Pastor's Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes (series), #29 - There is Only Hope While There is Life (Ecclesiastes 9:2-6)

Series: Ecclesiastes

Sermon #29: There is Only Hope 

While There is Life

Ecclesiastes 9:2-6

[Audio file from Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/Ecclesiastes92-6.]

2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. 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. 4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

Outline:

I. One Inevitable Event (9:2-3)

II. One Irreversible Hope (9:4-6)

I. One Inevitable Event (9:2-3)

2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. 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.

1. Absolute Universal Equality (9:2)

2. Utter Heart Depravity (9:3)

1. Absolute Universal Equality (9:2)

All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

1) The Curse of Death Proclaimed

2) The Curse of Death Pronounced

3) The Curse of Death Realized

Notice the emphasis in the first clause, and the drumbeat of the six couplets which follow.

The emphasis in the first clause: “All…alike…all”

This focus on “one event” is found in both verse 2 and verse 3, but with a different emphasis. In both verses the statement “there is one event” is found.

In this verse, verse 2, the emphasis is on the absolute universal equality in this “one event,” none are exempt. It happens to all without exception. (“…and he died.” Gen. 5:5, 8, 14, 17, 20, 27, 31) All die.

In the next verse, verse 3, the emphasis falls on that which binds the human race to this event, i.e. the shared internal reality of heart evil. All are bound to death since all are sinners. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23)

The six couplets which follow the emphasis in this initial clause:

The emphasis on the absolute universal equality in this one event is nailed home with six blows of the hammer hitting all and sundry:

1) the righteous and the wicked;

2) the good and the bad;

3) the clean and the unclean;

4) the sacrificer and the non-sacrificer;

5) the good and the sinner; and

6) the swearer and the non-swearer.

There is a textual issue here that makes a difference in our English translations. This difference is based on readings in the extant Hebrew manuscripts versus what is found in the Septuagint Greek and Vulgate Latin translations. These ancient translations may have been based on a variant Hebrew reading. Marginal notes and footnotes in the translations attest to this.

ESV: “to the good and the evil”

[“Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil”]

HCSB: “for the good and the bad”

[“LXX, Aq, Syr, Vg; MT omits and the bad”]

NIV: “the good and the bad”

[“Septuagint (Aquila), Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew does not have and the bad.

NLT: “good or bad”

[“As in Greek and Syriac versions and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew lacks or bad.

NKJV: “LXX, Syr., Vg. good and bad,”

NRSV: “Gk Syr Vg: Heb lacks and the evil”

Notice the poetic formatting of the latter half of this verse in the NIV.

         “As it is with the good,

         so with the sinful;

         as it is with those who take oaths,

         so with those who are afraid to take them.”

I am left wondering why this formatting as poetry did not begin as follows:

“All things come alike to all: there is one event

            to the righteous, and to the wicked;

            to the good and (to the bad)

            to the clean, and to the unclean;

            to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not:

           

            as is the good, so is the sinner;

            and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.”

1) The Curse of Death Proclaimed

Genesis 2:15-17 — 15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

2) The Curse of Death Pronounced

Genesis 3:19-24 — 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

3) The Curse of Death Realized

Gen. 5:5, 8, 14, 17, 20, 27, 31 — “….and he died…. and he died…. and he died…. and he died…. and he died…. and he died…. and he died….”

Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Methuselah, and Lamech.

All died. Their years differed. Their ends did not. That “one event” was common to all of them.

There were more deaths than these, but the ones included are the direct line of descent from Adam to Noah. One that we know of who was not included, at least in this “Book of Generations” is Abel. Read between the lines. All died, whether they are mentioned in this line of descent or not. All died.

Rom. 5:12, 14 — 12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:….14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

All die. ALL. DIE.

2. Utter Heart Depravity (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.

1) Fullness of Evil — the linkage of sin and death

2) Madness of Heart — the dominion of sin

On this verse and the doctrine of total depravity see especially the following:

John Owen, The Works of John Owen, 16 vols., ed. William H. Goold (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, n.d.; 1976 reprint of 1850-1853 Johnstone & Hunter ed.), 6:169-176, 206-211.

Robert L. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998), pg. 450-453.

Charles Simeon, Evangelical Preaching: An Anthology of Sermons by Charles Simeon, Classics of Faith and Devotion (Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1986), pp. 19-24, s.v. Sermon 587, “Original Sin” (Ps. 51:5).

There is a direct connection between death and evil. Neither can be explained by those who posit atheistic evolution. Neither can be disconnected without dishonoring the Creator, and disrespecting His Word. This is the unavoidable counterpart to the equally direct connection between life and righteousness. It cannot be otherwise. This is observed throughout the Scriptures, and woven through human history.

