Ecclesiastes 4
McGeeCHAPTER 4This chapter continues the record of Solomon’s search for satisfaction through the philosophy of egotism.
Ecclesiastes 4:1
Does this sound to you like any political philosophy in modern America? The egoist rebels against the establishment. He is opposed to it. However, whatever system exists, whoever is ruling, the poor are oppressed. Frankly, the poor always get the bad dealthere is no question about that. They are the ones who are oppressed. So the protest movements begin at this particular juncture.
Ecclesiastes 4:2
You have heard the expression: “I wish I were dead.” Then, “I’d rather be red than dead” is just reversing it, but both are rebellion against the establishment. Death appears to hold no terror for him whatsoever.
Ecclesiastes 4:3
Here is the other side of the coin: It would be better for future generations if they were never born. “I wish I had never been born” is the way we hear it.
Ecclesiastes 4:4
It is interesting that the egoist rebels against the establishment, against the oppressor, against that which is wrong, but what about the man who is doing right? What about the man who is trying to do something about it? Well, he says that is no good either. It is a waste of time. This is really a pessimistic view of life!
Ecclesiastes 4:5
Does this mean a foolish man is a cannibal? No, it means that he is not willing to do anything to protect himself. He will not work for himself. We have developed quite a society like that today; people want everything given to them.
Ecclesiastes 4:6
Candidly, this is a very good point. Of course this man wants to do “his own thing,” but I would say it is better to have it that way than to have the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.
Ecclesiastes 4:7
Anyway you go, it is wrong. There is no way out. This is the worst kind of pessimism. No wonder that campuses which major in an egoistic philosophy have the highest incidence of suicide. It is the old sore that has broken out in corruption. Behind all of it is the same pessimism of a philosophy of egoism which teaches that all comes to naught.
Ecclesiastes 4:8
What a picture this is! Even if you work for somebody else and help them, you are just wasting your time.
Ecclesiastes 4:9
Now he is going to give some reasons for teaming up with someone else, but it will be a selfish reasonyou may be sure of that. He says that two are better than one “because they have a good reward for their labour.” You’ll be able to acquire more by teaming up with someone than by trying to do it alone.
Ecclesiastes 4:10
Solomon made the discovery that attempting to live just for yourself doesn’t mean you can go it alone. You need someone to help you and stand with you. “Woe to him that is alone when he falleth.” That is the reason they tell us to team up if we go on a hike rather than going alone. In case of an accident it is well to have someone else around. This is a problem of the many retired folk who live alone. They may fall and break a hip and be unable to get to the telephone. Sometimes it is a day or two before a neighbor looks in on them. So it is better that two be together. If one falls, the other can render help.
Ecclesiastes 4:11
And then one member of a team can give warmth to the other member of the team. I remember as a little boy, I always liked to sleep with my dad in the wintertime because he would warm me up. It was cold. Ours was not a warm house, and we slept in rooms that were unheated. It made quite a difference to sleep with my dad.
Ecclesiastes 4:12
If two is company, then three is a crowd, and sometimes it is well to have a crowd, especially if someone is coming against you. We have problems with crime on our streets today. Often it is the person who is alone who is the victim of crime. I am told that in Washington, D.C., a woman is not permitted to go alone to a public restroom. There must always be another to go along with her. It is tragic that we live in such a day. In spite of what the liberals say, we are in need of law and order in our day.
The Bible teaches clearly that unregenerate man has a sinful nature. It should be obvious that “civilized” man has not lost his sinful nature and needs restraint rather than liberty. The liberty being exercised in our day is the liberty to hold people up on the street, liberty to mug them, liberty to make obscene calls, liberty to blare out music that only one or two people want to hear, liberty to express oneself in any way. My friend, liberty is not license. You have liberty to swing your fist, but where my nose begins is where your liberty ends. We need to change many of our concepts today. The self-centered man will not find satisfaction in this life. To be alone in your work may satisfy for a while, but finally you get tired of it. I don’t like to travel alone. I go to many conferences in my work, and I take my wife with me everywhere I go. Most of us find that we don’t like to go alone.
Ecclesiastes 4:13
Solomon was botha wise child and a very foolish king.
Ecclesiastes 4:14
We should be interested in what happens in federal and state governments because it is going to affect our living. A great many people become poor because the politicians become rich and influential. Certainly folk have a right to protest against that. The corruption that has arisen in our country is wrecking business, making many people poor, and retired folk suffer from it.
Ecclesiastes 4:15
“The second child that shall stand up in his stead.” It is interesting to notice that Solomon was a second child. He was a second child of Bathsheba. He was not the child whom David would have chosen to be the next king. Solomon apparently had noted that since Isaac was not the first child and Jacob was not the first child, God has a way of choosing seconds. If you feel that you are second-class today, remember that you are first-class with God. The second thing to notice is that later on things seem different from what they were at the time. “They also that come after shall not rejoice in him.” Someone, such as a president, may be very popular during his day. Then, as time begins to recede from him, when the glamor boys and publicity men are no longer heard, and the news media are no longer building him up, we can see that his time in office was not a blessing to the nation but actually a time of deterioration. “There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him.”