Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

c. Labor is good only when it is acknowledged as from the hand of God. Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

TEXT 2:24-26

24

There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen, that it is from the hand of God.

25

For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?

26

For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that He may give to one who is good in God's sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 2:24-26

57.

List the three simple things in life that one is instructed to recognize as coming from the hand of God.

58.

Who gives man enjoyment?

59.

What is the condition that one must meet to receive God's blessings of wisdom, knowledge and joy (Ecclesiastes 2:26)?

60.

What happens to the sinner's legacy?

PARAPHRASE 2:24-26

Man is not able of himself to find satisfaction in his work or in his pleasure such as eating and drinking. However, if a man finds a temporary satisfaction in his labor or his pleasure, he must recognize that it is entirely from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can find enjoyment apart from God? Let us consider what happens to the one whom God favors and also to the one who offends God. To the person who is good in God's sight, God gives wisdom, knowledge and joy. To the sinner, however, God gives the vexing task of collecting and heaping up a fortune under the sun. Then the one who offends God must give it to the one who is good in God's sight. My conclusion is that this too is as unfulfilling as feasting on the wind.

COMMENT 2:24-26

This is the first time in Solomon's book that he reaches above the sun and speaks of God. As previously noted, however, it is not in the sense of a warm, covenant relationship. Rather, he speaks of God as the Creator who is in complete control of His universe. God's laws govern our world. There is enjoyment to be found in one's labor, but it is only when God blesses or permits. There are two classes of people who are identified. One is the good man who receives approval from God, and thus enjoys his labor. The other is the sinner who does not find this approval from God. Perhaps the intention here is to explain that a wise man, in this instance the good man, works in harmony with God's laws as he interprets them through the revelation of God through nature. As a result he pleases God and finds favor. On the other hand, the sinner is literally one who offends God. He sets aside the rules he discovers in this world. As a result he runs contrary to what he knows to be the better way to live. When one does this, he does not discover wisdom, knowledge or joy.

Solomon employs the term joy in much the same way that it is understood today. It carries the idea of cheerfulness and satisfaction with life. It is used three other times in Ecclesiastes and in each case the NASV renders it differently. They are: pleasure, (Ecclesiastes 2:10); joy, (Ecclesiastes 2:26); gladness, (Ecclesiastes 5:20); cheerful, (Ecclesiastes 9:7). In each reference it speaks to the excitement of discovery and living life to its fullest each day. This kind of joy does not come to the man who is motivated by greed, or gathering wealth and possessions for his own use. The sinner has a grievous task because he gathers and collects with selfish intent. The good man is quite different. His wisdom does not bring grief. His knowledge does not bring sorrow. His joy comes to him because he finds satisfaction in the labor within a single day. This conclusion is clearly stated: Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward (Ecclesiastes 5:18).

The sinner does not enjoy what he has gathered. This has been the basic premise of the book thus far. Not only has Solomon demonstrated this to be true, but what the sinner has gathered and collected for his own use will be inherited by one who is good in God's sight. This principle of retribution is taught in Proverbs 28:8 which reads: He who increases his wealth by interest and usury, gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor. Again he writes: The wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous (Proverbs 13:22).

The vanity of striving after wind of verse twenty-six, does not refer to the activities of the good man. It has reference to the sinner who is collecting and gathering fruit of his labor, but will not enjoy it because it will soon belong to another. (Read carefully Ecclesiastes 2:11; Ecclesiastes 2:17-18.)

The fact that the good man recognizes that his enjoyment is from the hand of God, should not be interpreted in the context that God has given him a detailed rule book by which he works and lives to increase his joy. Rather, it is simply that the good man realizes that food and drink are gifts, which he acknowledges to be from God, and he finds genuine joy in the use of them. There is a definite moral involved. If avarice is the foe which keeps one from enjoying life, then setting oneself free from such a vain sin would result in the daily satisfaction with life that Solomon is discussing.
To try and discover happiness where God has not ordained that happiness can be found, has always been man's failing. Jesus redirects men's minds to those higher and nobler efforts which result in genuine happiness. Never has it been that joy results from the pursuit of joy. Our Lord's beatitudes underscore the truth that when one seeks higher values such as purity, peace, and righteousness, that blessedness, in this case joy, overtakes him, and he discovers that he is experiencing real joy where God has ordained that it is to be found.

The division of chapter three at this particular verse is unfortunate. The same theme is under consideration in all twenty-two verses. In Ecclesiastes 3:9 the basic question is asked once again: What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? The entire chapter is an amplification of chapter two. How can man discover a profit from his labor? First, by submitting to the fact that God does things appropriately in His own time. Second, eat, drink, work, and do good in one's lifetime. Third, do not be discouraged by the similar fate (death) of both man and beast as man does not have the knowledge to see his future, and thus he should be happy in his activities day-by-day. The profit is limited but it is there. Joy is his reward. Solomon states it clearly: Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy one-self in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward (Ecclesiastes 5:18).

FACT QUESTIONS 2:24-26

108.

What attitude does the good man have toward God's control of the world?

109.

What attitude does the sinner have?

110.

Give the three synonyms used for joy in Ecclesiastes.

111.

Who cannot experience this joy?

112.

There is a limited profit (reward) that is available to one who labors under the sun. What is it? Cf. Ecclesiastes 5:18

113.

What will happen to that which the sinner collects and gathers?

114.

Does joy result from pursuing joy?

115.

Jesus taught us that we will find joy if we pursue what?

116.

What subject comes under discussion in chapter three?

117.

What basic question is once again raised?

118.

Give three ways one can find a share of profit even under the sun.