Ecclesiastes 3:16-22 Dust to Dust
Solomon continues his lament. He compares the life of man with the life of “beasts.” He wonders if there really is a difference. For ALL are from dust and return to dust.
I want to wrap Solomon up in a hug and comfort him. I keep waiting for his “ah-ha” moment. The one where he says, “Now I feel the presence of God in my life and KNOW that all is well with my soul.” Is there one coming for him? This book is written in the later years of his life. He has many sins to repent from; not the least of which is following after other gods that he let into Israel through his foreign wives. Will he repent in the end of this book? Am I reading too much pain in his words? Do others see this struggle for meaning, or am I off track somehow?
My heart breaks for Solomon. The wisest man who ever ruled, yet the emptiest right now; or so I gather from his words. His riches meant nothing. His fame held no hope in his eyes. Taking pleasure in all his works was what he felt was the best he could ask for in life. He fully believed in God. He knew he personally couldn’t run all the evil from even the places where righteousness would be expected. That job he left to God.
The weight that I see pulling Solomon into this despair was his faith in what came next. “Is there anything after this life, or is it all a fairytale?” He says it himself; “Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of beasts goes down into the earth?” (verse 21). To answer that question, it takes faith. Faith that God is who He says He is. Faith that He will keep ALL of His promises. Faith that the work of Jesus was enough for even me. Faith that when God says I’m forgiven that it is TRUE. Faith that God won’t bring it back up someday, as others and Satan often do. For Solomon, faith that following God’s Law would lead to his salvation and eternity with God.
If I were living under the Law, I would be wondering too. Did I do enough? Did I miss something important? Did I do it in the right order and with the right attitude? Solomon knew he had messed up in several areas. Did he make the right sacrifices? Did he miss something important? Did his heart actually truly repent? Did he ever sever things with his wives’ gods? Did he ever repent of having so many, and if so, did he stop gathering more?
David, Solomon’s father, had his first large sin a sexual one. It seems he passed on that failing to his son. Did David even teach Solomon about the dangers of being drawn into compromising sexual relationships. I would think he did with as many times as Solomon mentioned the issue in Proverbs. In this area both were apparently content with “Do as I say, not as I do” attitudes. Sorry, I got off track.
In either time, then or now, the way out of this ‘dust bin’ is to look at the promises of God. Weigh what He has said. Examine the things he has done. Does His talk match His walk? Has there EVER been a time when He broke His promise? I’m not talking about being ‘slow’ to bring about the promised end, but brought about something so completely opposite of what He said that He then becomes a liar?
Just in case you are wondering, the answer to the above questions are, Yes (1), No (2), and ABSOLUTELY NOT (3). And because of these answers, I can be assured that EVERY promise He has ever made will be fulfilled EXACTLY as He intended.
****I am not infallible in interpreting and understanding His promises****
Having said this, there are MANY promises that leave NO DOUBT as to what He is saying. The key one in John 3:16 that grants me eternal life with Him for believing in Jesus as God’s Son and my Savior is my bedrock. If Solomon would have had this one, would he have made his statement about not knowing what happens to man or beast after death?
Man and beasts are made of the same building blocks. We all have DNA using the same four bases, paired in different orders. Yet in ALL God created, there is only ONE place where we see Him “breathe” life into what He created. “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Genesis 2:17). This made man distinct. We are not simply “a beast.” We are the unique handiwork of God.
God’s breath was expelled when Adam and Eve sinned. But God put His breath into His Law and into Jesus. Solomon could have retained the breathed-out words of God when He spoke the Law to Moses by following it. We can receive the breath Jesus is as God spoke creation into existence through Him; the Word. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He breathes into us a new life; a born-again spirit. THIS is what sees eternity with God. My body goes back to dust, just as the beast’s does, but God’s breath in me returns to Him! This is the difference Solomon was LONGING TO KNOW with certainty.
Father God, I AM CERTAIN of Your promises. Sometimes I wonder about my interpretation and understanding, but NEVER Your ability or desire to keep EVERY promise You have made.
Please tell me that Solomon will see this too by the end. For ANYONE else who is struggling with this doubt/fear, hold their hearts today Lord. Breathe on them as You breathe on me. Give hope for despair and beauty for ashes.
Hold me too Father as my heart breaks for Solomon. For it also breaks for all those who are experiencing his emptiness. I was there once Father and YOU raised me out of it. Do this also for ANY who are walking with this hurt right now as they read what You have shared with me.
****God LOVES you! And He wants to hold you. To heal, breathe into, your loneliness and fear****
