OceanSide church of Christ

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Ecclesiastes 2:17 – Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me:  for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

 

Thought:  Solomon’s thoughts about life and death caused him to hate life.  He saw all of his labors as being very grievous.  Strain, labor, toil, sweat, difficulty – only to end in death.  “…for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”  Dear reader, this is the end of a carnal life.  This is the end of a life without God and spiritual things.  There is no purpose.  There is no hope.  All ends in death.  Sadly, this is the life that many are experiencing currently.

 

Romans 8:22-23

 

Commentary:

 

A.     Solomon seems to contradict something he said previously.  Look at the two statements:

 

for my heart rejoiced in all my labour (Eccl. 2:10)

because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me (Eccl. 2:17)

 

B.      Solomon is looking at work from two different perspectives.

1.       While we are living, there is some joy that come from our labors. 

2.       However, after laboring 40 or 50 years, we die.  All our labors are left behind.

a.       This thought caused Solomon to hate life.

1.       The word “hate” here means simply hate.

2.       “Hate” is defined by dictionary.com as:  “to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest.”

3.       The hate was the result of the work that brought him grief.

b.      This thought caused him to look at his work as “grievous.

1)      Grievous: 

a)      Strong (7451):  evil, bad

b)      BDB:  bad, disagreeable, malignant, evil (giving pain, unhappiness, misery), unpleasant, displeasing, sad, unhappy

2)      If we work and labor for so many years only to die and be forgotten, that is an unpleasant, displeasing, and sad thought.  What has been the purpose of our labors?

c.       This thought caused him to exclaim:  “…for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”

1.       Life and all that it offers man apart from God is empty and distresses one’s spirit.

2.       It offers man some joy now, but everything is left and forgotten at death.

3.       The example of Dorcas (Acts 9:39)

 

Then Peter arose and went with them.  When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber:  and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ecclesiastes 2:18 – Yea, I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun:  because I should leave it unto the man that should be after me.

 

Thought:  When a man dies, what does he take with him?  Absolutely nothing.  He may have a nice home.  He may have many furnishings in that home.  He may have a nice car.  He may have a closet full of nice clothes.  He may have a gym membership, a country club membership, and a membership in a social club.  He may have a superb vacation destination.  Yet, when he dies, he will leave it all behind to others who come after him.  As Solomon contemplated this fact, he said:  “I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun.”  If you work hard to have it, only to leave it, what profit is there in having it? 

 

Luke 12:18-21

 

Commentary:

 

A.     Solomon has given one reason that he “hates” all his labors wrought under the sun.  Because at the end of it all, he simply dies.

 

B.      He now gives a second reason for hating his “labor which I had taken under the sun.”  “Because I should leave it unto the man that should be after me.

 

C.     Two thoughts:

1.       Solomon knows that at death, he can take absolutely nothing he has acquired with him.

a.       Job 1:21

 

And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither…

 

b.      I Timothy 6:7

 

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

 

c.       If you work hard to have it, only to leave it, what profit is there in having it?

 

2.       Everything that we have will be left to someone after us.

a.       Some to whom our possessions can be left.

1)      Children

2)      Family

3)      Friends

4)      Charities

5)      Good works

6)      The State

b.      We do our best to leave it to those who will truly benefit from it and who will use it properly.  However, once we are gone and our possessions are in their hands, we have lost control of everything for which we labored so diligently.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ecclesiastes 2:19 – And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool?  Yet shall he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun.  This is also vanity.

 

Thought:  Solomon knew that when a man dies, he leaves his “things” to those who live on after him.  He now thinks of the one to whom his goods have been dispersed.  He wonders whether the individual will be a wise man or a fool.  He would be much more satisfied if he were a wise man, but it could be a fool.  The fool would misuse his goods.  He would waste his goods.  He would not leave them to others after him.  When Solomon thought of this, all he would say is:  “This is also vanity.”

 

I Peter 4:3-4

 

Commentary:

 

A.     A person may have the choice as to the individuals who will receive his inheritance, but he does not have the ability to control the funds once he dies.

 

B.      Solomon asks regarding the heirs:  “And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool?”

1.       A fool and his money are soon parted” is a phrase that sudden heirs find out all too often. Whether brought up in the lap of luxury or struggling to make ends meet, when people suddenly come into money, sometimes good judgment is thrown out the window and the need to indulge in their wants exceed the desire for financial stability” (These People Blew Their Inherited Fortunes | GOBankingRates).

