Ecclesiastes 9:1-9
Ecclesiastes
9:1
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.
Then Solomon declares to his readers that he declared the
truth in this matter concerning the righteous and wise man that all their works
are in the hands of God whether they be blessed by the Lord or they are to be
rejected.
Now if any man build upon this foundation
gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
(1 Corinthians 3:12)
Sometimes the Christian may do works which amount to wood, hay or stubble which
means they are of no value. This is
because man is so fickle that he sometimes does not have the discernment to know
the difference between doing a work out of hatred or love.
This is why God must judge all the works appropriately to see which works
are of value, especially eternal value.
For example, if a Christian involves themselves in missions, then it is
eternal value but if they campaign to save the whales, it is of temporary value
which would be considered wood, hay or stubble in light of eternity.
Ecclesiastes
9:2
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.
Then Solomon makes a general statement concerning the
great equalizer which comes to all people.
He mentions the righteous first in that their righteousness can never
prevent the day of their death. The
wicked will also die even though they will do what they can to prolong life.
Those who are good in this, that is, those who are altruistic and enjoy
helping others cannot prevent the day of their death.
Then the clean and the unclean alike will eventually come to their day of
death. Then those who sacrificeth
which could refer to the sacrifices required under the Mosaic law which is in
keeping with the law of God and those who do not sacrifice which could be
referring to the pagans who are of false religions.
These two groups also will come to the day of their death.
Then he contrasts the good man which in this case would be those who are
saved versus the sinner who remains unconverted, both of them share the same
physical fate as all the world.
Then those who swear an oath and fulfill that oath along with the one who fears
to make any oath to the Lord or to anyone.
In other words, Solomon is stating that no matter how good or how evil a
person is, they will come to their day of death.
What man is he that liveth, and
shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?
Selah. (Psalm 89:48)
Ecclesiastes
9:3
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.
Then Solomon speaks about death being the great calamity
which comes unto all people but here another evil he sees is that people seem to
pledge all their life to this earth and to amass as much as this world can give
them. People will remain evil as
they live by the folly which is in their heart and never take into consideration
that their actions upon earth will affect their eternity.
The evil man never considers the fact that eventually they will die and
there will be consequences for their actions which they will face that will have
eternal consequences.
Ecclesiastes
9:4
For to him that is joined to all the living there is
hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
Those who are alive can still have hope, not just in
having a better life if they walk away from evil ways but there is still hope
that a person can become saved and have eternal life.
The lion is considered the king of animals which may refer to a great man
who has died and therefore his hopes have died with him.
When a wicked man dieth, his
expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth.
(Proverbs 11:7) A dog
was considered an unclean animal but a live person who is unsaved has the hope
that someday they might become saved but if one dies, their fate is sealed on
this side of the grave and therefore the unsaved in death have no hope no matter
who prays for them.
Ecclesiastes
9:5
For the living know that they shall die: but the dead
know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them
is forgotten.
In this particular verse Solomon is stating that even
though people do not wish to admit it, every living person on earth will
experience death although some live their entire lives in compete denial of that
fact. The living are conscious of
all that is around them in contrast to the person who is dead that knows nothing
because they cannot increase in knowledge of worldly things.
Solomon is not advocating soul sleep or annihilation but is speaking
about death to this physical world.
Those who are dead cannot experience any reward for doing good in this life or
they cannot experience any good for their labor for the time for that has passed
with their death. Since the dead are
dead, the memory of good things a person has also passed from them making them a
forgotten memory. This also speaks
about the fact that the dead, after a while, are forgotten especially those who
were wicked in their lives.
Ecclesiastes
9:6
Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now
perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that
is done under the sun.
Here is the reality of the physical dead.
They have no more emotional ties to this life written as love or hatred
which covers the whole emotional spectrum.
If they had any envy or jealousies in this life, then all those evil
feelings are existent no more and they can have nothing to do with anything more
that is done under the sun. The
dead are sequestered from this life by means of them being buried and the only
thing they can do now is to decompose.
Life now goes on even without them.
Sometimes that is a hard pill to swallow knowing that someday we will all
be physically dead and then after we die, life goes on as if nothing happened
and our friends and relatives go back to their normal lives while occasionally
they think about us or mention us but eventually that will wane.
Ecclesiastes
9:7
Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine
with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
Now Solomon commends the person who does all things in
proper proportion. Here he tells
the people to eat thy bread with joy which means to eat what the Lord has
provided for you and to be happy with the food which he has bountifully blessed
and given to you. Then he tells
them to drink wine with a merry heart.
He is not advocating drunkenness nor having a booze and feast orgy or a
Super Bowl party. Wine was a staple
drink along with bread being a staple food in the Middle East and both were
drunk at a normal meal. Keep in
mind the water purification was not good at that time in history and that is why
they drank wine with the meals.
Look not thou upon the wine when it is
red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
(Proverbs 23:31) In
Proverbs 23:31, Solomon is warning those who get drunk with wine instead of
using it as a part of the meal. The
wine back then was not like the wine is today.
Distillation started in the 11th century when alcohol was
added to drinks. The last part of
our verse is that God accepts their works.
This is not works for salvation because that can never be according to
the rest of the Scriptures. The
work he is accepting is the fact that people are enjoying the things which God
gave to the people of this world in both food and recreation and allowing
success to happen in our daily work.
To enjoy the good things which God has given us pleases him.
To enjoy the oceans, the parks, the skies, the mountains, the scenery and
all the natural things God gave us which helps us see the beauty of the creation
which God gave us thus helping us to stay healthy and appreciative of all he has
given us.
Ecclesiastes
9:8
Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack
no ointment.
In the Middle east, especially in the very warm
countries, white clothing is generally and frequently worn than colored
clothing. One of the reasons for
this is white clothing tends to reflect the sun instead of colored clothing
which absorbs the sun and thus making it warmer to wear.
The wearing of white also carries with it the meaning of perpetual purity
which would have been readily appreciated by the Oriental mind.
When
Jesus was transfigured his clothing became white as the
light.
And was transfigured before them: and his
face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
(Matthew 17:2) The
redeemed of the Lord are going to be clothed in white.
And the armies which were in
heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
(Revelation 19:14) In
the Middle East white clothing was worn as a sign of joyful times.
The ointment speaks of a custom in the Middle East where guests are
anointed with oil when visiting for a feast.
The Lord himself anoints the head of the true believer with oil showing
they are part of his family.
Thou preparest a table before me in the
presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
(Psalm 23:5) The Bible
also symbolizes the Holy Spirit with oil.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon
me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he
hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
(Isaiah 61:1) In other
words, may the person always have the blessing of God upon their life especially
in the life of a true believer.
It is like the precious ointment upon the
head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the
skirts of his garments; (Psalm
133:2)
Ecclesiastes
9:9
Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days
of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days
of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy
labour which thou takest under the sun.