Relationships in Life Under the Sun

Transcript

GR 2126
05/19/2019
Relationships in Life Under the Sun
Ecclesiastes 4:1-16
Gil Rugh

We’re continuing our study of the Book of Ecclesiastes in your bibles. If you’d turn to the Book of Ecclesiastes, right about in the middle of your bibles. So, if you’d open your bible, to about the middle, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and you’ll hit Song of Solomon, and then you’ll get into those larger prophetic books, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, right about in the middle. The Book of Ecclesiastes is giving us instruction on how to be skilled at living our life on this earth, living with wisdom, being skilled in life. Life lessons, how to deal with life. It’s referred to as life under the sun, referring to our physical life here and now. You’ll note in chapter 4 verse 1. It starts out, “Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun.” It’s so important to keep that perspective. He keeps reminding us this is about our physical life. We’ve had the privilege of singing about the future. We look forward to the day when the resurrection will occur and living believers will be translated and the dead in Christ will rise, and what a glorious day.

But until that time we have to live today, the life that God has set before us today. And we live in a world that is under the curse of sin and under the judgment of God. That means much of life can be difficult, can be painful, be unpleasant, be unfair. How do we skillfully navigate our way through the days of our life? Ecclesiastes makes clear these days are important, they are not to be wasted. They are not just to be times of grinding it out. But God has created us even in a fallen world, to experience His joy, satisfaction. Now foundational to this is a relationship with God. And we won’t keep going back to this truth, but the bible does tell us that the beginning of wisdom, understanding, and having skill in living life, and understanding life as God intends it, begins with God. Wisdom and knowledge come from God. We have seen this as we’ve looked to Scripture. So, the ability to see life as it is, and to deal with life wisely, as it is, is given by God to His people, and that keeps coming out.

Now we have a couple of words I’m going to put up on the screen for you, Hebel or hebel. It is translated vanity in your bibles and so I’m bringing it up because I’m doing a different translation. You’ll note down at the end of verse 4, the last statement, “This too is vanity...” Then in verse 7, “Then I looked again at vanity under the sun.” The end of verse 8, “This too is vanity…” Our English word vanity carries the idea of worthlessness, meaninglessness. One translator said senseless, but we’ve noted the word basically means “a puff of air, a breath”. So, I’ve put on here a definition given by one commentator. “The essential quality to which hebel refers is lack of permanence rather than lack of worth or value. It is air-like fleeting, transitory, illusive rather than meaningless.” Life is not meaningless, but it is temporary. It is passing and we must keep that in mind if we’re to live wisely. This is a time that is brief, and the things going on in this life. Not only is the life we live here brief, but the time of the events in this life are brief.

And in fact, they’ll be changing, and that’s the other expression we want to look at, it’s translated “striving after the wind.” At the end of verse 4, “This too is vanity and striving after the wind.” At the end of verse 6, “labor and striving after the wind.” We noted that this is better translated, the wind’s desire, the desire of the wind. One person put it, the whim of the wind. It’s changing, its unpredictable, unknowable, temporary and out of our control. It’s not out of control in the sense God is sovereign, in control of all things. But for us, we have to understand that we don’t have control over the events going on. We are responsible to live out these events in the time God gives us wisely, with skill. But that doesn’t mean I can control them. I cannot. So that will be true of the good things in life, and what we call the bad things. Both are temporary and things beyond our control. What we are responsible for is to live wisely, as God would have us live as we go through those events, as we live through this time of our life. So, keep that in mind.

You know, if you’ve not been here regularly for the study you might wonder. Well, that’s not what my bible says. It says vanity or it says… But this is the translation of the words that I think are better reflected with these translations. Now put it in perspective as well. We noted you need to have the fear of God, the recognition of who He is. Fear Him is to bow before Him, acknowledge Him as sovereign. Believe what He has said and what He has done, that we are sinners, that He is a God who is a Savior. He called out through the prophets, look to Me and be saved all the ends of the earth. He is the only Savior. He had his Son Jesus Christ come to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” It’s a rescue program. It’s a redeeming program.

