the Gilgamesh epic, clean or bright garments conveyed a sense of well-being. That's its note on Ecclesiastes 9.8. The oil here is likewise representative of life. It made people more comfortable removing the irritations of dry skin in a dry climate. It was also mixed with scents and used for perfuming to not only look good, but smell good.

We see perfumes mentioned in the parables of Ecclesiastes 7.1. We're talking about a good name being better than a perfuming ointment there. We also see it in chapter 10, verse 1, where it's going to talk about perfuming ointment being tainted by flies in a good way. But certainly the point being that oil was used in perfuming, and so it's something to add to comfort. Another use of anointing with oil showed a bestowal of favor.

And welcome to that person. I mean, actually, when you think about it, you're making somebody else comfort. You're giving going to be comforting to them, but we know also that anointing with oil has a spiritual sense of God's favor and investiture, though that's not the primary meaning here.

Nevertheless, it could be part of the broader sense in the context of the whole of Scripture. In fact, the other physical blessings here all have spiritual parallels. White garments being clean, signified spiritual purity or righteousness before God. We see that in Revelation. In Revelation 3, 4, and 5, and Revelation 19, 8. And eating and drinking can denote taking in of spiritual nourishment that God gives, as well as spiritual fellowship. Again, there can be a spiritual meaning to all this. Still, normal physical enjoyment is mainly intended in the immediate context here, especially given what follows about enjoying life with one's wife in the next verse here. This next verse, verse 9, Ecclesiastes 9, 9, presents a lifetime with one's wife in a very positive light, which helps to put Solomon's earlier statement about not finding a good woman in 7, 27, through 28. Remember that back in chapter 7, 27 through 28? He said, you know, I've done all this looking and one man among a thousand I found, but a woman I've not found. And, you know, we might think, oh, he's really down on women. But, of course, remember Solomon's experience. He had a harem of a thousand women. It's a terrible situation that he lived in. But this verse here helps to put this in a fuller context.

Even, you know, his personal experience with his vast harem was very negative. He still counseled that joy in marriage was attainable, one of God's great blessings during this life. And he also wrote, you know, over in Proverbs 1822, I won't have you turn over the verse, but I'll just quote it to you. Proverbs 1822 Solomon wrote, He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.

So a wife is a good thing, Solomon wrote. And further positive affirmation and celebration of marital love is found in the Song of Solomon. The song that Solomon wrote, which is an awesome song that is devoted to marital love as being a very high ideal. It should be pointed out that some wrongly contend that Ecclesiastes 9-9 is not referring to marriage. The Tyndale commentary explains, because the term for wife here simply means a woman, that is, the Hebrew can be translated either way. And that's not just here, that's all over the place. When you talk about your wife, you saying you're a woman, which we don't usually talk that way today. People don't like that, but that's how it was in Hebrew. And because the Hebrew lacks the definite article and could mean a woman, it's thought by some that the preacher is urging sensuality without marriage here.

This, though, neglects the background of Ecclesiastes in Genesis 1-11. This is a note, by the way, from Tyndale still. Also, the style of Hebrews in Ecclesiastes tends to omit the article where other writers would have it. So it doesn't, just because it's not here, doesn't mean it's not intended. It is therefore precarious to vase too much upon its absence. The companionship envisaged is lifelong, not a casual liaison. Yeah, this is talking about, with the, you know, live joyfully with your wife. It's not talking about just find some woman and live joyfully in a short period it's talking about over the course of life. Now, the wording may not seem quite so positive, though, telling husbands, as the preaching the word commentary notes, to enjoy their wives all the days of your vain life that he's given you under the sun because that is your portion in life.

As the commentary notes, this is hardly the kind of statement that a woman is hoping to find written on her anniversary card. Oh, I'm enjoying all my days of my vain life because you're my lot.

