Shabbat Shalom everyone. Today I would like to read from Kohelet, from Ecclesiastes, chapter 9. And I'm going to read the whole chapter for us. There are 18 verses there. And as we have mentioned once and again, the man by the name of Shlomo is the one who is the Kohelet, the one who gathered the nation of Israel in order to instruct them as to how to follow God and how to live in this world that is a vanity of vanity. As he declared it here under the sun. How can a man or woman of God live here in this world with all the challenges and the frictions and the problems and the chaos that is existing here in this world?

He helps Israel and He is helping us as well with respect to how to live our life in order to honor God in the midst of the vain and sinful world in which we live in. If you remember, he said at the end of the book, remember now thy Creator in the day of thy youth, come back to Him, draw back to the Lord, because the Lord's ways are the better way as we live here in this world. So we are reading Ecclesiastes Kohelet 9 and I begin with verse 1 and I am reading: "For all this I considered in my heart, even to declare all this, that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God.

No man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. All things come alike to all, there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked, To the good and to the clean and to the unclean, To him that sacrifices and to him that sacrifices not. As is the good, so is the sinner, And he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath." "This is an evil among all things, that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all. Yea also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, And madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

For to him that is joined to all the living, there is hope. For a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything. Neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished. Neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart. For God now accept thy work. Let thy garments be always white, and let thy head lack no ointment.

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, Which he has given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity. For that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labor which thou takest under the sun. Whatsoever thy hand findest to do, do it with thy might. For there is no work, no device, no knowledge, no wisdom in the grave whither thou goest." "I returned, and I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to the men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

For man also knoweth not his time, as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare. So are the sons of man, snares in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them." "Wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemeth great unto me. There was a little city, and few men within it. There came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no man remembered the same poor man.

Then, said I, wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless, the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard." "The words of wise men are heard in quiet, more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools." "Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroyeth much good." "The end of the ninth chapter." "And I want to deal with it together today in this ministry meeting." "The theme really of this ninth chapter is that everything and all things in life are really in God's hands." "You know, we live our lives here in this world, as Shlomo said to Israel." "And as we live our lives here in this world, eventually everything that is going on in this world is in the hand of God." "In the hand of the living God." Shlomo, of course, has a reference to the God of Israel.

"We remember all the time as we study the book of Kohelet, the book of Ecclesiastes, that Shlomo, Solomon wrote this later on in his life." "Because he has learned lessons." "He has experienced certain things in his life, which now in turn he teaches these to our nation, the nation of Israel." "We are always appreciating an older brother or an older sister that can tell us of their mistakes in their life." "They warn us not to go in a wrong direction." "And this is exactly what Kohelet, Ecclesiastes, Shlomo, Solomon is doing when he writes this to our people of old, the people of Israel." "If you remember in the previous chapter, when we learned together in

chapter 8, he emphasizes the importance of godly wisdom." "Godly wisdom will lead one to submit to the government under which he or she are." "Godly wisdom will lead one to prepare for the future." "Godly wisdom will lead one to arm himself against wrongdoing." "And godly wisdom will lead one to endure the vanity that is existing in this world." "And so that's what he taught Israel in the previous chapter, in chapter 8." "But now he is in the next portion, and in this ninth chapter, Shlomo is instructing Israel, you and I as well, that everything is in the hands of God." "Everything that exists here in this world ultimately are in the hands of God." "And

so in this ninth chapter, divided itself into two major sections, verses 1 to 10, he says to Israel, "Israel, accept the fact that death will come for all humanity." "The righteous will die.

"The sinner will die. The good man will die.

The bad man, you might say, will die." "The one who is walking with God will pass out of this sin, as the one who does not walk with God, he will pass out of this sin." "God is in control, all will enter leave this world, and it is important for the believer, for the people of God, to know how to live while they are here under the sun." "Only in verses 11 to 18, not only to accept the fact that death will come upon all men, but also to accept the fact that life is uncertain." "We do not know what's going to happen the moment we leave the meeting room today." "We do not know

what's going to happen tomorrow." "Everything is in the hands of the Lord." David said many years ago, the father of Shlomo, he says, "My time are in thine hands." "My time, my life, all what's going on in my life, the life of the believer, the life of the unbeliever, my time, my life are in your hands." "And I really wanted to be there, because it is better to be in the hands of the Lord than in the hands of men." "God is the one who is supreme." "And so it is important for Israel, it is important for the believer to glean the wisdom of God as he or she are living here in this world."

