Ecclesiastes 5:10-20
What satisfies?
Ecclesiastes 5 focuses on the topic of wealth and contentment. For many outside the church, and perhaps even many in the church, money can be a major sore spot, especially for those who lament against the problems of “religion.” While an insatiable lust for money and power can and has at times plagued churches and pastors, the truth is, it’s not a problem unique to the church. It’s a human problem. It’s a heart problem for all of us, for you and for me.
Now to get us in the right mental place, I’d like you to imagine, what’s that one thing you’ve dreamed of having, maybe it’s something from the past or perhaps more recently? Maybe you’ve thought, if only I had this – the ideal salary or job, the perfect house or car, that dream vacation, whatever it is for you, fill in the blank – if I had this, then I would finally be happy, then I’d finally be at peace.
My first memory of this kind of longing for something was around the age of 8 I believe. Typical for young boys, there was a bike I had seen at the store and it was the absolute coolest. It had mud flaps over the tires, twenty-something gears, it was black with purple streaks. Now, mind you, up to this point, I only had hand-me-down bikes, you know the cheap kid-type bikes. But for whatever reason, my parents made me wait like 1.5 years to get it, which in kid years is like 2.5 lifetimes. So, by the time I got the bike, it just didn’t seem as cool. Styles had changed and mine was now the old model. Plus, friends and family were now getting go-karts and dirt bikes. What I thought would be a dream come true, didn’t live up to fantasy I had imagined it would be. I would guess that you too have had something similar happen. A dream that fell short or perhaps even became a nightmare!
I was looking up stories about lottery winners and found a surprising statistic. It said that 70 percent of lottery winners end up broke within just seven years. And even worse, many winners have died tragic deaths related to their fortune and most have witnessed their families being torn to pieces by greed and addictions. I guess it’s true as they say, not all that glitters is gold. It seems one of the fundamental problems is that the idea of wealth and comfort are often better than the reality. I mean, how tragic that a lottery winner would end up with their life destroyed. The one thing they dreamed would change their life, did indeed change it, but only for the worse. But this is not only true for lottery winners, of course, it’s true for all of us in one way or another. Just replace the word “lottery” with whatever it is in your life that deep down has captured your heart and your desires. As scripture reminds us, nothing temporary in this world ultimately satisfies. We instinctively long for something more, something that lasts, something beyond our human grasp.
So, we’re often left asking, what can satisfy if even wealth and comfort fail? Now, if you’re familiar, the book of Ecclesiastes tends to have a negative tone. Through a myriad of proverbial musings, the book tackles some of the most fundamental struggles we all face, both as Christians and non-Christians.
It raises important questions like:
What is the point of all this?
Why does it feel like I’m on a hamster wheel, wearing out my legs but getting nowhere?
Is there any real peace or joy if the wicked and righteous, the fool and the wise, all have the same fate, if the poor are often at more ease than the rich?
Is there any hope for us in this life under the sun?
Are we simply forgotten and lost to time when we die, when the next generation acquires everything we’ve poured out our lives building?
Although a little frustrating, Ecclesiastes doesn’t give us many direct answers. But this is actually an intentional part of the wisdom process. Have you ever thought about this? Biblical wisdom is not about quick plug-n-play answers, which is especially frustrating for us in this Google-driven world. Wisdom requires time and contemplation. It’s about the pain of plowing through the dark and muddy challenges of this life, sifting through the silt of lies and truths, to find those glimmering flakes of gold. Ecclesiastes really only gives us one simple, concluding answer at the end, “Fear God and keep his commands, this is for all mankind” (12:13). Of course, his observation and conclusion is a central expectation throughout the whole bible, the great equalizing principle. No one escapes this basic truth, whether rich or poor.
