Ecclesiastes 7:8-18, Worse, Better, Best!

There are a lot of things in Ecclesiastes that we can learn about seeking a life without God.  It is a vain life, empty to the very core.  It does not satisfy the soul.  But there are times in Ecclesiastes that you might think, “oh, there’s some wisdom to live by.”  You might think, especially in the latter half of the book, that it is similar to Proverbs.  But upon closer look, you will find that it is not a prescription for the satisfying of the soul.  One of those places is in the “better or worse” section of Eccl. 7.  Here is a summary of the early part of that chapter.

BETTER	WORSE
v1 good name	precious ointment
v1 day of your death	day of your birth
v2 going to a funeral	going to a feast
v3 sorrow	laughter
v5 the rebuke of the wise	the song of fools
v8a,10 the end of a thing	the beginning of a thing
v8b,9 the patient in spirit	the proud of spirit
v11-12 a defense of wisdom	a defense of money

It’s kind of hard to argue with these things.  No question, the one is better than the other.  And it you have accepted this as “wisdom for life” then what you are being called to do is to make the best of life “under the sun,” life where God is marginalized in your life.  It’s the old saying, “the good is the enemy of the best.”  What you end up with is the strange conclusion of 7:15-18 where the “preacher” ends up telling us to be righteous but not too righteous.  “Don’t be overly wicked.”  What kind of advice is that?

But what happens if, under the New Covenant, as believers in Christ, we add a third column called the “BEST?”  This is actually the Divine purpose of Ecclesiastes, to show us how sad life is without God in His rightful place.  You could do a lot of things with that third column when Christ has entered your life and entered the picture of what makes for a truly satisfying life.  Here’s my column.  Feel free to think about it and make your own column.  Then give thanks to God for our life in Christ.

BETTER	WORSE	BEST
reputation	perfume	A life that glorifies and blesses God.
death	birth	Eternal life thru Christ our Lord
funerals	feasts	The fellowship of believers
sorrow	laughter	Thanking God in all things
wise rebuke	fools song	The word of God
the end	the start	All things work together for good …
patience	pride	The fruit of the Spirit
wisdom	money	To live is Christ, to die is gain