What is the meaning of Ecclesiastes 9:6? Their love “Love” points to every benevolent affection that colored a person’s earthly life—family devotion, friendship, compassion. Solomon reminds us that when a person dies these active expressions stop: • Ecclesiastes 9:5 says, “the dead know nothing; they have no further reward.” • Psalm 146:4 notes that when a man’s breath departs, “his plans perish.” • Compare also Isaiah 38:18-19, which contrasts the silence of the grave with the praise of the living. The lesson is clear: show love now (1 John 3:18), because once breath is gone, earthly opportunities are closed. their hate Hatred, grudges, and hostilities likewise cease at death. While alive, hatred can scorch relationships and dishonor God, but the grave ends all earthly feuds: • Job 3:17 pictures the grave where “there the wicked cease from raging.” • Matthew 5:23-24 urges us to reconcile quickly, underscoring that tomorrow is not guaranteed. • Ephesians 4:26-27 warns against letting the sun set on anger. Since death will certainly set on it, wisdom calls us to release bitterness before that happens. and their envy have already vanished Envy—the restless craving for what others possess—disintegrates the moment life ends: • Proverbs 14:30 equates envy with rottenness to the bones, but those bones soon lie still. • James 3:16 links envy with disorder; the grave ends the disorder but also every chance for repentance. • Philippians 2:3 counsels believers to put away selfish ambition now, for death removes both the envious impulse and the chance to cultivate contentment. and they will never again have a share in all that is done under the sun “Under the sun” is Solomon’s refrain for life on this fallen earth. Once passed, people no longer participate in its projects, pleasures, or pains: • Job 7:9-10—“He who goes down to Sheol shall come up no more; he shall not return to his house.” • Luke 16:26 shows an unbridgeable chasm after death, fixed until resurrection. • Ecclesiastes 12:7 reminds us the body returns to dust while the spirit returns to God. Earthly endeavors, whether noble or trivial, are left behind. For believers, resurrection awaits (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17), but participation in the present order is finished. summary Ecclesiastes 9:6 underscores death’s finality with respect to earthly experience. Love, hatred, and envy—every passion that once stirred a heart—dissolve instantly, and the departed no longer influence anything “under the sun.” Because Scripture is true and life here is brief, the passage calls us to: • Love earnestly while we can. • Lay down bitterness before it is frozen by the grave. • Reject envy and pursue contentment. • Invest our time and energy in what carries eternal weight, knowing that once our days end, only what was done for the Lord will follow us into His everlasting kingdom. |
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