"So let's look over those verses." "First of all, the fact that we need to accept the truth that death will come upon all men." "You will have to die." "You remember the verses that we have in the Bible." "For example, Genesis chapter 3 and verse 19." "God said already to Adam and Eve when sin came into this world." "He said, from the dust you came, and to the dust you shall return." "Me'afar bata, la'afar tachzor." "You came from the dust of this earth, to the dust of the earth you will return." "Why?" "Because Adam and Eve have sinned." "They have turned from the Lord." "Death is the consequence of sin." "Romans 6:23 says, the wages

of sin is death." "But the gift of God through Yeshua the Messiah is eternal life." "That is the importance, to trust in God and to trust in the Lord." "The writer to the Hebrews says in Hebrews 9:27," "As it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment." "All will have to pass out of this world." "And Shlomo is emphasizing that when he speaks to our people of all the people of Israel." "And so, let's see what he has to say to them." "In verses 1, 2, and 3 of Ecclesiastes chapter 9, Shlomo declares that death happens to all." "The righteous and the unrighteous." "Look what he says." Verse 1: "I considered

in my heart, even to declare all this, that..." "Notice that..." "The righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God." "No man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them." "What he's really saying here?" "That when a person is living a godly life." "And a person seeks to live righteously, wisely, and they do their works here for the glory of God here on earth." "Their life and everything is in the hand of God." "Everything is in the hand of God." "In other words, don't be discouraged by seeking to live righteously here in this world." "Don't be dismayed." "If they're doing it, if they live this kind of life,

I should live just like them." "No." "He's saying now to Israel, and he's saying to you and I today, no, no, no." "You belong to the Lord." "You are saved." "You are part of the redeemed company." "Listen, you live righteous life." "You've been wise in the way you're behaving." "You are working for God." "So understand that everything is in the hand of God." "No matter what's going to happen to you here on earth, the Lord knows all things." "He sees what is going on in this world." "And the believer, the child of God, the one who lives for the Lord, should recognize that everything is in the hand of the Lord." "He says, nobody knows

either love or hatred by all that is before them." "We do not know when somebody loves us or hates us." "When there is hatred and all this situation in this world." "We do not know.

We will leave it at the hand of God." "He's saying to Israel." "God knows all things.

You continue to live righteously, to be wise, and to do the works of the Lord." "He's saying to Israel." "But he doesn't stop there." "Because now in verses 2 and 3, he shows us that things in this world happen to the godly and the ungodly." "It seems that things happen the same thing here on earth." "But God knows everything is in the hand of God." "Look at this expression here in Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verse 2." "All things come alike unto all." "There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked." "To the good and to the clean and to the unclean." "To him that sacrifice and to him that sacrifice not." "As is the

good, so is the sinner, and he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath." "See what he's really saying is very interesting." "He's using certain things such as righteous and wicked." "Clean and unclean." "The one who sacrifices, the one who doesn't sacrifice." "The one who makes an oath and the one who does not make an oath." "He says, look, everything is the same." "Things happen in this world under the sun." "It seemed to happen the same to all." "And it is interesting." "He used the word righteous and unrighteous." "In Hebrew, tzaddik and rasha." "Then he says, clean, unclean." "In Hebrew, tahor and tameh." "Continue he says, the one who sacrifices and the one who does

not sacrifice." "Lazoveach v'lalo zoveach." "And finally he says to the one who makes an oath and to the one who does not make an oath." "Lanishba v'lalo nishba." "It's kind of interesting that he makes those contrasts here." "Making a difference between a man of God, a man who is living for the Lord and one who does not." "And notice he used the word the one who sacrifices and the one who sacrifices not." "And again, to remember that in biblical days, in the time of Shlomo, Solomon the king of Israel, he just, not too many years earlier, he built a temple in Yerushalayim." "And all the nation of Israel came three times a year to offer

sacrifices." "There was a morning sacrifice, an evening sacrifice, daily sacrifice, weekly sacrifices, new moon sacrifices." "There were continually offerings of sacrifices in our own history, in the history of Israel." "But all these sacrifices pointed to the Messiah, to the Mashiach." "And so when he was saying the one who sacrificed, who realized that he or she are sinners and they need forgiveness on the basis of the blood." "And the one who does not offer sacrifice." "The one who says, no, no, no, I don't need God, I don't need his sacrifices in my life." "The one who rejects God in his or her life." "It's very similar today, beloved brothers and sisters." "There are those who believe

in Yeshua the Messiah." "In the supreme sacrifice." "In the work of the Messiah who made atonement for our souls." "Who washed our sins away." "And there are those who reject him." "And we all alike seem to have an end out of this world." "All alike will die." "All alike will end up to leave this scene." "But everything is in the hand of God." "Don't be discouraged," he is saying to Israel.

