Facing up to Life's Apparent Unfairness

Text Ecclesiastes 3:1-16-4:16 Time 19/06/2005 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

We are looking at the second of four sections that make up the Book of Ecclesiastes. This second section is in Chapters 3, 4 and 5. We have already pointed out that the terminus is in 5:18-20. Let’s read those words again:

Then I realised that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labour under the sun during the few days of life God has given him - for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work - this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.

So he is making three points here, points similar to those already made in the first section.

1. God wants us to live in a way that is good and proper. It is way that is satisfying

2. Indeed it is God’s gift to know how to enjoy life and to be content

3. Such a man is so taken up with God that he has no time to worry about death or such things

Last week we looked at 3:1-15 and we made three points

1. Look around and see that God is in control of all that happens

2. Look within and see that God has put eternity there. See that what we have has been given to us by God who makes it all beautiful in its time and that he has linked it all to eternity

3. Look forward and see that despite the monotony God will bring it all to account

In the next part of this second section, in 3:16 to 4:16, Solomon talks about six aspects of life on earth that may appear to fly in the face of this whole idea that God is in control of all that happens, has placed eternity in our hearts and is going to bring all things to account in due time. We can pick out these six sections by the presence of the phrases - And I saw, then a second section ending with So I saw, Again I looked and saw, And I saw, Again I saw something and a final section. Notice, as well, the word better in verses 22, 3, 9 and 16. Solomon is unwilling to pretend that these problems do not exist and attempt simply to slide over them. Rather he confronts them head on and so must we. And so we say

1. Face up to the way justice seems often to be denied and the courts perverted

Verse 16 And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgement - wickedness was there, in the place of justice - wickedness was there. Even in a well run kingdom like Solomon’s injustice and wickedness were to be found even in the place of judgement and justice – in the courts of the land and the meetings of the elders at the city gates. We know it exists in our day too. There are corrupt policemen and magistrates, lawyers and judges and other court officials willing to pervert justice at a consideration. We are naïve and short-sighted if we do not think such things go on – not just in places like the Iraq of a Saddam or the Zimbabwe of a Robert Mugabe. These things go on in our courts and in the European courts and in America too. When we see it happening it is very discouraging and demoralising. Criminals get away with murder while the innocent are deprived of justice. What’s the point, we feel. Why bother even trying to maintain any sort of justice? But no, this is the answer, the one that Solomon gives in verse 17 I thought in my heart, God will bring to judgement both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed. It follows on from verse 15. In the New Testament this is fleshed out for us a bit and we learn that Jesus himself is going to be the judge of all, assisted in some inconceivable way by his people. Whenever we come across injustice of any sort we should do what we can to oppose it but we must remember too that the Jude of all the earth will do right.

2. Face up to the way that a man’s life can sometimes seem no different to that of an animal Solomon goes on in verses 18-22 to speak about the way that at times a man’s life can seem no different to that of an animal. What is all this talk of eternity in his heart? These verses are often misunderstood. Solomon is not saying ‘This is how it is’ but ‘This is how people often think. Verse 18 is important I also thought, As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. He makes three points of comparison

1 How alike death is in animals and men. Verse 19 Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. Chickens and cows get diseases and die - so do men and women and children. Dogs and rabbits get run over by cars – so do men and women and children. Pigs and lambs get slaughtered for meat – that rarely happens to people but sometimes when there is death in war on a large scale it seems no different. If you shoot a lion in the heart with a gun it will die – so will a man. Kittens can be drowned and babies too.

2 How alike they are in life too. When you think especially of mammals there seems to be no great difference in some ways All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Then follows his stock phrase Everything is meaningless. Man and animal alike - we’ve all been cursed.

3. How alike their eternal destiny seems to be. Then he pushes it even further in verses 20 and 21 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth? Sometimes you’ll see a gravestone for a dog. Perhaps you have been to a little funeral in the garden for a rabbit or a guinea pig. You have also been or perhaps will go to funerals for relatives and friends. You bury goldfish and budgies, as we say, "at sea". People are buried at sea too, sometimes. Now the Bible is pretty clear I think that when an animal dies that is it. There is no life beyond the grave. When a hamster dies you buy a new one. I know sometimes children say that it is not the same but it is they who have changed not the hamster. They may look different but one hamster is pretty much the same as any other. The same for dogs, although years of breeding and the impact that an owner can have makes it seem as though a dog has a personality, a soul even. What ever soul/spirit they have is essentially material. Animals are quite different to human beings. We have, each of us, not just genes and brains but immortal souls, and when we die, yes, our bodies which are made from dust return to dust but our souls go to God to be judged. Yet if you ask people about it they seem to be unsure. As Solomon says Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth? Not meaning ‘I don’t know and who can know?’ but ‘It’s a fact but how few people know it’. Many people then as now lived as though there were no difference between being an animal and being a human being. Who knows that the spirit of man rises upward and that the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth? Ignorance abounds. He gives a conclusion (22) So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. Again this is emphasised. There is more to man than just eating and drinking, a lot more. But, he asks again, For who can bring him to see what will happen after him? So few are willing to look beyond this life and beyond death to the world to come. Is that you? Are you failing to look ahead?

Then as we come into Chapter 4 he raises some more issues.

3. Face up to the existence of oppressors and oppressed

If you never read newspapers or watch TV and if you don’t use the Internet, you may be able to lock yourself away in a world where all seems cosy and easy. If you open your eyes, however, you will become painfully aware that this is a world of oppression and tyranny. In schools there is bullying – far more than most people realise. In work places, in government and even in families and churches it goes on. In many places there is oppression and cruelty, despotism and repression. And so Solomon says Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed - and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors - and they have no comforter. What a miserable world this is in many ways! We cannot deny the fact. In some ways it is so bad that people would rather be dead than suffer as they do. Hence some of the suicides we read about in our newspapers and the other strange behaviour we sometimes hear of. Hence verses 2 and 3 of Chapter 4 And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun. ‘Ah’ you say ‘how terrible, people shouldn’t think like that.’ I is easy to say that when we have it so easy. It is not on for us simply to condemn people who think such thoughts when we do not know what they are suffering. However, this does not mean that God is not in control or that oppression will go on forever. No-one will get away with it forever. There will be a day of reckoning. Vengeance is mine says the Lord.

4. Face up to the existence of envy and greed

Then think of the whole rat race that so many are caught up in. ‘It’s a jungle out there’ people will tell you. ‘It’s dog eat dog’. It doesn’t matter what arena you choose – sport, education, politics, business, banking, even in religion. It’s every man for himself and no holds barred. Why is it so competitive, so aggressive, so hostile, so mean and unfriendly? Verse 4 And I saw that all labour and all achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbour. It is an overstatement, of course, but it highlights a major problem. Without that spirit of envy what might happen? Now I know people will tell you that competition is good and there is an element of truth in that. How sad ultimately though that most children will do better given a little competition and the way that so many of us respond to rivalry, friendly or otherwise. Again - This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Of course, some drop out of the rat race. They refuse to play by the laws of the jungle. But generally these are lazy fools who are no better. Look at verse 5 The fool folds his hands and ruins himself. Solomon is not condemning hard work. Far from it. Rather he is saying (6) Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. All that effort to no end. Are you in danger of ling like that? Watch out!

5. Face up to the existence of loneliness and sadness

Verses 7, 8 Again he says I saw something meaningless under the sun: There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. For whom am I toiling, he asked, and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment? What a sad, sad picture. And there are other stories like it. This too is meaningless - a miserable business!

This leads into a little excursus on the joy of fellowship. Solomon can’t resist something positive. What a wonderful passage it is in verses 9-12 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no-one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Think of marriage, of friendship, fellowship in church or int the community, even in the state. Again, the existence of loneliness and sadness does not undermine the truth that God is in control and the positive side shows God’s goodness and love.

6. Face up to the existence of the unpredictability of public opinion

Finally, verses 13-16 Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning. The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king’s successor. There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor. He begins with a proverb (13). The youth rises to kingship on a wave of popular acclaim and ousts the old king. Yet he too or his sons can lose favour. He is talking about how fickle public opinion is. You can go from hero to zero in moments it seems. Perhaps we are more aware of that thannany society before. He concludes This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. So easily such thoughts discourage and depress. Yet again it is not the whole story as we will see in Chapter 5. Those in power try to hold on to it, others clamour for change. We are in God’s hands. Enjoy life, be balanced and look to the Lord’s provision.