Resisting Nihilism
It is very
easy to find yourself in nihilism after reading Ecclesiastes 9. We need to be very careful that we don’t
arrive there. It might seem after
reading these opening 6 verses that Solomon is telling us that having morals
and ethics is a pointless pursuit because we all die in the end anyway. It also might seem like Solomon is telling us
that death is pointless because dead people can do nothing. Can you feel the nihilism coming out from a
surface reading of this opening section?
However,
there is a deeper driving thrust to which we should pay attention. What Solomon is actually saying is that we
cannot escape death regardless of how righteous or unrighteous we are. We will all die. The same event comes upon every single one of
us. What is the old cliché? There are two guarantees in life: death and
taxes.
Therefore,
we can experience a true freedom in our spirit if we can get past the
nihilism. If we say, “I can’t live
forever, so I’m going to do what I want while I’m alive and enjoy it” then we
get caught up in the nihilism and we lead a meaningless life filled simply with
chasing our tail while trying to find happiness. However, if we take it to the deeper level we
say, “My righteousness cannot free me from death, so now I must find a different
reason for being righteous.” Do you hear
how that thought immediately focuses us away from the internal
self-monger? Once we recognize that
death comes to both the righteous and the unrighteous then we need to find
another reason to be righteous if we desire to remain righteous. In a very New Testament sense, recognizing
that all people die helps us jump from “salvation by works” to “salvation by
grace.”
What
better reason is there to be righteous than obedience to God? Thus, through Solomon’s words here we come to
an incredible conclusion. Being
righteous to try and prevent death is pointless; therefore, let us be free to
be righteous because God has asked us to be righteous. If we can get through the nihilism, we
actually find ourselves being driven to Christ.
We are not righteous in action in order to try and earn our
salvation. We are righteous because we
know we cannot earn our salvation and in response to God’s grace we humble
ourselves in obedience.
Enjoying Life
I really
do enjoy this middle section of this chapter.
Solomon tells us to enjoy life.
Now, he isn’t saying that we should party all the time. But Solomon is saying that if we are going to
live we should take up pursuits that genuinely bring joy into our life. It is okay to have fun. It is okay to love living. We just need to find godly pursuits that
bring us joy and devote ourselves to them.
Things like marriages (for husbands and wives, of course), fellowship
among the saints, and pursuing God’s agenda.
These kinds of things should be fun.
Sheol
I will
toss out a very quick query. It’s a
thought that I’ve not had until reading through Ecclesiastes this most recent
time. Ecclesiastes 9:10 tells us that
there is no work or thought or wisdom or knowledge in the place of the dead
(Sheol). I’m a strong believer that once
a person dies their relationship with God is sealed. If they were in Christ prior to death they
will eventually pass into glory with God.
If they were not in Christ prior to death they will eventually pass into
judgment and wrath. As much as I would
not like that to be so, I believe that is reality. Could it be that verse 10 is a verse
asserting that very principle? Our
relationship with God should be settled while we are alive because in the place
of the dead there is nothing of substance that can change that relationship.
We end our
chapter on another conversation about “Wisdom Versus ____.” Wisdom versus
popularity. Wisdom versus wealth. Wisdom versus status. In each of these cases, Solomon tells us that
wisdom is better than all. With wisdom
we can make choices in life. Status,
wealth, and popularity are all things we chase.
The more we have, the less we are satisfied and the harder we pursue
even more. With wisdom, that is not the
case. The more wisdom we have, the more
we appreciate the pursuit of God because we know that we cannot ever satisfy
ourselves.
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