The wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, wrote the book of Ecclesiastes about the purpose and meaning of life. The wise person gratefully lives all the days he or she is granted. This is a Bible study teaching for “Death Explained” on Ecclesiastes 9:1-10 from the “Explore the Bible” series from Lifeway.
Today’s lesson is titled “Death Explained” and we’re going to be in the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes as a whole book is really reflecting on the futility and meaninglessness of life. At certain points in the book, it seems like Solomon is saying, “Enjoy what you can today, because this is all that there is.”
Before we go any farther, I think it’s a good idea to recap who Solomon is and the plot line of his life. Solomon was the son of David and Bathsheba, the second child born to them after the first child died that was born out of their adulterous relationship. I think Solomon himself, and that fact that Nathan promised the kingship to Bathsheba’s son is evidence of grace.
David was a “man after God’s own heart,” and he did turn to God even after his failings. But he was still a flawed man in many ways, particularly when it came to his family. The interactions between the various siblings from David’s eight wives were in constant contention. His son Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar and then Absalom killed Ammon in revenge. Then Absalom tried to overthrow David and take over the kingdom, then Adonijah tried to do the same later.
I think it’s safe to say that David wasn’t the greatest dad … his family was a mess.
In the middle of all this turmoil, Solomon, who was born of a mother that started her relationship with David under sketchy circumstances and didn’t come from a powerful family with multiple alliances like some of the other wives … Solomon was told by the prophet Nathan that he would be king. The high priest and many of David’s counselors and high ranking officials backed Adonijah, but God said that Solomon would be king … so he was.
The beginning of Solomon’s reign was a little rocky.
Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the Lord. 3 Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places (1 Kings 3:1-3)
We see that from the beginning, Solomon was placing trust in an alliance with a foreign power when he married Pharaoh’s daughter. And it seems he might have been a little intimidated to challenge the people on their worship practices because they weren’t following the instructions to come to Jerusalem alone for worship.
But then Solomon meets God in a dream, and God gives him the opportunity to as for anything that he wants.
4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
7 “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” 15 Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream. (1 Kings 3)
Solomon asks for a discerning heart … not to be the smartest or the most powerful … but a discerning heart so that he can “administer justice,” to be a faithful shepherd of God’s people. Because of this, God gives it all to him: the discernment, wealth, honor, prominence, and if Solomon continued to follow after God, he would also have a long life.
But we know this isn’t what happened, Solomon was wise and discerning, but that wasn’t enough. His heart wasn’t right.
We are told that his heart was led astray by the hundreds of wives and concubines he took. He was distracted, caught up in the stuff. And he also lost his heart for God’s people, because we see when Solomon’s son succeeds him, the citizens come to him asking to lighten up on the heavy load of taxes Solomon had put on them. Even though he was wise, Solomon thought it was all about him.
And what was the end result of this life where everything was at his fingertips and where he was focused on self?
Let’s see where Solomon’s mind is at in Ecclesiastes 9.
A Common Destiny for All
9 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.
As it is with the good,
so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
so with those who are afraid to take them.
Even though Solomon is the wisest man on earth, he doesn’t see himself as any better than a fool. Even though he is the richest, he realizes that his end will be the same as the poor. All will die.
3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. 4 Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!
I think it’s interesting, that at least in this moment, Solomon has no hope for life after death. Job, the earliest written book in the Bible, includes passages looking forward to the resurrection and trust that God will not forget him after death. Solomon doesn’t seem to have that hope. He has lived his life for himself, apart from God. And he has found life empty.
5 For the living know that they will die,
but the dead know nothing;
they have no further reward,
and even their name is forgotten.
6 Their love, their hate
and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
in anything that happens under the sun.
Solomon is pointing out that all of these things that seem so important now … what we have, what we know, what we do … in the end, it is meaningless. It comes to nothing.
7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
Solomon’s advice here seems to be, enjoy what you can, because this is all there is.
11 I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.
12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:
As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so people are trapped by evil times
that fall unexpectedly upon them.
Solomon was the most powerful man on earth, and also the wisest, so he knew that in the end, no one knows when their time will come. The one certainty about life is that it ends in death.
If we are like Solomon, living only for today, then life will seem meaningless for us too. You can buy stuff, but you can’t buy fulfillment. Everything we do in this life will end up being for nothing if we are living only for ourselves. It is as Jesus warns the church at Laodicea in Revelation 3.
Revelation 3:17-18
17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
We need God to refine us. Solomon had wisdom, but he didn’t have the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He had a discerning heart, but even that can lead us astray if we don’t have a clean heart.
But God offers us a better option. When we are working for him, nothing is wasted. As Paul writes in Romans 8:28.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
When you give your life to God, truly turn yourself over to him and commit to walking in obedience … everything has purpose. There is no waste in God’s economy. All things … ALL things work together for good.
But we can be like Solomon sometimes, we can be going in the general right direction but get a little off kilter when we aren’t listening to our shepherd’s voice.
But the good news is, he is always there to get us back on track … we just have to ask him
Psalm 51:10-12
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit[a] from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.