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Ecc 12:8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
Ecc 12:9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
Ecc 12:10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
Ecc 12:11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
Ecc 12:12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Introduction

This study will conclude our studies in the book of Ecclesiastes. King Solomon has been honest in telling us that he has given himself over to “madness and folly”, and while he believes he retained his wisdom, he makes no pretense of being converted. He is attempting to conduct a mental experiment to see if it is possible to give oneself over to the follies of the flesh while still retaining one’s wisdom.

Ecc 1:16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
Ecc 1:17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.

While his experiment might well have proved that he maintained and increased his knowledge, King Solomon also proved, by marrying a thousand pagan wives who seduced him to forsake his own God, that it is impossible to give oneself to “madness and folly” and still remain wise. King Solomon is a perfect example of what the apostle meant by this statement:

2Ti 3:7 Ever learning [increasing knowledge], and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

What he admits was “madness and folly”, in the end, succeeded in making a fool of what was once a very humble and wise and righteous king.

Here is the end result of a wise and righteous King giving himself to “madness and folly”:

1Ki 11:1 But king Solomon [ in “folly”, foolishly] loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
1Ki 11:2 Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon [ foolishly] clave unto these in love.
1Ki 11:3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
1Ki 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
1Ki 11:5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
1Ki 11:6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.
1Ki 11:7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
1Ki 11:8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
1Ki 11:9 And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
1Ki 11:10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he [ foolishly] kept not that which the LORD commanded.
1Ki 11:11 Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.

King Solomon built a high place “for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods”. He was a very ecumenical king. The only thing King Solomon’s mental experiment demonstrated is that ecumenism is not of God, and that we cannot serve two masters:

Mat 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

The Old Testament language, in type and shadow, admonished all Israel using these words:

1Ki 11:2 Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.

And the anti-type of the symbolism of that verse are these New Testament admonitions:

1Co 5:1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
1Co 5:2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
1Co 5:3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
1Co 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Co 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1Co 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
1Co 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

1Co 5:11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
1Co 5:12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
1Co 5:13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

Tit 3:10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
Tit 3:11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

“Being condemned of himself” is the same as “I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant”. It is the same because we are all beasts who ought to be subservient to Christ within us. Our foolish disobedience automatically places us back under the authority of those passions within us whose energies ought to be our servants. When we return to the ways of our carnal, rebellious, old man, the kingdom of God within us is rent from us and is given to our servant.

Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

King Solomon has in type become “the servant of sin”, and is now serving the gods of his wives, and has denied and despised his own God.

1Ki 11:7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
1Ki 11:8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

There is no peace of mind in any double- minded man. We all know when we are directly ignoring our Lord’s commandments. Oh, yes, we will rationalize away our rebellion. King Solomon still thinks he has “retain[ ed] his wisdom”. But the fact is that “his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel”, and as his conflicted words have demonstrated, he has no peace of mind, and he is a conflicted and tormented King who actually feels like this:

Ecc 12:8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

Yet just like us when we have “turned our hearts” from our God to serve our flesh, we see that we still have not yet lost our physical health, and we still have our physical possessions. Because judgment is delayed, we reason within ourselves…

Ecc 12:9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
Ecc 12:10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.

“Acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth” are the fiery, truthful words of God, in the mouths of “the sinners and hypocrites in Zion” (Isa 33:14-15). In the New Testament this phenomenon is described in these words:

Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

Here is a story of a prophet who both prophesied in the name of God and also figuratively called down fire from heaven in the sight of men, and was yet a false prophet:

1Ki 13:1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
1Ki 13:2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.
1Ki 13:3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
1Ki 13:4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.
1Ki 13:5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.
1Ki 13:6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.
1Ki 13:7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.
1Ki 13:8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:
1Ki 13:9 For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.
1Ki 13:10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.
1Ki 13:11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.
1Ki 13:12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.
1Ki 13:13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,
1Ki 13:14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.
1Ki 13:15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
1Ki 13:16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:
1Ki 13:17 For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
1Ki 13:18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.
1Ki 13:19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
1Ki 13:20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:
1Ki 13:21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,
1Ki 13:22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
1Ki 13:23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
1Ki 13:24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.
1Ki 13:25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
1Ki 13:26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him.
1Ki 13:27 And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.
1Ki 13:28 And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.
1Ki 13:29 And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.
1Ki 13:30 And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!
1Ki 13:31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:
1Ki 13:32 For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.

This “man of God” had heard the voice of God and had seen God fulfill His own words in a miraculous way, just as we all experience when we are called to His service. Yet he took the word of a stranger who claimed that he was also a prophet, instead of obeying the words which he himself had been given and which he knew to have come to him directly from God. This is a great lesson for all of us, warning us that we are never to “think above that which is written”. “That which is written” is what we ourselves receive directly from God.

Here is another example of how jealous of our obedience to His voice is our Lord:

Deu 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
Deu 13:2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Deu 13:3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 13:4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
Deu 13:5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
Deu 13:6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
Deu 13:7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
Deu 13:8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
Deu 13:9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
Deu 13:10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Deu 13:11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.

“Let us serve other gods… namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you… you shall not consent unto him”, But we are told this because, just like King Solomon and just like the ‘man of God’ who disobeyed God, we all do first “consent unto him” and like King Solomon and like the disobedient ‘man of God’, we all fall prey to the voice of a stranger and to the doctrines of “the people around us” before we die to that rebellious, old prophet within us all.

This is all us. Like King Solomon and like this “man of God”, even as we are given to live a lie, the words of God continue to do their fiery work of destroying the rebellious old man within all of us:

Ecc 12:11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

There is nothing as powerful as the Truth in the mouth of those who are true to the Word. The lies of a false prophet will be used to destroy the rebellious old man within us. But the words of the “one Shepherd are also “fire in [the] mouths of those in whom the “one Shepherd”, the true Shepherd dwells.

Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

Mar 1:22 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.

As His Christ, we too, must speak with authority, as for example in these verses:

1Jn 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1Jn 4:5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

These are not the words “the scribes” of yesterday or today want to hear. But these words are fire in the mouths of Christ’s Christ.

Here is the ‘fire which is in the mouth’ of God’s true witnesses, and this is what that fire does to us:

Jer 5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

The “them” in “it shall devour them” is “the old man… any man’s work” which must be burned up within us all. It is the “wood, hay, and stubble” that is the life’s blood of our old “first man Adam”.

1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
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.
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Here are some very fiery words which must be fulfilled before it can be said of any of us, “ye are the temple of God”:

Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Those are fiery words, and the same fiery Word of God is the fire that comes out of the mouths of God’s witnesses.

Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

As we have twice seen in the case of the “prophet or a dreamer of dreams”, in Deu 13 and in the case of the “old prophet” who lied to the man of God, in 1 Kings 13, false prophets are used by God to call down fire from heaven to prove then, and now to us, and to burn up anything within us which would have us to “think above that which is written”. “Fire from heaven” is the true Words of God but in the mouth of a false prophet, or in the mouth of “that old serpent the devil” himself in the Garden of Eden. So it is with this apostatized old King Solomon. He too, is used of God to admonish us:

Ecc 12:12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

This apostatized King is an example of these words. To put what King Solomon is telling us in this verse into New Testament words, here is the message of this verse:

2Ti 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Let us never forget that this happened to King Solomon, and it is written down “for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages have come”. (1Co 10:11). King Solomon thought he could live a life of folly and retain his wisdom, as a type of how we all rationalize our own time of “turning the grace of God into lasciviousness”. “Much study is weariness of the flesh” is especially true when we are “never able to come to a knowledge of the truth” while under the very heavy burden of our own lascivious sins.

Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

“Much study is weariness of the flesh” is “Ye that labor and are heavy laden”. Here is the alternative of coming to Christ and bearing His burden, which is His cross:

Act 9:5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

“It is hard for you to kick against the pricks”. Remember verse 11 which we have just read:

Ecc 12:11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

It is instructive to know that the Greek word for “pricks” is defined as ‘goads’.

G2759

κεÌντÏον
kentron
ken’- tron

From κεντεÌω kenteoÌ (to prick); a point (“centre”), that is, a sting (figuratively poison) or goad (figuratively divine impulse): – prick, sting.

As the entire book of Job graphically demonstrates, it is futile to contend with, reprove and condemn our own Potter – our own Maker.

Therefore even an apostate King can see that even in his conflicted position of having forsaken his God for the many gods of his one thousand wives, it is far better to fear God and keep his commandments than to continue to “kick against the pricks”. It was this same king who in his younger and wiser days told us this:

Pro 13:15 Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.

As we have demonstrated before, many of King Solomon’s proverbs were nothing short of prophecies about himself, as a type of all of us. That is especially true of the very next verse of Pro 13:

Pro 13:16 Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly.
Pro 13:17 A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health.
Pro 13:18 Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.

We are all “fool[ish], wicked messenger[s, who] refuse instruction” before we are given to be “faithful ambassador[s]”.

2Co 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

A faithful ambassador is a good spiritual doctor, who “is health” to the spiritual body of Christ. A healthy body is a whole body, and that is what we are told:

Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

The word ‘duty’ is added by the translators. It may well be implied, but it is not in the original Hebrew. The “fear of God” produces obedience to His commandments, and a healthy ‘fear of God’ and obedience to His commandments produces a whole and healthy spiritual child of God. This verse is really just another way of wording this verse of scripture:

Exo 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

When we make the spiritual connection between the fear and obedience to God’s word, and how that makes for a spiritually healthy life, our understanding of all the verses of scripture dealing with our health and our healing in connection with God’s word become more meaningful and are given much more power.

Psa 107:19 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Notice the contrast in type between the spiritual health of King David and King Solomon as both are coming face to face with the loss of these “vessels of clay”:

Here in this last chapter of Ecclesiastes are the words of an apostatized King who has forsaken his own true God to serve the gods of his one thousand pagan wives:

Ecc 12:8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

That is the phrase for which this book is best known. Such a mind and spirit do not make for a healthy physical or spiritual body,

Here by contrast, are the last words of King David:

2 Sa23:1 Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,
2Sa 23:2 The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.
2Sa 23:3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
2Sa 23:4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.

What a difference between a spirit which is rejoicing that “the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue”, even in his “last days”, and a spirit and mind and heart which is anxious about what the disposing of all the physical goods acquired in this world.

1:2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
Ecc 1:3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

“All [the] labor” of serving the gods of his wives produces a desperate and empty and spiritually unhealthy mind, heart and spirit in our rebellious, apostate old man, whereas our new man is working diligently to be of service to his all-powerful, loving heavenly Father right up to his last days.

1Ch 23:27 For by the last words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above:
1Ch 23:28 Because their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the LORD, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God;

King David, in type, was a “whole man” even in his “last words” because he “feared God and kept His commandments”.

But all of this being so, how then do we make these two verses of scripture agree with each other?

Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

As with every word of scripture, there is both a positive and a negative application to this word ‘fear’. The fear of God is the positive application of this word ‘fear’. as these verses demonstrate:

Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

1Pe 2:17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

Christ had as much love as any man who has ever lived, but did He fear His Father? We need not speculate.

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Should we also “fear God”? Again we are given very clear instructions on this matter by none other than our Lord Himself:

Mat 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

So the fear which is cast out by perfect love is not the fear of God, rather it is the fear of men, “Them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul”.

It was not a healthy fear of God which caused the apostle Peter to separate himself from the Gentiles in Antioch. It was his fear of what some Jews in Jerusalem might think of him. It was not a healthy fear of God that caused Judas to sell his Lord into the hands of those who hated Him. It was greed and the fact that God had sent Satan to enter into Judas to strengthen him to do his dastardly deed. Christ on the other hand was heard by His Father and was strengthened to endure His trial and was “saved from death… in that He feared [His Father] who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell [Gehenna]”.

It is healthy to fear to be destroyed in Gehenna.

Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

King Solomon tells us that the fear of God will cause us to keep his commandments. At the same time we are told that “the love of God… [ is to] keep His commandments:

1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

It is clear now that the fear of God and the love of God are very closely associated, and we fear to disobey our loving heavenly Father just as our Lord feared. Christ’s fear of His Father was rooted in His overwhelming desire to please His Father because He loved His Father more than this world or anyone or anything in this world. When that is the case, we will be able to come boldly to the throne of grace and be bold in the day of judgment, in which we are even now living.

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

It is when we are without the confidence that we have a high priest who is our advocate and comforter that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God:

Heb 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

When we give up on this life and count ourselves as dead to all it has to offer, then we are not afraid to lose this life:

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

King Solomon is the type of our old man who cannot “reckon [Himself] to be dead… unto sin”, and instead when he was old, he was still serving the false gods of his pagan wives. Under such circumstances it had to be in great torment that he concludes this book with these words:

Ecc 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

For all in whom Christ dwells, this judgment is taking place now at the best possible time to make us God’s “very elect”, for whose election all the multitudes of mankind and all the hosts of Satan and his demons have been rejected.

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

It is a very humbling calling because we all know that no man is worthy of himself to be given this great honor.

Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Video Links

Ecc 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
Ecc 12:2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
Ecc 12:3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
Ecc 12:4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;
Ecc 12:5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
Ecc 12:6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Introduction

The phrase which King Solomon has immortalized throughout this book is the words with which this book begins and with which it concludes. Here is this phrase as it appears in the first chapter of this book and as it appears here in this last chapter:

Ecc 1:2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
Ecc 12:8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

The fact that King Solomon confesses from time to time that it is beneficial to remember that there is a just God with whom we must contend, demonstrates the conflicted and tormented mind of an apostatized King who is not following his own advice, as he serves the pagan gods of his one thousand pagan wives:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.
Ecc 3:10 I see the experience that Elohim gives To the sons of humanity to humble them by it.
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 11:9 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.

Solomon, as an apostatized king, is the type and shadow of our own condition when we “lose our first love” and endure the ‘healing of the deadly wound’ of our own beastly nature as we place the cares of this world above the rewards of dying to those cares.
It is in a tortured and tormented state that King Solomon, who repeatedly tells us that life is nothing more than “vanity and a vexation of spirit” and now tells us that God will judge us even for our youthful sins.
Therefore he warns us:

Ecc 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

There are no chapter breaks in the Hebrew, and this verse is a continuation of the previous two verses, which are the last two verses of chapter eleven. Let’s put them all together to get the force of the message we are being given:

Ecc 11:9 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.
Ecc 11:10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.
Ecc 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

This admonition here in Ecclesiastes to be aware of the judgment of God while we are young is consistent with what Solomon had already advised us earlier in the book of Proverbs:

Pro 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

As parents we are gods to our children, and as such we are in a position to have lasting influence on the lives of our children. Actions which are aligned with our words are essential to being a godly parent. Christ is our Father, and He too, must train us up in the way we should go, knowing all the while we will “leave [ our] first love”, and we will deny Him before we come back and “depart not from it”.
Here is what happens when “the evil days come”:

Ecc 12:2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:

There is a very good reason why our carnal minds are referred to as “the old man”.

Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

In the natural realm our physical bodies unavoidably become old and decrepit, as the story of King David stanch ally Barzillai demonstrates for us:

2Sa 19:31 And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan.
2Sa 19:32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man.
2Sa 19:33 And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem.
2Sa 19:34 And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem?
2Sa 19:35 I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?
2Sa 19:36 Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward?
2Sa 19:37 Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee.

This is the description of the physical effects of aging upon an outwardly great and righteous man.
Isaac was also an outwardly righteous man, and yet this is what we are told of Isaac in his old age:

Gen 27:1 And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.

Old age just naturally takes from us “the light [ of the] sun”. All of the effects of physical aging will be healed when we are given “the redemption of the purchased possession” in our new resurrected spiritual bodies:

Isa 30:26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
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.

On the other hand, the positive application of the phrase “old man”, has to do with obedience to God attended by many years of life as a type of “life eternal”, which is symbolized by the “old man” described in these verses:

1Sa 17:12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.

King David’s Father, Jesse, was an old man whose reputation was that of a righteous man who had always obeyed God and had always treated his fellow Israelites with love and respect, and he was worthy of, and was given great honor in the land of Israel.
The same was true of Abraham and Jacob, who both died in righteousness, as opposed to King Solomon. So we are told of Abraham and Jacob:

Gen 25:8 Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.
Gen 43:27 And he [ Joseph] asked them [ his brothers] of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive?

But King Solomon, the type of our doomed “old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” (Eph 4:22). We are plainly told that in his old age he forsook his own God to serve the gods of his pagan wives whom he had placed above his own God. King Solomon was literally living out those words of Eph 4:22. His ‘deadly wound’ was, in type and shadow, healed and it was not restored in his physical life. He did not “return… [ in his] old” age as he admonishes us. He is in his own old age, the shadow of our “old man” who “cannot inherit the kingdom of God” and cannot appreciate “the Sun, or the light…”
Here is what the darkening of the sun and the moon reveal to us:

Eze 32:7 And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
Eze 32:8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

“The lights of the heaven” are the understanding and knowledge of the Truths of the doctrines of Christ, and His Father. “That man of sin” just naturally lives within us in the absence of “the light of the Sun”. It is the “brightness of the coming… of the Sun” which destroys our “old man” who is within us all.

2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he [ the man of sin] might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

It is when we “receive not the love of the Truth [ Christ]” that we are in “strong delusion”. When we are deceived, that deception is sent to us from God Himself (Eze 14:9). It is in this state of spiritual apostasy that we mourn the loss of our old man, and we fear the loss, through death, of all of his accomplishments.

Ecc 12:3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
Ecc 12:4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;
Ecc 12:5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

King David had committed adultery and murdered Uriah to cover his sin. But unlike King Solomon, King David repented of his sins before he died. Contrast these words of the apostate King Solomon as He faced death with these words of His repentant father, King David:

2Sa 23:1 Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,
2Sa 23:2 The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.
2Sa 23:3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
2Sa 23:4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.

King Solomon dreads the return of the clouds, yet even King David could only see the light “shining after the rain”.
Notice the similarities between the description of death here is Ecc 12:3-5 which refer to the physical process of aging leading to death, with these words of the New Testament which describe the destruction of the great harlot within us:

Rev 18:22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
Rev 18:23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
Rev 18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

The fact is that in reality Ecclesiastes, Revelation, and also these verses in Job, are all speaking of one and the same thing. They are all describing the destruction of our “old man” with all of his false doctrines which have for so long bewitched all of us:

Job 21:17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.
Job 21:18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
Job 21:19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.
Job 21:20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
Job 21:21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?

Job and Solomon both typify our materialistic old man. King Solomon has already informed us of the fact that we are all, by nature, brute beasts which we are told were made to be destroyed:

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.
2Pe 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

If earlier, as newborn babes in Christ, we were granted to fear God more than the god of this world, we will face the loss of our clay vessels with the hope of a resurrection. If that gift is not given to us when we are brought to know our Creator, it certainly will not be there when we face the loss of this life.
That is the meaning of our next verse:

Ecc 12:6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

Silver is connected with redemption in scripture, as the stories of Joseph and Christ demonstrate. The Hebrew word for silver is ‘keseph’. What is less commonly known is that the root of ‘keseph’, is the the Hebrew word ‘kasaph’.
Here are a few verses in which ‘kasaph’ appears. Keep in mind that this is the root from which the Hebrew word for silver is taken:

Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
Job 14:15 Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire [ Hebrew – kasaph – the root from which comes ‘keseph’ – ‘silver’] to the work of thine hands.
Gen 31:30 And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after [ Hebrew – kasaph] thy father’s house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
Psa 84:2 My soul longeth [ Hebrew – kasaph], yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

So it is clear that atonement and redemption are something for which Christ and His Father “have a desire… sore long after… and for which their “soul longs”. But it is not “flesh and blood… the first man Adam” that our heavenly Father ‘sorely longs after’. What He longs for is the “new vessel… the new man… the last Adam”, who He is even now is the process of creating:

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;

With that in mind, our last verse gives us the fate of “the first man Adam”, our marred vessels of clay, which were never designed or intended to be any more than rebellious, stubborn and sinful “vessels of destruction” through whose death and destruction the new man, submissive, and obedient, “new man” would be born.

Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Job was not given to know the details of the risen spiritual Christ, “the new man”, but he was given to know this:

Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
Job 14:15 Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

And this is true for every man who has ever lived. It is true for “all in Adam”.

1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will finish our studies in this book of Ecclesiastes, and we will learn that “the conclusion of the whole matter is to fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole man”.

Ecc 12:8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
Ecc 12:9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
Ecc 12:10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
Ecc 12:11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
Ecc 12:12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

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Ecc 11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
Ecc 11:2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.
Ecc 11:3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.
Ecc 11:4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
Ecc 11:5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
Ecc 11:6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
Ecc 11:7 Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:
Ecc 11:8 But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.
Ecc 11:9 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.
Ecc 11:10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

Introduction

Up to this point, Solomon, an apostatized king who typifies our own backslid old man, has three times encouraged us to “enjoy good in [ our] labor”.

Ecc 2:24 There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
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 5:18 Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.

But in this chapter we are given a much more mature admonition from the same tormented king:

Ecc 11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
Ecc 11:2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

This is really the same admonition our Lord gives us in the parable of the unjust steward:

Luk 16:9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
Luk 16:10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
Luk 16:11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
Luk 16:12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?
Luk 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Christ commends the unjust steward, not for the fact that he stole from his master, but because he was resourceful in preparing for what he saw was coming. Christ wants us to prepare for what is yet ahead of us, and He knows that the only way we can do that is to be “faithful in that which is another’s” before we will be granted true spiritual riches.
The unjust steward was not faithful in the unrighteous mammon, but he certainly was resourceful in preparing for his own future at the expense of his master. We too, should prepare for our own future at the expense of our old man who was once our master.
That is the meaning of “if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.”

Ecc 11:3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.

In Job 36, speaking for God, Elihu told us that clouds symbolize those in whom Christ and His Words dwell. It is by His “clouds” that “He judges the people”:

Job 36:27 For he [ God] maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof:
Job 36:28 Which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly.
Job 36:29 Also can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, or the noise of his tabernacle?
Job 36:30 Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth the bottom of the sea.
Job 36:31 For by them judgeth he the people; he giveth meat in abundance.
Job 36:32 With clouds he covereth the light; and commandeth it not to shine by the cloud that cometh betwixt.

“According to the vapor thereof” tells us that if Christ and His words are within us, “who can but prophesy?”

Amo 3:8 The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?

The lion roars because the Lord caused it to roar. The clouds “empty themselves upon the earth”, because the Lord caused them to “be full of rain”, and trees that fall, lie where He causes them to lie. It is all God working all things after the counsel of His own will.

Jer 11:16 The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.
Jer 11:19 But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
Luk 13:18 Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?
Luk 13:19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.

It does us no good to cry Lord! Lord! while refusing to be obedient to our Lord.
The root of the Greek word translated as “fail” in Luk 16:9 is ‘leipo’, and this is how that root word is translated in the King James Version:

G3007
λειÌπω
leipō
Total KJV Occurrences: 6
wanting, 3
Tit 1:5 (2), Tit_3:13, Jas_1:4
destitute, 1
Jas 2:15
lack, 1
Jas 1:5
lackest, 1
Luk 18:22

The definition is “wanting, destitute, lack and lackest”. What both Solomon and Christ are telling us is that the greedy and selfish need not expect any help when they are in need, whereas the man who is generous, and selfless will use his resources to help others. That is the meaning of: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.”
“You know not what evil shall be upon the earth” is the same as Christ telling us “… when you fail [‘you are wanting’] they may receive you into everlasting habitations”. They [ both spiritually and physically] may receive you into their care because of the generosity for which you are already well known. Here is the spiritual fulfillment of this message Solomon and Christ are giving us:

Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

When we “give meat… give drink… take in the needy, visit the sick and the imprisoned”, we are “casting [ our] bread upon the waters” and we shall indeed “find it after many days.”
The Lord knows those who are His, and those who are His “know His voice”.

Joh 10:3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
Joh 10:4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

Our doctrine is not our doctrine, but it is His doctrine. We need not be anxious about who receives His doctrine He has given us. His sheep will “hear… His voice” and will accept His doctrine.
Mat 25:34-49 tell us why we should “cast our bread upon the water”. These verses explain why we should “give [ generous] portions to seven [ the complement of those in complete need] and to eight [ to the new man, through the new man]”.
It is that for which we are known that is in view with the statement “if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.” We cannot change our reputation after we have fallen into want and are in need of the help of others. As a tree falls, so will it lie, and our reputation as either greedy or gracious will always precede us.
God’s nourishing “rain” is His life- giving Word, which He sends upon the just and the unjust alike.

Isa 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

The Word of God came to His own people. They did not, and we do not, at first receive Him. We are all guilty of denying and rejecting our Lord, and we will all “go into outer darkness [ and] weep bitterly” for doing so.

Mat 26:74 Then began he [ Peter, as a type of each of us] to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.
Mat 26:75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.
Luk 23:27 And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.
Luk 23:28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.

Like Peter we can all find what appears to be a very good reason to deny our Lord. After all our very life of our old man is at stake. That is the same as refusing to sow His Word because of what appears to be unfavorable conditions. If we fail to sow Christ in our lives, then we will have no harvest:

Ecc 11:4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

“The fearful and the unbelieving… will have their part in the lake of fire.” The “slothful and wicked servant” is “afraid” to invest his master’s talent, and the same servant is afraid of the wrong ‘lion’:

Pro 22:13 The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

There will always be a ready excuse for us to be a “wicked and slothful servant” who accuses his Master of being a “hard man who reaps where he has not sown”. That was the self- righteous spirit of Job, which condemned God to make himself righteous. Job, of course, is us.

Mat 25:24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
Mat 25:25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
Mat 25:26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
Mat 25:27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
Mat 25:28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
Mat 25:29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Mat 25:30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Job 40:8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

It behooves us to be diligent servants with what the Lord gives us. What a blessing to be given a spirit that causes us to be grateful for what we have been given, rather than to be given a spirit that contends with our Lord and reproves Him for not being more generous toward us, and accusing Him of being a hard and unjust man.
We cannot know what God is doing to its full extent:

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.

It is the height of foolishness for men to attempt to set dates concerning the works of our God. We may, and indeed must, know the voice of our True Shepherd, but “no man know the work that God makes from the beginning to the end”. No true man of God will be setting dates yet all true men of God can, with the apostle John, boldly make this statement:

1Jn 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Obviously there is a world of difference between knowing the voice of the true shepherd and knowing “the work that God makes from the beginning to the end”.

Ecc 11:5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

Here is this same message in the New Testament:

Job 9:9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
Job 9:10 Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.
Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

“You know not what is the way of the spirit”, means the same as Ecc 3:11. It simply means that God has not given to us to “know what will be on the morrow”.

Jas 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Jas 4:16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

“You know not what is the way of the spirit” also means that “no man can find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end”. It most assuredly does not mean that we are incapable of knowing the Truth, trying the spirits to see whether they are of God, and knowing the voice of our True Shepherd.

Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 10:4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

A lazy, slothful spirit has no place in Christ or His kingdom within us. Some of the most common words of admonition in scripture are words like sober, vigilance, and diligence.

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

======================================================================= [ to be continued next week] Here is how Solomon makes this point:

Ecc 11:6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

This is what we do know about the past, the present, and the future:

Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

“Thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all,” but God’s eyes do see our unformed substance long before any of the days ordained for us ever come to be. We do not know what tomorrow holds, but we do know who holds tomorrow, and we know He wants us to be diligent, vigilant and sober. Therefore it is very wise for us all to “sow [ our] seed… in the morning, and in the evening” be equally as diligent in our Lords service. That is the message of the parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins, the parable of the talents and the warning we are given in Mat 24:

Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Mat 25:8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
Mat 25:9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
Mat 25:10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Mat 25:11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
Mat 25:12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Mat 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Like “all things”, being diligent, vigilant or sober are all a work of God. Christ is, was, and always will be the most diligent person who has ever lived on this earth. Any one who is truly desirous of serving God was given that desire by having Christ Himself living within them, via His Father’s spirit.
Where did Christ get His completely sold out desire to serve His Father? I will let Him answer that question for us because the source of His resolve will be the source of our resolve:

Joh 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Christ was, of Himself, incapable of doing anything. “The Son can do nothing of Himself… I can of mine own self do nothing”. Those are His words. Can you and I choose of ourselves to do any better? What do the scriptures teach on that question?

Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Therefore those to whom it is granted to be a diligent, vigilant and sober son and servant of God, are of that spirit only because Christ is doing the work of His Father within that person.
Most men have no concern about the things of the spirit. Yet many who are seeking to know Christ and His Father still live in fear of not being given the gift if wanting to diligently serve God.
This beings us to our next verse:

Ecc 11:7 Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:

Christ is “the Sun”, and to know Him is to know His Father, and the blessing of knowing Christ is the greatest blessing given to men.

Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
Eph 5:14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

Here is how the process of coming to know Christ and His Father works:

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
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?
Joh 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Truly it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold the ‘Sun’, and to know that the works we do are not our works at all, but they are instead His work within us. The reason it is so pleasant is because we are made to know that our predestined salvation is also predestined to be strait and narrow process, and it is predestined to be full of tribulation.

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

“Much tribulation” is expressed elsewhere with these words:

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.
1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

The ‘fire’ of 1Co 3 and 1Pe 4 is the “much tribulation” of Act 14, and it is same thing that is called “the wrath of God” in these verses:

Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

There it is! “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God”, and “no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled”.
Where is “the temple of God”? It is in heaven. It is in “the kingdom of God”, it is in “the kingdom of heaven”:

Rev 11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

It is the revelation that we are that temple which brings to us the additional revelation that ‘heaven’ in not a geographical planet or a physical location, but it is rather a realm of the spirit of which all physical things consist:

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
Col 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

All things consist by Christ, because the Father has given His spirit to Christ, and does all that is done “through Him”:

Joh 1:7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

What we just naturally fail to realize, the part we leave out when we read: “Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun”, is that it is that “the Sun” Christ Himself informs us that it is He who also “creates darkness… and… evil”.

Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

When we are given to see that the Biblical meaning of the word ‘light’ is our “understanding”, then we will be able to receive the Biblical ‘light’ which teaches us that God creates the darkness as well as the light, and that both are integral to God’s plan for our salvation. The “light” that is so special, and which is ‘truly sweet, and the “Sun” which is ‘a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold’ is our understanding and our knowledge of God and His Son Jesus Christ.
This is all plainly so stated in God’s Word:

Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Here is just how important and how integral it is that “the eyes of our understanding be enlightened”. Here is “the hope of His calling”. Here is “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”:

Joh 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

Just what is “life eternal”? This is “life eternal”:

Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Knowing God and Christ is life eternal, and if we do not believe the Truth that is revealed throughout scripture, that God is working all things, both the good and the evil “after the counsel of His own will”, and that includes the fact that He ‘creates light and darkness, good and evil’, then we do not know either the Father or the Son.
All of that being true, this too, will “enlighten… the eyes of [ our] understanding” of God and Jesus Christ who God sent:

Ecc 11:8 But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.

When the eyes of our understanding are not enlightened to know why God has given us these lives which are filled with so “many… days of darkness”, then “all that comes” will appear as “vanity” to an apostate king, which is what we all are when we are not given to appreciate “the hope of His calling [ and] the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”.
We finish our study today with an admonition which can only be understood by the torment that is poured out upon the kingdom of the beast which is who an apostatized King Solomon typifies. Think of how these words must have affected the mind of an old and apostate king:

Ecc 11:9 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.

We all do just that, and it appears that youth is wasted on young people. But God’s righteous judgment redeems and justifies His purpose in creating all the darkness and ignorance and evil through which we must all live:

Ecc 11:10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

Our Creator knows that sorrow cannot be removed from our hearts as long as “evil from our flesh” continues to dominate our lives. That is where the “much tribulation… works… tried by fire… fiery trials… and seven plagues of the seven angels” comes into God’s plan and purpose for our lives and those things are used by God to judge and burn out of us all of our sins of “wood, hay, and stubble”. Then after judgment has accomplished its predestined purpose, this is what we are made to understand:

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Our present fiery trials and much tribulation, seven last plagues, and the judgment of the kingdom of our old man all have a wonderful and worthy purpose, and when it has all done its work within us then we will “learn righteousness” and only then will we “know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent into this world to save “all in Adam”.
Next week we will find that ‘the evil days will come when we will say we have no pleasure in them’:

Ecc 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
Ecc 12:2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
Ecc 12:3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
Ecc 12:4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;
Ecc 12:5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
Ecc 12:6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

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Ecc 10:1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.
Ecc 10:2 A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.
Ecc 10:3 Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.
Ecc 10:4 If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences.
Ecc 10:5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler:
Ecc 10:6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.
Ecc 10:7 I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.
Ecc 10:8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
Ecc 10:9 Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby.
Ecc 10:10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.

Introduction

In chapter three we learned that whatever God does, it is lasting.

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.

In the previous chapter we learned that the thing that God is “doing forever” is being done in all men, and that all men will acknowledge that the actions and activities of the past, the present, and the future, are actually the same in all men.

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.

In the light of these verses which tell us that “whatsoever God does it shall be forever” and “all things come alike to all”, this statement from our Lord should make much more sense:

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.

“This generation” is “this generation” reading these words in any generation, because “whatsoever God does it shall be forever [ because] that which has been is now; and that which is to be has already been and God requires that which is past”.
If those statements are true, and they are, then clearly “all things come alike to all”. What King Solomon is teaching us is the truth that the apostle John reveals in these verses:

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

“All that is in the world” is speaking specifically of all mankind, “all in Adam”. “The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” were already in our original physical parents from the Potter’s hand (Jer 18:4). We have all seen how the account of the events in the Garden of Eden so perfectly parallels the words of 1Jn 2:16.

Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food [“lust of the flesh”], and that it was pleasant to the eyes [“lust of the eyes”], and a tree to be desired to make one wise [“the pride of life”], she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

What Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden explain why the holy spirit calls flesh corruption:

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

This is the state in which Adam, and all in Adam, were created from “the hand of the Potter”.

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Which verifies the last verse of the previous chapter:

Ecc 9:18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner [“the first man Adam… the beast] destroyeth much good.

Like Adam, Job, King Saul, King David, the Pharisee who went up to the temple with the publican, like Judas and like Saul of Tarsus, we are all men “in reputation for widom and honor” while we are “at ease in Zion”.

Amo 6:1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

Being “at ease in Zion” is the same as being at ease in Babylon, with no interest in going back to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
Therefore the “one sinner of the last verse of chapter 9, is the same as the man that is “in reputation for wisdom and honor” but is also guilty of “a little folly”, like eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Ecc 10:1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.

The “right hand” is the Biblical symbol of the seat of power.

Ecc 10:2 A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.

A wise man’s spirit is always in check, and his heart is not permitted to deceive him.

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jer 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

It is Christ in us who “tries the reins” of our hearts, but this is how this process within us is worded in the New Testament:

1Co 14:29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.
1Co 14:30 If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.
1Co 14:31 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.
1Co 14:32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

The spirit of a wise man, his heart, “is at his right hand, but a fool’s is at his left” hand and he does not control his spirit, and it is not subject to him. Therefore:

Ecc 10:3 Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.

A foolish man cannot control his tongue or his temper, and his every uncontrolled word demonstrates his foolishness.

Pro 10:19 In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
Pro 17:28 Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
Ecc 5:3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.

Satan is the undisputed “prince of the power of the air” which in Genesis is called “the spirit of the day… the spirit that … works in the children of disobedience”.

Gen 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool [ Hebrew, ruach, spirit] of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

In the New Testament we are told of this same spirit, of its ‘day’ and its ‘hour’.

Luk 22:53 When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.
2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he [ the man of sin] might be revealed in his time.

This is the evil ruler who first rules over us all. King Solomon told us of this time in our lives in chapter nine:

Ecc 9:12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

While the ministers of Satan tell us we can avoid being ruled by our old sinful nature, and we can avoid ever going to Babylon, and avoid the wrath of God that will be poured out upon us while we are there, this is what the scriptures teach:

Jer 25:15 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
Jer 25:16 And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
Jer 25:17 Then took I the cup at the LORD’S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
Jer 25:18 To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;
Jer 25:19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;
Jer 25:20 And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
Jer 25:21 Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
Jer 25:22 And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,
Jer 25:23 Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,
Jer 25:24 And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,
Jer 25:25 And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,
Jer 25:26 And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
Jer 25:27 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
Jer 25:28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
Jer 25:29 For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.

It is not the physical ruler who is persecuting us, but it is God who sent that spirit to persecute us. When we are reviled we are not to revile again, but we are to “give place unto wrath” and are never to seek revenge.
That is what Jeremiah told Israel concerning the pouring out of God’s wrath upon them by carrying them away into Babylon:

Jer 29:7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
Jer 29:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
Jer 29:9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.
Jer 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

That is the message we are given in the next verse:

Ecc 10:4 If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences.

Outwardly we are to “give place unto [ the] wrath” of our rulers. “Leave not thy place” does not mean that we are to stand there and take the javelin King Saul throws at us. A wise man foresees evil and hides himself:

Pro 22:3 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

“Leave not thy place” means we are never to seek our own revenge, because as Rom 12:19 tells us, “Vengeance is [ God’s]”, and is not ours. When we stand on our faith, we are to expect the negative consequences of doing so]. “Leave not your place; for yielding [ to their threats and their anger] pacifies great offences” [ which the Truth always brings with it].
We will all first fail to appreciate God’s wrath being poured out upon us and bringing us to our wits’ end (Psa 107:27), but spiritually we are, in time, to endure with patience the wrath of our Lord when it is poured out upon the kingdom of our beast, the man of sin within us. We will not enter into Christ or His house or His rest, “till the seven plagues of the seven angels has been fulfilled” within each of us.
Here is another way of saying the same thing:

Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

“Judgment… begin[ ing] at the house of God” means we be made to give an accounting of the sins God made us to commit in these clay vessels.

Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Being made to “give an accounting” for what God Himself causes us to do is foolishness to the natural man within us all, and as foolish as it is to reprove, contend with, and condemn our own Maker and Creator, that is exactly what we all do. This is a “folly” which is common to all men:

Luk 16:2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

We do not just naturally volunteer to “give an account of [ our] stewardship”. Neither do we just naturally understand and appreciate God’s chastening grace, which brings us to give that “accounting”. That is especially true when God uses evil men to correct us and reveal our man of sin to us.
That is the ‘evil… under the sun’ King Solomon speaks of in these verses:

Ecc 10:5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler:
Ecc 10:6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.
Ecc 10:7 I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.

The man of sin within us causes us to crucify our Lord, and it is Christ within us who “walks as a servant upon the earth”, submitting to the death of the cross. “Folly is set in dignity, and the [ spiritually] rich sit in a low place”. This is a perfect description of the treatment received by our Lord. It was “an error which proceeded from the ruler”, the chief priests and the rulers of the people, the Pharisees and Pilate. It leads to the carrying of His cross to His crucifixion. This is the perfect description of how the Christ of Christ has always been treated since that precedent which was set by our Lord.
But “the Ruler” from which “an error… proceeds” is also God Himself who “makes us to err” and whose “hand and foreknowledge was the directing power which caused the physical rulers to deliver up and crucify our Lord.”

Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
Act 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

Nothing is done outside of the sovereign direction and working of God Himself (Eph 1:11).

Ecc 10:8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
Ecc 10:9 Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby.

The evil Joseph’s brothers committed in selling him into Egypt to thwart the work of God, served only to fulfill the Words of God. That is the message of this verse. Here is another way of getting this point across to us:

Jer 2:19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

We work so hard to establish our will and our works. God’s works do not cause us to sweat, because He does the work. Even when we “work out our own salvation” it is really Him doing it:

Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

When we “dig a pit… break a hedge… [ or] remove stones” without the counsel and direction of our Lord, and for our own purposes, we are toiling in vain:

Psa 127:1 A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

The same is true for anything we do. Unless we are seeking to glorify our Lord, our efforts and our deeds are all done in vain’.
Here is another New Testament way of teaching us this lesson, if we are given to receive it:

1Co 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Nevertheless we will just naturally work so hard to do our own will, and that is the meaning of this last verse:

Ecc 10:10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.

The Hebrew word translated ‘whet’ in this verse is most often translated as ‘curse’ or ‘cursed’, and ‘curseth’, and ‘accursed’. but it is also translated in many other ways as the King James Concordance demonstrates:

H7043
קלל
qâlal
Total KJV Occurrences: 88
curse, 17
Gen_8:21, Lev_19:14, Deu_23:4, Jos_24:9, 2Sa_16:9-11 (4), Neh_13:2, Psa_62:4, Psa_109:28, Pro_30:10, Ecc_7:21, Isa_8:20-21 (3), Jer_15:10 cursed, 17
Lev_20:9, Lev_24:11, Lev_24:14, Lev_24:23, Jdg_9:27, 1Sa_17:43, 2Sa_16:5, 2Sa_16:7, 2Sa_16:13, 2Sa_19:21, 1Ki_2:8, 2Ki_2:24, Neh_13:25, Job_3:1, Job_24:18, Ecc_7:22 (2)
light, 7
1Sa_18:23, 1Ki_16:31, 2Ki_3:18, 2Ki_20:10, Isa_49:6, Eze_8:17, Eze_22:7
curseth, 6
Gen_12:3, Exo_21:17, Lev_20:9, Lev_24:15, Pro_20:20, Pro_30:11
lighter, 5
1Ki_12:4, 1Ki_12:9-10 (2), 2Ch_10:10, Psa_62:9
swifter, 5
2Sa_1:23, Job_7:6, Job_9:25, Jer_4:13, Hab_1:8
vile, 4
1Sa_3:13, 2Sa_6:22, Job_40:4, Nah_1:14
lightly, 3
1Sa_2:30, Isa_9:1, Jer_4:24
abated, 2
Gen_8:8, Gen_8:11
despised, 2
Gen_16:4-5 (2)
ease, 2
2Ch_10:4, 2Ch_10:9
esteemed, 2
1Sa_2:30, 1Sa_18:23
lighten, 2
1Sa_6:5, Jon_1:5
slightly, 2
Jer_6:14, Jer_8:11
accursed, 1
Isa_65:20
afflicted, 1
Isa_9:1
bright, 1
Eze_21:21
bring, 1
Isa_23:9
contempt, 1
Isa_23:9 (2)
despise, 1
2Sa_19:43
easier, 1
Exo_18:22
easy, 1
Pro_14:6
moved, 1
Jer_4:24
revile, 1
Exo_22:28
swift, 1
Isa_30:16
whet, 1
Ecc_10:10

The thought seems clear enough. A dull axe, knife, sword or plowshear, requires greater effort to do the work, and such a condition is contrasted with doing all we do according to the wisdom of God. The holy spirit connects being dull with being cursed, and being cursed with the need for whetting.
Earlier King Solomon had made this statement:

Pro 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Again, the message is that we need contact and counsel from one another to stay “sharper than a two edged sword”, which is how the word and wisdom or God is compared:

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Since there was no hardened steel to sharpen iron in Solomon’s day, the only way iron sharpened iron was for one piece to be heated and then beaten to a sharp edge by the other piece of iron. That is, after all very much how the Lord works within us. He puts us in a furnace of earth, then He beats us into an instrument for His service:
Our creator can use anyone as His “smith” with whom to sharpen iron with iron:

1Sa 13:19 Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears:
1Sa 13:20 But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock.
1Sa 13:21 Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads.