It’s God doing for us what we could not do for ourselves, by providing the Savior to take our place, pay our penalty so that we through faith in Him, could be forgiven our sins, and be brought into a relationship with Him. So now He works in our life to direct us, guide us, give us wisdom to navigate our days on this earth. Now again, they are positive, they are negative. Because we’ve become God’s children does not mean we will be protected from the harsh realities of life. That’s not so, and it does away with those we call the health and wealth preachers. God doesn’t want you poor. God doesn’t want you sick and so on. We still live in a fallen world. We are part of this fallen world. This world is not our home, our citizenship is in heaven. But we are still living out our physical lives on this earth, and so the troubles and trials come into our lives as they do all other people.

Look back at the end of chapter 2 if you would where he tells us in verse 24, “There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good.” There are benefits and blessings God wants us to enjoy, even as we go through life with all its trials and difficulties. “This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.” God has provided that. As I have talked about, He has not taken all the joy and pleasure out of life, even though He’s put the earth under judgment for sin. Verse 25 says, “For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?” A proper perspective on life requires a proper relationship with God, to faith in Him, and what He has done for us. So, you open chapter 3, verse 1 with “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven…” Important, God is sovereign, and He is in control, so He has appointed the time, He has appointed the events for the time. We are living it out here. That’s why I say we are not in control. When we talk about us, it’s like the whim of the wind, the desire of the wind, that comes and goes. We can’t control the events, we can’t control the time, but God has.

Come down to verse 10. “I have seen the task which God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.” We note as we looked in those opening verses of chapter 3, there’s a time for everything, God’s appointment. This day is God’s appointment for you, the day and events in the day. Now how you live this day, is it with skill and wisdom in accord with the purpose and plan of God? That becomes the challenge for us. Verse 11 said of chapter 3, “He has made everything appropriate (beautiful) in its time.” This is what is fitting, and right, best, and beautiful. Well, I don’t count that so good or beautiful. No, we won’t. But I do understand the hand of God is in it, that’s what He has for me today. We noted Romans 8:28. God causes all things to work together for good to those who belong to Him. I know this is what He has for me today.

Now, this is the time I have. This is not to take away from the fact we’re looking for heaven. We’re looking for what is to come, when the time of pain and suffering is gone. But the fact is, you need to live today, and each day. Heaven will be wonderful. Heaven is a wonderful place, full of glory and grace. It’s true. We all look forward to that, but until that day, we have to live wisely and that’s what He is unfolding for us here. So, we come to chapter 4 and there’s a miracle going to happen today. We are going to cover all 16 verses, Lord willing (laughter) but that is the plan. We’ll see how we do. He talks in chapter 4 about relationships that we deal with in our life under the sun. And he starts out by talking about relationships which are very oppressive and unpleasant. There is not justice in the world, as we might desire.

Note verse 1, “Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression…” We’re talking about oppression.
Solomon, given the greatest wisdom from God, writes of his personal experience and his personal observations and the reality of life under the sun. “Then I looked at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun (in this physical world). And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them.” It’s an unfair, unjust world. Look back in chapter 3 verse 16. “Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.” You see, we live in a fallen world and it is an unfair world. It is an unjust world. It can be a very oppressive world. And those who are being oppressed, they have little power to do anything about it, and he doesn’t bring out a particular kind of oppression because it permeates this society.

God has established authority structures in His creation that because of sin that all gets abused. Men appointed to be leaders over their wives, over the women, misuse that and it can be a very difficult situation in a home, for example. We’re familiar with government. We have people fleeing their country. Why, it’s so much oppression you can hardly live there! It’s not fair. I was reading in the news this week as they were describing the one Latin American country that had such a change. They were noting that once it was the wealthiest country there and like overnight people woke up and their currency wasn’t worth anything. Money had no value. And they went from living comfortably to being impoverished, and spending their days trying to scrounge and barter and find food and we see. All you have to do is turn on the TV. The oppression, and they have no one to help.

Now some take this, “Well, we ought to be trying to help.” That’s not his point. That doesn’t mean we aren’t to be kind and thoughtful people as believers, but we’re not going to change the world. He’s telling us how the world is because of sin. Again, that doesn’t mean we’re callous toward those that we may be able to help on occasion. We do good to all men especially those of the household of faith, but the reality is we live in an unjust world, an unfair world, and those in power use their power to maintain their power. We sometimes hear the expression about our government and other governments. All they care about is power. Well to a large extent, that’s true. Now they’re always going to use their power, if I was in power, I would do this for you. Now if I was in power, I would do that, but when fallen men are in power there’s always number 1 to be looked out for, and people can be oppressed in very severe and painful ways. And it can worse as a believer. You can have a job and you may be treated unfairly, and because you’re a believer there may be an underlying dislike of you that makes it worse. You say, I do the best job I can, I work hard, and I’m perhaps more productive. But it doesn’t make any difference.

