Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Better to Go to the House of Mourning
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Ecclesiastes 7:1-5
Solomon's series of "better than" statements encapsulates the Bible's teaching on learning the right lessons from life. It is good to have the perspective of a wise man telling us that this is better than that. Here, the choice is whether it is better to be joyful, festive, and full of mirth or to grieve and learn from it. The principle Solomon desires to impart to us is that we do not tend to learn much from good times. This is unfortunate, but it is a facet of human nature that we, like the grasshopper, get our fiddle out and dance away the summer. Even though we live in relative prosperity and receive many blessings, we think primarily about having fun or feeling joy rather than soberly considering the future and the lessons we should learn. Good things bring us much joy and contentment, which is certainly positive. However, it is not as good as allowing the misfortunes of life to teach us valuable wisdom about living a godly life. This idea remains a well-known principle in our culture, probably because of the historical Christian influence and the Bible's memorable sayings, which people once knew more readily and made a part of our collective thinking. The poem "Along the Road" by Robert Browning Hamilton, expresses this well: I walked a mile with Pleasure,
She chattered all the way,
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say. I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne'er a word said she,
But oh, the things I learned from her
When Sorrow walked with me! Sorrowful things help to give us a correct perspective; if nothing else, they bring us back to center. They help us to understand and live right before God, if we have that motivation. Sorrow, grief, and mourning teach us the value of life and living uprightly, as well as the value of things like time, health, and life's priorities. God wants us to learn these important principles because death comes to all eventually. Sometimes, it takes the deaths of several close relatives and friends—perhaps in close succession—to make us realize that we need to take action now before it is too late. We could die tomorrow; we have no idea when we are going to die. But those are the vagaries of life. We never know. We have no insurance, no guarantee, that God will let us live a minute longer. We need to think about grievous things like these while we have the time. There is no time to lose. So, it becomes imperative that we learn these lessons when they are given and make the most of them.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Those Who Mourn
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Ecclesiastes 7:15-18
The sense of this passage clarifies when we fit it into a sub-theme present throughout the book: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” As chapter 7 opens, Solomon presents several unusual and mystifying statements about some of life's experiences. He writes that the day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth and that it is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting. These unusual statements are true within Solomon's theme, but reasons are not immediately available. Verse 15 and his ensuing explanation contain a parallel situation for which no easy answer exists. It, too, may be simply so much vanity. Throughout Ecclesiastes, Solomon is explaining matters that we vaguely grasp but need support to understand more completely. Ultimately, God is the Author of Ecclesiastes, and He intends it should be understood this way. Supported by our faith in God, we must deal with our lack of complete knowledge and accept it. Some truths that God intends us to grasp we must dig out, requiring hard intellectual labor. He allows this sub-theme of not fully knowing what is going on in our lives to exist because it helps to create tests to fulfill His purpose, that we live by faith, trusting Him (Hebrews 10:38). Ecclesiastes 3:10-11 confirms this sub-theme: I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. Solomon repeats a form of it in Ecclesiastes 7:23-25, 29: All this I have proved by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise.” But it was far from me. As for that which is far off and exceedingly deep, who can find it out? I applied my heart to know, to search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things, to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness. Truly, this only I have found; that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. He is still searching for reasons for these confounding circumstances, but he admits a dissatisfying failure. In Ecclesiastes 8:16-17, he still has no personally satisfying answer to his search: When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it. In Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, he concludes the book: Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it is good or whether it is evil. Solomon admits to finding no fully satisfying answer to every paradox, conundrum, or irregularity in the life of even the faithful person in his relationship with God. The conclusion? By faith and without disrupting our obedience to God, we must accept and live with some events of life. The wise know that God will work things out.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Ecclesiastes and Christian Living (Part Ten): Paradox
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