Injustice in the court system bothered Solomon. The lack of fairness in life bothered Solomon. One hundred percent fairness is one of the things lacking in our world. Thus, the saying, “Life is not fair.” Sometimes the innocent suffer and the guilty prosper.
Solomon concludes that there will be a day when things are set right:
“God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.”
- Ecclesiastes 3:17
Solomon then moves on to state the fact that our lives here on earth end just like the life of an
animal. God’s greatest creation, mankind, will first endure the same fate as an animal, that is concerning this temporary life and the physical body.
But, the issue of the soul of man and eternal life? Now, that is an entirely different question.
That topic falls into that category of what cannot be known. We can test and examine the death and physical remains of an animal and a man from our human position. But, what happens next is something that has not been easily explored by science, though many have tried, but most often well outside the boundaries of “science.” But, as Solomon says, “Who knows?” Which means you may want to be ready for the unexpected and the unexplained at the point your body suffers the same fate of an animal since it is pretty clear in scientific research that mankind are not just animals. Consider the natural worldly differences between man and animals which are just as clear as their fleshly similarities. No one can physically see what happens after death, but something does.
“Who knows if the human spirit rises upward…For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?” – Proverbs 3:21-22
But, Solomon is anticipating a day of judgment for each man (but, not animals). A day when life
is made fair. We can’t see it scientifically, but it does seem to be in the heart of all men.
(Animals, on the other hand, don’t seem too concerned about judgment after death.) |
