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My God and My Neighbor is a “Bible talk show” that looks at religious issues, Christian living and world events in light of the Word of God to give hope. This podcast is a ministry of Tennessee Bible College. TBC offers a bachelor's in Bible studies, a master of theology, and a doctorate of theology in apologetics and Christian evidences. TBC also provides Christian books, audio recordings on the Bible, and free Bible courses in English and Spanish. Tune in to My God and My Neighbor to experience the educational content that TBC has been delivering for nearly five decades!
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Hi, I’m Kerry Duke, host of My God and My Neighbor podcast from Tennessee Bible College, where we see the Bible as not just another book, but the Book. Join us in a study of the inspired Word to strengthen your faith and to share what you've learned with others.
One of the great books in the Bible on sin and suffering is the Book of Ecclesiastes, and yet it is often overlooked, probably because it's misunderstood or just not given a fair hearing. A lot of people see this writing as a pessimistic, depressing book, but the truth is there's great wisdom and great peace in this book if we will just listen to it. Remember, it's inspired just like any other writing in the Bible, but it was also written by a man that was given special wisdom from God, a man who was powerful, a man who was wealthy, and a man who, in his own words, had seen it all.
We're talking of course about Solomon. We've already seen some great verses on the subject of evil and human pain in chapters one through four. Now in this lesson, we'll see even more needed insights and direction in Ecclesiastes chapters five through 12. I won't be able to read all of those chapters, but I do intend to survey them.
I'm going to select some of the key verses in these chapters on this great subject that we're looking at. So let's get started in chapter five. The first verse that I want to look at is chapter five, verse eight. “If you see the oppression of the poor and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter; for high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them.”
I want you to notice what he says about how prevalent this kind of injustice was in his day. He said if you see it, then don't be surprised. And he said don't marvel at it. So here we are in our lives today, 3000 years after Solomon wrote these words, and we need to listen to what he says. Don't be surprised, don't be shocked, and don't be addicted to bad news. Solomon said don't marvel at the matter.
Next what you find is that he talks about a subject that gives us a lot of stress and a lot of heartache in life if we're not careful, and that is the subject of money. In Ecclesiastes chapter five, verse 10, he says, “He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with increase.
This also is vanity.” How many people today need to learn that lesson? How many times do we need to be reminded of this? Solomon says that silver will not give you any satisfaction. Now, of course, the same thing would apply to dollars. That would apply to land, that would apply to any kind of possession that you have, regardless of what it is.
He said it's not going to give you any internal satisfaction. Remember, this book is about vanity, that is, emptiness, and he says if you love that kind of thing, it will not give you any satisfaction whatsoever. Notice what he says in verse 11 about goods, that is, possessions. He says, “When goods increase, they increase who eat them. So what profit have the owners except to see them with their eyes?” What a simple and powerful insight this is. He talks about those who increase, those who are making money and tend to make more. In other words, they're doing well for themselves as far as this life is concerned. And then he asks a question. Let's suppose that you're doing well and you've accumulated a lot of money or a lot of land and possessions in this life.
What do you have? What good has it done you? What good is it doing you? The wisest, the most powerful and the most wealthy man in the world said what good is all that? What profit have the owners? He said basically one thing: to see them with their eyes. You just look at them. You can't enjoy all of that at once. You can only look at most of that. So let's suppose that you have 10,000 acres. How much of that can you enjoy at one time? Or suppose that you have a house that has 100 rooms in it. How many of those rooms can you enjoy? How many of those rooms would you even notice or want to spend time in? If you have a house or you have a car, or you have jewelry that's very beautiful, or anything that's of value, what can you really do with it? You know, as we say, the new wears off of something very quickly, and oftentimes we get tired of looking at it. This is what Solomon said 3000 years ago.
Notice verse 12. “The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.” The rich man he says is not able to sleep. Now, remember, the rich man here is a man who puts his trust in riches. It's not necessarily somebody like Abraham in the Bible who is very rich, but he had faith in God and God had blessed him. But the rich man here is trusting in his riches and he's worried about that. He's always thinking about how to make more and how to hold on to what he has. And because of that, he doesn't sleep as well as a man who has very little or much. It doesn't make any difference. The Bible says the sleep of a laboring man is sweet. Whether he eats little or much, he doesn't have that worry that a rich man has.
