7 All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. 8 For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity sand a striving after wind. – Eccl. 6:7-9
In the previous chapter, Qohelet spoke of the importance of worship for mankind to properly steward power, wealth, and possessions. As we move into chapter 6, we see that he now comes to consider the difficulty that wealth posses to us as we live our lives in a fallen world. In order to get us to think properly about our tendency towards materialism, Qohelet will put before us some hypothetical considerations and confront us with some important questions, both directly and by way of implication.
In 6:1-6, Qohelet addresses a certain aspect of life that often afflicts mankind: people’s lives are filled with good things, and yet they are not always enabled by God to truly enjoy those things. This is an ‘evil’ not because God is evil, but because that experience is a frustrating/vexing part of life in a fallen world. He then considers that even if a man were to live many lifetimes but be unable to fully enjoy life, that a stillborn child would be better off. He justifies this extreme example by stating that the unhappy rich man is not ‘satisfied’ with life’s good things (6:3) but the stillborn child finds ‘rest’ (6:5). The reality is that ‘life’s good things’ are unable to provide the satisfaction and rest that our souls so desperately desire. And so his implied question for us is, What do you really want?
As is his habit, Qohelet transitions in 6:7-9 to personalize for us what he has just considered by way of a general observation and hypothetical example. What he states is that people are driven by their various appetites and that they try to satisfy them with the things of life. When a person orders their life either intentionally or functionally around these ‘things,’ then that person’s life is materialistic. Qohelet’s point here is that our ‘appetites’ (nephesh) are never fully satisfied in this life. His solution, therefore, is for people to seek contentment, because the wandering of the appetite leads only to frustration and disappointment. In thinking through these things he confronts us with the question, Isn’t it better to just be content?
Finally, Qohelet concludes his thoughts on these matters in 6:10-12 by focusing back on God. He does this not by direct reference to God, but by way of implication. The roving of the appetite and the materialist pursuit of satisfaction from the good things of life is a form of rejection of God as our Creator and Sustainer. To be frustrated with the fruits of our materialism is to have sought to strive with God and to have lost. We are unable to dispute with the one who is stronger than us (God) and we are helpless to avoid the frustrations and disappointments of life. What we must consider the important question, Isn’t it better to listen to rather than contend with God? This has been Qohelet’s point throughout the book. It is God alone who satisfies and it is He alone who has the answers that we seek in life. Unfortunately, Qohelet can only point us to God, he cannot provide the answers himself. He observes the truth that all die (6:6), but he still questions who it is that can really tell a person how to live or what will happen after death. Once again, his own longings and questions point us forward to someone who can speak to us authoritatively about these things.
In John 7:37-39 we read an account of Jesus standing up at the Feast of Tabernacles and calling those who were thirsty to come to Him and drink. This statement is a partial quotation of Isa. 55:1-2 where Yahweh called to His people to come Him to find true satisfaction. It is not in the things of life that our desires are satisfied, it is in Christ who can speak authoritatively about how we are to live our lives in a fallen world but who can also assure us of our future in a restored creation.
Join us this Sunday as we come to Him to find fellowship both with God and one another!
Soli Deo Gloria.
-Thomas