Ecclesiastes 3:12-22 “Whatsoever God Doeth, It Shall Be For Ever”

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Ecc 3:12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.

Ecc 3:13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

Ecc 3:14 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.

Ecc 3:15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

Ecc 3:16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

Ecc 3:17 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.

Ecc 3:18 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.

Ecc 3:19 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.

Ecc 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

Ecc 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

Ecc 3:22 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?

Introduction

We have seen the differences in the tone of the book of Ecclesiastes and the book of Proverbs. Proverbs was written by the same author, but it was written while Solomon was younger, and still optimistic about his relationship with God.

That spirit of optimistic bliss is the “anon with joy”, Christ spoke of in His parable of the sower:

Mat 13:20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

Mat 13:21 Yet hath he not root [ Christ is “the root”] in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

Solomon, who is the symbol of who we are, received the word of God with gladness, but when tribulation or persecution came from his wives, he became offended by the requirement of being faithful to his first love, the true God, and his wives replaced that love. He feared offending his wives, the world, more than he feared offending his Creator.

Another way of understanding what happens to us all and what happened to King Solomon as a type of us, is this:

Rev 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

Rev 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.

Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

One more way of making this point is the healing of the deadly wound dealt to the beast within us all:

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

Rev 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Christ is that deep rooted faith that is lacking in the parable of the sower, He is our first love which we lose in the admonition to the church of Ephesus, and He it is who deals to us the deadly wound of our beast. But we live by every word, and all of these things are ours, so we all, first have no depth of root, we all lose our first love, and we all experience a time in our lives when our deadly wound is healed and we go right back to being a super healthy beast, seven times more resistant to the Word of God than we were at the first. And it is all accomplished by the last and most powerful of our beastly inclinations, “the pride of life” and its always attendant desire to please this world instead of pleasing our God.

Jas 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

In Ecclesiastes all the benefits of serving God all the days of our lives have been reduced to:

Ecc 3:22 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?

Solomon repeats this empty and hopeless statement again in this book:

Ecc 8:15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.

This is the state to which we all must come before “the seven plagues of the seven angels are fulfilled” within us to bring us back to “our former estate” of having received “a deadly wound” to the beast within who can see nothing more than our “own works… [ our] labor” and its temporal joys and temporal pleasures.

Contrast this spirit which has taken hold of Solomon, the type of our own revived beast, with these words of Christ through this same author:

Ecc 3:11 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.

Ecc 3:12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.

Ecc 3:13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

As the apostles tell us, there was no spiritual truth until Christ came to reveal His Father:

Joh 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

The law of Moses had no promise of life eternal, but the law of the spirit is the promise of immortality and life.

Joh 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Solomon had no such hope and so concluded “there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice and do good in his life… eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor”. That is what we think is “the gift of God” while we live to please our own belly.

Solomon repeats this mindset in chapter 8:

Ecc 8:15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.

Nevertheless, Ecclesiastes is the inspired word of God which reveals to us the spirit which is just naturally within us.

It also reveals that God alone is sovereign, and is working His will in all things:

Ecc 3:14 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.

And just what is it that God is “doing”?

Pro 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Lam 3:37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?

Lam 3:38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

So verse 14 is just a repetition of what we were told in the first chapter of this book:

Ecc 1:15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

Solomon repeats this for our own edification:

Ecc 7:13 Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?

“What God does it shall be forever”. It was He who made flesh in a marred, naked condition of a corruptible composition, and all of the sermons to the contrary will not change that. Our old first man Adam is doomed to destruction by design, and “nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it”.

Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Hebrew 13 is a chapter which encourages us to follow the examples of those who have lived in the faith before us:

Heb 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Heb 13:3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

In a verse which seems to be completely out of place in this chapter were read this:

Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Christ does not change. Man may think he is inventing something new, but the fact of all scientific discovery is just that. It is nothing more than the discovery of what has always been there all along. It is nothing more than the discovery of what God has always known and who He has always been, and that is exactly what we are told:

Ecc 3:15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

We read that all things are ours:

1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

“All things are ours… things present and things to come”. But does “all things” also include the things which are past? Yes, even the things past are just as much a part of “the first man Adam” within us all as the things present and things to come. “… And God requires that which is past”.

This statement is confirmed by no less than Christ Himself:

Luk 11:48 Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.

Luk 11:49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:

Luk 11:50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

Luk 11:51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

If you and I place these words on the Jews of Christ’s generation alone, then they have no efficacy for us whatsoever. “All things are ours, things present, and things to come… and God requires that which is past”. It is all just God’s way of telling us:

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

It is all simply part of the “one event” that “comes alike to all” on Ecc 9:2:

Ecc 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.

