Isaiah 24

Isaiah 24:1

Money Is Vanity and Causes Problems

If a man sticks to his money with his heart, his thirst for money cannot be quenched (Ecclesiastes 5:10). For such a person, money is his idol, the mammon, the god of wealth (Matthew 6:24). Money is a good slave, but a bad master. Whoever has the money as his master, is hunted by his desire for always more. His love for money controls and destroys him (1 Timothy 6:9). The same goes for loving abundance. He who sticks to abundance with his heart, always wants to have more income. He wants an increasing bank balance, more and more real estate, an increasing harvest by having more lands.

Solomon points to the vanity of money and income. He is going to explain the vanity, the emptiness of money and income in the following verses. The Lord Jesus lifts this subject to a higher level when He says to a man who is risking to lose his inheritance: “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).

He who has a lot of goods, has a lot of friends (Ecclesiastes 5:11) or as Solomon already said in the book of Proverbs: “Those who love the rich are many” (Proverbs 14:20b). The more wealth, the more profiteers. Also all kinds of charitable organizations know how to find you and always appeal to your possessions. You have to deal with a lot of nagging of people.

You also have to leave the control of your goods to others. You cannot possibly control that all by yourself. But are you well aware that those whom you’ve entrusted your possessions to, may clean you out? They control your possessions in such a way that you yourself cannot get a hold of it and they profit from it. You look at it, but in fact you’ve lost the enjoyment of it. The only profit you have is the thought that it is your property.

Money makes clear that money does not satisfy. It attracts people who want to hitch a ride on your wealth and want to parasitize, quite disrupting the peace in your life. Poverty may cause problems, but do not think that the love for money is a good solution for those problems.

Just look at “the working man”, the hard worker, with a simple profession, a low income with no possession (Ecclesiastes 5:12). This man does not have any of those problems. He who is without possessions, is without worries, in any case no worries about his properties and therefore also no people who are whining his head off in order to get some of his abundance. He is not worrying about whether he has little or much to eat, for he always has enough. At the end of the day he falls asleep. And his “sleep … is pleasant”. He has no nightmares; there is also nothing he is fretting and tossing about.

That is quite different from the effect that “the abundance” or multitude of goods has on the rich man. A rich man has a lot to eat and does so too. He stuffs himself so much that it makes him nauseous so that he cannot sleep. Excess harms. Another thought is that he is worried about how to maintain and increase his abundance. He is controlled by it (Ecclesiastes 5:11) and frets over it, with the result that it “does not allow him to sleep”. The more riches, the less night’s rest. A lot of worries, little sleep. The big bed with the best mattress does not give him the ‘pleasant sleep’ the working man has who is lying down on the sack of straw.

One does not need money to be happy. Just look at the working man. He eats his bread by the sweat of his face. Working hard also ensures a good digestion. He who only organizes dinners in order to get large orders, gets fatter and fatter and more and more restless. The fitness clubs love to welcome such people. One of the reasons of the existence of those clubs is that people become too fat by too much and wrong eating. It is an example of symptom treatment. The life style is not changed, but the results of the wrong life style is being treated. It is trying to empty the ocean with a thimble.

The following story may serve as an illustration: A rich industrialist met a simple fisherman. The rich man was bothered by the fact that on a sunny afternoon the fisherman leaned backward in his boat, while his feet were dangling overboard. ‘Why aren’t you fishing?’ he asked. ‘Because I have caught enough fish for today’, the fisherman replied. ‘Why do you not go catch more fish?’ asked the rich man. ‘What should I do with it?’ ‘You could make more money’, said the rich man, who was becoming more impatient, ‘and buy a better boat, so that you can go deeper fishing and catch more fish. You can buy nylon nets and catch even more fish and make even more money. Then you can buy more boats and hire others to help you fish. You would soon have a fleet of boats and be as rich as I am!’ ‘And what should I do then?’ ‘You could sit down and enjoy life’, the industrialist said. ‘What do you think I’m doing now?’ the fisherman replied and looked out over the sea.

There are more disadvantages connected to riches than just insomnia by exuberance or worries. One of them is that the hoarding of riches is for the owners “to their hurt” (Ecclesiastes 5:13). The Preacher calls it “a grievous evil”. It is an evil that makes one sick, and it is also an evil that comes upon the owner. It makes you sick from the sickness that riches cause.

The owner of riches becomes sick when he eats too much of his riches and gets stomach ache with the result that he cannot sleep (Ecclesiastes 5:12). But it could also be the other way around, which is that the wealth eats him up. He gets sick with the idea that he could lose his riches just like that, for example by theft, a wrong speculation or a thoughtless investment. He protects his riches anxiously, while he realizes that he has no absolute guarantee that his safety locks, alarm systems, cameras and hired security guards, rule out theft.

Paul states the same warning and deepens it because he connects riches with faith: “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

In Ecclesiastes 5:14-17 it is about cases in which someone was rich, but who lost his riches. That happened “through a bad investment” (Ecclesiastes 5:14), whether by others or by himself. Others might have robbed him. He may also try to cheat others in order to enrich himself and therefore got financially wrecked for example by theft or fraud or a sudden change of circumstances. In this way riches may get wings and just disappear. You are a mere spectator and can do nothing about it or get anything back. This verse contains a lot of frustration. It is about a man who has worked long and hard, and has lost everything in one go. He and his family are destitute.

An extra frustration is that he cannot leave his son anything. During his life, his riches has not done him any good. He has not been able to enjoy it, he has lost everything, and he cannot give anything to the son he has fathered. It delivers him a triple frustration.

This evil cannot happen to us with regard to the treasures that we have gathered in heaven. Evil practices cannot rob us from them. There is no thief that can get there (Matthew 6:19-20). Therefore it is a good thing to invest in the heavenly things.

Apart from the loss of riches and health and getting a disease and frustration, one cannot take anything with him at the end of the journey either. What a foolishness it is to work for riches, the striving for it and trying to pocket as much of it as possible. Every man leaves the world as he came into it: naked (Ecclesiastes 5:15). Even if he had his coffin made of gold and his hands filled with money when he is in the coffin, it would not do him any good. He is lying dead and stiff in his coffin and there is nothing left “that he can carry in his hand”.

This awareness must put a stop to a man’s pursuit for wealth. What a man had in his hand at birth was the capital he brought into the world: nothing. In the same way he leaves the world again (Job 1:21; Psalms 49:16-17; 1 Timothy 6:7). It is as the saying says: There are no pockets in a shroud. We cannot take anything to heaven. However, we can send our treasures ahead by giving away as much as possible for what promotes God’s work on earth.

If the thought pervades that a person will “return as he has come”, i.e. with nothing in his hand, it is “also a grievous evil” (Ecclesiastes 5:16). He has to grudgingly accept that this is reality, but he does not get around to it to agree that all the riches a person possesses under the sun, will end up being nothing at all. He must be aware that making an effort to become rich is equal to toiling for wind that cannot be held either. It takes more than that to agree that it is so and that is the understanding that any increase in money and goods during life will not bring anyone anything for eternity.

Ecclesiastes 5:17 strengthens the conclusion of Ecc 5:16 by recalling all the efforts and hardships that man has made to acquire his possessions, which he has now lost again. Concentrating on his wealth – both on its growth and its loss – has led him to a sad, shady life, “in darkness”, without any prospect of joy. He can sit in full daylight and yet in darkness because his heart is darkness. He has not been able to enjoy the full light.

Physically, he didn’t fare well either. His mind and heart have been torn apart by his wealth. He was also upset about the lack of results or losses on the stock market, about the sometimes low return on his money. What annoyance he felt when he saw his wealth evaporate.

Isaiah 24:2

Money Is Vanity and Causes Problems

If a man sticks to his money with his heart, his thirst for money cannot be quenched (Ecclesiastes 5:10). For such a person, money is his idol, the mammon, the god of wealth (Matthew 6:24). Money is a good slave, but a bad master. Whoever has the money as his master, is hunted by his desire for always more. His love for money controls and destroys him (1 Timothy 6:9). The same goes for loving abundance. He who sticks to abundance with his heart, always wants to have more income. He wants an increasing bank balance, more and more real estate, an increasing harvest by having more lands.

Solomon points to the vanity of money and income. He is going to explain the vanity, the emptiness of money and income in the following verses. The Lord Jesus lifts this subject to a higher level when He says to a man who is risking to lose his inheritance: “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).

He who has a lot of goods, has a lot of friends (Ecclesiastes 5:11) or as Solomon already said in the book of Proverbs: “Those who love the rich are many” (Proverbs 14:20b). The more wealth, the more profiteers. Also all kinds of charitable organizations know how to find you and always appeal to your possessions. You have to deal with a lot of nagging of people.

You also have to leave the control of your goods to others. You cannot possibly control that all by yourself. But are you well aware that those whom you’ve entrusted your possessions to, may clean you out? They control your possessions in such a way that you yourself cannot get a hold of it and they profit from it. You look at it, but in fact you’ve lost the enjoyment of it. The only profit you have is the thought that it is your property.

Money makes clear that money does not satisfy. It attracts people who want to hitch a ride on your wealth and want to parasitize, quite disrupting the peace in your life. Poverty may cause problems, but do not think that the love for money is a good solution for those problems.

Just look at “the working man”, the hard worker, with a simple profession, a low income with no possession (Ecclesiastes 5:12). This man does not have any of those problems. He who is without possessions, is without worries, in any case no worries about his properties and therefore also no people who are whining his head off in order to get some of his abundance. He is not worrying about whether he has little or much to eat, for he always has enough. At the end of the day he falls asleep. And his “sleep … is pleasant”. He has no nightmares; there is also nothing he is fretting and tossing about.

That is quite different from the effect that “the abundance” or multitude of goods has on the rich man. A rich man has a lot to eat and does so too. He stuffs himself so much that it makes him nauseous so that he cannot sleep. Excess harms. Another thought is that he is worried about how to maintain and increase his abundance. He is controlled by it (Ecclesiastes 5:11) and frets over it, with the result that it “does not allow him to sleep”. The more riches, the less night’s rest. A lot of worries, little sleep. The big bed with the best mattress does not give him the ‘pleasant sleep’ the working man has who is lying down on the sack of straw.

