A lifetime of shadows
[Ecclesiastes 6:7-12]
I went to the Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital yesterday. I went to see one of our church member whose lungs weren’t doing good. The hospital seemed to continue to inspect his lungs and try to identify the cause in order to treat it. When I visited him yesterday, he told me that when he reflected back his 85 years of life in this earth, the conclusion is everything is false. So I told him what King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 1:2 – “"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” Listening to his conclusion of his 85 years of life, I have come to think once again how to live in this this vain life.
In Ecclesiastes 6:12, King Solomon speaks of "a lifetime of shadows". What does it mean by "a lifetime of shadows"? I hope you will think about it. What do you think when I say "shadow"? When I say "shadows," the first thing I can think of is that we can not catch them. Another thing that I think of as "shadows" is that shadows do not stay long and disappear quickly. When King Solomon said “a lifetime of shadows”, it can be interpreted in two ways: (1) First, the word "a lifetime as a shadow" means life flees quickly. Look at Job 14: 1-2: “Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.” Like this words of Job, our life in this world is short, full of trouble and its goes quick as a shadow. Look at Psalm 90:10 – “The length of our days is seventy years-- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” The psalmist Moses is telling us that our life’s span in this world is seventy or eighty but it is trouble and sorrow. (2) Second, “a lifetime of shadows” means a short and futile life in the world. Look at Ecclesiastes 6:12 – “For who knows what is good for a man during his lifetime, during the few years of his futile life? He will spend them like a shadow. …”. Looking back what King Solomon repeatedly said in Ecclesiastes ‘vain’ (1: 2; 2:15, 19, 21, 23; 3:19; 4: 7, 8; 5:10), ‘vanity and striving after wind’ (1:14, 17; 2:11, 17, 26; 4: 4, 16), ‘what is profitable’ and ‘uselessness’ (1: 3; 2:11; 4) : 8; 5:11, 16). It is a vain life to spend in the lifetime of shadows that go quickly, doing unprofitable and useless things things. Of course, this is not a word that refers to those whom God is pleased with. The reason is that those whom God is please with live a meaningful and profitable life in the sight of God, even though the life is short and goes quickly. Rather, it refers to the sinner (6:1-6). Here, the sinner refers to a person who is worse than a miscarriaged baby. Who is worse than the miscarriaged baby? Those whom God blessed with wealth, riches, honor, and children's blessings and longevity, but not able to enjoy all of it and in their death their bodies can not be buried properly. These sinners’ lives are like shadows and that they have spent the short and meaningless days in this world.
Then why is the lifetime of shadows vain? Why is it meaningless? Why are the reasons? (1) First, the reason that lifetime of shadow is meaningless and useless is because there is no satisfaction. King Solomon said, “All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing” (1:8). What does it mean? It means there is no satisfaction with our eyes and ears even though we see and hear. That’s why King Solomon said that the world is vanity because there is no satisfaction in greed of human being. And this is what King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 6:7 – “All a man's labor is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not satisfied.” Here a "man" referred to “the man” in verse 3. And “the man” is regarded as unhappier than the miscarriaged baby because there is no satisfaction in his soul (Park Yun-sun). This man’s appetite cannot be satisfied no matter how hard he works for his mouth. There is no satisfaction in his soul. Why isn’t he satisfied with his soul? The reason is that our soul can only be satisfied with one God, but he wanted to leave God and fulfill his appetite. A person who is not satisfied with the soul is unable to enjoy life but keep on working and live a vain and meaningless life and die later on. (2) Second, the lifetime of shadows is futile and meaningless because it can not be saved. Look at Ecclesiastes 6:8 – “For what advantage does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage does the poor man have, knowing how to walk before the living?” Here King Solomon is saying that those who are not saved, whether they are wise or fool, are same (Park Yun-sun). No matter how humble we are in this world to deal with things wisely, the point is that we do not know God and have no salvation and this is useless. In Ecclesiastes 2: 12-17, King Solomon spoke of the wise and foolish, and the key lesson was that: “For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten And how the wise man and the fool alike die! So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.” Whether people are wise or foolish, their destiny is death. The problem is after death. It is important whether their souls will have eternal life after death or eternal condemnation. No matter how much people are wise and humbly dealt with things of this world, if they do not walk in the way of salvation, what will happen to the soul after death? There is nothing meaningful unless we walk in the path of salvation by believing in Jesus.
How then shall we live this lifetime of shadows? What is a meaningful and useful life in God’s sight?
First, in this lifetime of shadows, the meaningful and useful life in God’s sight is to be satisfied only by the Lord alone.
