The Inevitability of Mortality - Ecclesiastes #12

Ecclesiastes 3:16-22

¹⁶ Moreover I saw under the sun:

In the place of judgment,
Wickedness was there;
And in the place of righteousness,
Iniquity was there.

¹⁷ I said in my heart,

“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,
For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

¹⁸ I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.” ¹⁹ For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. ²⁰ All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. ²¹ Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth? ²² So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

“The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat!” An Olympic athlete from my childhood sums up this statement quite nicely. Decathlon competitor Dan O’Brien was considered among the greatest athletes in the world in his heyday. His gold medal performance in the 1996 Olympics was widely viewed and celebrated. However, if you knew much about his career, you would know that this could have been his third Olympic gold medal instead of his first and only. In 1988, after initially performing well in the U.S. Trials, he injured himself and had to drop out. In the 1992 U.S. Trials, he failed in the pole vault qualifier. Right before these trials, he broke the decathlon world record in the World competition that year, so he was considered the best decathlete by far at the time. 

Of course, there came a time where Mr. O’Brien was not considered one of the greatest athletes. That happens to all great athletes, or great doctors, or great artists, or great whatever. Mortality will always defeat us at some point. This passage reminds us of a consistent truth: all will die. Solomon compares humans with animals, and observes that we are physically no different in this matter. We all come into the world however it happens, we all give up our breath and die at some point in time. And what evidence do we have to see much of a difference between mankind and animals? How do we know, as Solomon asks, one goes up and the other down? 

We can know this because of the second consistent truth brought out in this passage: all mankind will be judged by God. Of course, we believe this by faith, but the Bible is certain about this truth. Revelation 20:15 speaks of those who have their names written in the book of life. Anyone who doesn’t have their name found in this divine book will be thrown into the lake of fire, which the Bible teaches as being an eternal punishment. All who have their names written in this book will inherit eternal life in Heaven. This happens because the blood of Jesus Christ has forgiven their sins, they have trusted in Him for salvation, and they have been declared righteous. 

If you want to know more, please ask by commenting or email me.

In Christ Alone,

Dan