One does not need money to be happy. Just look at the working man. He eats his bread by the sweat of his face. Working hard also ensures a good digestion. He who only organizes dinners in order to get large orders, gets fatter and fatter and more and more restless. The fitness clubs love to welcome such people. One of the reasons of the existence of those clubs is that people become too fat by too much and wrong eating. It is an example of symptom treatment. The life style is not changed, but the results of the wrong life style is being treated. It is trying to empty the ocean with a thimble.

The following story may serve as an illustration: A rich industrialist met a simple fisherman. The rich man was bothered by the fact that on a sunny afternoon the fisherman leaned backward in his boat, while his feet were dangling overboard. ‘Why aren’t you fishing?’ he asked. ‘Because I have caught enough fish for today’, the fisherman replied. ‘Why do you not go catch more fish?’ asked the rich man. ‘What should I do with it?’ ‘You could make more money’, said the rich man, who was becoming more impatient, ‘and buy a better boat, so that you can go deeper fishing and catch more fish. You can buy nylon nets and catch even more fish and make even more money. Then you can buy more boats and hire others to help you fish. You would soon have a fleet of boats and be as rich as I am!’ ‘And what should I do then?’ ‘You could sit down and enjoy life’, the industrialist said. ‘What do you think I’m doing now?’ the fisherman replied and looked out over the sea.

There are more disadvantages connected to riches than just insomnia by exuberance or worries. One of them is that the hoarding of riches is for the owners “to their hurt” (Ecclesiastes 5:13). The Preacher calls it “a grievous evil”. It is an evil that makes one sick, and it is also an evil that comes upon the owner. It makes you sick from the sickness that riches cause.

The owner of riches becomes sick when he eats too much of his riches and gets stomach ache with the result that he cannot sleep (Ecclesiastes 5:12). But it could also be the other way around, which is that the wealth eats him up. He gets sick with the idea that he could lose his riches just like that, for example by theft, a wrong speculation or a thoughtless investment. He protects his riches anxiously, while he realizes that he has no absolute guarantee that his safety locks, alarm systems, cameras and hired security guards, rule out theft.

Paul states the same warning and deepens it because he connects riches with faith: “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

In Ecclesiastes 5:14-17 it is about cases in which someone was rich, but who lost his riches. That happened “through a bad investment” (Ecclesiastes 5:14), whether by others or by himself. Others might have robbed him. He may also try to cheat others in order to enrich himself and therefore got financially wrecked for example by theft or fraud or a sudden change of circumstances. In this way riches may get wings and just disappear. You are a mere spectator and can do nothing about it or get anything back. This verse contains a lot of frustration. It is about a man who has worked long and hard, and has lost everything in one go. He and his family are destitute.

An extra frustration is that he cannot leave his son anything. During his life, his riches has not done him any good. He has not been able to enjoy it, he has lost everything, and he cannot give anything to the son he has fathered. It delivers him a triple frustration.

This evil cannot happen to us with regard to the treasures that we have gathered in heaven. Evil practices cannot rob us from them. There is no thief that can get there (Matthew 6:19-20). Therefore it is a good thing to invest in the heavenly things.

Apart from the loss of riches and health and getting a disease and frustration, one cannot take anything with him at the end of the journey either. What a foolishness it is to work for riches, the striving for it and trying to pocket as much of it as possible. Every man leaves the world as he came into it: naked (Ecclesiastes 5:15). Even if he had his coffin made of gold and his hands filled with money when he is in the coffin, it would not do him any good. He is lying dead and stiff in his coffin and there is nothing left “that he can carry in his hand”.

This awareness must put a stop to a man’s pursuit for wealth. What a man had in his hand at birth was the capital he brought into the world: nothing. In the same way he leaves the world again (Job 1:21; Psalms 49:16-17; 1 Timothy 6:7). It is as the saying says: There are no pockets in a shroud. We cannot take anything to heaven. However, we can send our treasures ahead by giving away as much as possible for what promotes God’s work on earth.

If the thought pervades that a person will “return as he has come”, i.e. with nothing in his hand, it is “also a grievous evil” (Ecclesiastes 5:16). He has to grudgingly accept that this is reality, but he does not get around to it to agree that all the riches a person possesses under the sun, will end up being nothing at all. He must be aware that making an effort to become rich is equal to toiling for wind that cannot be held either. It takes more than that to agree that it is so and that is the understanding that any increase in money and goods during life will not bring anyone anything for eternity.

Ecclesiastes 5:17 strengthens the conclusion of Ecc 5:16 by recalling all the efforts and hardships that man has made to acquire his possessions, which he has now lost again. Concentrating on his wealth – both on its growth and its loss – has led him to a sad, shady life, “in darkness”, without any prospect of joy. He can sit in full daylight and yet in darkness because his heart is darkness. He has not been able to enjoy the full light.

Physically, he didn’t fare well either. His mind and heart have been torn apart by his wealth. He was also upset about the lack of results or losses on the stock market, about the sometimes low return on his money. What annoyance he felt when he saw his wealth evaporate.

Isaiah 24:3

Money Is Vanity and Causes Problems

If a man sticks to his money with his heart, his thirst for money cannot be quenched (Ecclesiastes 5:10). For such a person, money is his idol, the mammon, the god of wealth (Matthew 6:24). Money is a good slave, but a bad master. Whoever has the money as his master, is hunted by his desire for always more. His love for money controls and destroys him (1 Timothy 6:9). The same goes for loving abundance. He who sticks to abundance with his heart, always wants to have more income. He wants an increasing bank balance, more and more real estate, an increasing harvest by having more lands.

Solomon points to the vanity of money and income. He is going to explain the vanity, the emptiness of money and income in the following verses. The Lord Jesus lifts this subject to a higher level when He says to a man who is risking to lose his inheritance: “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).

He who has a lot of goods, has a lot of friends (Ecclesiastes 5:11) or as Solomon already said in the book of Proverbs: “Those who love the rich are many” (Proverbs 14:20b). The more wealth, the more profiteers. Also all kinds of charitable organizations know how to find you and always appeal to your possessions. You have to deal with a lot of nagging of people.

You also have to leave the control of your goods to others. You cannot possibly control that all by yourself. But are you well aware that those whom you’ve entrusted your possessions to, may clean you out? They control your possessions in such a way that you yourself cannot get a hold of it and they profit from it. You look at it, but in fact you’ve lost the enjoyment of it. The only profit you have is the thought that it is your property.

Money makes clear that money does not satisfy. It attracts people who want to hitch a ride on your wealth and want to parasitize, quite disrupting the peace in your life. Poverty may cause problems, but do not think that the love for money is a good solution for those problems.

Just look at “the working man”, the hard worker, with a simple profession, a low income with no possession (Ecclesiastes 5:12). This man does not have any of those problems. He who is without possessions, is without worries, in any case no worries about his properties and therefore also no people who are whining his head off in order to get some of his abundance. He is not worrying about whether he has little or much to eat, for he always has enough. At the end of the day he falls asleep. And his “sleep … is pleasant”. He has no nightmares; there is also nothing he is fretting and tossing about.

That is quite different from the effect that “the abundance” or multitude of goods has on the rich man. A rich man has a lot to eat and does so too. He stuffs himself so much that it makes him nauseous so that he cannot sleep. Excess harms. Another thought is that he is worried about how to maintain and increase his abundance. He is controlled by it (Ecclesiastes 5:11) and frets over it, with the result that it “does not allow him to sleep”. The more riches, the less night’s rest. A lot of worries, little sleep. The big bed with the best mattress does not give him the ‘pleasant sleep’ the working man has who is lying down on the sack of straw.

One does not need money to be happy. Just look at the working man. He eats his bread by the sweat of his face. Working hard also ensures a good digestion. He who only organizes dinners in order to get large orders, gets fatter and fatter and more and more restless. The fitness clubs love to welcome such people. One of the reasons of the existence of those clubs is that people become too fat by too much and wrong eating. It is an example of symptom treatment. The life style is not changed, but the results of the wrong life style is being treated. It is trying to empty the ocean with a thimble.

The following story may serve as an illustration: A rich industrialist met a simple fisherman. The rich man was bothered by the fact that on a sunny afternoon the fisherman leaned backward in his boat, while his feet were dangling overboard. ‘Why aren’t you fishing?’ he asked. ‘Because I have caught enough fish for today’, the fisherman replied. ‘Why do you not go catch more fish?’ asked the rich man. ‘What should I do with it?’ ‘You could make more money’, said the rich man, who was becoming more impatient, ‘and buy a better boat, so that you can go deeper fishing and catch more fish. You can buy nylon nets and catch even more fish and make even more money. Then you can buy more boats and hire others to help you fish. You would soon have a fleet of boats and be as rich as I am!’ ‘And what should I do then?’ ‘You could sit down and enjoy life’, the industrialist said. ‘What do you think I’m doing now?’ the fisherman replied and looked out over the sea.

There are more disadvantages connected to riches than just insomnia by exuberance or worries. One of them is that the hoarding of riches is for the owners “to their hurt” (Ecclesiastes 5:13). The Preacher calls it “a grievous evil”. It is an evil that makes one sick, and it is also an evil that comes upon the owner. It makes you sick from the sickness that riches cause.

The owner of riches becomes sick when he eats too much of his riches and gets stomach ache with the result that he cannot sleep (Ecclesiastes 5:12). But it could also be the other way around, which is that the wealth eats him up. He gets sick with the idea that he could lose his riches just like that, for example by theft, a wrong speculation or a thoughtless investment. He protects his riches anxiously, while he realizes that he has no absolute guarantee that his safety locks, alarm systems, cameras and hired security guards, rule out theft.

Paul states the same warning and deepens it because he connects riches with faith: “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

In Ecclesiastes 5:14-17 it is about cases in which someone was rich, but who lost his riches. That happened “through a bad investment” (Ecclesiastes 5:14), whether by others or by himself. Others might have robbed him. He may also try to cheat others in order to enrich himself and therefore got financially wrecked for example by theft or fraud or a sudden change of circumstances. In this way riches may get wings and just disappear. You are a mere spectator and can do nothing about it or get anything back. This verse contains a lot of frustration. It is about a man who has worked long and hard, and has lost everything in one go. He and his family are destitute.

An extra frustration is that he cannot leave his son anything. During his life, his riches has not done him any good. He has not been able to enjoy it, he has lost everything, and he cannot give anything to the son he has fathered. It delivers him a triple frustration.

