A Study by Scott Sperling Ecclesiastes 3:12-22 - The Limits of Human Wisdom  11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere Him. 15 Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account. 16 And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment--wickedness was there; in the place of justice--wickedness was there. 17 I thought in my heart, "God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed." 18 I also thought, "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" 22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him? In the previous study, Eccl. 3:1-11, Solomon enumerated the events and activities of life, each of which has its time and season under heaven. At the end, Solomon contrasted the human viewpoint with the heavenly point of view concerning the activities of life. From the viewpoint of human wisdom, Solomon asked, as he had earlier in the book, "What does the worker gain from his toil?", and then noted, "I have seen the burden God has laid on men" (Eccl. 3:9-10). But then, from the heavenly point of view, Solomon noted, as we see at the beginning of the passage above: "He has made everything beautiful in its time." (vs. 11). Solomon goes on: "He has also set eternity in the hearts of men" (vs. 11). God has given men reasoning abilities far beyond those of any other creature on earth. Man has the ability to look beyond the drudgery of individual activities in life, and to deduce that there is an overriding purpose to what goes on. This "eternity in [his] heart" gives man "a deep seated desire, a compulsive drive (because man is made in the image of God) to appreciate the beauty of creation (on an aesthetic level); to know the character, composition, and meaning of the world (on an academic and philosophical level); and to discern its purpose and destiny (on a theological level)... Man has an inborn inquisitiveness and capacity to learn how everything in his experience can be integrated to make a whole" [Kaiser, 67]. Man realizes that there is more than just "here and now", but that there is an eternal purpose. Yes, God has "set eternity in the hearts of men; yet"  (as Solomon continues) "they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end" (vs. 11). Though we have a sense that there is an eternal purpose, we, in our fallen state, "cannot fathom" the workings of God in their entirety: in our fallen state, we cannot take full advantage of the reasoning abilities we have been given. Despite the "eternity in our hearts", we still are not able to comprehend, in their full beauty, the great plans and purposes of God. Though we cannot understand His purposes fully, we can still have faith that He is in control, and that He will bring about His purposes. Such a faith can, and should, lead to contentment in life. Solomon notes: "I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God" (vss. 12-13). Contentment with what God has given us is the key to happiness in life. Paul teaches that "godliness with contentment is great gain" (I Tim. 6:6). Why do we strive for things beyond what God wants us to have? Do we not believe that God is doing what is best for us? And since He does what is best for us, He must at times, for our own good, withhold from us things we desire. There are two ways we can respond to this. We can become angry with God, and cry out, "Why can't I have what I want?" Or, we can accept that God knows what is best in the great scheme of things, accept that we "cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end", and be content with all the great blessings He does give us: "This is the gift of God." To not be content with what God wills for us is foolish, because to fight against God is futile, as Solomon notes: "I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere Him" (vs. 14). In contrast to man's futile labors (see Eccl. 2:17), what God does "will endure forever." This realization should turn us to God. "God does it so that men will revere Him." It only makes sense to seek the favor of the One who is in control. From the complete sovereignty of God, we can infer a complete consistency and determinism of His laws, both physical and moral: "Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account" (vs. 15). "The government of God is not to be changed, and does not change; His creative as well as His moral ordering of the world produces with the same laws the same phenomena” [Keil & Delitzsch, 264]. This is the basis of science, the consistency of God's physical laws: "Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before." The same cause produces the same effect. All elements of technology depend on the consistency and determinism of God's physical laws. And just as God's physical laws are consistent and enduring, so His moral laws will not pass away: "...and God will call the past to account." There is a difference, though. Violations of God's physical laws have an immediate consequence: if you jump off a building, you will hit the ground. However, because of God's longsufffering mercy, violations of God's moral laws at times go unpunished. But be assured, this situation will not last forever: "God will call the past to account." Solomon notes by observation that the consequences of violating God's moral law are suspended in many cases: "And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment--wickedness was there; in the place of justice--wickedness was there" (vs. 16). Yet because "everything God does will endure forever" (vs. 14), Solomon concludes:"God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed" (vs. 17). God will balance the scales. In the end, God will make things right. "There will be a time"  when God's perfect justice will be fulfilled. As mentioned, it is in God's mercy that He forestalls immediate judgment for wrongs committed. If God's judgment was instantaneous, there would be no room for repentance, no place for grace. As for Solomon, he did not see the complete manifestation of God's grace. He lived long before the instrument of God's grace, Jesus Christ, came into the world. And so Solomon concluded that the certain eventuality of the fulfillment of God's justice means doom for man: "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" (vss. 18-21). Solomon assumed that because God's justice will triumph, there is no hope for man. Though created as a superior being to animals, though God had "set eternity in the hearts of men" (vs. 11), man rebelled against God, and brought himself down, through his rebellion, to the level of the animals. So Solomon concluded that "man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both." Solomon desired a better conclusion. He appealed for one. He asked, "Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?"  Solomon could not find a way that, given the fact that "God will call the past to account", man's fate could be any better than the animals, because, frankly, man deserves no better fate than to "return to dust". But where Solomon failed, God succeeded. God in His great wisdom and mercy devised a way that the spirit of sinful man could "rise upward", yet God's justice be intact. God sent His Son to take the penalty for man's rebellion against God, in order that man may be cleansed of his sins and be reconciled to God. Man's fate is not like that of the animals. Through Jesus Christ, the spirit of man "rises upward."   ----------- Bibliography and Suggested Reading Bridges, Charles.  A Commentary on Ecclesiastes.  Edinbrugh:  Banner of Truth, 1992.  (Originally published in 1860). Hubbard, David.  Mastering the Old Testament:  Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.  Dallas:  Word, 1991. Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, A. R.; Brown, David.  A Commentary: Critical, Experimental, and Practical on the Old and New Testaments.  3 Vols.  Grand Rapids: Eerdman’s, 1993. (Originally published in 1866). Kaiser, Walter.  Ecclesiastes:  Total Life.  Chicago:Moody, 1979. Keil, Carl & Delitzsch, Franz. Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. Reprint Edition. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971.  (Originally published ca. 1880). Kidner, Derek.  The Message of Ecclesiastes.  Downer’s Grove, IL:Inter-Varsity, 1976. Nisbet, Alexander. An Exposition with Practical Observations upon the Book of Ecclesiastes.  Reprint Edition.  Edmonton, Alberta: Still Waters Revival Books, 1998.  (Originally published in 1694). Wiersbe, Warren.  Be Satisfied.  Wheaton, IL:Victor Books, 1990.