The Good Life?
Ecclesiastes 6:1-9
August 1, 2021
Well I know after reading that chapter one may wonder
Where in the world that the title “The Good Life” comes from.
Chapter 6, like Ch. 5 before it, doesn’t exactly sound like anything good.
In fact, it’s rather DEPRESSING to read it.
AND AGAIN I WANT TO REMIND YOU THAT THIS IS THE POINT.
• We live in a fallen world.
• We are flooded with deceptions and temptations.
• We are continually led and pushed down paths that will not offer the fulfillment that is promised.
In short, we are all victims of the great advertiser.
That deceiver who is trying to sell you the used car with all the problems
But is describing it like the greatest vehicle you’ve ever seen.
And we’d be absolutely helpless to see through his deceptions
If it wasn’t for men like THE CRITIC.
That’s what the preacher is.
Many think he is just a bitter old negative soul who doesn’t like life.
But that’s not him at all. He is not critiquing life,
He is critiquing the lifestyle that the world promotes.
Make no mistake there is a good life to be had.
• There is in fact the good life out there,
• But you won’t find it by listening to the world that lies in the power of the evil one.
We are THANKFUL for the preacher here in Ecclesiastes
Who is helping us understand the truth about the faulty promises
That are so often given to us by the world.
I’m finding the study to be so beneficial and important IN MY LIFE
• To help me see the things of the world for what they really are
• And to help me “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”.
THIS STUDY IS SO IMPORTANT.
NOW THIS MORNING
We come to to THE END of the preacher’s FIRST MAIN POINT.
9 times in the book we read the phrase “striving after wind.”
The final time is here at the end of verse 9.
It is a statement which speaks of a man
Pursuing that which he can never catch and never hold.
• It is a fantasy which can never be realized.
• It is a treasure which can never be held.
• It is a dream which can never be reality.
Ultimately the thing the preacher was striving for was
Fulfillment or Satisfaction or “The Good Life”.
• And as he searched he listened to the world’s advice
• Regarding how to obtain that good life, but it didn’t work.
• In this book he is outlining for you that what the world offered was bad advice.
And while the preacher has used the phrase “striving after wind”
9 times it actually refers to 4 empty promises.
Let me shrink the book a little for you here for a minute
And help you SEE THE MAIN POINT he has made for the first 6 chapters.
The first two times the writer used that phrase was in 1:14 and 1:17
It is when the preacher was talking about:
THE FUTILITY OF WISDOM
Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 “I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted. I said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind. Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.”
If you remember the preacher was talking about how he was promised that if he would simply get wisdom (or knowledge) then he’d have the secret to prosperity and fulfilment and satisfaction in life.
But it didn’t work.
He obtained knowledge and it didn’t fix anything.
(1:15) “What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted.”
In other words all the knowledge in the world
Couldn’t fix his DEPRAVITY and it couldn’t satisfy his DEFICIENCY.
Knowledge never makes a man perfect.
• We spoke of the apostle Paul and how the more he learned the Law all it did was show how much of a sinner he was.
• Even Bible knowledge won’t make you a better person (only the Holy Spirit does that) Bible knowledge will simply show you what a bad person you are.
The Law condemns, the Spirit gives life.
And the preacher learned that.
“in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.”
That was his first main point.
To pursue knowledge as a means to satisfaction is “striving after wind”
• It is an unrealizable dream.
• It is an unobtainable promise.
Then the preacher moved on to the next major myth. He spoke of
THE FUTILITY OF PLEASURE
The next 3 times he uses the phrase “striving after wind” is in chapter 2 (11,17,26)
Ecclesiastes 2:9-11 “Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor. Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.”
Remember he tried pleasure.
• He tried wine
• He tried works
• He tried wealth
• He tried women
He gave himself to the sensual pleasures of men
And yet there was no satisfaction there.
There was only frustration and boredom.
Ecclesiastes 2:17 “So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.”
And that was his main point in chapter 2.
Pursuing pleasure as a means of obtaining satisfaction is a myth.
• It is an unrealizable dream
• It is an unobtainable promise.
Now at this point in the book the preacher did PAUSE FOR A WARNING.
After the first two reviews the preacher stopped to make a point.