And then in verse 15, we have these famous words. “As he came from his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and he shall take nothing from his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.” Now that sounds very much like what Paul said in First Timothy chapter six, verse seven: “But godliness with contentment is great gain; and having food raiment let us be therewith content. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.”
Now, let's notice a few verses in chapter six. The first thing that he talks about in chapter six is that life can be very unfair. Notice this sad situation that he describes [and you've seen people like this]. In Ecclesiastes chapter six, verse six he says, “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men. A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing for himself of all that he desires.”
So here's a man who has it all. Here's a man who has money. He has respect from other people. He's done well in life and it looks like that he ought to be able to enjoy that for himself. But he says this: “Yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity and it is an evil affliction.”
That seems unfair, doesn't it? After all, you would think that if a man has these things in life, if God has blessed him with material goods, that at least he ought to be able to enjoy those things. But sometimes that doesn't happen, and we have to remember this life does not owe us. God does not owe us.
Sometimes we get the idea that just because we have certain things and we have certain plans in life, that God is going to bless us with the time to enjoy all that we envision, and the Bible doesn't give us that promise because our life is a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away [James four verse 14]. When you think about it, it's good that sometimes we see people who have these advantages in life, and it just looks like that they're at a point where they can really enjoy their life. And then tragedy strikes. It may be a disease, it may be war, it may be an accident, but they're not able to enjoy life the way that many people thought they would or that they planned on enjoying.But the good side of this, the upside to this tragedy in life, is that it helps us to realize again that this world is not our home.
And notice in verse three that he gives another scenario. He says, “If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years so that the days of his years are many…” So here's a man who lives a long life, yet he says, “but his soul is not satisfied with goodness. Or indeed he has no burial.” Solomon said, “I say that a stillborn child is better than he.” That's a tragic thing in life, and it just seems so unfair. Now, remember, don't think of this book as being pessimistic. Don't think of this book as being depressing. God is trying to teach us the nature of this life. This world is not our home, and God is trying to help us to realize that the simple pleasures of life are the most enjoyable anyway.
Notice later in this chapter that Solomon brings us down to earth. He brings us back to our senses. Notice in verse 10: “Whatever one is, he has been named already, for it is known that he is man; and he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he. Since there are many things that increase vanity, how is man the better? For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow. Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?” We don't know the future, and that brings stress upon us if we don't have faith.
Next is chapter seven. Let's look at verse three. Here's an important insight. It's something that you have thought about before. You have learned this lesson, but we need to be reminded of it. It's a simple statement, but consider this. Ecclesiastes chapter seven verse three. “Sorrow is better than laughter for by a sad countenance, the heart is made better.” We say that there is healing in tears. That does not mean, and Solomon is not saying, that it's wrong to laugh. He's saying that sometimes you need to cry because sorrow in that sense is better than laughter. Your heart is healed. Your heart is made better through tears. Remember that when you face the hardships of life.
Now look down at verse 10. “Do not say, why were the former days better than these? For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.” He says we don't need to dwell on the past too much. Oh, it's good to remember sometimes the past so that we can appreciate the present, but when we start comparing too much, we get things out of proportion. Sometimes when we brag about the good old days, we forget how many bad days were back there in the good old days. Life really doesn't change that much. Remember what he said in the very beginning of this book in Ecclesiastes chapter one, verse nine: there is nothing new under the sun.
Notice next in Ecclesiastes seven, verse 14: “In the day of prosperity, be joyful. But in the day of adversity, consider; surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, so that man can find out nothing that will come after him.” If you ask the question “Why does life have to have so many bad days in it?” look at this verse. This verse says if you have a good day [that is, a day of prosperity; and again, the word prosperity doesn't necessarily mean that you're rich—it just means that you're having a good day] he says to enjoy that. Sometimes good Christian people spoil their good days by worrying about what's going to happen tomorrow or by dwelling on the past. He says, take advantage of that.