“There was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel” and because of that the Israelites were dependent upon their own enemies to sharpen their shares, coulters, axes, and mattocks.
The words ‘Yet they’ are not in the Hebrew. It simply states that ‘They had blunt mattocks, coulters forks, and axes’. There were no “files” as we understand that word, among either the Israelites or the Philistines.
Here is the Hebrew word translated as “files” in 1Sa 13:21:

H6477
פּצירה
petsı̂yrâh
pets- ee- raw’
From H6484; bluntness: – + file.

What the Hebrew reads is ‘They had bluntness for mattocks, coulter, and forks and axes…
The sharpening that was done by the Philistines had to do with cold iron striking hot iron to sharpen it for agricultural purposes. It is not speaking of honing a sword or a knife with a modern file.
Here is what the smiths who made both the sword and the agricultural implements did in Israel.

Isa 44:12 The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.
Isa 54:16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

It is safe to say that “iron sharpens iron” if it is ‘hit when the iron is hot’. In conclusion here are a couple of New Testament ways of repeating the message of how a friend sharpens his friend, and how that which is blunt is made sharp by the fire of the wisdom of God:

Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

The truth is the fire of God’s Word, and it cannot be denied that we all need “that which every joint supplies” of that burning, fiery word of God.
When we “speak [ His]… truth in love” our “love” must always be first and foremost our obedience to those fiery words, and never allow our understanding of the word ‘love’ to be twisted into a “little folloy” which will cause us to become enablers of those who wrest the word of God.

1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will see that “The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them…”

Ecc 10:11 Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.
Ecc 10:12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.
Ecc 10:13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.
Ecc 10:14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?
Ecc 10:15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
Ecc 10:16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!
Ecc 10:17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
Ecc 10:18 By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
Ecc 10:19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.
Ecc 10:20 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

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Study Aired January 5, 2014

Ecc 10:11 Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.
Ecc 10:12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.
Ecc 10:13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.
Ecc 10:14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?
Ecc 10:15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
Ecc 10:16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!
Ecc 10:17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
Ecc 10:18 By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
Ecc 10:19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.
Ecc 10:20 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

Introduction

In verse 3 of this chapter we were told:

Ecc 10:3 Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.

This entire chapter warns us against becoming entangled with the affairs of this age. We are warned that he who becomes entangled in the affairs of this age and this world is the very fool of who “says to every one that he is a fool”. The world will call him either a freedom fighter or a patriot, but the wise man will remain faithful to his heavenly King and to his citizenship and will recognize that all those who are encouraging the resistance of the evils of this age as the fools they are.
We were just told in verse four of this same chapter:

Ecc 10:4 If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences.

Those who know Jesus Christ do not resist the powers that be, not even the evil powers.

Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Rom 13:2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
Rom 13:4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

Our self- righteous old man tells us “all that is needed for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing”. But the wise know that if a ruler is evil, even if he is “the basest of men, he is still “the minister of God”, and we are never to resist “the ordinance of God”.

Dan 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and [ He] setteth up over it the basest of men.

Inwardly, “the basest of men” is the same as the sinners Christ came to save “of whom I am chief”, and “the basest of men” is recognized as the old man within us all. He is “the fool” within each of us, ruling from the very throne of our hearts, where Christ rightfully belongs.
Here are our Lord’s words bearing on this subject. They are not easy for our self- righteous old man to receive, but they are words of great wisdom for all who are given to accept them:

Mat 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Mat 5:40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
Mat 5:41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
Mat 5:42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

Here is a quote from the author of a book that is now on the market. What this author has to say has always appealed to the natural man within all men of all time, and it is the spirit which demonstrates that “the way of peace they know not”.

American Christians have been taught to think the Lord is just fine with Satan owning everything having to do with civil government. This is not the teaching of either Testament of the Bible. Resistance to Tyrants aims to prove that (and, frankly, it’s not a difficult case to make.”

“Resistance To Tyrants”, the title of this man’s book, is taken from the statement by one of the founding fathers of our nation, Thomas Jefferson who famously made the statement “resistance to tyrants is obedience to God”. Jefferson never gave a chapter or verse for that statement, and Christ’s admonition that those who are His are commanded to “resist not evil: but… turn to him the other cheek”, happens to be found in both Testaments, though it is only in type and shadow in the former testament:

Exo 23:4 If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

The rest of this tenth chapter of Ecclesiastes also emphasizes the foolishness of rising up against the powers which the Lord has put in place to rule the kingdoms of this world, and to do so “after the counsel of His own will”.
Speaking of those who would rise up against the ruler, we are told:

Ecc 10:11 Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.

The KJV+ reveals that the word ‘babbler’ in verse 11 is a combination of two words which together are ‘Baal tongue’.

Ecc 10:11 SurelyH518 the serpentH5175 will biteH5391 withoutH3808 enchantment; H3908 and a babbler H1167 H3956 is noH369 better. H3504

Here are the two Hebrew words which the translators have rendered ‘babbler’:
H1167
בּעל
ba‛al
bah’- al
From H1166; a master; hence a husband, or (figuratively) owner (often used with another noun in modifications of this latter sense: -Â + archer, + babbler, + bird, captain, chief man, + confederate, + have to do, + dreamer, those to whom it is due, + furious, those that are given to it, great, + hairy, he that hath it, have, + horseman, husband, lord, man, + married, master, person, + sworn, they of.
Here is the second word:
H3956
לש×××â€Ã‚ÂÂלש×ןÂÂÂלש×ון laÌ‚shoÌ‚n laÌ‚shoÌ‚n leshoÌ‚naÌ‚h
law- shone’, law- shone’, lesh- o- naw’
From H3960; the tongue (of man or animals), used literally (as the instrument of licking, eating, or speech), and figuratively (speech, an ingot, a fork of flame, a cove of water): -Â + babbler, bay, + evil speaker, language, talker, tongue, wedge.

So the message we are being given is that the tongue of men of its own power is as poison as the bite of a serpent, and here are but a few verses which tell us about “that old serpent”:

Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

Even the poisonous tongue of man is a work that is being done “after the counsel of [ God’s] own will”. (Eph 1:11)

Psa 140:3 They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah.
Amo 9:3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:
2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

In its positive application, the words of God to our old man are nothing more than babbling, as this verse demonstrates.

Act 17:18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

The poison words of man’s mouth are contrasted with the wise words of God which come out of the mouths of His people and His prophets:

Ecc 10:12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.

A truly wise man knows that God has “made all things… even the wicked… for Himself” and for His purposes, and that even “the basest of men” are simply instruments in the sovereign hand of God who is “working all things after the counsel of His own will”. (Eph 1:11)

Ecc 10:13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.

Dan 4:17 tells us that God “ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and [ He] setteth up over it the basest of men”. We are “swallowed up” by our own foolish anger against the work God is doing in a world which He has custom designed as “th[ is] present evil age”.

Gal 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

But an angry fool seeks his own self- righteous revenge against the evil God is working in this “present evil age”. Like Job we all ‘contend with, reprove and condemn our own Maker’ for doing things His way. (Job 40:1-8)

Ecc 10:14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

A foolish man thinks he can decide for himself what his future holds for him. Here are the boastful words of which a fool is so full:

Jas 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Jas 4:16 But now ye rejoice in your [ foolish] boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

A fool thinks he “will go into such a city”, when this is the Truth of the matter:

Ecc 10:15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.

One city in particular no fool can find is this one:

Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

“Weary[ ing] every one of them” is the prophesied end of Babylon:

Jer 51:64 And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

But before Babylon can sink within us, we must first go into Babylon, and that is exactly what this verse reveals we all do:

Ecc 10:16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!

We are “the land” that is caused to sin, when we rebel against our Lord’s Words.

Deu 24:4 Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

“Thy king [ being] a child” speaks of his spiritual maturity, not of his physical age. “Eat[ ing] in the morning”, is not an admonition against eating breakfast, rather is it an admonition against “ris[ ing] early to follow after strong drink”, and spending the whole day serving their appetites.

Isa 5:11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

Solomon’s son Rehoboam, as a type of our rebellious old man, was a “child” all his life, and his actions demonstrated that he was a foolish, and childish king. This is one of the evils referred to earlier in this same chapter:

Ecc 10:5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler:
Ecc 10:6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.

This is exactly what we all first do. Until our old man begins to “die daily”, we all live lives in which “folly is set in great dignity” as the “man of sin” for many long weary years sits in the temple of our hearts proclaiming himself to be God.

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Here, as a type of what we all first do, is what we are told of Rehoboam’s rule:

2Ch 13:7 And there are gathered unto him [ Jereboam, King of the northern kingdom of Israel] vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them.

Children who are young and are still on the milk of God’s Word are “yet carnal” and are not capable of dealing with spiritual matters which require spiritual maturity:

1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

Spiritual immaturity, being “babes in Christ”, is equated with being carnally minded, and the carnal mind is enmity against God:

Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

The message of scripture is that spiritual immaturity is “enmity against God”, whether it is deliberate or not. Withstanding God is therefore a very immature, childish, drunken and foolish, yet a necessary part of our lives. On the other hand, spiritual sobriety, vigilance, diligence and spiritual maturity, will in God’s own predestined time follow that part of the “one event” which we are told “comes alike to all”. (Ecc 9:2)

Ecc 10:17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

The only true “son of nobles” are the true sons of God, whose ‘bread and nourishment and strength’ is “the Word of God” Himself:

Joh 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Joh 6:58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

As… I live by the Father, so he that eats Me… shall live by Me”. ‘Living by Christ’ is a matter of having Christ Himself living His live of diligent service to His Father within us, and building up within us a house for God.

1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

God will not be found in a house that is falling through and in a state of decay:

Ecc 10:18 By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.

Here is the exact opposite of “much slothfulness”:

Exo 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
1Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing.

A life of diligent, vigilant service to our Lord is a life of praying without ceasing.

Ecc 10:19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.

What this verse is telling us is that a spiritual feast and spiritually rejoicing “does us good like a medicine”.

Pro 17:22 A merry [ life giving] heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken [ dying] spirit drieth the bones.
Luk 6:23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
Php 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

But wine and a feast must be financed, and the statement “but money answers all things” is the positive application of money. ‘”Money” as the symbol of the Word and spirit of our heavenly Father, given to us through the death and resurrection of His Son, the price paid for all things has indeed been “answered”, and paid. “… But money answers all things”.
Twice we are told that we are “bought with a price”.

Mat 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
1Co 7:23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

The “money” of the spirit and Word of God truly is the ‘answer to all things’. It is that “money”, His Word, which informs us that we are blessed when our King is the Son of God. But it is that very same “money”, His Word, which also tells us this:

Ecc 10:4 If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences.
Ecc 10:5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler:
Ecc 10:16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!

Spiritually we are being told that we must bear the earthy before we can bear the heavenly:

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

“Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”, but we still must bear the flesh and blood of this earth first, before we will be granted to bear the heavenly. Outwardly we must endure our own ‘old man’ before the ‘new man’ will begin to be birthed within us, and in like manner we must submit ourselves to wicked rulers like the high priests, Herod and Pilate, or we will find ourselves to be fighting against God.
These are the fiery words of God for our admonition in all such matters:

Ecc 10:20 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

When we “curse the king… [ or] the rich”, even in our very thoughts, we really are not just cursing the king or the rich. We are also cursing and fighting against God Himself, because no one does anything He does not cause them to do. It is God Himself who is “working all things after the counsel of His own will”. Even the “bird of the air” which “carries [ our] voice” to the king, and to the rich” and causes us to ‘reap what we have sown’ is a part of Him working all things.
So we become nothing more or less than Joseph’s brothers who simply could not yet accept the fact that everything that happens is actually happening because God is the only power capable of “working all things after the counsel of His own will”.

Gen 45:4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

God ‘means’ all the evil of all time which He has ever caused mankind to work “unto good”, and what God “means unto good” is what will be done:

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.

It is “He [ who] performs the thing that is appointed for [ all men of all time]… and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him what do you? It is all being done “according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth”.

Dan 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will see that it is “a pleasant thing… for the eyes to behold the sun”.

Ecc 11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
Ecc 11:2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.
Ecc 11:3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.
Ecc 11:4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
Ecc 11:5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
Ecc 11:6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
Ecc 11:7 Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:
Ecc 11:8 But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.
Ecc 11:9 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.
Ecc 11:10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

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Ecc 8:9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.
Ecc 8:10 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.
Ecc 8:11 Because 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.
Ecc 8:12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:
Ecc 8:13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.
Ecc 8:14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.
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.
Ecc 8:16 When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)
Ecc 8:17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.

Introduction

For a man who tells us “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Ecc 3:1), King Solomon makes it perfectly clear that he hasn’t a clue as to what the purpose for this life is by repeatedly declaring this life to be nothing more than “vanity and a vexation of spirit”.

Ecc 1:14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Ecc 2:11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
Ecc 2:17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

While it is true that every part of the kingdom of the beast which we are must be destroyed, and we will take nothing of this life with us, it is not true that the time we have spent in these marred clay vessels is for nothing and is without purpose as repeating the statement “all is vanity and a vexation of spirit” has led this apostatized king to think. Even sin and vanity has a good purpose inasmuch as we must all be “the first man Adam” before we can even hope to become “the last Adam”. We must all bear the earthy before we will be given to bear the heavenly spiritual body.

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

These physical bodies are called “corruption”, and they must be relinquished, but there is a purpose in being given these physical bodies first, and this verse tells us one of those purposes:

Ecc 8:9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.

We are all born with our beastly nature bearing rule over the yet to come “new man… the last Adam”. As we “bear the earthy” the ‘earthy… beast’ bears rule over us “to [ our] own hurt”.
This spiritual truth is seen in “the things that are made”, as Solomon has earlier expressed in the book of Proverbs, and as he has already demonstrated here is this same book of Ecclesiastes:

Pro 19:10 Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.
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 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.

The beast within us should be the servant to our new man, but for many years the opposite it true. Every beast a man owns ought to be under his subjection and control. When our own beast is not in our control, it will bring us death.