"Continue on to seek to live a life for the Lord." "Even though things seem to be the same for you as it is for the unbelieving person." "Follow the Lord." "Continue on," he is saying to Israel. Notice what he says in verse 3. "There is one event unto all." "All eventually going to die." And I'm reading verse 3. "This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun." "That there is one event unto all." "Yeh, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil." "And madness is in their heart while they live." "And madness at the end." "And after that they go to the dead." What he is really saying, which is very true.

That even those that belong to God are still sinning here in this world. He says, "One event is unto all." He said, "The heart of the sons of men is full of evil." That is something, brothers and sisters, that we all need yet to learn, even as believers today. That we cannot improve our human nature. There is a declaration by the Lord that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And that's why he is saying the heart of the sons of men, Bnei HaAdam, is full of evil. And madness is in their heart while they live. And after, they go to the dead.

Because sin brought death. And the truth of the matter that already in the beginning, God had declared in Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5, this interesting declaration. He said, and I want to read this to you. "God saw that the wickedness of men was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." The word continually in the Hebrew text in our mother's tongue is kol hayom. All the day long. It is a declaration of God about all humanity. Even the believer. Even the saved one. We have an all sinful nature. But we receive forgiveness because we have accepted the sacrifice of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

But one thing for sure. The destiny of all humanity is eventually death. The Hebrew word death is mavet. Mavet is simply mean a separation. A separation of the body and the soul and the spirit. Every man, every woman, every person will ultimately leave this sin through the separation of the body from the spirit and the soul. As it is appointed unto man once to die. And after this, the judgment. Of course, there is an exception. Like we mentioned before. The prophet was an exception. He walked with God and God took him. Elijah the prophet was an exception. God had taken him out of here. And we believe in the rapture of the church.

Those that remain alive will be raptured to be taken outside of this sin to the presence of the Lord. Normally, it is appointed unto man once to die. And after this, the judgment. So Solomon declared in verses 1, 2, and 3 that death will happen to all. No one will escape this appointment with the Lord. All will ultimately have to die. The righteous, the unrighteous, the clean and the unclean. The one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice. The one who sweareth and the one who fears to make an oath. All will eventually going to have to depart out of this sin. So he continues now in verses 4, 5, and 6.

And he pointing Israel to the fact that while we live, we still have hope here. While we are still alive, we are breathing and we are living here in this world. As long that man is alive. Here and now we make the decisions. Here and now we have hope. We have an assurance from God. Often times somebody says, you know what? I will decide later on. I don't have to make a decision right now. And some even teach that there is what you call purgatory. That you can change your position from being in one place after death to change to another place. And if somebody will pay enough money and he pray enough for you.

You can be shifted from one area to another area after death. But that is not what the Bible teaches us. The Bible teaches us that we are to accept the law today while we are still alive. That we are to live for the law today while we are still living here in this world. And so notice what he says in verse 4. When one is alive, he has hope. Hope to repent. Hope to live for God. Hope to change his manner. Notice that in verse 4. For to him that is joined to all the living, there is hope. For a living dog is better than a dead lion.

He makes a comparison. You see, as long as the person is alive, there is hope. There is hope that something will happen. He can give glory to God here on earth. If he or she are unbelievers, today if you hear his voice, harden not your heart. Turn to Yeshua the Messiah today. But for the believers, you know, if we can change our ways. You know, like again, I always loved the story of the prodigal son who left his father. But he turned back and he returned to his father. He changed his ways. He didn't continue in a wrong way too long. After a while, he turned back and he went back to his father's house.

So, for to him that is joined unto all the living, you were born into this world. You become part of the living here. Well, listen, there is hope. Again, the word hope in Hebrew, here it's not tikva. It's a different word here in Ecclesiastes chapter 9 and verse 4. The word is bitachon. The word bitachon means assurance. There is an assurance. If we will turn away and walk with God and live for him and have godly wisdom here on earth, there is an assurance that you can change your way and God will reward you. He will ultimately bless you. Because, really, it is better to have a living dog than to have a dead lion.

