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. 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. 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:) 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.
Solomon said that one of the things about life that really
bugged him was that sometimes good men suffered the things that should have
happened to bad men and bad men seemed to receive the blessings that should
have gone only to the good.
So, he sort of threw his hands up and recommended laughter,
which is what the Bible defines mirth as in Ecclesiastes 2:2 and Proverbs
14:13. We might as well enjoy what God has given us and eat, drink, and be
merry. Because, for all our efforts, to study and know the whys and the
wherefores of life, the intricacies of God’s creation and the reasons for the
way things are, we will never understand.
Now, remember that Solomon was a man of science, who held
study in high regard.
1Kings 4:29 ¶ And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding
exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea
shore. 30 And Solomon’s wisdom excelled
the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of
Egypt. 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. 32
And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and
five. 33 And he spake of trees, from the
cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the
wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of
fishes. 34 And there came of all people
to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of
his wisdom.
So, he is not saying here that he literally thinks you
shouldn’t think about or study God’s handiwork to try to understand how things
work, but as we are finding out in the study of things such as the immune
system or cell functions the detail and intricacy goes further and further and
further and final scientific conclusions continue to escape us. For all we
think we know there is always more to know. Secular man believes we share 98%
of our genes with chimpanzees but then learns that we share 99% with a Swedish
mudworm. Then, we learn that it is not the similarity of genes but their
expression that matter. We learn that man has a gene that allows for a large
brain that chimpanzees don’t. So-called knowledge keeps pushing back the
frontiers of understanding and changing the way secular man thinks. And yet,
secular man is confident that one day he can know the finality of any matter, a
religious belief, a faith in reasoning ability called scientism.
But, here, Solomon points out that it will just go on and on
and never end. We might as well not get too worked up about what some scientist
spouts for the press about what he has learned as, like this year’s fashion, it
will change. God’s word is unchanging, though, regardless of how some modern
churches think they can lead Him by the nose to whatever progressive ideal the
people cling to this season.
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