The Prologue
“Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; surely every man at his best is a mere breath.” Selah. Psalm 39:5 NASB
Ecclesiastes is a thorough examination of life from inside the box. The result: get it while you can! Most scholars believe that the epilogue, those last few verses that attempt to redeem the almost nihilistic content of the rest of the book, were added because of the book’s dark tone. The fact that Ecclesiastes is even in the Bible is quite amazing. We would expect the Wisdom books of the Bible to have a positive and uplifting spin, but not so with Ecclesiastes. Nevertheless, the book is very important. More than any other biblical work, it helps us realize that the answers to life’s biggest questions cannot be found inside the framework of the human experience. Without divine involvement, life really is nothing more than getting it while you can.
David’s lyrics emphasize the fleeting character of life. While he doesn’t go as far as the Teacher in Ecclesiastes, his assessment is pretty much the same. In the blink of an eye, it’s over. For the Teacher, life’s transitory nature is an unexplainable certainty. For David, it is the direct result of divine design. “You have made my days,” writes David. The same is true of every man. God designed a termination code into the machine. Life is just a few “handbreadths.” The word is ṭōpaḥ, the width between the base of the fingers. This word is first in the sentence, placing it in the emphatic position. That would be small enough, but David adds, “as nothing.” David uses ʾayin, a powerful negative.
This word is basically a negative substantive used most frequently in the construct form (ʾên). The word therefore has no single meaning and the exact translation must be determined in each context. The negative concept is always present wherever the word is used.[1]
And then there’s the connection to Ecclesiastes. Once more the negative description is placed in the first position. kai hebel, “mere breath,” should probably be translated as “worthlessness,” since the context emphasizes the vanishing character of human existence. According to David’s poem, Man at his best is just a passing puff of air. This is the theme of Ecclesiastes. The best one can hope for is a good night’s sleep, a good meal and a good woman—sometimes, if possible. But not usually. And in the end, the rich are buried next to the poor, the wise next to the fool. All the plans of men turn to dust.
David’s audience must have been totally surprised. What an indictment of the schemers in the group! The king recognizes life’s temporality. How much more so should the royal court? David uses his personal experience to illuminate the fruitlessness of those who oppose him and God. A puff of air and they’re gone. I wonder if we have learned the lesson.
Topical Index: kai hebel, mere breath, Ecclesiastes, Psalm 39:5
[1]Scott, J. B. (1999). 81 אַיִן. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 37). Chicago: Moody Press.
I am no longer one of those who believe that upon death we go immediately to “heaven” or even dwell for a season in a place called Paradise until the saints go marching in…to wherever. Rather I believe in the
Grave and that there is a Divine Wisdom waiting there for us. There, is darkness and stillness and quiet and an equality that is unsurpassed by own worst expectations. There will be nothing. There will be no vex, no sects, no sex, no text, no next. Zero, Nada, Zilch. There will be no ________, and there will be no _______and there will be no _______. For there, will there be no You as you now know you. “For THERE, is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor freeman, neither male nor female; for in union with the Messiah Yeshua, you are all one.” THERE we will finally experience what it is to be both DEAD and to be ONE. Because we have not died in Him here and now as commanded, we are not one with Him or with each other. There we can and we will… until He speaks again to the dirt.
I, for one, welcome a level playing field and a plot that neither thickens nor thins.
What about “the world to come”,” the restoration of all things”? Are you implying this grave is the end of story? Or a waiting place untill that time of “the restoration of all things ” the Olam Haba?
And yet, Michael, that playing field will be a blink of an eye, for no one goes to sleep with conscious awareness. We will awake as if we had just gone to sleep and stand before our maker. Will we be least in the kingdom of heaven, or greatest? Or, will we be told, “depart from me, I never knew you.” The choices today have real and lasting consequences for eternity. Eternal life is a quality of life now that in the end turns into quantity. Yeshua demonstrated that this is reliable and true.
Paul, choices do matter. I couldn’t agree more. How we treat people in the here and now does matter. I believe in the Mesillat Yesharim study, that was one of the points that was talked about.
Michael, I pray you would embrace forgiveness as a balm to your spirit. We don’t pursue justice, mercy and humility as we have been commanded to do. It is true that we are all operating from woundedness and are disconnected from ourselves and each other to one degree or another. In praying for you today, I feel led to share this verse: “For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it should come to light.” Mark 4:22. I believe we will all be very surprised at the truths that will be revealed. I hear you that you are weary of fighting the good fight. He keeps all our tears in a bottle. Maybe they will have a holy purpose one day.
Intriguing….
The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of evil must now (thanks, first Mom and Dad!) “be tasted by every man”, for the fruit of all evil is purposelessness, shortness of existence, and death. Now we all get to realize why we don’t like this stuff! It goes against our design and desire (as we were told it would), but the sin that was the lack of faith in that telling occurred BEFORE either one of them ever tasted the fruit. We, too, “have all sinned” up front by distrusting our Father when He tells us that we are not going to like evil.
