How Can I Handle Life's Uncertainities? - Ecclesiastes 9-12

It is doubtful that any one that reads this commentary has ever stopped long enough and tried successfully to analyze many of the profound statements found in Ecclesiastes. Solomon says that there is nothing new under the sun. That means that God was—and He took nothing and made everything that is. Genesis says that it took Him six days to finish the job and on the seventh day He rested. This means that there is absolutely nothing in existence today that was not created by God in those six days—and there will never be anything else [not even a tiny atom or molecule—not even one more hair] will ever be created. On the day God created man, only one was up and walking around—but the bible says that on that day, God created every person that will ever be born on this earth or anywhere else.

If God prolongs the existence of man on earth, every one of us will have hundreds of great, great grand sons; also hundreds of great, great, great, grand daughters—there could be at least a hundred or a thousand more generations being born each year. On the day of creation each and every one of us and those to come were created by God. The bible tells us that He knew us before we were conceived and even knew the number of hairs that would be on each head. How is this possible? Science has proven that the human body is made up of a combination elements and minerals that are known to exist on earth. God created the materials that we are made of in one day.

Through Solomon’s wisdom we have learned that nothing on earth remains the same. Water changes to vapor that rises and turns into the rain that falls—that is frozen into ice that is eaten and changes into water and the cycle continues. There will never be one more drop of water than that which exists today. God created the earth of rocks, minerals, soil; everything that can be isolated and named. Then he took a portion of the dust of the earth and created man. Man lives four score and ten years and returns to the earth from whence he came. Then God’s plan for the life cycle will start over in a new generation. Through this process the one thing that is certain is that all physical matter changes and man has no control over the life cycle process that God made.

The next step in thinking through the existence of man is that we must realize that we are not one man but two; the physical as discussed above, and spiritual man which is that part of us that was created in the image of God—who is spirit. We have no control over the physical development; God decided where, when, and how we would be born. He decided what elements we would be made of and ordered their arrangement so there are no two individuals that are alike. When he breathed into man the breath of life our spirit—our soul—was given the power of choice and therefore we are responsible for the decisions we make, even as to where we will spend eternity.

This train of thought turns to things that Solomon taught us in his wisdom—which was from God. He warns us that this life is filled with the uncertainties of both time and events. Since the spirit man will be the one to decide how to handle the uncertainties of life he tells us that it is impossible for us to be successful on our own; it is absolutely necessary for our spirit to trust the spirit and power found only in God.

Football season is here—practice started a week ago. There are many uncertainties that lie ahead for all teams that will play. The Hogs played the number one team in the nation last year and lost. We will play them again this year and the outcome right now is uncertain; however, if we can beat number one, it will be a winning season for some. This uncertainty would turn into one of joy and revenge and bring satisfaction to many. This uncertainty will make it an entertaining game to watch. This is not so in our every day life—because many of our uncertainties in life are not fun and games…in fact to most of us uncertainy is frightening.

It is a fact [certain] that Arkansas had the outstanding freshman running back last year and everyone was looking forward to his second year as he would help bring more victories. He made a bad mistake. He forgot [if he ever knew] that God is in control of our lives and that he must depend upon God to guide him through his second year on the field. At four o’clock in the morning—in the parking lot in front of a questionable night club in a questionable neighborhood of Little Rock [anyone with wisdom would not have been where he was] he became involved in an altercation that may prevent him from ever being the great player he could have been. Even if he completely recovers, he has this uncertainty that he must live with for some time to come.

Beginning in chapter nine Solomon starts addressing the end of life and what we must do to prepare. He reminds us that the rich suffer and die as well as the poor, therefore it is not what we do or what we accomplish in this life that really matters—what matters is that we live each day realizing that we are in God’s hands and He will be the final judge. His main idea is that this life is full of uncertainties and that makes it absolutely necessary for us to trust in a sovereign and wise God—in fact it is the only reasonable option that we have. To do less is to practice the fool. We do not have a clue regarding what the future holds. We know that all suffer, fail, and finally die, and if that completely occupies our minds we will be of all people most miserable. We must be thankful and praise God for our good times and enjoy them with meekness. We must be thankful and praise God for our bad times because of the good that we know will come as a result. Remember that God is God of the bad times just as he is the good, and Paul promised us in Romans 8:28 that even our worst days will work to bring us good. You must read it and believe it—have faith; have faith in God, He is on his throne.

Those that won’t work should not eat. To be lazy is sin. However, it is also irrational to be a workaholic to the point that we let our family relationships break down. It takes time to practice verse nine, but it can not be neglected. We can not neglect our responsibilities simply because we consider the world’s value system as being unfair. It is unfair. Just remember the world’s value system is an object of how sinful men think and act toward each other. God did not create this imperfect system. It has come from evil minds of men—the only part God had in it was that he gave us freedom of choice—we can have a ‘do right’ value system, or an unfair one; it is our choice.

The teacher reminds us that quiet words of a wise person are better than the boisterous shouting of politicians who are calling for attention to themselves. Briefly his quiet words of wisdom in chapter nine tells us to use our time wisely because we do not know when the end will come. We must live to please God and not for the world’s applause.

When you read chapter ten you will see that it is filled with examples of how to live the foolish life. Some of these may—at first—seem so minor and insignificant; but we must know and remember that sometimes it is the little things that cause our final downfall. We should never despise the little duties we are assigned, because the benefits can sometimes be great. Even the words we speak are important to God and he says that we will give an account for any foolish words we say. If you look at the different levels of people the teacher mentions you will see that foolishness is on display at all levels of society—even kings and rulers talk and act foolishly. You get the impression from this lesson that it is much more profitable for us to work smarter than it is to work harder—wisdom is highly emphasized—and the wisest man on earth should know. A first and a big part of working smarter is making proper preparation before you start a job. I knew two brothers in the late 1930’s that farmed together. They were asked why they were returning from the field immediately after going to work. They said they had to return to get their plow. A carpenter would never go to a newly poured foundation to build a house without his hammer and saw and needed materials with which to build. Proper preparation brings better results.

Solomon says that your tongue will give you away. Talk seems cheap but it can become costly. The NT says that it is poisonous like an adder. It is easy to downplay the importance of little things—small tasks—but they can determine the course of a man’s life. My dad taught me to take care of my pennies and then the dollars would take care of themselves. Don’t waste the little things that enter your life; they can accumulate into bigger assets.

Two things are said to be certain in life—death and taxes, but I say that the two certainties in life is that we must die and we must live until we die. We have nothing to say about death, but we totally control our life from now until our time comes to meet God. Thinking and talking about death may seem morbid but Solomon says they produce wise living. To live wisely is to make preparation for the day when life is no more. Were the young men from Conway living wisely when they entered a restricted area on the bluff near the dam site at a forbidden time of night? Solomon would probably say that the one that drowned was a good man, very knowledgeable but he lacked wisdom. The last part of chapter eleven is instructions to young people. He makes the point that young people should enjoy their youthful season of life—but they must never forget that everything they think and do will be judged by God.

As you finish chapter twelve you will find a graphic description of the aging process that should humble and sober all of us into loving, and enjoying life on earth while we keep God and the end time in the cross hairs of our scope sight. If you are young, enjoy your younger years because there are great advantages in being young. If you are in your older years, use this time to allow God to reveal his purposes for your latter days. You are not a thing that happened. God gave you life for a purpose, and the most important task in your life is for you to find that purpose and get in it.