Ecclesiastes 8:15

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 8:15-17, “Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.[16] When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)[17] Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.” After talking for almost eight chapters about the vanity of life from a human standpoint, one conclusion that Solomon comes to is stated very well in verse 15: “to eat, and to drink, and to be merry.” Why be miserable? Be as happy as you can. Enjoy life. Only you can make yourself happy. It is all in the mind. One of the benefits of being a Christian is that we have the greatest reason to be happy: we know that God loves us, that Jesus is our Savior, and that we have a home in heaven.

In verse 15 Solomon also speaks of a person’s “labour” “which God giveth him under the sun.” God wants us to work, and God gives to each of us the work that He wants us to do. How does God do His work? In many ways He does it through people, through His believers. It says in Second Corinthians 5:21-6:1, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.”

We know that God is at work, and we know that He is at work through His children, but we do not really know what He is doing. God is using you if you are following Jesus, but most of the time He is using you in ways that you do not know. His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways. Just as the old song says, “Glory, glory, hallelujah, His truth is marching on,” but we just do not always know in what ways it is marching on. What is God doing when a liar and a deceiver takes power in a nation? We do not know. We cannot see. But God knows. It is just as Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 8:17, “Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it.”

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:1-3, “For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.[2] All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.[3] This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.” We do not know what the future holds. We do not know what the result will be when we step out on an endeavor in service to Christ. Is love or hatred before us? We do not know, but God knows. Verse two is a great statement about the equality of human beings on this earth. We all pretty much experience the same things whether we are evil or the children of God. It says in verse 2, “All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean.” Solomon sums up human life at the end of Ecclesiastes 9:3 and says, “yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.” Solomon describes human life in this way: people are evil, then they go crazy, and then they die. We must come to the conclusion that people need a Savior and need to turn to Christ.

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:4-8, “For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.[5] For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.[6] Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.[7] Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.[8] Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.” Up to this point in the book of Ecclesiastes Solomon has mostly looked at the negative side of things from a human standpoint, saying in many different ways, “all is vanity.” At one point Solomon said that the dead are better off than the living when we consider how much the living suffer. A dead person will never again suffer what a living person suffers. Of course, that changes if we take into account the sufferings of hell. For example, Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 4:2, “Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.” But here in chapter nine Solomon looks at things from a different standpoint. He writes in verse 4, “For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope.” No matter how bad things are, there is always hope that things will get better. One of the benefits of being a Christian is that we always have hope because we can put everything into Jesus’ hands and ask for His help, and He loves to help His believers.

In Ecclesiastes 9:5 Solomon says, “For the living know that they shall die.” He might be making a big assumption here. They might know that they are going to die, but they certainly do not let that knowledge have its proper effect. From a spiritual standpoint, if we know that we are going to die, then we should think about our eternal destiny and turn to Jesus if we have not yet done so. From a practical standpoint, if we know we are going to die, then we should make good use of the short time that we have. Do what we can while we have time because the time will disappear, just as our lives will disappear from this earth. Once again Solomon looks at life from a positive standpoint and says in verse 7 that we should live our lives with “joy” and “a merry heart.” It is interesting that he adds to that in verse 8 to clean yourself up. He says, “Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.” That must be his way of saying something like: cleanliness is next to godliness. There will be no filth or dirt in heaven, so we should make our homes and our bodies as much like heaven as we can.

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:9-10, “Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.[10] Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” On the subject of how to live this life and be as happy as possible from a human standpoint, this passage emphasizes marriage. It says to “live joyfully.” This is written as a command. It is as though the amount of joy and happiness that you have in your marriage is up to you. It is all in the mind and in the attitude. Laugh a little. Look on the bright side. Learn how to enjoy the spouse that you have: both the strengths and weaknesses. And love your spouse. Solomon pointed out that he was talking about “the wife whom thou lovest.” There is a part of love that involves making a decision. You can love if you make a determined decision to love. You can learn to love lost souls in this way, and you can make sure that you keep loving your spouse in this way. That is why it says to husbands in Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives.” In other words, stir up the emotion of love within your own heart for your spouse. Be loving in your manner and in your attitude. Of course, that which is commanded to husbands applies also to wives.

Notice also that in regards to having a wife, Solomon gave a very important spiritual principle to understand, especially if you are a young person or single. Solomon said about the wife in verse 9, “which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity.” If you have the right wife for you, then God gave you that wife. It was not a coincidence that you met her. The most important decision that you can make in life is to accept Christ as Savior. The second most important decision has to do with whom you will marry. In the book of Genesis in the very first marriage ever, it says in Genesis 2:22, “And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.” If you are a believer in Jesus, you want to find that spouse who is also a believer in Jesus, and who loves Jesus more than she will ever love you. In order to find her, you need to follow the Lord and seek His guidance in this crucial matter. If you put the matter in God’s hands and allow Him to lead you, God will do the same thing for you that He did for Adam. In His time He will bring her unto you. Isaac got his wife by the leading of the Lord.

Being led to your wife by God is the best way to ensure that you have a chance for a life-long loving relationship with your wife. True love comes from God, because “God is love.” Here is an important point to remember: when God brings two people together, He gives them love for each other. Any time there is a situation where one person thinks they are in love, but the other does not, then that is not of God. The other person will love you just as much as you love her. There are plenty of fish in the sea, and you just may not have found the right fish yet. Once you do find her, you will be much happier than you ever would have been with that other one. You do not just want someone for you to love, but you also want someone who loves you.

You want your wife to be your lover, your soul-mate, and your co-laborer. In talking about a wife, Solomon said at the end of Ecclesiastes 9:9, “for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.” The best way for a man to accomplish something is to have a woman who will help him accomplish it. It takes a lot of work to have a household and a family. Before God made Eve, it says about the man in Genesis 2:20, “And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowls of the air, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.” There is work to do, and more can get done when two are joined together as a team in marriage. This shows the emphasis that God places on accomplishing something in this life.

Concerning getting something accomplished, Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 9:11-13, “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.[12] For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.[13] This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:” Solomon noticed in verse 11 that there were certain circumstances in life that contributed to one’s success that no one seemed to have control over. God’s destiny and plan for your life has a lot to do with what happens to you. We do not have as much control as we think we do. We are sometimes carried along by a current of life that we cannot control or understand. One advantage of being a Christian is that we can trust that the Lord sees and understands all things. He knows, and He is in control. Solomon compared all people to fish that are caught in a net and birds that are caught in a trap. We are all heading towards a significant event: the day of our death and no one knows when that day will be. For some it will be soon. One of the benefits of being a Christian is that the moment we die, we will be with Jesus forever.

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