Ecc 6:4 | KingComments | STEP | A person can have a very great offspring and grow very old, things that are presented in the Old Testament as a special blessing, and yet leave life empty and unnoticed, without others mourning him ( ; cf. ). That is really tragic. Moreover, it is a great torment to experience and see beautiful things and not to find joy and satisfaction in them. If the life of such a man is over, there is no one to shed a tear for him. His life is worth nothing and neither is his dead body. They do not even bother to dig a grave for him and bury him. His end is, as his life was: empty. Such torments do not bother “a miscarriage” and that is why it is better off. The stillborn child is not confronted with the restlessness of an unfulfilled existence. He also has no guilt toward God. If a life is lived in sin and is ended in unbelief, it would have been better never to have lived it (cf. ). A miscarriage is the first to die ( ). That happens already before it has seen life ( ). Everything remains hidden in darkness. Although the miscarriage has not seen the life and the light, it is better off than he who has seen it all ( ). The miscarriage has rest and has not experienced all afflictions under the sun, while the living one has always had unrest. Job and Jeremiah have desired to be like that when they were desperate ( ; ). The rich man and the poor man who both die in unbelief will both go to the place where all temporal differences have disappeared. This is the realm of the dead. Everyone will end up there, however long he lives. Even if someone gets twice as old as Methuselah ( ), it will be of no use to him when he dies. After his long, unpleasant life he goes to the realm of the dead, the place where there is also the miscarriage that has not seen life. The New Testament teaches that there is a difference between the place where a miscarriage goes and where the unbeliever goes after death. A miscarriage has not sinned and is therefore saved by the work of Christ. The unbeliever is in the place of pain because he has refused to repent. He will be judged according to his deeds ( ). However, there is a difference in the gravity of the punishment that the unbelievers receive after their death ( ). We learn from the New Testament that there is also a distinction in reward for those who die in faith. They will be rewarded according to the faithfulness with which they have served the Lord in their lives ( ).

‏ Ecclesiastes 6:4

A Miscarriage Is Better Off

A person can have a very great offspring and grow very old, things that are presented in the Old Testament as a special blessing, and yet leave life empty and unnoticed, without others mourning him (Ecc 6:3; cf. Jer 22:18-19). That is really tragic. Moreover, it is a great torment to experience and see beautiful things and not to find joy and satisfaction in them.

If the life of such a man is over, there is no one to shed a tear for him. His life is worth nothing and neither is his dead body. They do not even bother to dig a grave for him and bury him. His end is, as his life was: empty.

Such torments do not bother “a miscarriage” and that is why it is better off. The stillborn child is not confronted with the restlessness of an unfulfilled existence. He also has no guilt toward God. If a life is lived in sin and is ended in unbelief, it would have been better never to have lived it (cf. Mk 14:21).

A miscarriage is the first to die (Ecc 6:4). That happens already before it has seen life (Psa 58:8b). Everything remains hidden in darkness. Although the miscarriage has not seen the life and the light, it is better off than he who has seen it all (Ecc 6:5). The miscarriage has rest and has not experienced all afflictions under the sun, while the living one has always had unrest. Job and Jeremiah have desired to be like that when they were desperate (Job 3:1-19; Jer 20:14-16).

The rich man and the poor man who both die in unbelief will both go to the place where all temporal differences have disappeared. This is the realm of the dead. Everyone will end up there, however long he lives. Even if someone gets twice as old as Methuselah (Gen 5:27), it will be of no use to him when he dies. After his long, unpleasant life he goes to the realm of the dead, the place where there is also the miscarriage that has not seen life.

The New Testament teaches that there is a difference between the place where a miscarriage goes and where the unbeliever goes after death. A miscarriage has not sinned and is therefore saved by the work of Christ. The unbeliever is in the place of pain because he has refused to repent. He will be judged according to his deeds (Rev 20:12-13). However, there is a difference in the gravity of the punishment that the unbelievers receive after their death (Lk 12:48).

We learn from the New Testament that there is also a distinction in reward for those who die in faith. They will be rewarded according to the faithfulness with which they have served the Lord in their lives (Mt 25:14-30).