Ecclesiastes 6

Order of Service

• Prayer Requests
• Opening Prayer
• Bible Study — Ecclesiastes 6
• Closing Prayer

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Sermon Title: The Vanity of Wealth, Possessions, and Honor

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 6

I. The Man Who Cannot Enjoy His Wealth (Ecclesiastes 6:1–6)

A. The "evil" (ra'ah) described in verse 1 — meaning evil, misery, distress, or calamity — is the same word used in Ecclesiastes 5:13

B. The trio of wealth, possessions, and honor in verse 2 echoes 2 Chronicles 1:11–12, where God promises Solomon these very things for asking for wisdom

1. The irony: even this divinely granted gift is meaningless without the accompanying gift of enjoyment
2. Echoes Paul's teaching on contentment in any and every situation (Philippians 4:11–12)

C. The man with a hundred children and long life (Ecclesiastes 6:3) — no moral judgment is made; the point is simply dissatisfaction

1. A stillborn child is declared better off — reminiscent of Job's lament in Job 3:11–19
2. Also echoes Ecclesiastes 4: the dead are better than the living, and the unborn better yet than both

D. Verses 4–5 affirm the stillborn child finds more rest than the man who has everything but no enjoyment

E. Verse 6 uses hyperbole — whether one lives zero days or two thousand years, death comes to all

1. "Do not all go to one place?" is an under-the-sun observation about death as the great equalizer, not a statement of universalism

II. The Insatiable Appetite of Man (Ecclesiastes 6:7–9)

A. Verse 7: the mouth and appetite represent all material desire, not just food — appetites are recurring and never finally satisfied

B. Verse 8: the wise man has no ultimate advantage over the fool in this regard; both lack lasting satisfaction

1. The poor wise man may have wisdom but lacks the material means to act on it

C. Verse 9: "the sight of the eyes" versus "the wandering of the appetite" — equivalent to the proverb of a bird in the hand beating two in the bush

1. Enjoying what is before you is better than chasing what you do not have
2. Yet even this the Preacher concludes is vanity and striving after the wind

III. Transitional Verses: The Sovereignty of God and Human Limitation (Ecclesiastes 6:10–12)

A. Verse 10: whatever exists has already been named — naming in the biblical world denotes authority

1. God names Adam in Genesis; man cannot contend with one stronger than himself
2. Echoes Job's search for an arbiter between himself and God (Job 9:32–33)

B. Verse 11: multiplying words profits nothing — the fool multiplies words, and no amount of speech can manipulate or impress God

C. Verse 12: human limitation is the final absurdity

1. We do not know what is good for us in our few and fleeting days
2. We cannot know what will come after us — whether in our own lifetimes or beyond

D. Practical application: the sovereignty of God over life is both sobering and freeing

1. Despair of finding contentment through worldly pursuits
2. Find rest in God's absolute authority — even oppressive humans fall under His rule
3. Recognize the difference between striving against God's purposes and persisting in His will