Why does he make this comparison? Because a lion is the king of the forest. A dog is considered to be in biblical days as a dirty animal. As an animal that would be left outside of the house. We are not bringing dogs into the house without. There are dogs we read in scripture. But, of course, today we have dogs in our homes and we love those animals. Man best friend, the dog. We know that. But, in the Bible, the dog is looked upon as one that is an unclean animal. That's how the Bible describes the dog. And, if you remember, when David came to King Shaul in 1 Samuel 24, he says, "Why do you run after a dead dog?" When Mephibosheth came to David's table in 2 Samuel 9, Mephibosheth said to David, "How can you consider me a dead dog to sit in your table?" They have looked upon themselves and said, "You see, I am not worthy of what you are providing for me and doing for me." So, here Shlomo is saying, "Listen, even a living dog, not a dead dog, is better than a dead lion." Why?

Because there is hope. There is hope to change your mannerism. There is hope to turn, the unbelievers turn to the Lord. There is hope, there is an assurance that something can happen and you will live your life for God. So, King Shlomo is really setting before Israel facts that are needed to be learned as they live there in those days. So, he continues and he says in verses 5 and 6, he says, "Listen, death ends all relationship and all rewards and all the portion that we might have here in this world." You see, beloved brothers and sisters, when we pass out of this scene, we can no longer make decisions for God.

We can no longer change our ways. We can no longer glorify God because we live this scene. That's it. Beyond the grave, we cannot make any more decisions how to live for God because once we have died, the believers, we are absent from the body and we are present with the Lord. And all what we have done on earth, the way we live our lives, that's it. It will end. We cannot change it anymore. If we were living in the wrong way, we cannot change it after death, after we passed away. When we are going to get to the grave, we cannot kind of return back and say, "Whoa, I wish I could change my behavior later on." We can't.

It's too late. It's too late. It is here and now that our life is counting for the Lord. And so notice I'm reading verses 5 and 6. "For the living know that they shall die, but the dead knows not anything, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished, neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." Yesterday we studied Isaiah chapter 38. There was a very godly man. In fact, the godliest king of Judah was a man by the name of Chizkiyahu, Hezekiah. God said to him through the prophet Yeshia or Isaiah, he says, "Chizkiyahu, set your house in order, for you will die and you will not live." So the whole chapter 38, nearly the whole chapter, Hezekiah is praying to God.

And he's rehearsing before the reader how he felt when God told him, "Get ready, set your house in order, you are going to die, you are going to live this sin." So he shared and he says, "When you ask me, God, when you told me this, I didn't want to leave this world. I wanted to continue my life here on earth. God, remember how I lived before and how I honored thee and I never violated your word." And indeed, beloved brothers and sisters, Hezekiah was a godly man. You read about him in 2 Kings chapter 18. And you will see that there was no godliest king among the people of Judah, the tribes of Judah, as godly as Hezekiah.

Hezekiah was not before him nor after him. He was a man of God. But he wanted to continue to live here longer. He didn't want to pass out of this sin. But that was a mistake. Because when God says, "Time for you to go home." He knows the best time. But Hezekiah wanted to live longer. So the Lord had extended his life for another 15 years. But you know, beloved brothers and sisters, the later part of his life was not the same as the previous life portion that he lived for God. Later on, he failed. He was not in the same spiritual condition as he was when God told him, "Set your house in order.

You are going to die. You are not going to live." And Hezekiah wanted to remain longer here. But you see, when one leaves this world, he has no longer any impact upon this world. As he says, the living know that they should die. Everybody knows, "One day I'll die. One day I'll die. One day I'll die." But they don't recognize that it may be today. So they carry on in their own mannerism, in their own way. And they neglect to make things right with God. To serve God better. To live for the Lord better. To be a better husband. To be a better wife. To be a better father.

To be a better friend. To be a better brother or sister. They neglect it. To share the message of the Gospel. To be more kind. To love more. To be more grace. To be more forgiving. To be more forgiving. We neglect it. And therefore, as it says here, that once they die, they know not anything anymore. Neither do they have any more reward. For their memory of them is forgotten. Also their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished. Now they have any more portion, any more here on earth under the sun. They have no impact anymore. You see, our time here on earth is limited.

When a believer, when a person leaves this scene, that's it. No more any ability to have any portion in what's going on here under the sun. Tachat Hashemesh. They can no longer share the Gospel. They can no longer tell their children or their wife or their husband, I love you. They cannot fix the friction that they had with a brother or a sister. All the wrong that they have done, they cannot correct it. We cannot correct it. It's too late. And Shlomo, with all the failure that he had before that, he's now telling our people of old Israel, "Israel, remember, now you're Creator when you are young and realize that when you're going to die, which is the portion of all people, you're no longer going to have an impact.