This evil cannot happen to us with regard to the treasures that we have gathered in heaven. Evil practices cannot rob us from them. There is no thief that can get there (Matthew 6:19-20). Therefore it is a good thing to invest in the heavenly things.

Apart from the loss of riches and health and getting a disease and frustration, one cannot take anything with him at the end of the journey either. What a foolishness it is to work for riches, the striving for it and trying to pocket as much of it as possible. Every man leaves the world as he came into it: naked (Ecclesiastes 5:15). Even if he had his coffin made of gold and his hands filled with money when he is in the coffin, it would not do him any good. He is lying dead and stiff in his coffin and there is nothing left “that he can carry in his hand”.

This awareness must put a stop to a man’s pursuit for wealth. What a man had in his hand at birth was the capital he brought into the world: nothing. In the same way he leaves the world again (Job 1:21; Psalms 49:16-17; 1 Timothy 6:7). It is as the saying says: There are no pockets in a shroud. We cannot take anything to heaven. However, we can send our treasures ahead by giving away as much as possible for what promotes God’s work on earth.

If the thought pervades that a person will “return as he has come”, i.e. with nothing in his hand, it is “also a grievous evil” (Ecclesiastes 5:16). He has to grudgingly accept that this is reality, but he does not get around to it to agree that all the riches a person possesses under the sun, will end up being nothing at all. He must be aware that making an effort to become rich is equal to toiling for wind that cannot be held either. It takes more than that to agree that it is so and that is the understanding that any increase in money and goods during life will not bring anyone anything for eternity.

Ecclesiastes 5:17 strengthens the conclusion of Ecc 5:16 by recalling all the efforts and hardships that man has made to acquire his possessions, which he has now lost again. Concentrating on his wealth – both on its growth and its loss – has led him to a sad, shady life, “in darkness”, without any prospect of joy. He can sit in full daylight and yet in darkness because his heart is darkness. He has not been able to enjoy the full light.

Physically, he didn’t fare well either. His mind and heart have been torn apart by his wealth. He was also upset about the lack of results or losses on the stock market, about the sometimes low return on his money. What annoyance he felt when he saw his wealth evaporate.

Isaiah 24:4

Money Is Vanity and Causes Problems

If a man sticks to his money with his heart, his thirst for money cannot be quenched (Ecclesiastes 5:10). For such a person, money is his idol, the mammon, the god of wealth (Matthew 6:24). Money is a good slave, but a bad master. Whoever has the money as his master, is hunted by his desire for always more. His love for money controls and destroys him (1 Timothy 6:9). The same goes for loving abundance. He who sticks to abundance with his heart, always wants to have more income. He wants an increasing bank balance, more and more real estate, an increasing harvest by having more lands.

Solomon points to the vanity of money and income. He is going to explain the vanity, the emptiness of money and income in the following verses. The Lord Jesus lifts this subject to a higher level when He says to a man who is risking to lose his inheritance: “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).

He who has a lot of goods, has a lot of friends (Ecclesiastes 5:11) or as Solomon already said in the book of Proverbs: “Those who love the rich are many” (Proverbs 14:20b). The more wealth, the more profiteers. Also all kinds of charitable organizations know how to find you and always appeal to your possessions. You have to deal with a lot of nagging of people.

You also have to leave the control of your goods to others. You cannot possibly control that all by yourself. But are you well aware that those whom you’ve entrusted your possessions to, may clean you out? They control your possessions in such a way that you yourself cannot get a hold of it and they profit from it. You look at it, but in fact you’ve lost the enjoyment of it. The only profit you have is the thought that it is your property.

Money makes clear that money does not satisfy. It attracts people who want to hitch a ride on your wealth and want to parasitize, quite disrupting the peace in your life. Poverty may cause problems, but do not think that the love for money is a good solution for those problems.

Just look at “the working man”, the hard worker, with a simple profession, a low income with no possession (Ecclesiastes 5:12). This man does not have any of those problems. He who is without possessions, is without worries, in any case no worries about his properties and therefore also no people who are whining his head off in order to get some of his abundance. He is not worrying about whether he has little or much to eat, for he always has enough. At the end of the day he falls asleep. And his “sleep … is pleasant”. He has no nightmares; there is also nothing he is fretting and tossing about.

That is quite different from the effect that “the abundance” or multitude of goods has on the rich man. A rich man has a lot to eat and does so too. He stuffs himself so much that it makes him nauseous so that he cannot sleep. Excess harms. Another thought is that he is worried about how to maintain and increase his abundance. He is controlled by it (Ecclesiastes 5:11) and frets over it, with the result that it “does not allow him to sleep”. The more riches, the less night’s rest. A lot of worries, little sleep. The big bed with the best mattress does not give him the ‘pleasant sleep’ the working man has who is lying down on the sack of straw.

One does not need money to be happy. Just look at the working man. He eats his bread by the sweat of his face. Working hard also ensures a good digestion. He who only organizes dinners in order to get large orders, gets fatter and fatter and more and more restless. The fitness clubs love to welcome such people. One of the reasons of the existence of those clubs is that people become too fat by too much and wrong eating. It is an example of symptom treatment. The life style is not changed, but the results of the wrong life style is being treated. It is trying to empty the ocean with a thimble.

The following story may serve as an illustration: A rich industrialist met a simple fisherman. The rich man was bothered by the fact that on a sunny afternoon the fisherman leaned backward in his boat, while his feet were dangling overboard. ‘Why aren’t you fishing?’ he asked. ‘Because I have caught enough fish for today’, the fisherman replied. ‘Why do you not go catch more fish?’ asked the rich man. ‘What should I do with it?’ ‘You could make more money’, said the rich man, who was becoming more impatient, ‘and buy a better boat, so that you can go deeper fishing and catch more fish. You can buy nylon nets and catch even more fish and make even more money. Then you can buy more boats and hire others to help you fish. You would soon have a fleet of boats and be as rich as I am!’ ‘And what should I do then?’ ‘You could sit down and enjoy life’, the industrialist said. ‘What do you think I’m doing now?’ the fisherman replied and looked out over the sea.

There are more disadvantages connected to riches than just insomnia by exuberance or worries. One of them is that the hoarding of riches is for the owners “to their hurt” (Ecclesiastes 5:13). The Preacher calls it “a grievous evil”. It is an evil that makes one sick, and it is also an evil that comes upon the owner. It makes you sick from the sickness that riches cause.

The owner of riches becomes sick when he eats too much of his riches and gets stomach ache with the result that he cannot sleep (Ecclesiastes 5:12). But it could also be the other way around, which is that the wealth eats him up. He gets sick with the idea that he could lose his riches just like that, for example by theft, a wrong speculation or a thoughtless investment. He protects his riches anxiously, while he realizes that he has no absolute guarantee that his safety locks, alarm systems, cameras and hired security guards, rule out theft.

Paul states the same warning and deepens it because he connects riches with faith: “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

In Ecclesiastes 5:14-17 it is about cases in which someone was rich, but who lost his riches. That happened “through a bad investment” (Ecclesiastes 5:14), whether by others or by himself. Others might have robbed him. He may also try to cheat others in order to enrich himself and therefore got financially wrecked for example by theft or fraud or a sudden change of circumstances. In this way riches may get wings and just disappear. You are a mere spectator and can do nothing about it or get anything back. This verse contains a lot of frustration. It is about a man who has worked long and hard, and has lost everything in one go. He and his family are destitute.

An extra frustration is that he cannot leave his son anything. During his life, his riches has not done him any good. He has not been able to enjoy it, he has lost everything, and he cannot give anything to the son he has fathered. It delivers him a triple frustration.

This evil cannot happen to us with regard to the treasures that we have gathered in heaven. Evil practices cannot rob us from them. There is no thief that can get there (Matthew 6:19-20). Therefore it is a good thing to invest in the heavenly things.

Apart from the loss of riches and health and getting a disease and frustration, one cannot take anything with him at the end of the journey either. What a foolishness it is to work for riches, the striving for it and trying to pocket as much of it as possible. Every man leaves the world as he came into it: naked (Ecclesiastes 5:15). Even if he had his coffin made of gold and his hands filled with money when he is in the coffin, it would not do him any good. He is lying dead and stiff in his coffin and there is nothing left “that he can carry in his hand”.

This awareness must put a stop to a man’s pursuit for wealth. What a man had in his hand at birth was the capital he brought into the world: nothing. In the same way he leaves the world again (Job 1:21; Psalms 49:16-17; 1 Timothy 6:7). It is as the saying says: There are no pockets in a shroud. We cannot take anything to heaven. However, we can send our treasures ahead by giving away as much as possible for what promotes God’s work on earth.

If the thought pervades that a person will “return as he has come”, i.e. with nothing in his hand, it is “also a grievous evil” (Ecclesiastes 5:16). He has to grudgingly accept that this is reality, but he does not get around to it to agree that all the riches a person possesses under the sun, will end up being nothing at all. He must be aware that making an effort to become rich is equal to toiling for wind that cannot be held either. It takes more than that to agree that it is so and that is the understanding that any increase in money and goods during life will not bring anyone anything for eternity.

Ecclesiastes 5:17 strengthens the conclusion of Ecc 5:16 by recalling all the efforts and hardships that man has made to acquire his possessions, which he has now lost again. Concentrating on his wealth – both on its growth and its loss – has led him to a sad, shady life, “in darkness”, without any prospect of joy. He can sit in full daylight and yet in darkness because his heart is darkness. He has not been able to enjoy the full light.

Physically, he didn’t fare well either. His mind and heart have been torn apart by his wealth. He was also upset about the lack of results or losses on the stock market, about the sometimes low return on his money. What annoyance he felt when he saw his wealth evaporate.

Isaiah 24:5

Money Is Vanity and Causes Problems

If a man sticks to his money with his heart, his thirst for money cannot be quenched (Ecclesiastes 5:10). For such a person, money is his idol, the mammon, the god of wealth (Matthew 6:24). Money is a good slave, but a bad master. Whoever has the money as his master, is hunted by his desire for always more. His love for money controls and destroys him (1 Timothy 6:9). The same goes for loving abundance. He who sticks to abundance with his heart, always wants to have more income. He wants an increasing bank balance, more and more real estate, an increasing harvest by having more lands.

