Verse 12 says For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
The rest of the chapter gets into the same themes of someone who works in a vain life is worse off than someone dying before born and other repeated thoughts. The end verse summarizes that without the Lord man basically is no better off no matter what he does in this life. We of course can die to ourselves and have the Spirit indwelling giving us a taste of things to come and hope for tomorrow.
Ecclesiastes 7
Verse 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.
This shows how the folly of laughter among the wicked has no lasting value. We also see the value of true wisdom in verse 4:
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. This perhaps ties in with the concept seen in 2 Timothy 3:16 and the like admonitions in Proverbs 27 amongst other places in scripture.
Moving on to verse 10 Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.
This shows that we shouldn't look to how things were better as individuals earlier in our lives when we had better health; etc.
It also shows that we should look to serving the Lord for such a time as this ( Esther 4:14) rather than seeing an easier path.
Verse 20 states For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. This verse comes after admonishing not to be overly wicked OR overly righteous (loosely translated) in verses 16 and 17. To be overly righteous no doubt is man's efforts to fulfill the law which inevitably fail and where pride often takes hold of men.
Verse 12 says For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
The rest of the chapter gets into the same themes of someone who works in a vain life is worse off than someone dying before born and other repeated thoughts. The end verse summarizes that without the Lord man basically is no better off no matter what he does in this life. We of course can die to ourselves and have the Spirit indwelling giving us a taste of things to come and hope for tomorrow.
Ecclesiastes 7
Verse 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.
This shows how the folly of laughter among the wicked has no lasting value. We also see the value of true wisdom in verse 4:
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. This perhaps ties in with the concept seen in 2 Timothy 3:16 and the like admonitions in Proverbs 27 amongst other places in scripture.
Moving on to verse 10 Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.
This shows that we shouldn't look to how things were better as individuals earlier in our lives when we had better health; etc.
It also shows that we should look to serving the Lord for such a time as this ( Esther 4:14) rather than seeing an easier path.
Verse 20 states For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. This verse comes after admonishing not to be overly wicked OR overly righteous (loosely translated) in verses 16 and 17. To be overly righteous no doubt is man's efforts to fulfill the law which inevitably fail and where pride often takes hold of men.
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