Ecclesiastes 2:12-23

SCC

Solomon considers vs 12 the relationship between wisdom, madness and folly in the pursuit of achievements in life. Very few people would ever be able to check the results of his experiments. Even if they could duplicate them, they could not exceed them. So what did he learn? Wisdom enabled him to enjoy pleasure and the fruit of his labor as opposed to indulging himself uncontrollably (madness and folly). This gave him the foresite to avoid danger in his pursuits while the fool gets in trouble like one stumbling about in the darkness according to vs 13-14a. The advantage of walking in lite verses stumbling about in darkness is the difference between wise and careful planning and foolish abandonment in life.

Solomon realizes vs 14b-15 however, that because both the wise and the foolish die there is no real advantage to living wisely as opposed to living foolishly. It is not just the fate of the wise is the same as the fool but that even he himself--the wisest man of all--would fair not better in the end than the most foolish! There was no net profit. It could not deliver him from the same fate as the fool. Wisdom and its achievements held no ultimate advantage. In addition, he says in vs 16 that both are forgotten a long time before future generations arrive. (I never heard of Raphael Lemkin, the founder of the genocide convention until I began reading a new book on genocide. He came up with the word genocide and is the one person responsible for making it a world issue. After reviewing the Turkish annihilation of Armenians in WW1 and the German harassment of Jews in Germany before WW2 plus the loss of most of his family in the Warsaw ghetto during WW2 he went on a one man crusade to educate and legislate against genocide until his death some 28 yrs later.) How many more wise men and women of the past have been forgotten?

Solomon concludes vs 17 that he hates life, that is, the profitlessness and futility of human achievement. He was grieved by this knowledge and it made life distasteful and repugnant to him. If it makes no difference how you live then ultimately all of life and its accomplishments are meaning less.

A. It may be squandered my successor 18-21 These verse are arranged as two sub-units 18-19 & 20-21. (1) Each begin with a lament. I hated all the fruit of my labor, I completed despaired of all the fruit of my labor. (2) Then the reason for the lament, I must leave it to the man who will come after me, then he gives his inheritance to another (3) Description of the successor, who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool, to one who has not labored with them (4) Conclusion: this too is vanity, this too is vanity and a great evil. He laments the injustice that a person who works diligently in wisdom must one day hand over his fortune and the care of his achievements to his successor. There is no guarantee that one’s heir will be wise and be a good steward of this wealth or be foolish and squander it in which case the former man’s entire life’s work would be in vain. Solomon’s very son, Rehoboam, was just such a fool. Solomon was correct and the next in line, his own son, arrogantly assumed power after his father’s death, the nation divided with rival kings the rest of the days of Israel. Squandered and lost never able to recover. Sad isn’t it to see this happen in life.

B. It is not worth the effort to accomplish anything 22-23 In vs 22 he asks a rhetorical question expecting a negative answer Man acquires nothing. The reality is that our achievements cost more pain and restlessness than it is worth. All day long his work is a pain and as the days add up it even becomes grievous. There is only physical toil during the day and emotional anxiety at night. Even during the night he has no break vs 23. The expenditure includes a lot of painful labor and restless activity which he is able to

concludes is meaningless.

C. So it is best to enjoy achievement as God enables 24-26 We can do this by (1) Personally enjoying the fruits of my labor vs 24. Eat and drink is a metaphor for partaking of all its fruits. Discover how you can enjoy what it is you produce with your work. Enjoy the product of your work. (2) Find satisfaction in the work you do vs 24. You should try to enjoy the work that you do in your life. (3) This is only possible with God’s help vs 24-25. The hand of God refers to His providence and benevolence and often connotes His favor or grace upon us. No one can experience this joy apart from the Hand of God. In Timothy Paul writes He gives us richly all things to enjoy and James 1:17 says Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of lights... Wealth comes from God and He determines your wealthy in this life. So we can enjoy what he gives us as a faithful steward of it. He lets me determine my wealth in the next life. (4) Sometimes God channels the fruits of wicked persons work into a righteous man’s hands vs 26. Three times give is used in this verse. God gives the righteous the ability to prosper and find enjoyment in his work. But to the wicked he gives the task of giving his wealth to the righteous. For a task of a sinner is ultimately profitless. He labors hard to amass his wealth only to see its fruit given away to someone else. Whether it is a foolish person who squanders it or to a righteous person who enjoys the fruit of his labor under the blessing of God. He cannot take it with him. The more you run after life, panting for fruit from you labor the less you find and the more you take life as a gift from God’s hand in thanksgiving the more you seem to have.