THE BETTER LIFE, LIVED UNDER THE SON

“On Learning to Enjoy What You Have”
Ecclesiastes 5:8-20
Bob Bonner
February 21, 1999

From my earliest years I can remember observing some rather wealthy friends of our family seeking to become wealthier. But as I have watched them in their pursuit of the “better life”, I would have to say that generally speaking I have met few people who have truly enjoyed themselves along the way in their pursuit to acquiring more wealth. In addition, I have not seen many rich people liberated from their bondage of covetousness so that they could enjoy what they have already earned or squirreled away. There have been some, but very few.

On the other side of the economic coin, I have seen the very same thing to be true of those who have less money, even those whom we might call poor. I’m referring to those who may not be seeking to become disgustingly wealthy, but simply to acquire a little more so that they might have a few more of this world’s comforts. Either way, whether “rich” or “poor”, most of us are in pursuit to gain things that we might enjoy in this life. However, very few enjoy the process of that pursuit or the product they have earned in the end.

So, is there a secret to enjoying what God gives you or has made available to you as it concerns this world’s goods? Is there a secret to enjoying even the process whereby we are enabled to acquire some of this world’s goods? Is it wrong to even seek after this world’s goods? Those are some issues that our passage of scripture, Ecclesiastes 5:8-20, seeks to answer. First, let me briefly answer both of those questions: Yes, there is a secret to enjoying the product of our labors and the process through which we run to acquire the products of our labor. And secondly, no, it is not wrong to seek after the goods of this world while you are here.

By way of an overview, this passage may be broken into two major sections: The first begins with verse 8 and goes through verse 17. It looks at the attempt to acquire wealth from the world’s point of view, or as Solomon calls it, from the view of “under the sun.” And then in verses 18-20, we look at the attempt to acquire wealth from God’s point of view, or from the view of “under the Son.”

As we begin this first section, that is to look at the attempt to acquire wealth from this world’s perspective, King Solomon admits as a wealthy person a truth that all who are poor know all too well. It is a fact of life from which even this beloved King could not keep himself from being entrapped. And the truth is that the poor will always be held back by the rich. We know that Solomon oppressed the poor, because after his death and when his son Rehoboam took over as king, Solomon’s old advisors counseled the new king to relieve the people from the burden of the heavy taxation that his father, King Solomon had imposed upon them.

Solomon writes these words about this well known fact. He says in verses 8-9, “If you see oppression of the poor [that is, the poor being held back or prevented from getting ahead or prevented from getting the opportunity to get rich] and denial of justice [that is, in a court of law, the removal of just decisions as it regards financial disputes] and [the denial of] righteousness in the province, [or the personal quality of fairness as it is worked out in the market place] do not be shocked at the sight…” Now, Solomon says “don’t be shocked” for two reasons: one has to do with what we have looked at in the past; from 3:16 up to this point. And that fact has been that the rich have been oppressing the poor ever since history began. And secondly, Solomon goes on to explain why it happens. He says, “…for one official [that could be a governmental official or simply a boss or manager of a business] watches over another official, and there are higher officials over them.” What he is referring to is what I saw in Bolivia and what we see in this country all the time. It is the practice of “kick backs” or political payoffs that go down the line from one higher official to a lower official. In Bolivia, it was the unexplained disappearance of millions of dollars in relief funds that were given by the international community to help take care of those whose homes were destroyed by the earthquake last May. Solomon flatly admits that this kind of corruption has gone on for centuries and will continue for centuries in the future. You won’t be able to stop it so don’t be shocked by it. It’s not good, but you will have to learn to live with suffering through injustice and inequities. In fact God even grants those times in our lives to use us as His special agents of grace, if we will only allow Him to.

Solomon admits something else in verse 9. I am reading this verse from the NIV translation as all of the Hebrew scholars admit to the fact that this is a very difficult verse to translate. It’s not difficult in the sense of what do the words mean, but rather, in what order should the ideas they express be placed. If you put them in one order, they can be understood one way. If they are placed in another order, they have different implications.

I have chose the NIV translation as the best rendition of this verse, because of all the translations of the original language that we have to date, this best fits the thought flow and context of this passage. Mainly that this is not a positive statement, but a negative statement. It is not a word from God as to how things ought to be, but how things are, as a result of people seeking after wealth without considering God’s role in their life.