More than this, as Christians, we know that the ultimate answer to all of life’s questions and frustrations is found in Christ, who is our true hope and perfect example to follow. There’s a song called “Jesus is Better.” If you’ve not heard it, I recommend looking it up. One of my favorite lines in the song says, “more than all riches, Jesus is better, make my heart believe!” I love that last phrase, make my heart believe. It is so easy to sing a phrase like this “more than all riches, Jesus is better.” But how difficult is it to truly live and believe it. In a sense, it’s impossible to do on our own. This is only possible by the power of the Holy Spirit within us changing and transforming our loves and desires.
So, to evaluate this central and challenging question, let’s look at Ecclesiastes 5:10-20, along with 6:1-6, to receive several biblical points on seeking wealth and finding contentment.
1. A Love of money and self-focused ambition leads to discontentment
“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep” (Ecclesiastes 5:10-12).
Now at the heart of this section, we see that famous line in 5:10, “The one who loves money will not be satisfied with money.” And why is this? Ecclesiastes basically says, wealth fails to satisfy because it only increases those who want a piece of it and leads to a perpetual struggle to protect it. Isn’t that the odd thing about having nice things? They often start controlling us and our behaviors, even our perspective on other people. The things we seek to satisfy our desires only create more desires and fears. We strive to get that house or car but then worry about losing it and killing ourselves to keep it. We may even start looking down or pitying those who don’t have nice things like us. And on and on the cycle goes.
But perhaps more importantly, we have to ask, what is at the root of discontentment? I found this clever and curious response from John D. Rockefeller, the world’s first billionaire. He was asked, “How much money does it take to satisfy a man?” Rockefeller replied, “Just a little bit more than he has.” Isn’t this true? Just a little more, just that new car, a new phone, just one more room in my house or a pool out back, just that one bucket list vacation. It’s always just a little more. So, we have to ask ourselves again. What is this for us? What do we tell ourselves would make us happy if we had it?
Several years back, I heard a missionary presenting on persecuted Christians living in difficult areas around the world. He and his wife had made a documentary on the topic called “The Insanity of God,” which I highly recommend watching the movie or reading the book. After their presentation during Q&A, someone from the audience, troubled by the disparity between our comfort and freedom and their lack, asked how we could help rescue those persecuted Christians and bring them to safety here. The missionary’s response was perhaps even more troubling than the documentary itself. He went on to describe how many of those who had experienced jail, lost family, lost businesses, had houses and churches burned because of their faith in Jesus, were rescued by Americans and brought to the US. Yet sadly, within 10 years, he said that many if not most had become nominal and watered down in their devotion to Christ, had children that departed from the faith, and had lives that looked little different than the world around them.
Now, this doesn’t mean we should go out looking for persecution but it does expose the dark, spiritual, wet blanket of American and modern prosperity and comfort. Strangely enough, the thing we love and cherish most might be our greatest threat. I found this great quote from Jim Carey, the movie star and apparently great philosopher. He said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of, so they can see that it’s not the answer.” While a prescient observation, this is not a new revelation because it’s not a new problem. As Ecclesiastes often says, “There’s nothing new under the sun.”
Do you know what the first sin of all humanity was? Think about it. Was it eating fruit? Well, it did involve fruit which was really emblematic of disobeying God’s one rule. But what was the root of that disobedience? Simply put, it was a heart of discontentment. God had blessed Adam and Eve with such a beautiful and peaceful and simple existence. Yet, the enemy slithered into their hearts and minds, saying things like, “God’s holding back from you, you could have more, you deserve more, you could be more, you could even be god.” So, in listening to these lies, their peace and contentment vanished, subjecting all humanity to discontent ever since.
And here’s the thing, desire is not inherently a bad thing. Biblically speaking, it’s a good thing, even a necessary thing. Jesus taught that we must hunger and thirst, meaning to have deep desires (Matt 5:6). But it must be a passion for righteousness, godliness, walking in the ways of our God, because those who seek these things will be satisfied. They will be fulfilled forever. The truth is, the taste of our earthly pleasures now are only an appetizer for the eternal feast we will share with Christ.
