Reading… and Thinking

I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all.

— Ecclesiastes 9:1 (NASB)

You would think that if you’re the fastest runner, you would win the race. But it doesn’t always happen that way. You can have a bad start, or pull a muscle, or be bumped by someone (perhaps intentionally), or a dozen other things can happen.

The same with the strong, the wise, the intelligent, the skillful. Their own ability is not the only factor. Aside from the potential for opposition from rivals, there is always a significant element of luck involved in whether or not you achieve success “under the sun”.

Losing out because of bad luck is heartbreaking, and it seems so unfair. But this is nothing compared to what the Preacher observes earlier in the chapter:

It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. (verses 2-3)

And what is that fate? It is to perish! Reading on:

The hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead… For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten. Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun. (verses 3-6)

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going. (verse 10)

Can it really be true that it doesn’t matter whether you are righteous or not? Look at the parallel phrases: “the good”, “the clean”, “the man who offers a sacrifice”. The Preacher is talking about righteousness under the Law. Notice that he doesn’t say anything about “the faithful”.

Observance of the Law is “under the sun” just like all the other activities. It cannot save. There are countless people who think of themselves as Christian, who live “good” lives—in the sense that they do not indulge in gross immorality and occasionally do nice things for others. But fundamentally they live their lives “under the sun”, striving to gain success by their strength, wisdom, intelligence, skill. The Preacher says that such are in the same boat as the wicked. Time and chance have a lot to do with their success, and in the end they go to the grave.

There is, of course, hope of a way out of this dead end, through faith. Faith doesn’t rely on strength or intelligence or skill, or on its own “goodness”. We have to get out of the realm of our own endeavor in order to escape from the tyranny of time, chance, and death. Those who belong to God (by grace, through faith) are no longer subject to mere time and chance—Providence is now involved. And we have passed from death to life (to use Jesus’s phrase, John 5:24).

We all acknowledge this in theory, but we still often act in “under the sun” mode. We get upset if things aren’t “fair”. We think our skill or intelligence should get us somewhere. We congratulate ourselves on our “goodness” when we do something nice. This isn’t living in faith. Faith counts all this as refuse, for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. (Philippians 3:7-11) The faithful woman or man goes to work just like anyone else. You and I can’t tell the difference between a faithful one and a self-reliant one. But the Lord knows that they are living in two different worlds, with vastly different destinies.