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Ecclisiastes 9:3 - Does the same thing really happen to everyone?

Good evening friends,

Some thoughts about the futility of the thoughts of those who try to live without God.  One of the reasons the Law was given was to show us our need for a Savior.  One of the reasons we have the Wisdom literature is to show us what happens when we don't learn what the Law is trying to teach us.  We run into people everyday who have convinced themselves that they are perfectly happy without God.  I would just say "They have never read Ecclesiastes."

Blessings,

Jeff 

Thinking about the scale that led Solomon to this conclusion.  If the scale is physical death, then he is absolutely correct that the same event happens to all.  He doesn't seem to care about the circumstances of death or what comes after death but just the simple fact that all people die and have no more share in all that is done under the sun.  But this implies that having a share in the things done under the sun for the longest time is the most important thing.  When I compare this with Paul's evaluation in Philippians that to live is Christ and to die is gain, he is using a different scale.  Serving the Lord everyday regardless of the physical circumstances and then going to be with Him is far better than a long life of self indulgence and then being separated from God.

The theme of Simeon's song that Jonathan explored on Sunday shows the same thing.  The single event of seeing the Messiah made his life more fulfilling that any amount of worldly riches.  

Solomon describes existential philosophy.  If the same thing happens to all, then life is essentially meaningless.  This doesn't mean that existentialism is true.  When God is excluded, man really is without hope.  When man's experience is the measure of value, each person  is doomed to try to come up with some arbitrary standard that makes life meaningful for that individual.  Thanks be to God that Jesus is what make life meaningful.

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