The Theme of Death in Ecclesiastes

EXPOSITION

MYSTERIOUS WORK OF GOD 8:16-9:1

Text : When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe man's labor on earth, his eyes not seeing sleep day or night, then I saw all that God has done. Ecc 8:16-17a

First the preacher stated that he tries to find out the meaning of life and all God has done under the sun with all diligence, he works and thinks overnight.

Text : No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it. Ecc 8:17b

Turn out he concluded that no one really can comprehend what God has done under the sun. c.f. Ecc 3:11 Because

Both good things and bad things mingle together : "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future." Ecc 7:14
Our Wisdom is limited : "Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun" Ecc 7:11, but the wisdom of men have its' bound. It only let men know the things under the sun. Only divine wisdom let men know the total plan of God but which is far from men. "I am determined to be wise but this was beyond me. Whatever wisdom may be, it is far off and most profound, who can discover it?" Ecc 7:23-24
Evil within men : "God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes." Ecc 7:29.
Limitation of our life : "No man has power over his spirit to retain it; so no one has power over the day of his death." Ecc 8:8

Text : So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands, but no man knows whether love or hate awaits him. Ecc 9:1

Although the preacher affirmed that no one knows what things would happen afterward, the things have already ordained in God's hands. c.f. Ecc 3:1-15

COMMON DESTINY FOR ALL 9:2-6

Text : All share a common destiny -- the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. As it is with the good man, so with the sinner; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them. This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: the same destiny overtakes all. Ecc 9:2-3a

In this passage, the preacher pointed out that one of the great evil under the sun is -- death is a common destiny for all. Under the shadow of death, the differences between men are level off. Even the most righteous, religious man died like wicked and atheism. The honest man like the one who lies and is afraid of taking oaths.

Text : The hearts of man, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. Ecc 9:3b

Since both righteous and wicked seem to come to the same ending. So the wicked men are encouraged to sin ever more. However, even the most hostile and aggressive man, before the face of death, he should shut the mouth.

Text : Anyone who is among the living has hope -- even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. Ecc 9:4-5

Since living has hope but dead has not. So the preacher affirmed that life is better than death. The word 'hope' only appears here throughout the whole book. There are three main options to interpret what the 'hope' means:

Hope for the salvation from God. Salvation of men is not the concern of this book, so this supposition is invalid.
Hope for the life after dead. In this Book, surely the preacher believes there is life after death, in addition, men need to plead their cases before the judgment of God (Ecc 11:9). However this supposition does not match well with neither the prior nor following content flow.
Hope for the enjoyment of life on earth. Along these three options, only this one is the most appropriate. In the passage, 'Hope' is related to the reward from God, which has further explanation in v7-9, that is enjoyment of life.

In addition, the living has responses and relations with the surrounding, but the dead has not. Base on that, he can enjoy life, which is the reward from God. Even the sense of fearing of death is far supreme than death. Since the sense itself proves that the man is living.

Text : Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun. Ecc 9:6

Last, the preacher concluded that death finishs all the activities of men. All the relations loose, and all the feeling end.

The writer used those key words 'Love' and 'Hate' to correlate with v9:1. All the 'love' and 'hate' came from God's hand, and God terminates all these relations with death. Hence, before God terminates all our relations in this world, enjoy life right now is exhorted in v7-9.

TOPIC OF DEATH IN THIS BOOK

In Ecclesiastes, death is one of the important topics the preacher mentioned.

Listed below are the main passages related to death

2:20-21

3:18-21

5:15-16

6:3-6

8:8-9

9:2-5

We can observe the preacher's strategy of writing the verses about death is -- after each passage, he added a practical advice to enjoy life.

Death --> Enjoy life

2:20-21 --> 2:24-26

3:18-21 --> 3:22

5:15-16 --> 5:18-20

8:8-9 --> 8:15

9:2-5 --> 9:7-10

Except in the passage of v6:3-6. Nevertheless, in the content, the preacher commended that the one who died in mother's womb is better than the one who cannot have enjoyment in life. So this is a counter argument to exhort readers to enjoy life in the light of death.

According to the preacher, death is not a devil to encourage men to do evils, even all go to the same place (v9:2-3), in contrary, under the light of death, the preacher reminded readers that life is running short, so enjoy it more is appropriate.

In addition in chapter 7, preacher used a lot of proverbs to exhort readers to live wisely in the world of vanity. In the very beginning v7:1-2 the preacher first exhorted readers to see life in the light of death so that they can be a wise man. Death is a reminder to men that life is short and we must fully make use of. In the preacher's point of view, death is constructive and "teach [us] to number our days, that we may apply [our] hearts unto wisdom." Ps 90:12.

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