1.       Will the fruit of our labors be used wisely?  Or, will it be wasted and squandered?

2.       Will our wealth be used to help humanity?  Or, will it become harmful to others?

3.       Will generation after generation profit from it?  Or, will it end with my immediate successors?

2.       In the article that begins this with the quote above, several examples of individuals who wasted their inheritance are noted.

a.       Clarissa Dickson Wright

1.       She was a high earning attorney in London, England

2.       She was known in the 70s for her British television show, “Two Fat Ladies.”

3.       She received $2.8 million pounds at her mother’s passing.

4.       After her mother’s death, her father also died soon after.

a)      She was close to both of them.

b)      Depression set in.

c)       She began to drink alcohol.

d)     She was an excessive spender:  yachts, jets, and hotels.

e)      By 1982, she could no longer practice law and was homeless.

b.      The prodigal son (Luke 15:11-14)

 

And he said, A certain man had two sons:  and the young of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.  And he divided unto them his living.  And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.  And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

 

1.       Divided unto them his living…Gathered all together

2.       Wasted his substance…Spent all…Began to be in want

3.       LESSON:  Something can quickly become nothing.

a.       Savings is turned into debt.

b.      The prosperous become paupers.

c.       Wealth is traded for waste.

d.      The “have’s” become the “have nots.”

e.       The rich fall to a place among the ridiculed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ecclesiastes 2:20 – Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labor which I took under the sun.

 

Thought:  The lesson Solomon was learning from his experiment about life was extremely powerful.  It impacted him deeply on an emotional level.  He said:  “I went about to cause my heart to despair.”  One definition of the word “despair” is “to be desperate.”  Another involves being “without hope.”  Solomon was about to hit “rock bottom.”  Living life, even with many physical achievements, means nothing, if death is the end.  What’s the true purpose to such a life?  It means nothing.  What a reality!

 

Psalm 39:6-7

 

Commentary:

 

A.     This lesson that was impressed upon Solomon was extremely powerful.  It impacted him on an emotional level.

 

B.      It caused his heart to “despair.”

1.       Strong (2976):  cause to despair, be of no hope

2.       BDB:  be desperate, “it is hopeless”

3.       NOTE:  This is another emotion that Solomon experienced.  He “hated” life.  Now, he feels despair come upon him.

 

C.     LESSON:  Nothing is going to change the end.

1.       We do not have the power to change it.

2.       All the riches in the world cannot change it.

3.       The most powerful men in the world do not have the authority to change it.

4.       Trying to forget it or deny it will not make it cease.

5.       ALL men will eventually leave their labors behind.  The best we can say of anything we obtain is:  “I had it for a little while.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ecclesiastes 2:21 – For there is a man whose labor is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave it for his portion.  This also is vanity and a great evil.

 

Thought:  Solomon looks upon all the effort that he has put in to acquire both wisdom and wealth.  It has taken years to accumulate these things.  It has taken sacrifice.  It has taken blood, sweat, and tears.  Then, he dies.  Who gets the things he has worked to diligently to have?  “A man that hath not labored therein.”  He will leave it to a person who has no appreciation for what it took to get these things.  He will not care for them.  He will not appreciate them.  He will not be a good steward of them.  “This also is vanity and a great evil.”

 

II Chronicles 33:1-3

 

Commentary:

 

A.     To acquire a house, jewelry, large savings accounts, and other assets takes much time and labor.  Thirty, forty, and fifty years can be involved.  The labor could literally involve blood, sweat, and tears. 

1.       The original owner appreciates the efforts involved therein.

2.       He also cherishes the things that our efforts have brought into our lives.

 

B.      Then, we die, and “to a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave it for his portion.”

1.       We leave our things to those who have not worked and sacrificed to acquire them.

2.       Thus, there is not the appreciation for the cost of those things.  Too, the one who receives them does not cherish them nearly as much as the original owner.  This being the case, he will not be a good steward of those things many times.

 

C.     When Solomon thought of this, it made him conclude about his labors that “this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.”

1.       The thought:  I labor all my life to have the things I want only to give them to someone who has not labored for them and may not care about them.

2.       Houses, cars, motorcycles, furniture, jewelry, books, and other expensive things have been left behind to others who did not care about them one wit.

 

D.     NOTE:  Sometimes it is better to attempt to get rid of as much as possible before an individual dies.  At least, he knows who it went to and that it was appreciated and used.