Ecclesiastes is a book about searching for meaning in life. It’s about finding purpose. The Preacher assumes the position of King Solomon, one who had great wisdom and great wealth, yet he is unable to find rest in either.
Wisdom and wealth cannot provide rest.
He considered the endless cycles of nature concluding that everything is vanity, emptiness. Searching for meaning in life “under the sun” is like chasing after the wind.
You won’t find your contentment in work or study, pleasure or possessions.
There have been hints along the way that point to an alternative way of life. He has acknowledged that God sits enthroned above all our experiences. He is sovereign and in control. Even though our experience is filled with much vexation and affliction, God has indeed given us food and work and the ability to enjoy life.
Those who please God with their lives find wisdom, knowledge and joy (Ecc 2:24-26).
Chapter three ended on the idea of injustice, and chapter four continues with the specific notion of oppression, which is a form of injustice. But, we will end our reading at v.6, where the Preacher encourages his readers to find satisfaction and contentment.
Pray & Read Ecclesiastes 4:1-6.
In his classic work, Confessions, Augustine prays his popular prayer, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
It’s a prayer many of us have prayed in our own way. We experienced a restless searching for satisfaction and contentment in all the wrong places and things, until we found hope and rest in God.
Last time the Preacher noted the pervasiveness of wickedness. We find wickedness even where there is supposed to be justice and righteousness. No sphere of life is immune from sin. That is precisely what the doctrine of Total Depravity teaches. This is true on a personal level as well as the institutional level.
The main idea was to enjoy your work despite pervasive wickedness and your impending death. This week’s idea stems from the fact that humans struggle to find contentment. We are challenged to…
Learn to be content despite oppression and envy.
We will look at our passage in two parts:
1. Discomfort and its Alternatives (1-3)
2. Envy and its Alternatives (4-6)
1. Discomfort and its Alternatives (1-3)
1 “Under the sun” reminds us of the Preacher’s assumed worldview. He is not taking a holistic approach to his research, but he is looking at the world from a secular mindset. We also see that the phrase brackets the passage in v.3 setting this apart from what follows.
The theme in v.1 is “oppression”. The Preacher is comparing those who have been oppressed with their oppressors. And the shocking conclusion is that neither are able to receive comfort from their circumstances. Neither feel a sense of relief. We see those who are oppressed weeping and unable to feel comfort. Yet, we also see the oppressors enjoying their power and not experiencing comfort themselves.
Most commentaries believe the refrain “no one to comfort” is repeated for emphasis and still refers to the oppressed. I think the Preacher is emphasizing the lack of contentment for the oppressed as well as the oppressor.
Kidner focuses on the relationship between oppression and power. He writes,
“Paradoxically [power] limits the possibility of reform itself, because the more control the reformer wields, the more it tends to tyranny.”
History is a gigantic grandfather clock in which the pendulum ceaselessly swings from one extreme of power to another. Those who lack power now, will gather together enough resources and strength to overthrow the present power. Then, they too will begin to enjoy their power so much that it will begin to corrupt their compassion. No longer are they fighting for the oppressed, but they are more concerned with maintaining their control at all costs.
It’s not hard to find that oppression was forbidden in Scripture. Zechariah 7:10 “do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor…” Proverbs 14:31 “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker…”
Oppression brings discomfort into the life of the oppressed, but it provides no satisfaction for the oppressor either. This insight brings the preacher to the observation that it is better to be dead than alive…
2 In other words, we’re better off dead than to continue living in discomfort.
What does he mean by “the dead who are already dead”? We see that it is in contrast to “the living who are still alive.” This is simply a Hebraic way of emphasizes their state of being dead/alive. It would be like saying, “It’s better to be really dead than really alive.”
3 Then he takes it even further…It’s best of all to never be born. The unborn are spared the witnessing of “evil deeds”. They have the advantage of never suffering.
To be human is to suffer pain and emotional loss. Being human requires moments of discomfort. The Preacher provides the only alternative to experiencing discomfort – death, or better yet, never be born.
Life “under the sun” is filled with discomfort because humanity lacks compassion. Is that true? Do the oppressed as well as the oppressors really lack comfort? I’ve seen people who do not share the Christian faith show compassion for others.
Jesus’ own parable of the Good Samaritan points to the compassion of an outsider to rebuke the Jewish religious leaders who showed great commitment to their own rules, but lacked compassion for their neighbor.