We are all born in bodies of sinful flesh and must relinquish that which “cannot inherit the kingdom of God”.

Ecc 3:16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

Ecc 3:17 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.

The God of our apostate state shows no mercy, whereas the God our Lord served teaches us this:

Jas 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

Wickedness is in the place of judgment, and iniquity is in the place of righteousness. Nevertheless, God has already judged the righteousness and the wickedness within the kingdom of our beast, and He has decreed that the kingdom of our old man will be destroyed by the brightness of His coming and that “He himself shall be saved yet so as by fire”:

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

What is this “fire [ which] shall try every man’s work”? Here is what Christ tells us is trying us, and will try us all:

Joh 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Ecc 3:18 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.

Ecc 3:19 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.

Ecc 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

Here we have a clear Biblical statement which informs us of our true “estate”, and what we are told is that we are mere beasts at this point. What befalls the sons of men befalls beasts, they all have one breath, and the Hebrew word is ‘ruach’ which is the Hebrew word for ‘spirit’. Men and beasts both have the same spirit. They are both “of the dust and… return to dust again”.

Many of the commentaries want to present these verses as nothing more than the opinion of Solomon in his apostatized state. Here is Gill’s commentary on this verse:

“There is indeed a difference between a man and a beast; though they have one breath, they have not one spirit or soul; man has a rational and immortal soul, which, when he dies, goes upwards to God that gave it; to be judged by him, and disposed of by him, in its proper apartment, until the day of the resurrection of the body;”

Wow! What a blatant lie! The serpent himself is the author of that lie! Should we believe Gill and many other commentaries, who agree with the serpent, who told Adam and Eve the same thing? Gill and the orthodox Christian church teach this very same doctrine which the serpent in the garden of Eden taught to Eve:

Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: [‘Why you have “a rational and immortal soul” and God is a liar.’]

Gen 3:5 for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.

Or should we believe the words of Him who created Adam and Eve?

Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

When we apply the principle of the sum of God’s word as the means of revealing truth, we can indeed determine that there is more to “the gift of God”, mentioned in verse 13, than simply to “enjoy the good of all his labour”. Solomon’s spirit of desperation and futility is indeed the fruit of his following his wives and pleasing their gods, instead of being faithful to his God.

Here is the result of serving the flesh and obeying men rather than God:

Ecc 3:12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.

Ecc 3:13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

Solomon thought that was all this life had to offer. So there are statements in this book which are made from the mind of an apostate king. But Ezekiel was not apostatized when he was inspired to tell us:

Eze 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

The phrase “immortal soul” is not to be found in the entire Bible, simply because every writer of the Old and New Testaments knew fully well that “the soul that sins, it shall die”.

Peter and Paul were not apostatized when they made these statements:

Act 2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.

Act 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

Act 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

Act 2:32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.

Act 2:33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

Act 2:34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,

1Co 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

1Co 15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

When the soul is left in hades or sheol, it corrupts and returns to dust, as King David proves. His soul was left in hades and it did see corruption. It certainly did not go to heaven: “For David is not ascended into the heavens”. Who do we believe? The serpent or God and His Word?

“Concerning the estate of the sons of men… they themselves are beasts… 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“.

It was Christ Himself who told us all this at the very beginning:

Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

So the doctrine of scripture is that man is a physical being, in the process of having a spiritual experience. He is not a spirit being having a physical experience. That is why the New Testament tells us, “… if Christ be not raised [ from the dead], your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.”

After having just informed us that “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“, Solomon challenges all who believe otherwise:

Ecc 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit [ Hebrew – ruach] of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

It seems incredible that it has been done, but the word breath in verse 19 is the same Hebrew word ‘ruach’, as the word that is correctly translated as ‘spirit’ in this 21st verse. With just one verse between them, the translators saw fit to give this word two totally different translations. In verse 19 it is translated as ‘breath’, then here in verse 21 it is correctly translated as ‘spirit’. Why would they do that?

There is a very good reason, and it has everything to do with the bias of the translators. Let’s read verse 19 again as it appears in the King James Version:

Ecc 3:19 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.

Here now is Strong’s Concordances entries for this Hebrew word ‘ruach’.