There is a dual emphasis in this verse focused on the “one event”:

(1) The emphasis on evil:

“There is an evil…the heart of the sons of men is full of evil…”

(2) The emphasis on the heart:

“…the heart of the sons of men if full of evil, and madness is in their heart…”

Notice that as in the previous verse the word “all” is repeated twice: “all things….unto all.”

Here this universal permeation of evil is traced to its root linking the human race in a common cursed condition.

As stated previously, the emphasis in verse 2 is on the absolute universal equality in this “one event,” but here in verse 3 the emphasis falls on that which binds the human race to this event, i.e. the shared internal reality of heart evil. All are bound to death since all are sinners. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23)

There is a temporal emphasis here also that will be picked up and developed in the verses that follow these two: “…under the sun….while they live….after that….”

1) Fullness of Evil — the linkage of sin and death

also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil

Jer. 17:9 — The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Rom. 3:9-19 — 9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes. 19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

Rom. 5:12-21 —

Rom. 6:21 — What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

2) Madness of Heart — the dominion of sin

and madness is in their heart while they live

Rom. 1:18-32 —

Rom. 1:32 — Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

II. One Irreversible Hope (9:4-6)

4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

1. There is Hope for the Living (9:4)

2. There is Knowledge for the Living (9:5a)

3. There is Neither for the Dead (9:5b-6)

1. There is Hope for the Living (9:4)

For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope:

for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

Now is the day of salvation! Now is a time of hope! Only now! Only while you live!

This is your only opportunity to change, to repent, to receive grace and mercy! Once you pass from this life there are no “second chances”! You cannot change what you are when you die after that event. Either you are born again (Jn. 3:3-8), regenerate (Tit. 3:5), and a new creature in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17) when you die, or you are not. If you are not then, you never will be after.

On the differences in the nature of this “hope” among the living, i.e. the “strained expectation” of the wicked versus the “enduring, hopeful waiting” of the righteous see especially Hans Walter Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, trans. Margaret Kohl (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1974; from Anthropologie des Alten Testaments, Munich: Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1973), pp. 149-150.

It is impossible to over emphasize the urgency of this reality especially in the light of what verses 2 and 3 reveal. The inescapable reality of death, and the undeniable presence of evil should strike fear and trembling into the soul of every human being. This should drive everyone to flee from the wrath to come, and to come to God for salvation. The fact that it does not is an evidence of the very madness referred to in verse 3.

“Dum spiro, spero—While I breathe, I hope.”

— Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), pp. 1048–1049.

Now is the day of salvation!

2 Cor. 6:2 — (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

Now is a time of hope! Only now! Only this side of death! Only while you yet have life!

2. There is Knowledge for the Living (9:5a)

For the living know that they shall die:

The formatting as poetry of verses 5 and 6 in the NIV is noteworthy.

5 For the living know that they will die,

 but the dead know nothing;

 they have no further reward,

 and even their name is forgotten.

 6 Their love, their hate

 and their jealousy have long since vanished;

 never again will they have a part

 in anything that happens under the sun.

People often exclaim, “What do you know?”

Here is what all know whether they dwell on it, or like to think about it or not.

You will die. I will die. We will all die.

There are no exceptions since Enoch (Gen. 5:24), and Elijah (2 Ki. 2:1-12).

[Note: After this sermon was preached I was reminded by my oldest son Joel that a future exception would be experienced by those in the Church who are alive at the time of the Rapture (1 Th. 4:13-18).]

“Note, The living cannot but know that they shall die, that they must needs die. They know they are under a sentence of death; they are already taken into custody by its messengers, and feel themselves declining. This is a needful useful knowledge; for what is our business, while we live, but to get ready to die: The living know they shall die; it is a thing yet to come, and therefore provision may be made for it. The dead know they are dead, and it is too late; they are on the other side the great gulf fixed.”

— Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), pp. 1048–1049.

Death is permanent. The only resuscitations recorded in the Scriptures:

(1) The widow of Zarephath’s son (1 Ki. 17; Heb. 11:35);

(2) the Shunammite woman’s son (2 Ki. 4:35);

(3) the man being buried (2 Ki. 13:21);

(4) the widow of Nain’s son (Lk. 7:13-15);

(5) Jairus’ daughter (Mt. 9:25; Mk. 5:42; Lk. 8:55);

(6) Lazarus (Jn.11);

(7) many saints (Mt. 27:52-53);

(8) Tabitha (Acts 9:36-42);

(9) possibly Paul (Acts 14:19-20; 2 Cor. 12:1-7);

(10) Eutychus (Acts 20:9-12);

(11) and the two witnesses during the Great Tribulation (Rev. 11:1-14).