• He saw the young man pursuing knowledge…
• He saw the young man pursuing pleasure…
And he stopped in his discourse momentarily
TO TELL THE YOUNG MAN NOT TO WASTE HIS LIFE.
This was the famous chapter on TIME; chapter 3.
• Where he paused in his review long enough to remind us that there is an appropriate response to everything God ordains.
Don’t respond inappropriately in this life
Because death is coming and judgment will follow.
YOU HAVE A SMALL ALLOTTED TIME ON EARTH.
USE IT APPROPRIATELY.
And then after that warning the preacher RETURNED to his myth-busting.
He started speaking of his third myth that is so often advertised.
THE FUTILITY OF ACCOMPLISHMENT
And this was found in chapter 4.
3 times in this chapter he used the phrase “striving after wind” (4,6,16)
The chapter showed us a man who worked his whole life
To accomplish something and in the end it wasn’t worth it.
Ecclesiastes 4:4-6 “I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind. The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh. One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.”
Remember how he spoke of
• How even though rest is to be desired a man can’t afford to do it
• Because if he does his competitor will put him out of business.
• And so men literally push one another to exhaustion in this rat race of for accomplishment.
And yet, despite their efforts
Men still end up getting kicked to the curb, replaced and forgotten.
He told the story of that king
• Who was corrupt and so the people cried for his replacement.
• They chose a young poor lad and bestowed on him the honor kingship.
• Yet it wasn’t long before they got tired of him and wanted him replaced too.
Ecclesiastes 4:16 “There is no end to all the people, to all who were before them, and even the ones who will come later will not be happy with him, for this too is vanity and striving after wind.”
We spoke of professional athletes
• Who are drafted and loved and people buy their jerseys and they endure injury and work hard to succeed
• But in just a few short years people will be calling for their replacement too.
The preacher says you are often promised that
If you work hard and accomplish things
Then you’ll find satisfaction but it just isn’t true.
THE WORLD DOESN’T CARE about your accomplishments.
Give them enough time and they’ll tear down your statues too.
Now those where the first 3 myths he busted.
The final myth is listed here in chapter 6.
Now, we already started studying it,
Because the preacher started discussing it in chapter 5.
THE FUTILITY OF ACQUIRING TREASURE
Remember how in chapter 5 the preacher started talking about all the threats you face if you obtain money?
(This was actually our last sermon three weeks ago)
He WASN’T talking about a man who wanted money.
He WAS talking about a man who had it.
And he was talking about all the problems that come with it.
CORRUPTION
Ecclesiastes 5:8 “If you see oppression of the poor and denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be shocked at the sight; for one official watches over another official, and there are higher officials over them.”
DISSATISFACTION
Ecclesiastes 5:10 “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.”
FRUSTRATION
Ecclesiastes 5:11 “When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to look on?”
WORRY
Ecclesiastes 5:12 “The sleep of the working man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much; but the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep.”
UNCERTAINTY
Ecclesiastes 5:13-14 “There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt. When those riches were lost through a bad investment and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing to support him.”
LOSS
Ecclesiastes 5:15 “As he had come naked from his mother’s womb, so will he return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand.”
All of those spoke of the fact that obtaining treasure
Does not bring satisfaction,
Instead it brings a whole list of other problems.
If you think storing treasure will give you fulfillment then think again.
WELL THIS MORNING the preacher concludes that thought.
In fact, he sort of sums them all up to talk about this FINAL MYTH.
It is found here in the first 9 verses of chapter 6
Where now,
Because of all the threats to his treasure that the rich man faces
The preacher now clearly lists the problem.
Let’s look at our text now and read those first 2 verses.
(1-2) “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent among men— a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner enjoys them. This is vanity and a severe affliction.”
• What is the evil?
• What is the threat?
It is that here we have a man whom “God has given riches”
He was able to acquire the treasure he pursued.
He obtained “riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires;”
HE MADE IT!
• He got that salary he always pursued…
• He was able to build the house he always wanted…
• He is driving the car he always desired…
• He’s got the best recliner money can buy…
• And his retirement is set…
HE MADE IT!
