"16 Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. 18 I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. 19 For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. 20 All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.21 Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upwards and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? 22 So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?"
Ecclesiastes 3:16-22
We now turn to an examination of the condition of the beings who 'under the sun' are no better than the beasts. This occupies the next three chapters, in which the Preacher considers in turn the sufferings of society (4:1-5), the reality of loneliness, even in those fortunate to amass wealth (4:7-12), the emptiness and disappointment of even the supreme earthly elevation, kingship (4:13-16), the limitations of even the religious life (5:1-7) and finally, the fact that wealth can bring worry as well as ease (5:8-6:12). These themes are interspersed with comments which indicate the 'higher wisdom', such as 4:6, 4:9-12, 5:18-20.
In the first of these sections (1-5) it is the problems of oppression (1-3) and envy (4, 5) that are the Preacher's concern. He is beholding the oppressions that are practised under the sun - a familiar picture in many parts of the world, in many different ages, and familiar even today. This is how it is in life, he says, and try as we will, we cannot make life very much better. Sorrows remain, for so often might prevails against right, without redress. The fact that this is so, however, does not mean that we must not do all we can to alleviate oppression and injustice; indeed this is our duty in terms of humanity, let alone in terms of the Christian gospel. It is our bounden duty to seek to alleviate oppression and injustice wherever it is to be found. But it is naive - and this is the point that is being made - to suppose that human effort will ever establish a Utopia upon earth. And since this is so - and remember, this is all 'under the sun' - it is better to be dead than alive (2). This echoes perfectly the pessimism and despair of the philosophers of the ancient world, with their saying 'The best thing of all is not to be born, and the next best thing is to die'. That is the essence of the wisdom that is 'under the sun'. Well might the Apostle Paul say, 'If in this life only we have in Christ hope we are of all men most miserable' (1 Corinthians 15:19).