The usefulness and meaning of life is to be satisfied only by the Lord alone and walk in the path of salvation by faith in Jesus. We must abandon our greed and be content with only Jesus. Jesus is the only One who is able to satisfy our souls while living in this lifetime of shadows. Only Jesus can satisfy our souls. Is is because our soul desires eternity and only eternal Jesus can satisfy our eternal souls. We, like Apostle Paul, must learn to be content in abundance and poverty, "whatever it is" (Phil. 4:11). Therefore, we must be satisfied with only Jesus. And if we are satisfied with Jesus alone, then we will obey His Word, and pursue eternal things. This is a meaningful and useful life in God's sight.
Second, in this lifetime of shadows, the meaningful and useful life in God's sight is to handle the Lord’s work humbly and wisely (Park Yun-sun).
Look at Ecclesiastes 6:8 – “For what advantage does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage does the poor man have, knowing how to walk before the living?” This verse is talking about those who have not been saved. But if we apply this to we who have been saved, in order for us to live the meaningful and useful life in God’s sight in this lifetime of shadows, we must humbly handle the Lord's work wisely.
At the morning prayer meeting yesterday, I thought about King Saul in 1 Samuel 15:17, who had considered himself small (1 Sam. 15:17), but eventually became proud and set up a monument for himself (v. 12) after winning the battle against the Amalekites. And although he had sinned by disobeying God's word, he still wanted Samuel to honor him before the elders of “my people” and before Israel” (v. 30). As I thought about King Saul, I compared myself in the past when I used to consider myself small and now when I wanted to be honored or exalted in front of people. Then the Holy Spirit worked in my heart to mourn for my own sins and enabled me to confess them and repent. The Holy Spirit worked in my heart to help me to put down my prideful heart in front of the cross. What was the reason for this abundant grace of God? It was because the Lord wanted me to humbly serve the Lord's church. It was because the Lord wanted me to serve His church with His humility and His wisdom (not depend on my own understanding). How about you? We should serve the Lord and His church humbly and with the wisdom that the Lord gives us. Such life of service with humility and wisdom is a life that is meaningful and useful to God.
Third, in this lifetime of shadows, the meaningful and useful life in God's sight is to enjoy the present good (Park Yun-sun).
Look at Ecclesiastes 6:9 – “What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires This too is futility and a striving after wind.” One scholar translated this verse like this: “It is better to enjoy the present good than to think of other good things.” What King Solomon is telling us is to enjoy the present and give thanks to God (Park Yun-sun). In Ecclesiastes 6:1-6, King Solomon saw the grievous evil in this world that even though a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires but God has not empowered him to enjoy them. How about you? Are you enjoying and satisfied with every spiritual blessings that God gave us in Christ Jesus (Eph. 1:3)? We should enjoy the blessings God has already given to us in Jesus Christ in our present life. For example, when we think about God adopting us to be his children, one of the spiritual blessings that God gave us in Christ Jesus, we must enjoy this blessing humbly and wisely at this time, so that our souls may enjoy his blessing. To do that, we must seek our Heavenly Father. We should pray to our Heavenly Father, calling him "Abba Father" (Rom. 8:15). As we don so, we must hear and obey Heavenly Father's voice. Therefore, we must learn the heart of Heavenly Father. In doing so, we will be able to live a meaningful and useful life in the sight of God. Let us enjoy the joy that the Lord gives us in this lifetime of shadows.
Fourth, in this lifetime of shadows, the meaningful and useful life in God's sight is to live in obedience to the truth in fearing God (Park Yun-sun).
Look at the text Ecclesiastes 6:10 – “Whatever exists has already been named, and it is known what man is; for he cannot dispute with him who is stronger than he is.” Dr. Park Yun-sun said: ‘This words means that since the position and degree of man has already been confirmed before God, he only obeys truth in his real life one step at a time in fearing God.’ Those who live in vain and meaningless life do not fear God. They struggle with God and go too far beyond their boundary. Having struggles with God, they ignore God, who has determined their existence and boundary, and do whatever they want. This is futile (v. 11). Living this lifetime of shadows apart from God is vanity (v. 12) (Park Yun-sun). But the life of fearing God is meaningful and useful in God’s sight. Therefore, we must be obedient to the Word of God. In fact, this is the conclusion of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Look at Ecclesiastes 12:13 – “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.”
As I meditate on Ecclesiastes 6:7-12, I asked this question to myself: ‘How shall I live the rest of my life in this lifetime of shadows?’ During this lifetime of shadows which goes quickly, I want to live a meaningful life. I want to be satisfied with the Lord alone. And I want to live humbly and wisely in doing the work of the Lord that the Lord has entrusted to me. I also want to enjoy all the spiritual blessings God has already given to me in Jesus Christ. And I want to live in obedience to the Word of God in fearing him, as King Solomon had conclusively stated in Ecclesiastes 12:13. I hope that this prayer of devotion will be with us today, here and now.