You're going to be outside of this scene, of this world." And so how amazing to see the wisdom of Solomon and the information that he's able to give Israel. "Israel, remember that death will happen unto all people, the righteous and the unrighteous, but also Israel, there is a fact that while we live here, there is hope to make changes." I'm sure, brothers and sisters, that there are things that we need to make changes in our life, each one of us. Don't you think, beloved? There are certain things that we need to change. Certain things that we need to be corrected. Now is the opportunity for us, not later on.

We cannot correct things later on. When we leave these scenes, it's too late. It is too late. It is here and now that we can give our time more for the Lord. We can give our energy more for the things of the Lord. We can use the gifts that God had given to us, spiritual gifts that God had given us to give to the people of God, to serve the Lord. We cannot do it later on. It's too late. Solomon said it to Israel. And you and I can hear this from the Apostle Paul, from New Testament teachers as well. Paul said always to be abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our time is going to come very soon.

The time is at hand. The Messiah might come at any time. To serve Him anymore later on. To live for the Lord today. To live for God today. And so he continues now. And in verses 7 to 10, he is encouraged Israel that while we live here under the sun, and there is so much vanity and problems here in this world, enjoy what God has given to you, but do it with God. Don't do it without Him. So notice in the next verses, it says here in verses 7, 8, and 9, "Go and enjoy what God has given unto you, but do it with Him, not without Him." He says, "Go thy way," verse 7, "Eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart, for God now accepteth thy work." And when you do it with God sanctioning it, He has given us things to enjoy here in this world.

He continues in verse 8, "Let thy garment be always white, and let thy head lack no ointment." In other words, be always in a normal way that you can be prepared for celebration and for feasts, but do it unto the Lord. Don't set Him aside. Verse 9, "Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of thy life of thy vanity," because we're living here in this vain world, "which He has given thee under the sun." "For all the days of thy vanity, for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labor which you taketh under the sun." You notice, you might say the three F, "Food, feast, and family." "Food, eat and drink, and enjoy what God had given to you." "Feast, let thy garment be always white, and let thy head lack no ointment." In other words, enjoy the feasts.

Usually when you have a white garment, you would fit into a celebration the feasts of the Lord. And thirdly, "Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the day and all this life." Even if it is a vain and a sad and a sin-sick world, thank God for the food He provided, for the feasts and the celebration He provided, and also for the family. Our wives and husbands and children and family. He mentioned here, "The wife whom thou lovest all the day of thy vanity." In other words, God had provided for us relationships. Paul, Shaul elaborate about it in Ephesians chapter 5, "Husbands, love your wife." "As the Messiah loved the assembly and gave Himself for her." "Wives, be subject unto your own husband as unto the Lord." And he always builds upon relationship.

And beloved brothers and sisters, this world in which we live in, have so many broken homes, broken relationships. And there is no enjoyment of the things of God together with the family, with the brothers and sisters, and to celebrate God's provision for us. Men think that they can celebrate but leave God out. "Don't bother me in my life. Don't enter into my life." There is so much sad, evil that is happening because God is not the center of the life of God's people. And so, "Eat thy bread with joy." Notice the word "joy" mentioned many times. "With joy eat thy bread." "Drink thy wine with a merry heart." Notice verse 9.

"Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity." In other words, he is admitting. As he began the whole book of Ecclesiastes, he says, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." "Sayeth the preacher." "What profit as a man of all that he labor which he taketh under the sun?" He said in chapter 1 verses 2 and 3. In other words, he is admitting that in this world of sin there are problems, it's vain, there's sadness that is going on, but God's people who are still part of this world really can live for God as if they are out of this world and live for the Lord and enjoy God's provision, yet God will be the center of their life.

And notice, brothers and sisters, another thing that is interesting here in verse 10. "Whatever you do," he says, "Do it from your heart, do it unto the Lord." I'm reading verse 10. "Whatsoever thy hand findest to do, do it with thy might." In other words, "Do it from your heart for the Lord." "Do whatever you do as unto the Lord," he is saying. In every area, every area that you are involved with, "do it as unto the Lord." Why? He says, "Look what happened." "For there is no work, there is no device, there is no knowledge, there is no wisdom in the grave." "Whither thou art going." See, when you are going to go to the grave, when you are going to die, there you don't need any more work to do, there you don't need any device or to calculate what to do, there you don't need any more knowledge, therefore you don't have the need for wisdom there.

