Ecclesiastes 3:16 - 4:16 - The Folly of Living for Self
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Intro:
Intro:
Before we begin tonight, I want to go over something we covered in our Scattered Abroad joint podcast this month (which you can find in your podcast app on your phone), and that is the justice of God.
Justice is a concept that means “making the right call,” we might say, in its most basic definition.
God is the ultimate example of justice — He is the perfect example of justice because He is all good, He WILL make the right call, and He will NEVER make the wrong call.
Deut. 32:3-4
For I proclaim the name of the Lord: Ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.
The Rock - This shows the stability of the justice of God.
His work is perfect - complete with no wrongdoing whatsoever.
All Hus ways are justice — The totality of His ways are justice.
A God of truth without injustice — So He is the opposite of injustice.
Righteous and upright is He — He is completely good/omni-benevolent.
Therefore, God is always going to make the right call.
He will reward the good, and punish the bad.
His goodness demands that He punish evil, and reward good.
Otherwise, He would cease to be good, and we know that’s not going to happen.
God WILL do right!
Abraham asked the rhetorical question of God TO God when he said in Gen. 18:25 - “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
Of course, He would do right!
(Incidentally, Abraham was trying to get God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah, and he gets it down to if there are 10 righteous souls, then God would spare it because of those 10 individuals of salt and light — But 10 couldn’t be found — Therefore, God’s justice demanded that He punish Sodom and Gomorrah).
This next section of Ecclesiastes get to the fact that in this world, justice doesn’t always prevail.
Humans make serious errors in judgment.
People who are in leadership positions in government make the wrong call — sometimes unintentionally, sometimes maliciously!
And this fact really bothers Solomon!
Text:
Text:
3:16 - The topic of justice is all over the Bible — Let’s look at just a few:
Lev. 19:15; Prov. 21:3; Prov. 21:15; Prov. 28:5; Amos 5:24; Isa. 1:17; Isa. 5:23
God is just, and He demands that people be just as well …
But oftentimes, people pervert justice by taking bribes and what-have-you!
3:17 - See 2 Cor. 5:10-11
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.
Ecc. 12:14
For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.
Acts 17:31
because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
Heb. 9:27
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
3:18-21 - In what sense are we like animals and in what sense are we NOT like animals?
Well, we are like animals in the sense that both are alive, and we will both one day reach death …
But the difference is that one day, the animal will be no more, but the human soul will go to God to be judged!
Ecc. 12:7
Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.
Next verses here in context (vs. 19-20)—Solomon is going to equate us to animals in the sense of death happens to all …
But in another verse following (v. 21-22) we find how man is NOT equal to animals, and that is, again, we have souls that will go UPWARD to be judged by God!
3:21-22 - (V. 21) - GOD knows!
(V. 22) - “For that is his lot” is the sense of this.
In other words, man might as well “eat, drink, and be merry,” (as Solomon will eventually say in this book - Ecc. 8:15), because life will eventually be over.
Is Solomon espousing Hedenism, here?
(No, remember, he’s characterizing the point in his life in which he felt HOPELESS — at THAT point, he felt like just eating and drinking and being merry, but at the end of his life he has the “Eureka!” moment and figures out the true meaning of life)!
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Conclusion:
Conclusion: