Introduction
In the first two chapters, the Preacher was searching for purpose in wisdom, pleasure, and possessions. He concluded with a call for man to enjoy life.
In chapter three, the Preacher has described the various seasons of life, highlighting that God is sovereign over all.
After acknowledging God’s superiority to man in the previous passage (3:14-15), the Preacher begins comparing man with the beasts, finding a very important similarity. But, once again, we will see that he comes to the same conclusion regarding joy.
Ecclesiastes 3:16–22 ESV
Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. 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. I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?
In the 1993 movie, Falling Down, Michael Douglas plays William Foster, a man recently divorced and recently laid off. The restraining order filed against him by his ex-wife lets the audience know he has some problems with anger management.
The movie opens with his AC quitting while stuck in traffic. He decides to abandon his car. After destroying a grocery store with a baseball bat, Foster defends himself against two gang members. The violence escalate as Foster grows increasingly agitated on a rampage through the streets of L.A. Amazingly, it all feels very realistic.
Hal Hinson, writing for the Washington Post notes:
This guy is you, the movie suggests, and if not you exactly, then maybe the guy you’re one or two bad breaks from becoming. At one time or another, we’ve all thought these thoughts, and so when this downtrodden, laid-off, teed-off L.A. defense worker gets out of his car on a sweltering day in the middle of rush hour and decides he’s not going to take any more, it comes as no surprise”…
What made the movie so compelling was how close it made everyone feel to being on the verge of “going postal” like William Foster.
A summary of our passage in Ecclesiastes might go something like this: Wickedness is pervasive. Death is inevitable. Enjoy the work you have while you can. Or, more concisely:
Enjoy your work despite pervasive wickedness and your impending death.
That may sound rather pessimistic, but it is actually quite realistic.
1. The Corruption of Power (16-17)
2. The Commonality of Death (18-21)
3. The Joy of Work (22)
1. The Corruption of Power (16-17)
The Preacher considers the overwhelming nature of wickedness.
Ecclesiastes 3:16 ESV
Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.
Wickedness exists everywhere, including where justice and righteousness are supposed to rule. The Preacher specifically had in mind the judicial system. Even in America, where the scales of justice are supposed to be impartial, we find corruption and frequent mismanagement of cases.
Although wickedness pervades every level of society, the Preacher makes it clear that this will not always be the case.
Ecclesiastes 3:17 ESV
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.
God will judge everyone – righteous and wicked. God will judge injustices in his timing. And when God is the judge, the outcome is always just.
While the perversion of justice characterizes life “under the sun,” we can depend upon all things being made right at some point in time. But, that’s as far as the Preacher goes in this passage. He doesn’t explicitly mention an eschatological judgment.
All that he can say is that as long as the wicked are prospering, God’s justice has not come to fruition.
Only in a culture that is totally depraved is there wickedness in every aspect. In a culture that is totally depraved, there is corruption and manipulation where people should feel safe.
Total depravity exists in places where we expect purity. The most heinous act of sexual misconduct are committed by family members. The highest levels of corporate corruption are found among those who are perceived as the companies most loyal managers. We could give countless more examples.
But, although we see wickedness in places where we expect to find justice and righteousness, God remains sovereign.
Everyone experiences injustice, yet clearly some have more advantages than others. All men are not created with equal opportunity.
No one understood the injustices that pervade this world more than Jesus. Yet, he was committed to the promotion of justice rather than retaliation.
Luke 11:42 ESV
“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
The primary problem of the Pharisees wasn’t that they were meticulous in their rule keeping, but that they neglected “justice and the love of God.” They manipulated the rules whenever the results suited them. And they lost the concept of loving mercy.
If we hope to avoid the trap of the religious elite, it is going to start with the acknowledgment that power does indeed tend to corrupt those who wield it.
That should temper our expectations of seeing complete justice in this life.
• Those in positions of power must willingly submit to accountability.
• Those in positions of submission should look for leaders who are willing to receive accountability.
That applies at work, in marriage, in politics, in the church and every other sphere of relationships.
› Another trait of the vanity of life is…
2. The Commonality of Death (18-21)
Injustices reveal man to be like beasts.
Ecclesiastes 3:18 ESV
I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts.
God is showing man that they are beasts. Animals act according to their nature without any sense of right or wrong. They don’t have guilty consciences. Animals don’t “go postal,” they simply act like animals. Although many animals can be tamed through training, they will never possess the intellectual capacity to develop a judicial system.