Solomon points to the vanity of money and income. He is going to explain the vanity, the emptiness of money and income in the following verses. The Lord Jesus lifts this subject to a higher level when He says to a man who is risking to lose his inheritance: “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).

He who has a lot of goods, has a lot of friends (Ecclesiastes 5:11) or as Solomon already said in the book of Proverbs: “Those who love the rich are many” (Proverbs 14:20b). The more wealth, the more profiteers. Also all kinds of charitable organizations know how to find you and always appeal to your possessions. You have to deal with a lot of nagging of people.

You also have to leave the control of your goods to others. You cannot possibly control that all by yourself. But are you well aware that those whom you’ve entrusted your possessions to, may clean you out? They control your possessions in such a way that you yourself cannot get a hold of it and they profit from it. You look at it, but in fact you’ve lost the enjoyment of it. The only profit you have is the thought that it is your property.

Money makes clear that money does not satisfy. It attracts people who want to hitch a ride on your wealth and want to parasitize, quite disrupting the peace in your life. Poverty may cause problems, but do not think that the love for money is a good solution for those problems.

Just look at “the working man”, the hard worker, with a simple profession, a low income with no possession (Ecclesiastes 5:12). This man does not have any of those problems. He who is without possessions, is without worries, in any case no worries about his properties and therefore also no people who are whining his head off in order to get some of his abundance. He is not worrying about whether he has little or much to eat, for he always has enough. At the end of the day he falls asleep. And his “sleep … is pleasant”. He has no nightmares; there is also nothing he is fretting and tossing about.

That is quite different from the effect that “the abundance” or multitude of goods has on the rich man. A rich man has a lot to eat and does so too. He stuffs himself so much that it makes him nauseous so that he cannot sleep. Excess harms. Another thought is that he is worried about how to maintain and increase his abundance. He is controlled by it (Ecclesiastes 5:11) and frets over it, with the result that it “does not allow him to sleep”. The more riches, the less night’s rest. A lot of worries, little sleep. The big bed with the best mattress does not give him the ‘pleasant sleep’ the working man has who is lying down on the sack of straw.

One does not need money to be happy. Just look at the working man. He eats his bread by the sweat of his face. Working hard also ensures a good digestion. He who only organizes dinners in order to get large orders, gets fatter and fatter and more and more restless. The fitness clubs love to welcome such people. One of the reasons of the existence of those clubs is that people become too fat by too much and wrong eating. It is an example of symptom treatment. The life style is not changed, but the results of the wrong life style is being treated. It is trying to empty the ocean with a thimble.

The following story may serve as an illustration: A rich industrialist met a simple fisherman. The rich man was bothered by the fact that on a sunny afternoon the fisherman leaned backward in his boat, while his feet were dangling overboard. ‘Why aren’t you fishing?’ he asked. ‘Because I have caught enough fish for today’, the fisherman replied. ‘Why do you not go catch more fish?’ asked the rich man. ‘What should I do with it?’ ‘You could make more money’, said the rich man, who was becoming more impatient, ‘and buy a better boat, so that you can go deeper fishing and catch more fish. You can buy nylon nets and catch even more fish and make even more money. Then you can buy more boats and hire others to help you fish. You would soon have a fleet of boats and be as rich as I am!’ ‘And what should I do then?’ ‘You could sit down and enjoy life’, the industrialist said. ‘What do you think I’m doing now?’ the fisherman replied and looked out over the sea.

There are more disadvantages connected to riches than just insomnia by exuberance or worries. One of them is that the hoarding of riches is for the owners “to their hurt” (Ecclesiastes 5:13). The Preacher calls it “a grievous evil”. It is an evil that makes one sick, and it is also an evil that comes upon the owner. It makes you sick from the sickness that riches cause.

The owner of riches becomes sick when he eats too much of his riches and gets stomach ache with the result that he cannot sleep (Ecclesiastes 5:12). But it could also be the other way around, which is that the wealth eats him up. He gets sick with the idea that he could lose his riches just like that, for example by theft, a wrong speculation or a thoughtless investment. He protects his riches anxiously, while he realizes that he has no absolute guarantee that his safety locks, alarm systems, cameras and hired security guards, rule out theft.

Paul states the same warning and deepens it because he connects riches with faith: “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

In Ecclesiastes 5:14-17 it is about cases in which someone was rich, but who lost his riches. That happened “through a bad investment” (Ecclesiastes 5:14), whether by others or by himself. Others might have robbed him. He may also try to cheat others in order to enrich himself and therefore got financially wrecked for example by theft or fraud or a sudden change of circumstances. In this way riches may get wings and just disappear. You are a mere spectator and can do nothing about it or get anything back. This verse contains a lot of frustration. It is about a man who has worked long and hard, and has lost everything in one go. He and his family are destitute.

An extra frustration is that he cannot leave his son anything. During his life, his riches has not done him any good. He has not been able to enjoy it, he has lost everything, and he cannot give anything to the son he has fathered. It delivers him a triple frustration.

This evil cannot happen to us with regard to the treasures that we have gathered in heaven. Evil practices cannot rob us from them. There is no thief that can get there (Matthew 6:19-20). Therefore it is a good thing to invest in the heavenly things.

Apart from the loss of riches and health and getting a disease and frustration, one cannot take anything with him at the end of the journey either. What a foolishness it is to work for riches, the striving for it and trying to pocket as much of it as possible. Every man leaves the world as he came into it: naked (Ecclesiastes 5:15). Even if he had his coffin made of gold and his hands filled with money when he is in the coffin, it would not do him any good. He is lying dead and stiff in his coffin and there is nothing left “that he can carry in his hand”.

This awareness must put a stop to a man’s pursuit for wealth. What a man had in his hand at birth was the capital he brought into the world: nothing. In the same way he leaves the world again (Job 1:21; Psalms 49:16-17; 1 Timothy 6:7). It is as the saying says: There are no pockets in a shroud. We cannot take anything to heaven. However, we can send our treasures ahead by giving away as much as possible for what promotes God’s work on earth.

If the thought pervades that a person will “return as he has come”, i.e. with nothing in his hand, it is “also a grievous evil” (Ecclesiastes 5:16). He has to grudgingly accept that this is reality, but he does not get around to it to agree that all the riches a person possesses under the sun, will end up being nothing at all. He must be aware that making an effort to become rich is equal to toiling for wind that cannot be held either. It takes more than that to agree that it is so and that is the understanding that any increase in money and goods during life will not bring anyone anything for eternity.

Ecclesiastes 5:17 strengthens the conclusion of Ecc 5:16 by recalling all the efforts and hardships that man has made to acquire his possessions, which he has now lost again. Concentrating on his wealth – both on its growth and its loss – has led him to a sad, shady life, “in darkness”, without any prospect of joy. He can sit in full daylight and yet in darkness because his heart is darkness. He has not been able to enjoy the full light.

Physically, he didn’t fare well either. His mind and heart have been torn apart by his wealth. He was also upset about the lack of results or losses on the stock market, about the sometimes low return on his money. What annoyance he felt when he saw his wealth evaporate.

Isaiah 24:6

Money Is Vanity and Causes Problems

If a man sticks to his money with his heart, his thirst for money cannot be quenched (Ecclesiastes 5:10). For such a person, money is his idol, the mammon, the god of wealth (Matthew 6:24). Money is a good slave, but a bad master. Whoever has the money as his master, is hunted by his desire for always more. His love for money controls and destroys him (1 Timothy 6:9). The same goes for loving abundance. He who sticks to abundance with his heart, always wants to have more income. He wants an increasing bank balance, more and more real estate, an increasing harvest by having more lands.

Solomon points to the vanity of money and income. He is going to explain the vanity, the emptiness of money and income in the following verses. The Lord Jesus lifts this subject to a higher level when He says to a man who is risking to lose his inheritance: “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).

He who has a lot of goods, has a lot of friends (Ecclesiastes 5:11) or as Solomon already said in the book of Proverbs: “Those who love the rich are many” (Proverbs 14:20b). The more wealth, the more profiteers. Also all kinds of charitable organizations know how to find you and always appeal to your possessions. You have to deal with a lot of nagging of people.

You also have to leave the control of your goods to others. You cannot possibly control that all by yourself. But are you well aware that those whom you’ve entrusted your possessions to, may clean you out? They control your possessions in such a way that you yourself cannot get a hold of it and they profit from it. You look at it, but in fact you’ve lost the enjoyment of it. The only profit you have is the thought that it is your property.

Money makes clear that money does not satisfy. It attracts people who want to hitch a ride on your wealth and want to parasitize, quite disrupting the peace in your life. Poverty may cause problems, but do not think that the love for money is a good solution for those problems.

Just look at “the working man”, the hard worker, with a simple profession, a low income with no possession (Ecclesiastes 5:12). This man does not have any of those problems. He who is without possessions, is without worries, in any case no worries about his properties and therefore also no people who are whining his head off in order to get some of his abundance. He is not worrying about whether he has little or much to eat, for he always has enough. At the end of the day he falls asleep. And his “sleep … is pleasant”. He has no nightmares; there is also nothing he is fretting and tossing about.

That is quite different from the effect that “the abundance” or multitude of goods has on the rich man. A rich man has a lot to eat and does so too. He stuffs himself so much that it makes him nauseous so that he cannot sleep. Excess harms. Another thought is that he is worried about how to maintain and increase his abundance. He is controlled by it (Ecclesiastes 5:11) and frets over it, with the result that it “does not allow him to sleep”. The more riches, the less night’s rest. A lot of worries, little sleep. The big bed with the best mattress does not give him the ‘pleasant sleep’ the working man has who is lying down on the sack of straw.

One does not need money to be happy. Just look at the working man. He eats his bread by the sweat of his face. Working hard also ensures a good digestion. He who only organizes dinners in order to get large orders, gets fatter and fatter and more and more restless. The fitness clubs love to welcome such people. One of the reasons of the existence of those clubs is that people become too fat by too much and wrong eating. It is an example of symptom treatment. The life style is not changed, but the results of the wrong life style is being treated. It is trying to empty the ocean with a thimble.

