There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it is frequent among men
The Preacher reports something he has watched happen, and he says it presses down hard on people. Verse 2 gives the detail. But the opening line already raises two questions. Where is he standing when he looks? And why does a report this bleak belong in the Bible at all?
The phrase "under the sun" is not decoration. It fixes the viewpoint of the whole book: life on earth, with God left out.
The second phrase we notice is "under the sun." It appears twenty-nine times in this book. Now that which is "under the sun" is on the earth. There is, of course, something which is above the sun, that is heaven, the heavenly things. Ecclesiastes then is occupied with earthly things, with what man does apart from God, that is the natural man. The book describes the things under the sun. It shows that everything man does — his pursuits, his labours, whatever he takes up and all that goes with it — is nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit. It never satisfies. It is filled with sorrow and confusion.
Older translations render the book's refrain "vanity and vexation of spirit"; the ESV has "vanity and a striving after wind." And this gloom is not one man's bad mood. It is testimony, recorded on purpose.
Solomon is the writer. He goes through his own experience of wisdom, of riches, of labour, and of everything his heart as a man could desire (and who can come after the king?). He records it by inspiration. So when he proves it all to be nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit, this is not the mere complaint of a disappointed man. It is conviction recorded by God.
Verse 1 announces the evil; verse 2 names it. It is not poverty or loss. It is a full hand that cannot enjoy what it holds, and it cancels the cheerful note at the end of chapter 5.
The wise searcher sees a first evil, and it looks like a discouraging contradiction. God gives a man riches, wealth and honour, so that he lacks nothing at all. But God does not give him the power to enjoy it. A stranger eats it instead. This makes what he said at the end of the previous chapter impossible. The cherished desires of man have found no fulfilment. And if he has seen this evil, so do we still see it also. Where then is "the good and fitting" of chapter 5:18? This is vanity and it is an evil disease, he confesses.
This evil is not rare, either. He saw it, and we still see it. And where the wealth came from sharpens the sting: God gave it, and still it does nothing for the man.
When things are received from God as His gift, how sad to see riches, possessions, honour, with incapacity to enjoy! Long life, and many children, in such a case do not remove the sting: he is worse off than a stillbirth. Insatiable desire ruins all.
Notice what the verse claims and what it does not. He has seen the evil. He never says he can mend it. That limit tells us something about where man now stands.
Man may see the defects, be conscious of the want, but he cannot supply it. What a condition to be in! Such is man's condition on earth as one who has departed from God. He must feel keenly, if he feels at all, how bitter are the results of turning from the living and true God. He sees what is crooked, discerns what is wanting, but cannot put things straight, nor supply what is lacking.
The verse is not only a diagnosis. Turned around, it is a reason to stop envying the person with more money than you.
Another may have more property than you, but also more worry; more riches, less rest; more income, but also more things to spend it on. He has a greater inheritance, yet perhaps God does not give him "power to enjoy them" (Ecc. 6:2). He holds more, but enjoys less. In short, you have less gold than he does, and perhaps less guilt.
The evil is something seen under the sun. So the cure had to come from above it. The New Testament is where it comes.
What a contrast this life of "days" and "vanity" and "shadow" is with life eternal! That life is now given in Christ to the believer, along with the bright hope of being with Him who is its source and fulness. There, where He is, that life will have its perfect, unhindered expansion and display in its proper heavenly sphere! But all was veiled then. Now life and incorruption Christ has brought to light through the gospel.
- Seen — the whole book watches life "under the sun": on earth, apart from God. The phrase appears twenty-nine times and fixes the angle of this verse.
- Given — the evil is not lack. God gives riches, wealth and honour, so the man lacks nothing he wants. But God does not give him the power to enjoy it.
- Cancelled — this undoes the "good and fitting" of chapter 5:18. Ownership and enjoyment come apart, and a stranger eats it.
- Powerless — wisdom can see what is crooked and feel how bitter it is. It cannot straighten it. That is the honest limit of man under the sun.
- Above — what the soul needs was never under the sun. Life eternal in Christ is the contrast to a life of days, vanity and shadow.
one to whom God giveth riches, wealth, and honour, and he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it this is vanity, and a sore evil.
Ecclesiastes 6:2 describes a case that looks like blessing but works like a curse. Why would God give a man everything and then hold back the power to enjoy it? And what is missing when a man who lacks nothing still feels empty?
The chapter before ends on a happy note: wealth from God, with the power to enjoy it. This verse breaks that picture:
The first evil the wise searcher sees as a discouraging contradiction is that God gives a man riches, wealth and honour, so that he does not lack anything at all. But God does not give him the power to enjoy it; a stranger eats it instead. This cancels what he said in the closing verses of the chapter before. Man's cherished desires have found no fulfilment. And if he saw this evil, we still see it too. Where then is the "good and fitting" of chapter 5:18? This is vanity, and it is a grievous evil, he confesses.
The misery is not in the riches themselves. One writer traces it to a deeper root:
The first of all rights is that God should have His. All is wrong when God is left out. This is the very root of the misery in man and in the world... So far is rank or wealth from being everything... No resources satisfy the owner; they fall to others. So the labourer's lot is often better, and riches a hurt instead of a comfort... When things are received from God as His gift, how sad to see riches, possessions, honour, with no capacity to enjoy!
The man with less may be the richer man. One writer turns this into comfort for anyone who compares his share with someone else's:
Another may have more estate than you, but more care; more riches, less rest; more revenue, but along with it more occasions for spending. He has a greater inheritance, yet perhaps God does not give him "power to enjoy them" (Ecc. 6:2). He holds more, but enjoys less. In a word, you have less gold than he — perhaps less guilt.
The stranger may arrive by loss, by an heir, or by death — and death comes for everyone:
He covets wealth and works for it as the one great good. He gets it, fills his money chests, and is still not satisfied... How can the things of earth satisfy an immortal spirit? If he feasts his eyes on his money today, it may vanish soon, leaving him an heir — his own child — born to inherit poverty. Or suppose he prospers to the end and his riches never fly away. He must still leave them. As he entered the world, so he must leave it. Death summons him, but not his goods with him. All that he has stays behind, while he leaves the world as naked as he entered it.
The man in this verse lacks nothing he wants, and still his soul is not full. One writer names what he is missing:
He is not enough for himself. He must find all his delight in God. All he has comes from the generosity of God, but God is greater than all He gives. It is God Himself, and not only what He gives, that makes man's cup of happiness overflow.
The whole picture here is a life that ends. One writer sets it beside a life that does not:
What a contrast this life of "days" and "vanity" and "shadow" is with life eternal! That life is given now in Christ to the believer. With it comes the bright hope of being with Him who is its source and fullness, where He is. There it will have its perfect, unhindered growth and display in the heavenly place where it belongs. But all this was hidden then. Now Christ has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
- Given, not enjoyed — God grants riches, wealth and honour, then withholds the power to enjoy them. That flatly contradicts the contentment described in the chapter before.
- Root cause — all goes wrong when God is left out. Then riches hurt instead of comfort, and gifts come without the power to enjoy them.
- Quiet mercy — the man with the bigger estate may carry more care, less rest and more guilt. Less gold can mean more enjoyment.
- The stranger comes — riches vanish, pass to an heir, or stay behind at death. A man leaves the world as naked as he entered it.
- The only cure — no gift fills an immortal soul, because God is greater than everything He gives. Life eternal in Christ turns a life of shadow into a life that lasts.