When we leave this scene, that's it. We cannot any longer do anything for God. It is only here and now. And I noticed that he used the word "in the grave" at the end of verse 10, "in the grave whither thou goest." He used the word "grave" here. For some reason it's not really accurate, because the word "grave" in Hebrew is "kever." But here the word "grave" is the word "sheol." Sheol is the place of the departed spirits. All people who die, leave this world, their bodies in the grave, but their spirit and their soul going to Sheol. In Old Testament time it was Sheol. The New Testament call it Hades.

But even in Hades, before the Messiah died, there were more than one compartment. There was a portion of the godly, and there was a portion of the ungodly. There was a portion of the believers, and there was a portion of the unbelievers. You remember the story that we read in Luke 16. Lazarus, Eliezer, and the rich man. When Eliezer died, he was carried to Abraham's bosom. This is the good part of Sheol. But when the rich man died, he was buried, he had gone to the bad part of Sheol. It says in Hades. The same place as Sheol in the Tanakh, in the Hebrew Scriptures. And what did he do in Hades?

He cried, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Eliezer that he will dip the tip of his finger in water and touch my tongue for I am tormented here." And Father Abraham said to the rich man that went to the evil, to the sad part, to Hades where all the unbelievers, they said to him, you had good, but Eliezer had it bad. But now, after death, you're going to have evil and he has it good. And you cannot come to here, neither he can go to you. Things are too late. For the unregenerated, it is too late. And so, Shlomo, Solomon is using the word grave, which is actually the Hebrew word Sheol, is the place of the departed spirits.

In this case, for the believer, he is in a good place, paradise, Abraham's bosom. But later on, beloved brothers and sisters, when Yeshua came, he himself emptied this place, this Sheol, from the righteous one and he took them to be with him and today, when a person, a believer dies, he or she are absent from the body and they are present with our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. Such a wonderful lesson to learn. But, the Old Testament saints were limited with the information. They did not have the information that you and I have today after Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah, had come, had died, was buried, was raised, was ascended, and sent the Holy Spirit of God to dwell here upon this earth.

So, verses 1 to 10, accept the fact that death will come upon all. How do we live? Until we will die? It's a decision that we have to make today. Remember that all will have to pass away, the righteous and the unrighteous. Remember that while we are here, there is still hope. You can change your manner. I can change my manner of life. I can do something and live for the Lord and realize that you can enjoy life today, but enjoy it with God as the one that is in the center. God now accepts thy works, as we have it here in verse 7. And whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, listen. I think this is very important because sometimes we don't realize that whatever we do, whatever we serve the Lord, we don't do it to please man. We ought not to do it to please man. It's not that we are doing what we are doing because we want to have a tap on our shoulder and say, "Wow, you are such a great person. Thank you for doing that." We are doing it as unto the Lord. If we really want to serve the Lord and please the Lord, we are doing it as unto Him. We are not doing it because someone will give us some kind of an approval.

The Lord is the one who is going to give an approval to His own people. And this is what we have to bear in mind when we serve here in this world. Shaul Paul said, "Let the word of the Messiah dwell in you richly with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in songs and hymn and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto the Lord." And listen to this, verse 17 of Colossians chapter 3, "And whatsoever you do, in word or in deed, do it in the name of the Lord Yeshua, the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him." Whatever we do.

The Lord gave you an opportunity to serve in one area or another. Do it as unto the Lord. And I can tell you that many times people will not appreciate what you do. But it doesn't matter. There is one that sees it. There is one that knows it and we are to do it as unto the Lord. We are not to do it unto men. Whatever you do, Shlomo is saying, whatever you find in your hand, do it as unto God. Do it with all your might. And obviously he meant, do it strongly with all your strength, but do it as unto the Lord. The Lord will bless you.

The Lord will ultimately reward you for that. So in the first 10 verses, accept the fact that death will come upon all. And as long that you are alive, use your life for the glory of the Lord. Now look at the remaining portion. Verses 11 to 18, accept the fact that life is uncertain. It is really uncertain. I am sure some things happen to you in your life that you never believe that will happen to you. Maybe you thought you have worked so hard about accomplishing something and it didn't work. Maybe you have been faithful in one area and it seems to be that things didn't work the way you wanted.