The following story may serve as an illustration: A rich industrialist met a simple fisherman. The rich man was bothered by the fact that on a sunny afternoon the fisherman leaned backward in his boat, while his feet were dangling overboard. ‘Why aren’t you fishing?’ he asked. ‘Because I have caught enough fish for today’, the fisherman replied. ‘Why do you not go catch more fish?’ asked the rich man. ‘What should I do with it?’ ‘You could make more money’, said the rich man, who was becoming more impatient, ‘and buy a better boat, so that you can go deeper fishing and catch more fish. You can buy nylon nets and catch even more fish and make even more money. Then you can buy more boats and hire others to help you fish. You would soon have a fleet of boats and be as rich as I am!’ ‘And what should I do then?’ ‘You could sit down and enjoy life’, the industrialist said. ‘What do you think I’m doing now?’ the fisherman replied and looked out over the sea.

There are more disadvantages connected to riches than just insomnia by exuberance or worries. One of them is that the hoarding of riches is for the owners “to their hurt” (Ecclesiastes 5:13). The Preacher calls it “a grievous evil”. It is an evil that makes one sick, and it is also an evil that comes upon the owner. It makes you sick from the sickness that riches cause.

The owner of riches becomes sick when he eats too much of his riches and gets stomach ache with the result that he cannot sleep (Ecclesiastes 5:12). But it could also be the other way around, which is that the wealth eats him up. He gets sick with the idea that he could lose his riches just like that, for example by theft, a wrong speculation or a thoughtless investment. He protects his riches anxiously, while he realizes that he has no absolute guarantee that his safety locks, alarm systems, cameras and hired security guards, rule out theft.

Paul states the same warning and deepens it because he connects riches with faith: “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

In Ecclesiastes 5:14-17 it is about cases in which someone was rich, but who lost his riches. That happened “through a bad investment” (Ecclesiastes 5:14), whether by others or by himself. Others might have robbed him. He may also try to cheat others in order to enrich himself and therefore got financially wrecked for example by theft or fraud or a sudden change of circumstances. In this way riches may get wings and just disappear. You are a mere spectator and can do nothing about it or get anything back. This verse contains a lot of frustration. It is about a man who has worked long and hard, and has lost everything in one go. He and his family are destitute.

An extra frustration is that he cannot leave his son anything. During his life, his riches has not done him any good. He has not been able to enjoy it, he has lost everything, and he cannot give anything to the son he has fathered. It delivers him a triple frustration.

This evil cannot happen to us with regard to the treasures that we have gathered in heaven. Evil practices cannot rob us from them. There is no thief that can get there (Matthew 6:19-20). Therefore it is a good thing to invest in the heavenly things.

Apart from the loss of riches and health and getting a disease and frustration, one cannot take anything with him at the end of the journey either. What a foolishness it is to work for riches, the striving for it and trying to pocket as much of it as possible. Every man leaves the world as he came into it: naked (Ecclesiastes 5:15). Even if he had his coffin made of gold and his hands filled with money when he is in the coffin, it would not do him any good. He is lying dead and stiff in his coffin and there is nothing left “that he can carry in his hand”.

This awareness must put a stop to a man’s pursuit for wealth. What a man had in his hand at birth was the capital he brought into the world: nothing. In the same way he leaves the world again (Job 1:21; Psalms 49:16-17; 1 Timothy 6:7). It is as the saying says: There are no pockets in a shroud. We cannot take anything to heaven. However, we can send our treasures ahead by giving away as much as possible for what promotes God’s work on earth.

If the thought pervades that a person will “return as he has come”, i.e. with nothing in his hand, it is “also a grievous evil” (Ecclesiastes 5:16). He has to grudgingly accept that this is reality, but he does not get around to it to agree that all the riches a person possesses under the sun, will end up being nothing at all. He must be aware that making an effort to become rich is equal to toiling for wind that cannot be held either. It takes more than that to agree that it is so and that is the understanding that any increase in money and goods during life will not bring anyone anything for eternity.

Ecclesiastes 5:17 strengthens the conclusion of Ecc 5:16 by recalling all the efforts and hardships that man has made to acquire his possessions, which he has now lost again. Concentrating on his wealth – both on its growth and its loss – has led him to a sad, shady life, “in darkness”, without any prospect of joy. He can sit in full daylight and yet in darkness because his heart is darkness. He has not been able to enjoy the full light.

Physically, he didn’t fare well either. His mind and heart have been torn apart by his wealth. He was also upset about the lack of results or losses on the stock market, about the sometimes low return on his money. What annoyance he felt when he saw his wealth evaporate.

Isaiah 24:7

Enjoying the Good Things Is a Gift From God

After the sketch of the bitterness of life it is the right time for the Preacher to recall the remedy (Ecclesiastes 5:18). In the previous verses God is not mentioned. He now points out an aspect of life that should not be forgotten, an aspect which he introduces with a call “here is what I have seen”. There is actually a different life, just as exterior, real and perceptible. The Preacher has “seen” that it is possible for one “to enjoy” in all one’s labor, not at the absence of it. That is a provision of God in this short life. “To eat” and “to drink” are an expression of fellowship, joy, satisfaction (1 Kings 4:20). This is the portion of the wise.

General abuse of riches does not exclude the right use of it. When God gives it, we are allowed to enjoy it (Ecclesiastes 5:19). Both the means of eating and drinking as the possibility to enjoy it, come as a gift from God. Enjoying food and drinks as a result of hard labor, is possible in the awareness that He gives it in His power over it, to a man who is allowed to do it in His power. That it is a gift from God, means that it is not in man’s own power to enjoy it. That is shown clearly in the previous section.

When God gives it, you can make the best of it under the sun and enjoy the things on earth intensely. At the same time, these things have no meaning in themselves because they are as futile as the wind. Nor is there any advantage in them in relation to eternity. There is nothing left that you could save up to take any of that after you are dead. Wealth gives worries and restlessness and fear of losing it. Seen in that light, the advice of the Preacher: Do not hoard riches, but enjoy it. You do not know how long it will be available to you because it is futile. You also do not know how long you can enjoy it because your life can suddenly be over.

Whoever is granted the gift of God to enjoy food and drink, does not worry about the years of his life (Ecclesiastes 5:20).The idea is not that life will be so quiet that nothing memorable happens, but that life will be so filled with joy that the vanity of life is almost forgotten. Those who have enough do not concern themselves with the question of whether there is a benefit in wealth. It is not completely forgotten, but it does not predominate. The thought of brevity remains, but it will not cause sleepless nights.

Isaiah 24:8

Enjoying the Good Things Is a Gift From God

After the sketch of the bitterness of life it is the right time for the Preacher to recall the remedy (Ecclesiastes 5:18). In the previous verses God is not mentioned. He now points out an aspect of life that should not be forgotten, an aspect which he introduces with a call “here is what I have seen”. There is actually a different life, just as exterior, real and perceptible. The Preacher has “seen” that it is possible for one “to enjoy” in all one’s labor, not at the absence of it. That is a provision of God in this short life. “To eat” and “to drink” are an expression of fellowship, joy, satisfaction (1 Kings 4:20). This is the portion of the wise.

General abuse of riches does not exclude the right use of it. When God gives it, we are allowed to enjoy it (Ecclesiastes 5:19). Both the means of eating and drinking as the possibility to enjoy it, come as a gift from God. Enjoying food and drinks as a result of hard labor, is possible in the awareness that He gives it in His power over it, to a man who is allowed to do it in His power. That it is a gift from God, means that it is not in man’s own power to enjoy it. That is shown clearly in the previous section.

When God gives it, you can make the best of it under the sun and enjoy the things on earth intensely. At the same time, these things have no meaning in themselves because they are as futile as the wind. Nor is there any advantage in them in relation to eternity. There is nothing left that you could save up to take any of that after you are dead. Wealth gives worries and restlessness and fear of losing it. Seen in that light, the advice of the Preacher: Do not hoard riches, but enjoy it. You do not know how long it will be available to you because it is futile. You also do not know how long you can enjoy it because your life can suddenly be over.

Whoever is granted the gift of God to enjoy food and drink, does not worry about the years of his life (Ecclesiastes 5:20).The idea is not that life will be so quiet that nothing memorable happens, but that life will be so filled with joy that the vanity of life is almost forgotten. Those who have enough do not concern themselves with the question of whether there is a benefit in wealth. It is not completely forgotten, but it does not predominate. The thought of brevity remains, but it will not cause sleepless nights.

Isaiah 24:9

Enjoying the Good Things Is a Gift From God

After the sketch of the bitterness of life it is the right time for the Preacher to recall the remedy (Ecclesiastes 5:18). In the previous verses God is not mentioned. He now points out an aspect of life that should not be forgotten, an aspect which he introduces with a call “here is what I have seen”. There is actually a different life, just as exterior, real and perceptible. The Preacher has “seen” that it is possible for one “to enjoy” in all one’s labor, not at the absence of it. That is a provision of God in this short life. “To eat” and “to drink” are an expression of fellowship, joy, satisfaction (1 Kings 4:20). This is the portion of the wise.

General abuse of riches does not exclude the right use of it. When God gives it, we are allowed to enjoy it (Ecclesiastes 5:19). Both the means of eating and drinking as the possibility to enjoy it, come as a gift from God. Enjoying food and drinks as a result of hard labor, is possible in the awareness that He gives it in His power over it, to a man who is allowed to do it in His power. That it is a gift from God, means that it is not in man’s own power to enjoy it. That is shown clearly in the previous section.

When God gives it, you can make the best of it under the sun and enjoy the things on earth intensely. At the same time, these things have no meaning in themselves because they are as futile as the wind. Nor is there any advantage in them in relation to eternity. There is nothing left that you could save up to take any of that after you are dead. Wealth gives worries and restlessness and fear of losing it. Seen in that light, the advice of the Preacher: Do not hoard riches, but enjoy it. You do not know how long it will be available to you because it is futile. You also do not know how long you can enjoy it because your life can suddenly be over.

Whoever is granted the gift of God to enjoy food and drink, does not worry about the years of his life (Ecclesiastes 5:20).The idea is not that life will be so quiet that nothing memorable happens, but that life will be so filled with joy that the vanity of life is almost forgotten. Those who have enough do not concern themselves with the question of whether there is a benefit in wealth. It is not completely forgotten, but it does not predominate. The thought of brevity remains, but it will not cause sleepless nights.