If you have a good, clear day where God has blessed you, then take advantage of that opportunity and enjoy it. That's what he says in verse 14. In that kind of day, in a prosperous, that is in a good day, be joyful. But in the day of adversity, consider. He didn't say in the day of adversity worry yourself to death. He said in the day of adversity you need to think, you need to consider, you need to be more serious about your life and about what's taken place.But then notice in verse 14 that the Bible says God surely has appointed the one as well as the other. Not every day is going to be a good day. Not every day is going to be a bad day. God did not make life so that all of our days will be enjoyable and He didn't make life so that all of our days are miserable. He has appointed the one as well as the other, and He did that for a reason: so that man can find out nothing that will come after him. In other words, you don't know what kind of day is coming next. You can plan on having a good day tomorrow, but it may or may not be. You can fear that you will have a bad day tomorrow, but you don't know that. You don't know the future.
So in this book of Ecclesiastes, one of the things that he talks about so much is that we do not know the future. And what is it that causes us so much worry? What is it that causes us so much heartache in life? What is it that causes us so much stress? It's the fact that we don't know the future, and yet, almost inevitably, we try to predict the future. Solomon said, you don't know.
Notice in verse 15 that he talks about injustice and unfairness and life again. In Ecclesiastes chapter seven, verse 15, he said, “I have seen everything in my days of vanity. There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.” That's not fair. That's not right, is it? And yet, that is the nature of this life. If you only look at things in this life, if you only see that far, then you're going to be miserable. You have to look beyond this life. You have to look to the judgment, which he's going to end in this book talking about in chapter eight. He goes back to this point of talking about the fact that we don't know what's going to happen next.
In chapter eight, verse six, he says, “Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, though the misery of man increases greatly. For he does not know what will happen. So who can tell him when it will occur?” Also, in chapter eight, he talks about the fact that sometimes governments especially don't do their job, and as a result, wickedness increases crime increases. Look at verse 11.
“Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” Now, that is a very important verse to remember. When you hear people saying, “Well, the death penalty won't do any good. If you put people to death, let's say, because they have killed someone, that's not going to keep these criminals from killing other people.”
Listen to what Solomon said. Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived and he was also inspired of God and Solomon said because the sentence against an evil work is not executed and executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” If you don't punish crime, it's going to get worse. Now common sense and experience ought to teach people that, but inspiration definitely says that here. So why do we have a world with so much evil in it? Part of the reason is because people will not do their job like the Bible teaches here in Ecclesiastes eight verse 11.
But let's look at verse 14. He again talks about injustice. He said there's a vanity which occurs on earth that “there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked.” In other words, these people are just, they are upright, and yet what happens to them in life is what you would expect to happen to a wicked man. Again, “there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous.” And Solomon said, “I said that this is also vanity.” Now again, he's setting forth a problem here. He's not giving an answer to all this right now at this point. He is just pointing out the fact that in life we see so many of these things.
Chapter nine in verse one, he says, “For I considered all this in my heart so that I could declare it all, that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God.” Think about what he just said. The Bible says that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. That means that your life is in the hand of God. You cannot even breathe without God. The Bible says that God gives to all life and breath and all things [Acts 17 verse 25]. Our lives are in the hand of God, and yet we think that we've got control.
You have control. You have power over the moral choices that you make, over the spiritual destiny that you will have. Yes, you decide what kind of person you are going to be as far as spirituality is concerned, but in many of the aspects of life we need to admit, and we desperately need to remember, that our lives are in the hand of Almighty God.
If you're a Christian, that should humble you, but it should also comfort you. That should give you peace. That should give you great security. My life is in the hand of God. Then beginning in verse two, he goes back to what he talked about originally in this book. For the first time in chapter two, he used the expression “one event.”
What is that one event? It's death. He talks about this in particular here in chapter nine. He says in verse two, “All things come alike to all. One event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good, the clean, and to the unclean, to him who sacrifices, and to him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner. He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath. “This is what happens to people. “It is appointed to men once to die, but after this, the judgment” [Heb. 9:27]. That's not bad depressing news for a Christian because the Bible teaches us that when we die, then we will receive our reward as Christians. It's not something to fear.