Ecclesiastes is Wisdom Literature. Much like Proverbs, there are statements which cannot be applied in a universal manner, but are generally true. The Good Samaritan is an exception to the general truth that the world lacks compassion.
So how can we learn to be content despite the oppression we see and experience?
The Preacher doesn’t answer that, or even suggest the question quite yet. Before we consider the answer from Scripture more broadly, let us move on to the next section.
› The Preacher transitions from Discomfort to…
2. Envy and its Alternatives (4-6)
4 The Preacher transitions from “oppression” to “toil” (vv.4, 5). He suggests that the only reason we work and strive to be skilled in our work is because we are envious of others.
Solomon points to the destructive power of jealousy (a synonym for envy)…Proverbs 27:4 “Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?” Jealousy is worse than wrath and anger!
All our envy is vanity and chasing after the wind. What is your primary motivation? Maybe you want fame. Maybe you want fortune. But whatever it is that motivates your professional growth, envy is often at the root.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see the harsh truth in that. I may not spend much time comparing myself with John Piper or RC Sproul or John MacArthur. Those elite preachers are in a special category. And it doesn’t take a lot of humility to see I don’t compare to them. However, mention someone who graduated from seminary around the same time as me and the first thing I want to know is the size of their church. I want to know if it’s grown since he arrived. Maybe you’re thinking, “Man, is Brad really that petty?”
Well, let me assure you—that’s not even the half of it! Because, depending upon how their church is doing I’m going to want t know how their family life is. Is their marriage healthy? Are they a good father? And, then, if they’re doing really well their too I might figure their personal walk with God MUST be cold.
Why do I want to know all of this? Of course, it’s so I can better know how to pray for him… It’s so I can compare myself to him and justify my value and worth. I’ve got to be better than him in something! So, yes, I am that petty.
5 I don’t think the Preacher is literally calling the fool an autocannibal (autosarcophagy). At first I thought it might be an illustration of one clinching his fists and biting his knuckles/fingernails. The fool lives an anxious life because he is constantly comparing himself to his peers.
However, upon further study, it seems to be a depiction of laziness. It is suggesting the idea of withdrawing from life to avoid rivalry. It is the opposite of v.4.
Folding hands is a picture of laziness…
Proverbs 6:10–11 ESV
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.
“Folding hands” = don’t work. This means the fool’s existence is self-defeating. In short order he will consume everything he has.
Oppression and envy are additional examples of the pervasiveness of wickedness. But, something better than laziness and rivalry is taught in the next verse…
So how can we learn to be content despite oppression and envy? v.6
- Folding hands represents one who is lazy.
- Both hands full represents one who is greedy. It is the greed that motivates our work habits—forsaking rest in order to get a leg up on the competition.
- One hand full represents one who is content.
The secret is learning to be satisfied with less in order to enjoy the rest God provides.
Learning to be content with less is not easy in our materialistic and consumeristic world. But it is a far healthier way to live. We see a picture of contentment in the garden…
Genesis 2:16 ESV
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,
“Surely” may also be translated as “freely” which draws out the implied peace that existed between man and nature. However, Adam and Eve lost this peaceful toil because of their desire to be like God (Gen. 3:5). They envied God’s authority.
The Promise Land became a symbol of returning to that state of tranquility between work and joy (Gen. 13:10; Ex. 3:8). It would become a place of rest, where they would lack no good thing (Ps. 23:1-3). There they would experience safety and blessing (1 Kings 4:25; Isa. 36:16; 65:21-25).
The thread continues in the New Testament. Jesus taught his disciples:
Luke 12:15 ESV
And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
He would go on in the same chapter to teach them not to be anxious about their lives, what they would eat or wear. Consider the ravens. They know nothing of saving up, yet God provides them with food when they’re hungry. Consider the lilies. They grow without any anxious toil.
Luke 12:31–34 ESV
Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
When we are freed from the Rat Race, the endless cycle of anxious toil, we can begin to live for the kingdom of God. Only then will we be able to say with Paul,
Philippians 4:11–13 ESV
Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Conclusion
We might summarize our passage this morning with the words of Proverbs 14:30 “A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.” We will not have a tranquil heart until we learn to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Mt 6:33).
Our riches are not in material possessions, they are in the blessings that belong to us as children of God, adopted through the work of redemption wrought by Jesus Christ on our behalf.
When we live for God’s kingdom we are storing up treasure to be enjoyed forever. Only a fool would trade that for a temporary wealth and fame.
Instead, learn to be satisfied with less in order to enjoy the rest God provides.