Isaiah 24:11

Having Wealth, but Not Able to Enjoy It

The Preacher again points out that he has seen something “under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 6:1). As a result, he once again makes clear his point of view, in order to look at and think through the things around him from there. He has observed “an evil” that anyone can see anywhere. It is actually an evil that “is prevalent among men” or, as it also can be translated “heavily presses on men”.

It concerns a man who has everything he desires and lacks nothing (Ecclesiastes 6:2). It has all been given to him by God and God also gives him the chance to enjoy it, as the Preacher noted earlier (Ecclesiastes 5:17-19). Whatever a man could possibly possess, he owes it all to God, whether he is aware of it or not. God satisfies the “hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17).

Now the Preacher notes the downside of wealth, possessions and honor: God does not empower man to “eat from them”. This observation is as true as the previous one. We just have to see the context of both observations. There is “a foreigner” here and he “enjoys them”. We can see a reference to satan here. As long as a person does not stand in a living relationship with God by repentance and faith, he is under the control of satan with everything that he has. The real enjoyment can only be there when someone comes to repentance and starts to live according to it.

When man shuts God out, God surrenders him to his own way and actions. A man cannot really enjoy anything without Him. The fact that God does not allow man to use any of it is down to man himself. Man chooses to attribute his wealth, possessions and honor to his own merits. Such an attitude of man has made God to automatically attach the consequence that man cannot enjoy it either.

From what the Preacher sees, he concludes that the possession of wealth and properties and honor is “vanity”. What good is it to a man if someone else, even if he is not aware of it, runs off with it? Solomon does not conclude this soberly, but it touches him deeply. He undergoes the perception he makes as “a severe affliction”. Possibly this comes from the realization that man himself cannot change anything about the evil, in whatever form.

It is about cause and effect, both of which are anchored by God in His creation, also in man’s actions. Man has surrendered himself to ‘the foreigner’, satan. Satan consumes what people possess as long as they shut God out of their minds. The word ‘consume’ contains the thought of wasting or squandering valuable things as if they were without any value.

Satan can do this by encouraging people to rob or destroy the property. He can also do it by a personal plague, a physical or mental illness, or a sinful lifestyle, so that there is no opportunity to enjoy what God gives (cf. Romans 1:21). The sowing of turmoil and hatred is also a tried and tested means by which he makes pleasure impossible (cf. Proverbs 15:16-17).

Isaiah 24:12

Having Wealth, but Not Able to Enjoy It

The Preacher again points out that he has seen something “under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 6:1). As a result, he once again makes clear his point of view, in order to look at and think through the things around him from there. He has observed “an evil” that anyone can see anywhere. It is actually an evil that “is prevalent among men” or, as it also can be translated “heavily presses on men”.

It concerns a man who has everything he desires and lacks nothing (Ecclesiastes 6:2). It has all been given to him by God and God also gives him the chance to enjoy it, as the Preacher noted earlier (Ecclesiastes 5:17-19). Whatever a man could possibly possess, he owes it all to God, whether he is aware of it or not. God satisfies the “hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17).

Now the Preacher notes the downside of wealth, possessions and honor: God does not empower man to “eat from them”. This observation is as true as the previous one. We just have to see the context of both observations. There is “a foreigner” here and he “enjoys them”. We can see a reference to satan here. As long as a person does not stand in a living relationship with God by repentance and faith, he is under the control of satan with everything that he has. The real enjoyment can only be there when someone comes to repentance and starts to live according to it.

When man shuts God out, God surrenders him to his own way and actions. A man cannot really enjoy anything without Him. The fact that God does not allow man to use any of it is down to man himself. Man chooses to attribute his wealth, possessions and honor to his own merits. Such an attitude of man has made God to automatically attach the consequence that man cannot enjoy it either.

From what the Preacher sees, he concludes that the possession of wealth and properties and honor is “vanity”. What good is it to a man if someone else, even if he is not aware of it, runs off with it? Solomon does not conclude this soberly, but it touches him deeply. He undergoes the perception he makes as “a severe affliction”. Possibly this comes from the realization that man himself cannot change anything about the evil, in whatever form.

It is about cause and effect, both of which are anchored by God in His creation, also in man’s actions. Man has surrendered himself to ‘the foreigner’, satan. Satan consumes what people possess as long as they shut God out of their minds. The word ‘consume’ contains the thought of wasting or squandering valuable things as if they were without any value.

Satan can do this by encouraging people to rob or destroy the property. He can also do it by a personal plague, a physical or mental illness, or a sinful lifestyle, so that there is no opportunity to enjoy what God gives (cf. Romans 1:21). The sowing of turmoil and hatred is also a tried and tested means by which he makes pleasure impossible (cf. Proverbs 15:16-17).

Isaiah 24:13

A Miscarriage Is Better Off

A person can have a very great offspring and grow very old, things that are presented in the Old Testament as a special blessing, and yet leave life empty and unnoticed, without others mourning him (Ecclesiastes 6:3; cf. Jeremiah 22:18-19). That is really tragic. Moreover, it is a great torment to experience and see beautiful things and not to find joy and satisfaction in them.

If the life of such a man is over, there is no one to shed a tear for him. His life is worth nothing and neither is his dead body. They do not even bother to dig a grave for him and bury him. His end is, as his life was: empty.

Such torments do not bother “a miscarriage” and that is why it is better off. The stillborn child is not confronted with the restlessness of an unfulfilled existence. He also has no guilt toward God. If a life is lived in sin and is ended in unbelief, it would have been better never to have lived it (cf. Mark 14:21).

A miscarriage is the first to die (Ecclesiastes 6:4). That happens already before it has seen life (Psalms 58:8b). Everything remains hidden in darkness. Although the miscarriage has not seen the life and the light, it is better off than he who has seen it all (Ecclesiastes 6:5). The miscarriage has rest and has not experienced all afflictions under the sun, while the living one has always had unrest. Job and Jeremiah have desired to be like that when they were desperate (Job 3:1-19; Jeremiah 20:14-16).

The rich man and the poor man who both die in unbelief will both go to the place where all temporal differences have disappeared. This is the realm of the dead. Everyone will end up there, however long he lives. Even if someone gets twice as old as Methuselah (Genesis 5:27), it will be of no use to him when he dies. After his long, unpleasant life he goes to the realm of the dead, the place where there is also the miscarriage that has not seen life.

The New Testament teaches that there is a difference between the place where a miscarriage goes and where the unbeliever goes after death. A miscarriage has not sinned and is therefore saved by the work of Christ. The unbeliever is in the place of pain because he has refused to repent. He will be judged according to his deeds (Revelation 20:12-13). However, there is a difference in the gravity of the punishment that the unbelievers receive after their death (Luke 12:48).

We learn from the New Testament that there is also a distinction in reward for those who die in faith. They will be rewarded according to the faithfulness with which they have served the Lord in their lives (Matthew 25:14-30).

Isaiah 24:14

A Miscarriage Is Better Off

A person can have a very great offspring and grow very old, things that are presented in the Old Testament as a special blessing, and yet leave life empty and unnoticed, without others mourning him (Ecclesiastes 6:3; cf. Jeremiah 22:18-19). That is really tragic. Moreover, it is a great torment to experience and see beautiful things and not to find joy and satisfaction in them.

If the life of such a man is over, there is no one to shed a tear for him. His life is worth nothing and neither is his dead body. They do not even bother to dig a grave for him and bury him. His end is, as his life was: empty.

Such torments do not bother “a miscarriage” and that is why it is better off. The stillborn child is not confronted with the restlessness of an unfulfilled existence. He also has no guilt toward God. If a life is lived in sin and is ended in unbelief, it would have been better never to have lived it (cf. Mark 14:21).

A miscarriage is the first to die (Ecclesiastes 6:4). That happens already before it has seen life (Psalms 58:8b). Everything remains hidden in darkness. Although the miscarriage has not seen the life and the light, it is better off than he who has seen it all (Ecclesiastes 6:5). The miscarriage has rest and has not experienced all afflictions under the sun, while the living one has always had unrest. Job and Jeremiah have desired to be like that when they were desperate (Job 3:1-19; Jeremiah 20:14-16).

The rich man and the poor man who both die in unbelief will both go to the place where all temporal differences have disappeared. This is the realm of the dead. Everyone will end up there, however long he lives. Even if someone gets twice as old as Methuselah (Genesis 5:27), it will be of no use to him when he dies. After his long, unpleasant life he goes to the realm of the dead, the place where there is also the miscarriage that has not seen life.

The New Testament teaches that there is a difference between the place where a miscarriage goes and where the unbeliever goes after death. A miscarriage has not sinned and is therefore saved by the work of Christ. The unbeliever is in the place of pain because he has refused to repent. He will be judged according to his deeds (Revelation 20:12-13). However, there is a difference in the gravity of the punishment that the unbelievers receive after their death (Luke 12:48).

We learn from the New Testament that there is also a distinction in reward for those who die in faith. They will be rewarded according to the faithfulness with which they have served the Lord in their lives (Matthew 25:14-30).

Isaiah 24:15

A Miscarriage Is Better Off

A person can have a very great offspring and grow very old, things that are presented in the Old Testament as a special blessing, and yet leave life empty and unnoticed, without others mourning him (Ecclesiastes 6:3; cf. Jeremiah 22:18-19). That is really tragic. Moreover, it is a great torment to experience and see beautiful things and not to find joy and satisfaction in them.

If the life of such a man is over, there is no one to shed a tear for him. His life is worth nothing and neither is his dead body. They do not even bother to dig a grave for him and bury him. His end is, as his life was: empty.

Such torments do not bother “a miscarriage” and that is why it is better off. The stillborn child is not confronted with the restlessness of an unfulfilled existence. He also has no guilt toward God. If a life is lived in sin and is ended in unbelief, it would have been better never to have lived it (cf. Mark 14:21).

A miscarriage is the first to die (Ecclesiastes 6:4). That happens already before it has seen life (Psalms 58:8b). Everything remains hidden in darkness. Although the miscarriage has not seen the life and the light, it is better off than he who has seen it all (Ecclesiastes 6:5). The miscarriage has rest and has not experienced all afflictions under the sun, while the living one has always had unrest. Job and Jeremiah have desired to be like that when they were desperate (Job 3:1-19; Jeremiah 20:14-16).

