The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 297

with prosperity or adversity. The interpretation of ver. 3 es teaching that the fate of man is for ever fixed at death is utterly indefensible; there is nothing whatever in the text to indicate that the writer bad any such thought in his mind. And one may say in passing, that the teaching in question can have very little foundation, when it is principally, if not altogether, founded upon a misinterpretation of this passage. Why the ~dv~cates of the doctrine, which in itself is repulsive to our ideas of reasonableness and Justice, ~hould make so ~uch of an obscure metaphor in the Book of Ecclesiastes, and shut their eyes to the historical statemeut in 1 Pet. iii. 18-20, which is decisive 11pon the point in question, is difficult to understand. No outcry about the obscurity of the latter passage can annul the plain statement of fact in it, viz. that Christ after his death went and preached the gospel to the spirits of those who were overtaken by the flood in the days of Noah. Uncertainty as to the future should not, however, lead to present inactivity (ver. 5). We are not to allow "taking thought for the morrow" (Matt. vi. 25) to hinder our doing good to-day; that would be as absurd as the conduct of the farmer if he were to put off from day to day the sowing or reaping of bis fields because of wind or rain, until the time for sowing or for reaping had passed away. Some risk we must run in our undertakings; and if some opportunities come to us without any seeking or effort on our part, we can make others for ourselves by the exercise of our good sense, energy, or tact. "The conditions of success cannot be reckoned on beforehand; the future belongs to God, the all-conditioning" (Delitzsch). This is the idea contained in ver. 5. Two examples are given of processes of nature which are familiar to us all, but the ways and working of which are bidden from our knowledge; they are the course of the wind (not the" spirit," as in the Authorized Version), which" bloweth where it listeth" (John iii. 8), and the formation of the babe "in the womb of her who is with child." These secrets being in nature, it is not wonderful that the methods of the Divine government cannot be searched out by human wisdom or ingenuity, that the ways of God should be inscrutable and past finding out. "Even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all." IV. THE CALL TO BENEFICENT AOTIVITY IS REPEATED. (Ver. 6.) "Since the future rests in the power of One who arranges all things, but who does not act arbitrarily, and since a finite being cannot unravel the secrets of the Infinite, man should act faithfully and fulfil energetically bis appointed task" (Wright). 'fhe teaching is the same as in eh. ix. 10, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might;" "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine band: for thou knowest not whether sMll prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good" (ver. 6). "In the morning of life be active; slumber not through its decline. Use well the gifts of youth ; use, too, the special gifts of age. Thou knowest not which shall bear good fruit; it may be both." As men sow, they reap; the greater their exertions, the wider the area they cultivate, the richer usually is their harvest. The whole precept, says Plumptre, "is a call to activity in good, not unlike that of him who said, 'I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is called to-day : the night cometh, when no man can work' (John ix. 4); who taught men to labour in the vineyard, even though they were not called to begin their work till the eleventh hour, when it was toward evening, and the day far spent (Matt. xx. 1-16)."-J. W. Vers. 7, 8.-Enjoyment of the present. The cloud of pessimism rises from the Preacher's mind as be thinks of the happiness which a well-ordered life may after all yield. God bas placed some pleasures within our reach, and if we do not by our wilful- ness defeat his purpose, we may enjoy much innocent peace and happiness. And this assertion, coming so closely as it does upon the admonition to be diligent in carrying out the business that we have to do, implies that it is the well-earned reward of the worker, and not the ease and luxury of the idle sensualist, that wins the word of approval. "This joy of life, based upon fidelity to one'11 vocation, and sanctified by the fear of God, is the truest and highest eujoyment here below" (Delitzsch). Oaly those have a right to enjoy life who are zealous in the discharge of the duties that belong to their lot. The order of thought is the same as in Rom. xii. 11, 12, "In diligence not slothful . . . rejoicing in hope." The Revised Version (in ".er.~) brings out the full meaning more clearly than the Authorized Version: "'l'ru!:r the ligh_t IS sweet., and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun. Yea, 11 a man live many CH, XI, 1-10,] ECCLESIASTES ; OR, THE PREACHER. 29S