Series: Ecclesiastes
Sermon #15: No Good!
Ecclesiastes
6:1-6
[Audio file from Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/Ecclesiastes61-6.]
1
There is an evil which I have seen
under the sun, and it is common among
men: 2 A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so
that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth
him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease. 3 If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that
the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he. 4 For he
cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered
with darkness. 5 Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the
other. 6 Yea, though he live a thousand
years twice told, yet hath he seen no
good: do not all go to one place?
Outline:
I. No Good - No Power (6:1-2)
II. No Good - No Burial (6:3)
III. No Good - No Light (6:4-6)
I. No Good - No Power (6:1-2)
1
There is an evil which I have seen
under the sun, and it is common among
men: 2 A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so
that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth
him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
1. An evil that is common (6:1)
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men
Notice the repetition of the word “evil” in these two verses.
Other usages of the same Hebrew word here translated “evil” in the
two previous sections of Ecclesiastes:
2:21 — For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in
knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he
leave it for his portion. This also is
vanity and a
great evil.
4:3 — Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been,
who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
5:1 — Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be
more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not
that they do evil.
5:13-14 — 13 There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun,
namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. 14 But those riches
perish by evil
travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.
5:16 — And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so
shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?
Other usages of the same Hebrew word here translated “evil” in
this third section of Ecclesiastes:
8:3 — Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing;
for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
8:5 — Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing:
and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.
8:11-12 — 11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed
speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be
prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God,
which fear before him:
Other usages of the same Hebrew word here translated “evil” in the
fourth and final section of Ecclesiastes:
9:3 — This is an evil among all things that are done under the
sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men
is full of evil,
and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the
dead.
9:12 — For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are
taken in an evil
net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons
of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
10:5 — There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an
error which proceedeth from the ruler:
11:2 — Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou
knowest not what
evil shall be upon the earth.
11:10 — Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil
from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.
12:1 — Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days
come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in
them;
12:14 — For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every
secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
2. A man who has everything…except one (6:2)
A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that
he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not
power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an
evil disease.
As mentioned previously, notice should be made of the repetition
of the word “evil” in these two verses. In this “sandwich” there are three
other pairings of words or phrases: “…God hath given….God giveth him not…,”
“…wanteth…desireth…,” and “…power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it…”
As we begin this chapter which opens the third major section of
Ecclesiastes (6:1-8:15), we are once again confronted with where we are, i.e. “under the sun,” and the evaluation
of what life is like for so many East of Eden and West of Glory, i.e. “vanity.”
The first two sections of Ecclesiastes repeatedly reference the
gifts of God, including one in the conclusion of the first section (2:26), and
two in the conclusion of the second section (5:18-19):
1:13 — And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom
concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of
man to be exercised therewith.
2:26 — For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and
knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather
and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
3:10 — I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men
to be exercised in it.
5:18-19 — 18 Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely
for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he
taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his
portion. 19 Every
man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to
eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the
gift of God.
This third section of Ecclesiastes also concludes with a reference
to the gift of God:
8:15 — Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing
under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide
with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
The fourth and final section of Ecclesiastes contains two
references to the gifts of God, the second of which is in the conclusion of the
section and the book:
9:9 — Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of
the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the
days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour
which thou takest under the sun.
12:11 — The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened
by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
II. No
Good - No Burial (6:3)
If a
man beget an hundred children, and
live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not
filled with good, and also that he
have no burial; I say, that an
untimely birth is better than he.
Let’s take the last clause first to understand this verse. In
other words, let’s work it back to front so that we get the force of what is
being emphasized here.
This verse is a conditional sentence framed with “If….then….”
“A full conditional sentence (one which expresses the
condition as well as its consequences) therefore contains two clauses: the
dependent clause expressing the condition, called the protasis;
and the main clause expressing the consequence, called the apodosis. An
example of such a sentence (in English) is the following:
If it rains, the picnic will be cancelled.
Here the
condition is expressed by the clause "If it rains", this being the
protasis, while the consequence is expressed by "the picnic will be
cancelled", this being the apodosis. (The protasis may either precede or
follow the apodosis; it is equally possible to say "The picnic will be
cancelled if it rains".) In terms of logic, the protasis corresponds to the antecedent, and the apodosis to the consequent.”
— Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conditional_sentence
[accessed 23 JAN 2016].
1.
What could be worse than dying by miscarriage?
I say, that an untimely
birth is better than he.
Job 3:16 — Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as
infants which never saw light.
Psalms 58:8 — As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass
away: like the
untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
2. Doing
the Math on Meaning: A large family, plus a long life, minus an empty soul,
minus a burial =
If a man beget an hundred
children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and
his soul be not filled with good, and also
that he have no burial;
1)
Positive Emphasis: 100 children, many years, restated as many “days of his
years”
2)
Negative Reality: Soul not filled with good, and no burial(?)
III.
No Good - No Light (6:4-6)
4
For he cometh in with vanity, and
departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness. 5 Moreover
he hath not seen the sun, nor known any
thing: this hath more rest than the other. 6 Yea, though he live
a thousand years twice told, yet hath
he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
1. Beginning, End, and Legacy (6:4)
For
he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be
covered with darkness.
2. Blind, Ignorant, and Restless (6:5)
Moreover
he hath not seen the sun, nor known any
thing: this hath more rest than the other.
3. Quantity, Quality, and Question (6:6)
Yea,
though he live a thousand years twice
told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
[Sermon preached 24 JAN 2016 by Pastor John T. “Jack”
Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]
Complete Outline:
I. No Good - No Power (6:1-2)
1. An evil that is common (6:1)
2. A man who has everything…except
one (6:2)
II. No Good - No Burial (6:3)
1.
What could be worse than dying by miscarriage?
2. Doing the Math on Meaning: A
large family, plus a long life, minus an empty soul, minus a burial =
III. No Good - No Light (6:4-6)
1. Beginning, End, and Legacy (6:4)
2. Blind, Ignorant, and Restless
(6:5)
3. Quantity,
Quality, and Question (6:6)
Select Sources on Ecclesiastes:
J. Sidlow Baxter,
Explore The Book: A Basic and Broadly
Interpretive Course of Bible Study from Genesis to Revelation, 6 vols. in 1
ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, n.d., 1960 printing).
William D.
Barrick, Ecclesiastes: The Philippians of
the Old Testament, Focus on the Bible series (Fearn, Ross-Shire, Scotland:
Christian Focus, 2012).
C. Hassell
Bullock, An Introduction to the Old
Testament Poetic Books: The Wisdom and Songs of Israel (Chicago: Moody
Press, 1979)/
Michael A. Eaton,
Ecclesiastes: An Introduction and
Commentary, Vol. 16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL:
Inter-Varsity, 1983).
F. Delitzsch,
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon,
trans. M. G. Easton, Vol. VI in C. F. Kiel and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten
Volumes, trans. James Martin (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, n.d., 1975 reprint).
Duane A. Garrett,
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs,
Vol. 14, New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman, 1993).
Donald R. Glenn,
“Ecclesiastes,” in The Bible Knowledge
Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. J. F. Walvoord, and R. B.
Zuck (Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1985).
William Henry
Green, “Scope and Plan of the Book of Ecclesiastes,” Biblical Reparatory and Princeton Review 29 (1857), pp. 419-40; on Gordon Faculty Online at http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/OTeSources/21-Ecclesiastes/Text/Articles/Green-ScopeofEccl-1857.pdf [accessed 7 NOV 2015].
Walter C. Kaiser,
Jr., Ecclesiastes: Total Life, in
Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979).
Walter C. Kaiser,
Jr., Coping With Change: Ecclesiastes
(Fearn, Roth-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2013).
H. C. Leupold, Exposition of Ecclesiastes (Grand
Rapids: Baker, 1952).
Tremper Longman
III, The Book of Ecclesiastes, New
International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997).
John MacArthur, MacArthur Study Bible, rev. ed.
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997).
Roland Edmund
Murphy, Ecclesiastes, Vol. 23A, Word
Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, 1992).
Philip Graham
Ryken, Ecclesiastes: Why Everything
Matters, in Preaching the Word, gen. ed. R. Kent Hughes (Wheaton: Crossway,
2010).
Philip G. Ryken, Why Everything Matters: The Gospel in
Ecclesiastes (Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications,
Ltd., 2015).
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