ECCLESIASTES 9.4-6

4. For to him that is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

5. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

6. As well their love, as their hatred and their envy [zeal], is perished long ago; neither have they any more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun.

Continuing the thought begun in the previous section, Solomon reminds us again of the stark reality that one event comes unto all in the end, good or bad, wise or foolish -- namely Death.

Man is mortal, as we read earlier, but what is the state of the dead? The dead, says Solomon under the inspiration, know not anything – a simple truth that God makes clearly understandable on a daily basis by the physical metaphor of sleep. Each night, metaphorically speaking, we die – and each morning we are awakened, or resurrected. Paul is in fact says the same thing as Solomon when he describes all who have died as having fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:6) -- pointing out in the remainder of that chapter that if there is no resurrection from that sleep, then there is no hope.

Many Christians, even, seem desperate to disbelieve the inspired words of Solomon and negate those of Paul by insisting instead that at death they somehow float off to a new life in Heaven – thereby siding in their beliefs with mediums and fortune-tellers, as well as deluded poets who proclaim that “death is nothing”, and that the deceased is “just around the corner”, apparently peeking down at the coffin and wondering what all the fuss is about. Paul, I think, would strongly disagree, describing death as a terrible enemy.

A living dog is better than a dead lion, says Solomon, perhaps implying that too many of us live the impoverished life of a dog that spends most of the day in idleness and asleep and reliant on his master for his every need – rather than like a lion which is strong, self-reliant, purposeful and independent.

Perhaps Solomon is urging us not to be demoralized and paralyzed by the prospect of death, but to live purposefully, to identify important goals or rewards, and to go after them with zeal.