We now move on to a series of proverbs from the Teacher, addressing the futility of life.
Ecclesiastes 5:1-7, Careful vows before God
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
and you are on earth,
so let your words be few.
As a dream comes when there are many cares,
so the speech of a fool when there are many words.
When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.
Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the [temple] messenger, "My vow was a mistake." Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?
Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.
The Teacher warns about one's vows before God, stressing that one's religious vows should be sincere -- and rare! Promises should not be rash. (See Deuteronomy 23:21-23.) The end of verse 2 ("God is in heaven...") emphasizes God's ability to see everything, not His distance (Alter.)
This is a rare discussion, in Ecclesiastes, of the actions of God. In other places, God is not mentioned or seems, at least, difficult to know or understand. Here the warning is against fake or hypocritical appearances of worship.
Ecclesiastes 5:8-9, Oppression
If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still.
The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
The cynical Teacher says, in verse 8, Yes, there is oppression. Don't be surprised! One landowner oppresses his serfs, and he in turn is oppressed by the governor or a duke who is oppressed a king. The oppressive heirarchy goes up and up. Like much of Ecclesiastes, this is observation, not approval.
Commentators agree that both the Hebrew and the interpretation of verse 9 is unclear. One viewpoint might be that the king is at the top of the hierarchy, taking his cut. Another interpretation (for an agricultural society) is that even the king's future depends on the fertility of the land.
Ecclesiastes 5:10, Rich never satisfied
Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless.
As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owner
except to feast his eyes on them?
We now have several proverbs emphasizing that even the rich are not satisfied -- they always want more. (It is not hard to look around us today and quickly see examples of this!) As one gains goods and wealth, others are attracted to those riches, ready to siphon the goods away.
Ecclesiastes 5:12, Sleep
The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
whether he eats little or much,
but the abundance of a rich man
permits him no sleep.
There is some value in being a hardworking laborer! The laborer quickly falls asleep at night while the rich man worries.
Ecclesiastes 5:13-14, Wealth hoarded and lost
I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:
wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,
or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when he has a son
there is nothing left for him.
A man might become rich and then hoard the riches, so that they are of no value. Or the riches might be lost by some "misfortune" so that the brief wealth is not passed on to his children.
Ecclesiastes 5:15-17, Naked to naked
Naked a man comes from his mother's womb,
and as he comes, so he departs.
He takes nothing from his labor
that he can carry in his hand.
This too is a grievous evil:
As a man comes, so he departs,
and what does he gain,
since he toils for the wind?
All his days he eats in darkness,
with great frustration, affliction and anger.
Verse 15 echoes Job 1:21. Man comes into life with nothing, not even clothes, and departs the same way. The Teacher asks, And so what happens in between? Here the Teacher seems to say that the period in between is an experience of pain, toil, frustration, anger.
If this is so, the Teacher has a suggestion in the next verse.
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, Satisfaction
Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him‑‑for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work‑‑this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.
The Teacher says that there is indeed good in finding satisfaction in one's life, in the things that God has allowed him. These riches are a gift from God. It makes one's ending less onerous as one merely enjoys the many gifts given him. (As a retired university professor, enjoying nature, the woods and changing seasons, enjoying some easy days with my wife, I can heartily agree! I do not expect to live forever, but I am enjoying the days God has given me.)
Davidson uses this passage to make some points about the tendency for many Christians to feel that, somehow, they should not enjoy the pleasures of life. He quotes Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
I am sure that we ought to love God in our lives and in the blessings he sends us. We should trust him in our lives, so that when our time comes we may go to him in love and trust and joy. But, speaking frankly, to long for the transcendent when you are in your wife's arms is, to put it mildly, a lack of taste, and it is certainly not what God expects from us. We ought to find God and love him in the blessings he sends. If he pleases to send us some overwhelming earthly bliss, we ought not to try to be more religious than God himself.
(Davidson, p. 40, quoting Bonhoeffer's, Letters and Papers from Prison, p. 86.)
To which I say, Amen! (Jan, I hope you are reading this!)
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