There is no sense in trying to make a purse out of the sow’s ear of this current life (although there is no lack of trying by all those cancer cell folks out there!): it sucks! The whole point of us living it is so that we can know without a doubt (lack of trust) that it sucks! When are we going to really get it that this current state of affairs is unredeemable: that it needs to be blown up and a new beginning happen? Just when are we going to sign on to that plan? Apparently it is only after we hit the bottom of the recognition of how awful it is and how much we hate where we find ourselves at. “Mere breath”? But I want full life! Now we are talking.
Careful now. You are sounding like the radical Muslims who believe that destroying it all is the only way to bring about renewal and usher in the Messiah.
Well, I guess the power of Islam is derived from the same thing that makes all error powerful, for doesn’t error get its power from how much of the truth it incorporates into itself? Isn’t this what makes the almost truths the most powerful of all?
I think Islam makes the error of thinking that they must do God’s business for Him. I think the notion that the best way to destroy nothing is with something – to deal with evil is to do good – never has yet entered into the mind of anybody who is not being influenced by heaven. Isn’t the destruction of evil the salvation of it? The return of disfunction to function? I don’t think Islam provides a good model of how you do that.
When life gets you closer to the end, your perspective changes.
If you are a follower of Yeshua, you find yourself focusing more
on the plans He has for you — plans for eternity.
As you contemplate that unfathomable sweep of forever-ness,
how easily you think back on all the impact moments you’ve lived
in time and space. No second was wasted in His economy, whether
it was painful or flat out joyful. Every moment was His to give and ours
to use, either for ourselves or for His kingdom.
I wish I knew more sooner, but God knew when the times were right
and ripe for enlightenment. How amazing is the divine plan for this lifetime,
as He readies us through His mysteries, His revelations, His methods,
His mercies, His forgiveness, His grace . . . and His message:
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am,
and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me
before the creation of the world.” Jn 17:24
Not to single you out Rich, but…… what if one is not a follower of Yeshua?
Lesli,
I will defer the answer to your question to Yeshua himself.
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through me.” Jn 14:6
Rich, I mean this in the most honest way… no malice or disrespect intended.
So, because of the way my life – or my paradigm- changed once I read and became aware of church lies/manipulation ….followed Yeshua into a Synagogue and found a broader meaning to Torah, Hebrew/Hebraic ideology and now not sure where Messiah fits (doesn’t fit the rules for sin sacrifice, and wasn’t it in some “santuary not made by human hands before the very foundation of the world” )…. I study daily and constantly cry out for clarity to only end up feeling emptiness and a widening gap in my soul…..and now – right this mixture- the G-d of MY understanding is SO different. (So unbelievably changes) ….because of ALL that, I lose eternal life?
I’m guessing you’re right where you’re supposed to be, and I doubt there is any question about eternal life in this mix. Living in Babylon is MOST difficult with lots of heartache, but persistence is faith, and you have plenty of that.
Lesli,
I agree with Skip about faith. It’s what we all have to hold onto
as it sustains us through times of drought or doubt. And it’s this
same faith that’s there when as David said: “You, O Lord, keep
my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness to light.”
Stand firm.
“I study constantly, cry out for clarity to only end up feeling emptiness.” I thought of a relationship I “invested my time and heart” in many years ago. I was young and spent 9 years in it and 1 child came out of it. It was hard. However this “conversion” that led to freedom from that darkness had to be lived and felt. “From this point forward” was my attitude toward life. I was Thankful to have my sight; no longer blind and in the dark but blinded by Light. A living witness! So thankful that the Lord filled that empty space with his purpose.
Another thought was of Apostle Paul a Hebrew of Hebrews who was missing the mark not as a Christian but as a well taught Hebrew … In his letter to Timothy he acknowledged his ignorance and looking forward was thankful for the filling of what could have felt like an emptiness of some type.
“1 Tim 1:12-13 reads I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has granted me [the needed] strength and made me able for this, because He considered me faithful and trustworthy, putting me into service [for this ministry], even though I was formerly a blasphemer [of our Lord] and a persecutor [of His church] and a shameful and outrageous and violent aggressor [toward believers]. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted out of ignorance in unbelief.”
At his conversion, when he “saw the light” he was commissioned to do and be a witness SO THAT people would be forgiven and released …
“Act 26:16-18 … Get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you [to serve] as a minister and as a witnwess [to testify, with authority,] not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you, [choosing you for Myself and] rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 18 to open their [spiritual] eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness and release from their sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified (set apart, made holy) by faith in Me
*retraction
You have the attitude of the faithful. One who cares about their spirit life enough to mourn having been misled. Your thirst for righteousness will pay off
I am angry and my mood is dark. I am tired. Rant begins:
“I wonder if we have learned the lesson”? Seriously? Every expletive just came out of my mouth. In a mere breath.
I *think* I am just about as nihilistic as one can be now. Okay, it’s all dust. It’s SH*T. It hurts and it is not getting any better and none of us is growing younger…. and I for sure have become “dumb” after learning about the “church” and sitting at this table. There is just too much to know, to many grammar lessons, too many wise “contributors” that aid in this confusion or “learning”. I want to grow yet I am so damned uncomfortable in my life. It just doesn’t get better…. oh goody.
Rant ends.
Sounds like David to me.
Growing pains are normal.
Don’t let anyone tell you they are not.
…and a lot like me. I share your shouting and anguish, Lesli