The Bible says in Hebrews chapter two, verse 15, that Jesus died so that He might release, that is, or deliver those who “through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” When you go around living in the fear of death, when you're afraid of dying all the time, you are a slave to that fear. You are in bondage. You are in a prison of fear. The Bible says that Jesus died to release us from that prison. And when we obey the gospel of Jesus Christ and live for God, then we can be free from that fear.
And here's something else to remember about this life in chapter nine, verse 11. The Bible shows that life can be very unpredictable. The least likely thing can happen. Accidents do happen in life and things don't always go by a certain pattern. In Chapter nine, verse 11, he said, “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 happen to them all.”
Now look at what he says. He says the race is not to the fastest. What does he mean by that? Well, usually the race is won by the fastest or the quickest, but not every time. Accidents happen. The unexpected happens. He says the battle is not to the strongest. Usually the strongest one wins, but not always. Nor is there bread to the wise. Usually men that are shrewd are able to get bread [and that represents money and everything else that goes with it] nor riches to men of understanding. Some people have a knack for making money, but sometimes they go broke. You just can't always predict that. “Nor favor to men of skill.” Usually men that have ability and talent are favored. That is, people give them jobs. They have great respect for them. They're promoted and so forth, but sometimes that doesn't happen. Why? Because he says in this life time and chance happen to them all. The least predictable things can happen in life, and that can seem unfair, but that's just a part of life.
Now look at chapter 10, and here's another example of how life can change very suddenly. It can change dramatically in an instant. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 10, verse five. “There is an evil I have seen under the sun as an error proceeding from the ruler. Folly is set in great dignity, while the rich sit in a low place.”
Now usually, normally, you don't expect a fool to be in a position of power. Yet sometimes that happens. Sometimes, he says, “folly is set in great dignity,” that is, in positions of great honor. That's not right. That's not appropriate. But sometimes that does occur. He says “while the rich sit in a lowly place.” You would expect the rich to be seated, that is to be in a position of great honor and respect, but that doesn't always happen.
Notice what he says in verse seven. Here is how quickly life can change. Back in those days, if you were riding on a horse, or if you were in a chariot, that meant that you had money. That meant that you had power and respect. If you walked on the ground, you couldn't afford a horse, you couldn't afford anything else, that meant that you were a servant or that you just didn't have the money that other people did. But Solomon said I've seen that reversed. I've seen those roles change very quickly. Verse seven: I have seen servants on horses while princes walk on the ground like servants. Now that can happen, especially in a time of war. A war can turn a nation upside down. The slaves become rulers, and the rulers become slaves.
Notice in chapter 11 beginning in verse nine that he talks about life and the evil that occurs, and he says these words to young people. In Ecclesiastes, chapter 11, verse nine, he says, “Rejoice, O young man in your youth.” Now remember, a young man in the Bible is not necessarily a teenager. It can be somebody in his twenties. It could be someone in his thirties, even in their early forties. But he talks about youth and he says these words: “Rejoice O young man in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.” Now it sounds like at the first that he's telling young people to do whatever they want to do. Have your own way, do what you want to do. But Solomon is chiding young people who are going to do what they want to do regardless of what anybody says.
He's using a tone of godly sarcasm here, a note of irony. He says you go ahead and do what you want to do, but you just remember that God is going to bring you into judgment. In verse 10 he says, “Therefore remove sorrow from your heart and put away evil from your flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.”
Now that brings us to Ecclesiastes chapter 12, and in Ecclesiastes 12 verses one through seven, Solomon takes us on a journey from youth to the grave. Listen to what he says in Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse one. “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come and the years draw nigh when you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’
The King James uses the word “evil” rather than the word “difficult.” He's talking in this section about the years of old age, and he says that they're going to be difficult days then. Now there are hard times that we face in childhood and middle years and in old age. Here in particular, he's talking about the latter years, and he says that you need to remember your Creator while you're young.
Why? Because he says these hard times are coming and when they come, you are not going to enjoy your life like you did, because your body is going to distract you. You're going to feel your body going back to the dust. We hate to think about that. We don't like to admit it, but that's what happens as we age.