For a number of years I worked while I went through college and so on. Started out at the steel mill where my dad worked. He would talk about the unfairness there and he was in supervision, but there’d be supervisors who decided, so and so, I’m going to drive him out. Why, he’s a good worker he hasn’t done anything wrong. Before I’m done, I will make him quit. On a number of occasions, he’d come home and say you know so and so quit. He says I just can’t take it anymore. Not fair, it’s unjust. It is. You’re a believer and because you’re a believer, you work hard, and you try your best. You do everything you can, but it doesn’t change. They keep putting it down, pressing. Where do you go? It seems like the whole authority structure is against you.

That’s the point here. They have no one to cover them because you can’t change it. Again, that doesn’t mean we’re in a position to change it. We can vote in our country, if you’re in a position to do something, but basically, he’s telling us how the world is. He doesn’t sugar coat anything. We don’t help our kids by raising them and coddling them, and doing all of that. We sometimes tell them, when something unpleasant happens, life is not always pleasant. Life is not always easy, we’re trying to give them some skill in life, and for us as adults that’s what God is doing for us, for His children.

You understand you live in an unfair world and oppression, because it’s ungodly people and that’s what he is talking about here. Well, we’re talking about severe oppression. He gives us often the maximum, the worst kind of oppression. Believers have experienced that when persecution develops, perhaps in a country where even just being a Christian puts you under oppression, and they want to do what they can to destroy you. Outlaw you, make life miserable, persecute, imprison, it goes on in places of the world and he says in verse 2, since oppression can get so severe it’s almost overwhelming. “So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living.” Why? Well, those who have died don’t have to deal with the oppression anymore. The pain, the suffering, it’s all gone. It’s over.

Now we’re talking about life under the sun when we talk about life after, but we sing about heaven. We look forward to heaven when the pain will be gone, and all these things. But true as that is, this is today. Now I have my eyes fixed on that hope, but I have to live with wisdom today. And that may be a very unpleasant day and for some believers in some parts of the world it is a crushing oppression for them, for their children and so on. “So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living.” Why? Because the living still have to go through it. We often say this even as believers when a loved one dies. We say, “Oh I’m glad their suffering is over, I’m glad they don’t have to suffer any longer.” That’s what Solomon is telling us. For the dead, the suffering is over, they can’t be oppressed any more. But there’s something even better, verse 3. Never be born. Better off than both of them, the one living and being oppressed, or the one who has died and the oppression is over.

Remember Jesus said don’t fear those who kill the body but can’t then hurt the soul; but fear Him who after He’s killed the body can destroy both body and soul in hell. There’s a physical life, no matter how much they torture you, no matter how much they pressure you, no matter what they do to you, death will end it. They continue to abuse the body and that, but you won’t feel anything. That’s what He says in verse 3, “But better off than both of them is the one who never has existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.” You see so much of what is done under the sun as a result of the curse of sin is evil. Men mistreat others. They come to power and they grind down those they don’t like. Those who were never born never had to deal with it. So, in that sense the life under the sun, those never born never had to deal with it. You say, well I think Solomon may be getting a little extreme. And that’s why some people think he’s not really a believer, or he’s a believer so far from the Lord everything is… No! This is characteristic of many believers.

Come back to the Book of Job. We’ve been here before. Job is just before Ecclesiastes, relatively speaking. Job, Psalms, Proverbs but if you go a little bit back through Proverbs, then Psalms and you’ll come to Job. Chapter 2 first. Remember the day we all used the same edition of the bible and I just gave page numbers? That was good for me too because I always wrote them down in my notes and that way I knew where I was going. Job 2. You remember Job, God said. Have you considered My servant Job? No one is righteous, any more righteous than him on the whole face of the earth. He’s a righteous man. What does he say, the trials, the pressure, verse 11 of Job 3, “Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?” A short, a very short life, a stillbirth at best, come out of the womb, and have a few breaths and be gone. Why? Well, if you die or there’s a miscarriage and you’re stillborn, verse 17, “There the wicked cease from raging, and there the weary are at rest.” The point is, death in one sense, talking on the physical level, is a relief. He’s going through such pain, and suffering, and torment. I mean he’s lost all his kids, he’s lost all his wealth, his health is gone, he’s racked with pain. He can’t do anything to get comfortable, he can’t sleep at night. I wish I’d never been born. That’s where the wicked cease from raging.

