In this thought-provoking episode, David Hawking delves deep into the teachings of Ecclesiastes, examining how the inevitability of death brings clarity and purpose to life. Through a detailed exploration of Ecclesiastes Chapter 9, listeners are invited to reflect on the paradoxical relationship between death and hope, and how these themes drive us to live with reverence and purpose. Hawking’s message challenges us to not be paralyzed by the thought of death, but rather to celebrate life and live with God in view.
There’s a sense in which death, when you really understand it’s facing you, has a way of cleaning up your act, of forcing you to realize that we are dependent upon God and we are accountable to God. And the day death happens for you, at that moment, you stand before God. And every one of us, the Bible says, shall give account of himself to God. That’s a consistent message in Ecclesiastes. Therefore, the sum of the book is to fear God and keep his commandments.
SPEAKER 02 :
This is Hope for Today. It’s great to have you with us for this Tuesday broadcast. Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verses 1 through 12 forces us to deal with a reality that most people spend their lives dodging. The end is not the question. The accounting is. Let me explain. When life is finite, everything changes. Self-reliance collapses. Excuses lose their power. And what emerges is a sobering clarity. We do not belong to ourselves. We live before God, and we answer to God. That thread runs straight through Ecclesiastes and drives us to its unavoidable conclusion. Live with reverence, live with obedience, live with God in view. Today, David Hawking shows us why this truth is not meant to paralyze us, but to order our lives correctly while there’s still time. This is day two of One Event for All, David’s Message in Ecclesiastes, chapter 9, verses 1 through 12. And we’ll continue that in just a moment. First, I want to quickly tell you about the Hope for Today Media Center. This is where teaching doesn’t end when the broadcast does. We have full message series by David available for you. You can listen or watch on your own time. Clear Bible teaching that you can use for your own study or perhaps with a group. Just visit davidhawking.org, click on the Media tab, and you’ll see everything we have there for you. The Media Center at davidhawking.org. We’ll turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 9 now. Again, we’re focusing on verses 1 through 12 for day 2 of David’s message, One Event for All.
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Death establishes the fact of God’s control and our accountability. A second fact about death is found in verses 4 to 6. And it’s kind of unusual, almost a paradox. Death explains the meaning of hope. That seems strange. What do you mean explains the meaning of hope? Death kills hope, doesn’t it? Turn back to chapter 4. This particular passage in chapter 9 almost seems to contradict a previous statement by Solomon. In chapter 4, he talked in the opening verses about oppression, all the hassles of life, the frustrations of life, and the difficulties of life. He talked about tears and there’s no comforter. But look at verse 2. He says, Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead, more than the living who are still alive. Yet better than both is he who has never existed, who has not seen the evil work that’s done unto the Son. Now here Solomon is praising the dead more than the living. Now flip back to chapter 9 and look at verse 4 and you see there’s a conflict here. According to verse 4, Solomon says, Now which is it? Do we praise the dead? Or do we praise the living? You see, in chapter 4, the reason why he praises the dead is in terms of oppression. It is better to be dead than to suffer what we have to suffer in this life, if that’s what you’re saying. But in chapter 9, it is better to be living if it’s in terms of hope, because the day death comes, hope is gone. Whatever hope you’re going to have, you’re going to have to have it now, while you are alive. Now let’s take a look at this. First of all, in verse 4, what he is saying is that death eliminates any advantage that you may think you have right now. You’re listening to me right now, and you think because you’re alive, your skills, your talents, your abilities, that somehow you’ve got a great advantage. Death will eliminate any advantage that you have. You see, hope is still alive because we’re still alive. But when death comes, hope is gone. What we’ve done, we have done, and nothing more can be added the day we die. So hope of changing something. Hope of being kind to something. Hope of seeking the forgiveness of somebody you always wanted to straighten out a relationship with. Hope to live joyfully with your family and friends. Hope to love people as you ought to love them. Hope to resolve all the conflicts that you have in life. Hope to do something with your life. All of that only exists while you are alive, obviously. When we are dead, hope that anything can change is gone. Death eliminates any advantage you think you have. And what a classic proverb to illustrate it in verse 4. A living dog is better than a dead lion. Now in ancient history, if any of you have studied it, you know the lion was always the king of the beast. And he was a symbol of power and strength and greatness. And you will see lions everywhere in the architecture of the past. But a dead lion, what good is he? You see, death eliminates any advantage. You think you’re a lion? You’re great. You’ve got a lot of talent. You’ve got a lot of possibilities. Listen, a dead dog and the dog, who, by the way, was not domesticated in ancient times. Dogs were not pets. They were just scavengers. And so dogs were the lowest of God’s animal creation in ancient people’s minds. So a living dog, he says, is better than a dead lion. Tremendous contrast there to teach us one thing. The day of having hope is only while you’re alive. The moment you die, there’s no more opportunity. You see, death not only eliminates any advantage you may think you have right now, but death also will extinguish any opportunity that you now have. Do you have an opportunity to do something for God? Do you have an opportunity to straighten something out? Do you have an opportunity to share love with people? Do it now. Because death will extinguish that opportunity as well as eliminate any advantages that you think you have now. So we do learn from death. It does explain the meaning of hope. Hope exists only while I’m alive. And in this moment, I have hope. And yet I just lost that moment. And when my death comes, I no longer have any chance. I no longer have any hope to solve anything, to change anything, to be anything that God wants me to be. It’s all over. So death brings a certain seriousness to your life. What you do, you do now. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t presume that you have more days. Don’t be like Pharaoh and say, tomorrow we’ll do that. Tomorrow may never come. The Bible teaches us not to plan in the sense that we know tomorrow will be here. The Bible says we don’t know tomorrow will be here. The Bible tells us all such boasting or confidence is evil. When we are settled in our persuasion that tomorrow will be here, it’s got to be here, you do not know if tomorrow will be here. There’s something else in verse 8. Death not only helps us to realize the importance of daily activities, but the Bible teaches that it’s reflected in our appearance. This is kind of surprising. Verse 8, a lot of people who face death all of a sudden get morbid, wear black suits, take the chrome off their cars, and then they just, you know, they go into a somber state. You know, they have a face that looks like it’s fallen down about 50 feet, and you see this depression because they’re going to die. You see it often in people who are thinking about suicide. That depression comes in. That’s not the heart of one who trusts in God. Not at all. If you understand what death is teaching you, then it will be reflected in your appearance. And it almost seems strange that Solomon would say in verse 8, let your garments always be white and let your head lack no oil. What’s he talking about? Hey, those statements are referring to festivity and celebration and joy. For instance, turn over to Isaiah chapter 61. Isaiah 61, what he’s saying is that your appearance ought to be joyful. Even if you knew it’s your last day, your garments ought to be white. Assign a festival and celebration and oil on the head, anointed with oil. In Isaiah 61, we get a picture of the blessing of this. As it says, the spirit of the Lord God, Isaiah 61, verse 1. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes. Now look at this. The oil of what? Joy for mourning. The garment of what? Joy. praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. Listen, for the believer, it’s joy. It’s the garment of praise and it’s the oil of joy. It’s a time for festivity and for celebration. Why? Because you know who God is. You know his plan. You know what he’s doing in the world. I think one of the devil’s tricks is to get our eyes to focus on all the hassles we got going on in our lives and to forget the reality of what we believe. Instead of focusing on God and wearing the garment of praise and the oil of joy, I focus on my circumstances and my tough problems and my problems at work and that person I got to endure. And I focus on that and so the garment of praise becomes a garment of depression and discouragement and anger and bitterness. And the oil of joy is the oil of sorrow and sadness and somberness. And we’ve lost the joy of God and we’ve lost the sense of celebration. Why? Because we’re focusing on the wrong thing. And death comes in and says, wait a minute. At that moment. It’s all over what you’ve done under the sun. You will be with the Lord forever. God has given you time. He’s given you blessings. Enjoy them. Enjoy them. It should be reflected in our appearance. We ought to be thrilled with life. There ought not to be anybody on the face of the globe any more joyful or more happy than a Christian who’s trusting God. Does that mean we ignore our tough times? No. It means we’ve got the strength to endure them and understand them and relate to them. Because there’s joy in the midst of sorrow to a believer. There’s celebration even when everybody is sad. Is it reflected in our appearance? Is there celebration in our lives? Listen, the Bible says rejoice always. 1 Thessalonians 5.16. It says rejoice in the Lord, and again I say what? Rejoice. Shout, it says, joyfully to the Lord our God. Clap your hands, all you people. And some of us say, hold it, this is church. Come on now. I think when we lose our sense of celebration to a God who loves us and who knows us and one in whose hands we firmly rest. One who knows all things, the beginning from the end. He who is in charge of everything that’s happening in my life. He who I will see the moment I am dead. And there’ll be joy unspeakable. And I’ll be full of glory. And I’ll see him whom I’ve loved all my life. You tell me that’s not reason to shout today. You’re crazy. You don’t know your Bible. We ought to live in rejoicing and live in joy and live in celebration. And what teaches that? Death itself teaches us that. Put on the garment of praise and the oil of joy. God is alive and Jesus is alive. And so are all those folks who believed in the Lord that you lost as loved ones. They’re all alive and enjoying the presence of God. Praise the Lord. This is exciting. But you know something else. Turn back to Ecclesiastes 9. It encourages us to enjoy what God gives and that will be realized in our response to daily activities and reflected in our appearance. But a third thing, it will be revealed in our marriage. It will be revealed in our marriage. You say, uh-oh, he’s going to meddle now. I can just feel it coming. Now look at verse 9. Now come on, this is the Bible now. Let’s look at verse 9. It says, live, what’s the next word? Some of you are going to say, do I have to? Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life. a little reminder of how temporary and transitory it is, which he’s given you under the sun, and then a little another reminder, all your days of vanity. It’s not going to last long, friends. When death comes, you’ll be with the Lord. Now, God’s given marriage on earth. There’s no marriage or given in marriage in heaven. Marriage is a temporal, wonderful institution of God for our days under the sun. Now, how should I live in it? How should I react? I’m not going to ask how many of you are married and how many are not. Those of you who are not, you know, you’re going to look at this differently, especially if you once were. But my friends, one of the characteristics that God teaches about His kind of marriage is that it ought to be a joyful experience. It ought to be joyful. It ought not to be a hassle. It ought to be a lot of fun. And the Bible says live joyfully all of your days with a wife that you say you love. And a lot of people read this. Listen, I’ve read people’s sermons on this who say this is Ecclesiastes. That’s the philosophy of the world. That is not really what God wants us to do. Wait a minute, in the book of Proverbs, which Solomon also wrote, he said exactly the same thing. Rejoice with the wife of your youth, Proverbs 5.18. So how do you explain that? Hey, the Bible’s consistent with itself. God wants us in our marriages to live joyfully. Why? Because death is coming. And the fourth matter gets real touchy. Verse 10. It encourages us to enjoy what God gives to us, not only revealed in our marriage, but it’s recognized in how we work. Uh-oh. How we work? Look at verse 10. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. The New Testament says the same thing in Colossians 3. Whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord. Do it with your might, for there’s no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you’re going. I was talking with an older man who has accumulated a great deal of wealth, and he doesn’t really have to work. But he was telling me that he had been studying what happens to men, especially, who don’t work after they, quote, retire. And he found out that a large majority of them, it was like in the 80 percentile, are going to die within 18 months from the day they retire if they don’t continue to work in some way. Those who decide to keep doing something and working have a tremendous life expectancy rate beyond those who desire to retire and do nothing. And he was telling me one of the things that he feared the most, that he would now trust his financial assets and make that a substitution for the simple joy of work. Hey, we need to work. We might slow down, we might do it a little differently, but we need to keep going. We need to recognize if I have one more day to live, then I want to live it for the glory of God. One day, a lady who had been in the hospital six different times, and really it was a serious cancer situation and… We were sure each time that it was the last one. But she just kept getting well. Then she’d get sick again, back in the hospital. The sixth time, which happened to be her last time, which she did not come out from. She was in her 80s, a wonderful lady with a tremendous testimony. It’s, by the way, even in a book today. But this dear lady was a friend of mine, and I ministered to her on several occasions that were great blessings to my life. But in the closing days, she called me on the phone one day. It was about three days before she died. She says, David, I need some more materials. I said, what are you talking about? I said, well, I called the office. Nobody’s answering. They don’t know what to do. And I told them it was an emergency. I need to talk to you. I said, is it? She says, no. And I’ve already asked the Lord to forgive me for this. But she says, I don’t know what to do. She said, I need some materials. And I said, what do you need? And she wanted all these evangelism materials. I mean, all kinds of stuff. And she had a list and all of that. And the reason why this is so precious to me is because she died two days later. But anyway, I took all that stuff down there and she could hardly move in that hospital bed. I’m looking at her and I said, what in the world do you want all this stuff for? She says, David, I’ve been thinking real seriously. She said, I know I’m going to die this time. I said, oh, you don’t know that. I mean, we thought you were going to die before. I mean, you’re still around. She said, no, no, I’m going to die this time. And she said, I’ve been having so much fun. She said, I’ve led two nurses to Christ so far on this floor. And I’ve been able to, you know what I have them do? I said, what? She said, well, you know, I’ve gotten real acquainted with them here. She says, I ask them to push my bed down the hallways as I distribute these tracts. I said, you are kidding me. She says, no, and they’re doing it. And she said, I just want to keep doing this. I want to keep motoring for God, she said, until I die. And I have never forgot that, dear lady’s words. Isn’t that sensational? If God’s given me one more day, then I’m going to live it to the fullest. And I’m going to do what God wants me to do. God help a lot of us who fold up too early, too soon. A final point about death. Death not only establishes the fact of God’s control and our accountability to him, it not only explains the meaning of hope. Hope is while I’m alive. And third, it not only encourages us to enjoy what God gives to us in all the areas of our life, but a final point and most important is that death eliminates any pride or self-confidence in any one of us. It eliminates it. Look at verse 11. The race is not to the swift. I don’t care if you are speedy. Nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill. Time and chance happen to them all. We’re still talking about death. And because you’re fast, or because you’re skilled, or you’re so knowledgeable, that doesn’t mean a thing the day you die. You see, friends, it eliminates any pride or self-confidence because, number one, our abilities, whatever they are, cannot affect the outcome at all. And secondly, in verse 12, he says, a man also does not know his time. Like fish taken in a cruel net, birds caught in a snare. So the sons of men are snared in an evil time when it falls suddenly upon them. You didn’t expect it. You see, it eliminates any pride, not only because our abilities cannot affect the outcome, but also because we don’t know when it will happen. And God made it that way so we would walk in humility for the sensitivity of our accountability to him. To say, Lord, what would you have me to do? Because I know tomorrow may be the last day for me on earth.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s Bible teacher and author David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. David will be back in just a moment with a very special closing prayer, so do stay with us for that. First, Matt and I want to tell you about our featured home Bible study resource, and Matt, this goes along so perfectly with our current radio series.
