Ecclesiastes Chapter Nine, What Has Perished

Ecclesiastes 9:6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun. [7] Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works. [8] Let your garments always be white, and let your head lack no oil.

Verse 6 concludes the preacher’s thoughts, beginning in verse 5. Verse 5 explained how the living possess an awareness of death, but the dead, by the standard of what is under the sun, know nothing. Though unspoken, it is not just an awareness of death, but a fear of it, represented by the living dog and the dead lion. In Hebrews 2:15, the writer goes into a little detail as to how Satan, through fear of impending death, kept humanity enslaved. This amplifies the notion that being a live dog is better than something noble and dead; for at least the fear of death is held off a little longer, no matter what we have to do to prolong its visit.

While verse 5 stresses how the dead know nothing, verse 6 adds the details that the strong emotions that can drive a man have died with him. What we love, we fight for. What we hate, we fight against. What we envy, we fight to attain. All of these drives perish with the man that bore them, never to bear fruit again. Nevermore, the preacher says, will a man have a part of what is under the sun. While this passage is not looking at life above the sun, it may be said that man will not return to earth to continue his ventures. Nevermore. The entire idea of reincarnation is the continuance of human existence on earth as we are born over and over again through different lives. The Bible in many places makes it clear that reincarnation is not compatible with what it teaches regarding death and resurrection. The writer of Hebrews fills in the blanks of what comes after life under the sun, writing, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,” Hebrews 9:27, NASB. Men die but once, leave life under the sun behind them, and face the impending judgment of God. Reincarnation is an incompatible belief that grants man access to earthly life innumerable times before reaching whatever coveted state it is supposed to help bring about.

King Hezekiah, one of the godly kings of Judah, surely felt the sting of mortality and what the preacher meant in this passage when Isaiah told him, “Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live,” 2 Kings 20:1. What was the king’s reaction? After praying, “Hezekiah wept bitterly,” 2 Kings 20:3. The king desired more time under the sun to continue his manifold affairs, and so do most of us. That is why the change of tone in verse 7 is almost comical, or satirical. The preacher encourages his readership to eat and drink merrily, as though nothing were amiss. He punctuates this thought by telling them that God has already accepted their works. Earlier in Ecclesiastes we read, “So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun,” Ecclesiastes 8:15. But these momentary pleasures do not produce substantial, enduring pleasure. Eating, drinking, and merriment provide distraction from the rigors of life, and draw our attention into the moment instead of letting it wander to what the next moment might hold. Verse 8 suggests external religious piety. White robes represent cleanliness from sin; while the oil symbolized an anointing from God, signifying His acceptance. The Psalmist speaks about this when he writes, “It is like precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes,” Psalm 133:2, NASB. 

The language employed by the preacher could not do anything but invoke this imagery in his Jewish readership. Aaron was one of the most influential figures in Israel’s history. This commendation seems too good to be true, especially in light of how cynical the preacher has already been concerning life under the sun. Eat and drink with a merry heart, for God accepts you. May your garments be pristine, and the anointing oil never be lacking. If it ended here, the passage would seem slightly out of place. Yet the preacher is wrestling with angst over the inevitability of death, and this passage is a moment of perhaps patronizing humor before he plunges back into the grim reality humanity faces. Verses 7 and 8 seem to portray a naive or childish view of life; that if one acquires the material requisites for “success” (how one defines that slippery word) you have triumphed. The foolish woman of Proverbs seduced the simple to turn aside, assuring them that creature comforts, however acquired, were sufficient to satisfy in life, Proverbs 9:13-18. But the preacher does not mince words, and in the following passage–God willing–we will have better clarity as to what he thinks about the accomplishments and events of life under the sun.