Disappointing Wealth (Ecclesiastes 5:8-6:12)
Software developer Stefan Thomas is a bitcoin billionaire. Well, on paper anyway. In 2011, he received 7,002 bitcoins. This past week, the price of bitcoin surged to a record high of more than $150,000. So, Thomas’ bitcoins are now worth more than $1 billion. But, Thomas has a problem. He is cannot make a single cent from his bitcoins because he can’t get to them. His bitcoins are kept in a digital wallet stored on a hard drive called IronKey. Thomas wrote his password down on a piece of paper, which he lost. Now, he cannot remember the password. No password, no bitcoins. No bitcoins, no $1 billion. The IronKey allows only ten password attempts before it encrypts its contents permanently. Thomas has tried eight times. He is just two wrong guesses away from losing $1 billion forever. He said in an interview, “After I realised I lost the coins, I was completely destroyed. I tried everything. I would stay up all night trying different ideas for how to recover it, staring at the ceiling for hours.”
The story of Stefan Thomas is a dramatic example of how having wealth and enjoying wealth do not necessarily go together. It is often assumed that having more wealth is the answer to our problems. We may not be thinking of becoming a billionaire, but surely just having a little more money and a little more stuff should make us happier, right?
A special welcome to you if you are visiting with us today. We have been going through the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. Most of Ecclesiastes comprises observations and reflections about life, written by the Preacher. He is on a quest for the meaning of life in a broken world, which he refers to as life “under the sun”. The Preacher’s conclusion? All is vanity — all is fleeting, futile, absurd and elusive. We gain nothing of lasting significance or value from all our toil. We labour our whole life long, then we die. And, there is no guarantee we will leave behind any lasting legacy. Human wisdom, pleasure, possessions, and work are not enough to truly satisfy us. The times and seasons of our lives are not in our hands. It sounds pessimistic, but the Preacher’s point in bringing us down is so that the good news of true joy and hope might lift us up.
Wealth disappoints, God satisfies.
Today’s passage brings us to the book’s halfway point. The Preacher again focuses on wealth, looking particularly at the perils of prosperity. How have we made the pursuit of wealth our life’s focus? This is a word for us. It is a dose of realism to disabuse us of the delusion that wealth can ultimately fulfil us. But the Preacher is not anti-wealth. He just wants us to enjoy it the right way. How, then, can we properly enjoy wealth without making it our life? The Preacher wants us to know this important truth: Wealth disappoints, God satisfies. This is also the big idea. We will think about this in two points: (1) the poverty of wealth, and (2) the riches of God.
The poverty of wealth (Ecc 5:8-17; 6:1-9)
Commonplace corruption (Ecc 5:8-9)
Here, the Preacher observes how the poor are often oppressed. Corruption is commonplace, perpetrated by people chasing after wealth at the expense of others. Just as how our selfish striving at work invariably hurts others (Ecc 4:1-3), so the self-centred pursuit of wealth also leads to oppression. The love of money does evil to others. In these verses, the Preacher describes how the rulers of a province take advantage of the poor and vulnerable. Leaders abuse their authority for personal gain. They violate what is just and right to selfishly serve themselves. Dishonest civil servants receive kickbacks. Corrupt judges take bribes. Politicians steal from the treasury.
Such a sad state of affairs should not surprise us. Do not be amazed at the matter, says the Preacher. Under the sun, corruption is commonplace. The entire bureaucracy is shot through with the same selfish desire for self-centred gain. Corruption is a systemic problem. Each layer of the hierarchy watches the one below it to make sure no one upsets the system. At the top is the king, who is mentioned in Ecclesiastes 5:9. This verse is hard to understand, because the Hebrew is difficult to translate. One possible paraphrase is this: “The king is the one who gains from the land, since he is served by fields cultivated by others.” The one at the top of a corrupt system benefits the most.
Do not pin our hopes on human systems to solve the problem of the human heart. An internal problem cannot be fixed by external means.
The Preacher is very realistic. Do not pin our hopes on human systems to solve the problem of the human heart. An internal problem cannot be fixed by external means. Corruption stems from a heart that loves money and selfishly pursues wealth. As long as our hearts keep wanting more and more, there will always be corruption. But before we hear about what can change our hearts, the Preacher will first take us deeper into our struggles with wealth.