It reads, “The increase [or the profits] from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.” In other words, if you are a farmer and you are out to make a profit from your harvest, if there is a profit to be made, you will get only some of it. The king, through his taxation, will get his share too, whether he needs it or not! He will either take some of your profits to use it to increase his own wealth, or to fund projects and social programs that he may deem important, but you may think are a waste of time or are even morally wrong. Whether you like it or not, he is going to get some of your hard earned cash and ultimately there will be little you can do about it. As long as people live as though there is no God, this will be the natural rule of the human race. The poor will always be oppressed or held back or kept down by the rich. Solomon is not saying that this is a good thing, he is simply saying that that’s the way he sees things to be. Furthermore, by the end of the passage, the implication is that if God isn’t ruling your life as a poor person, you won’t be able to find much joy or meaning in life in the midst of this oppression. Instead, like others who live “under the sun”, you will grow up bitter, suspicious and resentful of the rich and the establishment who governs you.

Now in verses 10-12, Solomon lays out three obvious drawbacks to those who, for the love of money, for the status and security they place in money, are trying to acquire wealth. In verse 10, he tells us that one drawback is that those who try to acquire wealth will discover that wealth cannot satisfy the covetous heart. He writes, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.”

Notice that Solomon doesn’t say, “He who possesses money can’t be satisfied”, but rather, “He who loves money.” This is not an attack, nor is there ever any attack in Scripture against those who possess riches. This is an assault on those who love money. This is a condemnation against those who become greedy for money because they want it for status purposes, or to find their security in it. Those who chase after the dollar will find that once they have a great amount, they will still want more and even if they should acquire more than they could possibly spend in a life time, they will find no lasting or meaningful fulfillment once they have it. Furthermore, those who pursue status or security in wealth will discover one day that this pursuit was in vain. That pursuit was a waste of their lives. Their hearts will not be full, but empty. Why? Well he continues to enumerate those reasons through the rest of this section.

In verse 11, he tells us that once you begin to gain wealth, the wealthy know that wealth attracts parasites. Solomon explains, “When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to look on?” Everybody will want to put their hands in the wealthy man’s pockets, to “serve” him. One wag put it this way, “Where the carcass is, the eagles will be!” As a person is known to gain wealth, the parasites show up offering, “Allow me to be your investment counselor.” “Oh, can you support my cause?” Or for the successful celebrity, “You need my services as an agent.”

Have you ever witnessed the entourage of a successful professional boxer or other wealthy celebrities? Everywhere he goes, it seems like they have a dozen people surrounding them. They have lawyers, promoters, bodyguards, courtiers, chauffeurs, luggage handlers, errand boys you name it. Solomon wisely asks, “And what advantage is that?”” The obvious answer is, none. It is a liability. Imagine what that celebrity must think in those rare quiet moments as he looks around at all the people who are living off his success and hard won money: “Man, if I ever quit winning, who’s going to pay the bills to keep these guys?” It becomes an added burden and can lead to anxiety. For the more you seem to make, the more you spend trying to keep it or make more. It’s a futile, vicious cycle. In Proverbs 19, Solomon correctly summarizes, “Wealth adds many friends…Many will entreat the favor of a generous man, and every man is a friend to him who gives gifts.”

In verse 12, Solomon gives us a third drawback to becoming wealthy. He cites, “The sleep of the working man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much. But the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep.” The hardworking employee or the blue collar worker, he may not eat as much or the quality of food as the rich man; but when it’s time to go to bed after dinner, he doesn’t have any problems going to sleep or staying asleep. In this vein, I like the portrayal that Chuck Swindoll has created of this individual. He writes, “Take for example, a guy who perhaps welds all day---punches in at seven in the morning and punches out at three-thirty in the afternoon---what a simple game plan! He drives his pickup home. He and his son drive over to the ball field and he shags flies with his boy. In fact, he’s probably one of those guys who help coach the Little League team in the neighborhood. He has a great time---just a hard-working, fun-loving, easy-going “working man.” When the game ends, he drives home, eats a bowl of chili and a fist full of Fritos, watches TV until the last newscast is over, then drops into bed about ten-thirty. Within sixty seconds, you can hear him snoring!”

In contrast to him, we have the rich man, who, even with a full stomach, can’t sleep because he is too worried about the future of his portfolio. He enjoys what he has but he is afraid he might lose it or not have it tomorrow. I’ve been on Little League fields and watched the rare few rich men who even bother to show up to watch their kids, because business commitments and deals prevent them from being there. And often times, those successful business parents who are there, aren’t really there. They have their cell phones glued to their ears, or they are off talking with a prospective client or customer. They pay little attention to their kid. Rare is the rich man who can enjoy his child’s Little League game.

When they do finally return home at night, sleep is a challenge. He is worried about some deal that in his pursuit to gain more wealth, has put his financial house of cards at risk. So, around and around he turns, over and over he twists trying to sleep. When he finally drops off, the slightest noise awakens him and he struggles to return to sleep. Hence, we have Solomon’s third drawback to acquiring wealth: the love of money and the pursuit of wealth can disrupt one’s sleep.

