The Word of God now turns our attention from the natural joy of life under the sun and its spiritual implications to a similar reality, the joy and strength of youth. Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth,…
Turning from our calling to labor under God’s providence in the preceding verses, the text turns to a similar subject but from a more subjective viewpoint. We are to sow our seed and labor, not knowing what shall prosper in God’s providence. We labor under the sun in a transitory…
Previous article in this series: July 2019, p. 428. Ecclesiastes 10:18-20 Chapter 10 concludes with three further observations or warnings that we are called to ponder. They belong to the reality of life in a fallen world under the sun. They draw on the way of the fool in his…
Previous article in this series: May 15, 2019, p. 373. “Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength,…
Previous article in this series: April 15, 2019, p. 327. Ecclesiastes 10:11–15 Earlier in chapter 10 we read, Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to everyone that he is a fool (Eccl. 10:3). The walk of the fool…
Previous article in this series: March 1, 2019, p. 260. The folly of sin becomes manifested in the world under the sun as it strives with the boundaries God has set in this life. To show this, Solomon who was himself king, turns first to the sphere of earthly government.…
Previous article in this series: March 15, 2018, p. 272. Ecclesiastes 10:1-3 “Wisdom is better that weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good” (Eccl. 9:18). In the preceding verses the difference between wisdom and strength was set forth. Wisdom is the better portion, for it has a greater…
In this section of Ecclesiastes, Solomon is drawing a series of conclusions from the truth that death closes the door of life as the one event that comes to all, whether the righteous or the wicked. In natural man this truth stirs him to sin (Eccl. 9:3). For the believer,…
Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a…
Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him. For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be? There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither…
Previous article in this series: December 1, 2016, p. 105. Ecclesiastes 8:1-5 “Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed” (Eccl. 8:1). The conclusion reached in the…
Previous article in this series: November 15, 2016, p. 85. Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account: which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those…
Previous article in this series: October 1, 2016, p. 8. All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me. That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out? I applied mine heart to know, and…
Previous article in this series: August 2016, p. 443. Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city. For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou…
Previous article in this series: May 1, 2016, p. 345. All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness. Be not righteous over much; neither…
Previous article in this series: April 1, 2016, p. 298. Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun. For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them…
Previous article in this series: March 1, 2016, p. 247. Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not hasty in…
Previous article in this series: April 1, 2015, p. 299. A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is…
Previous article in this series: March 1, 2015, p. 248. Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit. That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend…
Previous article in this series: February 1, 2015, p. 200. Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place? All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. For what…
Previous article in this series: December 1, 2014, p. 106. 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…
Previous article in this series: December 1, 2014, p. 106. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he…
Previous article in this series: September 1, 2014, p. 465. Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which…
Previous article in this series: September 1, 2014, p. 465. In the preceding verse, the text concluded, “…the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep” (Eccl. 5:12). Riches, for a man given to covetousness, bring with them fretful care and worry lest they be lost. In verses…
Previous article in this series: May 15, 2014, p. 368. Ecclesiastes 5:8-12
Previous article in this series: September 15, 2012, p. 493. Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 The Word of God in Ecclesiastes 5 turns from considering the general vanity of men to their worship of God, for in that worship of God the folly of sin also manifests itself. Before describing that folly, the…
Previous article in this series: May 1, 2012, p. 343 “Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.” Ecclesiastes 4:13 The contrast in the text is introduced by the word “better.” This is an indication that Solomon is drawing another…
So I returned and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun:. . . Ecclesiastes 4:1a. Oppression of a man by his neighbor is a vast subject with the many different forms of evil done under the sun. Solomon has pointed out that, in the place of judgment, evil…
In Chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes, Solomon contemplates God’s sovereign providence, God’s counsel in time, as it shapes the life of men under the sun. Man senses that work of God, but walks over against it in darkness. This is brought out yet more fully in what he says in this…
God gave us the book of Ecclesiastes to instruct us in spiritual wisdom as those living in a world fallen in sin and under the curse. He gave it by one who was old and endued not only with the wisdom of age and experience, but with the wisdom that…
Previous article in this series: May 1, 2011, p. 346. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven”. Eccl. 3:1 Having pointed us to the transitory character of life and its vanity under the sun, Solomon turns to the seeming pattern of life in…
Previous article in this series: March 15, 2011, p. 284. (Ecclesiastes 2 – Part 2) We saw last time that Solomon directs our attention to the passing joys of this life that come to us through our labor and industry. These joys are our part or portion in this life. They…
Previous article in this series: February 15, 2011, p. 231. (Ecclesiastes 2 – Part 1) The second chapter of Ecclesiastes embraces one central thought, which is well represented by the preacher’s initial comment in connection with wine, that by wisdom the preacher sought to see or discern, “what was good for…
Previous article in this series: January 15, 2011, p. 185. Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 (please read) In a world of constant change under the judgment of God upon sin, all things come to vanity. This is the reality of a fallen world. Nothing satisfies so that it truly fills the heart, because…
Previous article in this series: December 15, 2010, p. 129. The opening words of the “Preacher” are in many respects very striking. His identity, which as we have seen is that of Solomon, is stated as “the son of David, king in Jerusalem.” But that identity is initially set in…
Previous article in this series: November 1, 2010, p. 67. We considered last time the authorship of the book of Ecclesiastes. Before turning to an exposition of the book, we do well to consider its central theme. That theme is the vanity of man’s life in a fallen and sinful…