1 ¶ There is an evil which I have seen under the
sun, and it is common among men: 2 A man
to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing
for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat
thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
3 If a man beget an hundred children,
and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not
filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely
birth is better than he. 4 For he cometh
in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with
darkness. 5 Moreover he hath not seen
the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other. 6 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice
told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
Solomon goes on to show how useless it is for a man to
pursue wealth his whole life and never enjoy the fruits of his labor. Though he
have abundant offspring and live to be a ripe old age a miscarried infant is
better off than he is because he did not enjoy what God had given him. His
birth is pointless and he leaves the earth just as vainly. Better off, Solomon
says again, is one that has never been born. All men die so who is more
unhappy, the one who has struggled all of his life to get more and never
enjoyed it or the one who never experienced that frustration and waste of time.
In America our national ethos revolves around always
pursuing more. We are never to be satisfied with what we have. There must always
be something else. But, that is not Biblical.
In the context of employment, Paul tells Christians;
1Timothy 6:1 ¶ Let as many servants as are under the yoke
count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his
doctrine be not blasphemed. 2 And they
that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are
brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved,
partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. 3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not
to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the
doctrine which is according to godliness; 4
He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of
words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, 5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds,
and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such
withdraw thyself.
6 ¶ But godliness with contentment is great
gain. 7 For we brought nothing into
this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be
therewith content. 9 But they that will
be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful
lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all
evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things;
and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay
hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good
profession before many witnesses.
Though this man who struggles his whole life to create
wealth for himself and his children were to live thousands of years his life
will have been a misery and he will go to the same place, the grave, as anyone
else. The Christian has two priorities when it comes to money. One is to take
care of his own family, which is his first mission field, his first church, and
his first gift from God.
1Timothy 5:8 But if any provide not for his own, and
specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse
than an infidel.
The second is to help others in need.
Ephesians 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather
let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may
have to give to him that needeth.
As modern American Christians have surrendered the care of
their poor and aged to the civil government the conservative Christians have
reduced that calling to witnessing to lost people only and filling the pews. A
great opportunity is lost this way to, as some would say, put skin on their
profession of faith and make it real. I was not converted, in a temporal sense,
by gospel tracts and fine speeches. I, personally, was converted by seeing a
real, living faith in simple Christians who practiced what they preached in
front of me, not by drive-by evangelism where someone pressed a tract into my
hand as I was entering a bar. Handing out tracts is a great thing, don’t get me
wrong. It is planting a seed in someone’s mind but if your life is about
grasping greedily for the next rung of the social ladder as you quote Bible
verses to strangers you will not impress many with the truth of the gospel.
Solomon here says that the evil he sees is common, that men
work their whole lives for wealth and their lives are defined by it, and yet
they are, in the end, worse off than a stillborn, for that life that God gave
to them is wasted on the pursuit of gold.
I personally have known people like this. Their every moment
must be in doing something to provide for their purse. A moment’s idleness is
no better than a moment’s drunkenness to them. They cannot relax or enjoy
anything because they are always looking ahead to the next thing. Every spare
moment must be filled. Their capacity for reflection on their blessings or
gratitude is limited. They are always about something and nothing. No night can
be free. No weekend can be relaxing. No situation arises that is not an
opportunity for fretting about what might happen if they don’t act. They are
always busy and are the center of their own universe. They keep it all together
and if they stop working, thinking, planning, worrying, or experiencing that
gnawing fear and hunger for a second then it will all fall apart. This is no
life that God has planned for us. It is not a life of faith and dependence upon
God. It is a nightmare of our own making.
Prophecy enthusiasts make much of verse 6 being a reference
to the last two thousand years, the time between Christ and the present, but
literally, it is a part of Solomon’s argument about a man’s life although you
may find some significance to prophecy, which you cannot prove until history is
finished.
7 ¶
All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not
filled. 8 For what hath the wise more
than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?
9 Better is the sight of the eyes than
the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
10 That which hath been is named
already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that
is mightier than he.
In the first three chapters of Genesis there are over a
dozen references to food and eating. Here, Solomon says that a man works hard
to fill his belly and that appetite is never sated. We, in an age of plenty,
and very little starvation, at least in industrialized countries, have little
knowledge of how desperate life has been for humanity throughout the ages when
it came to food. Starving was always just around the corner for most of our
ancestors and each harvest was a miracle and a blessing you did not take for
granted. In America the average person throws away more food than people in
less advantaged places eat. We are
typically not very grateful.
The word, lust, is used first and foremost in the Bible in
places like Numbers, chapter 11, and Deuteronomy, chapter 12, to describe man’s
passion for eating.
Solomon said elsewhere;
Proverbs 16:26 ¶ He that laboureth laboureth for himself; for
his mouth craveth it of him.
When you have enough food to live on, more food will do you
little good. The poor health of Americans in general with regards to obesity
shows us what an abundance of food can do to you. Better it is to be content with what you have
than discontent with your mind’s wanderings about what you want. What we will
have has been ordained by God who sees the future and controls the present. We
are in no way able to argue with Him over what He has given us. The Book of Job discusses God’s sovereignty
in great detail.
11 ¶
Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the
better? 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?
No man on earth is promised one more day of life or even one
more moment of it. We live in a constant dependence upon God’s mercy and
providence. No man who plans for his future on earth, whether through education
or savings or meeting people who can do him good has a certainty that his
efforts will produce the effects he desires, regardless of any positive can-do
attitude he possesses. The world of men is full of people who got an education,
saved their money, and deliberately rubbed elbows with the crowd they thought would
help them. Many of these people are jobless or underemployed with a high
academic degree, have lost all of their money in market downturns, by fraud, or
by poor choices, or have been held in contempt by their “betters” whose favor
they sought.
Until we, as Christians, divorce our thinking from the world’s,
we will never understand what God has said to us in His Bible, nor will we have
peace, true prosperity, or joy. We must realize that we are called to do right
and obey God and all consequences of our actions are in God’s hands. Our lives
are fragile and apart from God are meaningless and insignificant. We have
neither absolute control or knowledge of what will come after us on earth once
we have departed this mortal frame.
One point of the Book of Job was that bad things happen to
people and they may never know why in this life. We are just to trust God in
knowing He has everything under control. One point in the Book of Ecclesiastes
is that as all of our efforts will never make us content or guarantee success
we must do right and obey God, and trust Him alone for life’s necessities,
seeking no more than we need and trusting Him each day.
Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need
according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose
mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
While ambition, hard work, education, savings, insurance
policies, eating right, exercise, medical care, etc. etc. are all good and
prudent and wise things Christians must never expect that any, or all, of those
things guarantee them anything that God has not ordained for their lives. We
must never engage in that idolatry that mistakes the hammer with which we build
our house to be our Saviour or the money which we put to use for our benefit to
be our benefactor. It is one day at a time, all by God’s providence, all from
His hand.
Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
No comments:
Post a Comment