Chapter 5 starts with some reflection on how worship is accomplished. Going to the temple wasn’t meant to be treated as a casual thing, they were entering the house of God. Today we hear that phrase and just mentally translate it to “a church”. Do you treat your church like you’re walking into someone else’s home? There’s a sense of irreverence and entitlement demonstrated by some people at some times when they enter the church wearing whatever they feel like, drinking their coffee, and loudly chatting with whoever catches their fancy. This is going to vary by denomination and cultural considerations, but I would at least encourage everyone regardless to spare some thought to what the act of physically going to church–walking into a house that belongs to God–represents and asks of you. You “guard your steps” out of respect and in recognition of the holiness of the space you’re entering.

The temple was a place of sacrifice but the teacher says it’s more important to listen, rather than do wrong. Obedience to God is more important than the sacrifice and if you haven’t listened to His instructions, chances are your sacrifice is incorrect anyway and you’re too foolish to even realize it. Showing up to make your sacrifices in a routine hollow motion means nothing if you don’t have a heart surrendered to His will. In fact, you’re better off not even speaking, in most cases. We’re encouraged to be quick to listen and slow to speak in James 1 and told in Proverbs that when words are many, sin is not absent. Which is to say, the more you speak, the greater likelihood of saying something you suffer. Speech should be thoughtful and measured, not rambling and random, lest you say too much and burn yourself with your own words.

This extends to vows. Those familiar with Matthew will remember Jesus instructing us not to vow before God at all and to let our words stand on our character rather than swearing on some sacred object to increase the worth of our promise. Swearing in such a manner was common at the time and Solomon addresses it here saying if you’re going to swear to God, you should be quick to fulfill it. Don’t let it fall off your radar because you forgot or got busy. God doesn’t suffer fools. A fool in a biblical person isn’t merely a dumb person, it’s someone who doesn’t demonstrate proper respect for God and goes about life much too casually and carelessly as a result. Better still is to just not make vows rather than to risk not fulfilling it because going against truth is offensive to God and you’re inviting correction. Big dreams and big words can be equally empty and fleeting, so minimize your words, mean what you say, and be better aligned with God.

The Bible frequently deals with oppression of the marginalized, which may be unpleasant words due to their affiliation with certain modern political movements, but our God is a God of love and charity. People being crushed under the heel of power has no appeal to Him. Still, Solomon tells us to not be astonished by this, we’re going to see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice in hierarchical society as the lower classes are used as pawns for the political maneuvering of the upper. Humanity doesn’t emulate the loving authority and rule of God very well and often fall to our sinful ambitions, which have consequences (seen and unseen) for those stationed beneath us. Greed is a destructive impulse, for the greedy as well as those suffering the consequences of the greedy man’s actions. One who loves money isn’t satisfied anyway, they’ll always chase more since their trust is misplaced in the material. The teacher points out that acquiring mass wealth tends to increase the amount of people pulling at it, so you hold on to less than you might think anyway. We see this in the modern world when rich celebrities make millions for a couple weeks on a set but are still broke in a few months. We think we could live for years on their income, but somehow they’re barely scraping by. As the 20th century American philosopher Christopher George Latore Wallace once said, “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.” Rather than pining after wealth, either to hoard it our of greed or to envy the life of another, the teacher suggests that we should cherish rest. The contentment and peace that come from honest labor; all the more so if you have placed your trust in God. The rich man is permitted no sleep, as his trust is in the material. Again, you may be inclined to say “no, money definitely buy happiness” and perhaps a lot of your troubles could be cleared up with a significant pay boost, yes, but you will always have more troubles. If nothing else, there remains one trouble that no amount of money can conquer and that is your death. You would rather face that trouble with empty pockets and a full soul than the reverse. Wealth is subject to forces beyond your control as well, it can be crushed by economic downturns, as we’ve no doubt seen numerous times with the stock market wiping out people’s retirement. In modern times, your wealth is mere 1’s and 0’s. People trading in gold and silver may be surprised when others are less eager to trade a useful chicken for what is still functionally a shiny rock, if it ever comes to that.

The teacher tells us we came into this world with nothing and leave as naked as we arrived. As the saying goes, “you can’t take it with you”. This isn’t advice, as some generations seem to have taken it, to burn through all your reserves so your account reads zero and your family is left with nothing. This is about building treasures in heaven, where they aren’t subjected to random misfortune or bad budgeting decisions. In terms of inheritance, if you’re leading a charitable and loving Christian life, it’s likely you’re building up those around you and drawing them closer to God, building up their treasures in heaven. Solomon again references the sorrow and suffering that life here on earth represents and says that joy should come from the little blessings of the given day and love of God. He concludes saying that man gives relatively little consideration to all this misery when his mind and heart are preoccupied with godly pleasure in the things God has given us.