None may count on being the recipient of such a miraculous circumvention of death, which in the event, was only a temporary suspension. All may count on death, the end of this life, and all may count on that death being permanent.

3. There is Neither for the Dead (9:5b-6)

but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward;

for the memory of them is forgotten.

Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished;

neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

How can we square this with the account of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31?

Is this teaching unconscious existence in death as in “soul sleep,” or termination of existence as in Annihilationism and Conditionalism (conditional immortality)?

How should these words be understood in the light of what we know about the post-death existence from many other places in the Scriptures? What about the souls under the altar in Revelation, for example? (Rev. 6:9-11)

[Note: After this sermon was preached one of the members of Wayside Gospel Chapel, John Bradley, reminded me that Moses and Elijah in their appearance with the transfiguration of Christ might be another example of conscious post-death existence (Mt. 17:3; Mk. 9:4; Lk. 9:30).]

If it is not teaching these errors, then what are we to understand by these words?

Everything here must be keyed to the sphere of existence under consideration in the context, i.e., “under the sun.” It is there in the first clause of verse 3, and it is here at the end of verse 6. Everything that is negated for the dead has to do with what goes on “under the sun” following their death.

“Actio moritur cum personâ—The person and his actions die together.”

— Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), pp. 1048–1049.

Notice the repeated “anything” and “anymore” in these verses.

What we have here are:

1) three concerns expressed in a triplet,

2) followed by three emotional involvements in a second triplet, and then,

3) a concluding summary statement with three negations.

1) Three External Concerns

(1) Their Knowledge is Non-Existent

(2) Their Reward is Not Possible

 (3) Their Memory is Forgotten —

            The Reason is that they are no longer part of the equation.

2) Three Internal Involvements

(1) Their Love — Perished

(2) Their Hate — Perished

(3) Their Envy — Perished

3) Three Final Negations — The Summary Statement Posits an Eternal Truth

“neither…anymore…forever…anything” = “No more…never…nothing…”

(dynamic equivalent)

No more!

Never!

Nothing!

[Sermon preached 5 JUN 2016 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]

Complete Outline:

I. One Inevitable Event (9:2-3)

1. Absolute Universal Equality (9:2)

1) The Curse of Death Proclaimed

2) The Curse of Death Pronounced

3) The Curse of Death Realized

2. Utter Heart Depravity (9:3)

1) Fullness of Evil — the linkage of sin and death

2) Madness of Heart — the dominion of sin

II. One Irreversible Hope (9:4-6)

1. There is Hope for the Living (9:4)

2. There is Knowledge for the Living (9:5a)

3. There is Neither for the Dead (9:5b-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).[1]

Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860).[2]

C. Hassell Bullock, An Introduction to the Old Testament Poetic Books: The Wisdom and Songs of Israel (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979).

Franz Delitzsch, “Commentary on The Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes,” trans. M. G. Easton, in Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes, C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Vol. VI: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon: Three Volumes in One (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., n.d., 1975 reprint), III:179-442.

Michael A. Eaton, Ecclesiastes: An Introduction and Commentary, Vol. 16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity, 1983).

Sinclair B. Ferguson. The Pundit's Folly: Chronicles of an Empty Life (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1995).

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].[3]

Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Coping With Change: Ecclesiastes (Fearn, Roth-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2013).[4]

Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Ecclesiastes: Total Life, in Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979).

Derek Kidner, The Message of Ecclesiastes: A Time to Mourn, and a Time to Dance, in The Bible Speaks Today, Old Testament series ed. J. A. Motyer (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1976).

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).

John G. Reisinger, Studies in Ecclesiastes (Frederick, MD: New Covenant Media, 2008).

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).

Benjamin Shaw, “On Reading Ecclesiastes,” in The Hope Fulfilled: Essays in Honor of O. Palmer Robertson, ed. Robert L. Penny (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2008), pp. 47-58.

Peter B. Steese, ed., Ecclesiastes, gen. ed. Leonard F. Dean (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1966).

Tom V. Taylor, Studies in Ecclesiastes (Port Colborne, Ontario, CA: Gospel Folio Press, 2013).[5]  

Addison G. Wright, “The Riddle of the Sphinx: The Structure of the Book of Qoheleth,” in Reflecting with Solomon: Selected Studies on the Book of Ecclesiastes, ed. Roy B. Zuck (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), pp. 45-66; originally published in Catholic Biblical Quarterly 30 (1968), pp. 313-334.

