Subject: Hope and Patience - Ecclesiastes 7-8

Ecclesiastes 7:8 (ESV Strong's)
Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Subject:  Hope and Patience

This section of Ecclesiastes is known as the "better than" section.   He starts out in the first verse of the chapter saying a "good name is better than precious ointment."   He will add in another verse "it is better" to hear rebuke than "the song of fools."   So, the writer is telling us that there are truths in the world that are competing for our loyalty and our faith.   In the above verse the truth is that what we see in the beginning is not necessarily the best.  It is the end that brings blessing.  Being patient and waiting for the end result is better than being proud in the moment.   The moment has no context.   In the moment we might find joy but it might not be lasting.   The wicked rejoice in the moment.  The righteous should rejoice in the moment, but only as it has context in the future of God's omnipotent plan.  We can really get caught up in the world of the immediate for our pleasure.   God takes a longer view.   He has a plan.  Job is a good example.  God had a bigger plan.  The friends of Job were caught up in the moment.   The first verse in this chapter is a great example of this truth:

Ecclesiastes 7:1 (ESV Strong's)
A good name is better than precious ointment,
and the day of death than the day of birth.

Solomon is telling us that a good name is better than wealth (precious ointment).  He tells us the same thing in Proverbs 22:1.  However, the second line is the truth of our above verse.   A good name is only good once we die. Hence, the day of death better than the day of birth.   Solomon is telling us that a good name can change and be damaged.  But, if we die with a good name, the end is better than the beginning.  We need to realize that circumstances are God's way of shaping us to the final image of His son.   The end is better than the beginning.  2 Corinthians 3:18 sums it up for us:


2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV Strong's)
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.