THE PROBLEM OF MORTALITY
Opening Prayer
Father, help me to gain wisdom from what you offer me in your Word today. As I journey with you, help me to apply all that you teach me.
Read ECCLESIASTES 6:1 – 7:18
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
6 I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: 2 God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.
3 A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. 5 Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man— 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?
7 Everyone’s toil is for their mouth,
yet their appetite is never satisfied.
8 What advantage have the wise over fools?
What do the poor gain
by knowing how to conduct themselves before others?
9 Better what the eye sees
than the roving of the appetite.
This too is meaningless,
a chasing after the wind.
10 Whatever exists has already been named,
and what humanity is has been known;
no one can contend
with someone who is stronger.
11 The more the words,
the less the meaning,
and how does that profit anyone?
12 For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?
Wisdom
7 A good name is better than fine perfume,
and the day of death better than the day of birth.
2 It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of everyone;
the living should take this to heart.
3 Frustration is better than laughter,
because a sad face is good for the heart.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
5 It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools.
6 Like the crackling of thorns under the pot,
so is the laughter of fools.
This too is meaningless.
7 Extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
and patience is better than pride.
9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,
for anger resides in the lap of fools.
10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
For it is not wise to ask such questions.
11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing
and benefits those who see the sun.
12 Wisdom is a shelter
as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
Wisdom preserves those who have it.
13 Consider what God has done:
Who can straighten
what he has made crooked?
14 When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
as well as the other.
Therefore, no one can discover
anything about their future.
15 In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:
the righteous perishing in their righteousness,
and the wicked living long in their wickedness.
16 Do not be overrighteous,
neither be overwise—
why destroy yourself?
17 Do not be overwicked,
and do not be a fool—
why die before your time?
18 It is good to grasp the one
and not let go of the other.
Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.[a]
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 7:18 Or will follow them both
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like … [those] who have no hope.’1
Think Further
Chapter 6 begins with the Teacher posing another problem about life. He has observed that it is an evil that God blesses some with possessions, money, or renown – and yet their mortality limits their ability to enjoy them. Throughout chapters 6 and 7, we see the Teacher wrestling with the meaning of life when ultimately everyone will die. Given this inevitability, he questions whether anyone can enjoy the things they are given in life. Furthermore, this fatalism leads him first to form an argument that it is better to mourn than to laugh (7:2–5) but then to question the value both of righteousness and wisdom, since all die in the end (7:15–18).
These chapters are a chilling description of a mortal life’s limitations. The Teacher reaches depths that are almost nihilistic as he envisages a world without hope beyond the grave. Without that hope, the Teacher can only offer the advice of 7:14: when things are good, be happy; when things are bad, acknowledge that you cannot have good times without bad ones. It is a deeply unsatisfying mantra to live by. It also gives an indication of why, in modern secular society, people struggle when life gets tough. They are grounded in the limitations of their mortality. The realization that there is no hope beyond those limitations is depressing.
With the resurrection of Christ, however, our mortality is grounded in a greater hope. The promise of life beyond the grave and the knowledge that Christ has defeated death itself means that we can live differently. Gone is the pressure that you must enjoy every moment. More importantly, we can face tragedy, suffering, pain, and grief with an eternal perspective that God is ultimately bringing us into his eternal kingdom, where every tear will be wiped away.
Apply
Consider how the hope of Christian faith encourages you when times are good – and when they are difficult.
Closing prayer
Regardless of my circumstances, Lord God, help me to trust in your faithfulness. Give me the wisdom I need to remain steadfast in your loving care for me.
1 1 Thess 4:13
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