Lesson 15                                  

Ecclesiastes

The Things That Don't Work!

 

3:18 This is the 2nd in a series of six apparent anomalies to the thesis that he presented in 3:1-8 that God has a plan; He has created order in the world; and that for those operating above the sun - with the DVPT perspective of life every cycle or event of life has purpose and meaning.

Last week we looked at the first one, the problem of evil.

 

What is the 2nd anomaly Solomon addresses? - men and beasts both die!

 

I said to myself concerning the sons of men, (man ~d'a' - points to source of mankind’s problem - the fall and its consequences)  "God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts."

 

 

*** Testing by God always has a purpose  - for a believer it is to refine their character so that they might walk more closely in fellowship with God.

 

 

- This widespread lack of justice and righteousness is used by God to point out the reality of the BD of depravity of man.

 

- God proves again that environment is not the issue in ones spiritual condition.

 

3:19-20

For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.

 

:20  All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.

 

 

- His conclusions drawn from his observations based on the outward appearance:

- they have a common ending -  COMMON MORTALITY –  death

- they have the same breathe

- their physical bodies both return to the ground and to dust

 

 

   ** One of the signs of moral degeneracy - decay of a culture is the  blurring of the distinctions between man and animals.

 

3:21  Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?

 

- He presents here the view of the cynic and what he can observe of man and beasts end.

 

3:22 Advice recommendation for mortal man.

I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. (share – portion)  For who will bring him (the one who doesn't believe in life after death) to see what will occur after him?

 

- Since mankind is mortal, Solomon here is recommending that we enjoy our work and by metonymy the fruits of our labor - all that we  produce in that work.

 

DOES HE SAY?

- Try to understand your circumstances, find an answer for every event.

- Compare your lot with another person's and see how much better yours is than his.

- Retaliate, resent, become bitter, you didn't get a fair shake.

- Move to some lonely spot and grind out your twilight years in resentful silence.

- Get into a fantasy world; build a dream - live in that dream – work some where else but live there in that dream and you can make it.

 

I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities,

(shamach = to have joy - enjoyment) in his activities,  for that is his lot. (portion - share in life)

What he is saying is this:  Reject self-pity; Reject revenge tactics, Reject resentment,  Reject resentment, Reject retaliation.

 

 

You have a  big advantage - being positionally IN Christ - having the H/S indwell you - having renewed the N&S of your conscience to His perspective. Then no matter what life throws at you if you utilize the advantages you have, all the disadvantages will melt into insignificance.

 

For who will bring him (unbeliever - the skeptic who doesn't believe in life after death - that there is no difference between man and animals) to see what will occur after him? 

 

 

Chapter Four

 

4:1-16 Relationships in disarray

- deals with four areas where man has a real problem living and working together

- major contributing factors in all four is the over valuing of material possessions.

 

4:1  Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun.  - (further reflections on injustice 3:16)

-  'asheq   qv;[' (3 x’s)  - deals with the abuse of power and authority, the burdening, trampling, and crushing of those lower in station.

 

Zech 7:10 cf Jer 7:6; Ezk 22:29; Hos 12:7; Amos 4:1; Mic 2:1-3; Mal 3:5

 

And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power,

- choaq -  x;AK strength, power and authority

but they had no one to comfort them.

 

** B.L. Man living under the sun therefore with the human Vpt perspective of life and w/o God, to him life has absolutely no meaning, no worth, no value.

 

OBSERVATIONS:

1.  THE OPPRESSOR IS A REPROACH TO GOD. Prov. 14:31

 

2.  Power often leads to arrogance which leads to oppression.

 

3.  Man under the sun w/o God has no comfort. 2 Cor 1:3-4 (God is primary   cause and fellow bel's are secondary means of comfort.)  also Heb 10:25

 

4:2 So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living.

 

-  lit. when he says I congratulate the dead he is saying that he thought they were more fortunate - no longer were they suffering oppression

 

4:3   But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

 

 **  B.L. Man living under the sun therefore with the human Vpt perspective of life and w/o God, to him life has absolutely no meaning, no worth, no value.

OBSERVATIONS:

1.  Notice that even in his "under the sun" vpt he does not express another escape from the oppression and suffering and that is suicide.

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Life apart from DVPT (under the sun) is designed to produce despair.

 

 

 

 

3.  If we as bel's attempt to inspire hope in others apart from directing them to God and His word, we're encouraging spiritual delinquency.

 

 

 

 

4.  Any other course, any other advice is putting them in the same cycle that Solomon was in. FSH from pursuing the details of life under the sun.