It says, the preacher is no more sentimental about marriage than he is about anything else in life, but this does not make him a cynic. On the contrary, he is giving a serious view of life that makes room for joy but also faces up to the sober realities of life in a fallen world and the inevitable reality of death. Some see the vanity or frustration, the vapor in this verse, because you know all the days of your vain life, it says, as referring to life being fleeting or short. Yet it still seems likely to refer to the entire panoply of frustration. I think when it mentions vanity in this book, it's more talking about things are beyond grasping. They're a vapor in the sense that you can't hold on to them because they're frustrating. And it's the whole panoply of frustration this world presents that leads to the sudden finality of death, as in verse 3, with the directive to live joyfully with one's spouse as a way to experience life-long blessing in the midst of life's troubles. Consider the seeming oxymoron here of live joyfully all the days of your vain life. Think about that. Live joyfully all the days of your vain life. Think well that doesn't make sense. How's it joyful? But it makes sense if we recognize that every day, despite that day's problems, we can still experience joys that marriage provides, and more so over the years as long as we have life. And in fact, we can experience joys from many other God-given gifts each day and throughout life, as Solomon has just mentioned, the things he's telling us to derive joy from. Because we have this long vain life, he says, but in the midst of it, you can still find this joy that can go with you through the whole of life. In fact, we'll see later that it's possible to have joy through the whole of life. Solomon mentions that in a later verse, which we'll get to. Interestingly, several commentaries point out that the directives to joyfully eat, drink, wear festive clothes, put on perfume oils, and loved one's wife were found in other ancient sources, which makes sense when we consider that Solomon had an international empire and was a collector of wisdom. The NIV cultural background study Bible notes on verses 7 through 9, these verses include some of the most remarkable parallels between a scriptural text and other ancient Near Eastern texts found anywhere in the Bible. The song from the tomb of King Entaph, from the Egyptian Harper songs, confronts human mortality and offers the following advice. Put myrrh on your head, dress in fine linen, anoint yourself with oils, fit for a god. Another of the Harper songs, Never Ho Tep I, has similar advice. Take fine perfumes pleasing to your nostrils with garlands, lotuses, and berries at your breast, with your sister, meaning your wife actually, who's in your heart, happy at your side, because sister was the term they used for wife, so this is again, rejoice with your wife. Another strikingly similar text is in the old Babylonian Gilgamesh epic, where the hero laments over mortality to an alewife, and she then gives him this advice. When the gods created mankind, for mankind they established death. Remember we were talking about thinking about death here in Ecclesiastes. For mankind they established death. Life they kept for themselves. You, Gilgamesh, let your belly be full. Keep enjoying yourself day and night. Every day make merry. Dance and play day and night. Let your clothes be clean. Let your head be washed. May you be bathed in water. Gaze on the little one who holds your hand. Let a wife enjoy your repeated embrace.

It says here, our three different sources, Babylonian, Egyptian, and Israelite, have essentially the same message. In light of the brevity of life, enjoy yourself. This, of course, may not be too remarkable, but the specific nature and sequence of the advice. Feasting, wearing clean clothes, anointing with oils and perfumes, and enjoying one's wife in that same order suggests a common wisdom tradition. Solomon made use of Ecclesiastes in Ecclesiastes of this proverbial encouragement, but in a different way from these other sources. As the preaching the word commentary notes, quote, all of the passages where he gives this call to enjoyment have God at their center. This immediately distinguishes Ecclesiastes from ancient writings like the Epic of Gilgamesh. Why should we enjoy eating and drinking and working? The last item mentioned next. In chapter 2, we're told of the refrain, it's because these activities are God's gift to man. It's said back in 2.13 that these are God's gift to man. The same is true in the refrain in chapter 5, which also says in chapter 5 verse 20 that God keeps us occupied with joy in our hearts.