You planned, you have arranged everything and you knew it's going to work, it's going to work, but somehow it was uncertain. Something happened and things have shifted. Here in this life, you have to accept the fact that things are really uncertain. And so he says in verses 11 and 12, Shlomo is charging our people of old Israel and he wanted them to expect that time and chance happen to all. Notice I'm reading verse 11 and verse 12. He says, I return and I saw under the sun. Remember, all the time is under the sun. Here in this sinful world, under the sun. He says, That the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill, but time and chance happen to them all.

Verse 11, he's saying really, Be swift and strong and a wise and a one who understanding does not really mean that if one is strong and he's working hard, that everything will always goes his way and he or she are going to win. Some people are preparing for races in athletics. Some people are preparing for schooling to become something in life and it doesn't mean that always they are going to get what they want to get. Things are uncertain here in this world. Time might shift. The Lord might direct you in a different way. Things are not, as he said at the end of verse 11, he says, Time and chance happen to them all.

Actually, the word chance, it's not quite giving you the right meaning of the word. In Hebrew, the word is pega. We don't have any chances. Oh, I tried, you know. No chance, you know. There's no chances for the believers. Everything is going to happen because God planned it and God has designed it. So the word here, time, in Hebrew, it's at. It is an appointed time. And the word chance in English here, but the word is pega, it means an occurrence. Something will happen to all here under the sun in this world. You might work hard in a race. You might fight in a battle.

You might be the one who is trying very hard. But really, he's saying to the people of Israel, time and occurrence happen to all. All of them. Even the swift one, and the one that is working hard, and the strong one, the one who goes to the battle. All happen to all. In other words, everyone is not exempt of time and of occurrence. It can happen that you will win, but it can happen that you will not. It could happen that you will gain something and achieve something, but it can happen that you will not achieve it. Time and occurrence happen unto them all. Why, he continues in verse 12.

Man does not know the time of his death. Man do not know how things will happen here on earth. Verse 12. For man also knoweth not the time, as the fish that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in a snare. So are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them. You know when some of you guys like fishing, and you are going and you sit in the lake, and you throw your net, and you cast your fishing rod, and the fish passes by, and whoop! All of a sudden, he is being fished out.

He doesn't know that it will happen. He didn't know that one person will decide to go fishing today, and that he will fish him out. You know that? He is passing by, looking for food. He is caught. Same thing with the birds. Notice, it says here, a bird is taken, is caught in a snare. You know, you would put some kind of a device, you want to catch a bird, and the bird is flying, coming to that place, seeking to get food. Bang! All of a sudden, the bird is being caught. He doesn't know, she doesn't know that it will happen right now. So more, he's saying, it's the same thing to the children of men.

They might be snared in an evil time, and the time be fallen suddenly upon them. And here they're gone. We do not know our time. We do not know how things will work here in our life. We accept the fact that something will happen in this time or that time, and we do not know. We travel on the highway, and somebody is hitting us in the back with a car. We are going to work, and something happened on the job. We do not know that it will happen. Everything is in the hand of God. So being swift, being strong, being wise, being understanding, does not mean that we will always win and gain what we wish to gain.

Everything is in the hand of the Lord. And man does not know the time, even the time of his death, because everything is in the hand of the Lord. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, he concludes with a story. You know, Shlomo was the kind of a man who wrote so many Proverbs, and so many songs. And here you find him in verses 13 to 16, that he concludes with an illustration. And he's saying, notice that it's very interesting. He says, "This is wisdom. This is the godly wisdom that I have seen under the sun. And it seemed great unto me," Shlomo is saying. "Look at the godly wisdom.

I want you to see. I want you to appreciate to have godly wisdom. There was a little city," he began to say in his story, in verse 14, "and there were only a few men inside that city. But also there was a great king came against it, and the king besieged it and built a great bulwark against it." He described a story maybe from some of the experiences he had in his life. You remember, Shlomo was wise. All the people of the earth came to Solomon to hear of the wisdom of Solomon. And perhaps somebody told him, "You know, King Solomon, I want to tell you what happened in our nation, in our country." It was a little city.

And in this little city there were only a few people in this city. But then a great king came and besieged it. He kind of surrounded this little city that a few people were there. He built a great bulwark, in Hebrew the word is Matzodim. He built a great bulwark against it. He made sure that no one will be able to escape. He was going to take this little city. This great king that was there. But then he continued and he says in verse 15, "But, listen, in that little city there was a poor wise man." And notice, he by his wisdom, that was godly wisdom, he delivered that city.

