Ecclesiastes 5:8 - 6:9

Ecclesiastes 5:8 - 6:9

This next section of Ecclesiastes from 5:8 to 6:9 can be titled Grievous Evils, and Great Joys. It can be broken down in to seven parts that can if looked at as a physical structure form a pyramid, or temple, with parts one and seven being the base, two and sex the second layer, three and five the next and seven being the pinnacle. Going up parts one and seven mirror each other in their statements, two and six also, three and five similar but opposite views, and with seven being the resolution or pinnacle of the thought.

Part one 5:8-12 and seven 6:7-9 tell of the people who cannot be satisfied

Part two 5:13-17 and six 6:3-6, people who cannot enjoy

Part three 5:18-19 ask what is good and five 6:1-2 what is bad

and at the top, part four in 5:20, enjoy the moment

There is also a simpler way of looking at it as a five part pyramid, one and five say the love of money is a sad investment, two and four the love of money is a bad investment, and the top states that to trust in God is a wise investment.

Read 5:8-6:9

8-12 & 6:7-9 People who cannot be satisfied

Ecclesiastes 5:8–12 “If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields. He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.”

Ecclesiastes 6:7–9 “All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.”

We have already heard what is said in 5:8 and 9 back in chapter 3:

Ecclesiastes 3:17 “I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.”

All sins will be dealt with, either they have been laid on Jesus or they will be levied on the guilty in Hell for all eternity. While we are here in a fallen world we will hear of and be witness to countless wicked acts. But we know that there is always a higher authority above any and all layers of human authority, God himself, and God will not put aside any sin without its due payment. Also we must always remember that all things will, in the end be for good and God’s glory, and that all authority is in place at the will of God.

We can see the mirror or complementary nature in verses 5:10-12 and 6:7-9

Ecclesiastes 5:10–12 “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.”

Ecclesiastes 6:7–9 “All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.”

Those who seek after money and possessions over everything else make those things their idols and gods, in that there is no satisfaction. In the end they are temporary and fleeting. In 5:11 it says “When goods increase, they increase who eat them” the more money and possessions you have the more opportunistic mouths will be attached to you, your entourage. You spend all your time in the pursuit of money and things you have no time to cook, clean, so you need to hire a cook and a cleaner. On and on, not to mention surprise relatives and “friends” who need help or follow you around to be taken care of. The love of money attracts other with the same love.

1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

Those who do not concern themselves the the acquisition of material things that will pass away sleep soundly, “Sweet is the sleep of the laborer, whether he eats little or much” and “Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite” Those that are content at what they have and do not have a wandering insatiable appetite are at peace and sleep soundly, but those who are constantly thinking with a wandering appetite on how to get more, how to make more are unable to find rest even though their every need is more than fulfilled.

5:13-17 & 6:3-6 People who cannot enjoy

Ecclesiastes 5:13–17 “There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.”

Ecclesiastes 6:3–6 “If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place?”

No matter what Michael Douglas said in Wall Street, greed is not good. It is a grievous evil to keep and hoard all wealth and possessions just so you can say you have them. Everything that we have is a gift from God and in the end will not go with us. Even if you store up all your possessions there is no guarantee that you will even keep them until you die. “those riches were lost in a bad venture” Everything in this world, apart from the solid rock that is God, is fickle, markets collapse, banks fail, businesses go under, then where will you be when all your hoarded wealth is gone, how will you care for your family. If you gain all these things, live a long life and have many children but do not enjoy your life, because just as you came into this world, naked and with nothing, so will you leave, Solomon says that a stillborn child is better. Never having to toil all their lives with no enjoyment to end up the same, dead. The mention of not having a burial would have meant that in the end you were given the ultimate disrespect and disregard as none of your descendants cared for you enough to even bury you.

5:18-19 What is “Good”?

Ecclesiastes 5:18–19 “Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.”

We have hard this before also in earlier chapters:

Ecclesiastes 2:24 “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,”

Ecclesiastes 3:13–14 “also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.”

We are to be content with what God has given us, whether it is great or small because we know that this world and this life is not our final destination. We are to use the gifts from God that he so freely gives, use them not for our own selfish reasons but to in return give back for the glory of God.

6:1-2 What is “Bad”?

Ecclesiastes 6:1–2 “There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil.”

The opposite of being content is always seeking for more and not enjoying what you have been given, in the end someone else will inherit or gain what you worked for all your life but never enjoyed.

Ecclesiastes 2:21 “because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.”

This never satisfied life leads to greed, and the love of gaining possessions and not the love of God.

5:20 Enjoy the moment

Ecclesiastes 5:20 “For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.”

The pinnacle of this section is this, enjoy what God has given you, be content, enjoy the work, and do it all for the glory of God. This is what will bring you true joy and true contentment, in everything that we do, we do it for God and for his glory.