The preacher may be frustrated with life in this fallen world, but he still acknowledges the gifts that come from the hand of God. We see this perhaps most clearly here in Ecclesiastes 9, where the preacher tells us to enjoy bread and wine because, as we saw in verse 7, God is already approved of what you do in terms of desiring that we enjoy life, as we've seen. Moreover, the next line in the Gilgamesh poem, after listing the things in life to enjoy, says, and this is what Gil in the Gilgamesh poem, it says, these things alone are the concerns of men, having a good time and treating yourself well. These things alone are the concerns of men. Solomon, on the other hand, presents a much bigger picture by stating that God has put eternity in their hearts. He said that in Ecclesiastes 3.11, God has put eternity in their hearts. That's a much bigger concern. And he concludes this treatise by stating that man's responsibility is to fear God and keep his commandments. So, a much bigger purpose when this is used in the Bible. We must enjoy God's gifts in that context. Now, in what we've gone over of the refrains in Ecclesiastes 9 so far, verses 7 through 9, we've seen the following enjoyment recommended.

Feasting with both contentment and comfort, and marital relations and companionship. Then, in verse 10, we are given another area of life from which to derive joy, work, or occupation. I noted earlier that in Dr. Walter Keiser's outline, verse 10 starts a new subsection of the last part of the book, and certainly the next subsection does build on the idea of working with all one's strength along with wisdom, as we're going to see.

But the labor of verse 10 here was clearly presented in earlier occurrences of the refrain. I'll just have you flip back with me just to see a few of these. We went through these in previous comments, but let's hold our place here and flip back to Ecclesiastes 2.24. We're going to hit several verses that we saw already, occurrences of the refrain for reminder. Ecclesiastes 2.24 said it's not inherent within man, quote, that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God, that God gives us to enjoy good in our labor. Turn over to chapter 3, verse 13. 3.13, the refrain again. Solomon said, quote, that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor. It is the gift of God. So eat and drink and the good of labor. 3.22, in chapter 3, verse 22, he said that, quote, nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage. So, again, the work that you do is part of this reward. In chapter 5, chapter 5 we saw earlier, chapter 5, verses 18 through 19, he said, it is good and fitting for one to eat and drink and to enjoy what? The good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun. For it is his heritage, it says, going out skipping ahead, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor. This is the gift of God. So, rejoicing in labor. And where Solomon commended physical enjoyment in chapter 8, verse 15, look over there, chapter 8, verse 15. He said, for this will remain with him, this joy, this physical enjoyment that he just mentioned, will remain with him in his labor, all the days of his life. So, it stands to reason that labor or work is again part of the refrain here in chapter 9. In this case, it is something desirable to participate in before one can't live anymore when taken in death. I mean, actually, I don't see how you wouldn't connect verse 10 here with the verses before because clearly the issue of labor and work has been part of the refrain over and over. And so, here it is again. Now, further, verse 10 reiterates the point of verses 4 through 5 that life is better than death as the dead know nothing.

You know, these verses seem to mark in Inclusio the literary device where specific words or themes are used as verbal brackets or bookends at the beginning and end of a passage to set it off, which is more reason to see verse 10 as going with the preceding verses and thus marking the end of the subsection here because the Inclusio goes from verse 4 to verse 10. It's a self-contained unit. Now, the refrain in verses 7 through 10 would then be the latter half of the Inclusio. The Inclusio coming from verses 4 to 10, if you're looking at the verses in your Bible there. So, the refrain would be verses 7 through 10, the latter half of that Inclusio. And the Inclusio itself, running from verse 4 to verse 10, is the latter part of the subsection that starts in 816 and runs down to 9 verse 10. And additionally, the wording of verse 11, if you look at verse 11 there, where Solomon starts, "'I returned and saw,' seems to be the start of new material, though it's building on what's just been mentioned." So, that seems to be more the break. The verse 10 really is the end of this current section, and then we jump into the next section of verse 11. Now, concerning the enjoyment of good in man's work, some see this as merely enjoying the fruit of one's labor, just the fruit of one's labor, the end product of the work, or what the work earns and is able to buy. And of course, there's great value in work in that regard, but there's also enjoyment to be found in work itself, despite the curse of hardship and toil that Adam brought on himself and his descendants through sin. We saw that back in Genesis 3, 17 through 19. God said, cursed is the ground. And in toil, in labor, you're going to have to really work this to eke out a living. It was going to be difficult as part of the curse, but still it feels good to be productive. And that's in verse 10 says, whatever your hand finds to do, not just your career. When he's talking about whatever your hand finds to do, it doesn't mean just going to your job. It means whatever your hand finds to do. A feeling of achievement and satisfaction comes from a job well done, and even while the job is being done, provided we're not being oppressed or overwhelmed in it, which can certainly happen. If simply doing nothing is so great, then why is the fact that in the grave there is no quote, there's no work or device, no inventive way of going about things, or knowledge or wisdom, no expertise or skill to apply, why is that a negative to have none of that? Clearly it's better to be active and doing things, whatever it is, we can do as best we can for as long as we can. Now, recall that laziness or idleness was decried back in Ecclesiastes 4-5. In fact, let's hold a place here and look back at that, back in Ecclesiastes 4-5. Just to remember, it gave a proverb. It said, the fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh. So he's not doing what he needs to be doing.

Over in 10 18, it's also going to talk about the house falling down because of laziness. We'll see that a little bit later in Ecclesiastes 10 18. But we also should bear in mind that being a workaholic for the big payoff is decried as well. In fact, we see that also here in chapter 4. Remember verses 6-8, it said, better a handful with quietness than both hands full together with toil and grasping for the wind. And Solomon says in verse 8, there is one alone without companion. He has neither son nor brother, yet there is no end to all his labors, nor is his eyes satisfied with the riches. But he never asks, or maybe he does. It's a little bit confusing there. For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good? This also is vanity and a grave misfortune. So, being a workaholic, thinking you're going to get something out of that, that's not the answer either. We should strive to do well in whatever work we engage in, yet still allow time to enjoy other things and other people, along with downtime to rest and rejuvenate as we have the freedom to do so. You know, God himself set the example of rest, and he gave the Sabbath for this purpose.

Remember at the end? That's what he did. It wasn't all go, go, go. You have to take time to pause and reflect and to enjoy. And it says God did that. He looked on what he saw, that it was good, that what he had made. Now, moreover, whatever work we're engaged in, and I want you to keep your place in Ecclesiastes 9, but then I want you to turn over to the book of Colossians. If you replace here in Ecclesiastes 9, and turn over to the book of Colossians. So, I want to note here again, whatever work we're engaged in, we should consider that we are working for God as the one we should be seeking to please. Now, it says in Colossians 3, 23, echoing the first part of Ecclesiastes 9, 10, and whatever you do, you might think of it, whatever your hand finds to do. And the way that was worded there in Ecclesiastes 9, it says, do it heartily. Remember it said back in Ecclesiastes 9, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Here it says, whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men. As to the Lord and not to men. The word heartily here is from the Greek, eksuke, or it means from out of one's soul or being. From out of one's being. Meaning that we give it our all. Do it with all your might, with all your umph, you know, with all your everything you have. That we give it our all, including our might. That fits with considering what we do as service to God, as we are to love and obey God with all our heart and soul or being, mind and strength or might. That is how we must obey Him, we're told in Deuteronomy 6, 5. And in Mark 12, 30, that is the great commandment. Consider also that the New Testament encourages us to exhibit virtue. 2 Peter 1, 5 tells us that we are to add to our lives virtue. Or, as the Greek word arate there entails, excellence. That God wants us to add excellence to what we do. The highest quality state that can be reached. In fact, it says that God is a God of virtue there in verse 3 of 2 Peter 1, 3. It means God is a God of excellence, is what it really means. And He wants us to strive for that too. We're not to be lackadaisical and half-hearted. Turn back over to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12 verse 11. 12-11 tells us that we should not be, as it says here, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Put those together. We see that not lagging in diligence. We need to be diligent. And we need to be fervent in serving the Lord. And remember, we're told that whatever our hand finds it, do it heartily as to the Lord. And this is how we have to do it. Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. We should be committed to and passionate about what we put our hand to. And again, do our best. Strive for excellence with God at the center of the duty and enjoyment of our work and living in general. We will keep a right focus in what we do.