Constant craving (Ecc 5:10-17; 6:1-9)
While the Bible is not opposed to wealth in itself, it warns of the subtle dangers of money and possessions. The love of wealth leads to constant craving. Listen to Ecclesiastes 5:10. He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. Money does not love us back. It gives us just enough to keep us clinging on, but never enough to truly fulfil us. Loving money is like being in a toxic relationship. We should break it off, but we do not want to. It is like an addiction. Maybe more of us struggle with materialism, greed and covetousness than we realise. In our culture, these traits may even be respectable. What is so wrong about wanting more? But the person who loves wealth will not be satisfied with his or her income. Are we content with how much we earn and how much we have?
Why is wealth so easy to love? It is a tempting proxy god — something we trust in to give us what we really want. We may not be so blatant as to worship money in itself, but we may idolise what we believe wealth can get us. Wealth can be a way to puff up our pride and make us feel good about ourselves. We use wealth to make a name for ourselves, to gain approval from others. If we worship ease, we will chase after wealth to make our lives more convenient and comfortable. If we worship control, we will rely on wealth to make our lives safe and secure. The idol of wealth exposes our other idols.
Wealth lies to us. Jesus cautions us about “the deceitfulness of riches” (Matt 13:22). Wealth is deceitful because it makes promises it cannot keep. It claims to offer significance and fulfilment, but it does not deliver. For this reason, we will never be satisfied with wealth. We will keep wanting more, in the vain hope that it will finally fulfil us. But more is never enough. This also is vanity.
In Ecclesiastes 5:11, the Preacher tells us why we will be dissatisfied if we love wealth. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? The more we have, the more others want a piece of us. We hear of lottery winners who end up with nothing because so-called “friends” and “associates” milk them of all their winnings. Because of such freeloaders, the owner will only see his wealth but not get to enjoy it before it vanishes. Or, in another scenario, the greater the wealth, the more people we need to manage our wealth for us. The wealthy in this world typically pay an army of bankers, lawyers, accountants, consultants, etc to manage their money. The more we have, the more we need and want to maintain our lifestyle. When my sons were younger, some parents gave me good advice: For their first visit to a theme park, do not bring them to Disneyland. If they get used to that, than nothing else will be good enough for them. You can only upgrade, not downgrade.
The Preacher observes the psychology of consumption. Along with increasing wealth comes bigger aspirations and expectations. Look at Ecclesiastes 6:7: All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. Our appetites tend to grow faster than our wealth, so we are always playing catch up. The goalposts keep moving. We think we will be satisfied with more, but more is never enough.
And, more is not necessarily better. Look at Ecclesiastes 5:12 — “The full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.” He is sleepless with overeating. Too much food leads to indigestion. This is the law of diminishing satisfaction at work. For example, the first piece of durian will probably taste a lot better than the twentieth one. The more stuff we have, the more stuff we have to worry about. The more we have, the more we have to lose. Anxiety about our stuff keeps us up at night. What makes us lose sleep? One first-world problem is that we have no space to store our stuff. Our stuff expands to fill the space in our homes. So, we move to a bigger home and on it goes. Consider another absurdity of prosperity: Rich food makes us fat. Then, we have to spend money on exercise.
Constant craving makes us miserable.
Just as one handful of quietness is better than two hands full of toil and striving, so it is better to be a simple labourer who sleeps well. With less stuff, his mind is uncluttered by worry. He can do an honest day’s work and sleep well when the day is done. Why? It is because he is content, whether he eats little or much. In Ecclesiastes 6:9, the Preacher encourages us to be content with what we have: Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite. It is futile to keep wanting what we do not have. It blinds us to what we have in front of our eyes. Constant craving makes us miserable.
In Ecclesiastes 5:13-17, the Preacher warns us not to love wealth because we cannot hold on to it. Look at Ecclesiastes 5:13: There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt. A man accumulates wealth, expecting to pass it on to his children. Like him, some of us trust in our savings and investments to secure our life and legacy. But hoarding harms us by giving us a false sense of security. In reality, wealth easily slips away. Ecclesiastes 5:14 says “those riches were lost in a bad venture”. A stock market crash wipes out the value of our portfolios. Companies deemed too big to fail go bankrupt. Layoffs cost us our jobs and incomes. As a result, the father has nothing in his hand to pass on to his son.
