6 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent [a]among men— 2 a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner [b]enjoys them. This is [c]vanity and a severe affliction. 3 If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many [d]they be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper burial, then I say, “Better the miscarriage than he, 4 for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity. 5 It never sees the sun and it never knows anything; [e]it is better off than he. 6 Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice and does not [f]enjoy good things—do not all go to one place?”
This situation Solomon describes may be a bit foreign to many of us, pun intended. Someone has riches and wealth and honor, yet he does not eat the fruit of his labor? Worse, a foreigner enjoys it instead. What is going on? It would not have been uncommon for foreign invaders to steal and carry off the produce of the land.
We see this many times in Israel’s history, and it was why Gideon was treading grain in a wine press (Judges 6). Even Job, with all his wealth, was attacked by marauders who carried off all his herds of sheep, camels, oxen, and donkeys. He is the very picture of what Solomon describes, and it was indeed a very sad and discouraging affair.
This passage ends with an even more discouraging question. Effectively, Solomon asks, “what is the point of all this toil under the sun, don’t we all end up in the same place?” He is speaking from a worldly perspective, but for all his wisdom, it is entirely possible Solomon didn’t know whether there was an afterlife.
Even in the time of Jesus, it was hotly debated whether there was a resurrection. That is, whether death was final, or whether God would raise us at some future date to live with Him. Either way, some commentaries seem to indicate that Solomon is focusing on exclusively material things on purpose, to the exclusion of the spiritual.
Whether he knew it or not, we have the benefit of Jesus’ teaching that clearly told us there is more to this life than what we see with our eyes. Ironically, the “enjoy good things” in v. 6 could also be translated “see good things”. Knowing that there is more helps us keep a proper perspective. Were there nothing else, no hope in this life or the next, what indeed would be the point of hard work?
At any moment, it might all be snatched away, and then what!? Even today, maybe we don’t fear marauders, but taxes, insurance, debt, it all “carries away” the fruit of our labor. So many live paycheck to paycheck. They work hard, have important jobs, and have little to nothing to show for it. No, the things we see are not all there is to life, and we should hold onto material things lightly.
Enjoy them, certainly, while they are there. But we must keep our eyes fixed on God’s plan, so that we do not become discouraged if our rewards are enjoyed by a stranger. “A thousand years twice” does not even compare to the future God has planned for us, with a hundred children, or two. God has much bigger things in mind, and we would do well to heed Paul’s words to the church at Colossae, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”