Ecclesiastes 9: Fatalism (Or Que Sera, Sera)

It's hard to disagree with Solomon's wisdom and his honest observations of life.  It's also hard to dispute the notion that reading Ecclesiastes is something of a downer.

Ecclesiastes is considered a rather depressing book because of its focus on negatives and vanities.  Part of the reason for this is Solomon's fascination with fatalism.  He believes that human beings are mired in a fixed pattern from which they cannot escape.  The very best they can hope for is to eat, drink, be merry, even though this will ultimately prove pointless and empty (vs. 7).

"Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the skillful; but time and chance happen to them all" (vs. 11).  This famous statement of Solomon's reminds us that life is not fair.  It recapitulates what he wrote earlier in this chapter: "The same fate comes to all, to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and the evil...This is an evil in all that happens under the sun, that the same fate comes to everyone" (vs. 2 and 3).

We probably all have stories we could share that illustrate Solomon's insight.  Whether a person has led a good life or a wicked one, that life will one day come to an end.  Death is inevitable for all.  And death is not a desirable state, Solomon tells us.  As he says in another of his famous sayings from this book: a live dog is better than a dead lion (vs. 4).

Because there is no escape from fatalism (whatever will be, will be), Solomon counsels us to just make the most of our circumstances.  He tells us to enjoy our marriages, our work, our resources, because life lasts just a little while and we will have no knowledge or opportunities in death.  Though well-reasoned, it's a bleak philosophy that depresses rather than enlivens.

It's too bad that Solomon, in all his wisdom, did not have the foreknowledge of the salvation that Jesus Christ would bring.  From our perspective, we can rejoice that God was not content to simply let the world stew in fatalism; He so loved the world that He gave His Son!