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).

J. Stafford Wright, “The Interpretation of Ecclesiastes”, in Classical Evangelical Essays in Old Testament Interpretation, ed. Walter C. Kaiser Jr. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1972), pp. 135-150; from J. Stafford Wright, “The Interpretation of Ecclesiastes,” Evangelical Quarterly 18 (1946), pp. 18-34; on Rediscovering the Bible at http://rediscoveringthebible.com/InterpretationOfEcclesiastes.html [accessed 7 MAY 2015].

Ronald F. Youngblood, “Qoheleth's 'Dark House' (Eccl. 12:5),” in A Tribute to Gleason Archer, eds. Walter C. Kaiser and Ronald F. Youngblood (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), pp.211-228; also published in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 29:4 (DEC 1986), pp. 397-410; on Biblical Studies at http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/29/29-4/29-4-pp397-410_JETS.pdf [accessed 4 APR 2016].

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Notes:

[1] Barrick’s lecture notes (PDF files) and audio (mp3) are on Dr Barrick at http://drbarrick.org/teaching/ecclesiastes/ [accessed 3 FEB 2016].

[2] On Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/expositionofbook00bridrich [accessed 11 MAY 2015]; on Google Books at  http://books.google.com/books?id=e4kOAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false [accessed 11 MAY 2015]; and linked on Precept Austin at http://preceptaustin.org/proverbs_commentaries.htm#cb [accessed 11 MAY 2015].

[3] Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. inexplicably refers to this as an “unsigned article” on at least two occasions in his commentary despite the facts that: 1) William Henry Green is clearly indicated as the author under the title on the first page of the article (pg. 419), and 2) one of his own faculty members (Ted Hildebrandt) has posted the article on the school’s web site where Kaiser served as both faculty member and President. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Ecclesiastes: Total Life, in Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979); and Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Coping With Change: Ecclesiastes (Fearn, Roth-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2013).

[4] Although not indicated on the copyright page, this appears in all respects to be a revised edition (2nd ed.) of the Moody Press 1979 original. The relationship to the original is referenced in the “Preface,” where the author mentions the inclusion of his own translation of Ecclesiastes in this revision as one significant change. “Dale Ralph Davis compares the two and says, “the ‘bones’ are much the same but the whole has been updated and expanded.” Source: Tim Challies, “Best Commentaries on Ecclesiastes” (18 NOV 2013), on Challies at http://www.challies.com/resources/best-commentaries-on-ecclesiastes [accessed 7 NOV 2015].

[5] See also the “Thomas V. Taylor Library” on the Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute at  http://www.taylorlib.ibri.org/ [accessed 27 NOV 2013].

Pastor's Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes (series), #28 - In The Hand of God (Ecclesiastes 9:1)

Series: Ecclesiastes

Sermon #28: In The Hand of God

Ecclesiastes 9:1

[Audio file from Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/Ecclesiastes91.]

For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.

Outline:

I. In My Heart — The Considered Declaration

II. In the Hand of God — The Positive Statement

III. In My Experience — “The Negative Sentence”

I. In My Heart — The Considered Declaration

For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this,

1. For all this I considered in my heart

All this? All what? Ecclesiastes 8:16-17? Ecclesiastes 1-8?

Same Hebrew word:

Eccl. 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.

Eccl. 1:17 — And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.

Eccl. 8:9 — All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.

Eccl. 8:16 — When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)

Different Hebrew word:

Eccl. 4:1 — So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.

Eccl. 4:4 — Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour.  This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

Eccl. 4:15 — I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.

Eccl. 7:13-14 — Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked? 14: In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

Yet another different Hebrew word:

Eccl. 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.

2. even to declare all this

The only other usage of the word here translated “declare”[1] in Ecclesiastes is in 3:18[2] —

I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

NASB — For I have taken all this to my heart and explain it[3] that righteous men, wise men, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Man does not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits[4] him.[5]

ESV — But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him.[6]

HCSB — Indeed, I took all this to heart and explained it all: the righteous, the wise, and their works are in God’s hands. •People don’t know whether to expect love or hate. Everything lies ahead of them.[7]

NIV — So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.[8]

NLT — This, too, I carefully explored: Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God’s hands, no one knows whether God will show them favor.[9]

YLT — But all this I have laid unto my heart, so as to clear up the whole of this, that the righteous and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God, neither love nor hatred doth man know, the whole is before them.[10]

All this…heart…mouth…all this

All this internalized study, all this research, all this meditation and pondering, has brought Qoheleth to proclaim as Der Prediger, The Preacher, his conclusions, his lessons learned!

