Ecclesiastes 6
Pastor Mark Hudson

One of the vexing problems Qoheleth covers multiple times is the fact that so many people do not enjoy life. In chapter 6, the inability to enjoy the things of this life is attributed to God. See verse 2, “yet God does not give him power to enjoy them” (wealth, possessions, and honor). This repeated refrain is ratcheted up in v. 3. Qoheleth says that a still born child is better off than a person who has no enjoyment in this life and no one to bury him. The reader can tell, his words are hyperbole because he says in v. 6, “even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good – do not all go to the one place?”

Qoheleth thinks that not enjoying life, being grateful for what one has as well as enjoying those blessing is “a grievous evil.” There is a sense that whatever you have, whether a healthy body, a sound mind, a family to love, or a job that provides you income and purpose, it is incumbent on us to enjoy our lives.

As we read Qoheleth, remember that we don’t always know when the author is using irony, hyperbole, humor, or exaggeration. So we have to be careful not to press things to literally. But in v. 6, if this is not exaggeration, nothing is.
In v. 7 Qoheleth concludes that we work to consume. This appetite in the verse may refer to more than just food. We buy and desire more and newer things. Yet our appetite is not satisfied. Buy a new car or move into a new home and after the initial elation, the thrill of having something new diminishes.

Verse 8 is another conundrum. Of course the wise man has an advantage over the fool but there is a sense that we all face the same end: we all die.

Verse 9 may refer to this life when Qoheleth writes “the sight of the eyes.” Better is (enjoying) this life than the person who is continually striving, wanting more, never satisfied, and therefore never resting.

Verse 10 is interesting to read in the year 2023. We are seeing new technological advances, new opportunities but if the author means that human nature is the same, we would have to agree. Is the author suggesting in v. 10 that the “one stronger than he” is God? That it is futile to dispute with God? It is hard to know exactly what the author meant.

Every introvert agrees with verse 11, “The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man?” If you listen to people there is wisdom in what Qoheleth observes. How many times in our lives had we wished we had not said a word. The more we talk, the greater likelihood of sin.
In verse 12, we see the importance of translating hevel/hebel. The ESV reads, “For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow?” If the sense of vain is meaningless that is radically different if hevel is “fleeting” which is what the author explains in the next phrase, “which he passes like a shadow.

In the last sentence of this chapter, this is a theme that the author asks us to consider. If you work and build houses and barns or work to leave a legacy, how long will that last? Consider the wealth of a Vanderbilt of John D Rockefeller? How many people know their story. Furthermore, how many people care? In 50 years will we be talking about a Kardashian?

The author is not against wisely saving money or building a godly legacy but there is something wrong when a person is focused on amassing wealth at the expense of enjoying right now. The author values contentment and rest. The author also values enjoying the pleasures of this life.

I have been thinking so much about this book. First of all, I question my own conclusions and comments about this book. Honestly, it is hard to explain what he means. Yet, his words are like an earworm (when a song gets stuck in your head) in my head as I wrestle with what he is saying. I am coming around to agreeing with what he is saying the more I read Qoheleth. In a sense, not literally, but he has a point. Enjoy what God has provided.
You may know the journalist H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) who once wrote, “Puritan-ism: the haunting fear that somewhere, someone might be happy.” This from a man who does not understand or try to understand Puritanism. Yet, I wonder if the unbelieving world would benefit from the teaching of pleasure, enjoyment, and work as taught by Qoheleth. The Biblical view of the world is not understood until we mature in our faith. But we certainly are called to rejoice and love the world (in some sense) and reject the world (in another sense of the world). This book attempts to explore these themes.

I often quote these verses from Qoheleth as funerals: Eccl. 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind.” Eccl. 7:4, “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” I wonder if churches have lost something when we removed cemeteries from the grounds of the church. I like baseball diamonds, play areas for children, gar-dens, and parking lots. But, in removing the sober reality of death in our daily lives, are we making it harder to read a book like Ecclesiastes?

Dear our loving, sweet, giving heavenly Father, keep us reading parts of the Bible we do not understand in hopes that someday we will. Thank you for teachers and pastors and those who spend their lives studying and teaching in seminaries, writing and training others. Help us to look at this life with eyes wide open and hearts and minds that are open to all aspects of who You are. Cause us to see and think deeply about the realities of this world. For the sake of Christ’s kingdom, Amen.