There’s a poem written many years ago by a missionary named CT Studd, that says:
Only one life, the still small voice, Gently pleads for a better choice,
Bidding me selfish aims to leave, And to God’s holy will to cleave;
Only one life, will soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, a few brief years, Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its days I must fulfill, living for self or in His will;
Only one life, will soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
2. A Love of money and self-focused ambition harms our relationships.
“There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. … There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil. If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place?” (Ecclesiastes 5:13-15, 6:1-6)
We see in these verses a very bleak and painful picture. The picture here expresses two tragic disasters when we prioritize wealth or material things. When you seek wealth above all,
You may fail and leave your family destitute.
You may succeed but have a family that hates you.
The first tragic cost of wealth is highlighted in Eccl 5:14. Here it mentions a father who loses it all on his reckless ambition and ends up not having anything to give his family. Now in the ancient context, this probably meant his family would have been enslaved or at least became very vulnerable. In other words, his selfish desire for more and more put his family in real danger. So, this can be a tragic result of pursuing wealth and material gain above all.
The second tragedy, and really a heartbreaking end, is developed in 6:1-6. Here it mentions that a man’s goods are consumed by strangers and though he is greatly blessed with a multitude of children, it says, he is given no burial. Now this lack of a burial may seem like an odd detail. But in the ancient context, this would have been a horrible dishonor. This illustration implies that out of all of his 100 children, not even one cared enough to give him a proper burial, implying his memory and legacy and even his very essence would immediately end. So, what does this tell us? Well, it tells us he was deeply hated by his children and had passed onto them an insatiable lust for wealth at the expense of relationships. Children are normally a sign of blessing, especially in the OT. Yet, we see here that even a blessing can easily become a curse, becoming even a source of severe discontent and misery.
So, we should take a moment to consider this for ourselves. What is the relational price we are willing to pay in order to fulfill our desires, perhaps even calling them “needs” in order to justify them to ourselves? One of the great perversions taking over the world now-a-days is what’s called the prosperity gospel. Sadly, it has captured untold number of people. I would even venture to say all of us have to some extent been influenced by its message. This false gospel tells people that what God really wants is for our every desire to be fulfilled and for us to be healthy, wealthy, and wise, according to worldly standards. But one of the deep problems with this false gospel is the focus on me, getting what I want or feel I deserve. Does that not sound a lot like the fall of Adam and Eve? But what does scripture really say? Jesus clearly taught, “Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth, where rust and moth destroy. … But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven!” (Matt 6:19-20).
So, here’s the hard truth for us. The legacy we leave only has two options, either it will be earthly and temporary or it will be spiritual and eternal. And this doesn’t only apply to our direct descendants but all those meaningful relationships in our lives too. So, we have to ask, is it better that those in our lives would have every comfort, privilege, and opportunity this life has to offer but end up hating us or, even worse, denying God?
One of the sages in Proverbs gives this humble and wise plea to the Lord, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is necessary for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God” (Prov 30:8-9).
We might say that Ecclesiastes is sort of teaching, what good is it to gain the world but lose your family, to shipwreck meaningful relationships in your life for temporary material gain? Now just to be clear, Jesus did also teach that the Gospel would divide families, meaning family is important but not ultimate. I think in our culture, we’re tempted to put family at the top of our priority list. But biblically, if we were to create a priority ranking, it must be first – Jesus and the Gospel; second – our ministry to family and others; third – our personal earthly desires and ambitions. Having rightly ordered priorities truly is essential to genuine, enduring contentment.
3. A Love of money and self-focused ambition harms us
“This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger” (Ecclesiastes 5:16-17).
We see in these verses that a love of money not only leads to discontentment and destroys our relationships but it ruins us as well. Listen to what Paul taught in 1 Timothy, clearly drawing from Ecclesiastes 5 and giving some additional insights and helpful commentary, “Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows” (1 Tim 6:6-10). It’s interesting how science often catches up with ancient teachings from scripture. Scientists now say that prolonged stress, worry, anxiety is terribly harmful for our health, equivalent or worse than regularly smoking cigarettes, and often the root of all sorts of health problems like heart disease, digestion, and even memory loss.