Wealth is fleeting and elusive. Like the wind, it slips through our fingers when we try to grab it. Naked we come, and naked we go (c.f. Ecc 5:15-16). We shall take nothing for (our) toil. Our lives will end as they began—empty-handed. There is no lasting gain from toiling for wind. So, why spend our days pursuing and worrying over wealth? Under the sun, we should have more modest expectations of wealth. Be thankful for it, but do not build your life around it. Food is to be enjoyed, not eaten in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger (Ecc 5:17).
The ability to enjoy our wealth is God’s gift. We must not take it for granted.
In Ecclesiastes 6:1-6, the Preacher looks at another evil under the sun. One can have it all, yet not be able to enjoy any of it. Listen to Ecclesiastes 6:2 — “A man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honour, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil.” For example, all the wealth in the world is pointless if we lack the health to enjoy it. And, ultimately, we cannot take anything with us anyway. Death stops us from enjoying our wealth. We will have to leave it all behind for someone else — a stranger gets to enjoy all that we have toiled for. Loving wealth is a dead-end. There is no guarantee we will even be able to enjoy the wealth we possess. The ability to enjoy our wealth is God’s gift. We must not take it for granted.
Look at Ecclesiastes 6:3. A man may have what others can only dream about. In the Old Testament, many children and a long life were marks of blessing. But the man does not enjoy any of it — his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things. If we keep wanting more, then we will not be content with even the best of what life has to offer. The Preacher paints a stark picture of a desperately unhappy man whose frustrated life ends in a lonely death. Constant craving leads nowhere. He is dead and forgotten. This is a shocking comparison: a stillborn child is better off than he. We must be careful here. The Preacher is not at all minimising the deep pain of losing a child. Some of us have experienced such grief. Our hearts break. We weep with those who weep, and bear one another’s sorrows with love and sensitivity. The Preacher’s point, rather, is that a life spent loving and pursuing wealth is terribly tragic and futile. Look at Ecclesiastes 6:4-6. The person who constantly craves for wealth is worse off because he or she enjoys no good and finds no rest. It is a tragedy to spend our life chasing after riches only to discover, in the end, the poverty of disappointing wealth.
The riches of God (Ecc 5:18-20; 6:10-12)
Wealth disappoints, but God satisfies. He is the Giver of gifts, including the gift of enjoying the gifts. So, we ought to love God, who is the Source of everything good. Turn away from the poverty of wealth. Receive the riches of God.
God’s joy (Ecc 6:18-20)
The Preacher has shown us the futility of pursuing and loving wealth. It leads only to frustration and disappointment. We can become so fixated on getting more that we fail to appreciate what we have in the present. We make ourselves unhappy, filling our lives with anxious toil and restless striving. Greed, covetousness, and ungratefulness are killjoys. The Preacher wants us to have joy. How? By looking to God — trusting in Him, resting in Him, and delighting in the many ways He provides for us. Yes, life under the sun is still hard. But this does not mean we cannot have joy in our toil.
Look at Ecclesiates 6:18. To have joy in toil is good and fitting. This is the way to true happiness. The word “fitting” is the same word used in Ecclesiastes 3:11: “(God) has made everything beautiful in its time.” It tells us that God’s provisions are a part of His beautiful, perfect plan. God is good and sovereign. He has a plan that He will accomplish. We may not understand the ins and outs, ups and downs of His plan, but we can trust Him to work all things for the good of His people. So, we can be content and thankful for whatever He gives us in this season. We can rest in God. Chasing after wealth is godless. It reveals a heart that does not believe God can provide. We take matters into our own hands, striving and toiling to get what we want. But we gain nothing and rob ourselves of joy.
We do not have to live this way, says the Preacher. We can eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Our life under the sun is fleeting. It will soon pass. But we can have joy in the simple pleasures of life, like food and drink. Enjoy them while we can. We can delight in the daily bread God provides. Our minds are often so preoccupied with fears and desires that we take the ordinary things for granted. But when we trust in God, even the ordinary things of life become extraordinary opportunities for joy. We have reasons to rejoice every day!
