After his study of the times and seasons of mankind’s life and labors, the Teacher returns to the question of profit (Ecclesiastes 1:3), musing what advantage men might have in all these things, birth/death, joy/mourning, remembering/forgetting etc. (Ecclesiastes 3:9)? What does he take away from it all, beyond enjoying that brief window of life that passes through it all moment by moment?
Solomon tells us that he has seen (raah; H7200), that is, he has observed and considered (investigated in order to know) the travail (H6045) that God has given mankind to do (Ecclesiastes 3:10). The word travail (H6045) is used only in Ecclesiastes; it occurs eight times, six times translated travail and twice business in the KJV.[1] In three of those occurrences it is used with sore or evil (raah; H7451),[2] but in other translations one might find the word rendered: work, trouble, drudgery, burdens, task, labor etc. So, the idea that the Teacher seems to present for our consideration isn’t necessarily a work of pleasure. The words drudgery, burden and trouble etc. don’t describe something pleasing. Yet, in the very next verse, Solomon tells us that the Lord had made everything beautiful in its own time (H6256), i.e., the moment-by-moment window used to enjoy the task at hand. In other words, men are attracted to the task the Lord gives them (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Although it may be described as drudgery, burdensome and may even involve trouble, men are attracted to it. Men who love danger, may enjoy the life of the military or law enforcement. Men who enjoy hard physical labor may enjoy the life of a farmer or a builder, while those who enjoy tedious tasks could make a thing of beauty out of cloth and thread.
I believe Paul had this sort of thing in mind when he describes his labor in the Gospel. Notice:
For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me. What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:16-18)
Notice that Paul tells us that necessity was laid upon him to preach the Gospel, and woe unto him, if he refused (consider Jonah the prophet). Paul went on to say he had a (lasting) reward, only if he preached willingly, but, if not, then a stewardship was committed unto him, and what would be his reward then? In other words, the stewardship would be like the sore travail Solomon described (Ecclesiastes 1:13) in which there would be no profit except the enjoyment of the moment. If Paul was unwilling to obey the Lord, he might have placed a price on the Gospel he preached or did it for his own glory. That reward would have been corruptible but the true and lasting reward found only in Christ is the spiritual reward, which Paul sought out (1Corinthians 9:25; cp. verse-18).
Solomon went on to say the Lord had placed the world (olam; H5769) in men’s hearts in order that they wouldn’t know the end of the work or service they did for their Creator (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Olam (H5769) is usually translated into words having to do with time, such as: ever, everlasting, old, perpetual, never, ever more etc. The word appears 438 times in the Bible, but is translated into world only four times in the KJV. The sense we are given in Ecclesiastes 3:11 is eternity or something unknowable. Men see only the moment, only a part of the whole, and the whole is simply unfathomable. Who among us is able to conceive and be aware of the entire universe in a single moment? We are unable to understand the beginning and the end (e.g., birth and death), because they are equally dark and unknown and are simply out of our control. Therefore, although we may participate in or simply observe what the Lord does, we are not equipped to understand the beginning and the end of his labor, which he accomplishes through us.
As far as reward is concerned, there is no profit for men in the service they do for the Lord, beyond their present and passing enjoyment they have over the good they do, and the specific pleasure they derive from their labor (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13). Such enjoyment or pleasure is their gift from God.
Nevertheless, although nothing man does has lasting value, what the Lord does through us does last forever. With all our power and wisdom, men are simply unable to either add to their service to the Lord and make it better or to take from it to make it weaker or of less value (cp. Luke 17:10). Life is this way so men should understand their need to respect and honor the Lord (Ecclesiastes 3:14), because God deals with us, as he has always done (Ecclesiastes 3:15). The Lord gives, and he takes away, repeats what he has already done by giving and taking away, all beautiful in its moment of time. Although men labor for things that don’t last, the Lord’s work through them continues as it always has: birthing and dying, giving and taking away. The constant repetition of it all is done, so men would understand their need to respect and honor God (cp. Job 1:21).
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[1] See Ecclesiastes 1:13; 2:23, 26; 3:10; 4:8 and 5:14 (travail); Ecclesiastes 5:3; 8:16 (business).
[2] See Ecclesiastes 1:13; 4:8 (sore); Ecclesiastes 5:14 (evil).
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