Reversing the Rules of the Race

For us today, even if you don't have children, even if you're unmarried, do you love and pursue good things?

Do you have a taste for holy things, for pure things, for appropriate things, righteous things? Are you leaving a Godly testimony behind you and a legacy to those around you? None of that mattered to this man.

Here's the point. He was dishonorable in life. He is dishonored in death. The man that Stephen was referring to a moment ago is anyone who's blessed with family and possessions and health and long life and yet has an empty soul.

Each person has to choose one of two races. You can run toward earthly success and fame and fortune and reputation, or you can race toward heavenly glory. In Ecclesiastes 6, Solomon describes two men who think they have success but are losing the race of life.

Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart. Today, Stephen shares the strategy for winning the eternal race of heaven. The lesson you're about to hear is called, Reversing the Rules of the Race. I read a story recently about an annual bicycle race in a town in India that's become quite an interesting tradition in this community. All the cyclists line up with their bicycles at the starting line.

The crowd lines the street to cheer on their family member or their friend or associate. The official fires his starter pistol into the air and the race is off. But in this interesting tradition, the rules aren't what you would expect them to be. In fact, in this race, they're reversed. The object of this race is to see who can travel the shortest distance without tipping over. During a specified amount of time, racers would be disqualified if their feet touched the ground. The crowd grows wild as each of the racers inch forward, just enough to keep their bikes balanced. When the time is up and the gun sounds, the contenders who've gone the farthest lose. And the person who has gone the shortest distance from the starting line is declared the winner.

Imagine you're traveling to India. You enter that race. You brought a bike along.

You don't understand how the race works. And when the starter pistol goes off, you pedal as hard and as fast as you can. And you're soon out of breath. You're sweating. But you're absolutely delighted because when you look around, there's nobody in sight.

You've left everybody in your dust. As far as you can tell, nobody in India knows how to ride a bicycle as well as you can. You're thinking, this is fantastic. I'm going to pedal harder. I'm going to pedal faster.

I'm going to go farther. And then the gun sounds, and you're thrilled because you are unquestionably the winner when in fact you are unquestionably the loser. Because you misunderstood the rules of the race. You misunderstood how the race is won. It isn't a matter of speed. It isn't a matter of distance.

It's a matter of balance. If you take your Bibles to the starting line of Ecclesiastes chapter 6, Solomon is going to line up two racers, two contenders for the prize, so to speak. He's going to give us a brief description of why each contender thinks they're winning the race. But then Solomon is going to show us why they are actually unquestionably losing in the race of life. We're at chapter 6 now in our journey through this private journal of Solomon. And verse 1, he just introduces with some comments. Let's look just there.

There is an evil that I have seen unto the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind. This is his introductory moment. Don't read any further. Don't read any further up here.

Thank you. It's the problem with going verse by verse. Everybody's in verse 3, and you want to talk about verse 1. Before the official fires his starter pistol, Solomon is telling us ahead of time, this is going to be a tragic tale. This is going to be a stomach-churning story, a heartbreaking scenario. That's behind that Hebrew word we've already looked at, evil. This is a tragic waste that Solomon is going to describe for us.

Mark this. Solomon writes, it lies heavy on mankind. It's a weighty thing the human race grunts under this troubling burden, both to experience or to even witness it. Solomon essentially says, let me tell you what I've witnessed in the rat race of life down here under the sun.

It's not a pretty sight. Now with that introduction the race begins. He focuses our attention on this first contender. Notice verse 2. There's a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires.

Stop a moment. Notice the three-fold description of this man where we're told, I've underlined it in my text, he has wealth or riches. You could translate that Hebrew noun. It can refer to gold, silver, clocks, herds, houses, whatever. We're also told that he has possessions.

That's a different Hebrew noun that describes a tremendous stockpile. He doesn't just have gold. He's got a mountain of it. He doesn't just have silver. He's got it stockpiled. He doesn't just have herds.

You can't believe the herds or the houses. He's got this tremendous accumulation of all of them. Thirdly, Solomon writes this man as honor. The word is kavod. It means heavy. It refers to fame. It refers to splendor. He's got it all.

This is to me where it gets intriguing because as I read that description it sounds like somebody we know. It sounds like Solomon. Talk about riches. Talk about a mountain of gold. Talk about herds and flocks and houses, more than he could ever enjoy or inhabit, and fame. Who had it like him? In fact, many Old Testament scholars I encountered in my study believe that Solomon is actually making a cameo appearance in this race.

He has effectively photoshopped himself in. He's the first contender. Another clue, and I think the most significant one, is the fact the only other place you find all three of these nouns in the Old Testament describing someone is over in 2 Chronicles 2, verses 10 and 11 where God tells Solomon in a dream that he's going to give Solomon these three things, wealth, possessions, and honor. The same nouns used here in Ecclesiastes 6. In fact, it's interesting to note that the only passages in the entire Old Testament are these two passages where these three nouns appear.

In fact, they appear in the same order. Solomon is the man with incredible wealth, a staggering accumulation of possessions. His fame is world-renowned, far and wide, and if you could say if he had a life first, it'd be that little phrase tucked in there at the end of this one, whatever he desires, that's exactly what he gets.

