From the Hand of God - Ecclesiastes #8

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I? For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

We are all sinners, so we get stuck with the task of “gathering and collecting” as a way of life. In a sense, this is part of God’s original design for a sinless world (subdue the earth, have dominion over animals: Genesis 1:28-30), but due to sin, the task is considerably more difficult. Thorns, weeds, pests, diseases, fatigue, poor health, death, a bunch of other awful stuff. With all this toil and trouble, wouldn’t it be nice to at least have some enjoyment? Thankfully, Solomon agrees, daily life is to be enjoyed!

However, first glance of the first sentence of this passage (especially given the tone of this book so far), it almost sounds like “Eat, drink, and be merry; for tomorrow we die.” In other words, what’s the point of caring about anything meaningful if God gives us no hope? Thankfully, Solomon clues us into the wisdom that enjoying the good in our labor is “from the hand of God.” This is true not only for a Christian or an Israelite thousands of years ago, but for anyone. Our God makes “His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain (i.e., blessing) on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

Another Bible passage about this: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). There’s nothing perpetually satisfying about this material life, so why not trust in the hand of God from day-to-day? We will not understand everything this life throws at us, but God knows all. Also, this passage says that “God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight.” The only way we can truly be good is trusting in God’s plan through His Son, Jesus Christ. It’s by His sacrifice on a cross that we can be truly forgiven of our sin and declared “good in His sight.”

In Christ Alone,

Dan

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