Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
The Preacher weighs in on the gift of work

The Preacher weighs in on the gift of work

Last updated on: October 12, 2021 at 5:54 pm by Rev. Jared V. Ingle

The Preacher weighs in on the gift of work 2021-10-12T17:54:21-04:00 Rev. Jared V. Ingle

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Preacher (Koheleth or Qoheleth) weighs in on the gift of work. The Bible has much to say on the topic. Ecclesiastes offers some interesting insights as well.

i. opinion | a little more about the author

In my opinion, Koheleth is most likely King Solomon sharing wisdom near the end of his days. He’s seen it all, been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

I picture Koheleth as perhaps a late middle aged man, maybe a little older, working quietly in a corner of the coffee shop. His wise gaze sees the younger generations as they madly rush along through their days.

Ono-Kosuki-man-coffee-cafe-Pexels

Ono Kosuki | man with a coffee in a cafe | 09.26.2020 | Pexels.jpg | public domain

What could he offer to them, and would they even listen?

He has learned to become critical in some ways, to tell it like it is in other ways. However, there is purpose to the way he chides us and prods us. He is definitely not an Existentialist, attempting to help us find the ultimate meaning for our lives. He’s not a pessimist either because he does eventually draw our eyes to God. I would say Koheleth is a realist to say the least. He reminds me of an aging Generation X-er who knows God well, if we’ll only take time to listen.

To read more in this series (and other articles in my category The Writings) CLICK HERE

The Bible selection for this piece is Ecclesiastes 4.1-6 CLICK HERE

ii. dog-eat-dog, a distortion of the gift of work

There is a saying in the corporate world, “dog-eat-dog,” which capsulizes the cutthroat mentality of doing whatever it takes to climb the corporate ladder. At all costs, we have to keep up with the Joneses.

Koheleth recognizes that this is a prevalent problem in his day. He addresses, envy, jealousy, and laziness at work.

Koheleth “considered,” or sees and perceives “all travail,” toilsome, burdensome labor (Ecclesiastes 4.4, KJV). He sees every “right,” successful or skillful, “work.” There are a couple different ways translators look at this verse. One is that good work produces envy in others (i.e. KJV, NKJV). The other view is that every good work is produced as a result of the envy and rivalry between neighbors, i.e. competition (NIV, NAS, RSV).

Whatever the case, man is envied, not as much by his enemy as by his “neighbor,” his friend, companion, fellow-citizen. The preacher views this strain between close companions as “vanity, and vexation of spirit” (verse 4).

Envy troubles us to our very core. This term “spirit” is the Hebrew word ruwach, also translated breath. This inner man can be vexed, prone to longing or striving, to attain what one envies.

“Futility and emptiness result from the constant human search for the meaning of life. He is particularly aware of the useless attempts to understand the mystery of divine purpose behind the order of the world as it is, the tragic finality of death, the reasons for success and failure, and the justice of rewards and punishment for good and evil behavior. These are beyond our capabilities to discover.” (Lawrence Boadt, Reading in the Old Testament: An Introduction, Paulist Press, p. 484)

iii. the foolishness of avoiding work

Koheleth recognizes that just as there people who are motivated by an envious dog-eat-dog mentality, there are others who simply give up trying. He calls this type of person “the fool,” literally stupid, dull, simple, etc. (Eccl 4.5, KJV).

Fool, or kesil in Hebrew, is a unique term only used in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Foolishness does not refer to lack of intelligence, but to a person’s tendency to make bad decisions.

One bad decision of the fool is that he, “foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh” (Eccl 4.5). This is probably some sort of Hebrew idiom for bringing oneself to destruction. It may be better translated, “Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves” (NIV).

“The sluggard is guilty of moral suicide; he takes no trouble to provide for his necessities, and suffers extremities in consequence.” (W.J. Deane, “Ecclesiastes,” The Pulpit Commentary: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, vol. 9, ed. H.D.M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, Wm. B. Eerdmans, p. 89)

The fool’s actions are the backdrop for the the next statement:

“better is a hand full of rest . . . than two hands full of travail . . . the fool’s defense of his indolence.” (on Eccl 4.6, W.J. Deane, “Ecclesiastes,” The Pulpit Commentary: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, vol. 9, ed. H.D.M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, Wm. B. Eerdmans, p. 89)

Here we have a glimpse into the fool’s mindset, with possibly a foolish saying of the time. It would be better to have a hand full of rest and quiet than two hands full of work that produces travail, toil, vexation.

The fool considers the toil of work and asks, “Why work at all?”

Previous Post

October 7, 2021

more on abuse | R. Kelly, Thema Bryant-Davis, Sarah Reeves, & Job

Next Post

October 14, 2021 Columbus Day Weekend Healthy Chef

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Communion Cruz Ingle Crystal Ingle Early Church Engaging Culture Ethics & Society Family Formation History In Dialogue Jared & Crystal Kingdom of God Majority World Church Mateo Ingle Messenger College Mission Narrative Pentecostal Church of God Prayer Shepherding The Sermon The Writings Theology Theology & Psychology Traverse City Uncategorized Vernell Ingle Word Study

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 May 2017 March 2017 March 2014 February 2013 January 2013 October 2012 July 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 August 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who is the apostle to deny Jesus?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Peter Andrew Phillip Judas