Life's Questions

That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. [Ecclesiastes 12.13-14]

...Says the guy who believes this life as we know it is all there is!

I didn't see anywhere that Solomon came around to life after death (as we believe it) in his Ecclesiastes. However, Solomon did refer to something that could be easily overlooked in Ecclesiastes 12.7: For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. Here could be a clue as to what Solomon believed in his thoughts about life and death.

Perhaps Solomon felt that humans were never meant to be entities unto themselves. Perhaps Solomon felt that the human existence was simply a 'balloon' filled with the 'air' of God's Spirit and that the life experience and consciousness as we know it are not really our's but God's. So, when God removes His Spirit, the human experience is over and done - the consciousness goes back to God Whose it is anyway and the individual life and consciousness (again, as we know it) ceases to exist. I am certain there is a philosophical doctrine term for this set of beliefs (I think it might the philosophy of futility).

If, in fact, this is what Solomon concluded and therefore believed, then, he had failed to understand that God, in His creative power initiated a new life and entity, each time a human is born, that is eternal. And, while the wisdom laid out in Ecclesiastes remains valid to a certain degree, it must be considered further in light of eternity.

I am no philosopher so what I have written here is useless to that end. However, each of us must consider what we believe about eternity and respond accordingly (to be true to our own consciousness). I believe, as I have revealed here, that we are eternal and that this life is not all there is to it. In fact, I believe that individual life as we now know it is only the birthing of an eternal life to come. How this 'birthing' is spent determines how the eternal life to follow will be spent.

So, back to Solomon (or, at least the author of Ecclesiastes)... I wonder if he had some change of heart in verse 14 above where he states that "God will judge us for everything we do..." Was he speaking of this life, or one to come?

Father, I realize that each of us must respond to life's questions. I believe the Bible and I believe You. I realize that many others do not believe the Bible or You. Help me to serve You in sharing my faith in You - in Jesus, Your Story - in a way that proves Your great love and purpose for the world.