All this to say this!

For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.

II. In the Hand of God — The Positive Statement

that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God:

“Righteous” and “wise” are found coupled only in seven Old Testament texts: Dt. 16:19; Pr. 9:9; 11:30; 23:24; Eccl. 7:16; 9:1; and Hos. 14:9.[11]

This is not vanity! With the predisposition that many have towards this book, if you were to quote these words they might not recognize them as from Ecclesiastes! There is nothing “empty,” or “meaningless” about this truth! This is not vanity!

A few verses later we read, “…to him that is joined to all the living there is hope…” We might say much the same about that truth in verse 4 as we already have about the words here in verse 1.

What is meant by “the hand of God”?

The “hand of God” is….

What would be the significance of being “in the hand of God” if you were “the righteous and the wise”?

To be “in the hand of God” is to be…

These are wonderful words that should encourage the righteous and the wise. These are words of hope that we can place our trust in. These are words of fullness, and they are full of meaning. This is the opposite of vanity!

Jn. 10:28-29 — 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

Rev. 1:16 — And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

Rev. 1:20 — The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Rev. 2:1 — Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

Q27:  What do you understand by the providence of God?

A27:  The almighty, everywhere‑present power of God,[1] whereby, as it were by His hand, He still upholds heaven and earth with all creatures,[2] and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink,[3] health and sickness,[4] riches and poverty,[5] indeed, all things come not by chance, but by His fatherly hand.[12]

Q28:  What does it profit us to know that God created and by His providence upholds all things?

A28:  That we may be patient in adversity,[1] thankful in prosperity,[2] and for what is future have good confidence in our faithful God and Father, that no creature shall separate us from His love,[3] since all creatures are so in His hand, that without His will they cannot so much as move.[4][13]

— Heidelberg Catechism, Lords Day 10

“Augustine also teaches us to act thus—lest you suppose we are saying something new. “Christ,” he says, “will reign forever in his servants. God has promised this; God has said this; if that is not enough, God has sworn it. Therefore, since the promise is firm not according to our merits but according to his mercy, no one ought to proclaim with misgiving what he cannot doubt.”[14] Also Bernard: “ ‘Who … can be saved?’ the disciples of Christ ask. But Jesus replies: ‘With men this is impossible, but not with God’ [Matt. 19:25–26 p.]. This is our whole confidence; this, our sole comfort; this, the whole reason for our hope. But, sure of Christ’s ability, what do we say of his will? ‘Who knows whether he deserves hate or love?’ [Eccl. 9:1, Vg.] ‘Who knows the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’ [Rom. 11:34; cf. Isa. 40:13.] Here, now, plainly there is need of faith to help us; here truth must succor us, that what is hidden from us in the Father’s heart may be revealed through the Spirit, and his Spirit testifying may persuade our hearts that we are the children of God [Rom. 8:16]. It is needful, moreover, that he persuade by freely calling and justifying us through faith. In these things, surely, there is a certain intermediate passage from eternal predestination to future glory.”[15]

— John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, 2 vols., The Library of Christian Classics, gen. eds. John Baillie, John T. McNeill, and Henry P. Van Dusen (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960; Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), I:766-767, s.v. 3:13:4.

For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.

III. In My Experience — “The Negative Sentence”[16]

no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.

NASB — For I have taken all this to my heart and explain it[17] that righteous men, wise men, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Man does not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits[18] him.[19]

ESV — But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him.[20]

HCSB — Indeed, I took all this to heart and explained it all: the righteous, the wise, and their works are in God’s hands. •People don’t know whether to expect love or hate. Everything lies ahead of them.[21]

NIV — So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.[22]

NLT — This, too, I carefully explored: Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God’s hands, no one knows whether God will show them favor.[23]

YLT —      But all this I have laid unto my heart, so as to clear up the whole of this, that the righteous and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God, neither love nor hatred doth man know, the whole is before them.[24]

“The Schoolmen most wickedly twist the testimony of Ecclesiastes, which they have continually on their lips: “No one knows whether he deserves hate or love” [Eccl. 9:1, Vg.]. For, to pass over how this passage is erroneously translated in the Vulgate, even children cannot miss what Solomon means by these words. That is, if anyone would judge by the present state of things, which men God pursues with hatred and which ones he embraces in love, he labors in vain and troubles himself to no profit, “since all things happen alike to righteous and impious, … to those who sacrifice victims and to those who do not sacrifice” [Eccl. 9:2, cf. Vg.].[25] From this it follows that God does not everlastingly witness his love to those for whom he causes all things to prosper, nor does he always manifest his hate to those whom he afflicts. And he does this to prove the innate folly of humanity, since among things so necessary to know it is grasped with such great stupidity. As Solomon had written a little before, one cannot discern how the soul of a man differs from the soul of a beast because both seem to die in the same way [Eccl. 3:19]. If any man would infer from this that the opinion that we hold concerning the immortality of souls rests upon conjecture alone, should we not justly consider him insane? Are they sane men who infer—since we can comprehend nothing by the physical beholding of present things—that there is no certainty of God’s grace?”