Exo 21:29 But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.

A beast that is out of the control of its master is a type of the wickedness and iniquity which dominates the rule of the beast within, and the wages of such a rule is death.

Ecc 8:10 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.

The word “and” connects this thought to that of the previous verse, which tells us that the wicked are often in places of rulership, “to [ their] own hurt”. It is true that the beast of our old man, and the harlot who dominates him, will be destroyed and die, and he will be forgotten:

Ecc 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.
Jer 30:14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.
Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

But the punishment of the wicked is seldom administered immediately following some obviously wicked action. On the contrary, it often seems that God blesses those who curse Him and His ways.

Job 21:7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
Job 21:8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.
Job 21:9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
Job 21:10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
Job 21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
Job 21:12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
Job 21:13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
Job 21:14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
Job 21:15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?

Jeremiah saw the same phenomenon. God’s own people had forsaken His just statutes and had forgotten His ways, and were being physically blessed as they did so:

Jer 5:28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
Jer 12:1 Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
Jer 12:2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.

In other words, they say “Lord, Lord, but do not the things [ He] says”.

Luk 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Yet God is patient with us, and Solomon tells us what God’s patience with us produces within us:

Ecc 8:11 Because 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.

Israel, as a type of us as God’s own people, demonstrates the truth of these words. We all “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:4), including these very prophetic words:

Jer 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

This is Jer 7, and this is how those words were fulfilled and how they are fulfilled to this very day in God’s people who seek after Him but do so only after ” the idols of their hearts” (Eze 14:1-9):

Jer 44:17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
Jer 44:18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
Jer 44:19 And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?

When we are being judged, we do not have ‘plenty of victuals’, we endure ‘much tribulations’, and things are not “well with [ us]”, and we experience nothing but evil. Job’s protracted trial is a type of those who are being judged now, and his judgment is the Old Testament type of the wrath of God being poured out upon us now. It appears that those who are not now being judged are being blessed of God for their willingness to “pour out offerings unto other gods”, even as God is pouring our His wrath upon us.

Jer 44:25 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.

Israel is us, and we simply do not like God’s ways of putting us to grief before He redeems us. We always have a better plan. Ours is a plan which does away with that messy and painful thing called ‘the cross of Christ’ with all of its suffering and its shame. Paul forewarns us:

Php 3:18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
Php 3:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

This is our walk in our own time. We don’t consider ourselves enemies of Christ, we just do not want to do what He says and “take up our cross and follow [ Him]”. As Jeremiah told us earlier “… thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins”. We want no part in His ways, and this is where that spirit will get us:

Jer 44:20 Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,
Jer 44:21 The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind?
Jer 44:22 So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.

King Solomon reveals that even he is aware of the truth of Jeremiah’s words. King Solomon is truly conflicted. Even in his apostatized state, he knows that “it shall not be well with the wicked”, regardless of how long he prospers in his wickedness. As the type of our old man in his physical prosperity, he has physically prospered even as he continued to add to his collection of Pagan wives and their gods.
Yet he confesses:

Ecc 8:12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:
Ecc 8:13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.

It will not “be well with [ us]” when we do evil and “fear not before God”, even if our evil seems to prosper for a season. This is the Old Testament type of what happens to us when we stubbornly refuse to submit to God and to hear and obey His Word:

Jer 44:26 Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the LORD, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD liveth.
Jer 44:27 Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.
Jer 44:28 Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.

While we are in Egypt or Babylon, we don’t think we are rebelling against God. Sure, we are not doing exactly what His words tell us to do, but we tell ourselves that it would actually be evil to do what the Lord tells us to do, and it would be divisive and bring down the wrath of men upon us for no really good reason. So we convince ourselves that not every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God is essential, and that in practical fact there are many non- essential words in the Word of God, which we can and should agree are not essential to obey if we truly love our brothers.
This logic is reinforced as we watch Job being judged, and we are convinced that being at peace with Egypt and Babylon is where the blessings are to be enjoyed, and to be obedient to every Word of God will bring us to misery.
Solomon observes all of this in these words:

Ecc 8:14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.

Like all of us, Solomon, a “natural man”, finds the ways of the spirit to be nothing short of foolishness. As Jeremiah tells us, here is what we all conclude under the influence of such “idols of our hearts”:

Jer 44:17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.

Paul explains why Israel feels as she does:

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The leaders of Israel had sought God’s direction at the feet of Jeremiah, but when they were told to trust God to protect them and to forsake their Pagan holidays, and they were told not to leave for Egypt after the rebellion of Ishmael, who had slain Gedaliah, “whom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land”, this is what happened:

Jer 41:16 Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, even mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon:
Jer 41:17 And they departed, and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,
Jer 41:18 Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land.

But Johanan was ruling over the people to his own hurt, and the people listened to him instead of the Word of the Lord which they had inquired of from Jeremiah.

Jer 42:1 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,
Jer 42:2 And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:)
Jer 42:3 That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.
Jer 42:4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.
Jer 42:5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
Jer 42:6 Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.

We are a type of Johanan. We say we want to obey God long before we are dragged to do so. We seek God’s Words, but when we hear them, we reject them:

Jer 43:1 And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words,
Jer 43:2 Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there:
Jer 43:3 But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon.
Jer 43:4 So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the LORD, to dwell in the land of Judah.

King Solomon lived many years before Johanan, but like Johanan, Solomon had sought the Lord and then turned his back on the Lord’s commandments against marrying strange women and serving the gods of his Pagan wives. Even knowing “it will not be well with the wicked”, he still declares:

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.

Those words are the mantra of the natural man. There is a bumper sticker which says “The one who dies with the most toys wins”, and that is words coming from the heart of the beast which is within us all by nature.
This is what we do to get those ‘toys’:

Ecc 8:16 When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)

It is natural to want to work hard and to get ahead in this world. Any man with any ambition does so before the Lord takes it all away, either literally or figuratively and shows us that this life is “but a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away”.

Jas 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: [ Get ahead in this life]
Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

The verse we conclude with is certainly true. As James makes so very clear. “… Ye know not what shall be on the morrow”.

Ecc 8:17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.

Those who “know the voice of [ their true] shepherd”, and confess that they can and must “know the Truth”, as Christ told us we must, will always be accused of thinking they ‘know it all’. The fact is, that anyone who is speaking “in Christ” will always be a humble person who, like Christ Himself, will always give all glory to Christ and His Father, and will confess that without Christ, he is nothing in and of himself. There is a world of difference between confessing to “know[ ing] the Truth” when you hear it, and knowing all Truth.
Here are Christ’s own words:

Joh 10:4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

As both Solomon and James agree, “man cannot find out… all the work of God… that is done under the sun”, and it is foolish to ever claim to “know what shall be on the morrow”. Anyone who sets dates is therefore not speaking with “the voice of the true shepherd”, because of what James says in Jas 4:4 and because of what Christ tells us here:

Mar 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

We do not know everything, but we do know when we are hearing “His voice… the Truth”.

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

When we say we cannot be certain that we “know the Truth”, we will be judged out of our own mouth, because what we are confessing “out of [ our] own mouth” is that we cannot be certain that we know Christ who is the Truth, when Christ Himself informs us:

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Next week, Lord willing, we will find that the scriptures teach that “All things come alike to all”.

Ecc 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.
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.
Ecc 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.
Ecc 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.
Ecc 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.
Ecc 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.
Ecc 9:7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
Ecc 9:8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.
Ecc 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.

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Ecc 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.
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.
Ecc 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.
Ecc 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.
Ecc 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.
Ecc 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.
Ecc 9:7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
Ecc 9:8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.
Ecc 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.

Introduction

The one thing King Solomon never once questions is the sovereign hand of God in the affairs of mankind. As a naturally minded man, he may not like the way God is working, but like Job, King Solomon never once questions God’s sovereignty. He told us in Proverbs that the preparations of our very thoughts and the words of our mouths were both “of the Lord”.

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.
Pro 20:24 Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?

Now he is reaffirming the sovereign hand of God is directing all “the works” of mankind:

Ecc 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.

“Declare all of this” refers specifically to the contents of the previous chapter. King Solomon, like Eliphaz, Job’s eldest ‘miserable comforter’, told Job:

Job 5:27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.

While he is not knowingly making a confession, it is nevertheless because of King Solomon’s emptiness and frustration that he wants to “declare all this”, and he wants us to know what he sees is the end of those who turn their back on the True God for the false gods of their wives which typify false doctrines and churches.
King Solomon, as an Old Testament type of each of us in our own time, is overcome by the false doctrines of his many pagan wives, which he was told he was never to take to himself:

1Ki 11:1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
1Ki 11:2 Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
1Ki 11:3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
1Ki 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
1Ki 11:5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

Here is the New Testament version of 1Ki 11:2:

2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
2Jn 1:11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

King Solomon, typifying us, did not “abide in the doctrine of Christ”, and instead received a thousand strange women into his house to love them and take them as his wives, instead of clinging to “the doctrine of Christ”.
These last two verses of the previous chapter will serve to remind us of the frustration and emptiness King Solomon, as the type of our natural, earthy, old man, feels as he struggles to understand “the business… [ and] all the work of God… done upon the earth”.

Ecc 8:16 When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)
Ecc 8:17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.

Though a wise man think to know… all the work of God… the business that is done upon the earth… yet shall he not be able to… know [ or understand] either [ the] love or [ the] hatred [ of] all [ the wise searching of all the experiences which are right there] before them”.
The last part of verse one, in the King James reads: “No man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.” The words ‘by’, and ‘that is’ are not in the Hebrew and need to be omitted for clarity. Even a wise man such as Solomon cannot understand either the love or the hatred by all his searching of “all the work of God … that is done upon the earth” Therefore the only conclusion to be drawn is that that “the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God [ and] no man [ can] know either love or hatred by [ observing] all [ that was done by all the men] who have gone before them, who were also attempting to “find out… all the work of God… that is done under the sun”.
The last two verses of chapter 8 include the element of time into Solomon’s inquiry.

“To see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:):”

The word ‘before’ in verse one of chapter 9 is concerned with the position of what he is observing. It is the word ‘before’ which is concerned with the position of what is “before them”.
For example:

Gen 6:11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
Mal 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

So that word ‘before’ means ‘before’ in both time and position, and is used in both ways, as this verse demonstrates:

Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

Since all of this is undeniable to King Solomon, for our instruction he rightly concludes:

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.

Ecc 9:2 is a profound but very controversial verse of scripture. I could not find a commentary which understood “All things come alike to all”, to mean that in an ultimate spiritual sense. They generally agree that this is true in this physical realm, but that misses the very point of this verse.
Here is what this verse is saying. This is the very point being made:

1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

“We” indicates those who are “in Adam”, and according to this verse in this very same chapter of scripture, “we” are “all” who are “in Adam”.

1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

The equation we are given here is that “as in Adam, all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” In other words, the “all” of the first part of this equation is the same as the “all” of the last part of this equation, and the point being made is that the latter will be every bit as affected by Christ as the former were by Adam. What we are being told is that as we are in Adam “even so in Christ shall all be made alive”.
To make this point even more forcefully, in the book of Romans we are told that the work of grace through Christ is “much more” powerful than the work of Adam:

Rom 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

‘Grace chastens us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts much more than sin is capable of abounding in us’. Our stubbornness and rebellion against God is not even a challenge for the chastening grace of God:

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching [ Greek – paideuo, chastens] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,

Grace inexorably “brings salvation… Where sin abounds grace… much more abounds” and God’s spankings and scourging accomplish their purpose within us.
When we look for the sum of God’s word concerning salvation this is what we see:

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

And who is “every son that He receives”? Who do the scriptures reveal to be “every son”? Here is the answer to that question:

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.

That is the fruit of God’s “chastening… scourging… fiery… judgments” upon every man’s works, and when His judgments are in the earth, then men will learn righteousness. That is the purpose for the judgments of God, both “upon the house of God” now and at the “great white throne… judgment”.

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

They that obey not the gospel will have their works tried by the very same fire that is right now trying and judging the house of God. In the end ‘all things will have come alike to all”. “One event” will have been to all, because of the truth of these verses:

1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have [ all] borne the image of the earthy, we shall [ all] also bear the image of the heavenly.

King Solomon is the type of who we are while deceived by our wives’ gods, consequently we, at that stage of our experience, are completely unaware of the purpose and function of God’s chastening, fiery grace. All he can see is that all men return to the dust, and he actually reproves God for this “evil”.

Ecc 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.

Because “there is one event unto all… the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live” hearkens back to this verse in the previous chapter:

Ecc 8:11 Because 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.

But God has placed hope in the heart of even ‘King Solomon’ within us:

Ecc 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.

In spiritual words, a living Gentile (dog), is better than the dying son of the devil, the lion that roams the earth seeking whom he may devour.

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Mat 8:22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead [ children of the devil] bury their dead.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

So “a living dog is better than a dead lion”.

Ecc 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.

Even those who are in Christ must, at some point, relinquish these physical bodies of corruption, which are referred to as “flesh and blood”.

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

Even the New Testament teaches that when we die in Christ, we are “asleep in Christ”, and thereby agrees with King Solomon’s statement that “the dead know not anything”. Paul goes on to inform us that without a resurrection from that unconscious state “the dead in Christ are perished”.

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.

Those who are asleep in Christ are raised before the thousand years begin and they are granted to rule with Christ during that symbolic thousand years. Until that time God’s elect are “asleep in Christ” awaiting the resurrection:

1Th 4:15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel,
and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 1Th 4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

Those who are “alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep”. Rather “the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left will be caught up together with them…” So the memory of them [ may indeed be] forgotten by those who are “under the sun”, but our Lord does not forget even one of His own. He knows even every sparrow that falls to the earth, and even the hairs of our heads are numbered by Him.

Luk 12:6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?
Luk 12:7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

But our old man has no such hope, and King Solomon, as the type of our old man, continues in his misery, lamenting the futility of such a hopeless life:

Ecc 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.

“Under the sun”, like all of God’s word, has both a natural and a spiritual application. We will all “bear the [ natural] earthy”, application of all scripture before we are given to bear the spiritual.

1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

“Their love, their hatred, and their envy” refers to the love, hatred, and envy of our corruptible, natural, old man. It is true that the flesh of our old man is doomed to destruction because “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, as the very next verse declares:

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;

This is a statement of truth concerning mankind under the physical, natural ‘sun’, but nothing is said here about mankind’s ultimate destiny under “the Sun of righteousness, of whom the physical sun is but a type:

Psa 19:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Psa 19:2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
Psa 19:3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
Psa 19:4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
Psa 19:5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall;

As already noted, under “the Sun of Righteousness… in Christ shall all… in Adam… be made alive. But this ‘life’ comes only through the death and destruction of “the first man Adam”.