The few days of our lives are in God’s hands. The times and seasons are not ours to control. So, why lose sleep worrying about what is out of our hands? Our days, however many or few, are given to us by God. Our life and lot are God’s gift for us to enjoy. Not only does God give good gifts, but He also gives the ability to enjoy the gifts. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil — this is the gift of God (Ecc 6:19). Everything is God’s gift — money, the stuff we own, even the ability to enjoy what we have. So, receive the gifts with an open hand, do not cling on to them. God gives and takes away.
The ability to enjoy our wealth is God’s gift. We must not take it for granted.
Life is like a huge and wonderful library. God has given us access to borrow and enjoy all the books. All of it is His gift to us. But the books do not belong to us. We get to enjoy them for a season, but we will have to return them. God will call us to account for any overdue loans. So, the ability to enjoy our wealth is God’s gift. We must not take it for granted. . Listen to what Paul says in 1 Timothy 6: “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs… As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.”
If everything is a gift, how should we respond to God? We are to accept (our) lot. Not in a grudging, resigned sort of way, but with humble thankfulness. Have an attitude of gratitude. Be grateful, not grasping. Gladly receive the days of our lives as gifts from God. Open our hearts to him. Know and trust that he is good. His gifts are also good. So, we can rejoice in (our) toil. The person who loves wealth lives in “darkness, vexation, sickness and anger” (Ecc 5:17). But we will have joy if we rest in God, so much so that we will not be weighed down by the worries and frustrations of life. We are too caught up with rejoicing in God. Look at Ecclesiastes 6:20: For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.
God’s greatness (Ecc 6:10-12)
Everything is a gift from God. So, worship him and trust him. The greatness of God is the main point of Ecclesiastes 6:10-12. The Preacher wants us to realise our limitations. There is nothing new under the sun (Ecc 6:10). Whatever has come to be has already been named (Ecc 6:12). All said and done, this is the unchangeable truth of the matter: It is known what man is. We are dust and to dust we shall return. (Man) is not able to dispute with one stronger than he. God is God and we are not. He is the potter, we are the clay. Our lives are in his hands. Amid the futility and fleetingness of life under the sun, we must look to God. Do not fight God by trying to go our own way, loving wealth and selfishly striving for ourselves. The Bible calls this sin. We think it is good to live our lives our way, but it is the road to ruin. Listen to the warning in Ecclesiastes 6:11: The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man? We simply do not have the answers. We are clueless creatures, bumbling and worrying our way through our all-too-brief lives. Look at Ecclesiastes 6:12. For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?
Our thirst for more cannot be quenched by wealth. Only God can satisfy us.
We cannot know; only God knows. So, listen to Him. We are made for more than money under the sun. The passing profit of our fading lives will fail to fulfil. Our thirst for more cannot be quenched by wealth. Only God can satisfy us. In His grace, God has sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to reveal His riches to us, that we might know and trust Him. In Christ, all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell. We can be filled in Him. Jesus, who is fully God and fully man, had much to say about wealth. Jesus says, “You cannot serve God and money.” (Matt 6:24) Choose this day whom or what we will worship. Jesus promises us that if we trust in God, we need not be anxious about our life, what we will eat or drink, or what we will wear. Why? Because our heavenly Father meets our needs.
How, then, should we live? Jesus says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matt 6:33) We seek the kingdom by trusting in the King. All of us have turned away from God. We have lived for ourselves rather than for the glory of our Creator. We deserve His judgement and wrath against us. But the gracious God, who is the Giver of all good gifts, gave His Son to save sinners. Jesus is the promised King who has come to establish the kingdom of God. He died on the cross to bear the punishment for our sins, if we trust in Him. He rose from the dead in victory over sin and death. If we believe in Jesus, our sins are forgiven and we are made right with God. We can look forward with hope to life beyond this life under the sun. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead, so we shall also be resurrected with him in glory. In Christ alone, we have true riches.
True contentment is found only in Christ. In Him, we can know joy in this life and even greater joy in the life to come. Hear what Paul says in Philippians 4: “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”