BLOG

Ecclesiastes, part 13, Men and Beasts

Ecclesiastes 3:18-21 says,

¹⁸ I said to myself concerning the sons of men, “God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts.” ¹⁹ for the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. ²⁰ All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust. ²¹ Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?

The comparison to beasts is deliberately provocative. It targets pride, man’s sense that even though he has been sentenced to death, he remains superior to beasts. Having been sold to the ground, he is subject to the same fate as the beasts. God’s test strips away illusions of permanence apart from faith in the only One who can (and will) bring humanity back to his original exalted condition.

Koheleth is not denying the image of God (Genesis 1:26); he is confronting human arrogance in light of his present mortality. Apart from faith in Christ, man has no genuine reason to think that he is better than a beast. They have the same fate, the same breath (ruach, “breath, spirit”), and are made of the same material (dust). So God’s sentence upon Adam said, “for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).

Living Souls

That “dust” had originally housed the glory of God, for the purpose of creation was to express materially the glory of heaven. Sin removed that glory, leaving Adam and all mankind no better off than the beasts. Instead of ruling over the beasts of the earth, he became subject to them.

There is nothing wrong with dust, for God pronounced it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Yet dust without the Holy Spirit is just dust. Man was made “a living soul” (Genesis 2:7 KJV), but animals too have souls. Genesis 1:21 says (literally), “God created the great sea monsters with every living creature [nephesh ḥayyāh, “living soul”] that moves.” It is the same terminology used in Genesis 2:7 about man.

The soul of man does not distinguish him from creation. It identifies him with creation. And to claim that man has an immortal soul is an illusion, for “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4 KJV). When man dies, it is not only the body that dies but the soul also, because the soul is fleshly.

The law thus forbids consuming blood on the grounds that “the soul [nephesh] of the flesh is in the blood.” A better way of wording this is: “the fleshly soul is in the blood.” Hence, Paul personifies the soul as an inner self (seat of consciousness) in 1 Corinthians 2:14, where it is often translated “a natural man.” The Greek reads psychikos, “soulish,” from the word psyche, “soul.” The soulish man is one who is descended from Adam, the first “living soul.” Elsewhere, Paul calls this the “old man” (KJV) or “old self” (NASB). Paul says we are new creatures in Christ, and our “new man” is that which was begotten by the Holy Spirit by believing the gospel.

This “new man” distinguishes us from the beasts. It leads to a second birth. But we must transfer our identity from the fleshly soul to the new spiritual entity, knowing that the soul was sentenced to death. By this transference, we escape the consequences of the death penalty, saying, “I am not the son of Adam but am a different entity that was not begotten by the original man of sin.”

Spirit and Breath

What distinguishes man is not soul but spirit (ruach, “breath, spirit”). It has two meanings; hence, translators render it differently according to their belief or bias. Breath itself is earthly and is given to both men and beasts. Spirit, however, goes beyond the earthly realm. When the Holy Spirit breathes upon us, a new man is begotten in our (human) spirit by the incorruptible and immortal seed of the word (1 Peter 1:23). This new man is inherently incorruptible and immortal.

Though Koheleth does not claim to know whether the spirit of man and beast go to different places (at death), the implication is that there is a qualitative difference between these two spirits. In my view, beasts have breath; man has spirit, but it is subject to the soulish realm, having given over its original power to the earth. The remedy is to have faith in Christ, whereby the Holy Spirit begets “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

The phrase “no advantage” explicitly invokes yitrôn (“profit, surplus”) again. In death, there is no surplus that distinguishes humans from animals. All learning, culture, wisdom, justice, and achievement collapse at the grave when “to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).

Koheleth does NOT deny that the human spirit returns to God when the soul and body die. Yet death is a return. The body returns to dust; the soul returns to “sleep” (unconsciousness); the spirit returns to God, Koheleth acknowledges this later in Ecclesiastes 12:7,

⁷ Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

He is silent on the state of the soul. Yet we see the great example of Christ Himself, whose body was buried in Joseph’s tomb (Matthew 27:59, 60); His soul was not abandoned in the grave (“sheol,” Psalm 16:10; “hades,” Acts 2:31), and He commended His spirit to God (Luke 23:46). Each part returned to its point of origin. Resurrection later reconstitutes all three parts in a new way that manifests the glory of heaven to fulfill the purpose for creation itself.

Why Justice is Delayed

Verses 18-21 answer the question from verses 16 and 17: If God judges, why does injustice persist? Koheleth replies: humans are mortal, time delays judgment, and humans are not equipped to manage justice fully.

Judgment belongs to God because humans are dust-bound and fallible. Earthly judges are certainly called to administer justice by the law of God, but in practice, God’s laws have usually been set aside in favor of man’s laws (“traditions”). Secondly, even godly judges are incapable of rendering justice in the most serious matters, such as murder, kidnapping, or rape (death penalty crimes). Hence, the death penalty defers judgment to the great White Throne, which alone can render true justice.

The Closing Verdict

Ecclesiastes 3:22 concludes,

²² I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot [heleq, “portion, allotment”]. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?

Koheleth again grounds his conclusion in observation (“I have seen”). He has examined time (3:1–15), injustice (3:16–17), and mortality (3:18–21). His conclusion is not speculative theology, but realistic observation of man’s limitations.

When he says, “Nothing is better…”this phrase means: Given human limits, this is the highest wisdom. He assumes, of course, that man’s activities are in accordance with the laws of God and conform to his/her particular calling in life. Do not try to control that which is beyond your knowledge and wisdom. Be content with mortal limitations.

Deuteronomy 29:29 says,

²⁹ The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.

Being “happy” does not mean pride in achievement, securing a legacy, or extracting meaning from one’s toil. It means receiving one’s labor as a gift from God and enjoying the moment without demanding permanence. This is joy in humility, being content in limitations. As Paul would say, “be anxious for nothing” (Philippians 4:6). Again, he says in Philippians 4:11, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.”

Ecclesiastes 3:22 teaches that since humans cannot know or control what comes after them, wisdom consists in receiving one’s daily work and joy as a God-given portion within time.