King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Saturday, June 21, 2025
Chapters: Ecclesiastes 7-12
Message: Ecclesiastes: When Life Comes To An End
Hello My Friend,
As we come to the end of the reading of Ecclesiastes we are reminded that it is actually more beneficial for us as Christians to mourn than laugh sometimes. The life we live here on earth is one of great challenges, and we will attempt and fail at many things, but it is the end of our lives that counts more than the beginning, [James 4:8-10 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.]
Yesterday we learned that nothing satisfies the flesh, the more you get the more you want, and anything gotten without God is all vanity and a vexation on our spirit. Today, we learn that sorrow of the heart is often the better blessing than what joy brings.
[Ecclesiastes 7:1-4 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.]
Think about it, as joyful as new life is for the saved, born again Christian, death is only the beginning of eternal life with Christ. While we will never fully understand death we do not need to fear death as long as our soul is saved, not to mention that our names are written in heaven, [Luke 10:19-20 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.]
God has, in His rightful wisdom, kept away from us the knowledge of future events, especially of death so that we may be always ready for changes. There is one thing appointed to us that none of us can escape unless Jesus returns soon, and that is death. The wicked fear death like you would not believe because no matter what they do to try to escape it they cannot. Nevertheless, we need to be thankful for what we have.
[Ecclesiastes 7:7-10,13-14 Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart. 8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. 9 Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. 10 Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this. 13 Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.]
I am not going to lie, oppression is probably the hardest thing that we will ever go through and it does not matter of you are the wealthiest or poorest person on earth oppression comes to all of us at some point. The way to keep from going mad when oppression hits us is actually waiting it out with rejoicing in the LORD, and the reminder that it will come to pass and we will be all the better for it, [Hebrews 10:35-36 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.]
Apart from the reminder that we ought not be no where near the person we were before we knew Christ as our Saviour it does no good to keep dwelling on what we had. What does do us good is the reminder that God is merciful and gracious and has given us the opportunity to turn things around with Him leading the way to even better things than what we had. The older you get the more you realize how precious life is, that earthly pursuits get you nowhere, and it does not matter how much you know, what you know is not very much. Solomon, in all his wisdom understood this.
[Ecclesiastes 7:19-22,25-26 Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city. 20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. 21 Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee: 22 For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others. 25 I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness: 26 And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.]
This is why we know that Solomon wrote this just before he died, when his many wives turned his heart to other gods. Solomon, understood all too well that since we are sinners by nature if we take our eyes off God for one second we will fall into sin.
[Ecclesiastes 8:1-6,8 Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed. 2 I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God. 3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him. 4 Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou? 5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment. 6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him. 8 There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.]
Unless Jesus returns in our lifetime on this earth, there is absolutely nothing that we can do to avoid death. However, we do have the power to keep our soul from facing a second death and that only comes through our faith in Jesus Christ, [Revelation 21:7-8 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.]
Since we have no guarantee of tomorrow, whatever we need to do to make things right with God and or others we need to do so now. Even though no saved, born again Christian we will not lose their salvation, we do not want to leave here with that kind of shame. Solomon, knew all too well that even though his heart turned from following God completely, his soul was protected.
[Ecclesiastes 8:9-10,12-13 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt. 10 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity. 12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: 13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.]
The more we walk with Christ the more we discover just how much of a sinner we are and that brings great misery upon us. God, is quite merciful and long suffering in that He lets us learn things in baby steps so that we do not get so overwhelmed that we run from Him. This is why Jesus purges us little by little. Of course, He does not want us to sin, but what is more important is developing a relationship with Him so that when we do learn of sin that we repent and turn away from it. Solomon, understood this.
[Ecclesiastes 9:1-2,4-6 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. 2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. 4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.]
There is so much here from the fact that God is merciful to the sinner to the fact that those who trust in Christ are among the living no matter how many times they sin. We will never be without sin as long as we are here, but I am a testament to the fact that Jesus will keep us from falling off the edge completely, [John 10:28-29 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.]