The rich man and the poor man who both die in unbelief will both go to the place where all temporal differences have disappeared. This is the realm of the dead. Everyone will end up there, however long he lives. Even if someone gets twice as old as Methuselah (Genesis 5:27), it will be of no use to him when he dies. After his long, unpleasant life he goes to the realm of the dead, the place where there is also the miscarriage that has not seen life.

The New Testament teaches that there is a difference between the place where a miscarriage goes and where the unbeliever goes after death. A miscarriage has not sinned and is therefore saved by the work of Christ. The unbeliever is in the place of pain because he has refused to repent. He will be judged according to his deeds (Revelation 20:12-13). However, there is a difference in the gravity of the punishment that the unbelievers receive after their death (Luke 12:48).

We learn from the New Testament that there is also a distinction in reward for those who die in faith. They will be rewarded according to the faithfulness with which they have served the Lord in their lives (Matthew 25:14-30).

Isaiah 24:16

A Miscarriage Is Better Off

A person can have a very great offspring and grow very old, things that are presented in the Old Testament as a special blessing, and yet leave life empty and unnoticed, without others mourning him (Ecclesiastes 6:3; cf. Jeremiah 22:18-19). That is really tragic. Moreover, it is a great torment to experience and see beautiful things and not to find joy and satisfaction in them.

If the life of such a man is over, there is no one to shed a tear for him. His life is worth nothing and neither is his dead body. They do not even bother to dig a grave for him and bury him. His end is, as his life was: empty.

Such torments do not bother “a miscarriage” and that is why it is better off. The stillborn child is not confronted with the restlessness of an unfulfilled existence. He also has no guilt toward God. If a life is lived in sin and is ended in unbelief, it would have been better never to have lived it (cf. Mark 14:21).

A miscarriage is the first to die (Ecclesiastes 6:4). That happens already before it has seen life (Psalms 58:8b). Everything remains hidden in darkness. Although the miscarriage has not seen the life and the light, it is better off than he who has seen it all (Ecclesiastes 6:5). The miscarriage has rest and has not experienced all afflictions under the sun, while the living one has always had unrest. Job and Jeremiah have desired to be like that when they were desperate (Job 3:1-19; Jeremiah 20:14-16).

The rich man and the poor man who both die in unbelief will both go to the place where all temporal differences have disappeared. This is the realm of the dead. Everyone will end up there, however long he lives. Even if someone gets twice as old as Methuselah (Genesis 5:27), it will be of no use to him when he dies. After his long, unpleasant life he goes to the realm of the dead, the place where there is also the miscarriage that has not seen life.

The New Testament teaches that there is a difference between the place where a miscarriage goes and where the unbeliever goes after death. A miscarriage has not sinned and is therefore saved by the work of Christ. The unbeliever is in the place of pain because he has refused to repent. He will be judged according to his deeds (Revelation 20:12-13). However, there is a difference in the gravity of the punishment that the unbelievers receive after their death (Luke 12:48).

We learn from the New Testament that there is also a distinction in reward for those who die in faith. They will be rewarded according to the faithfulness with which they have served the Lord in their lives (Matthew 25:14-30).

Isaiah 24:17

Food Does Not Fill Spiritual Emptiness

The very first and great goal of all man’s labor is that his mouth gets something to eat, because only then he stays alive (Ecclesiastes 6:7). Over and over again, man has to eat. He never reaches the point of final fullness, so that he has eaten enough once and for all. He gets hungry again and again, so he has to eat again and again. That is what he works for. This applies to the rich industrialist and the prime minister as well as to the worker.

It is working to eat and eating to be able to work: “A worker’s appetite works for him, for his hunger urges him [on]” (Proverbs 16:26). His stomach is in control of him. At the same time, there is a deeper hunger, a spiritual hunger. The desire for what is truly satisfying is not fulfilled by filling the stomach. This is the deeper lesson of this verse.

When a person realizes that healthy food for his soul is more important than it is for his body, he has learned the lesson. To say it with the words of the Lord Jesus the lesson is that “man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

In filling the stomach the wise has no advantage over the fool; there is no distinction between them in this (Ecclesiastes 6:8). They both have the same need to eat and drink in order to stay alive. Both of them also experience the brevity of the satisfaction of needs.

In the New Testament we learn that the relationship between the stomach and the food is a temporary one. God will at some point destroy both the stomach and the food (1 Corinthians 6:13). This happens as soon as a person dies. In the afterlife, there is no need to eat in order to stay alive. It makes it clear that for whom filling the stomach is the highest goal, is a very poor person and that his soul is in a disastrous state.

The same principle applies to the poor who understands the art of cautiously maneuvering through life. He may know how to deal with “the living”, but with all his skills to be befriended with everyone, he cannot fill his stomach. The living may be the rich, or the prominent people, who look down on the poor. If the poor man is able to deal with them dexterously, he will not gain any additional advantage over those rich or prominent people. They, like him, have the same necessities of life.

The restless desiring of things one does not possess causes torment, while there is so much to enjoy at the moment because of what the eyes see (Ecclesiastes 6:9). Desire stirs up to a restless pursuit of something that never becomes a possession. The first – what the eyes see – is better than the second – what the soul desires – because the first one you have. The enjoyment of today’s good, makes you content and happy. Life is full of little surprises, if we want to see them. However, even this does not give any final rest and does not fill the deepest desires for inner satisfaction.

Only seeing God’s great gift in Christ gives the greatest joy and rest. This also applies to the pursuit of getting to know Him. These activities are neither futile nor striving after wind, but they prove the reality of a faith which is in a living relationship with Christ.

Isaiah 24:18

Food Does Not Fill Spiritual Emptiness

The very first and great goal of all man’s labor is that his mouth gets something to eat, because only then he stays alive (Ecclesiastes 6:7). Over and over again, man has to eat. He never reaches the point of final fullness, so that he has eaten enough once and for all. He gets hungry again and again, so he has to eat again and again. That is what he works for. This applies to the rich industrialist and the prime minister as well as to the worker.

It is working to eat and eating to be able to work: “A worker’s appetite works for him, for his hunger urges him [on]” (Proverbs 16:26). His stomach is in control of him. At the same time, there is a deeper hunger, a spiritual hunger. The desire for what is truly satisfying is not fulfilled by filling the stomach. This is the deeper lesson of this verse.

When a person realizes that healthy food for his soul is more important than it is for his body, he has learned the lesson. To say it with the words of the Lord Jesus the lesson is that “man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

In filling the stomach the wise has no advantage over the fool; there is no distinction between them in this (Ecclesiastes 6:8). They both have the same need to eat and drink in order to stay alive. Both of them also experience the brevity of the satisfaction of needs.

In the New Testament we learn that the relationship between the stomach and the food is a temporary one. God will at some point destroy both the stomach and the food (1 Corinthians 6:13). This happens as soon as a person dies. In the afterlife, there is no need to eat in order to stay alive. It makes it clear that for whom filling the stomach is the highest goal, is a very poor person and that his soul is in a disastrous state.

The same principle applies to the poor who understands the art of cautiously maneuvering through life. He may know how to deal with “the living”, but with all his skills to be befriended with everyone, he cannot fill his stomach. The living may be the rich, or the prominent people, who look down on the poor. If the poor man is able to deal with them dexterously, he will not gain any additional advantage over those rich or prominent people. They, like him, have the same necessities of life.

The restless desiring of things one does not possess causes torment, while there is so much to enjoy at the moment because of what the eyes see (Ecclesiastes 6:9). Desire stirs up to a restless pursuit of something that never becomes a possession. The first – what the eyes see – is better than the second – what the soul desires – because the first one you have. The enjoyment of today’s good, makes you content and happy. Life is full of little surprises, if we want to see them. However, even this does not give any final rest and does not fill the deepest desires for inner satisfaction.

Only seeing God’s great gift in Christ gives the greatest joy and rest. This also applies to the pursuit of getting to know Him. These activities are neither futile nor striving after wind, but they prove the reality of a faith which is in a living relationship with Christ.

Isaiah 24:19

Food Does Not Fill Spiritual Emptiness

The very first and great goal of all man’s labor is that his mouth gets something to eat, because only then he stays alive (Ecclesiastes 6:7). Over and over again, man has to eat. He never reaches the point of final fullness, so that he has eaten enough once and for all. He gets hungry again and again, so he has to eat again and again. That is what he works for. This applies to the rich industrialist and the prime minister as well as to the worker.

It is working to eat and eating to be able to work: “A worker’s appetite works for him, for his hunger urges him [on]” (Proverbs 16:26). His stomach is in control of him. At the same time, there is a deeper hunger, a spiritual hunger. The desire for what is truly satisfying is not fulfilled by filling the stomach. This is the deeper lesson of this verse.

When a person realizes that healthy food for his soul is more important than it is for his body, he has learned the lesson. To say it with the words of the Lord Jesus the lesson is that “man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

In filling the stomach the wise has no advantage over the fool; there is no distinction between them in this (Ecclesiastes 6:8). They both have the same need to eat and drink in order to stay alive. Both of them also experience the brevity of the satisfaction of needs.

In the New Testament we learn that the relationship between the stomach and the food is a temporary one. God will at some point destroy both the stomach and the food (1 Corinthians 6:13). This happens as soon as a person dies. In the afterlife, there is no need to eat in order to stay alive. It makes it clear that for whom filling the stomach is the highest goal, is a very poor person and that his soul is in a disastrous state.

The same principle applies to the poor who understands the art of cautiously maneuvering through life. He may know how to deal with “the living”, but with all his skills to be befriended with everyone, he cannot fill his stomach. The living may be the rich, or the prominent people, who look down on the poor. If the poor man is able to deal with them dexterously, he will not gain any additional advantage over those rich or prominent people. They, like him, have the same necessities of life.

The restless desiring of things one does not possess causes torment, while there is so much to enjoy at the moment because of what the eyes see (Ecclesiastes 6:9). Desire stirs up to a restless pursuit of something that never becomes a possession. The first – what the eyes see – is better than the second – what the soul desires – because the first one you have. The enjoyment of today’s good, makes you content and happy. Life is full of little surprises, if we want to see them. However, even this does not give any final rest and does not fill the deepest desires for inner satisfaction.

Only seeing God’s great gift in Christ gives the greatest joy and rest. This also applies to the pursuit of getting to know Him. These activities are neither futile nor striving after wind, but they prove the reality of a faith which is in a living relationship with Christ.

