1. So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands, but no man knows whether love or hate awaits him. 2. All share a common destiny-- the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. As it is with the good man, so with the sinner; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them. 3. This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.
Although death is not a popular subject to discuss, it is a reality, we cannot deny it. Solomon tells us it doesn't make any difference what you do, or how good or bad you are, you are going to die.. The Bible calls it an enemy, for death is the price of sin in our world.
I have led, participated in, and attended many funerals. I have found, with the rise of hospice care, increasingly more study and attention has been given to addressing the needs of those with terminal illnesses. When I started as a chaplain in the health care field, I was asked to speak on the spiritual needs of the elderly and infirmed at the Minnesota Association of Nursing Homes in the 70’s. My statistics showed, that the older population had an increased openness to discuss death and dying and the importance of spiritual resources, than those who take care of them.
There is lots more to being prepared than making sure you have a plot and what you want sung at your funeral. We all live under a spiritual judgment for all of us have a terminal disease. It is sin. The wages of sin is death. Mortality rate is still 100%. We die because we are under the curse.
Some have looked at this chapter and claimed that it supports a humanistic viewpoint of death. When you're dead, you're dead and there isn't anything more. That is not the theme of this book. Solomon is writing about the things under the sun. As far as this life is concerned under the sun means, when our life is gone, the things of this earth are all over. That is what he is saying. We are dead to this world and there is nothing more that can be done.
The reason things looked bleak to Solomon was because all of his accomplishments, which were great among men, lost their joy when he fell under the judgment of God. Joy comes not by what we do, but by the gift and grace of God and being in a right relationship with Him. This physical world does not offer to meet our needs in the next world. All throughout the New Testament the teaching of death and eternal life is very clear and repeated. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall never die."
Application: Make having a right relationship with Jesus Christ be at the top of your list. To live for Him and for eternity.
Prayer: Lord, all this life is fleeting. Only what done for you, Oh Jesus, will last.