Now, he didn't say how he delivered that city. But what he did say, beloved brothers and sisters, that this poor and wise men had wisdom and the ability to deliver the city from this great king that came against this little city. We don't know how he did so. We don't know the way whereby this poor wise man handled the situation to help this little city. But Shlomo is making an application here. And what does he say? He says, "Listen, the great king could not succeed against the poor wise man who was living in that city." The great king, with all the arrangement that he had made to capture that city, eventually did not capture the city because this poor wise man, by his wisdom, was able to deliver the city from that great king.

So Shlomo is saying, "Listen, if you have God with you, if you have God in your life and the wisdom of God in your life, you are able to accomplish great things. you are able to defeat great kings. You are able to win great battles if you have the wisdom of God." And Solomon, when he was young, he had the wisdom of God practiced in his life. But he had gone astray, as we know it. And he became very foolish by turning away from the Lord. And really, he was defeated. He could not be a help to the people of Israel when he turned away from God.

But when he turned back, and he repented, and he realized his failure and his need of the help of the Lord, then he could give us such an information as this. It doesn't matter how great this man is or how great this king is, it's better to be poor but wise and to be able to be used by God against anyone who is strong and rich and powerful but deny God and God's way. When I thought about this, look at the world today in which we live in. Great men who are trying to fix the problems in this world and none of them can. There are presidents and prime ministers and leaders in this world and instead of helping this world they are turning the world into a worse shape than it was before.

Because they took God out of their life. They set the Lord Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah, aside. And beloved brothers and sisters, there is no one who can deliver this sin-sick world except the person of Yeshua, the Messiah, whom the Bible tells us the foxes of holes and the birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man had no place to lay his head. He became poor that you and I will become rich. Behold the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ though he was rich yet he became poor and through his poverty you and I became rich. You and I won not because of anything that we have accomplished but he had accomplished this on our behalf.

And how what a typology that we have here. The great king could not win against this little city because there was a poor man who was wise and he trusted God and he could defeat that person who was such a great king. and you know I was thinking of the Lord Jesus that he defeated Satan. He defeated God's enemies. When he died for us on the tree he led captivity captive and he freed the believers in him and he made us to be part of a redeemed company. It's amazing when you see the illustration here and I'm going to conclude with this. this is the lesson.

Verse 16 he said then said I wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. Can you imagine? This man after he delivered the city they forgot about him. They forgot about him. His words are not heard. His wisdom is despised. That's what's happened. And isn't it true? The work of the Lord in this world is being rejected. The only one that can bring salvation to this sin sick world is Yeshua the Messiah. And yet men forget his words and forget his work. We read here people despised his words and they are despising his wisdom and his words are not heard.

They forget about God. Think about the one who gave them the ability to be forgiven and to be delivered. Like sometime us I'm speaking for myself we have the inclination to forget God. Lord you know thank you that you have died for me once but I want to live my life. Don't bother me right now. That's why Shlomo at the end of the book says remember. Remember now thy creator in the day of the youth. Don't forget him. Don't wait. Do it now. Remember constantly. Don't forget him. Remember that you are moving. You are living. You are doing what you do because of what he has done for you.

I'm just going to conclude now in verses 17 and 18. Shlomo is making an application from this story and you notice what he says. Therefore seek godly wisdom in your life here under the sun. And I'm reading these last two verses. The words of the wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war but one sinner destroyeth much good. What the application is simply mean that it is better to glean the wisdom of God than to be the one that is strong and cry among fools. It's better to have the wisdom of God but yet notice at the end he says in verse 18 one sinner destroyeth much good.

Who is that one sinner? It could be any leader. It could be any king. It could be any government leader. Any prime minister. Any president. Any spiritual leader. He can destroy things if he does not submit to the wisdom of God. If he doesn't take God seriously in his life. One sinner destroyeth much good. And we don't have to talk much but we know very well how many leaders including countries like where we are who should lead the people of his country to the things of the Lord but shifting the direction. Less God and more liberalism. Less Yeshua and more the wrong ways. Instead of turning the people back to God one sinner destroy even much good.

Therefore he is encouraging Israel and we are all encouraged to know that wisdom is even better than strength. Godly wisdom is better than human strength. Well brothers and sisters may the Lord help us as we learn from King Solomon how much more we can learn even from King Shlomo in his older age he was willing to lead Israel in a better direction. May the Lord help us as well these days. Can we say Amen?