I mean it doesn’t matter what the wicked do. They can’t hurt you, you’re dead. They can do all they want to the body, but it causes you no pain. “…there the weary are at rest. The prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.” Those in power that are inflicting such pain and suffering and difficulty. They don’t have any power anymore. “The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master.” And then it’s the best thing it’d be, to never have been born. “Why is light given to him who suffers, and life to the bitter of soul, who long for death, but there is none...” In the position I’m in, I wish I’d never even been born, and so that’s the reality of life. You know sometimes we talk about trials and difficulties and oppression, and they’re real for us. I have to live the life I have, and that’s fine. I’m not suffering as much as someone else, but I still need to live my days. But here’s the example. The suffering and the difficulty, even from a child of God, can be so great that you look and say, I wish I were never born.

Come over to Jeremiah chapter 20. Now you’re going the other way. We’re back to Ecclesiastes, then you’d go to Isaiah, that large prophetic book. Then you get to Jeremiah, and you come to chapter 20. Look at verse 14. Jeremiah is a prophet of God. God said He had set him aside before he was born to be His spokesman. Jeremiah 20, verse 14, “Cursed be the day when I was born...” Verse 15, “Cursed be the man who brought the news saying, ‘A baby boy has been born to you!’” I mean this is serious. I wish He’d killed me before I was born, verse 17. Verse 18, “Why did I ever come forth from the womb to look on trouble and sorrow, so that my days have been spent in shame?” I mean it’s endless. It won’t stop, and it seems to be getting worse. Jeremiah, the prophet of God whose prophecies are recorded as part of our Scripture, the inspired word of God, is saying, I wish I’d never been born. You know what amazes me? If you look back in chapter 20, verse 7, he says he’s “…become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.” “…the word of the Lord has resulted in reproach and derision all day long.” And so on, but then he comes down and says in verse 11, “But the Lord is with me like a dread champion; therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be utterly ashamed, because they have failed, with an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.”

Look at verse 13. “Sing to the LORD, praise the LORD! For He has delivered the soul of the needy one from the hand of the evildoers. Wow! There’s a man in victory. “Sing to the LORD, praise the LORD! For He has delivered the soul of the needy one from the hand of evildoers. Cursed be the day when I was born…” Say, wait a minute, you’ve been drinking something! Verse 13, Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord! He’s the deliverer. He rescues me from the hand of the evildoers. I wish I’d never been born. You see, both are true. They recognize the sovereignty. And there will come a time of deliverance for Jeremiah and he knows the victory is the end, but he has to live today. There will come a time when it will all be made right. Ecclesiastes had talked about that as well. There’s injustice in the world today but as chapter 3 said, there will be a day of judgment and God will set it right. But you know what, you have to live today. That’s what’s going on with Jeremiah, godly prophet that he is. I know the Lord is the deliverer, and I know the enemy can’t win, but my life, the oppression, the pressure, the persecution, the suffering, I wish I’d never been born.

We can’t go look at the others, but you know what, another great man of God so greatly used of God was the man Moses. We can’t turn back there, but in Numbers chapter 11, you know what he tells God? I can’t take it anymore, take my life. I don’t want to live anymore. Moses, you’re saying it’s too much? It’s more than I can bear. Take my life. No greater prophet than Elijah in the Old Testament for miracles recorded and so on. You know what Elijah said in 1 Kings Chapter 19? LORD I can’t do it, I can’t take it. LORD I’m ready to die, please take my life. You know this is the reality. Now this is not to depress us, but it should remind us of saints so greatly used of God like Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah, Job.

