Ecclesiastes 4:1-6

Rachel Workman: Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless. ² So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living. ³ But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.

⁴ Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

⁵ “Fools fold their idle hands,
    leading them to ruin.”

⁶ And yet,

“Better to have one handful with quietness
    than two handfuls with hard work
    and chasing the wind.”

I can't believe how true these verses are today. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless. I think this might be true for those who are don't follow Christ. But we are not helpless. Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors.Could this speak any truer? Envy has no place in our hearts. Fools fold their idle hands,
    leading them to ruin.” The problem with the idle hands is the people with folded hands are leading those who work hard to ruin with them.

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John Burnett:  4 Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:

I saw the tears of the oppressed—
    and they have no comforter;
power was on the side of their oppressors—
    and they have no comforter.
² And I declared that the dead,
    who had already died,
are happier than the living,
    who are still alive.
³ But better than both
    is the one who has never been born,
who has not seen the evil
    that is done under the sun.

⁴ And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

⁵ Fools fold their hands
    and ruin themselves.
⁶ Better one handful with tranquillity
    than two handfuls with toil
    and chasing after the wind.

We are so blessed to have the whole cannon of scripture because we now know what happens to people when they die.  Those who have died in Christ are happier beyond what we can fathom, but those who have died, who are not in Christ have no happiness at all.  They have eternal conscious torment, which brings about weeping and gnashing of teeth.

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Tomorrow’s reading for Ecclesiastes 4:7-12

⁷ I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun. ⁸ This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.

⁹ Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. ¹⁰ If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. ¹¹ Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? ¹² A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.