The Preacher points to two commonalities:
1. They are both destined to experience the same fate.
Ecclesiastes 3:19 ESV
For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.
Man and beasts die, they breathe the same air. In this sense, there is no advantage to being a human over an animal. All will live as long as God gives them the ability to breathe in the air.
2. They both go to the same place.
Ecclesiastes 3:20 ESV
All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.
Humans and animals both go to the grave. The Preacher’s language reminds of the punishment God gave to Adam after the Fall:
Genesis 3:19 ESV
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
When it comes to our ultimate fate in this “life under the sun,” humans are just like animals. All die. Death is the great equalizer because no one can escape it. No one can cheat death. Everyone will face judgment.
Even the most significant differences between man and beast are hard to determine:
Ecclesiastes 3:21 ESV
Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth?
Who knows the destination of the spirit of man or beast?
This seems to contradict what we read of the upright whose souls are ransomed by God (Psalm 49:13-15). The grave does not hold them. We see the same thing in Prov. 15:24. We find references to the final resurrection in Isa. 26:19 and Dan. 12:2-3.
Why are these not the Preacher’s conclusions?
Later on, he does note the difference in the destination for the spirit of man…
Ecclesiastes 12:7 ESV
and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
But here, at the end of ch.3, he maintains an agnostic view of the afterlife.
Man does not experience anything “under the sun” that reveals the future to him.
Humans are able to celebrate their independence until they reach the end of life. Then, like everyone before them, they discover how little they control.
Most of us are willing to acknowledge the inevitability of death. That is, except for the frozen few…
In 1962, Robert Ettinger wrote The Prospect of Immortality followed ten years later by Man Into Superman. As the founder of the Cryonics Institute he has been “cryopreserved” at the age of 92 alongside his mother and wives. He rests frozen in a container that resembles a gigantic Thermos.
Similarly, at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, AZ, the co-founder, Fred Chamberlain died at the age of 78 and opted to have only his head preserved. His wife and co-founder, Linda, says, “Our patients are potentially still alive. We are merely stopping the dying process, so one day it can be restarted again. If I really considered Fred to be dead and gone forever, that would be just a horrible loss. You know your loved ones are there and it’s just a very nice sense of being close.”
It would be funny if it weren’t true! Thousands of people have signed up for this expensive act of faith in science.
Christians do not live in such denial of the reality of death. Just as we must accept the fact that power tends to corrupt, we all the more must accept the fact that life tends toward decay. All of our physical bodies are moving towards a fatal end.
› Conclusion: Man should rejoice.
3. The Joy of Work (22)
Ecclesiastes 3:22 ESV
So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?
Man should rejoice in his work, since he cannot know the future (cf Ecc 2:24; 3:12).
“Lot” can also be translated “reward” as in 2:10. The term doesn’t necessarily have negative connotations.
Last time I mentioned how Nebuchadnezzar became like a beast (Dan. 4:32). It was God’s way of humbling him so that he might acknowledge God’s sovereignty over all kingdoms. That is the point the Preacher is making to all who might question God’s authority in light of the injustices we see in the world. Those who respond to God’s sovereign authority in humble surrender will learn to enjoy their work.
Since the outcome is the same for all God’s creatures, namely death, “man should rejoice in his work.” If we are just like animals, it is best that we simply enjoy our lot in life. Learn to appreciate what we have right now.
So, once again, we can say that the main idea is this:
Enjoy your work despite pervasive wickedness and your impending death.
Since none of us are immortal, and to my knowledge none of you are so delusional to think we will be immortal in the future, we should consider the value of learning a few lessons.
1. We are not defined by what we have (possessions) or what we do(accomplishments), but we should learn to appreciate both.
2. Since this life is a vapor/breath in light of eternity (as the Preacher has mentioned several times) we should learn to identify ourselves with the risen Christ (1 Cor. 15:12-19).
› The Preacher’s view of life after death is left a mystery.
Conclusion
However, because of the resurrection of Jesus, we have hope in a life beyond the grave. This same Jesus who rose from the dead taught us…
John 5:28–29 ESV
Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
and later on…
John 14:3 ESV
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
The believer has a comfort in death that eludes those strictly considering life “under the sun”. As the Heidelberg Catechism Q.1 teaches:
Q. What is your only comfort in life and death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him.
Let us seek the only comfort that can be found in life and death, when we rest in these promises which are found in Christ alone.