We have this idea. Well, Lord what’s wrong? You know we’ll come to that time. There may be days that will come in your life, weeks, months. We say Lord, I can’t go on. I’d rather be dead. It seems endless. I just can’t do it. I need to be reminded that God is sovereign. We go back and read these individuals’ lives and we say everything was all right. You know why it’s all right? We weren’t living that day. They were living that day or those days, those weeks, those months. For me, we look back and you know, I tell you that I like to read the end of the story. And God is victorious! Jeremiah didn’t see it. He’s still being mistreated when his prophecy is over. We don’t have any more record. He’d been carried to Egypt against his will, but we’re reminded. I can say, Lord, I don’t think I can do this. Lord, I’d rather be dead than have to continue. But you’re God. I’m not. You’ve appointed the time. You’ve appointed the events. I’ll trust You. I need the skill and the wisdom to live today, as you would have it lived.

Come back to Ecclesiastes chapter 4. Not only do we live in a world that is filled with oppressors, but it’s also driven by envy and jealousy, and so much of what goes on is on this basis. Look at verse 4, “I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry…” A word that means envy, jealousy. “…between a man and his neighbor.” It just goes on, that’s part of the power of things. Envy, jealously, trying to get ahead, trying to prove I’m better. You’re not as good as I am. I can be better than you. I deserve more than you. And the rivalry that goes on, and we say it like it’s a dog eat dog world. If we have these, we recognize it. They’re not concerned about justice, they’re concerned about getting to the top. How many presidential candidates do we have? It just keeps going and I’m not condemning any of them but what, everybody is sure they’d be better. And they tell you how they’d be better, because they tell you how bad the other one is, and that’s the way it goes. Envy, jealousy and that’s true in all areas. Sometimes you as a believer suffer, because you do the best you can and you know we do our work as unto the Lord, so we are good, trustworthy, diligent workers when we’re about our job. But it stirs envy and jealousy on the part of those that we’re showing up.

Oh, Mr. Goody Two Shoes! He’s always working and doing what’s best, even when the boss wouldn’t know. He makes the rest of us look bad. You don’t get any credit for it, you get condemned for it. It can go a variety of ways. This is the kind of world we live in. You know it’s so easy for us as believers, we try to honor the Lord with our life, we try to be diligent about our task, even good workers and we are working out in the world and what do we do? We may end up getting fired, demoted, passed over. We say Lord, that’s not fair! And He never said it was. You know like the song says, not in our hymn books, “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.” Everybody recognizes the reality of life. Not everybody recognizes that it’s because of sin. And life is driven by constant, relentless rebellion against God, and we as believers are living in this world. And we live in a world that hates us, because they hate the Savior that we serve. So, envy and jealousy, but note how the end of verse 4 is, “This too is vanity and striving after the wind.” What he’s really saying, this is temporary and out of our control, because that’s what I need reminded of. It doesn’t help me to say life is senseless, life is meaningless, life is worthless. That would cause you to be like the fool who just gives up and quits. We’re going to talk about him in a moment. Life is not meaningless.

I remember and remind myself, this life is temporary and the things going on in this life are temporary, and ultimately, I’m not the one who controls them. From the human perspective, it’s the whim of the wind. He got to his position by stepping on other people, by cheating, being dishonest and now he’s at the top and I’m at the bottom. Yeah, there’s no justice. It can be an oppressive system, but it’s out of my control, and it’s temporary. For sure limited by my lifespan, but even the events within my life come, go, and are changing. They are temporary and they’re like the wind, but I don’t control it. So, “This too is vanity, and striving after the wind.” This is temporary and out of our control. Not out of control, but out of our control. Remember chapter 3, verse 1 and chapter 3, verse 11. That undergirds everything for us. We’ve gotten wisdom from God. We draw on it. That’s shaping and giving us the ability to be skillful in handling these things. Not denying the reality, not sitting there bemoaning that oh, I had…, if I get into power, I can change this. We do what we can. We function as we should, but ultimately, it’s not our decisions.

In reaction to this, there are those who are driven by envy and strife. It’s what we call a workaholic maybe, in our psychological terminology. They’ll do whatever they can. They’re fighting to get ahead. It’s jealously, envy, I have to beat this person out, I have to… Look at verse 5, “The fool folds his hands…” He’s just stepping out of the rat race, so to speak. This “dog eats dog world” is not for me. I’m just stepping out, I’m not going to be part of it. But he’s a fool. “The fool folds his hands…” That means he’s just not going to do anything. We talk about it and we use an expression like, quit sitting on your hands and do something. Well, it’s not that you’re literally sitting on your hands, but a figure of speech. You’re not doing anything. Your hands picturing activity, work. Folding the hands is the picture here, like he says.

