Ecclesiastes 3:20

If all return to dust, how can there be a resurrection?

PROBLEM: Some have argued against a physical resurrection on the grounds that the scattered fragments of decomposed corpses cannot be reassembled, since some become plants, or others are eaten by animals or even cannibals. Yet, the Bible declares that all bodies will “come forth” from the “graves” (John 5:28-29).

SOLUTION: Several things must be noted in this connection. First, as many scholars have pointed out, if necessary, it would be no problem for an omnipotent God to bring all of the exact particles of one’s body together again at the resurrection. Certainly He who created every particle in the universe could reconstitute the relatively few particles (by comparison) in a human body. The God who created the world out of nothing is surely able to fashion a resurrection body out of something.

Ecclesiastes 3:20-21 — If there is life after death, why does Solomon declare that man has no advantage over the beasts?

PROBLEM: The Bible teaches that the soul survives death (Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Revelation 6:9). But, Ecclesiastes insists that “all go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust” (v. 20). Hence, “man has no advantage over beasts, for all is vanity” (3:19).

SOLUTION: The reference here is to the human body, not to the soul. Both men and beast die and their bodies return to dust. However, humans are different in that their soul “goes upward” (v. 21). In fact, Solomon speaks of “eternity” in the human heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11) and of its immortality when he declares that at death “man goes to his eternal home” (12:5). He also emphasized that we should fear God because there is a day when “God will bring you into judgment” after this life (11:9). So Ecclesiastes is not denying life after death; it is warning about the futility of living only for this life “under the sun” (cf. 1:3, 13; 2:18). (See prior comments under 3:19.)