16 Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. 17 I said [e]to myself, “God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a time for every [f]matter and for every deed is there. 18 I said [g]to myself concerning the sons of men, “God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts.” 19 For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts [h]is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is [i]vanity. 20 All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust. 21 Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth? 22 I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?
As we read this passage, it seems a bit startling. Not only because the first verse describes human society so well, but because Solomon goes on to imply that we are no different than animals. For someone who believes in God, that we are created in His image, that doesn’t sit well. Nor should it, and so we must look a little deeper, and consider the context.
For just a few verses ago, Solomon reminded us that God has set eternity in the hearts of men. That isn’t something animals comprehend, and the differences don’t stop there. But lets not be too hasty to pass over Solomon’s words, what is he saying here? We do often behave like beasts, and God’s judgment (v. 18) is accurate.
Left to our own devices, we would not act much better than the beasts, satisfying our flesh and letting our “lizard brain” rule the roost. We would live in fear, or be driven by conquest, to be the king of the hill, and an outsider would think us simply advanced animals–if they’d even think there was any advancement…
Solomon continues, that we all come from the dust, and return to the dust, man and beast alike. Can anyone prove that the soul of man lives on in eternity? Can you even get someone to live as if that were true? It is difficult enough to get oneself to think long-term, let alone to plan for those who follow after (v. 22), and then we must consider the destiny of our souls in eternity?
That is a tall order, and made worse by the evil that God allows mankind to partake in (v. 16). Yet some day (v. 17), there will be a reckoning, whether we want to think of it or not. God has given us work to do here and now, and it is our task to do it well and to find enjoyment in it. Otherwise, we are no different than the animals, going through the same routine just to survive.
May it not be so, for our actions do have consequences beyond this short lifetime. To work only for today’s bread is indeed “vanity” and meaningless (Isaiah 55:2). We have a higher calling than the birds, the fish, and the buffalo, amazing as they may be. God wants us to find joy now and forevermore, and we find that walking on His path.