Pastor's Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes (series), #13 - Birth And Death Related to the Life Between (Ecclesiastes 5:9-17)

Series: Ecclesiastes

Sermon #13: Birth And Death Related to the Life Between

Ecclesiastes 5:9-17

[Audio file from Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/Ecclesiastes59-17.]

⁹ Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field. ¹⁰ He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. ¹¹ When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? ¹² The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. 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. ¹⁵ As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. 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? ¹⁷ All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.

Introduction:

The nature of the middle sections of Ecclesiastes

Note: There are noticeable differences in paragraphing involving this section evident in various translations. Many modern translations seem to link verse 9 with verse 8, rather than seeing verse 9 as beginning a new paragraph.

Outline:

I. Who is it for? Profit and Service (5:9)

II. How is that working out for you? Part 1: Satisfied? (5:10-11)

III. How is that working out for you? Part 2: Sweet Dreams! (5:12)

IV. You’ll wonder where your riches went… Riches Perish! (5:13-14)

V. How did you come into this world? Naked and Empty-handed! (5:15-17)

Transition:  

Once again we must remind ourselves that these epigrams are connected, and that there is a flow to the  inspired content authored by Qoheleth. There are paired phrases throughout these verses, and emphases that must be observed to get the point of God’s Word in these verses.

I. Who is it for? Profit and Service (5:9)

Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.

Paired: The profit of the earth, and the service of the field

Mr. King, you can’t live without the crops anymore than anyone else can. You are just as dependent upon the fruit of the earth as everyone. What the earth produces, it produces for all. Your station on life does nothing to erase this common denominator. Regardless of what form of government or period of history is involved, it does not matter who you are, who you think you are, or when or where you were born, the principle expressed in this epigram will be true. The truth found here will be relevant. It will be relevant to all, even to those who see themselves are quite different from everyone else for one reason or another.

II. How is that working out for you? Part 1: Satisfied? (5:10-11)

¹⁰ He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. ¹¹ When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?

Paired: The love of silver, and the love of abundance

Paired: Increased goods, and increased consumers — This pairing picks up on the previous mention of “abundance with increase”

There is a question here in verse 11 about what good are the goods? And isn’t the only answer, “For looking at?” Is this like Lone Watie (played by Chief Dan George) about his rock candy in the movie The Outlaw Josey Wales? [1]

“Josey Wales:[2] You have any food here?

Lone Watie: All I have is a piece of hard rock candy. But it's not for eatin'. It's just for lookin' through.” [3]

Satisfied yet? How is that working out for you?

III. How is that working out for you? Part 2: Sweet Dreams! (5:12)

The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

Here is a chiastic structure with a missing element:

Sleep — laborer — sweet — little or much /vs./ abundance — rich — no sleep

A — B — C — D /vs./ D¹ — [C²] — B² — A²

The missing C² element by apposition in the chiasm would be expected to be “bitter,” the opposite of “sweet.” However, since the rich are not allowed to sleep by their abundance, the point is not only moot, but is emphasized by its absence. Therefore, it is not only sleep versus its lack that is involved in this epigram, but the very nature of the sleep of the laborer that is emphasized. The laborer does not just sleep while the rich man suffers insomnia, but the laborer has “sweet dreams” as he sleeps!

Another emphasis in this epigram is seen in the indirect proportion — one independent the size of his meal — the other directly affected in a negative manner by the very abundance of his possessions.

The issue of eating was introduced implicitly in verse 9, and explicitly in verse 11. It will come up again in the final verse in this section, verse 17.

The more the merrier???

How is that working out for you?

IV. You’ll wonder where your riches went… Riches Perish!

(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.

Paired: Riches kept, riches perish — “kept” and then not kept — possessed, and then lost

Easy come, easy go!

Boast not in your riches!

Paired: A sore evil, and evil travail — “evil” as a noun, and then as an adjective

Notice that phrase “in his hand.” You might see it again!

“…nothing in his hand.” (5:14)

“You’ll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent!” [4]

You’ll wonder where your riches went, when bad times come as they always have!

Who is in control of circumstances and events?

V. How did you come into this world? Naked and Empty-handed! (5:15-17)

¹⁵ As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. 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? ¹⁷ All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.

Two similes: “as he came forth of his mother’s womb…,” and “as he came…” (repeated twice, both in vv. 15 and 16)

The emphasis is on the nakedness of a new borne baby. This is emphasized by the three-fold repetition, and then spelled out in the middle of the repeated second simile by the insistence that it is “in all points.”

Not even the farmer’s “rags” will be taken with you at death!

“I came into this world naked, and if I leave it with a few rags on then I gained something!”

Note: I heard this statement repeated many times as a teenager while working for a local farmer, Dever Matteson, in Mount Upton, NY.

There is that “in his hand” again!

“…nothing….in his hand.” (5:15; cp. 5:14)

In between birth and death “What profit?” is the question!

What are you laboring for? What are you working for? Is your life a life spent “working for the wind”! Are we honestly willing to consider that as a summary of all of our lifelong efforts?

We close with the picture of every day of a life spent in darkness, sorrow, wrath, and sickness. However, this is couched in the same situation that was repeatedly found in the previous verses. The issue of eating was introduced implicitly in verse 9, and explicitly in verses 11 and 12.

Is it possible that the phrasing of this last verse is designed to present us with the picture of someone “eating his days”? Perhaps the following paraphrase is in order: “Also he eats all of his days in darkness and much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.” In other words, he consumes what time he has between birth and death as a diet. In that case this may be the very sickness that the verse closes with, and then what lies in between is what is spread on the table at meal time: darkness, sorrow, and wrath. His sickness is that he eats up all the days of his life seasoned only with darkness, sadness and anger. A sore evil indeed!

[Sermon preached 10 JAN 2016 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]

Complete Outline:

I. Who is it for? Profit and Service (5:9)

II. How is that working out for you? Part 1: Satisfied? (5:10-11)

III. How is that working out for you? Part 2: Sweet Dreams! (5:12)

IV. You’ll wonder where your riches went… Riches Perish! (5:13-14)

V. How did you come into this world? Naked and Empty-handed! (5:15-17)

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).

J. Stafford Wright, “Ecclesiastes,” in Psalms-Song of Songs, Vol. 5, Expositor's Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991).

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Notes:

[1] Warner Brothers, 1976.

[2] Played by Clint Eastwood.

[3] IMDb at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075029/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu [accessed 9 JAN 2016].

[4] Toothpaste advertisement jingle that ran from 1948 to the 1960s. See on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP2h4LjBXu0 [accessed 9 JAN 2016]; Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepsodent [accessed 9 JAN 2016]; and The Phrase Finder at http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/422100.html [accessed 9 JAN 2016].