Ecclesiastes 4:15 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Ecclesiastes 4:15

Comments

At first the rising star seems to have the honour and approval of the people and his rise to power carries with it all the reward that would be expected. They side with the youth-king and abandon the haughty old king and in doing so their judgment seems to be right. This youth-king is a phenomenon to be talked about by all the people. Their verdict is unanimous and the youth feels sure he will go down in history. But honour is short lived and the people are fickle, and fame in one generation seldom lasts till the next. Solomon’s point here is that the pursuit of earthly honour and of the praise of men is bound to end in disappointment, and yet this is what motivates so many. Since they are addicted to this quest and since they are unwilling to seek the true praise that comes from God, they continue to pursue the wind. They may think they have gained something real for a time, but when they later lose what they had gained, their disappointment crushes them.We see how Solomon loves to use illustrations, and this will be his style throughout the rest of this book.

Application

Solomon describes the brutal realities of life on earth. You are soon gone from this world and are forgotten, a mere back-number. Attention moves to a new person. Like the animal kingdom there is no remembrance of those that lived before, but what counts is the strong; they are the ones that prevail until they too are pushed aside in their turn. It is all very hard, but this is the world we have chosen for ourselves if we reject the God of kindness and love. How different is his kingdom where all are secure, where not even a cup of cold water given in his name will be forgotten!

Sometimes there seems to be little rhyme or reason to the world’s apportioning of honour. The youth-king probably couldn’t detect any obvious reason why the people later forget him, but their interest moved on and he was set to one side. How fragile is the happiness of those who rely on human praise for their reward! They may even seem to gain their objective for a time, but it is cruelly snatched from them again when they have grown to rely on it.

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Introduction

Ecclesiastes 4:15 Commentary and Bible Study