◄ Ecclesiastes 3:22 ►
I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will come after him?
Study Bible
So I saw
The phrase "So I saw" indicates a conclusion drawn from observation and reflection. In Hebrew, the word for "saw" is "ra'ah," which implies not just physical sight but also understanding and discernment. This suggests that the author, traditionally believed to be Solomon, is sharing a wisdom gained through deep contemplation and life experience. It emphasizes the importance of perceiving life through a lens of wisdom and understanding, rather than mere observation.

there is nothing better
This phrase underscores a theme of contentment and acceptance. The Hebrew word "tov," translated as "better," often conveys goodness, beauty, and moral rightness. In the context of Ecclesiastes, it suggests that finding satisfaction in one's present circumstances is a form of goodness. This aligns with the broader biblical teaching that contentment is a virtue, as seen in Philippians 4:11-13, where Paul speaks of learning to be content in all situations.

than for a man to enjoy his work
The enjoyment of work is presented as a divine gift. The Hebrew word for "enjoy" is "samach," which means to rejoice or be glad. This implies an active choice to find joy in one's labor. Work is not merely a means to an end but a part of God's design for human fulfillment. Genesis 2:15 shows that work was part of God's original plan for humanity, even before the Fall, indicating its inherent value and purpose.

because that is his lot
The term "lot" refers to one's portion or destiny, derived from the Hebrew word "cheleq." This suggests a divinely appointed role or share in life. It reflects the biblical understanding that God sovereignly assigns each person their place and purpose. This echoes the sentiment found in Psalm 16:5-6, where the psalmist acknowledges the Lord as his portion and cup, embracing the boundaries set by God.

For who can bring him to see
This rhetorical question highlights human limitations in understanding the future. The phrase "bring him to see" suggests the inability to fully comprehend or control what lies ahead. It points to the necessity of trusting in God's omniscience and sovereignty, as seen in Isaiah 46:9-10, where God declares His knowledge of the end from the beginning.

what will happen after him?
The uncertainty of the future is a recurring theme in Ecclesiastes. This phrase emphasizes the transient nature of human life and the futility of worrying about what comes after one's earthly existence. It calls believers to focus on the present, living faithfully and joyfully in the moment. This aligns with Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6:34, where He instructs not to worry about tomorrow, for each day has enough trouble of its own.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Solomon
- Traditionally considered the author of Ecclesiastes, Solomon was the king of Israel known for his wisdom, wealth, and writings. His reflections in Ecclesiastes are often seen as a culmination of his life experiences and insights.

2. Israel
- The nation over which Solomon reigned. The cultural and religious context of Israel during Solomon's time influences the themes of work, life, and divine providence found in Ecclesiastes.

3. The Preacher (Qoheleth)
- The voice in Ecclesiastes, often identified with Solomon, who explores the meaning of life and the human condition.
Teaching Points
The Value of Work
Work is a gift from God and should be enjoyed as part of our earthly existence. It is not merely a means to an end but a significant aspect of our daily lives.

Contentment in Present Circumstances
Finding joy in our current situation is crucial, as we cannot predict or control the future. This aligns with the biblical call to contentment and trust in God's provision.

The Limitations of Human Understanding
Acknowledge that human understanding is limited, especially concerning the future. This should lead us to trust in God's omniscience and sovereignty.

Eternal Perspective
While we enjoy our work and life, we should maintain an eternal perspective, recognizing that our ultimate hope and purpose are found in God.

Trust in God's Sovereignty
Embrace the uncertainty of life by trusting in God's plan and timing, knowing that He holds the future.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the concept of enjoying one's work as described in Ecclesiastes 3:22 challenge or affirm your current attitude towards your job or daily tasks?

2. In what ways can the understanding of work as a gift from God change how you approach your responsibilities?

3. How do the themes of contentment and trust in God's sovereignty in Ecclesiastes 3:22 relate to the teachings found in James 4:13-15?

4. Reflect on a time when you struggled with uncertainty about the future. How can Ecclesiastes 3:22 provide comfort or guidance in such situations?