Now, of course, not all of us have the same capacity when it comes to work.

Thankfully, as noted in a popular Christian devotional, Our Daily Bread, I just read this January 28, 2017, just the other day. I thought it was put well. It said, we serve a God who loves us more than our work. We must never forget this because there may come a time when our ability to do for God is torn from us by health or failure or unforeseen catastrophe. It is in those hours that God wants us to remember that He loves us not for what we do for Him, but because of who we are, His children. And this is quite true. Still, though, there is always something that we can and must do, even if it's only to pray. And that should not be regarded in a belittled sense, like, oh, all we can do is pray, as praying is one of the most important things that we should be doing all the time. We don't need to worry about what we physically can't do. The important thing is that we do what we can and to do that with all of our might. Now, the warning at the end of verse 10 is to remind us... Go back in Ecclesiastes, go back to Ecclesiastes 9, where we are.

The warning here, because it says, because there's no knowledge or understanding or wisdom, or you're not going to be able to do anything when you're dead, is what it's saying. It's reminding us that our time is ticking away. You know, verses 4 through 5 had presented the hope of the living as the awareness of coming death. The point being that in thinking about it, there's an impetus to prepare for it, to do what we can. Well, your opportunity is now, Solomon says. You need to make the most of it. As Paul later says, you know, in Ephesians 5, 16, we must be redeeming the time.

Because the days are evil. As they certainly are in this age, there are distractions and problems often hindering us from progress we need to be making. Let us be sure to make the most of the precious life we're given while we still have it. Enjoying with grateful hearts the wonderful gifts that God gives as we strive with all of our being to serve Him in all we do. Now, that's the end of the first section, but since I still have a little bit of time here, about 15 minutes, I want to keep going and get as far as I can before the end of the sermon. The next part I've entitled, and this really this runs, we will start it at 9 10 again because it kind of ties into the theme of what follows. 9 10 is really transitional, we'll see. But I've titled this section, Give It Your All with Wisdom and Diligence. Give it your all with wisdom and diligence. You know, that's what we were told in verse 9 10, and that's what we're going to see in the verses that follow here. We just saw that we can't really figure out all that God is working out with people in His great plan. There's a lot that He hasn't let us in on, particularly when it comes to individual lives, including our own. We see a little more of that here in this second subject of the last part of the book. And again, it runs from Ecclesiastes 9 10 through 11 verse 6. Ecclesiastes 9 10 through 11 verse 6. Kind of a lengthy subsection here. With things not always going as might be expected.

A great deal of mystery yet remains. Outcomes in this age are uncertain. But that must not prevent us from following the directives that we were given at the end of the previous subsection in Ecclesiastes 9 10 to strive to do whatever we do with all of our strength and ability. We must live boldly, yet with wisdom, including needed caution about the limitations of human ability and wisdom and understanding of how to navigate this life. You see, because it's important that we do everything with all our might, with this wisdom, use these things. But these are not the end-all and be-all. They only get us so far. As was mentioned before, in Dr. Kaiser's outline, places verse 10 at the beginning of the present subsection, but it probably ends the previous subsection. We've already gone over that. Verse 10 can be regarded as transitional, since the need to give it our all underlies much of the present subsection. That's why we're discussing it again here. But still it appears that the current subsection probably begins in verse 11, where Solomon enters new material with the words, I returned and saw under the sun that. He says, he tells us there, this return is following his investigation of the previous subsection, which we saw at the beginning of remember 816 through 17, where he talked about, he went to see the business that is done on earth, where he realized that no one can really gain a handle on it all. So that's what he was doing and came and gave us the conclusion of that section. Now he's returning and he's exploring more. He had further come to see that life is quite unpredictable.

