Ecclesiastes 5:10-12

E. ADMONITIONS CONCERNING THE FUTILITY OF RICHES 5:106:12

1. Riches by themselves are vain. Ecclesiastes 5:10-20

a. They do not satisfy. Ecclesiastes 5:10-12

TEXT 5:10-12

10

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.

11

When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to look on?

12

The sleep of the working man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much. But the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 5:10-12

131.

What attitude toward money will keep one from being satisfied with it?

132.

What is identified as vanity?

133.

What else must be increased when one increases his possessions?

134.

What advantage does the poor man have over the rich man?

PARAPHRASE 5:10-12

If the love for money becomes one's objective in life, money will never satisfy. He will never have enough to cause him to say, I am content. His profits will always be looked upon as insufficient regardless of how great they are. This is but another illustration of vanity. What profit is there in accumulating riches? The more you collect and gather, the more people are required to care for them. You then have the added responsibility of providing for all these people. Your necessities of life are provided by only a fraction of what you possess, and all you can do with the excess is look upon it with your eyes. Observe a single example: One who labors and eats little or much finds that he is not incumbered with worry. His rest is profitable and his sleep is sweet. But the price one pays for being satiated is sleepless, restless nights.

COMMENT 5:10-12

Note the absence of such statements as I turned to consider, and I looked again. The reason is that Solomon is not turning to a new subject or even a different illustration of the same subject. He is returning to the vanity of all things as it is demonstrated through love for money and possessions. He has discussed this before in Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 and Ecclesiastes 4:7-8.

This discourse on the futility of riches runs through Ecclesiastes 6:12. It is lengthy because it is common to all men and it is highly deceptive and dangerous. It also has many sides which need exposed so the reader will not fall prey to any of its insidious nuances. Similarly much is said in the New Testament concerning the principle of Christian stewardship. Jesus offered numerous discourses on the danger of loving the world. His disciples kept the theme alive in their Epistles and instruction to the church. One need not apologize for extended discussion on such an important theme. Jesus said to his disciples on one occasion, How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! (Mark 10:24) It was a certain rich man in contrast with a beggar who found himself upon his death to be in torment. (Read Luke 16:14-31.) Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus after it is recorded that the Pharisees who had encountered Him were lovers of money (Ecclesiastes 5:14).

Ecclesiastes 5:10 It is the love for money and not money itself that Solomon is careful to note. He is talking about the man who loves money and the man who loves abundance. He shall discover that satisfaction escapes him in reference to both. Even when one continually receives a profit or income from the fortune he has amassed, it will not satisfy him. Many rich people touched the life of Jesus and were members of the church and were both successful and content. Such men as Joseph of Arimathea, Barnabas, and Zacchaeus are usually considered wealthy men. Yet, their love was not for their wealth but rather the good their wealth could accomplish. This is the difference.

Solomon identifies this love for money and possessions as vanity. It is not the money itself. To this very point Jesus spoke when he illustrated this type of empty, transitory greed in Luke 12:20-21. He said concerning the certain rich man who had such an insatiable desire for riches, But God said to him, -You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?-' So the man who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Ecclesiastes 5:11-12 The reader is here confronted with two disadvantages of riches which are kept to the owners hurt. One is the fact that the more you gather, the more people you must have to look after your possessions, and thus you simply become a provider of the necessities of life for others who have not so labored to enjoy your wealth. The other is the fact that restful sleep, which is so vital to the renewal of strength and a proper spirit to both enjoy and care for what one possesses, is taken from you.

A single insight to one facet of Solomon's many endeavors is given for us in 1 Kings 5:13-16. Solomon became responsible to care for 30,000 forced laborers, 70,000 transporters or burden bearers, 80,000 hewers of stone in the mountains, and 3,300 chief deputies to rule over the people who were doing the work. Although this cooperative work with Hiram and the Gebalites was in reference to the work on the temple, it nevertheless indicates the principle he is now setting forth. His own personal endeavors, which exceeded the work on the temple in both time and riches, necessitated similar involvement of those who must be cared for from his abundance.

What is meant by to look on? Perhaps it is the riches which are left over after the expenses of caring for all that it takes to support his wealth that he finally fixes his eyes upon and asks, What profit is this? Some believe to look on means that he gazes upon all the activity that is the direct result of his own wealth and speaks more to the workers and the fruit of their labor than the actual wealth itself.
It is a sad commentary on Solomon's activities and lifelong endeavors to come to the conclusion that the humblest man in his employ enjoys a night's rest more than he. The king is envious of him. The full stomach means that the rich man has eaten all that he can possibly hold. Perhaps it was the most delicate and palatable of the finest or rarest prepared foods. Yet, he is unable to sleep. The point is that one man discovered that he is able to find satisfaction in the most meager circumstances while the other discovers that contentment is not the result of excessive riches. It is not so much the full stomach that causes the restless, sleepless nights, but the avaricious spirit of the rich man that causes him to toss and turn throughout the night as he thinks back over the activities of the day and schemes and plans for a more profitable tomorrow. His many activities and responsibilities invade his mind and rob him of sweet peace.

FACT QUESTIONS 5:10-12

243.

What subject is again under consideration?

244.

Give three reasons why the discussion on the futility of riches is particularly long.

245.

What did Jesus say concerning the wealthy entering the kingdom?

246.

Why were some rich men in the New Testament both successful and contented?

247.

What is it that Solomon calls vanity?

248.

Name the two disadvantages of riches. (Cf. Ecclesiastes 5:11-12)

249.

What was the total number of men under Solomon's control in quarrying stone for the temple?

250.

Give two interpretations of what could be meant by to look on.

251.

What is the point of verse twelve?

252.

What really robs the rich man of a restful night?