He lacks nothing of all he desires. Whatever Solomon wants, Solomon gets. There's little doubt that Solomon is painting himself into this race. He'd be easy to spot.

Some of you perhaps ride, you know, you can spend a little bit of money, and you can spend a lot of money. He would be the guy with the best shoes, the most aerodynamic helmet, he'd have the coolest outfit. His water bottle would be made of solid gold. He's way out in front of the pack. He is unquestionably winning the race of life, not so fast. Solomon finishes this self-portrait. Notice the last part of verse two.

Yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, these gifts, but a stranger enjoys them. Oh, he laments. This is vanity. This is futility.

This isn't winning. This is an empty life. Solomon is out of fellowship with God until he's writing this self-disclosing journal. He wasn't obedient to God. He was no longer grateful to God. So he had all these gifts, but he had no power, which is another gift from God that comes separately to enjoy them. And we're told in verse two, did you notice?

A stranger is enjoying them. The Hebrew word is often translated foreigner. Literally rendered, a foreigner ate them.

So you could translate it. Solomon doesn't tell us who the stranger is. It could be any number of things. It could be a thief. It could be a conquering foreign king or army. It could be this stranger, a broker that you thought you knew and trusted who ripped you off.

It could be someone who was a friend, and then you found out you really didn't know them, and they took something from you. The point is Solomon is essentially saying that while it might look like he's winning the race, he's way out in front. He's come to the realization he's been racing according to the wrong set of rules. He's been loaded down but without satisfaction or joy.

He doesn't enjoy anything. Let's go back to the race and notice contender number two in verse three, just the first few lines. He writes, if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years so that the days of his years are many but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things.

Stop for a moment. Listen carefully to this description because as far as many people in the world are concerned, this guy, this guy is the real winner. He might not have any money, but he's got a full quiver.

Look at it, a hundred children. Solomon is riding with hyperbole, that is exaggeration in order to make his point, and his point of exaggeration is simple. This contender doesn't have a lot of money, but look at him. He's surrounded by a huge family, and he's lived long enough, evidently the implication is he's lived long enough to see children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and maybe more. That's probably why he doesn't have any money. It's all in diapers, a big minivan or whatever.

See, but in the Near East, family is the definition of success. This man is obviously winning the race of life. He's so far ahead, nobody will catch him. Then he inserts this spoiler, this rather tragic phrase.

Did you notice it? But his soul is not satisfied with life's good things. Gregory, the second century church leader who wrote the first commentary we have, extant on the book of Ecclesiastes, paraphrases it to read, there is no goodness in his soul. That would be accurate. That's what it means. The word good, we've encountered it already.

It's a Hebrew word which means beautiful, or fitting, or appropriate, or excellent, precious, valuable. This is the kind of thing you go after. It's a reference to those things that are truly good things in life. But his soul is not satisfied. He doesn't want this. He's not interested in the best things. He's not interested in the right things, the fitting things, the righteous things, the pure things. There's no taste for goodness in his soul. Now that might not be obvious to his co-workers out there. People who work around him, they might think, man, really?

Not him. The word translated soul here in the text is a reference to his inner secret life, his true feelings, his true intentions, his true loyalties, his true inclinations, what he truly loves. In other words, what Solomon is doing is introducing us to somebody who's unredeemed, unconverted, polluted inwardly. He's got a big family, but he's got a wicked heart.

That's what he's saying. He doesn't have any appetite for that which is pure and holy and righteous. Evidently, in the privacy of his home, he's surrounded by children.

These are good gifts, but he doesn't really care about them. The implication is he has no genuine interest in loving them or discipling them or leading them or modeling integrity before them. He's got this huge family, but they're just Near Eastern status symbols.

Yeah, look at me. They're just pawns. He really only cares about himself. And evidently, who he really is over time becomes obvious to his children and to his family because of this rather stunning development in verse 3. Notice, his soul is not satisfied with life's good things, and he also has no burial. He has no burial.

More on that in a moment. Solomon goes on to say that a stillborn child is better off than he, for it comes in vanity, goes in darkness, and in darkness, its name is covered, obscured. Moreover, here's why it's better. This stillborn child has not seen the sun or known anything. It finds rest rather than he. Solomon is contrasting a baby who dies in the womb with the death of a man who has a hundred children. And Solomon concludes that a stillborn baby is better off than this man who has lived a long life.

Why would that be? Because the baby doesn't experience the difficulties of life under the sun. He never saw it. He didn't experience suffering and pain. In fact, we know that upon death it goes immediately to be with its creator, God, and immediately enjoys the honor and glory of God.

That's really another sermon. But this man, surrounded by children, experiences the greatest dishonor imaginable. He's not even given a proper burial by his kids. And don't put him in the burial plot in the family cemetery.

You can translate it. He literally dies unlamented. Nobody's crying at his funeral. In fact, they don't even throw a funeral for him. The implication is that he's been a revered man out there among his peers. He's been impressive to those people that don't really know him that well, probably envied, probably of such a large family, somewhat well-to-do, and no doubt famous in his neck of the woods.

Everything on the outside looks great. I mean, look at this guy race. Wow.