Things didn't always go so well for the righteous, he realized, considering that the righteous and wicked often have the same experiences in life, all the way to ultimately ending in death. We saw that in chapter 9, verses 1 through 3. So we counsel that we need to be sure to enjoy life while we have it and make the most of it, doing what we can to prepare for the inevitable. That's what we saw in verses 4 through 10. Yet in all this, we need to keep in mind that much that happens remains beyond our control. Solomon now goes on in verses 11 through 12 to show that this life is unpredictable every which way. Let's read these verses, verses 11 through 12. It says, I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill, but time and chance happens to them all. For man also does not know his time. Like fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them. Yet the fastest person does not always win the race. He might trip and fall. He might get distracted. He might think he doesn't need to exert himself. He might not even show up. We've probably heard the fable of the tortoise and the hare, saying that slow and steady wins the race. But of course, that won't guarantee winning the race either. The swiftest typically do win, and the verse does not say otherwise. It means that the swiftest do not necessarily win.

Likewise, the strongest don't always win the fight. Remember David and Goliath?

And people who are wise and smart, even in matters of money, don't always end up prosperous.

They may not even manage to eke out a living. Those who can best do the job are sometimes passed over. Someone else may have a better in. Or the skillful person might just have had a bad day, failing in the instance that he needed to prove himself. It just goes that way sometimes.

The listed qualities in verse 11 are good to have, but things don't always fall out as expected.

It just depends. Circumstances change things. That's what we need to know here. Solomon remarks, as his words are often translated, but time and chance happens to them all. There's the end of verse 11 there. I'll say more about that in a moment.

He goes on to say that man does not know his time, showing that people are like fish caught in a net or birds caught in a snare, so that the sons of men are snared in evil time when it falls suddenly upon them. The reference here is to calamity, even death. Not necessarily death. It could be anything that happens. Even if a person puts forth his or her best effort and work, strategy, knowledge, and wisdom, the things mentioned in verse 10, while there is life, that will not guarantee success in these and shield against calamity.

The discussion of time coming upon people in verses 11 through 12 recalls the earlier poem we saw about the seasons in life in chapter 3, where there being a time for every purpose under heaven.

The Hebrew word used in conjunction with time in verse 11, Pegha, translated chance, does not denote randomness, but simply any event that might happen. The expositor's Bible commentary says that, quote, it contains less the idea of haphazard occurrence than an event that we meet, whether anticipated or unanticipated.

A footnote here further explains that the word, quote, is used elsewhere only in 1 Kings 5, 4, where it's qualified by evil, that is, some adversity that's happened. The corresponding verb used, yukreh, is used in the sense of meet, as in the Old English, I chanced upon. I chanced upon this, you know. We see in 1 Samuel 10, 5, end quote there. Furthermore, time and chance, in Ecclesiastes 9, 11, it says in the NIV Cultural Background Study Bible, are not presented as two separate contingencies, but as a single factor. That is, you don't read it as time and this word, pega, it's these things are together. The reference is simply to meeting up with some happening at a particular time. That is simply circumstances. That's what this verse says. Circumstances happen to all, is what this verse is saying. The home in Old Testament commentary quotes another commentator, Ian Provan, in this regard. It says the NIV's chance, where it says chance, pega, is an unhappy choice of translation, since this word connotes an impersonal and random force. Whereas, Coelot, the preacher, is clear throughout the book that human fate lies ultimately in God's hands, no matter how random and impersonal what befall us may appear. The verbal form pega means to meet, to encounter. A pega is simply something we encounter on the path of life, a circumstance or situation over which we have no control. The event could possibly be random, but we must remember the context of verse 1. Look back up at verse 1, that whatever happens is in the hand of God. So, with any random occurrence, God is still sovereign, as it's always his decision whether to allow that occurrence to proceed or not. He can always intervene. Some with a misconception about time and chance, imagine that the righteous could die in an accident as the victim of random occurrence apart from God's purposes. I think I've given this picture before. He would be God as the Master Potter and whose hands we are, it says in Isaiah 64.8, as he molds and shapes us for what he's preparing us for in his kingdom. And then some random occurrence takes us out. God's saying, whoops, lost that one. Really? Of course not. We need to realize that Ecclesiastes 9.11 does not even say there could be random occurrences. And even if it allows for that possibility, as it probably does, it is always up to God whether to permit that happening. None of us are resigned to fate. Rather, we remain in the hands of our loving God. That being said, God will allow many things to befall us that we do not anticipate. And for those in the world at large who are unrepentant, he may allow them to be swept away by calamities, not specifically directed toward them because of their sins, as we see in the example Jesus gave about the tower of Siloam falling on people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's in Luke 13, verse 4. Jesus warned, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. This is not to say that the righteous could not have a tower fall on them, but it would only be with assurance that they remain in God's watchful care and are ready for the future that he has prepared for them in his kingdom.

