Ecclesiastes 2:18

DEATH ROBS A MAN OF THE FRUITS OF HIS LABOR

"And I hated all my labor wherein I labored under the sun, seeing that I must leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet will he rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor wherein I had labored under the sun. For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet to a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil. For what hath a man of all his labor, and of the striving of his heart, wherein he laboreth under the sun? For all his days are but sorrows, and his travail is grief; yea, even in the night his soul taketh no rest. This also is vanity.

There is nothing better for a man than that his soul should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment more than I? For to the man that pleaseth him, God giveth wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that pleaseth God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind."

"Seeing that I must leave it unto the man that shall be after me" (Ecclesiastes 2:18). "Here we learn that Solomon had some misgivings about his son Rehoboam";[20] and there were plenty of reasons why he should have had them. Under the stupid government of his son Rehoboam, his fool of a son soon liquidated the once-powerful empire of his father; and when Shishak, king of Egypt, came up and captured Jerusalem, even the gold-plated treasures of the sacred Temple itself were carried away to Egypt.

Dean wrote that, "It is impossible that Solomon could thus have spoken concerning Rehoboam";[21] but our opinion is that if Solomon was a tenth as wise as the Bible says he was, he would certainly have had sense enough to know that any son raised like a hot-house flower in a godless harem would not have the judgment to govern any nation, much less a worldwide empire; nor would Solomon himself have had such sense, if God had not supernaturally endowed him. Of course, Solomon did indeed have misgivings about Rehoboam.

"Who knoweth whether he will be a wise man or a fool" (Ecclesiastes 2:19)? As Solomon thought upon the certainty that he would soon leave his vast riches to another, there was increased bitterness in his heart at the possibility that his heir might be a fool (as indeed he proved to be). Many another rich man has been haunted by the same uncertainty. It was this very question that God Himself hurled in the teeth of the rich fool (Luke 12:20), "Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, WHOSE SHALL THEY BE"? This is the question that every rich man should contemplate. Solomon contemplated it here, but he did not like the obvious answer.

The argument from all of this was thus stated by Loader: "By toil and wisdom Solomon had made great gains, but his successor may well be a fool; and, in that case, wisdom has only served the interests of folly. Therefore wisdom is worthless."[22]

Returning again to that example Jesus gave us in Luke 12, "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." Right here lies the secret of why despair, disillusionment, disappointment and frustration settled like a dark cloud over Solomon's heart. No wonder he hated life.

"Yet to a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave it" (Ecclesiastes 2:21). The great paradox mentioned here is that great reward should go to the wise and the industrious; but, lo, and behold, some lazy and foolish heir inherits every bit of it! No wonder that Solomon's verdict on all this was that, "This also is vanity and a great evil." It seems never to have occurred to Solomon that he should have made himself rich toward God with all that wealth. Instead of that, he spent his last days fretting over whether or not a fool would get everything that his wisdom and labor had produced. And sure enough, the fool got it, and promptly lost it. This is a true description of what has happened to many another vast estate.

"Even in the night his heart taketh no rest" (Ecclesiastes 2:23). This is indeed an accurate description of people with great possessions whose lives are oriented to this life alone and who neither believe in God nor try to serve him. The result: sleepless nights, one headache after another, and endless worry and apprehension.

"There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor" (Ecclesiastes 2:24). Scholars dispute the obvious meaning here; but what appears is that basic enjoyment comes to the man who works for a living and is blessed of God to enjoy his food and drink. The king with all of his wealth here seems to sense the fact that it has brought him no more, actually, than that which comes from the working man's livelihood.

Waddey, however, interpreted this passage to mean that Solomon concluded that the best policy for life was Epicureanism: "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die."[23] If that is what the passage means, it is, of course, a false viewpoint. This was the philosophy of the rich fool in Luke 12, but God Himself condemned it.

"The real value of Ecclesiastes is that it portrays life as it must ever be without Christ."[24] And the picture that emerges in these chapters is so terrible that it should frighten every unbeliever on earth out of his atheism and turn his thoughts to God, who alone is able to bless man eternally.

"To the man that pleaseth him, God giveth wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he giveth travail" (Ecclesiastes 2:26). As Cook said, "Here is the doctrine of Retribution, and God is the moral Governor of the world."[25] One may chase any earthly rainbow that he may choose, but, apart from the blessing of God, the utmost futility, despair and destruction will be his eternal reward. The forcefulness with which Ecclesiastes teaches this truth is the secret of its value.