So, what is the takeaway for these verses? Simply put, our discontentment and our ill-placed desires may in fact be killing us more than blessing us. That ideal job, that perfect home, that dream vacation bucket list, may be more of a curse on our lives than it is good for us. Why then would we choose this? Why do we so regularly choose this path for our life? To what end? More misery, darkness, loneliness, sickness, perhaps even damnation? The prophet Isaiah all those years ago, gave the simple solution, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you” (Isa 26:3).
So, how then do I live a Life of Contentment? We’ve seen several pitfalls and problems with seeking contentment through wealth. Ecclesiastes gives only a brief and simple answer.
4. You must accept your lot and rest in God’s plan
“Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart” (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20).
The main idea of these verses is repeated twice in 5:18-19 where is says, “Accept, bear your lot.” In ancient Israel, allotments were a big deal and typically out of the person’s control. For example, the first son automatically got a double allotment of inheritance and land. Unfortunately, daughters generally could not inherit any inheritance or allotment of land. Even the tribes of Israel got their designated territories based on God’s direction to Joshua.
Now here in Ecclesiastes, the portion or allotment that the author speaks of implies all of life. It is our place in the world, the few days we live, the wealth we have, the work and vocation that we spend our lives doing, the good and the bad. Everything is part of our lot from God. I love how one commentator puts it, he says, “Happiness comes when we recognize that all we possess belongs to God, because it comes from God. … If our emphasis is upon the gifts, then they will consume us and ultimately destroy us. But if our emphasis is on the giver, the gifts are peripheral and can be used for his glory. This leads to true contentment and joy in the Lord.”[i] This is so true and essential for us to fully comes to terms with in this life. If we are able to see this truth, we too will find contentment, no matter how things look.
The root of contentment, and generosity for that matter, starts with knowing who owns the stuff. Do you know who really owns your stuff? And I don’t mean the bank! Whose car do you drive, whose house do you live in, whose children or grandchildren are you raising, fill in the blank? The truth is, wealth and contentment are ultimately a state of heart and mind.
For the one who knows that God owns it all and trusts that he is in control of everything. For the one who knows that God has merely put it in their care to steward, perhaps more as a test of faith than as a blessing. That is the person who will live a rich and joyful life, regardless of how much earthly temporary stuff they have. Just to be clear, Ecclesiastes does not say that money or things are evil in and of themselves. Having a job and providing for your family is a good thing. It is the pursuit of wealth and material things above the more important, eternal, and divine things that leads to trouble and discontentment.
At the end of Phil, Paul says he learned the secret to being content in any situation. Was this a more secure retirement package? A beachfront property? A better income? Of course not. Listen to what he says, “I have learned to be content in whatever situation I am. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:11-13). Paul knew that contentment can only come through the power and peace of knowing Christ and by resting in the eternal riches we have in the Gospel. That’s it.
Will we choose the way of contentment?
So, Ecclesiastes leaves the question in our hands, to answer for ourselves. Will we accept God’s provision? Is our lot enough? We can add, is Jesus enough? Or will we continue to fight and strive and claw to fulfill our desires, even to our own demise?
If you have been feeling discontent or frustrated or like the world just isn’t lining up to your will, may I suggest the problem is not out there somewhere but rather in here, residing in our broken hearts and disordered desires. There is really only one solution, we must cry out to our good and gracious God to help our hearts believe and to rest in his perfect will.
We cannot serve two masters, it’s not possible, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matt 6:24).
So, I pray you choose the master who showed us the way to everlasting peace.
Let me leave you with a few familiar and relevant words from Psalm 23, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Ps 23:1-3).
[i] Jim Winter, Opening Up Ecclesiastes, Day One Publications (2005).