You know, we see over in Isaiah 57, verses 1 and 2, where the death of the righteous is within God's keeping and care. You know, people don't consider that they're being protected in the grave, it says. All of this shows that while we are to live with boldness, striving with our might, doing what we can in all of our endeavors, this must be tempered with wisdom. In maintaining a healthy sense of uncertainty. Of course, we should plan, but we need to know that our plans won't necessarily work out. So we need to be flexible. We need to be flexible. We should try to have contingency plans as prudent precaution. Still, we can't plan for every eventuality. We can't even imagine everything that might happen. We need to know that the best laid plans of mice and men gang after glee often go awry. We need to recognize that whatever happens is ultimately up to God, and we don't know all that He will decide. One of Solomon's Proverbs stated, and I'll just read this to you because we're coming up near the end here, one of Solomon's Proverbs 27.1 Solomon wrote, Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

You don't know what's going to happen. So don't plan as if it's definitely going to work out that way. And the Apostle James expanded on this, telling us we must not boast in personal plans. I will have you turn here because I've written this out and I'd like you to read this. James 4. The Apostle James told us not to boast in personal plans, which is vanity.

But we have to keep in mind God's sovereignty over the future. James 4, and this is verses 13 through 16, says, Come now, you who say tomorrow or today or tomorrow, we will go to such and such a city, spend the year there, buy and sell, make a profit. Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow, for what is your life? It's even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. And I don't think it means you have to say that by rote in every wording you say. The point is you need to think in these terms. But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Absolutely. We have to remember who controls the future. It's not us.

So, back to Ecclesiastes here, it really comes down to this. Above all, we need to maintain a right relationship with God so that we remain in his care when the unexpected hits us. This is the very counsel the conclusion of Ecclesiastes gives us. The proper mindset and approach here is part of wisdom, despite the limitations of wisdom that we've seen. Not being able to figure everything out. We saw back in 8, 16 through 17. Not even always gaining needed food to eat, as we see in 9 verse 11. And still meeting with life's calamities and even death. We see that in verses 1 through 3 of this chapter, Ecclesiastes 9, and we see it in verses 10 through 12. They just read. Even despite all of that, even despite the shortcomings of wisdom, wisdom is not useless. Wisdom is not useless. In fact, it's part of wisdom to understand this. That wisdom is helpful even though it can't solve everything. Yes, Solomon is going to lay out in what we're about to read next, in the example we read next. So I will end today with that, and we'll continue on with this section. This is a fairly lengthy subsection. It can be broken into parts, but hopefully it won't take too long to get through it. It did take a while to write it, but hopefully we can proceed at a good pace. But remember, brethren, we have to do all that we can do with all of our might, striving for excellence in all we do, and remembering the uncertainties of this life, and plan accordingly. All of this is part of wisdom. So again, as we're talking about here, we are to give it our all with wisdom and diligence. That is what we're learning in this section. This is something we know, but Solomon is pounding this into our heads for good reason, because this is what will help us to endure the troubles of this world and make it all the way into God's kingdom.