The Strand Study Bible

ECCLESIASTES ECCLESIASTES more productive –the meaning behind “ the profit of the earth is for all ”), making it better for him (the meaning behind “ the king himself is served by the field ). So, the more the government invests in its people, the more it betters the people… which in turn betters the government. Question is: What “kind” of government invests in its people? Those whose only aim in life is temporal success, will eventually experience that life is “vanity.” 5:10 The rich ( he that loveth abundance ) are never satisfied with what they have; for they always want more ( with increase ). Why? Because the love of money never produces satisfaction, but rather a “craving” that can never be satisfied. Adrian Rogers in Better Than Gold notes: A man of modest means once commented to a wealthy business tycoon, “I am richer than you are because I have all the money I want and you don’t.” In fact, not to want something is even better than owning it. 1 5:11 a It’s an unfortunate fact of life –the more we make ( when goods increase ) the more parasites (people who live off other people) we attract ( they are increased that eat them ). 5:11 b THE ADAGE IS TRUE: We will never get pleasure from all that we possess (the meaning behind: “ saving the beholding them with their eyes” ) 5:12 People with money ( the abundance of the rich ) tend to worry ( will not suffer him to sleep ) about how they will spend it. According to God, people need to learn to work hard whether they earn a lot of money or not ( whether he eat little or much – Eph 4:28). 5:14 Since making money and trying to hold on to it has always been so unpredictable ( riches perish by evil travail - Prov 23:4-5), parents are urged to reconsider their priorities and invest in their children values, instead of valuables. 6:2 Man is rarely content with who he is or “what he has” ( of all that he desireth ). 6:3 A stillborn birth ( untimely birth ) is better than a sterile life ( and his soul be not filled with good ). 6:11 Seeing man cannot control the future, he has no other choice but to let Him who is eternal show him how he ought to live. 7:1 There are two reasons why one’s death should be better than one’s birth: 1. Because your real life doesn’t begin until the day you die Revelation 14:13 says: 1018 Notice, it didn’t say, “Blessed are the living which are born in the Lord,” but “ Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. ” Die right and the day of your death becomes “better than” the day of your birth. So what if you were born on the right side of the tracks, with the right set of parents, and with the right opportunities and advantages in life. Your birth is meaningless if you die wrong. Absalom, King David’s son, had every advantage, yet died wrongly (II Sam 18:31-33). Thus, the day of your death becomes “better than” the day of your birth whenever you die right. In order to die right, you must place your trust in the only ONE who lived right. And there was only ONE who walked among us and lived right – CHRIST (II Cor 5:21, Heb 4:15 & 9:14, I Pet 1:18-19 & 2:21-22, I Jn 3:5, Isa 53:9 and Deut 32:4). Die right by trusting in the only ONE who lived and died right (Heb 9:24-28) and the day of your death becomes “better than” the day of your birth. THE ADAGE IS TRUE: Even if you weren’t born right, you can still die right (Lk 23:39-43) 2. Because other people benefit from people who leave this world a better place than when they entered it If a man’s life were such that he left a good name behind him (like Abel - Gen 4:1-9/ Heb 11:4 ), would not those who came after him benefit? Of course, Jesus is the perfect example of someone whose death “bettered” everyone (Rom 5:6-9). Sadly, you can live a good life without leaving a good name. Take King Hezekiah as an example. According to II Kings 18:1-3, he was a good man. In the end, however, Hezekiah cared little if the next generation was better off than his own (II Ki 20:16- 19). You don’t have to be wealthy or famous or even smart to leave a good name. All you have to do is care about the next generation. Leave the next generation better off and the day of your death will be “better than” the day of your birth. 7:2 The reason sorrow (the day of death – vs 1) and mourning (a funeral service – vs 2) are better than feasting and laughter (a wedding party – vs 2) is because sorrow and mourning cause us to reflect wisely on the brevity of life. 7:5 The “ song of fools ” is what we hear when we attend professional ball games, concerts, and parties. They are foolish because they are songs about the temporal instead of the eternal. Question: If you’re amused by fools and foolish things ( song of fools ), what does that make you? And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

1 Rodgers, Adrian. God’s Wisdom Is Better Than Gold , Memphis, TN, Love Worth Finding , 2001. Print.