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

It is the ‘love, envy, and hatred of our old, first man Adam, which is “perished [ and which will have no] more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
Knowing nothing of the ultimate salvation of all, King Solomon continues:

Ecc 9:7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.

It was back in chapter three that we were assured that there is a time to every purpose under heaven.

Ecc 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

This seventh verse of this chapter is a repetition of what was said in the thirteenth verse of chapter three.

Ecc 3:12 I know that there is no good in them [ man’s days “under the sun”], 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.

Like all of us, King Solomon speaks truths which are beyond his own understanding. It is through this phenomenon that we will all be judged out of our own mouths.

Job 15:6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
Luk 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

In chapter three King Solomon is telling us the same thing which he tells us in this seventh verse of chapter nine. He is telling us that we should eat and drink the good of our labors, and he tells us this “is the gift of God”. We have this same message in a spiritual sense in the New Testament when we are told that we will all be rewarded according to our works, our labors:

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.
Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

King Solomon, being the type of our old man, speaks of physical works and tells us “God has accepted your works”. The New Testament, on the other hand informs us that our works are not our own works, even if they are evil works:

Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

Paul had just twice informed us that our sins are not really our own sins:

Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

Then he tells us that our “good works… were [ also] foreordained that we should walk in them”, and are not our own works at all.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

So if we put all these verses together, we must conclude that our good works and our wicked works are “no more I that do it, but… God [ who is] working all things after the counsel of His own will”, as we were told in Ephesians chapter one:

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:

“The counsel of [ God’s] will was never revealed to King Solomon nor to any of the Old Testament patriarchs, kings, or prophets, as we are informed by both Christ and the apostle Peter:

Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Being totally unaware of “the counsel of [ God’s] will, our old man thinks only as would any natural man:

Ecc 9:8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.

In its negative application, this verse is simply a continuation of the “let us eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die”, message of the preceding chapters and verses. However, in the positive, spiritual application of these words, they are very sound and wise words. We must “let our [ spiritual] garments be always white, and let our head lack no ointment”:

Act 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
2Co 1:21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

The saint who are to be “arrayed in fine linen, clean and white” are pictured as a chaste virgin who is espoused to one husband, Christ.

2Co 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

As Christ and Peter have told us, King Solomon and all of the “kings and righteous men and prophets” of the Old Testament “ministered not to themselves, but to us, and had no spiritual concept of being the bride of Christ. Nevertheless even as he continues to express his hopelessness and despair with this life, his words have a spiritual application for how Christ dwells with us as His wife, even as we are in these “earthen vessels”:

Ecc 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.

It is true that we are to “live joyfully, [ and] rejoice” with our spiritual husband as we, His faithful wife, suffer with Him, are persecuted and despised of this world with Him:

Mat 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

The New Testament message for us is to rejoice and be joyful for all the opportunities we have been given to suffer with our husband as He within us, remains faithful to His Father and to His Father’s commandments.

Act 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Rom 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Rom 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Next week, if the Lord wills we will learn that the proven, saving wisdom of “a poor wise man”” is “despised, and His words are not heard.”

Ecc 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
Ecc 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Ecc 9:12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
Ecc 9:13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:
Ecc 9:14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:
Ecc 9:15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
Ecc 9:16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
Ecc 9:17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.
Ecc 9:18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

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Ecc 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
Ecc 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Ecc 9:12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
Ecc 9:13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:
Ecc 9:14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:
Ecc 9:15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
Ecc 9:16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
Ecc 9:17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.
Ecc 9:18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

Introduction

In Mat 13 Christ, “speaking of things that are not as though they were”, tells His “yet carnal” disciples that they have been given “eyes that see and ears that hear… the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” which “kingdom” is within those to whom He comes (Luk 17:20-21). Then He goes on to tell them that no one in the Old Testament had been granted to see or hear the things they were given to see and to hear:

Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
Rom 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

In the same way we are told that we have been given the down payment of our salvation. Christ’s disciples had indeed heard and seen the mysteries of the kingdom of God. They had heard those mysteries and seen the power of that kingdom from the king of that kingdom Himself, yet their understanding was not really mature.

Mar 8:21 And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

We are even told where we are at this very moment if we can understand.

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

We are at this very moment ‘seated together with Christ “in the heavens”. This is not to be understood as the end product however. Rather it is to be understood as a promise and a down payment of something much greater than just a promise and a down payment.
For example we are indeed “now… the sons of God [ nevertheless] it does not yet appear what we shall be…”

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.

In the same manner “now are we… made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”, and yet “the whole creation waits for the adoption, to wit the redemption of our bodies”, for which we yet “hope [ and] wait… with patience”.

Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
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.
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 [ Greek, down payment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

“The redemption of our body” of Rom 8:23 and “the redemption of the purchased possession” of Eph 1:14 are one and the same, because we are not given our new spiritual body until the resurrection of the dead.

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

But our “first man Adam”, typified in this book of Ecclesiastes by King Solomon, has no hope beyond this life, so this is his way of dealing with his hopelessness:

Ecc 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

Once again, King Solomon has no hope of future blessings for being obedient to God in this life, and he speaks only in terms of the grave as being the end of all men. While he confesses to the sovereign hand of God in all things, his inability to cope with his perceived futility of life, has him conflicted, and doubting his own statement earlier right here in this book of Ecclesiastes.
Compare this statement with what He has already told us in chapter three:

Ecc 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

The first part of this verse is true. “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill”. But compare the words, “but time and chance happeneth to them all, with these words from this same apostatized king in chapter three:

Ecc 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

If indeed “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” then there is nothing that happens by “chance”. When we consider that the Hebrew word here translated as ‘season’ is used only in the sense of an appointed time, the idea of “time and chance” is not what is being revealed in this verse at all.
Here is where this word appears in the Old Testament:

H2165
×–×ן
zemân
Total KJV Occurrences: 4
time, 2
Neh_2:6, Est 9:27
season, 1
Ecc_3:1
times, 1
Est 9:31
Its first use in Neh 2:6 is typical of all the others:

Neh 2:6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

The word translated ‘time’ in Ecc 9:11 is the same word translated “time” 31 times in chapter 3, It is the same word translated time in verse one above, and it is the same word translated as “time” 28 times more in verses 2-8.

Ecc 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
Ecc 3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
Ecc 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
Ecc 3:5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
Ecc 3:6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
Ecc 3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
Ecc 3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

It obviously means an appointed time, and when we consider the Hebrew word translated as “chance”, and we look at the root meaning of that word, we will see that anything being done by ‘chance’ is simply not a Biblical doctrine. That is especially true in light of this verse:

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:

The Hebrew word which is translated as ‘chance” here is ‘pega’, and this is how that word is defined by Strong’s concordance.

H6294
פּגע
pega‛
peh’- gah
From H6293; impact (casual): – chance, occurrent.
This word ‘pega’ is from the root word “H6293”, and this word ‘pega’ appears but one other time in the Old Testament:
H6294
פּגע
pega‛
Total KJV Occurrences: 2
chance, 1
Ecc 9:11
occurrent, 1
1Ki 5:4
Here is that one other entry for this word:

1Ki 5:4 But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.

“Neither adversary nor evil occurrent”, means neither adversary nor evil, had ‘befallen’ King Solomon, as the root of the word Hebrew word ‘pega’ demonstrates.
Here is the root of this word ‘pega’:

H6293
פּגע
pâga‛
paw- gah’

A primitive root; to impinge, by accident or violence, or (figuratively) by importunity: – come (betwixt), cause to entreat, fall (upon), make intercession, intercessor, intreat, lay, light [ upon], meet (together), pray, reach, run.
When we examine the way this word is used, we will notice that it is never once used in the sense of an accident. Here are just the first three entries for this word:

Exo 5:3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
Jdg 8:21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.
Jdg 15:12 And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.

There is nothing accidental about any of these events, nor is there anything accidental about any of the other entries for this word.
Here are the only two verses which can even remotely be considered as indicating that something can happen by “chance”:

Exo 23:4 If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
Amo 5:19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

They are all deliberate actions of falling upon someone or falling at a certain time predestined by God who is working all things after the counsel of His own will. (Eph 1:11).
Here is another way this root word ‘paga’ is translated:

1Sa 10:5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy:

This is Samuel telling Saul, who Samuel was about to anoint as the king of Israel, what would certainly befall him. “Thou shalt meet a company of prophets…” It was not an accident, and it was not by chance that it befell Saul just as Samuel had prophesied.
Knowing how this word is used elsewhere, and knowing how the root of this word is translated it is clear that this 11th verse would be much better translated thusly:

Ecc 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but [ God’s “predestinated” time [ befalls] them all.

As Eph 1:11 tells us, everything that happens, happens “after the counsel of… [ God’s] predestinated… will”, and this verse in Zechariah agrees with Eph 1:11, Job 1-2, and all the rest of scripture, which affirms that there is nothing that happens which is out of God’s preordained control.
Truly “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong”, rather it is “by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts… who works all things after the counsel of His own will”.

Zec 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

King Solomon is obsessed with what happens to the physical works of one’s hands after death, and what he is telling us is that we are not in control of the future. Here is how the New Testament words this same message:

Jas 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your [ physical] life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

That is the meaning and the true message of Ecc 9:11. We are all in God’s sovereign hands, and He is working every single detail of the lives of all men after the counsel of His own will. With this better understanding of verse 11 the next verse now logically follows:

Ecc 9:12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

This verse simply reiterates what we were told in chapter one:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it. (CLV)

If this life is so purposeless as to be nothing more than “vanity and a vexation of spirit”, then why is God bothering to humble mankind with this “experience of evil”? The answer, of course is that this life of an “experience of evil” is but the necessary first step to a spiritual body and a life in the realm of the spirit, know as “the heavens”.

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

These next verses are simply not in sync with the spirit of “all is vanity and a vexation of spirit”. If indeed “wisdom is better than strength [ and] weapons of war” then what does it matter if “the poor man’s wisdom is despised” in this life?
Here now is something of which even the disillusioned King Solomon can say “it seemed great unto me”:

Ecc 9:13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:
Ecc 9:14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:
Ecc 9:15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
Ecc 9:16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

What is this “little city” comprised of “few men within it”? It is none other than the Old Testament type and shadow of the “few chosen” who make up the “New Jerusalem”? Who is this “poor wise man [ who] by his wisdom delivered the city”, and whose words to this very day “are not heard”? This truly should “seem great unto [ us all]”, because this is a perfect Biblical description of Christ, and His Christ, who has indeed delivered His elect, ” nevertheless [ His] wisdom is despised and His words are not heard… unto this day”.

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
2Co 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Truly “wisdom is better than strength”, because the strength of the flesh in this age is the enemy of the wisdom of Christ and His Christ. The wisdom of the chief priests and the Pharisees was to destroy their own savior, and by the Father Himself, they were given the power to do so. “Nevertheless the poor man’s… despised… wisdom… except a corn of wheat fall into the ground it abides alone, but if it die it brings forth much fruit” will, at the appointed time, prevail over all the strength of all the chief priests and Pharisees of all time.

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 11:57 Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him.

This is not the time for “the words of a poor wise man” to be heard by the masses. This is the time for “the poor man’s wisdom [ to be] despised, and his words are not heard. This is the time for the “few men in… [ the] little city… [ of] New Jerusalem [ to be] hated of all men”.

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

But until “the end” these words are how it is:

Ecc 9:17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.
Ecc 9:18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

For now, the “few chosen” are, and will continue to be “hated of all men for [ Christ’s] name’s sake”. But “he that overcometh [ and] endureth to the end shall be saved… and shall rule the world… [ and] angels”.

1Co 6:1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
1Co 6:4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.

The holy spirit is telling us that “the least esteemed in the church… a poor, wise man” are more qualified to be counselors and judges than those who are the wise of this world. It is the rebellious, carnal mind of “one sinner” within us, with its already made up “idols of the heart” (Eze 14:1-9) which refuses the Godly counsel of “a poor wise man”, and who seeks to the counselors of this world instead of seeking to “the mind of Christ”.

Ecc 9:16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will see clearly the need to be sober, and diligent in listening to every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Ecc 10:1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.
Ecc 10:2 A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.
Ecc 10:3 Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.
Ecc 10:4 If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences.
Ecc 10:5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler:
Ecc 10:6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.
Ecc 10:7 I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.
Ecc 10:8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
Ecc 10:9 Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby.
Ecc 10:10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.

Video Links

Ecc 1:12-18 It Is An Experience Of Evil [ God] Hath Given The Sons Of Humanity To Humble Them By It
Ecc 1:12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
Ecc 1:13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.

Here is verse 13 in the Concordant Literal Version:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.
Ecc 1:14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Ecc 1:15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
Ecc 1:16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
Ecc 1:17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
Ecc 1:18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

Introduction

We must remind ourselves every time we read this book, that it is written from the perspective of “under the sun”. What this means is that it is written from a carnal, earthy perspective with little understanding of the essential function of the temporal, earthy, “first man Adam”. Proverbs was written before Solomon’s apostasy, whereas Ecclesiastes expresses the hopeless despair of an apostatized king. The expression of despair and vanity stems from seeing the first man Adam as the finished product of “the Potter’s hand”, when in reality the first man Adam is merely the disposable, first step in what the Lord is doing within us all to produce a new man whom He calls “the last Adam”.

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

Being written from a carnal perspective does not rob this book of its inspired status as part of the Word of God. God’s Word is full of “carnal commandment[ s], and stories about carnal men, which are all spiritual shadows of the True, just as the first Adam himself is nothing more than a ‘tupos’, or a ‘type’ or “figure” of “the last Adam”.

Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure [ Greek – tupos, type] of him that was to come.
Heb 7:16 Who [ Christ, the reformer, the last Adam] is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment [ the “law… for the lawless”], but after the power of an endless life.
1Ti 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
1Ti 1:10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

All types and shadows are designed to demonstrate to us the futile and temporal, yet essential nature, of our “marred, carnal, first man Adam”. That is why the first Adam is but a type, a ‘tupos’, of “that which is spiritual… the last man Adam”.
Here is a verse which demonstrates this principle of how the type is opposed to the anti- type, the spiritual end product:

Deu 20:16 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:

The truth which this verse typifies is actually very much opposed to ‘you shall save alive nothing that breaths.’ The reality which is casting that shadow, that ‘save alive nothing that breaths’ type of death, is the death of our old carnal- minded first man Adam, with whom we are to make no alliances or treaties. He simply must die and be destroyed.

Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Since the death of our carnal- minded old man is the catalyst for the birth of our new spiritually- minded new man, that carnal commandment to destroy every thing that breathes is actually nothing more than a “figure of that which was to come”, which is: “Thou shalt love thine enemies”. The type and shadow is always completely opposed to the anti- type, the end product, just as the first man Adam is completely opposed to the last man Adam”.
Therefore, Deu 20:16 is a type and shadow of how we are to destroy every “power and principality” within us which exalts itself against the knowledge of the True God who will have all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men, to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

It is impossible for the natural man to receive it. Nevertheless, the Truth remains, that by losing our life we find life, and that is the anti- type, the reality, which is foreshadowed by the carnal commandment ‘you shall save alive nothing that breathes,’
So this book of Ecclesiastes is an inspired book which is designed, just like the book of Job, to give us a deep understanding of the futility of our natural desire to preserve our physical bodies of sinful flesh and blood. This book is designed to reveal to us the vanity of the entire physical realm, and mankind’s temporary place within that physical realm. Even if one is a physical king in that physical realm, which is exactly how we all see ourselves as being, as God’s temple we all first reside as “that man of sin”.

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

According to 1Co 3:16-17 we are that “temple of God”, and it is our old, first man Adam, who is sitting in that temple “showing himself that He is God”.

2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth [ the revelation of “the son of perdition”, verse 3] that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [ withholds] will let [ withhold], until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Here is this same vain man as he is revealed to us in the Old Testament:

Isa 14:4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Eze 28:2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

All of this is what happened to King Solomon, who is just another type of who we all are in our beginning as we come to understand that it is we must live by every word of God, and we must come to understand the fact that all things are ours.

Ecc 1:12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

When we are given to understand that physical Israel and physical Jerusalem are nothing more than types and shadows of spiritual Israel, with its spiritual capital, then we can begin to understand that spiritual Israel is typified by “Israel which now is and is in bondage with her children”, as well as “Jerusalem… above which is the mother of us all”.
Here is how Paul compares spiritual things to spiritual concerning this matter of being king over Israel in Jerusalem.

Gal 4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

After reprimanding these Galatian Gentiles for placing themselves back under the law after once being free from it, Paul gives us these very revealing words:

Gal 4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Gal 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Gal 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

It becomes clear that the ‘Israel’ and the ‘Jerusalem’ of this 12th verse, are being used in their negative application, as a type and shadow of Babylon the Great,. and this is justt one more statement from the perspective of being “under the sun”, or “under the heaven” as it is worded in verse 13:

Ecc 1:13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. (KJV)

The word ‘exercised’ should be ‘humble’

Let’s look at this 13th verse in the Concordant Literal Version:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it. (CLV)

The Hebrew word which is translated as ‘exercised’ here in the KJV, is the word ‘anah’. I am struck with how the vast majority of the translations choose to translate the Hebrew word ‘anah’ with words like ‘busy, business, exercise, exercised, afflict, afflicted, trouble, and troubled’, instead of the word ‘humble’, which is a much better translation of the Hebrew word ‘anah’.
Young’s Literal is another of the few who have wisely chosen to translate that Hebrew word ‘anah’ as ‘humble’, which in light of the definition of that word, is a much better translation.
Here is Young’s Literal Version of this 13th verse:

Ecc 1:13 And I have given my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that hath been done under the heavens. It is a sad travail God hath given to the sons of man to be humbled by it. (YLT)

Here now, is the Strong’s entry for the Hebrew word ‘anah’.
H6031
×¢× ×”
‛ânâh
aw- naw’
A primitive root (possibly rather identical with H6030 through the idea of looking down or browbeating); to depress literally or figuratively, transitively or intransitively (in various applications). (sing is by mistake for H6030.): – abase self, afflict (- ion, self), answer [ by mistake for H6030], chasten self, deal hardly with, defile, exercise, force, gentleness, humble (self), hurt, ravish, sing [ by mistake for H6030], speak [ by mistake for H6030], submit self, weaken, X in any wise.
Here are the various translations given this word in the King James Version:
H6031
×¢× ×”
‛ânâh
Total KJV Occurrences: 83
afflict, 29
Gen_15:13, Gen_31:50, Exo_1:11, Exo_22:22-23 (2), Lev_16:29, Lev_16:31, Lev_23:27, Lev_23:32, Num_24:24 (2), Num_29:7, Num_30:13, Jdg_16:5-6 (2), Jdg_16:19, 2Sa_7:10, 1Ki_11:39, 2Ch_6:26, Ezr_8:21, Job_37:23, Psa_55:19, Psa_89:22, Isa_58:5 (2), Isa_64:12, Lam_3:33, Nah_1:12, Zep_3:19
afflicted, 21
Exo_1:12, Lev_23:29, Deu_26:6, 1Ki_2:26 (2), 2Ki_17:20, Job_30:11, Psa_88:7, Psa_90:15, Psa_107:17, Psa_116:10, Psa_119:67, Psa_119:71, Psa_119:75, Psa_119:107, Isa_53:4, Isa_53:7, Isa_58:3, Isa_58:10, Isa_60:14, Nah_1:12
humbled, 7
Deu_8:3, Deu_21:14, Deu_22:24, Deu_22:29, Psa_35:13, Eze_22:10-11 (2)
forced, 4
Jdg_20:5, 2Sa_13:14, 2Sa_13:22, 2Sa_13:32
humble, 4
Exo_10:3, Deu_8:2, Deu_8:16, Jdg_19:24
exercised, 2
Ecc_1:13, Ecc_3:10
sing, 2
Exo_32:18, Isa_27:2
abase, 1
Isa_31:4
afflictest, 1
1Ki_8:35
afflictions, 1
Psa_132:1
chasten, 1
Dan_10:12
defiled, 1
Gen_34:2
force, 1
2Sa_13:12
gentleness, 1
2Sa_22:36
hardly, 1
Gen_16:6
hurt, 1
Psa_105:18
ravished, 1
Lam_5:11
submit, 1
Gen_16:9
troubled, 1
Zec_10:2
weakened, 1
Psa_102:23
wise, 1
Exo_22:23 (2)

‘Afflict’ and ‘afflicted’ account for 50 of the total 83 occurrences of this word as it is translated in the King James Version. The most common way of translating a word often gives us a much better understanding of scripture, but that is not always true for some very critical words, like the Greek word ‘aion’ and the Hebrew word ‘olawm’. The most common translations of those words are very misleading, because they are most commonly translated in a way that makes them both appear to be speaking of eternity, when in reality they both carry with them the concept of a period of time with a definite beginning and a definite end.
The same is true for this Hebrew word ‘anah’. It is most commonly translated as ‘afflict’, and as ‘afflicted’, when in reality it carries with it the concept of being “beaten down” and “abased”, or “humbled”. It is erroneously translated ‘exercised’ only two times, one of which is here in Ecc 1:13.
Here is just one verse where this word is properly translated as ‘humbled’.

Deu 8:3 And he humbled [ Hebrew – anah] thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

Anyone in whom Christ truly dwells will be humbled simply because Christ knows that He can of Himself do nothing. Here are Christ’s own words to that effect:

Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Here are a couple more verses which demonstrate that this word is best translated as ‘humble’:

Gen 16:6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly [ H6031 – ‘anah’] with her, she fled from her face.
Gen 16:9 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself [ H6031 – ‘anah’] under her hands.

“Dealt hardly” in verse 6, and “submit thyself” in verse 7 are both translated from the single Hebrew word ‘anah’. Is not verse 6 telling us that Sarai humiliated her maid to force her to leave? Is not the angel of the Lord telling Hagar to humble herself under Sarai? Clearly this word is best translated with that thought generally in mind.
Christ was the meekest, most humble man who has ever lived. Everything He did, He did to please His Father and not Himself, and yet just like Moses and all the prophets of God, Christ spoke as one having authority:

Mat 7:28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
Mat 7:29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

So being humble does not exclude speaking with authority. Anyone who truly knows God and His Son will always be very humble, and yet they will also speak with authority and denounce the unfruitful works of darkness. In doing so they, just like their Savior, will always be accused of “taking too much upon themselves [ and] lift[ ing him] self” up above the congregation of the Lord”, but that is our calling. That is what we are to expect, and that is “an experience of evil” to which those who follow our Lord will humble themselves and endure.
Moses endured this very humbling ‘experience of evil’ as an example to us:

Num 16:1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
Num 16:2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
Num 16:3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

It is humiliating to have ” two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown”, accuse you of being a proud and vain person who simply wants to have the preeminence among the people when the Truth is that you are not the least bit interested in being recognized of men.
So the Young’s Literal Translation and the Concordant Literal Version are much better translations of this verse than most of the translations which are available to us. Here is the Young’s Literal Translation of this 13th verse of Ecclesiastes one:

Ecc 1:13 And I have given my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that hath been done under the heavens. It is a sad [ Hebrew – ‘ra’, evil] travail [ Hebrew – ‘inyan’] God hath given to the sons of man to be humbled by it. (YLT)

‘Travail’ can properly be translated as ‘experience’

While ‘travail’ is generally the best translation of the Hebrew word ‘inyan’ in this verse, it is also acceptable to use the word ‘experience’ as the Concordant Literal Version does.
Here is Strong’s definition of the Hebrew word ‘inyan’:

‛inyân
in- yawn’
From H6031; ado, that is, (generally) employment or (specifically) an affair: – business, travail.
This Hebrew word ‘inyan’ comes “from H6031”, the primative root ‘anah’, which is the very same word we just demonstrated should have been translated as ‘humble’ instead of ‘exercised’ in this very same verse.
H6031
×¢× ×”
‛ânâh
aw- naw’
A primitive root (possibly rather identical with H6030 through the idea of looking down or browbeating);

So the Hebrew words for ‘travail’, and ‘humble’ in this verse have the same root, the “primitive root” word ‘anah’, which means ‘to humble’ or ‘to be humbled’. So we could say ‘It is… a humbling God has given to the sons of men to be humbled by it’.

‘Ra’ should be translated ‘evil’

But because the word ‘ra’ is used with the word ‘inyan’, to tell us what kind of experience this particular humbling is, it is proper for the Concordant Literal Version to translate as “it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it”. So Young’s Literal Translation misses the proper translation of the Hebrew word ‘ra’, which Young has translated as ‘sad’ in this verse.
To make this point let’s read one more time how Young has translated this word ‘ra’ here in verse 13:

Ecc 1:13 And I have given my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that hath been done under the heavens. It is a sad [ Hebrew – ‘ra’, evil] travail God hath given to the sons of man to be humbled by it. (YLT)

The word he has translated as ‘sad’, and which the King James translates as ‘sore’, is the Hebrew word ‘ra’, and that word should definitely be translated as ‘evil’, not ‘sad’ or ‘sore’. One can be ‘sad’ or ‘sore’ without being ‘evil’. But we are being informed that God has made men wicked, and He has given mankind an evil experience for mankind’s “day of evil… to be humbled by it”. This is completely consistent with what Solomon had already written earlier in the book of Proverbs:

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil [ Hebrew – ‘ra’].

In this verse also the word ‘evil’ is translated from the Hebrew word ‘ra’.
Here is Strong’s definition of this Hebrew word, ‘ra’.

H7451
רעהרע
ra‛ râ‛âh
rah, raw- aw’

From H7489; bad or ( as noun) evil (naturally or morally). This includes the second (feminine) form; as adjective or noun: – adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, + displease (- ure), distress, evil ([- favouredness], man, thing), + exceedingly, X great, grief (- vous), harm, heavy, hurt (- ful), ill (favoured), + mark, mischief, (- vous), misery, naught (- ty), noisome, + not please, sad (- ly), sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked (- ly, – ness, one), worse (- st) wretchedness, wrong. [ Including feminine ra’ah; as adjective or noun.]
This is the same word translated as ‘evil’ in this verse of scripture:

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil [ Hebrew – H7451, ‘ra’]

So the Concordant Literal Version got it right:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

The name ‘Yahweh’ never appears in this book

The name ‘Elohim’ is used in scripture to refer to both God and to Pagan Elohim. This name according to e- sword, appears 39 time in this book of Ecclesiastes.

Ecc_1:13, Ecc_2:24, Ecc_2:26, Ecc_3:10-11 (2), Ecc_3:13-15 (4), Ecc_3:17-18 (2), Ecc_5:1-2 (3), Ecc_5:4, Ecc_5:6-7 (2), Ecc_5:18-20 (4), Ecc_6:2 (2), Ecc_7:13-14 (2), Ecc_7:18, Ecc_7:26, Ecc_7:29, Ecc_8:2, Ecc_8:12-13 (2), Ecc_8:15, Ecc_8:17, Ecc_9:1, Ecc_9:7, Ecc_11:5, Ecc_11:9, Ecc_12:7, Ecc_12:13-14 (2)

But the name ‘Yahweh’, by which God revealed Himself to His special people, does not appear one time in this book. This is an indication of the state of mind Solomon was given when he was writing this book. Neither Solomon nor any of the Old Testament prophets knew Christ or His Father.
Christ put it in these words:

Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

He goes on to tell us something very few people know or believe to this very day:

Joh 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

What Christ is telling us here is that no one in the Old Testament ever knew the Father: “You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form [ at any time].” Yet most Christians believe to this day that ‘Yahweh’ of the Old Testament was God the Father.
Peter confirms for us that no one in the Old Testament understood “the mysteries of the kingdom of God”, which mysteries God is in the process of establishing:

1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Not understanding that God is making a new Adam, and that the death and destruction of the first Adam is the channel through which the last Adam is birthed, Solomon, as the type of each of us when we do not know this, or we fail to remember it, again laments:

Ecc 1:14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Like Job, Solomon is contending with God for giving mankind “an experience of evil to humble him” and then just letting him die, all for no apparent purpose from the perspective of “That which has been done under the sun”.
It was Christ Himself who confirmed this to us:

Mat 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Solomon has not yet been granted faith to believe in another life. He is exactly what the apostle Paul tells us we are if we do not believe in a glorious resurrection from among the dead:

1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

All our old man lives for is this life, and that in the end is a very empty and miserable existence. From that desperate, empty and vain perspective, he continues to lament:

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

From the perspective of ‘that which has been done under the sun”, Solomon is exactly right, “That which is crooked cannot be made straight”. God told Job that he had no power over either behemoth or leviathan, and Solomon is simply acknowledging that truth:

Job 40:15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
Job 40:16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
Job 40:17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.
Job 40:18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.
Job 40:19 He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.