In the next five verses, Solomon writes about the risk and futility of hoarding wealth. And so we understand each other, there is a big difference between having a savings account and a hoarding account. A savings account has a purpose for which you are saving, i.e., a college education, replacement of a broken down card, retirement, etc.

A hoarding account is developing a stock pile of wealth for no specific purpose other than to have an abundance of money. There is no plan to give it away, share it with others or plan for what you will do with it. Hoarding is a way we have learned to put our trust in our finances rather than in God’s ability to provide for our needs. Furthermore, a hoarder could be one who is a minimum wage earner. This person possessed by becoming wealthy doesn’t have to be someone with a college education, it is not a matter of position or what one already possesses in terms of wealth, it is a matter of one’s heart.

With that understanding, look at verse 13, Solomon writes, “There is a grievous evil [literally, a depressing misfortune that can cause one to be physically ill] which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt.” What you have here is a man who has won his battle to obtain wealth and now he is hoarding it. He has fenced it in so that nobody can get to it. In is his and even though he doesn’t have immediate plans for it, nobody is going to be allowed access to it. He has put all he holds dear into that acquired wealth. This person would rather let his marriage suffer, his relationship with his children suffer, maybe even his own health care, because he doesn’t want to spend his money. This hoarding, in the end, will bring him great pain or hurt.

How so? The rest of these verses explain a couple of different ways that hoarding can cause hurt. The first has to do with the real possibility that he could lose it and then where would he be? We read, “When those riches were lost through a bad investment…” That is a poor translation. The word literally means, “heavy burden” and refers to a miserable misfortune. This could include a bad investment, or a plague against crops, or a fire or bank robbery. Regardless, the point is, that suddenly all he has lived for is gone. He continues “…and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing to support him.”

Here was a dad who had whatever it took to get and keep his money so that one day he could give it to his son. Maybe even the son had learned to enjoy some of the advantages of having money. But because of his stingy hoarding father and possibly because of hard-nosed business practices and “Ebenezer Scrooge” tight-fistedness, nobody was going to come to his aid or his sons. They lost their fortune and they had burned their bridges. Maybe he sacrificed time which he could have spent developing a relationship with his son to give him money and now he has neither. That in which he had placed his security…that from which he had built his identity and sense of worth was gone. In return, he emotionally is hurt. And depending upon the degree to which he had built his life around his stash, the emotional hurt could cause physical problems, like ulcers, toxic goiters, etc.

In the next three verses, Solomon gives us a perspective of life to remind us of what place hoarding our wealth should have in our lives. He says, “As he had come naked from his mother’s womb, so will he return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand.” Notice, this verse doesn’t say he won’t take anything with him. It just says that he won’t take anything material that he can carry or touch with his hand. He will take things like a conscience and his character when he goes, but that’s it. It’s the idea that “you never have seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul.”

Solomon continues, “And this also is a grievous evil—exactly as a man is born, [that is emphatic in the original. It means “just as exactly, with absolutely no difference”] thus will he die. So, what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind?” Notice, the word “wind”, what is “wind but “air that is constantly on the move”. The point is, the rich fool is trying to hold on to his tangible wealth, but when he dies, it will turn to air that is passing through his hand. Poof! It will one day be gone. And what advantage, what purpose, what sense would it be to make it your goal in life, to pursue after something that will one day not be able to be taken with you and will be gone? Obvious answer… no advantage.

When one things about it, even if you are born into a wealthy family, you personally, are born broke. There is no guarantee, as we saw in verse 14, that your family’s wealth will one day become yours. And even if it does, when you die, you will go out of this world just as you came in or worse… broke and possibly, because you have made something, like money, your god and not God, damned to hell… by your own choice.

Solomon closes with verse 17, in which he further explains how and why this is such a “hurtful” or painful experience, why it is such a futile and risky goal to make it your goal in life to become wealthy and hoard what you have. He says, “Throughout his life he also eats in darkness [meaning “blindness, misery and in gloom, the absence of a vital life] with great vexations, [meaning with tremendous emotional frustrations] sickness [which can refer to emotional instability caused by worry, suspicion of others trying to steal what you have and anxiety of the future and the fear of losing what you have due to circumstances beyond your control] and anger [literally outrage or wrathful explosions].” Those could be due to conflicts with others, anger over being cheated or someone limiting your profit margin. It could be an emotional explosion that was fired up by long held resentments toward those who have done better than you or who have kept you from doing better. Man, what a lousy way to live!!!

