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| “A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.” |
| —Ecclesiastes 6:3 |
Shane Davis, in his book Finding My Cross, wrote these words: “I sat with a man dying once. It’s a horrible thing to die alone away from those you love.”
Yes, death can prove most horrible to those who die without hope and without God. King Solomon, in this amazing Book of Ecclesiastes, continues to explore what it would be like to live one’s life without God. In today’s passage, he builds on yesterday’s text and explores what the end of life would be if one did not have God’s gifts and God’s motivation to enjoy those gifts. Notice what he writes, as found in Ecclesiastes 6:3-6:
A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man—even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?
Maybe you know someone who has experienced the stillborn death of a child. It is a heart-wrenching experience like no other. A mother carries her child just under her heart for nine months. A father waits in eager expectation, and with a bit of fear and trembling, at this new chapter of the life he and his dear wife have forged together. The fateful day arrives. Even as they drive to the hospital, there is a bit of mystery, wonderment, and excitement that fills the air around them.
They arrive at the hospital and are whisked away to the labor room. As the nurses tend to the expectant mother, dad paces in the hallway in between visits to the bedside of his beloved. When the doctor finally decides it’s time, mom is wheeled into the delivery room.
As the birth progresses, mom waits to hear that amazing first cry from her baby’s lips. But, that cry never comes. Stillborn. It’s a horrible, gut-wrenching word. Its sorrow is almost indescribable. Its pain is even greater than the pain of childbirth.
When it comes time for the husband to take his wife home, they leave empty handed. No cuddly newborn to bring them the inexpressible joy they had anticipated. Instead, they return to an empty house, and later to a cemetery to bury their child who never knew life outside the womb.
This is the image that King Solomon holds in his mind as he writes these words:
A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
How fortunate we are, dear ones. We who have been rescued from the miry pit of sin and redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb of God, we are so fortunate to have a relationship with the God who loves us with His everlasting love. That relationship gives our lives meaning, vitality, and overwhelming joy.
As we begin this new day, let’s look into that open grave and know that it will not hold us. For our One True King has overcome sin, death, and Satan. He has bought us with so great a price. And, we now live as His choice servants—servants of His Kingdom in the world here on earth and in the world to come.
