Ecclesiastes 9:7-18

Ecclesiastes 9:1-10

1-10 11-18

Verses 1-6 are all about how death does not care about the person, the good and the evil, the clean and the unclean, death will come for all. And that you only have earthly hope while you are alive, also salvation is for the living and not the dead, their time to repent has passed. So right on the heels of death comes for us all is verse 7:

7

Ecclesiastes 9:7 “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.”

We have seen this before.

2:24, 3:12, 3:22, 5:18, 8:15, here, and again in 11:7 we are reminded to enjoy the time we have here. But this reminder goes just a bit deeper and more emphatically when included with verses 8 and 9. Enjoy life merrily for God has already approved of what we do. When we look all the way back to Genesis and the garden of Eden and all that God provided for Adam and Eve, he told them to go and eat of every tree of the garden, save one, God approved of them enjoying the garden and that was there with one rule. Man was given work to do but also was to enjoy all that God had provided. Looking forward from when this was written to now, we can eat and drink and be merry because we already have God’s approval through our justification by faith in Jesus Christ. We do not have to work to earn God’s favor, it has already been freely given before the foundations of the world, accomplished through Christ and realized in hearing the Gospel and having saving faith. Jesus died for us and was raised up for us and we can always be ever joyful in everything that we do because of what God has so graciously given. Acts 2:46–47 “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Even though we know death is certain and guaranteed, we do not need to go through our lives with gloom and doom because we have been approved by God, we are not ashamed, and we know that we have the love of God and his Spirit with us. Yes we fall and yes we need to constantly repent, and no we are not to sin with no remorse because we have been forgiven, or treat the grace we have been so generously given by God as an excuse to sin. But we can enjoy life and all that God has given us, and know that it will only be better when we reach our eternal home in heaven.

8

Ecclesiastes 9:8 “Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head.”

We are to be joyful in our lives and not always going around in sackcloth and being glum. Let you garments be white, wear nice clothes, let not oil be lacking on your head, be clean and smell nice. Both of these things are an outward presentation of someone who is happy and joyful, and in conjunction with verses 7 and 9:

9

Ecclesiastes 9:9 “Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun.”

Enjoy your food, your drink, your spouse, follow the advice of verse 8 and look good for him or her, and enjoy all the good blessings that you have as all of these have been given to you from God. Our time here on earth is brief, like a puff of mist out of our mouths on a cold day, one moment we see it then it’s gone. We know that everyone will pass away and die but we do not have to always be in mourning for our eventual death. We are here to work and we do have earthly and spiritual work to do, enjoy them with good cheer. A good hard days work has its own reward, a job well done and a good night sleep.

10

Ecclesiastes 9:10 “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.”

We know that we are to do everything for the glory of God;

Colossians 3:23–24 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

So if we, in everything we do, are to be glorifying God, why would we do anything in half measures? What ever we do, we are to do for the glory of God, and do it with all of our might, heart, skill, and determination. You can’t take anything with you when you die, this also goes for work, thankfully. But is there something that needs to be done? Is there something that needs to be said, or someone you need to forgive? This work also cannot be done after you die.

Verse 11 and 12 wrap up this section on the universalness of death with a last bit of wisdom on death, then verse 13 through the end of chapter 11 are about wisdom and foolishness or words of wisdom on wisdom and foolishness, as the majority of chapter 10 and the first part of 11 are proverbs.

11-12

Ecclesiastes 9:11–12 “Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.”

This fallen world is not fair. The fastest does not always win the race, the strongest does not always triumph in battle or a fight, the smartest and wisest are sometimes broke and starving. But the great equalizer and what happens to us all, the fast as well as the slow, the strong and the weak, the wise and the fool is that we all will die as a result of sin entering the world, and no one knows when it is his or her time, only God.

13-15

Ecclesiastes 9:13–15 “I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man.”

Here we get a tale of a small sparsely populated city that is being attacked by a great king, who presumably rules over a large kingdom. The great king has a large army and great siegeworks to break down the walls and protections. But in this small city is a wise man, wise but poor. “nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent” This wise man uses his wisdom to come up with a way to save the city, the bible does not go into any detail but we can assume it is not through the wise man giving military strategy and the small city fighting back with their might, but through wisdom the city is delivered from being sieged. So this poor wise man was lavished with gifts, made the ruler of the small city, and statues were built in his honor right? No, when the dust settled and the threat was gone the wise man was forgotten about and no one remembers him.

But verse 16 says:

16

Ecclesiastes 9:16 “But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.”

Wisdom is still king over might, even though the wise council is rarely taken. And even when it is the wise man may still be forgotten and despised.

Verses 17 and 18 have the summary and moral of the story with an added bit of wisdom at the end.

17-18

Ecclesiastes 9:17–18 “The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.”

It is better to be wise than mighty in military, but no matter how wise a person or group may be one bad deed or one bad person will destroy the efforts of all the wise. Imagine a non-profit charitable organization that does good work, and 99 out of 100 of the people are wise and does good. But that one in 100 does something unwise, or illegal, the reputation of the whole organization is brought down and could even be destroyed by that one person. One bad apple spoils the bunch.