Six ways to encounter God here
A passage is not only to be understood; it is to be lived with. Choose how you want to meet God in Ecclesiastes 9:10, and Living Bread opens it right there.
The passage in its setting
Meeting God in a verse begins with hearing it where it lives, in the flow of Ecclesiastes 9. Read it slowly, and let the focal verse settle into its own context.
8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.
9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.
10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
The web of Scripture around it
Where this passage echoes across the Bible, from the cross-reference graph, 14 connected Scriptures. Each one is a door to meet God there too.
- Colossians 3:23
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
- Ephesians 5:16
Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
- Romans 12:11
Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
- Psalms 6:5
For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
- Ecclesiastes 11:6
In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
- 2 Chronicles 31:20
And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God.
- 1 Corinthians 9:24
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
- John 9:4
I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
- Jeremiah 29:13
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
- Matthew 6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
- Ecclesiastes 9:5
For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
- Isaiah 38:18
For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
- 1 Corinthians 9:26
I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
- 1 Corinthians 15:10
But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with…
More to meet God in Ecclesiastes
How it points to Christ
Every Scripture ultimately leads to Jesus. See how the whole Bible points to Him in Christ in all Scripture, then meet Him for yourself.