5. Considering Colossians 3:23-24, how can you integrate the principle of working for the Lord into your daily routine, and what impact might this have on your sense of fulfillment?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 3:17-19
This passage discusses the curse of toil and labor as a result of the Fall, providing a backdrop to the theme of work in Ecclesiastes.

Colossians 3:23-24
These verses encourage believers to work heartily as for the Lord, connecting the enjoyment of work to serving God.

James 4:13-15
This passage speaks to the uncertainty of life and the importance of acknowledging God's sovereignty over the future, echoing the sentiment in Ecclesiastes about the unpredictability of what comes after.
Sermons
The Earthly PortionD. Thomas Ecclesiastes 3:22
Worldliness: the Epicurean GospelJ. F. Stevenson, LL. B.Ecclesiastes 3:22
The Conclusion of Folly or the Faith of the Wise?W. Clarkson Ecclesiastes 3:12, 13, 22
The Darkness of the GraveJ. Willcoc Ecclesiastes 3:18-22
Man and BeastT. C. Finlayson.Ecclesiastes 3:19-22
People
Solomon
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Activities, Better, Bring, Enjoy, Happy, Joy, Lot, Nothing, Occur, Perceive, Perceived, Portion, Rejoice, Reward, Wherefore, Works
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Ecclesiastes 3:22

     5629   work, ordained by God
     5830   delight
     5846   enjoyment
     6182   ignorance, human situation
     9130   future, the

Ecclesiastes 3:19-22

     4938   fate, final destiny
     6203   mortality

Library
Eternity in the Heart
'He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also He hath set the world in their heart.'--ECCLES. iii. 11. There is considerable difficulty in understanding what precise meaning is to be attached to these words, and what precise bearing they have on the general course of the writer's thoughts; but one or two things are, at any rate, quite clear. The Preacher has been enumerating all the various vicissitudes of prosperity and adversity, of construction and destruction, of society and solitude, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

'A Time to Plant'
'A time to plant.'--Eccles. iii. 2. The writer enumerates in this context a number of opposite courses of conduct arranged in pairs, each of which is right at the right time. The view thus presented seems to him to be depressing, and to make life difficult to understand, and aimless. We always appear to be building up with one hand and pulling down with the other. The ship never heads for two miles together in the same direction. The history of human affairs appears to be as purposeless as the play …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

For what Christian Men of Our Time Being Free from the Marriage Bond...
15. For what Christian men of our time being free from the marriage bond, having power to contain from all sexual intercourse, seeing it to be now "a time," as it is written, "not of embracing, but of abstaining from embrace," [1977] would not choose rather to keep virginal or widowed continence, than (now that there is no obligation from duty to human society) to endure tribulation of the flesh, without which marriages cannot be (to pass over in silence other things from which the Apostle spares.) …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Marriage

But Thou who Both Hast Sons, and Livest in that End of the World...
11. But thou who both hast sons, and livest in that end of the world, wherein now is the time not of casting stones, but of gathering; not of embracing, but of abstaining from embracing; [2244] when the Apostle cries out, "But this I say, brethren, the time is short; it remains, that both they who have wives be as not having;" [2245] assuredly if thou hadst sought a second marriage, it would have been no obedience of prophecy or law, no carnal desire even of family, but a mark of incontinence alone. …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Widowhood.

Letter xxvi. (Circa A. D. 1127) to the Same
To the Same He excuses the brevity of his letter on the ground that Lent is a time of silence; and also that on account of his profession and his ignorance he does not dare to assume the function of teaching. 1. You will, perhaps, be angry, or, to speak more gently, will wonder that in place of a longer letter which you had hoped for from me you receive this brief note. But remember what says the wise man, that there is a time for all things under the heaven; both a time to speak and a time to keep …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

The Conclusion of the Matter
'Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; 2. While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain; 3. In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, 4. And the doors shall be shut in …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Of Self-Annihilation
Of Self-Annihilation Supplication and sacrifice are comprehended in prayer, which, according to S. John, is "an incense, the smoke whereof ascendeth unto God;" therefore it is said in the Apocalypse that "unto the Angel was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all Saints'' (Chap. viii. 3). Prayer is the effusion of the heart in the Presence of God: "I have poured out my soul before God" saith the mother of Samuel. (1 Sam. i. 15) The prayer of the wise men at the feet of …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

