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Ecclesiastes 9:13–11:6
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We often sing with confidence: "Our God is so great, so strong, and so mighty. There's nothing our God cannot do." But here's a surprising truth: there actually are things God cannot do. And this isn't a limitation we should fear—it's a profound comfort.
God cannot learn. Why? Because God knows everything. We, by contrast, are constantly learning, constantly trying to predict what comes next, constantly guessing about the future. This text in Ecclesiastes reminds us that we're not in control, and that's actually good news.
Ecclesiastes has been like being in a boxing match, where hard truths keep hitting us in the face. Stop thinking pleasure will satisfy you. Stop thinking money will solve your problems. Stop thinking good people always get good things and bad people always get bad things. Stop thinking you can outrun death and time. These are the punches we've been absorbing.
Today's punch is this: we don't know it all. We can't predict what's going to happen in the future. The language of our text keeps repeating this message. In Ecclesiastes 11, verse 2: "you don't know." Verse 5: "you don't know, you can't understand." Verse 6: "you don't know."
Solomon gives us a picture that summarizes life: "If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the earth." "If a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie."
Yes, you can predict the weather—you look at dark, heavy clouds and you know rain is coming. But you can't predict everything. A wobbly tree—you don't know which way it will fall. Once it goes, it stays there. Sure, we have better weather science now than in Solomon's time. But did anyone in early 2020 predict a global pandemic that would lock us in our homes, take loved ones, transform our lives? You don't know whether a tree is going to fall north or south. And when it lands, there it lies.
Ecclesiastes challenges us especially when we want to be "the master of our fate, the captain of our soul." Don't think like that, the text says. Don't expect to control everything.
Let's look at Ecclesiastes 9:13 onwards. Solomon sees something that impresses him: a small city under siege by a powerful king. One poor but wise man saves the city. Nobody remembers him. Nobody honors him. His wisdom is despised. His words are forgotten.
We don't know if all that we work for and fight for will be recognized or remembered. That's painful to hear, but it's true.
Wisdom is better than strength—that's the lesson here. The pen is mightier than the sword. One wise person can accomplish what strength cannot. But here's the bigger truth: hard work doesn't always mean you'll be noticed or recognized.
You may invest time and money into a relationship and that person lets you down. It might be your own children. You pour yourself into them, and they grow up saying, "You were never there for me." You work hard at your job hoping for recognition, and someone else gets the promotion. Sometimes we're just not remembered. Even in the age of social media, where everything supposedly lasts forever, it's unpredictable. Some videos get a million views in a week. Most get a few hundred. Some people seem to get lucky. Most of us don't.
I'm not saying don't try. Work hard. Sometimes you'll be recognized. Sometimes a blue plaque will go on a wall with your name. But don't expect it to happen. Don't build your identity around being remembered or recognized by others. That's fragile. That can be crushing if you have gifts and talents but no one ever asks you to use them. That can happen in love, in business, in your hobbies.
Ecclesiastes is a reality check. Be careful of putting your identity and worth into being recognized. Find your identity in something more secure.
Look at Ecclesiastes 10:8-11:
"Whoever digs a pit may fall into it. Whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them. Whoever splits logs may be endangered by them. If the axe is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed. But skill will bring success."
Notice the repeated language: may, if, may. Things might go wrong. You work a job, you live your life, but it may go wrong. You don't know.
There's good advice here: keep your axe sharp. If you prepare well, eat healthy, exercise, study hard, wear a helmet, take out insurance—yes, you should do better. Ecclesiastes isn't saying give up on life. It's saying be wise about how you live and what you live for. But be aware: as you dig, as you knock down walls, as you chop trees, as you work, you don't know if this is the last thing you'll do. Maybe you get a life-changing injury. Maybe it takes your life.
We can take precautions and predict things, but we don't know the way a tree will fall. Life can change in an instant for good or for bad. We don't know when or how we will die. When we do, nothing can reverse that.
I think of September 11th. There was a parking lot outside New York where commuters parked their cars and took the train to work—many into the Twin Towers. A photograph was taken September 12th, the morning after. The lot was full of cars. These people never returned. They went to work thinking it was just another normal day in the office. No one expected planes to crash into their office and destroy the block.
This is what life is like. You can predict some things. You don't know if a tree is going to fall north or south. Stop living as if you can predict everything. Don't put your identity in your reputation. Don't put your identity in living a long, healthy life as if that's just what happens.
Christians aren't immune from this. When I was at Bible college, there was a group of about twenty of us. Three of them have had cancer. Young people with families who wanted to train to lead churches and plant churches. Three of them got cancer. Two have been called home. One probably has months left. We didn't expect that. We studied as if we had whole lives ahead of us. Before some finished studying, they got the diagnosis: a few years, if not months, to live. This is life under the sun. Not just for non-Christians—for all of us. This is the cursed, crooked world we live in.
Stop living like everything is promised. We need to get the right perspective on life.
We need to view life as precious. Each day is a gift from God. If we are rewarded and remembered, if we live long, healthy, happy lives, then that is a gift. Not a right. Not guaranteed. If we outlive others, that is a gift. Nothing less.
