Ecclesiastes 6:2

"a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires, but God has not empowered him to eat from them, for. foreigner enjoys them. This is vanity and. severe affliction."whom God has given" -A thought that should humble us. So much for the idea of the self-made man or millionaire. Or the idea that we did it all on our own and owe no one for our successes. Without God's physical blessings, and especially without His mercy, we would have nothing. God enables us to prosper (Matthew 5:45; Luke 6:35; Acts 14:15-17; Ecclesiastes 17:25 "since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things"). "indicates that in no instance is the acquisition of wealth merely an outright achievement of man. Man can acquire nothing less God permits him to have it" (Leupold p. 134). See also 1 Timothy 6:17; Proverbs 30:8; 1 Samuel 2:7.

"honor" -prestige, fame,. high standing in the community, community awards, praise from one's fellow man, citizen of the year, the noble peace prize, and so on. "a weighty person in society, worthy of respect, someone who is honorable, impressive" (TWOT p. 426).

"so that his soul lacks nothing" -"Soul" here doesn't mean his spiritual side, but rather, himself (Luke 12:19). Clearly this man makes it to the top, he has everything that he has ever materially desired. He has it all! Solomon had talked about the man who lost everything through. bad business deal (Ecclesiastes 5:13). "But life can have long spells of brilliance and joy, and still succumb to darkness, which will seem all the deeper for the light it has quenched" (Kidner p. 59).

"God has not empowered him to eat from them" -to "eat from them", means "to enjoy them". "Yet he is unable to enjoy it" (Mof). "This rich man never got beyond the painful process of acquisition" (Leupold p. 135).

Points To Note:

1 "The man of verse 2, just because he is outstanding, has more to lose than the plodder who will never arrive. And he may well lose it through no fault of his own: perhaps when war, or sickness, or injustice spills everything into another's lap….One could have the things men dream of….children by the score, and years of life by the thousand-and still depart unnoticed, unlamented, and unfulfilled" (Kidner p. 59). 2. Events outside this man's control, of which there are many in life (Ecc. Ecclesiastes 9:11), may deprive him of his possessions. 3. Or, this man's attitude towards his possessions may keep him from enjoying them. "to say that God does not empower the rich man to enjoy what he has accumulated is stating that the rich man cannot divorce himself from the power of his wealth…God has ordained personal fulfillment and joy are found only within the confines which He has established" (Kidwell p. 139). 4. There are various laws in the spiritual realm and one of those laws is that greed will prevent you from enjoying what you have (Ecclesiastes 5:10-12). 5. And since wealth is relative (you can always find someone who has more than you do-and less), these truths apply to all of us. There are many "middle class" individuals who are unable to enjoy the fruits of their labors because they are always wanting more.

"for. foreigner enjoys them" -the word foreigner or stranger can refer to someone other than this man's heir, and simply another person, someone other than oneself. But at this point many may protest that life is not by any means as black as this for most people. But, it seems to me often it is for those outside of Christ. We live in the most prosperous country of all time, and yet look how many people are depressed, lonely, and isolated. With all the "things" that we own, look how many of the people in this country are miserable, either in their career, in their marriage, in their family and so on.

Listen to the following quote:"'I'm bored.' He has. room full of action figures, video games, cable TV,. VCR, interactive CD-ROM virtual-reality simulators, and. fully loaded computer with Internet access. But he doesn't have anything to do. Boredom is more than an irritation in child-raising. It has been called. major spiritual problem, one that is particularly characteristic of our time. Boredom is often the motivation for adultery and divorce, abuse of alcohol or drugs, and even suicide. The ancient moralists associated boredom with sloth….considering it. form of spiritual laziness, an ungrateful lack of interest in what God has ordained. But the ancients do not seem to have been as bored as we are. The word did not even enter the English vocabulary until the Enlightenment of the 18 th century, the beginning of the modern era. Boredom is. chronic symptom of. pleasure-obsessed age. When pleasure becomes one's top priority, the result, ironically, is boredom"