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Ecclesiastes, part 11, What I Know

We come now to Koheleth’s first clear practical conclusion after the poem of times and the struggle of mortals trying to know the unknown. Ecclesiastes 3:12, 13 says,

¹² I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; ¹³ moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—it is the gift of God.

“I know,” he says confidently. Although mortals are unable to know the secrets of time that remain hidden to them, Koheleth asserts that which he does know. Yet notice the humility. He does not claim ultimate knowledge; He offers practical wisdom for mortal, finite life. This is wisdom that accepts the limitations of the carnal mind, the “old man,” as Paul would call it.

The phrase “nothing better” does not mean that nothing matters. It means nothing is higher in principle. It means “under the sun” and within human limits, this is the highest attainable posture.

God’s Gift

Koheleth is answering the “profit” problem. He says that in view of the fact that all is vanity, that there is no lasting surplus (profit), we are to rejoice over temporary good, not permanent gain, and we are to be thankful because “it is the gift of God.” This anticipates 1 Corinthians 3:6-9,

⁶ I [Paul] planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. ⁷ So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. ⁸ Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. ⁹ For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Moses himself asserted in Deuteronomy 8:17, 18 that God fed Israel with manna in the wilderness in order to instill humility in them—

¹⁷ Otherwise, you may say in your heart, “My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.” ¹⁸ But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Putting this in Koheleth’s terms, our labor is good—and even lasting—if we recognize God’s leading role. If we do all labor by faith (which comes by hearing), then labor has lasting value and is ultimately profitable. If our labor is done by the power of the carnal mind of the mortal soul, the profit is limited by mortality.

Isaiah 5 says that God planted His “vineyard” (kingdom) in the land of Canaan. Canaan was an earthly land and therefore had a temporary profit. The fruit of His labor, however, proved to be inedible, so He razed the vineyard to the ground (Isaiah 5:5, 6) and later vowed to replant in a way that would actually succeed. He did this by sending Jesus Christ, who planted seeds by the power of the New Covenant. Though the vineyard was in the earth, it was not of the earth. Jesus is the vine itself; His disciples are the branches who are called to bear fruit. In John 15:5 He said,

⁵ … He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Lasting fruitfulness is profitable, because the labor is directed by God. Our faith-response bears fruit, because the branches are attached to the vine (Christ and the New Covenant). Union with Christ is what makes our labor on earth truly profitable and the fruit edible. Koheleth advises us to recognize God as the Source of true wealth; the New Testament builds upon this advice, showing how faith in Jesus Christ is how we are to recognize God’s labor and achieve success.

Those who remain trapped in an Old Covenant mindset will find that much of their labor is in vain (from a heavenly perspective). To reject Jesus Christ is to be detached from the true Vine. So Koheleth tells us in Ecclesiastes 3:14,

¹⁴ I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take away from it, for God has so worked that men should fear [reverence, acknowledge] Him.

In other words, if God works through us, if our work is a response to God’s word, and if we recognize His hidden hand as the Source of our power to get wealth, then that which we do will endure. If not, then “all is vanity.”

Repeating Patterns in Time Cycles

Ecclesiastes 3:15 says,

¹⁵ That which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by.

This verse seals Koheleth’s argument about time. He observes the recurrence of past patterns, which the New Testament calls types and shadows. Even unbelievers recognize that history seems to repeat. More recently, it has been observed that although history does not repeat, it often rhymes. History echoes. Events repeat in new forms with different actors on the world stage. Human experiences likewise recur.

In my own experience since 1981, I too have observed repeating patterns playing out with new actors reading the original script. Once the pattern is recognized, I have been able to use those past patterns as “watch dates.” On occasion, I have even been able to predict events ahead of time.

This does not mean history is caught in a meaningless whirlpool, but that by hearing God’s voice and responding by faith, events progress to higher levels. The original pattern can be viewed as God’s planting; later repeats are evidence of the plant’s growth in its stages as ripening fruit. I have often described this by saying that the repeating patterns do not simply go around in an endless circle; they spiral upward until the seed that God has planted finally bears fruit.

The final clause (“God seeks what has passed by”) is the most important. The Hebrew word for “seeks” is baqash. God “seeks, searches out, requires, calls to account” the patterns of the past. In other words, God draws from past patterns to repeat them later in new contexts. It shows that whereas men often forget the past (and are thus doomed to repeat it), God remembers and holds men accountable. Those who continue without faith are trapped in the cycle and are held accountable, but those who have genuine faith discover that they have grown spiritually and are ripening until the appointed time when God pronounces them to be edible.

God is not trapped in time’s cycles. He stands over them and repeats the patterns until they come fully into visibility as “fruit.” If God “seeks” the past, then history is not all vanity. Only the works of men that are done apart from faith are vanity. “Whatever is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23), because it falls short of the glory of God.