H7307

רוּח

rûach

Total KJV Occurrences: 379

spirit, 227

Gen_6:2-3 (2), Gen_41:8, Gen_41:38, Gen_45:27, Exo_6:9, Exo_31:3 (2), Exo_35:21, Exo_35:31, Num_5:14 (2), Num_5:30, Num_11:17, Num_11:25-26 (3), Num_11:29, Num_14:24, Num_24:2, Num_27:18, Deu_2:30, Deu_34:9, Jos_5:1, Jdg_3:10, Jdg_6:34, Jdg_9:23, Jdg_11:29, Jdg_13:25, Jdg_14:6, Jdg_14:19, Jdg_15:14, Jdg_15:19, 1Sa_1:15, 1Sa_10:6, 1Sa_10:10, 1Sa_11:6, 1Sa_16:13-16 (5), 1Sa_16:23 (2), 1Sa_18:10, 1Sa_19:9, 1Sa_19:20, 1Sa_19:23, 1Sa_30:12, 2Sa_23:2, 1Ki_10:5, 1Ki_18:12, 1Ki_21:5, 1Ki_22:21-24 (4), 2Ki_2:9, 2Ki_2:15-16 (2), 1Ch_5:26 (2), 1Ch_12:18, 1Ch_28:12, 2Ch_9:4, 2Ch_15:1, 2Ch_18:20-23 (4), 2Ch_20:14, 2Ch_21:16, 2Ch_24:20, 2Ch_36:22, Ezr_1:1, Ezr_1:5, Neh_9:20, Neh_9:30, Job_4:15, Job_6:4, Job_15:11-13 (3), Job_21:3-4 (2), Job_26:13, Job_27:3, Job_32:8, Job_32:18, Job_33:4, Job_34:14, Psa_31:5, Psa_32:2, Psa_34:18, Psa_51:10-12 (3), Psa_51:17, Psa_76:12, Psa_77:3, Psa_77:6, Psa_78:8, Psa_104:30, Psa_106:33, Psa_139:7, Psa_143:3-4 (2), Psa_143:7, Psa_143:10, Pro_1:23, Pro_11:13, Pro_14:29, Pro_15:4, Pro_15:13, Pro_16:18-19 (2), Pro_16:32, Pro_17:22, Pro_17:27, Pro_18:14 (2), Pro_25:28, Pro_29:23, Ecc_1:14, Ecc_1:17, Ecc_2:11, Ecc_2:17, Ecc_2:26, Ecc_3:21 (2), Ecc_4:4, Ecc_4:6, Ecc_4:16, Ecc_6:9, Ecc_7:8-9 (3), Ecc_8:8 (2), Ecc_11:4-5 (2), Ecc_12:7, Isa_4:4 (2), Isa_19:2-3 (5), Isa_19:14, Isa_26:9, Isa_28:6, Isa_29:10, Isa_29:24, Isa_30:1, Isa_31:3, Isa_38:15-16 (3), Isa_40:7, Isa_40:13, Isa_42:1, Isa_42:5, Isa_44:3, Isa_48:16, Isa_54:6, Isa_57:15-16 (3), Isa_59:19, Isa_59:21, Isa_61:1, Isa_61:3, Isa_63:10-11 (2), Isa_65:14 (2), Isa_66:2, Eze_1:11-12 (2), Eze_1:20-21 (4), Eze_2:2, Eze_3:12, Eze_3:14 (2), Eze_3:24, Eze_8:3, Eze_10:17, Eze_11:1, Eze_11:5, Eze_11:19, Eze_11:24 (2), Eze_13:3, Eze_18:31, Eze_21:7, Eze_36:26-27 (2), Eze_37:1, Eze_37:14, Eze_39:29, Eze_43:5, Dan_2:1, Dan_2:3, Hos_4:12, Hos_5:4, Joe_2:28-29 (2), Mic_2:7, Mic_2:11, Mic_3:8, Hag_1:14 (3), Zec_4:5-6 (2), Zec_6:8, Zec_7:12, Zec_12:1, Zec_12:10, Zec_13:2, Mal_2:16

wind, 82

Gen_8:1, Exo_10:13 (2), Exo_10:19, Exo_14:21, Exo_15:10, Num_11:31, 2Sa_22:11, 1Ki_18:45, 1Ki_19:11 (3), 2Ki_3:17, Job_1:19, Job_6:26, Job_7:7, Job_15:2 (2), Job_21:18, Job_30:15, Job_30:22, Job_37:21, Psa_1:4, Psa_18:10, Psa_18:42, Psa_35:5, Psa_48:7, Psa_78:39, Psa_83:13, Psa_103:16, Psa_104:3, Psa_107:25, Psa_135:7, Psa_147:18, Psa_148:8, Pro_11:29, Pro_25:14, Pro_25:23, Pro_27:16, Pro_30:4, Ecc_1:6 (2), Ecc_5:16, Ecc_11:4, Isa_7:2, Isa_11:15, Isa_17:13, Isa_26:18, Isa_27:8, Isa_32:2, Isa_41:16, Isa_41:29, Isa_57:13, Isa_64:6, Jer_2:24, Jer_10:11-13 (4), Jer_13:24, Jer_14:6, Jer_18:17, Jer_22:22, Jer_51:1, Jer_51:16, Eze_5:2, Eze_12:14, Eze_13:11, Eze_13:13, Eze_17:10, Eze_19:12, Eze_27:26, Eze_37:9 (2), Hos_4:19, Hos_8:7, Hos_12:1, Hos_13:15, Amo_4:13, Jon_1:4, Zec_5:8-9 (2)

