Certain Uncertainties- Ecclesiastes 9:1-12
Part of Upside Down—Ecclesiastes
October 27, 2019

Upside Down: Ecclesiastes

Certain Uncertainties: 9:1-12

So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! —Ecclesiastes 9:7

  1. One Thing in Life is Certain (v.1-6)
  2. Many Things in Life are Uncertain (v.11-12)
  3. Simple Things in Life can bring joy (v.7-10)

1 This, too, I carefully explored: Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God’s hands, no one knows whether God will show them favor. 2 The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad, ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t.
3 It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway. 4 There is hope only for the living. As they say, “It’s better to be a live dog than a dead lion!”
5 The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered. 6 Whatever they did in their lifetime—loving, hating, envying—is all long gone. They no longer play a part in anything here on earth. —Ecclesiastes 9:1-6

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. —Matthew 6:19-20

1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. —John 14:1-3

Many Things in Life are Uncertain

11 I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.12 People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.
—Ecclesiastes 9:11-12

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” —James 4:13-15

Simple Things in Life that bring joy

7 So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! 8 Wear fine clothes, with a splash of cologne! 9 Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil. 10 Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom. —Ecclesiastes 9:7-10

“If we were to consider Solomon’s worldview it might sound something like this. Ride a bike, see the Grand Canyon, go to the theater, learn to make music, visit the sick, care for the dying, cook a meal, feed the hungry, watch a movie, read a book, laugh with friends until it makes you cry, play football, run a marathon, snorkel, listen to Mozart, call your parents, write a letter, play with your kids, spend your money, learn a language, plant a church, start a school, speak about Christ, travel somewhere you’ve never been, adopt a child, give away your fortune and then some, shape someone else’s life by laying down your own.” David Gibson, Living Life Backward. pg.114

23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, —Colossians 3:23

Learn to find God’s gifts in the trials
Remember that not all of life is trial.

“Natural loves that are allowed to become gods do not remain loves.” CS Lewis, The Four Loves

“Jesus literally ate His way through the gospels.” David Ford, Self and Salvation- Being Transformed, pg.268