Ecclesiastes - Chapter 9
Death is certain and universal (1-6):
Our preacher returns to the topic that has given him so much pain along the way, the topic of death. What seems to baffle him most are two things:
The lack of connection between the timing of death and the human conduct of the one who dies. The wicked may live long and the righteous may die young.
The fact that death is not to be escaped as neither man nor beast, or wise or fool can avoid it or delay it.
These few verses allow us to see into the mind of Solomon and we see that there are two consequences of his thoughts on death:
The time or the kind of death tells us nothing about a person's standing with God.
Almost any kind of life is preferable to death.
The principle of God's mysterious sovereign will over death is illustrated in verse 2 and we are then given a list of duties that show the preacher's regard for the religious practices of his day. Those devout in practice as well as the unrighteous are both captured by death, which he calls the “evil”. It cannot be escaped and its dark reality haunts the human heart to the point our preacher calls “madness”. However meager, feeble, or painful is our life, we are told it is better than death. He summarizes by saying that a living dog is better than a dead lion.
While he tells us here that any life is better than death, he has told us in other parts of Ecclesiastes the opposite (for example in 4:2 where he praises the dead more than the living). What can we say about this contradiction? Here he uses exaggeration, overstating his point to sharpen the ears of those who will read his words. Even in modern days we see ourselves certain preachers say one thing one time and something different in other situations, just for effect.
Living in the middle of mystery (7-10):
This section of our text is alive with grace notes.
Our efforts to please have been accepted and the acceptance has become a feast and we are therefore to avoid despair. In the very face of death joy is not only possible but is demanded. Only God's grace can make it so. We are taught back in chapter 3 that there is a time for everything and now, whenever now is for each of us, we are to have a time of enjoyment.
The mystery of God's providence (His will) (11-12):
Here is another adventure into the area of divine mystery. Our preacher tells us that input does not always equal output. Life is not an exact predictable computer.
He is challenging the opinions of other wise men. Basic to their teaching was the conclusion that good conduct brought good results and good causes brings good effects.
They say speed wins the race and strength wins the battle. Solomon says NO, it is not so.
God's patterns are not predictable by man. Chance often has as much influence on our well being as our behavior.
Supreme virtues are not always enough. Timing may upset the best of plans and the best of our abilities. The most talented among us may find accidents occurring that overcome plans and we have no way of predicting when this may happen.
Divine mystery and human mortality are not symbols of the past. The realities are our daily companions. We do not know why death comes early or late.
What we do learn later from the words of Jesus is that we have a heavenly Father whom we can know. This personal relation comes not from painful search, as Solomon so diligently tried to solve, but from the revelation of the Son of God, sent to save the lost.
Jesus teaches us that length of life is no longer to be thought of as a gauge of the quality of life. Eternal life as given by the acceptance of full grace has come into the picture and has given us to know that loyalty and godliness are to be rewarded in eternity while rebellion and rejection are to be punished beyond this life. Through this new teaching of our Lord, divine justice is shown as possible to all.
The preacher was right to dread the sting of death and to resent the victory of the grave. Given what he knew, he could do nothing else. The Greater Wise Man, our Lord, has provided us with “the way, the truth, and the life” and we can follow Him with hearts untroubled.
Jesus made perfectly clear that the divine inclination toward his human family is overwhelming love. 1st John 4:8 teaches us on this side of the cross that God IS love.
Wisdom - employed and then forgotten (13-18):
It is always much easier to point out a problem than it is to find a solution. We must always identify what is wrong in life in order to set it straight. The preacher was wise enough to know this fact. Though he is best known for the sharp and observant way he pointed out the false values to which his people seemed dedicated, he should also be remembered for the practical solutions he gave to so many human problems.
These practical suggestions will fill out the rest of the book and these are broken down for us as follows:
Guides to practical living (9:13 – 10:20)
Principals of financial investing (11:1-8)
Ground rules for the young (11:9 – 12:8)
We see in the rest of this chapter the life lesson that forgetfulness is evident just when wisdom may have worked a victory. A poor wise man had delivered a city against a powerful king who had come to attack it. By his wisdom the city was saved. But when the situation had ended wisdom and the man himself were not remembered.
Solomon gives us three messages in this small story:
It is irony to see wisdom come to outrank strength.
Wise words, even from a poor man, should carry their own authority.
Wisdom in the end outfought even weaponry.
Earlier in chapter 1, verse 18, the preacher had written that much wisdom brings much grief. In this small story he brings light to that previous teaching.