breath, 27

Gen_6:17, Gen_7:15, 2Sa_22:16, Job_4:9, Job_9:18, Job_12:10, Job_15:30, Job_17:1, Job_19:17, Psa_18:15, Psa_33:6, Psa_104:29, Psa_135:17, Psa_146:4, Ecc_3:19, Isa_11:4, Isa_30:28, Isa_33:11, Jer_10:14, Jer_51:17, Lam_4:20, Eze_37:5-6 (2), Eze_37:8-10 (3), Hab_2:19

winds, 11

Job_28:25, Jer_49:32, Jer_49:36 (2), Eze_5:10, Eze_5:12, Eze_17:21, Eze_37:9, Dan_8:8, Dan_11:4, Zec_2:6

mind, 6

Gen_26:35, Pro_29:11, Eze_11:5, Eze_20:32, Dan_5:20, Hab_1:11

side, 5

Jer_52:23, Eze_42:16-19 (4)

spirits, 5

Num_16:22, Num_27:16, Psa_104:4, Pro_16:2, Zec_6:5

blast, 4

Exo_15:8, 2Ki_19:7, Isa_25:4, Isa_37:7

vain, 2

Job_16:2-3 (2)

air, 1

Job_41:16

anger, 1

Jdg_8:3

cool, 1

Gen_3:8

courage, 1

Jos_2:11

quarters, 1

1Ch_9:24

sides, 1

Eze_42:20

spiritual, 1

Hos_9:7

tempest, 1

Psa_11:6

whirlwind, 1

Eze_1:4

windy, 1

Psa_55:8

So of the 379 times this word appears, it is translated as ‘spirit’ 227 times. 82 times it is translated as ‘wind’. only 27 times is it translated breath, and most of those 27 should have been translated as spirit.

For example:

Psa 146:4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Is it the breath of air that gives us life, and the natural man would just naturally observe, or is it really the spirit of God? What do the scriptures teach:

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, are are life. (ASV)

Now let’s read verse 19 as it could have and should have been translated:

Ecc 3:19 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 spirit; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

Solomon is not pointing out the obvious here. He is challenging the false doctrine of the immortality of the soul, which was common in the doctrines of his many wives. To translate ‘ruach’ as ‘spirit’ in verse 19 simply does not agree with the false doctrine of the immortality of the soul of those who are in Adam. The statement that “a man has no preeminence above a beast” is a very strong indication that when Solomon used the word ‘ruach’ in this very same verse, he himself meant it to be understood as ‘spirit’. That is the very reason he concludes with this thought:

Ecc 3:22 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?

The answer to this question is found in the sum of God’s word and is throughout the scriptures proclaimed, but I will let Job answer this question:

Job 19:26 And after my skin, this [ body], is destroyed, then outside my flesh I shall see God, (ACV)

Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

Job 23:13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

Job 23:14 For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

What God’s soul desires is what He does, and it is He who performs that which He has appointed for us all. Job and all of us will come to know those “who come after us” in God’s own time (1Ti 2:4), and when that time comes “[ my] own works”, good and evil, will have all been burned up for the “wood, hay, and stubble” which they are.

Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

John tells us this:

1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

Do we not already ‘see Him”? Yes, of course we do. “Now are we the sons of God [ and already we] have seen Him… [ but] it does not yet appear what we shall be… until the redemption of the purchased possession.

Let’s just read it:

Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Joh 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Ehp 1:14 along with all the other dispensational verses of scripture, are very important to keep us balanced in how we handle the is, was, and will be Word of God.

For example:

Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

That is what “it does not yet appear what we shall be” means, and that is the answer to the question “who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?” When that day does come, and we are brought to “see what shall be after [ us, we will all declare:] He hath made every thing beautiful in his time” (Ecc 3:11).

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will continue our study in this book of Ecclesiastes in chapter 4:

Ecc 4:1 So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.

Ecc 4:2 Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.

Ecc 4:3 Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

Ecc 4:4 Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

Ecc 4:5 The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.

Ecc 4:6 Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.

Ecc 4:7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.

Ecc 4:8 There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.

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