ecclesiastes 7 through 9

Read Ecclesiastes 7 through 9 at Bible Gateway.

The Hebrew paragraph division we are in right now, Ecc 3:9-12:14 {p}, continues to the end of the book.

I am not wise enough to uncover the chiastic structure in these chapters. Perhaps in the future it will be unlocked. But these matching pairs did leap out at me:

Ecc 6:12 For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow?

Ecc 9:9 Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.

So what is good, is to live each day content in the present, with joy.

Why does he say our lives are vain? Because he saw that death happens to all, wise or foolish, good or evil. His wisdom was for this life on this side of heaven; life eternal on the other side of heaven was veiled to him for all his wisdom. We are truly living in a very blessed age, when the gospel is unveiled and preaching again, and the former wisdom is also likewise open to us.

7:15 I have seen everything in my days of vanity: there is a just man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.

8:14 There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

And yet, even though he had seen it occur on this side of heaven, he still knew the truth, that he had not yet seen the final outcome, which would be just:

Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God. Ecc 8:12-13

One thing I noticed in Ecclesiastes: the Preacher never censures those who fear God, but he does say:

Do not be overly righteous, nor be overly wise: why should you destroy yourself? Do not be overly wicked, nor be foolish: why should you die before your time? It is good that you grasp this, and also not remove your hand from the other; for he who fears God will escape them all. Ecc 7:16-18

Can a man be overly righteous? When I think of an overly righteous man, I think of someone like the Pharisees, who contended with Yeshua as a sinner, even though He was not. Perhaps a man who fears God is one who is content with God’s definition of righteousness and sin, without adding precepts of man to it. Whereas satan engages the sinner with either pride and hardness, or shame; he engages the righteous with pride as well, the pride of the Pharisees who were satisfied with their own self- righteousness and saw fault in everyone else, whether it was there or not. Keep me far from both kinds of pride, Father!