You see, while we are still here Jesus can use us and the truth is, that is why we are still here as we can reach more living through Him then we could being in heaven. Paul said it this way, [Philippians 1:23-25 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: 24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. 25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;]
Solomon, went through a great deal of pain to understand how God works regarding the poor and the rich, the good and wicked, and although he was no closer to an answer than we are, he did come up with one conclusion, one that we all need to agree on as well.
[Ecclesiastes 9:10-12 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. 11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. 12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.]
Again, we do not know when we will take our last breath here so we need to make each day count, it does no good for us to be angry, bitter, envious, or proud. It is time to make amends, forgive, feed the poor with the Good News of the Gospel, tie up loose ends, and by all means, let go of things that we cannot control. While we have this life, there is opportunity, and since we have no idea when we will leave here, it is in our best interest to make the best possible use of the life that God has given us.
[Ecclesiastes 10:1-6,8 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour. 2 A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left. 3 Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool. 4 If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences. 5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler: 6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. 8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.]
My goodness, this reminds me of a store that I walked into the order day, it was obvious that there was a dead rat somewhere because the stench was horrible, but what made it worse was the air freshener they used to try to cover the smell. This is actually how we smell to God if we are living a sinful life after we get saved. Those who live in sin dig a pit for themselves because unrepentant sin will bite them eventually and they will fall into that pit unless they repent, [Hebrews 6:4-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.]
There are people living in the world that have more morals than some saved, born again Christians. All it takes is one unrepentant sin to ruin our reputation and give Jesus a bad name. While it is our faith alone in Christ that saves our soul, we must realize that since we are saved by the blood of the Lamb we are to be a reflection of Christ, meaning live like the example He gave us while He was here in the flesh.
[Ecclesiastes 10:12-15,18-20 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. 13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. 14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him? 15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city. 18 By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through. 19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things. 20 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.]
In other words, if we say that we are a Christian, then our walk needs to match our talk. And yes, when we sin that reflects on Jesus and the world is all to happy to see us make fools out of ourselves. Being a reflection of Christ does not mean that we are to live like Catholic priests and nuns, we are to simply live the rest of our lives with respect to not only Christ, but our own bodies as well, [1 Corinthians 6:13-15 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. 14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. 15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.]
With that said, God is merciful in that should we fall into sin He does give us several opportunities to repent before things get out of hand. While God never condones sin, what is more important to Him is that we come to Him, confessing it, which is more honorable than a fool who is dies in their own conceits.
[Ecclesiastes 11:1-5 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. 2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. 3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. 4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. 5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.]
While we are never going to understand everything about God and quite frankly we do not want to know everything that He has to deal with, it is wise to pay attention to what we are doing. Solomon, also observed that one day we will all be judged for our actions by God Himself.
[Ecclesiastes 11:6-9 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. 7 Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun: 8 But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity. 9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.]
There is not one of us, even those who are saved, who will not stand before Jesus and give an account for the things that we have done in our body after we got saved so we might as well live the rest of our lives as a reflection of Christ.
[Ecclesiastes 12:1,3,5,7 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; 3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, 5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: 7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.]
There will come a day when it will be too late to seek Christ, which is why we are to never forget where we were before Christ found us and what He has done for us so far so that others might come to know Him before that happens. Now, granted there are many who get saved on their death beds and that is all they could do, but this is where our good works count after we are saved. Solomon, at the end of his life understood how important it is to maintain good works after we get saved.
[Ecclesiastes 12:10-14 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. 12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.]
It is interesting to note that Solomon gives references to one shepherd, and while his father was a shepherd before he even became a king, there is only ONE SHEPHERD that he is referring to, and that is our GOOD SHEPHERD, JESUS CHRIST, [John 10:14-17 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for the gift of eternal life when I trusted Your Son as my Saviour, I know there is nothing I can do to earn or keep my salvation. I know that everything You do for me is in Your best interest, and things I longed for, but never gotten are only opportunities for something better. It is easy for me to say I trust You when things are going well, but not so easy when challenges come. Lord, I want to trust You at all times, even when I do not understand. Help me to trust and obey all Your decisions, let me not get discouraged or disgruntled over things I do not understand, and keep me looking for the blessings as I endure my challenges with You. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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