But now he’ll face all those problems that the preacher listed in chapter 5
• The government is going to try to take it
• Advertising will show him there is still more he needs (there is a newer, better recliner out there)
• Friends are going to try to borrow it
• Inflation is going to devalue it and he’s going to worry about that
• Tragedy and disaster may very well claim it
• Eventually he’ll die and have to leave it all
AND SO EVEN THOUGH HE FINALLY GOT ALL THAT HE DESIRED
HE FOUND OUT THE COLD HARD TRUTH.
There is no satisfaction.
“God has given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner enjoys them. This is vanity and a severe affliction.”
It is the tragedy of UNENJOYED TREASURES.
Here is a guy who finally got everything he wanted
And for some reason he did not get to enjoy it.
• Either the government took it
• Or advertising convinced him it wasn’t enough
• Or his friends continually borrowed it
• Or worry robbed him of enjoyment
• Or inflation made it decrease in value
• Or somehow he lost it
• Or he died before he got to use it
Whatever the reason he obtained it and never got to enjoy it.
And the preacher says this is “prevalent among men”
And “this is vanity and a severe affliction”
It is a grievous evil in this world.
Men who scratch and claw and work their whole life for something
And even when they obtain it they find no satisfaction there.
And the preacher has A Sobering Comparison
For just how awful such a thing is.
(3) “If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper burial, then I say, “Better the miscarriage than he,”
Listen to that.
• It’s a man who gets what he wanted.
• It’s a man who obtains his goals.
• But he finds that there is still not satisfaction in life.
It’s misery!
And the preacher says, “Better the miscarriage than he”
That’s a harsh analogy.
Why would he say that?
Let him explain.
(4-5) “for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity. “It never sees the sun and it never knows anything; it is better off than he.”
What is his point?
• Namely that the child that dies before birth
• Has advantage over the man who obtains the world but finds no satisfaction.
Why?
Because at least that child doesn’t know
The pain and struggle of such disappointment.
According to the preacher there is a GREATER SUFFERING to be found
In the realization that all your labor and striving wasn’t worth it.
The suffering is so bad that
You’d be better off to have never even known what it was like to have it.
Anyone remember playing Chinese Christmas with the kids that year?
It was one thing for a kid to never get a gift.
But to get a gift and then have it stolen was misery!
“Better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.’”
The man looked at him and said, “Try it!”
There is pain there.
And that is what the preacher is saying.
This life has an intense hardship of letting you get what you want
But still not let you have satisfaction.
THE PREACHER GOES ON.
(6) “Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice and does not enjoy good things – do not all go to one place?”
In other words,
• Even if he gets a really long life
• As compared to the miscarriage who never sees the sun,
• Don’t they still end up at the same place.
The difference is that the miscarriage has no disappointment.
• That baby went straight to the presence of God and never knows the grief of the living.
• But the rich man suffered the realization that there is no satisfaction in all that he has acquired.
And the preacher continues.
(7) “All a man’s labor is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not satisfied.”
That is his summation of this life.
• We work, we toil, we strive, we push, we exert energy.
• And we do it for that which cannot be satisfied.
And so you are hearing the point of the preacher.
HE HAS BEEN CONSISTENT.
There IS temporary joy to be gained from the good things of this life,
But if you are expecting satisfaction for the soul from this world, forget it.
Wisdom won’t bring it
Pleasure won’t bring it
Achievement won’t bring it
Acquiring Treasure won’t bring it
THOSE ARE MYTHS.
And so here comes his FINAL “striving after wind” statement of the book.
It concludes the first major point.
(8-9) “For what advantage does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage does the poor man have, knowing how to walk before the living? What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires. This too is futility and a striving after wind.”
He compares the WISE man to the fool.
• If both end up in death and neither find satisfaction through this life is there any temporal advantage found to wisdom?
He compares the PRUDENT (who knows how to live) man to the fool.
• But again, if both end up in death and neither find satisfaction through this life is there any temporal advantage found there?
And his answer is NONE.
It’s all just men striving for that which they cannot obtain.
And he says, “What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires.”
Ever hear the statement, “A bird I hand is worth two in the bush”?
It means something concrete and real is better than
Something that is only a potential hope.
And that is all the promises of this world represent.
This life is like two birds in the bush.
• It looks like an opportunity.
• Advertisements and advice and temptations tell you it’s out there.
• Satan is constantly dangling carrots of fulfillment before you.
But you’ll never hold it.
“This too is futility and a striving after wind.”