We've got to get perspective right. Looking at things from a different angle really helps. How would you live differently if you truly trusted that today was your last day on earth? Your last week? Your last month?
Maybe you'd say sorry to someone you've been grudging. Maybe you'd seek reconciliation. Maybe you'd tell someone how you feel. Maybe you'd be more giving instead of hoarding treasure. Maybe you'd start reading and praying more, preparing to meet your maker.
But here's the balance Ecclesiastes strikes. Look at Ecclesiastes 11:5-6:
"As you do not know the path of the wind or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the maker of all things. Sew your seed in the morning and at evening. Let your hands not be idle. For you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that or whether both will do equally well."
There's a lot we don't know. But don't give up. Be bold. Be wise in how you navigate life. Invest in more than one thing at once. Live with that perspective. Prepare yourself, sharpen your axe, but know that you don't know everything.
But here's the beautiful thing: Ecclesiastes is not the only perspective we're given in the Bible. The Bible is a collection of books with different perspectives on how we live.
Yes, there's much we don't know. But God has revealed more things we can know, especially through Jesus. A thousand years separate King Solomon from King Jesus, and Jesus himself says: "Something greater than Solomon is here." There's wisdom in Ecclesiastes that smacks us in the face and forces us to face reality. But Jesus doesn't contradict Ecclesiastes—he fulfills it. He runs with this perspective.
Here's biblical wisdom: You don't know it all, but you can trust the one who does.
Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount: don't worry about food, drink, or what you wear. Trust God. He knows what you need. If he provides for the birds and the lilies of the field, he will provide for you.
God can't learn anything new because he's omniscient. He knows all things. That should be a huge comfort. He already has all knowledge about all things. He doesn't need to remember anything. We can trust him because he has all the information.
Life is hard sometimes because we don't have all the information. We have our perspective, and we don't understand. Why am I still suffering? Why do I have this condition? Why am I still single? Why can't we have kids? Why did this person leave me? Why did this person die? Why isn't anyone recognizing me? We have all these questions, but we don't have all the information.
But God does. God has all the information.
If we had all the information God has, all the knowledge, all the wisdom, and all the love that God has, I don't think we'd change a thing about our situations. If we knew everything God does from beginning to end, if we had all the love and fatherly guidance he has, we wouldn't change a thing.
Think of it this way. Imagine a girl in a locked room with a man standing over her with a knife. Horrible situation. You'd want to intervene. But what if I tell you: this girl needs life-saving surgery. That man is a surgeon. He's about to perform an operation that will save her life. Different, isn't it? When you have more information, it changes how you view the situation.
Isn't this true of all life? Yes, we don't know it all. But God does. And we can trust him.
The same God who knows everything—who knows the depths of our sin, the darkest parts of each of us, things we wouldn't even share with our loved ones—he knows. And yet through Jesus, he came and said: "I love you so much. I see all this stuff, but I still love you. I'm willing to fix you. I'm willing to die for you. I'm willing to forgive you."
It's easy to say "I love you" to someone who only shows their good side. But when God says "I love you," he sees every part of you. The good, the bad, the ugly, the past, the future, the present. And he still looks at you and says: "I couldn't love you anymore because of Jesus."
God is all-knowing, but he is also all-loving. You can trust him. He will never let you down. He will do you no wrong. Your life is safe in his care.
One of my friends from Bible college, the one who probably has months to live, said on our WhatsApp group: "We don't know how many months we'll have left as a family, but we put our trust in the God who knows the length of our days, and our times are safely in his hands."
We don't know how many days we have left, but God does, and we can trust him. This is the Christian hope.
If Christianity is true, you don't need to know it all. You just need to know and trust the one who does. Your life is in his hands. Where better could it be?
Lucas and Zippy, you are young. You are being baptized today, beginning a lifelong journey of faith. You don't know how your life is going to go, but God does. You can trust him. He will never leave you or forsake you. God will never leave any of his children. So if God has secured our eternal life, how much more will he secure our life here and now?
If you don't call yourself a Christian today, don't you want that comfort? If you're not trusting Jesus, then all you have is this Ecclesiastes life—a world of uncertainty. We try. We sharpen our axes. We prepare for every eventuality. But we don't know. Nothing is promised. We don't know if we'll be remembered. We don't know when we're going to die or what happens next.
Come to Jesus. The one who knows all you've done, and who is willing to pay for that. He took your judgment upon himself. Your life can be changed today. You gain your identity not in the world, not in what people say, not in living longer than others. You gain identity in Jesus, the one who died and rose again. Death no longer has its claim on you. You're free to embrace death, not rage against it. We can trust in the one who has given us new life. Death is just the doorway to eternal bliss for those who trust Jesus.
Ecclesiastes is a hard book, but it should make us appreciate Jesus so much more. Like a cold fan on a hot summer's day, so too is Jesus in an Ecclesiastes world. You can't predict which way a tree will fall. But Jesus can. And you can trust him.
Why don't we rest in that more? From this day forward, may we all do that more and more. You don't know it all. But the one you trust does. That changes everything.