“The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh.” You know what happens when you quit laboring and toiling, you become impoverished. You end up with nothing, become poor, you get hungry. We call them homeless, street people. When I was going to the city missions in Philadelphia, they just called them bums. Your life comes to nothing. That doesn’t mean there aren’t people in real need. Some people are impoverished, not because they’re lazy, but because of the oppression of those who rule over them and so on. Some believers down through church history have been impoverished and scrounging to live because the government was so oppressing them they couldn’t work. You know the goal was to crush them and destroy them, but we’re talking here about the fool who just is lazy, just decides that “I’m not gonna.” And thinks he’s something special because he doesn’t compete like the rest do.

Come back to Proverbs chapter 6. Just before the Book of Ecclesiastes, you’ll be in the Book of Proverbs chapter 6. Look at verse 10, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest...” See the picture, folding the hands. “…your poverty will come in like a vagabond and your need like an armed man.” So, even though work has become laboring, toilsome, the alternative to work is not good. We are intended to work so we can eat, so we can provide clothing, shelter. Now come over to chapter 19 of Proverbs, verse 15, “Laziness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle man will suffer hunger.” You see he’s impoverished. Work is God’s plan for us to acquire the necessities of life. Adam cultivated the garden and so on, and there were the fruit trees he could eat from, but because of sin it becomes toilsome, wearisome, painful, but work is part of it.

Come to the New Testament, 2 Thessalonians, chapter 3. You see the point is the same. Paul used himself as an example. He worked and supported himself. Sometimes he was supported by gifts from the people he ministered to, but he was selective about that so that he wasn’t open to the accusations. He comes to a new city like Thessalonica and if he starts taking offerings, preaches his first sermon and then taking offerings, they’ll say, “Oh yeah, he’s one of those traveling teachers who is in it for the money.” Paul says in verse 7 of 2 Thessalonians 3, “For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner…” God expects us as believers to be disciplined, to be diligent, to work hard. “…nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you…” And we wanted to offer ourselves as a model for you to follow. You be diligent and work hard. Why? Verse 11, “For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.” He exhorts them in the Lord Jesus Christ to get to work, verse 12. And in verse 13, don’t grow weary of well doing. Verse 10 said, if anyone is not willing to work, he doesn’t get to eat. I’ve given you the Greek translation, the Greek of this is No workie, no eatie! (laughter) If you’re unwilling to work, you don’t eat. That’s it.

Well, I don’t like my job. Well, don’t quit it until you get another one. No work, no eat! Now that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t help. People, some people, no fault of their own, lose their job. Sometimes unfairly, some because downsizing. There can be a variety of things, health, whatever. The church is to be sensitive to that. Widows, who are particularly a needy group, but the general principal is we work. Now the world tries to say work should be fun. If you don’t enjoy your job, you shouldn’t be doing it. Now understand the bible doesn’t say that, the world says that. Sometimes you can do a job you enjoy, and it will still be work. But we don’t all get that choice. My dad had some skills. I said, why do you go to the steel mill? He says, well, I would not be able to provide for my family doing what I really enjoy doing. I go to work at the steel mill. For him that was what he had to do. We don’t all get just to pick, this is what I’d like to do. Now we live in the world, but I say, Lord You’ve provided this. Well, it doesn’t pay as well. I think I’m worth a lot more. Well, if you can get a job that pays you more, fine. If you can’t, then the Lord has appointed this, for this time, and so on it goes.

Come back to Ecclesiastes. Here’s the balance. There is what we call the workaholic in our day, the person driven by envy and strife, and his life is work-work-work. Then you have the contrast of that in verse 5 of chapter 4 of Ecclesiastes, the fool. He just folds his hands and does nothing, and he soon becomes impoverished. But here’s what’s best. Verse 6, “One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor…” And so, in other words a balance in life. Not going at it with all you have; just working, working, working, working. No, I realize part of God’s plan for me in this life is to enjoy the benefits of my labor. I’ve worked hard. So, we take a break in our labors. Maybe it’s at the end of a day, maybe it’s at a part of a week with your day off, there’s a balance. That’s what he’s talking about, what is best, one hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor, but this is the whim of the wind.