SO HE HAS NOW CAPPED OFF HIS FIRST POINT TO THE BOOK.
The first six chapters has been an eye-opening critique
Of the promises of the world.
The world says get knowledge it will bring fulfilment.
The world says experience pleasure it will bring fulfilment.
The world says accomplish great things you’ll be fulfilled.
The world says acquire treasure and you’ll have fulfilment.
And they preacher says – WRONG!
All of those things are striving after the wind.
They are to seek the unobtainable goal.
NONE OF THOSE THINGS BRING “THE GOOD LIFE”
BUT LISTEN – and this is so important.
THERE’S A REASON THIS WORLD DOESN’T SATISFY
It’s NOT simply because Satan is a liar.
• On one hand those things never pan out because Satan lies to us and what he offers isn’t true.
But there is another reason why those things will never satisfy
And it’s a critical point to understand.
GOD WON’T LET THEM SATISFY.
Look back at verse 2.
“a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them…”
It is God who refuses to allow these things to satisfy.
Remember all the way back in chapter 2 the preacher talked about this.
Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 “There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind.”
Satisfaction is only found in God (ultimately His Son)
And He will not allow the things of this world to satisfy.
BUT THE WORLD WOULD ASK:
Why would God be so cruel?
Why would God be so stingy?
(I’m speaking like the world)
Why would God refuse to let those things satisfy?
Because if you could find ultimate satisfaction
In the things of this world
Then you’d never have a desire to pursue God.
The objective is to drive men to God.
• Every frustration, every grief, every sorrow, every pain…
• It was all for one purpose and that is to get you to forsake this world and run to
God!
Because God alone has the plan that is for your good.
Have we not read this time and time again?
• Even on the day when God was bringing Babylon to destroy Jerusalem.
• Even on the day when all the desires and pursuits of Israel were coming crashing down.
• Even on the day when they were losing the land they had obtained.
On that day God reminded them
Of the point that the preacher makes here.
That the good life is not about what you know
Or what you experience or accomplish or what you obtain.
The good life is found only in knowing God.
AND IN THAT DARK HOUR
Here was the message God had for a people in the midst of destruction.
Jeremiah 29:10-14 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’”
THAT IS THE POINT!
Israel had only been out to obtain the world.
• They wanted their own land.
• Like the other nations they wanted their own king.
• Like the other nations they wanted their high places.
They were buying the lie!
And just like the preacher said here, God let them have it.
But God never let them enjoy it.
They had the land but they never had REST!
That was the great allusion wasn’t it!
God had promised them
• A land that flows with milk and honey;
• A land where they would find rest from their enemies.
They got the land, but they never had rest.
Rest and satisfaction were always the goal.
Remember in the very beginning?
• God cursed the ground and told Adam that only by the sweat of his brow would he bring forth food.
• And it’s not long after that Adam’s descendants are lamenting that there is no rest in this land.
In fact, listen to Noah’s daddy, right after Noah was born:
Genesis 5:28-29 “Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of a son. Now he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed.”
So how refreshing it was when Moses comes along and promises rest.
How exciting it was when Joshua took them into the land.
But still NO REST.
In fact about 300 years after Joshua took them into the land David is still talking about obtaining the rest that had alluded Israel.
Psalms 95:7b-11 “Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. “Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”
Israel kept missing the point.
They kept pursuing satisfaction and fulfillment
In the things of the world instead of in the things of God,
And thus they never found satisfaction.
God would temporarily allow them to taste it.
God let them live in the land for a while.
But ultimately there was no satisfaction.
And on the day that God drove them out of the land He reminded them that I alone know what is good, and I alone have a good plan for your life.
This plan of God ultimately revealed itself
About 600 years after God made that promise through Jeremiah.
The world saw a light that appeared in the darkness.
Jesus approached these people
Who had been allowed to get a good taste of the bitterness of this life.
And to those people He said:
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
And there you have it.
• There is a good life, but the world doesn’t offer it.
• There is satisfaction, but the world doesn’t know it.
Only in Christ can we find the fulfillment that God has for us.
And all the frustrations of this life
Are merely the tool of God to drive you to Him.
Now there was much more I had hoped to get to this morning, but we’ll have to save it until next time.
ARE YOU SEEKING CHRIST?