Only He who made behemoth can make His sword approach him and destroy him.
The same is true for leviathan:

Job 41:1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?
Job 41:2 Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?
Job 41:3 Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?
Job 41:4 Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?
Job 41:5 Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?
Job 41:6 Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants?
Job 41:7 Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?
Job 41:8 Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more.
Job 41:9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?
Job 41:10 None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?
Job 41:11 Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.

Solomon had no doubt who it is who makes things crooked. In this very same book he tells us:

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

This again, agrees with Job:

Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

You and I have no control over behemoth nor leviathan. That is the meaning of “that which is wanting cannot be numbered”. We are all extremely “wanting” when it comes to controlling the beastly, rebellious, carnal mind within us.
But both behemoth and leviathan are made by our Lord and our Lord owns both: “Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.”

Ecc 1:16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

Our Lord Himself refers to all the glory Solomon, who is a type of our own carnal Christian life and of the great harlot within us all:

Mat 6:28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
Mat 6:29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Solomon is “king over Israel in Jerusalem” is the perfect type of who we are while we are in league with the great harlot. We have everything and yet we feel empty and vain, and life is nothing more than a miserable, vexation:

Ecc 1:17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.

Here is how Christ Himself describes us at this juncture of our walk:

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

But Solomon has apostatized, as we all do before we are all brought to our wits’ end. It is when we are at our “wits’ end” that we lament with Solomon:

Ecc 1:18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

When we are healed of the deadly wound we all receive when we first come to our Lord, we again become a healthy beast who is “two fold more the child of hell”. So our old man still has to “go into perdition” before he can be saved:

Mat 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! [ the great harlot] for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

It is at this time in our walk that we can indeed increase wisdom and knowledge, and yet be nothing more than “carnal babes in Christ” who know so much and yet do not know the Truth:

2Ti 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2Ti 3:8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

We have all ‘been there and done that’, and in that sense we are filled with the grief and sorrow, which comes with believing the lies which underlie our carnal, self- righteous wisdom and our twisted, faithless, immature ‘knowledge’.
Here is where we all are at our own appointed time, all the while, thinking that we are mature Christians who know Christ very well:

1Co 1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
1Co 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

All this time the Truth is that we have nothing more than our own wisdom which increases grief and our own knowledge which increases sorrow:

1Co 1:5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
1Co 1:6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
1Co 1:7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:

It is hard for us to understand how we can “believe on [ Christ] and yet want to kill Him (Joh 8:31-41).

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

We are all the “servant [ who does] not [ abide] in the house forever”. We actually “believe on [ Christ], we gladly listen to His parables, and we are more than willing to be healed of Him and receive of His loaves and His fishes. We all love physical blessings, and doctrines which teach about nothing but physical blessings. But when He tells us “the flesh profits nothing… My words are spirit… [ then we all] go back and walk no more with Him”, and in a very short time we “seek to kill [ Him] thinking [ we] do God a service.”

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Joh 6:64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
Joh 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Joh 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

We do not believe that it is possible to believe on Christ and yet want to kill Him. We read John six and John eight, and we think, ‘Wow! What incredibly foolish and ungrateful people those Jews were. We do not see or hear the fact that these are words which we must and which we do live out in our own “one event… to all men” (Ecc 9:2) lives.
So after being told that we are ‘sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, confirming the testimony of Christ, and that we come behind in no gift’ it is hard for us to believe that in reality we are still nothing more than “carnal babes in Christ”, who want the True Christ dead in our lives.

1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

It is at this point that we have been bewitched and our wisdom brings us grief and our knowledge just increases our sorrow, simply because it is all tainted with “another gospel” and “another Jesus”, and God is in the process of revealing this deception to us.

Gal 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
2Co 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

None of us enjoys eating crow, and being forced to admit that everything we have ever believed is filled with lies, but this is just an essential part of the “one event” (Ecc 9:2), which is common to all men.
Solomon Himself, before his apostasy encourages us to get wisdom and knowledge:

Pro 4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
Pro 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Pro 16:16 How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!
Pro 2:10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
Pro 2:11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
Pro 2:12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;

So it is knowledge from an “under the Sun”, carnal, self- righteous, immature perspective which ‘increases grief and sorrow’ with no mention or understanding of ‘rejoicing in trials or being thankful for being counted worthy to suffer with Christ for His name’s sake. It is only with such a carnal, apostate mind that we can say “all is vanity and a vexation of spirit”.
Next week, if the Lord wills, we will learn how empty and tormented our lives become when we are seduced by a gospel which teaches us of nothing but physical blessing in physical bodies which are only ‘under the sun’ and are not ‘seated with Christ in the heavens’ (Eph 2:6). We will see how the prophets of the Old Testament sought so much to know what we have been given to know, and could not know it:

Ecc 2:1 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
Ecc 2:2 I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
Ecc 2:3 I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
Ecc 2:4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:
Ecc 2:5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits:
Ecc 2:6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:
Ecc 2:7 I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
Ecc 2:8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
Ecc 2:9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
Ecc 2:10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.
Ecc 2:11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
Ecc 2:12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.
Ecc 2:13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

 
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Ecc 8:1 Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.
Ecc 8:2 I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.
Ecc 8:3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
Ecc 8:4 Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
Ecc 8:5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment.
Ecc 8:6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.
Ecc 8:7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?
Ecc 8:8 There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.

Introduction

In this chapter King Solomon, typical of who we are “under the sun”, returns to his obsession with the future and his inability to control what will come after him:

Ecc 6:12 For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

Like Solomon we think of ourselves as wise men who have or have not made wise choices and extraordinary efforts, in and of ourselves:

1Ki 4:30 And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.
1Ki 4:31 For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.

As with all gifts men have been given, those gifts were given to mankind by God. Too often we assume the work of God to ourselves and forget this ever present Truth:

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

We tend to think of this verse as it applies only to how we are granted to be obedient to Him and His commandments, but if indeed God is working all things after the counsel of His own will, then this verse of scripture is to be applied to all things done by all men, and not just to those rare times when some few are granted to be obedient to God’s commandments.

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:

“All things” means that most things are evil things which God is working after the counsel of His own will, and that fact is plainly stated to be the case:

Pro 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue [ Good or evil], is from the LORD.

Lest there be any doubt as to what the Lord means by this first verse, He certainly clears the air with this verse:

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

It is the fact that God has given so few men to know His mind, to fear Him and to be obedient to Him that those who do so stand out like a city built upon a hill and as a light in a dark night.

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

If we are given to be “the light of the world”, it is only because we have been given the wisdom of our Lord to see and hear and obey the things He says. That gift has been given to very few:

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Luk 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Doing “the will of My Father” is far more inclusive than we have ever thought it to be because it includes “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God [ and] the thing written there in”:

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

A deep faith in the sovereign hand of God was and is an essential part of the wisdom of all the men of God of the Old Testament, and it is the same in the New Testament:

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.
Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
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:

We begin our study with these words:

Ecc 8:1 Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.

“Who is as the wise man?” Here is the answer to this question from the apostle Paul.

1Co 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
1Co 2:6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

Even when we give the Biblical, spiritual interpretation of the words of scripture it is still “hidden wisdom” which cannot be received by the wise of this world:

1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

“Who knows the interpretation of a thing?” It is the mind of God as it is expressed in His Word that gives us the interpretation of anything:

Gen 40:8 And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.

Scripture itself must be interpreted only by scripture (2Pe 1:20). When you hear a supposed ‘man of God’ tell you that the ten horns on the beast of Rev 13, are ten nations in Europe or anywhere else, then you need to demand of that man the scripture which defines those ten horns as ten European nations. But not one man in a thousand will make that demand. When you are told that the flying roll of Zechariah five is the symbol of a modern television satellite, you must demand of that man the scripture which defines that flying roll as a television satellite.

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.
Zec 5:1 Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.
Zec 5:2 And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.

The Truth is that a wise man will know that the beast of Rev 13 is the same beast throughout scripture that we find in this verse in the Old Testament:

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.

That is why the last verse of Rev 13 is properly translated as “the number of mankind“, making this prophecy applicable to all men:

Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has a mind calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is the number of mankind, and its number is six hundred sixty- six.

As for the “flying roll” of Zec 5, we are told that a roll is a book with writing in it:

Jer 36:2 Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.

This “roll” and the things written in it are associated with an ephah (35 liters or 9.3 U. S. gallons), with a woman in its midst, which woman then becomes two women, as Israel became two nations. These two women carry the ephah with a lead lid into the “land of Shinar”, which where Babylon, the figure of the great whore of Rev 17-18, was located. The message being that this “flying roll” represents the writings and doctrines for which Babylon is known. The men who tell us this flying roll represents their television satellite, when we consider all the heresies being broadcast on those satellites, are being judged out of their own mouths by the very next verse of Zechariah five:

Zec 5:3 Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.
Zec 5:10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these [ two women] bear the ephah?
Zec 5:11 And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar [ Babylon]: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.

That is the very reason why God’s people are commanded to come out of Babylon:

Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. [“The plague that goes forth over the face of the whole earth”]

In light of how easy it is to misinterpret the symbolism of God’s Word we need to pay close attention to this next verse:

Ecc 8:2 I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.

Here is one of “the King’s commandment[ s], and… the oath of God” that come with this commandment:

Exo 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

The last thing our old man wants to do is to be told what to do, and that is why the admonition to “the wise man” continues:

Ecc 8:3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.

What pleases God is to bring about the birth of “the new man” within us, and He is doing this through the death of our “old man”. “He does whatever pleases Him” to accomplish that goal within all of us. When our mind is His mind we certainly are “not hasty to go out of his sight”, and the closer to Him we are, the further we will be from “an evil thing”.
But God, “the King”, creates evil and uses evil to try the patience of His elect:

Psa 17:13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
Psa 18:4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

In Job chapters 1 and 2, Satan Himself is shown to be the Lord’s “hand” (Job 1:11-12, and 2:5-6).
Here is how all of this is to be applied outwardly in our daily lives in this present world:

Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Rom 13:2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:

Therefore it behooves those in whom Christ dwells to recognize, both physically, and spiritually, this Truth:

Ecc 8:4 Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?

We are blessed above all men to know that our God is sovereign over all things. “Where the word of the King is, there is power, and who may say to Him, What do you?” This is the very spirit we all first have when we begin to know the extent of the sovereign power of God. Paul tells us the same thing:

Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

When we are finally granted to understand the meaning of “liv[ ing] by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God”, and we see that we are the “first Adam” before we become the “last Adam”, then, and not until then, can we understand that we are all earthy first, and that we must all first bear the earthy, and after the earthy is spiritually conquered and destroyed within us, then we will bear the heavenly, “the last Adam”.

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

If we are given to see that we all first “bear the image of the earthy” before we are all given to “also bear the image of the heavenly”, then we can finally understand, that we are all Pharaoh’s Egypt before we become “the Israel of God” (Gal 6:15-16).
There is a time for every man of all time to bear the earthy and there is a time to bear the heavenly, and a wise man’s heart will know this:

Ecc 8:5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment.

“Feel no evil thing” does not mean that there is a way to somehow avoid “first… bearing the image of the earthy” and avoid first being Pharaoh who is raised up within us to be destroyed. These words apply to us only after we have come to the point of being able to “discern both time and judgment”. After all, it is judgment which teaches us righteousness. We do not just naturally know how to be and act righteously:

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. [“Discern both time and judgment”]

This verse reveals when this judgment is for every man in every generation since Christ:

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

The third chapter of this book reveals a Truth which the writer of this book was unable to receive, when he tells us:

Ecc 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

That includes a time for evil in the life of every man who has or ever will live on this earth. It is Solomon himself who has already revealed to us:

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Pro 16:5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
Pro 16:6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

If we still think that “even the wicked for the day of evil” refers to anyone other than ourselves, then we are still “proud in heart [ and we are still] an abomination unto the Lord”, and we are still in need of being punished and judged until we “learn righteousness”, because:

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

“Chastening” and correction are God’s judgments upon the rebellious old man within us all. When we are chastened and scourged, it is done in “mercy and truth”, and it is “by mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord [ we] depart from evil.”
Solomon basically reiterates the point he made in chapter three:

Ecc 8:6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.

The “misery of man” was not mentioned in chapter three, but the revelation of the severity of the judgment of God, is progressive, and we are made to understand it only as we are able to receive it. If there were no pain involved through the death of our old man, there would be no need for these our Lord’s words:

Joh 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

The final revelation of the extent of the judgment of God upon the kingdom of “the first man, Adam”, is to be found in Rev 16, where the seven plagues of the seven angels is poured out upon the kingdom of that rebellious old man within us all:

Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

In Heb 12 we were told: “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth”, and here in Rev 15 we are told:

Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Every son who is received must be chastened and scourged, because no man is able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels is fulfilled.
As we just read, “To every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him”.
King Solomon continues to lament the fact that God has not revealed the future to him. It is only natural to dread and fear death, but Christ delivers us from the fear of death:

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Ecc 8:7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?

As is first true for the all of mankind, King Solomon is naturally minded and is not yet granted to understand or value spiritual things. Therefore he has no appreciation of things he cannot understand:

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Just like each of us while in the bonds of sin, King Solomon hates the thought of death, and laments the fact that it is unavoidable. Solomon uses the wickedness of men, as if the wicked considered their wickedness to be the last hope against death.

Ecc 8:8 There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.

With this sad state of mind expressed by an apostatized king, these words of “a wise woman” of the Old Testament, and Paul in the New Testament, take on much more significance:

2Sa 14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.
1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

When Solomon says: “For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?” it is true that we cannot “tell when it shall come”, but unlike King Solomon, we have been given hope in the realm of the spirit, and we have been made to know “that which shall be” is “as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive“.

Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
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.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

These are “the word of [ The] King”, and “where the word of a king is there is power”.
Next week, if the Lord wills, we will see that “there is a time wherein one man rules over another to his own hurt”.

Ecc 8:9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.
Ecc 8:10 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.
Ecc 8:11 Because 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.
Ecc 8:12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:
Ecc 8:13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.
Ecc 8:14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.
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.
Ecc 8:16 When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)
Ecc 8:17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.