— John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, 2 vols., The Library of Christian Classics, gen. eds. John Baillie, John T. McNeill, and Henry P. Van Dusen (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960; Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), I:585-586, s.v. 3:2:38.

Humbling the pride of man in the dust, confronting us with reality, and putting man in his place is a large part of the effect of the Word of God through Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes.

There are many negative statements woven throughout this book, and it is well within its teachings to conclude: we must know what we know, but we must also know what we don’t know, and perhaps most importantly of all, we must know what we cannot know! This is directly connected to knowing who and what we are, coupled with who and what we are not! Stay in your lane! Know yourself, and your place, and act accordingly!

“The prudent man, especially, calculates on the incalculable difference between his plans for the future and their historical realization. Anyone who is not quite consciously alive to the difference between these two things is in danger of misunderstanding the human nature of man and of putting himself in God’s place….Ecclesiastes’ scepticism resists most vigourously of all the certainty that man has the future within his power. This is impossible for two reasons. In the first place he cannot be sure what the circumstances of the future will be (Eccles. 8.7)….In the second place — and this is the main point — he does not even know what his own future is to be (8:8)….No planner has his own condition in his own hands at the hour when his plans find their fulfillment (9:1b): ‘Whether it will be love or hate man does not know.’ Job emphasizes that it is above all God himself who will foil the self-assurance of human expectation (14.19f.). Before the negative sentence just quoted (9.1b) Ecclesiastes states in positive terms (9.1a): ‘The righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God.’”

— Hans Walter Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, trans. Margaret Kohl (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1974; from Anthropologie des Alten Testaments, Munich: Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1973), pg. 151.

Conclusion:

For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.

I. In My Heart — The Considered Declaration

II. In the Hand of God — The Positive Statement

III. In My Experience — “The Negative Sentence”

“How insistently the author relates life to God; this is his great consolation; “I steadier step when I recall that when I slip, God does not fall.”

— Gerrit Verkuyl, The Berkeley Version of the New Testament In Modern English (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1945, 1958), and Gerrit Verkuyl, ed.-in-chief, The Modern Language Bible, The Berkeley Version, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1945, 1958, 1969), pg. 676, note.

Verkuyl's unascribed quote may be traced to the following source:

“It fortifies my soul to know

That though I perish, Truth is so;

That, howsoe’er I stray and range,

Whate’er I do, Thou dost not change.

I steadier step when I recall

That, if I slip, Thou dost not fall.”

— Arthur Hugh Clough,[26] “With Whom is no Variableness, Neither Shadow of Turning”

“Augustine also teaches us to act thus—lest you suppose we are saying something new. “Christ,” he says, “will reign forever in his servants. God has promised this; God has said this; if that is not enough, God has sworn it. Therefore, since the promise is firm not according to our merits but according to his mercy, no one ought to proclaim with misgiving what he cannot doubt.”[27] Also Bernard: “ ‘Who … can be saved?’ the disciples of Christ ask. But Jesus replies: ‘With men this is impossible, but not with God’ [Matt. 19:25–26 p.]. This is our whole confidence; this, our sole comfort; this, the whole reason for our hope. But, sure of Christ’s ability, what do we say of his will? ‘Who knows whether he deserves hate or love?’ [Eccl. 9:1, Vg.] ‘Who knows the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’ [Rom. 11:34; cf. Isa. 40:13.] Here, now, plainly there is need of faith to help us; here truth must succor us, that what is hidden from us in the Father’s heart may be revealed through the Spirit, and his Spirit testifying may persuade our hearts that we are the children of God [Rom. 8:16]. It is needful, moreover, that he persuade by freely calling and justifying us through faith. In these things, surely, there is a certain intermediate passage from eternal predestination to future glory.”[28]

— John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, 2 vols., The Library of Christian Classics, gen. eds. John Baillie, John T. McNeill, and Henry P. Van Dusen (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960; Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), I:766-767, s.v. 3:13:4.