Recently I spoke with a spouse who did not possess wealth, but her wealth possessed her. She worried about would she have enough in her old age. She worried if her husband would take her money that she earned and blow it. I asked her if he had ever done that before. She said, “No.” I asked her if he was recklessly in debt before she married him. She said, “No!” I asked her if he is a hard worker. She said, “Yes.” I asked her if he worries about the future financially. And she says “No! And that’s the point!” Then I asked her if she could make a choice, would she rather live the next 30 years of her life worrying about whether or not she will have enough, (for which she can never be sure) or would she rather be like her husband, who for the next 30 years will live worry free and be generous, and because he trusted the Lord to meet his needs, because he has been obedient to the Lord concerning his finances, knows that God will take care of them. And you know what? She knew what the best answer was to that question, but she still chooses to worry about the future. She is living in the gloom of darkness. I would much rather live like her husband.

We come now to the closing three verses, in which we see another view to acquiring wealth. That is the view from “under the Son”; meaning from God’s point of view, as even more fully explained by Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Solomon tells us three things, from God’s point of view, about acquiring whatever wealth you acquire (and we all acquire something).

We know from the first clause of verse 18 that Solomon is going to give us a different angle on this subject of acquiring wealth. His instructions here are directed at the wealthy and the poor alike, who may even be oppressed; notice, that this is something real and he has observed it in life. In verse 18 he says, “Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward.”

What’s his point? Simply this, enjoy the process of your labor; don’t curse it. It is a gift from God. There are many who believe that because of the Fall, God’s curse against the human race was that we would have to work the rest of our lives. That’s not correct. Adam and Eve were already working in the Garden of Eden before they fell. The curse was that their work would be more difficult and frustrating than before, and few would find meaning in their work. Whether one is wealthy or poor, one’s ability to work is a gift from God. If one looks to the Lord, He can show you a sense of fulfillment and purpose and meaning to any work.

When I was in Bolivia, I spent time with some of the poorest people you can imagine. But they had a patch of ground that they had carved out of a hillside, planted seeds, built an adobe dwelling and their lives were happy, much happier than many in this room who have more than they. These believers realize that their work and what little they have is a gift from God and they are extremely thankful for what they have. They enjoy what they have, and are not afraid to give away what little they do possess to others around them.

Furthermore, that word “reward” is not really a reward, in the sense that it comes as something you have won or earned. It means more like a “portion” or “lot” in life. The Bolivians are well aware that we North Americans have been blessed by God with a much larger portion or lot than they have. But that’s okay with them. They have learned to be happy with what they have. Have we?

Solomon continues to explain himself in the next two verses. He states, “Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, [notice, God has given you whatever wealth you possess. Some of you proud ones don’t like to hear that. In your mind you are thinking, “What do you mean, God gave it to me? I worked for it!!!” I won’t deny that you may have worked hard for it. However, who enabled you to have the strength or brains or skills to do the work you do? I know a lot of people who are just as smart, have worked just as hard, but providence has not allowed them the “breaks” you have received. Whether it be the perfect timing of making the right investment or having met the person who gave you the contact, or the parents who could afford to pay for an education. These are all gifts from God] He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.” What is Solomon’s point? His point is that God has not only gifted someone with the ability to work, but also God has gifted them with the products of their work and the ability to enjoy what they have earned. You know, there are a lot of people who have a lot of wealth, but they don’t know how or don’t have the freedom to enjoy it, spend it or give it away. They are afraid of wasting their money or making a bad purchase or that God may get upset with them if they don’t use their money just right.

Friend if that sounds like someone you know, I can’t strongly encourage you to get that person or yourself into a Crown Ministry twelve week study. Or, to state it simply; enjoy the product of your labor, for it too is a gift. When you understand what God has to say about your money you will find great freedom to buy, to give away, to save or invest. You will learn what it takes to enjoy the fruits of your labor, something God has gifted you with.

Finally, together with the last verse, this next verse gives us the secret and promise to being able to enjoy not only your labor or the process by which you can obtain wealth, but the secret to enjoying what wealth God gives you. Solomon says in verse 20, “For he will not often consider the years of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of heart.” This verse promises that if the person applies the following secret to his work and acquired wealth, he will find fulfillment and joy in what he has or the work he does. It is not a promise of a life without hard times. Sure, there will be lean or tough years and financial setbacks. There will be injustices suffered that will cost you financially. But if the person applies the secret that Solomon refers to here in this passage, those difficult times of injustice, oppression, maybe even disaster or someone stealing your goods; those difficult times won’t be forgotten, but they won’t control your thoughts. What will control your thoughts will be the blessings of God that came in the process of working through those hard times. And those blessings may be greater than anything material you could possess. Like friendships that you would have never cemented, experiences shared with others, surprises and miracles from God that you knew not of.

What is the secret? These last three verses are screaming the secret. Recognize God as the giver of these gifts and make Him number one in your life, by following after Him. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” What are “all these things”? They refer to the basic needs you have to have met to live.

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