Ecclesiastes 6 New Living Translation (NLT) 6 There is another serious tragedy I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on humanity. 2 God gives some people great wealth and honor and everything they could ever want, but then he doesn’t give them the chance to enjoy these things. They die, and someone else, even a stranger, ends up enjoying their wealth! This is meaningless—a sickening tragedy. 3 A man might have a hundred children and live to be very old. But if he finds no satisfaction in life and doesn’t even get a decent burial, it would have been better for him to be born dead. 4 His birth would have been meaningless, and he would have ended in darkness. He wouldn’t even have had a name, 5 and he would never have seen the sun or known of its existence. Yet he would have had more peace than in growing up to be an unhappy man. 6 He might live a thousand years twice over but still not find contentment. And since he must die like everyone else—well, what’s the use? 7 All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough. 8 So are wise people really better off than fools? Do poor people gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of others? 9 Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind. The Future—Determined and Unknown 10 Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny. 11 The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they? 12 In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone? On the book of Ecclesiastes: Ecclesiastes presents itself as the matured and chastened wisdom of a king who has learned from experience the futility of living for any other purpose than the glory of God. He has come to realize what a poor bargain it is for a man to gain the whole world but to lose his own soul. He had been personally favored with unlimited wealth and power to test all that the world had to offer. He enjoyed the finest of education and an unrivaled reputation for wisdom (1:16). His riches were immeasurable (2:8); he was surrounded with hosts of servants (2:7); his opportunities for carnal pleasure knew no restriction (2:3); he could afford the most extensive building projects and look with pride on their accomplishment (2:4-6). Yet in the end these false avenues to life’s highest good led only to a vanished satisfaction and a sense of personal emptiness: all was “vanity,” futile meaninglessness. In the end this son of David was driven back to the lessons and insights of his early upbringing, and he had to recognize that only in God can a man find real significance and lasting satisfaction. It was therefore this legacy that Solomon wished to leave behind him for his willful, headstrong people, and also for all men of subsequent generations who earnestly search for life’s highest good. Paradoxically, it is not found in this life at all, but rather in God and the supernal realm of His perfect will.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 14:36:49 +0000
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