Isaiah 24:20

Man Is Only a Man

God knows the beginning of every man (Isaiah 46:9-10), also his name and character (Ecclesiastes 6:10). His name, his identity, is given to him by God (cf. Isaiah 40:26). Giving a name to someone or something means that someone has the authority to do so. Thus God called “light day and darkness night” (Genesis 1:5). A name expresses the nature of something (Genesis 2:19).

Concerning man “it is known what man is”. Man must know that he is a weak creature (cf. Psalms 9:20b) and not the strong God (Isaiah 31:3). He must know that it is impossible to dispute with God or call Him to account. It is foolishness to begin with this, for he will always be defeated “by him who is stronger than he” (Job 23:13; Job 33:12). It is also possible that with ‘him who is stronger than he’ death is meant.

He cannot change what God has made of him, the character He has given him (Jeremiah 1:5). To accept that is the most essential thing to function as God has purposed it to be. That also gives full meaning to life. It makes no sense to argue about this with God, although God allows us to do so when we do, as with Job, in order to teach us even richer lessons.

However, man is not inclined to accept what God has made of him. He dares to rage against God, the Almighty, for the slightest thing, and to challenge His right to the government of all things. Like a nitwit, he grumbles at God and curses at Him, even though he himself is to blame for the misery, his decay and his mortality in which he finds himself, due to his own sins. Even though a man is well known and rich, it is generally known that he is only a man, made of dust, and therefore weak and fragile.

He is, because he is human, subject to numerous disasters. His ability to prevent them is completely beyond his control, despite all his fearful efforts and worries. He cannot use his power and wealth to carry out his will in order to make the disasters disappear from him when they have struck him. Although a man may become famous, it is known that he is only a man who cannot dispute with Him Who is stronger, which means that he cannot control events, for only He Who is stronger, namely God, can.

There are so many things in the life of man that are futile, transitory (Ecclesiastes 6:11). What is the real benefit of such things to him? They do not benefit him, they do not benefit him at all. Words of people do not change the world, they only make the emptiness bigger. Just listen to the countless empty words of many politicians. The firm language used to suppress evil in any form is becoming more and more pitiful.

It is reminiscent of the saying that a proverb in the mouth of fools is like the legs to the lame, which are useless (Proverbs 26:7). You can see it happen before you: the firm words seeping like powerless saliva out of the speaker’s mouth, trickling down along his chin and making his neat jacket dirty. Only the living and powerful Word of God is able to bring about a change for the better.

No one knows what is good in this life for mankind, only God knows, but He is off side in this book, because the Preacher sees everything only under the sun (Ecclesiastes 6:12). Will there be days of prosperity or adversity, of profit or loss, of abundance or of lack? Man does not know it because he spends his days as a shadow, which means as if he has no real existence.

He cannot control the course of his life and cannot make it to his own will. His life is counted in a number of “years”, which are seen as “futile” and spent like “a shadow”. This description shows how small man is. This is the reality of life when it is lived apart from God, because life only has meaning and sense in connection with Him.

A man who does not consider God, knows nothing of the value of life, and has no knowledge of what will be after him, let alone any certainty about it. The life after him cannot be described in a plan. Without God, he can make predictions, which at best have no other basis than previous experiences. At the same time it will be experienced how worthless those forecasts have often proved to be. With the change of people the view on life also changes.

God knows from the beginning what is going to happen and He knows what will happen to him after the life of a man on earth. Only God knows what will happen after this life, and so does anyone to whom God reveals it.

Isaiah 24:21

Man Is Only a Man

God knows the beginning of every man (Isaiah 46:9-10), also his name and character (Ecclesiastes 6:10). His name, his identity, is given to him by God (cf. Isaiah 40:26). Giving a name to someone or something means that someone has the authority to do so. Thus God called “light day and darkness night” (Genesis 1:5). A name expresses the nature of something (Genesis 2:19).

Concerning man “it is known what man is”. Man must know that he is a weak creature (cf. Psalms 9:20b) and not the strong God (Isaiah 31:3). He must know that it is impossible to dispute with God or call Him to account. It is foolishness to begin with this, for he will always be defeated “by him who is stronger than he” (Job 23:13; Job 33:12). It is also possible that with ‘him who is stronger than he’ death is meant.

He cannot change what God has made of him, the character He has given him (Jeremiah 1:5). To accept that is the most essential thing to function as God has purposed it to be. That also gives full meaning to life. It makes no sense to argue about this with God, although God allows us to do so when we do, as with Job, in order to teach us even richer lessons.

However, man is not inclined to accept what God has made of him. He dares to rage against God, the Almighty, for the slightest thing, and to challenge His right to the government of all things. Like a nitwit, he grumbles at God and curses at Him, even though he himself is to blame for the misery, his decay and his mortality in which he finds himself, due to his own sins. Even though a man is well known and rich, it is generally known that he is only a man, made of dust, and therefore weak and fragile.

He is, because he is human, subject to numerous disasters. His ability to prevent them is completely beyond his control, despite all his fearful efforts and worries. He cannot use his power and wealth to carry out his will in order to make the disasters disappear from him when they have struck him. Although a man may become famous, it is known that he is only a man who cannot dispute with Him Who is stronger, which means that he cannot control events, for only He Who is stronger, namely God, can.

There are so many things in the life of man that are futile, transitory (Ecclesiastes 6:11). What is the real benefit of such things to him? They do not benefit him, they do not benefit him at all. Words of people do not change the world, they only make the emptiness bigger. Just listen to the countless empty words of many politicians. The firm language used to suppress evil in any form is becoming more and more pitiful.

It is reminiscent of the saying that a proverb in the mouth of fools is like the legs to the lame, which are useless (Proverbs 26:7). You can see it happen before you: the firm words seeping like powerless saliva out of the speaker’s mouth, trickling down along his chin and making his neat jacket dirty. Only the living and powerful Word of God is able to bring about a change for the better.

No one knows what is good in this life for mankind, only God knows, but He is off side in this book, because the Preacher sees everything only under the sun (Ecclesiastes 6:12). Will there be days of prosperity or adversity, of profit or loss, of abundance or of lack? Man does not know it because he spends his days as a shadow, which means as if he has no real existence.

He cannot control the course of his life and cannot make it to his own will. His life is counted in a number of “years”, which are seen as “futile” and spent like “a shadow”. This description shows how small man is. This is the reality of life when it is lived apart from God, because life only has meaning and sense in connection with Him.

A man who does not consider God, knows nothing of the value of life, and has no knowledge of what will be after him, let alone any certainty about it. The life after him cannot be described in a plan. Without God, he can make predictions, which at best have no other basis than previous experiences. At the same time it will be experienced how worthless those forecasts have often proved to be. With the change of people the view on life also changes.

God knows from the beginning what is going to happen and He knows what will happen to him after the life of a man on earth. Only God knows what will happen after this life, and so does anyone to whom God reveals it.

Isaiah 24:22

Man Is Only a Man

God knows the beginning of every man (Isaiah 46:9-10), also his name and character (Ecclesiastes 6:10). His name, his identity, is given to him by God (cf. Isaiah 40:26). Giving a name to someone or something means that someone has the authority to do so. Thus God called “light day and darkness night” (Genesis 1:5). A name expresses the nature of something (Genesis 2:19).

Concerning man “it is known what man is”. Man must know that he is a weak creature (cf. Psalms 9:20b) and not the strong God (Isaiah 31:3). He must know that it is impossible to dispute with God or call Him to account. It is foolishness to begin with this, for he will always be defeated “by him who is stronger than he” (Job 23:13; Job 33:12). It is also possible that with ‘him who is stronger than he’ death is meant.

He cannot change what God has made of him, the character He has given him (Jeremiah 1:5). To accept that is the most essential thing to function as God has purposed it to be. That also gives full meaning to life. It makes no sense to argue about this with God, although God allows us to do so when we do, as with Job, in order to teach us even richer lessons.

However, man is not inclined to accept what God has made of him. He dares to rage against God, the Almighty, for the slightest thing, and to challenge His right to the government of all things. Like a nitwit, he grumbles at God and curses at Him, even though he himself is to blame for the misery, his decay and his mortality in which he finds himself, due to his own sins. Even though a man is well known and rich, it is generally known that he is only a man, made of dust, and therefore weak and fragile.

He is, because he is human, subject to numerous disasters. His ability to prevent them is completely beyond his control, despite all his fearful efforts and worries. He cannot use his power and wealth to carry out his will in order to make the disasters disappear from him when they have struck him. Although a man may become famous, it is known that he is only a man who cannot dispute with Him Who is stronger, which means that he cannot control events, for only He Who is stronger, namely God, can.

There are so many things in the life of man that are futile, transitory (Ecclesiastes 6:11). What is the real benefit of such things to him? They do not benefit him, they do not benefit him at all. Words of people do not change the world, they only make the emptiness bigger. Just listen to the countless empty words of many politicians. The firm language used to suppress evil in any form is becoming more and more pitiful.

It is reminiscent of the saying that a proverb in the mouth of fools is like the legs to the lame, which are useless (Proverbs 26:7). You can see it happen before you: the firm words seeping like powerless saliva out of the speaker’s mouth, trickling down along his chin and making his neat jacket dirty. Only the living and powerful Word of God is able to bring about a change for the better.

No one knows what is good in this life for mankind, only God knows, but He is off side in this book, because the Preacher sees everything only under the sun (Ecclesiastes 6:12). Will there be days of prosperity or adversity, of profit or loss, of abundance or of lack? Man does not know it because he spends his days as a shadow, which means as if he has no real existence.

He cannot control the course of his life and cannot make it to his own will. His life is counted in a number of “years”, which are seen as “futile” and spent like “a shadow”. This description shows how small man is. This is the reality of life when it is lived apart from God, because life only has meaning and sense in connection with Him.

A man who does not consider God, knows nothing of the value of life, and has no knowledge of what will be after him, let alone any certainty about it. The life after him cannot be described in a plan. Without God, he can make predictions, which at best have no other basis than previous experiences. At the same time it will be experienced how worthless those forecasts have often proved to be. With the change of people the view on life also changes.

God knows from the beginning what is going to happen and He knows what will happen to him after the life of a man on earth. Only God knows what will happen after this life, and so does anyone to whom God reveals it.