You don’t have control always over everything. But as much as possible, this is what I see God’s plan for me. Now there may be plans because of the circumstances in which God has placed me at this time. I have to work harder and have less time for rest. There may be time, when I have more time for rest and less time for labor. It’s not always in my control, so I accept what God has for me. People live in parts of the world, they’re scrounging it seems so much of the day is just taken up with just trying to get through the day and have enough to survive for that day. Obviously, they’re not talking about rest necessarily. These things are out of our control, but here’s what, when we want to live skillfully, I’d like to adjust my life. I may not get ahead as much as someone else, but I realize God intends for me to take time to enjoy what He’s provided. That was chapter 2 verse 24, “There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This…is from the hand of God.” And it’s His intention that we can eat and have enjoyment with Him, because without Him, your life is just in the treadmill. And it never has the satisfaction it can have when you know Him. So, the end of verse 6, “…striving after the wind.” The trying to take control of things. Better to see what God has provided.

Am I using today? He’s going to go on and emphasize this further. Look at verses 7 and 8. “Then I looked again at vanity under the sun.” Really what? Temporal, transience under the sun. Some people don’t stop and think, this life under the sun is brief. It’s temporary, so I live it with wisdom. If I don’t include what God has said, a little rest, the enjoyment, that’s what God intends, that’s what His gift is now. It’s not just in eternity. Now again, sometimes we wouldn’t have control over this. If persecution breaks out and we get arrested, and we’re hauled off to dudgeons to be tortured, you can’t say, well, I’m resting. We’ll be looking forward to death. The reality of it is, in the general flow of life, here’s rest, but I looked at the transitoriness under the sun.

Now here’s a person who hasn’t considered that. “There was a certain man without a dependent…” He has no family. “…having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches, and he never asked, ‘And for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure? This too is vanity (temporary) and it is a grievous task.” In other words, here’s a person who hasn’t thought, and he always carries it to the extreme. The oppression is so bad I wish I was dead, but that would encompass everything now. Maybe oppression is not that far, but it helps us to realize, here’s a person who’s working night and day. For what, if he doesn’t take time to enjoy the days, include a little rest or enjoyment, and benefits of his labor. What’s the point? We’ve had people who have ground it out and died and left small fortunes. For what? Take time as we say, to smell the roses, slow up a little bit. Part of God’s plan, that’s important for us to understand, is to include times of rest, enjoyment, refreshment. There a person grinds his life out.

I had opportunity with one of the elders to go visit a man who had a lot of money he wanted to put at interest, and was considering the church among other things. We drove up to a part of Nebraska. I won’t say where. Drive back this road, come to a ramshackle place. He opened the door, we step in. There was no floor, he was living in a dirt floor, no modern amenities. He had a small fortune to invest. There was somebody else waiting after us, from a secular company he’d called to invest. For what? But he’s on a mission. I have no one else. What are you doing? What’s the point? Where are you going? You know we grind it out. Well, you know the world tells you, it’s going to cost 10 million dollars for your kid to go to college when he grows up. You’ve got to start saving now. And it costs 30 million dollars for you to retire.

You’ve got to start saving now and I’m not against planning. I’m not against saving, but I want to be careful that we don’t get on that grinding pattern, that we don’t include rest, and then we wonder what’s happened? I’m exhausted all the time, there’s no enjoyment. I’m, all I do is work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work. Well, you’re not living your life with skill. Now again that doesn’t mean we don’t have control of everything. There are times when certain pressures may require more work and less rest but I want to be looking at my life. How can I balance it? Have one hand for rest and the other hand for work. My goal is not to be rich and wealthy, I want to provide. I want to be wise. The proverbs do talk about the ant that stores up, but I don’t want to lose the pleasantness of this day and the joy that God has provided for this day. Because to me, my eye is on something else. That’s not living life skillfully.