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Every book of the Bible has a message perfect for our day. Isn’t that amazing? The word of God. so powerfully to our generation.
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It asks the timeless questions. What is the meaning of life? Does any of this truly matter?
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Or is life simply pointless? Solomon’s spirit-inspired assessment of life under the sun exposes the emptiness of a world focused only on human effort and achievement.
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Yeah, vanity of vanities, saith the preacher. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Ecclesiastes 1, 12. The antagonism, restlessness, and confusion of our time are not accidental.
SPEAKER 01 :
No, they’re just a result of a culture drifting farther and farther away from God as history moves towards final days.
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This is why we’re offering your dad’s impactful book, Is Life Worth Living?
SPEAKER 01 :
We want to get that into the hands of as many believers as possible. Yeah, drawing from Ecclesiastes, this timely resource helps readers understand not only the emptiness of life without God, but also the deep peace of a life centered on him and lived in light of eternity.
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And right now we have an excellent value package for you. that combines Is Life Worth Living with the complete set of messages in our current Ecclesiastes radio series.
SPEAKER 01 :
You can order that, Matt. Yeah, order the Life Worth Living Ecclesiastes package for just $40 by phone or online.
SPEAKER 02 :
In the U.S., call 800-75-BIBLE. That’s 800-75-24253. In Canada, call 888-75-BIBLE. That’s 888-75-24253. Hey, while you’re on the website, be sure to look at all the Bible study resources from David that we have there for you. books, booklets, as well as video and audio messages. Plus, we have a number of free resources. So check it out and please share that address with a friend. Again, that’s davidhawking.org. We love God’s Word. We love sharing it. This is a good place to study it. And just before David prays, you know, if you’ve never had the opportunity to support this ministry, let me tell you why it matters real quickly here. Hope for Today exists for one reason, to keep God’s Word clear, true, and uncompromised in a world flooded with religious noise. Boy, you hear it, I do too. This isn’t entertainment. It’s not trend-driven. It’s the Bible open and taught without apology. And it stays on the air only because people who care about God’s word decide to stand with it. So if this teaching has helped you think biblically, stand firmly, or to see life more clearly and hopefully through the scripture, would you prayerfully consider giving today? Your gift will be particularly helpful as we come to the end of the month. You can write to us at Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO, Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, B.C., V2S, 8P1. Or call us at 875-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. You can also give online securely at DavidHawking.org. Well, as promised, here’s David to close us in prayer.
SPEAKER 03 :
Father, you know how easy it is for us to bury the thought of death in the back of our minds and never consider its importance to today. Lord, I know that some people listening right now may not be alive on earth tomorrow. And I know that all of us face the inevitable fact that one day comes death. Father, I would pray that by your Holy Spirit you would help all of us to do what we should do now. I know there are folks here that need to settle their decision about receiving Christ as Lord and Savior. God, help them not to presume upon your grace and love that’s allowed them to live another day. We know in your word it says today is the day of salvation. Now is the accepted time. And I pray, God, that you would exhort all of us who are not sure of our relationship to God to settle that now, to get help, to find out what it really means, and to trust Christ as Savior and Lord. To all of us who know you. but perhaps have been living presuming upon your grace again, just doing things we ought not to do and the things we should do not doing. God, we pray that death and the thought of it and the fact of it would motivate us now to commit our all to you, to live life the way you want us to. And we’ll thank you and praise you for what you’re going to do. In Jesus’ name, amen. Amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
Amen, David. Amen. Well, tomorrow, a quick break from Ecclesiastes. We’ll be bringing you our monthly question and answer broadcast where we go to the archive and see David’s answers to some of the most challenging questions we’ve received over the years. So invite a friend to listen along with you as we bring you the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible right here on Hope for Today.
