Oh, life is so unfair! At least that’s what Solomon is saying. But it’s very true because life is extremely unfair. Everything is equal and fair in a perfect world, but we don’t live in that world. In this passage, the king of Israel reminisces over a young, poor man who replaces an old king. more »

Ah, the classic “two are better than one” passage: “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two more »

I thought about studying verses 7-12 today, but after reading through the six verses, I thought it might be more beneficial to break it up and spend more time on the smaller sections. So here’s today’s passage: “Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. There is one alone, and there is not more »

In this passage there is a contrast between two men. The first man works and presumably enjoys the benefits of his work. The second man is lazy and simply looks at the first man’s work with envy. “This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.” Why? Because no one gains anything by just looking more »

This is about as depressed as I’ve heard Solomon so far. He begins by lamenting over the oppressed who have no comforter, and he ends by expressing gratefulness over those who have never even been born. How low can he get? His sorrow is understandable because it is true that many people are mercilessly oppressed more »

I’m kind of struggling with this passage, but the main idea seems to be found in verse 18: “I said in my heart, ‘Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.’” What? God tests us to show us that we are like more »

Building off yesterday’s verse that mentioned God requiring an account of everything that man does, Ecclesiastes 3:16-17 contrasts worldly judgment with God’s judgment. The Preacher says, “Moreover I saw under the sun: In the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, iniquity was there. I said in my heart, ‘God more »

“That which is has already been, and what is to be has already been; and God requires an account of what is past.” The first part of this verse is almost identical to the first half of Ecclesiastes 1:9 and has already been discussed on Day 1 of my study through Ecclesiastes. But the second more »

It is because He does it. He does it so that we might fear Him. And whatever He does is permanent. Those are the main ideas that I pick up from the one verse that I am meditating on today.

A lot of what is said in these verses has already been discussed in detail. In verse 9 Solomon asks, “What profit has the worker from that in which he labors?” In verse 10 he says, “I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.” Verses 12 and more »