[Sermon preached 29 MAY 2016 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]

Complete Outline:

I. In My Heart — The Considered Declaration

II. In the Hand of God — The Positive Statement

III. In My Experience — “The Negative Sentence”

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).[29]

Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860).[30]

C. Hassell Bullock, An Introduction to the Old Testament Poetic Books: The Wisdom and Songs of Israel (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979).

Franz Delitzsch, “Commentary on The Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes,” trans. M. G. Easton, in Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes, C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Vol. VI: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon: Three Volumes in One (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., n.d., 1975 reprint), III:179-442.

Michael A. Eaton, Ecclesiastes: An Introduction and Commentary, Vol. 16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity, 1983).

Sinclair B. Ferguson. The Pundit's Folly: Chronicles of an Empty Life (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1995).

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].[31]

Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Coping With Change: Ecclesiastes (Fearn, Roth-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2013).[32]

Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Ecclesiastes: Total Life, in Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979).

Derek Kidner, The Message of Ecclesiastes: A Time to Mourn, and a Time to Dance, in The Bible Speaks Today, Old Testament series ed. J. A. Motyer (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1976).

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).

John G. Reisinger, Studies in Ecclesiastes (Frederick, MD: New Covenant Media, 2008).

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).

Benjamin Shaw, “On Reading Ecclesiastes,” in The Hope Fulfilled: Essays in Honor of O. Palmer Robertson, ed. Robert L. Penny (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2008), pp. 47-58.

Peter B. Steese, ed., Ecclesiastes, gen. ed. Leonard F. Dean (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1966).

Tom V. Taylor, Studies in Ecclesiastes (Port Colborne, Ontario, CA: Gospel Folio Press, 2013).[33]  

Addison G. Wright, “The Riddle of the Sphinx: The Structure of the Book of Qoheleth,” in Reflecting with Solomon: Selected Studies on the Book of Ecclesiastes, ed. Roy B. Zuck (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), pp. 45-66; originally published in Catholic Biblical Quarterly 30 (1968), pp. 313-334.

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).

J. Stafford Wright, “The Interpretation of Ecclesiastes”, in Classical Evangelical Essays in Old Testament Interpretation, ed. Walter C. Kaiser Jr. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1972), pp. 135-150; from J. Stafford Wright, “The Interpretation of Ecclesiastes,” Evangelical Quarterly 18 (1946), pp. 18-34; on Rediscovering the Bible at http://rediscoveringthebible.com/InterpretationOfEcclesiastes.html [accessed 7 MAY 2015].

Ronald F. Youngblood, “Qoheleth's 'Dark House' (Eccl. 12:5),” in A Tribute to Gleason Archer, eds. Walter C. Kaiser and Ronald F. Youngblood (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), pp.211-228; also published in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 29:4 (DEC 1986), pp. 397-410; on Biblical Studies at http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/29/29-4/29-4-pp397-410_JETS.pdf [accessed 4 APR 2016].

---

Notes:

[1] “Possibly a by-form of bāʾar. In Eccl 9:1, the Qal infinitive construct of bûr is used as a finite verb (see Bauer-Leander, p. 435; GKC sec. 113, no. 4a). In the Mishnah, “to make clear,” “to prove” (Jastrow 197b). The root, form, and meaning are debatable. The LXX reads “my heart saw, KJV ’to declare.” The ASV and RSV, following the Vulgate, emend to tûr “to explore,” “to examine.””

— Lewis, J. P. (1999). 221 בּוּר. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 97). Chicago: Moody Press.

[2] William D. Barrick, Ecclesiastes: The Philippians of the Old Testament, Focus on the Bible series (Fearn, Ross-Shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2012), pp. 154.

[3] Lit all this

[4] Lit is before them

[5] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Ec 9:1). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Ec 9:1). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

[7] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Ec 9:1). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

[8] The New International Version. (2011). (Ec 9:1). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[9] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ec 9:1). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

[10] Young, R. (1997). Young’s Literal Translation (Ec 9:1). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

[11] Barrick, op. cit., pp. 154-155.

[12] [1] Acts 17:25‑26. [2] Heb. 1:3. [3] Jer. 5:24; Acts 14:17. [4] John 9:3. 5. Prov. 22:2; Psa. 103:19; Rom. 5:3‑5a.

[13] [1] Rom. 5:3; James 1:3; Job 1:21. [2] Deut. 8:10; I Thess. 5:18. [3] Rom. 8:35, 38‑39. [4] Job 1:12; Acts 17:25‑28; Prov. 21:1; Psa. 71:7; II Cor. 1:10.