Then he gives you in verse 9, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.” And he gives an example. Having a friend, a companion is helpful. It’s someone you share things with and you can read the account. They’re just examples of how a friend helps from their day, but that would be true today, and that helps you divide the labor. That helps encourage you. You have something like a medical doctor. They may be in practice; they go and practice with another doctor. They say it works fine, because that way we can cover when one takes time off for other things than a job. So, you may have a companion and they can help you through difficulties. That’s why God puts you in a family of believers and we develop friendships and relationships. Some closer in the family, and that helps us look out for one another, encourage one another when it seems like it’s overwhelming. Someone can come in and help carry the load with us. That’s what he’s talking about here. Right companionships are good. They’re not all negative, like he’s talked about here in this oppressive world. Relationships are God’s intention, and they help us to have a balance in life and keep from getting overwhelmed. God doesn’t intend us to live a monastic life cut off from friends and fellowship.

Then he closes in verse 13 with the example of, “A poor yet wise lad is better than an old and foolish king…” who won’t take instruction. And what happens? Look at verse 15. The young lad comes out of prison and maybe Joseph is in mind, but it seems like broader. It’s just a story to give a point. Joseph would have similarities. He was in prison and he came up to rule. He wasn’t Pharaoh, but he ruled. But the principle here established. The second lad was wise, and he ends up replacing a foolish king. He didn’t start out on that track, but he ends up there. But you know what, everything is temporary and out of our control because you know what happens? Everybody loves this wise young king when he comes to power, but soon they tire of him. Verse 16, “There is no end to all the people, to all who were before them, and even the ones who will come later will not be happy with him, for this too is temporary and out of our control.” What’s he saying? You know power, popularity, fame, it’s all temporary, part of this life and it’s fleeting.

I’ll share the story that I’ve shared before, some of you knew Bob Sink, who was on our staff, and went home to be with the Lord a number of years ago. He came into my office one day. This was in the day when you had to come early to get a seat, and we’d put folding chairs in the aisle, and he said to me, Gil I’m concerned. People at church don’t think you can do any wrong. Oh, for Bob. He says, I’m concerned that it doesn’t get out of proportion. Well, Bob, we’ll see how it does over time. Bob went to glory thinking I could do no wrong in the eyes of the people. But what happens? It ebbs and flows, doesn’t it. Then they go through times where there aren’t hardly any people that think you can do any right. Life comes and our heroes go up, they go down, they go up. One of the pro football quarterbacks was saying, you know fame. They love you, then they hate you, then they love you. That’s what he’s saying here, live life realistically. And in your times of popularity and prosperity, enjoy it. But don’t forget, it’s temporary, and you don’t have the ultimate control. Because the people that love you, may someday, here in the near future, the far future, not love you.

It comes and it goes. That’s the life we live in. That’s not discouraging, that’s just real life. Like we tell our kids, it won’t all be pleasant, it won’t all be bad. But what’s he got to do? When it will come to God’s part in this, we come into chapter 5, just like we dealt with in chapter 3. He’s appointed the time; He’s appointed the events for the time. He has planned for us to work hard, and yet have enjoyment in our work, and the fruit of our work. Now we talk about what goes on in the world, and it can be oppressive, people can be unfair, mistreat us. Good friends help. There will be times where you may do better, there will be times when you may not do so well. You may be popular, you may be unpopular. You may be wise and think, because of my wisdom, I rose to power. You know they say because I was faithful, a good Christian, had a good testimony, I rose in the company and then something changes in the company and you’re out. Well, I never thought that would happen. Why? Ecclesiastes said it might very well happen. That king’s popularity went by the road, and he was no longer popular. We want to live with skill. God, You’re in charge. You’ve planned my days. You’ve planned the events of my days. I want now to draw the wisdom to live as I should through the events of these days and thank You. It’s not all labor and toil, but You’ve planned for me to have joy and enjoy the fruit of my labors in these days.

Let’s pray together. Thank You Lord, for the riches of Your word. You are a gracious and loving God even though we are a world of rebellious people. In Your grace You have reached out and redeemed us through faith in Christ. And Lord we want to live skillfully and wisely in this world. It’s not Your plan that we escape all the trials and all the troubles, and all the pressures and all the tribulations, and everything that engulfs the world. But Lord, we want to live skillfully. We have the knowledge that You are sovereign, that this day is not an accident. It’s not out of place. The events of this day are not out of Your control. They’re out of our control, so we rest secure in our relationship with You, the perfect plan you have for us. May we grow as we walk through each day with the wisdom only You can give. Bless this day, we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.