The Bible doesn't give us forever on this earth. The Bible gives us just a few years, and so that ought to be encouraging to Christians, not discouraging, because the Bible assures us in First Corinthians chapter 15 that we will receive a renewed, that is a resurrected, body—a body that is spiritual, a body that is immortal, a body that is incorruptible.
And so even though this dust will return to the earth, the Bible shows that we have that great promise of God. But here on earth the Bible says to remember your Creator while you're young and before you become so distracted by so many ailments or so many pains and problems of old age.
In verse two, he continues again. Remember that he says in verse one, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth.” Verse two: “While the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are not darkened and the clouds do not return after the rain. He's talking about those hardships of life when he talks about the sun and the light and the moon and the stars being darkened.
That just means, as we would say, that there are dark days ahead and the clouds returning after the rain means, as we would say in our way of talking, that sometimes it just seems like it's just one thing right after another that you have to contend with. Beginning in verse three he uses the illustration of a house to teach us lessons about what happens to the physical body as we age.
In verse three, he says, “In the day when the keepers of the house tremble.” He's talking about the arms and the hands, which were once strong, and yet they weaken with age. And then he says, “and the strong men bow down.” The strong men would refer to the back because that's the center of power in a man. And yet the back begins to bow over time
“When the grinders cease because they're few.” We don't like to think about this again, but this refers to the teeth.” “Those that look out through the windows grow dim.” Those that look out through the windows of the house represent your eyes, and so your eyes begin to get worse with age. Why? Because your body is going down.
“When the doors are shut in the streets and the sound of grinding is low.” We can't hear as good when we're older. “The doors are shut in the streets and the sound of grinding is low.” What does that refer to? Back in those days, oftentimes women would make their own flour. They would get the wheat together, they would put it on a mortar, they would take a pestle, and they would grind it. And you could hear that crunching and grinding sound, and it was very irritating to a lot of people. But he says you reach a point where you can't really hear that much. It doesn't bother you because you can't hear that sound as clearly as you could before.”
Then he says in verse four, “When one rises up at the sound of a bird,” that is, he wakes up at the sound of a bird early in the morning and then he says, “and all the daughters of music are brought low.” Who are, or what are the daughters of music? That refers to the vocal chords. That's just a Hebrew symbolic way of talking about your voice. You're not able to talk as loud and as clearly as you were when you were younger, and people are usually not able to sing like they did when they were younger.
Then he says that as we age, we have fears that we didn't have when we were young. When you're young and you're vibrant and you're strong and you have all kinds of energy, you have confidence. As you age and your body goes down, you have fears that you didn't have before. So he says in verse five, “Also they are afraid of height.” When we're old, we're afraid of falling, and so we're afraid of heights and of “terrors in the way,” that is, there are different kinds of fears that are there. Now, this can be hard for women, but it can be especially hard for men who have had a strong body, who have never been afraid of anything much in their life, and suddenly they reach a point to where they're afraid of things that they never experienced before.
The Bible tells us that this is a time when “the almond tree blossoms.” The almond tree blossoms were white. This refers to, as the Bible says, the white hair or the hoary head. The grasshopper, he said at this time, will be a burden. When you're a child a grasshopper can be an adventure—to chase him, to catch a grasshopper. But the grasshopper tends to be a burden in life at this point.
“And desire fails.” His bodily desires are not what they used to be. Why? “For man goes to his eternal home and the mourners go about the streets.” He's saying to think about this before “the silver cord is loosed,” verse six, or “the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain or the wheel broken at the well.” That's death.
And in verse 7, he says, “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it”. This is the inevitable direction of life. If you live long enough, eventually what will happen to all of us is that our spirit will be separated from our body and that will occur at death.
So Solomon then gives us the real answer to the problem of evil, the problem of injustice, the problem of unfairness in life. You can't look at all the things that he's talking about and just end your thinking there. You have to keep this in perspective. That's why he ends this book by saying these famous words.
Ecclesiastes 12, 13, and 14: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”
Thank you for listening to My God and My Neighbor. Stay connected with our podcast on our website and on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever fine podcasts are distributed. Tennessee Bible College, providing Christian education since 1975 in Cookeville, Tennessee, offers undergraduate and graduate programs. Study at your level. Aim higher and get in touch with us today.