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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:12 - 3:22
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The Nature of Human Happiness
v. 12. I know that there is no good in them, in the works of God given to men, but for a man to rejoice, in a cheerful use of the blessings of the Lord, and to do good In his life, to himself and to others in the proper use of God's gifts, for this is one essential part of true human happiness.
v. 13. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor, it is the gift of God, and should be acknowledged as such with the proper thanksgiving.
v. 14. I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever, for His works are established and upheld by His almighty power; nothing can be put to it, by the weak attempts of frail human beings, nor anything taken from it, they cannot interfere with His government; and God doeth it that men should fear before Him, for the contemplation of God's works brings about a feeling of awe and reverence, together with the knowledge that the omniscience of God is familiar with even those things which men often believe hidden from His eyes.
v. 15. That which hath been is now, it was established by God's creative act; and that which is to I, hath already been, in agreement with God's plans before the creation of the world; and God requireth that which is past, literally, "God seeketh that which was driven away," restoring that which seemed changed and crowded out by the cycle of events in the history of the world.
v. 16. And, moreover, I saw under the sun the place of judgment, where the judges and rulers of men should dispense justice only, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there, perversion of justice by persons in authority being all too common.
v. 17. I said in mine heart, in meditating upon a possible change in the unfortunate conditions obtaining, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, if not on this side of the grave, then in the last great Judgment; for there is a time there, in heaven above, for every purpose and for every work, for God is still supreme Sovereign in the universe.
v. 18. I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, fallen mankind in general, that God might manifest them, that is, sift, test, prove them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts, so far as their physical life and its end is concerned, they are on a level with brutes, that being the curse of vanity, the result of sin.
v. 19. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one, according to their bodily, physical nature only, dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath, their physical life is of the same kind; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast, so far as his outward, physical life comes into consideration; for all is vanity.
v. 20. All go unto one place, to the realm of death; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again, Gen_3:19.
v. 21. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? How can we expect the ordinary person, without the illumination of the Word, to distinguish between the death of a human being and an animal? For it certainly seems as though there is no difference, death ensuing as soon as the breath stops.
v. 22. Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, take pleasure and delight in the labor which falls to his lot in life; for that is his portion, so much is allotted to him in this life; for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? The lesson for the believers is this, that they do not chase after shadows, thereby losing the reality, but that they enjoy the blessings of God with a carefree heart, leaving the future in the hands of their heavenly Father.