The good have a fate. They die. So too the evil person. They die. Those do great things in life die. And those who do terrible things or nothing also die. And then there’s this.
“the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live–after that they go to the dead” (v. 3).
Death is the destiny of us all.
“But there is hope for whoever is joined with all the living, since a live dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they will die, but the dead don’t know anything. There is no longer a reward for them because the memory of them is forgotten. Their love, their hate, and their envy have already disappeared, and there is no longer a portion for them in all that is done under the sun” (vv. 4-6).
So what should we do?
1) “Go, eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works” (v. 7)
2) “Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your fleeting life, which has been given to you under the sun” (v. 9)
3) “Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going” (v. 10).
Clearly Solomon really has a very obscure sense of heaven and that is common in the ancient culture. There was a sense of heaven, an afterlife and more but it was very fuzzy.
Solomon is saying that everyone ends up dead, so enjoy life here not in a foolish way, but with the wisdom of the pleasures that God gives such as work, family and even food.
