4 ¶ For to him that is joined to all the living
there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 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. 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.
7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy,
and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. 8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy
head lack no ointment. 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.
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.
At least, Solomon says, while you’re alive, there is hope.
The living have the opportunity, we would say from our perspective, of
receiving Christ as their personal Saviour, and while they are alive that hope remains.
The dead know have nothing more to do with this world and their hope is gone if
they have not trusted in Christ.
Job 7:7 ¶ O remember that my life is wind: mine eye
shall no more see good. 8 The eye of him
that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.
9 As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth
away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. 10 He shall return no more to his house, neither
shall his place know him any more.
A person’s enjoyments, his pleasures, and his daily toils
perish with his flesh. His passions, his feelings, and his influence in worldly
affairs, except by his memory, are gone. Your power tools and your baseball
card collection have no meaning in eternity, as neither do your American Girl
dolls or your Precious Moments figurines.
John 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but
for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall
give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
1Corinthians 6:13a Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats:
but God shall destroy both it and them...
We should learn to live in the now, enjoying what God has so
kindly given us, but act keeping eternity in mind.
For verse 8 it is noteworthy to remember that in Revelation
white garments are a type of the righteousness of the saints, believers, as a
symbol of that righteousness.
Solomon tells the man to live joyfully with the wife that
God has given him all the days of his life. Solomon elsewhere speaks of this.
Proverbs 5:15 ¶ Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and
running waters out of thine own well. 16
Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the
streets. 17 Let them be only thine own,
and not strangers’ with thee. 18 Let thy
fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. 19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant
roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always
with her love.
Paul expresses the relationship between a husband and wife
as being a type of Christ and His church, His bride, as Paul defines the limits
of wifely submission in contexting it with Christians submitting to each other.
Women clearly are not to submit to men in general but to their own husbands as
Paul repeats in Titus 2:5 and as Peter says in 1Peter 3:5. God is not the
author of confusion ;
Ephesians 5:21 ¶ Submitting yourselves one to another in the
fear of God. 22 Wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23
For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of
the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto
Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ
also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with
the washing of water by the word, 27 That
he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle,
or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own
bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but
nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh,
and of his bones. 31 For this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and
they two shall be one flesh. 32 This is
a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let every one of you in
particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she
reverence her husband.
Solomon here tells a person to be the best that he or she
can be, to work hard, and excel in the best way they can in their work but
understand that when your life is over that is gone. You will not be a
salesperson, a janitor, a company CEO, or a homebuilder in death. Paul tells
the Christian that there is something more for him to consider as we do not
live in a kingdom dedicated to God;
Romans 12:11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit;
serving the Lord;
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.
There is a clear division here, and it is important to
remember that Solomon is speaking only of this temporal existence. It would be
easy, as some unbelieving “scholars” have done, to get into the thinking that
Solomon didn’t know about a resurrection. But, that is a stupid idea as a
resurrection is spoken of in the oldest written book of the Bible, Job, hundreds
of years before Solomon, and in Isaiah’s writing, hundreds of years after
Solomon, the speculations of educated idiots influenced by eighteenth century
German heresies notwithstanding.
Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that
he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26 And though after my skin worms destroy this
body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27
Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another;
though my reins be consumed within me.
Isaiah 26:19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my
dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew
is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
And as Job refers to his resurrection Solomon will later refer
to the spirit of man returning to God. Keep in mind, though, that Solomon’s
lamentation in Ecclesiastes is exclusively a perspective on this physical
existence.
So, Solomon says here to be grateful you’re alive, be the
best you can be at what you do, enjoy your life and your spouse, and remember,
you get one chance to make a difference in this world.
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die,
but after this the judgment…
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