Introductory Note.
[a.d. 145-220.] When our Lord repulsed the woman of Canaan (Matt. xv. 22) with apparent harshness, he applied to her people the epithet dogs, with which the children of Israel had thought it piety to reproach them. When He accepted her faith and caused it to be recorded for our learning, He did something more: He reversed the curse of the Canaanite and showed that the Church was designed "for all people;" Catholic alike for all time and for all sorts and conditions of men. Thus the North-African …
Tertullian—Apology

The Lapse of Time.
"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest."--Eccles. ix. 10. Solomon's advice that we should do whatever our hand findeth to do with our might, naturally directs our thoughts to that great work in which all others are included, which will outlive all other works, and for which alone we really are placed here below--the salvation of our souls. And the consideration of this great work, …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

"For they that are after the Flesh do Mind,"
Rom. viii. s 5, 6.--"For they that are after the flesh do mind," &c. "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." There are many differences among men in this world, that, as to outward appearance, are great and wide, and indeed they are so eagerly pursued, and seriously minded by men, as if they were great and momentous. You see what a strife and contention there is among men, how to be extracted out of the dregs of the multitude, and set a little higher …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

How the Silent and the Talkative are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 15.) Differently to be admonished are the over-silent, and those who spend time in much speaking. For it ought to be insinuated to the over-silent that while they shun some vices unadvisedly, they are, without its being perceived, implicated in worse. For often from bridling the tongue overmuch they suffer from more grievous loquacity in the heart; so that thoughts seethe the more in the mind from being straitened by the violent guard of indiscreet silence. And for the most part they …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

The Holy War,
MADE BY SHADDAI UPON DIABOLUS, FOR THE REGAINING OF THE METROPOLIS OF THE WORLD; OR, THE LOSING AND TAKING AGAIN OF THE TOWN OF MANSOUL. THE AUTHOR OF 'THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.' 'I have used similitudes.'--Hosea 12:10. London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms in the Poultry; and Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1682. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Bunyan's account of the Holy War is indeed an extraordinary book, manifesting a degree of genius, research, and spiritual …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

A Sermon on Isaiah xxvi. By John Knox.
[In the Prospectus of our Publication it was stated, that one discourse, at least, would be given in each number. A strict adherence to this arrangement, however, it is found, would exclude from our pages some of the most talented discourses of our early Divines; and it is therefore deemed expedient to depart from it as occasion may require. The following Sermon will occupy two numbers, and we hope, that from its intrinsic value, its historical interest, and the illustrious name of its author, it …
John Knox—The Pulpit Of The Reformation, Nos. 1, 2 and 3.

"Who Walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the Flesh,"
Rom. viii. 4, 5.--"Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh," &c. If there were nothing else to engage our hearts to religion, I think this might do it, that there is so much reason in it. Truly it is the most rational thing in the world, except some revealed mysteries of faith, which are far above reason, but not contrary to it. There is nothing besides in it, but that which is the purest reason. Even that part of it which is most difficult to man, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Appendix 2 Extracts from the Babylon Talmud
Massecheth Berachoth, or Tractate on Benedictions [76] Mishnah--From what time is the "Shema" said in the evening? From the hour that the priests entered to eat of their therumah [77] until the end of the first night watch. [78] These are the words of Rabbi Eliezer. But the sages say: Till midnight. Rabban Gamaliel says: Until the column of the morning (the dawn) rises. It happened, that his sons came back from a banquet. They said to him: "We have not said the Shema.'" He said to them, "If the column …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Ecclesiastes
It is not surprising that the book of Ecclesiastes had a struggle to maintain its place in the canon, and it was probably only its reputed Solomonic authorship and the last two verses of the book that permanently secured its position at the synod of Jamnia in 90 A.D. The Jewish scholars of the first century A.D. were struck by the manner in which it contradicted itself: e.g., "I praised the dead more than the living," iv. 2, "A living dog is better than a dead lion," ix. 4; but they were still more …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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