We are back with Solomon and his review of what it’s like “under the sun.” We saw before that this is the world-view of someone who has no hope and is without God in the world (Eph 2:11-12). In this section of his book, Solomon looks at the world and considers people who are righteous and wicked, good and evil, religious and irreligious, at those who make pledges and those who will not bind themselves. All of these types and conditions of people, he realizes, suffer the same fate regardless of how they live and what they do with their lives - they all die.
From an “under the sun” point of view, he says, even the wise and righteous do not know what is in store for them, but they do know that death is the end. The dead know nothing, they have no more reward and their memory is forgotten. Their love, hate and envy are all gone and they will never again return to exist “under the sun.” Clearly, in this situation, being alive is better than being dead. Thus it is better to be a living, lowly creature like a dog than a dead “king of the beasts” like the lion, because at least while you are alive you may hope and dream, even though you still know that one day you will die.
So, Solomon reasons, it matters little whether you live a good life or a bad life, a righteous life or a wicked life. (But it is more likely “under the sun” that, as those whose hearts are “full of evil and contain “madness,” it is wickedness that we will be drawn to, and not good.) Either way, the evil of death will cut off our activities, whether they are good or bad.
Something inside us pushes back against this analysis of the world, doesn’t it? In the life lived “under the sun,” those who strive to be a blessing to others die. Likewise, those who are the most horrific examples of the human race, torturing, abusing and misusing others, die. Whatever they did and whatever reward there was for their way of life dies with them. No-one will remember them. “Gone, but not forgotten” is a common epitaph on a tombstone, but I remember clearing away the overgrowth to read that inscription on a forgotten grave. It just doesn’t matter how people live “under the sun” - there are no consequences either way.
“No!” we cry in protest, “This isn’t right!” We know in our hearts that a very important piece of the puzzle is missing here. It does matter how we live! Otherwise, as Solomon has shown us again and again, there is absolutely no point, no real meaning to our lives, and we know deep down that this is a lie! There is justice and it really does matter how we live. Above all, it matters that we have the evil and madness that is in our hearts taken away, and have our spiritual eyes opened so that our world view can be set right.
In Psalm 73, the writer experienced a similar problem. He saw the righteous suffer and the wicked having a great time here on earth. He tells us in all honesty that he nearly lost his faith because of it. There were no consequences (apparently) for wrongdoing and the efforts of those who tried to live to please God often brought more difficulties, so what was the point? He was looking at life with an “under the sun” lens. Then he drew near to the Lord and looked again from God’s eternal perspective:
Psalm 73:16–20 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, 17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. 18 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. 19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! 20 Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
There are eternal consequences for how we live here and what we do with our lives! If we turn our backs on God and pretend to ourselves that He doesn’t see or doesn’t care what we do, we will discover (possibly in this life but certainly when we die) that we have made a huge mistake. We will be “rewarded” for the things we have done in our lives - and the result will be eternal destruction. On the other hand, those of us who turn away from our sin and turn to God, trusting Jesus to take away the evil and madness in our hearts, will be rewarded with an eternity of bliss when we leave this world. Here, we won’t be spared the trials and difficulties, the pain and the grief that affect all the living. But these will seem light and momentary compared with the glory that lies ahead, and God will be near us through them all!
We are all going to die. It may not be from coronavirus but it is a certainty. Are we ready? Our “gut” tells us that there is more to life than the things we can see and hear, touch, taste and smell. There is an unseen, spiritual realm. There is a God, a heaven and a hell. It does matter how we live here and above all, whether we turn from sin and put all our trust in Jesus to save us and bring us to heaven!
