Introduction: What an incredible book! Thus far, we have seen clearly that a life, lived without God, is a life without hope. Though many would deny it, one's perspective on life is determined by one's position in life. What I mean by this is, when a Christian lives outside the will of God, he is left to his own devices, and this directly influences his outlook. Solomon had, for many years, lived a life outside the perfect will of God; so his view of life did not consider the will of God. For him, life was hopeless and had no point. Though a king, he lived without direction.
This brings us to chapter 3. From this chapter and others in Ecclesiastes, a false teaching has crept into a number of religions. Does Ecclesiastes teach that men die like animals and that there is no life after death? Let's answer this question before we pursue our main Bible study.
The following are the "death verses" in Ecclesiastes:
* "The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool." (Ecclesiastes 2:14-16)
* "And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?" (Ecclesiastes 3:16-22)
* "There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease. If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he. For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness. Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other. Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?" (Ecclesiastes 6:1-6)
* "It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." (Ecclesiastes 7:2-4)
* "For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead. For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion." (Ecclesiastes 9:1-4)
You will note that Solomon does believe in life after death.
* "I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work." (Ecclesiastes 3:17)
* "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment." (Ecclesiastes 11:9)
* "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:14)
If there is no life after death, how can there be a future judgment after death? Obviously, Solomon believed in the hereafter. This is where you must remember that Solomon is teaching his family, servants, and friends what life was like for him outside the will of God.
In Ecclesiastes 3:19-20, you will recall that man and beast both go to the same place, "...All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." The one place both man and beast go to is dust.
Also note that, in verse 21, the spirit of man goes back to God. This brings up another point of doctrinal error. Does this verse teach that the Mormon's are right in believing that we start out in Heaven as spirit children, are then born on earth, and God's will for us is to work our way back to Heaven? Absolutely not! The reason the spirit goes back to God is because it is God Who gave man his spirit to begin with. This is borne out further in Ecclesiastes 12:7, "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."
In Ecclesiastes 3, we find Solomon viewing earthly events from a purely human perspective. His perspective is noted in verses 1-8:
- To be born and to die; 3:2a.
- To plant and to harvest; 3:2b.
- To kill and to heal; 3:3a.
- To tear down and to build up; 3:3b.
- To cry and to laugh; 3:4a.
- To grieve and to dance; 3:4b.
- To scatter and to gather; 3:5a.
- To embrace and to turn away; 3:5b.
- To search and to lose; 3:6a.
- To keep and to throw away; 3:6b.
- To tear and to mend; 3:7a.
- To be quiet and to speak; 3:7b.
- To love and to hate; 3:8a.
- To wage war and to pursue peace; 3:8b.
In other words, life is pretty much status quo. It's same-ol', same-ol'. For the most part, Solomon is correct; but when life is lived outside the will of God, there is no more to look forward to than the status quo and the same-ol', same-ol'.
Solomon concludes that God alone can separate time from eternity, "What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end...I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him." (Ecclesiastes 3:9-11, 14)
Solomon also observed two very important truths:
- What God had done, "That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past." (Ecclesiastes 3:15) God never one time lost control of life.
- What God will do, "And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work." (Ecclesiastes 3:16,17) God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked.
Conclusion: Solomon clearly teaches that life, lived outside the will of God, is empty and fruitless. Is it any wonder that he concluded earlier that all in life was vanity? For Solomon, life had become status quo and same-ol', same-ol'. He had nothing to look forward to and nothing to look back on; all was vanity.
Solomon seems to emphasize that, knowing the will of God and doing it, is the single most important thing a man can do. Has life become status quo and same-ol', same-ol' for you?