He's way ahead. The reality is he doesn't love God. He doesn't love his family, those things that are righteous in life.

And guess what? His family grows up to not love him either. In fact, they probably detest him to the point that they do the most dishonorable thing.

Nobody's offering a funeral. He's going to be buried in an unmarked grave somewhere with others who are either homeless or remain unidentified. They have grown up and they have grown up to detest this hypocrite. They have seen the evidence of what is truly in his soul.

They can't stand him. He really wasn't winning. Lauren Weersby writes on this text, his family has merely wondered when the old man will die.

And when he finally dies, they're only interested in the reading of his will. The outside for decades, it looked like this man was winning. I mean, if the rules of the race are having children and a big family and huge reunions and birthday parties every other weekend, this man was so far ahead, nobody could ever catch up to him.

Then the gun sounds, the race is over, and you discover the fact they weren't the rules for the race after all. It had nothing to do with how many children he had, but what he modeled in front of the ones he did. For us today, even if you don't have children, even if you're unmarried, do you love and pursue good things?

Do you have a taste for holy things, for pure things, for appropriate things, righteous things? Are you leaving a godly testimony behind you and a legacy to those around you? None of that mattered to this man.

Here's the point. He was dishonorable in life. He is dishonored in death. Notice Solomon adds an addendum to this contender's life in verse 6, where we read, even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good. That is, he lives another thousand years, but he still doesn't like anything pure. He still doesn't like anything holy.

He still doesn't have a converted appetite. Even if he lived another thousand years, twice over, he's going to die just like everybody else and realize then the rules of life were reversed. The oldest man who ever lived was Methuselah. According to Genesis chapter 5, he lived 969 years during the early years of God's newly minted creation. Solomon says, what if this contender here is able to stay in the race twice as long as Methuselah? Let's just say 2,000 years. The conclusion remains the same. His heart hasn't been changed, and if his heart hasn't been changed, what good is a long life with an empty heart? It's only another thousand years of self-centered misery and waste.

Here's Solomon's point. You could live twice as long as anybody else has ever lived. You could have more children than anybody else has ever had. You could have more money and possessions than anyone else has ever owned. But if God is not involved, it will all be worthless. Without a redeemed heart, a converted soul, a personal walk with God, let's bring it into the 21st century, who faith in Christ, the Messiah who came, you could be like one of these contenders today. The first contender in this race had a full bank account, but no joy. The second contender had a full quiver, but no love.

It strikes me that the evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life bears fruit, and those are the first two fruits, love and joy. The rules for a meaningful life are reversed. They're the opposite of what the world is cheering on, and the world is to this day lined up and they're cheering on guys that are peddling faster and farther. Yeah, man, that's the way.

You're amazing. It's not how far or how fast you can peddle. It's how well you balance. Balancing those things that truly matter in life. So where do you begin? You begin with Jesus who saves your soul and changes your heart and gives you an appetite for the right and good and fitting things. You begin with Jesus Christ and you walk with him and you spend time in his word and you obey him and daily confess to him as we've done together already this morning because we failed him and we thank him for his grace in having redeemed us. He is the balancer of our lives. The Apostle Paul wrote it this way, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life which I now live by faith in the Son of God, I live according to this one who loved me and gave himself for me. Now that I'm rightly related to him, I can pursue those things that matter with balance.

See, beloved, it's useless to add years to your life unless you add life to your years. And Jesus said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. You start with him. You balance life through him.

You don't live a day without him. This was the personal testimony of a Methodist circuit-riding preacher in the early frontier years of our country who wrote his personal testimony in lyrical form. It goes like this, all my life long I had thirsted for a drink from some clear spring that I hoped would quench the burning of the thirst I felt within. Hallelujah. I have found him whom my soul so long has craved. Jesus satisfies my longings. Through his blood I now am saved.

Well of water ever springing. Bread of life so rich, so free. Untold wealth that never faileth. My redeemer is to me. Hallelujah. I have found him whom my soul so long has craved. Jesus satisfies my longings.

Through his blood I now am saved. It's meaningless. It's useless. It's emptiness. No matter how good you look, no matter how far you ride, how fast you get there, it's emptiness to try to add years to your life unless you are adding life, his life, to your years. It may be that you're not totally consumed with running the race toward worldly success, but there might be one aspect of your life where that's true. I hope this time in God's Word will cause you to conduct some evaluation and when you identify areas that need adjusting that you'll reorient those areas of life toward God's glory.

Thanks for listening to Wisdom for the Heart. Our teacher, Steven Davey, has a desire to help you know God, think biblically, and live wisely as you apply God's Word to your life. The lesson today is called Reversing the Rules of the Race and comes from a series in Ecclesiastes called Surviving Evil Under the Sun.

This series is one of those that has a video option. If you navigate to Steven's teaching archive and find Ecclesiastes, you'll be able to watch the video of when Steven first preached these messages. Just go to wisdomonline.org and you'll find all of Steven's teaching there. Once again, that's wisdomonline.org. Thanks so much for joining us today and please be with us next time for more wisdom for the hearts. I'm Steven Davey and I'll see you in the next video.