Ecclesiastes 6:12

"For who knows what is good for. man during his lifetime, during the few years of his futile life? He will spend them like. shadow. For who can tell. man what will be after him under the sun?"For who knows" -of course, the answer to both questions is that God knows! But remove God and His will from the picture, and you have. picture of hopelessness and confusion It is. double bewilderment, for without God, man is left with no absolute values to live for ("what is good?"), and not even any practical certainties ("what will be after him?"). "Secular man, heading for death, and swept along by change, can only echo, 'Who knows what is good…..? Who can tell man what will be after him….?'" (Kidner p. 62).

Points To Note:

1. Despite all his boastful and arrogant claims, man is completely unable to determine what is "good"-apart from divine revelation. 2. The Bible often makes the point that even. long lifetime is fleeting compared to eternity (1 Chron. Ecclesiastes 29:15; Psalms 102:11; Ecclesiastes 144:4; James 4:13ff). 3. Here we see the folly of worshipping human wisdom, since human wisdom is so limited that it can't even predict what will happen tomorrow, not to mention years from now (1 Corinthians 1:21). 4. "The wise, rich, but yet unhappy man has concerned himself with many problems that pertain to tomorrow: Who will come after him? To whom will he really leave all that he has collected and gathered? What if he has no son to carry on? Will he receive. proper burial? What will people think of him when he has died? These and many other questions continually trouble his mind" (Kidwell p. 151).