[14] Augustine, Psalms, Ps. 88. i. 5 (MPL 37. 1123; tr. LF Psalms IV. 243 f.).

[15] Bernard, Sermon on the Dedication of a Church v. 6 (MPL 183. 523; tr. St. Bernard’s Sermons for the Seasons, by a priest of Mount Melleray, II. 424).

[16] Hans Walter Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, trans. Margaret Kohl (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1974; from Anthropologie des Alten Testaments, Munich: Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1973), pg. 151.

[17] “Lit all this”

[18] “Lit is before them”

[19] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Ec 9:1). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[20] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Ec 9:1). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

[21] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Ec 9:1). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

[22] The New International Version. (2011). (Ec 9:1). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[23] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ec 9:1). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

[24] Young, R. (1997). Young’s Literal Translation (Ec 9:1). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

[25] “Bonaventura and Aquinas, as cited in note 54, above; De Castro, Adversus omnes haereses VII (1543, fo. 133). Vg. reads: “Nescit homo utrum amore an odio dignus est.” See the widely different RSV.”

[26] Arthur Hugh Clough, The Poems and Prose Remains of Arthur Hugh Clough With a Selection From His Letters and a Memoir, 2 vols., ed. Blanche Smith Clough (New York: Macmillan, 1869), Vol. 2, “Poems,” pg. 57, s.v. “With Whom is no Variableness, Neither Shadow of Turning;” on Google Books at https://books.google.com/books?id=Q7wQAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false [accessed 20 MAY 2016]; reprint by Forgotten Books (London, 2013) at http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/The_Poems_and_Prose_Remains_of_Arthur_Hugh_Clough_v2_1000440664/101 [accessed 20 MAY 2016]. The title of the poem, a reference to James 1:17, is not Clough's own. It was added by his wife in this 1869 edition of his works. Wikisource at https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/With_Whom_is_no_Variableness,_Neither_Shadow_of_Turning  [accessed 20 MAY 2016].  The poem is also included in the following (among others): Arthur Hugh Clough (1819-1861), Arthur Hugh Clough: Selected Poems (New York: Routledge, 2003), pg. 57; and The English Poets: Selections with Critical Introductions by Various Writers, 5 vols., ed. Thomas Humphry Ward (New York: Macmillan, 1880–1918), Vol. IV, “The Nineteenth Century: Wordsworth to Rossetti;” on Bartleby at http://www.bartleby.com/337/1184.html [accessed 20 MAY 2016].

[27] “Augustine, Psalms, Ps. 88. i. 5 (MPL 37. 1123; tr. LF Psalms IV. 243 f.).”

[28] “Bernard, Sermon on the Dedication of a Church v. 6 (MPL 183. 523; tr. St. Bernard’s Sermons for the Seasons, by a priest of Mount Melleray, II. 424).”

[29] Barrick’s lecture notes (PDF files) and audio (mp3) are on Dr Barrick at http://drbarrick.org/teaching/ecclesiastes/ [accessed 3 FEB 2016].

[30] On Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/expositionofbook00bridrich [accessed 11 MAY 2015]; on Google Books at  http://books.google.com/books?id=e4kOAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false [accessed 11 MAY 2015]; and linked on Precept Austin at http://preceptaustin.org/proverbs_commentaries.htm#cb [accessed 11 MAY 2015].

[31] Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. inexplicably refers to this as an “unsigned article” on at least two occasions in his commentary despite the facts that: 1) William Henry Green is clearly indicated as the author under the title on the first page of the article (pg. 419), and 2) one of his own faculty members (Ted Hildebrandt) has posted the article on the school’s web site where Kaiser served as both faculty member and President. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Ecclesiastes: Total Life, in Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979); and Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Coping With Change: Ecclesiastes (Fearn, Roth-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2013).

[32] Although not indicated on the copyright page, this appears in all respects to be a revised edition (2nd ed.) of the Moody Press 1979 original. The relationship to the original is referenced in the “Preface,” where the author mentions the inclusion of his own translation of Ecclesiastes in this revision as one significant change. “Dale Ralph Davis compares the two and says, “the ‘bones’ are much the same but the whole has been updated and expanded.” Source: Tim Challies, “Best Commentaries on Ecclesiastes” (18 NOV 2013), on Challies at http://www.challies.com/resources/best-commentaries-on-ecclesiastes [accessed 7 NOV 2015].

[33] See also the “Thomas V. Taylor Library” on the Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute at  http://www.taylorlib.ibri.org/ [accessed 27 NOV 2013].