The Bible frequently warns us against the love of money as something that will derail our faith and lead only to pain. These warnings are often misconstrued to say that money itself is evil and that Christians should desire poverty instead, but this misses the point. Poor people can be as guilty of the love of money as rich people — everyone needs to guard against it.

This issue is a key theme throughout Ecclesiastes, and in this series we have already touched on it twice (see Part 2 and Part 4). He picks it up again, halfway through chapter 5: He who loves money will not be satisfied with money; nor he who loves wealth,, with gain: this also is vanity (Ecc. 5:10, ESV).

In this passage, Solomon identifies two main problems relating to loving money: 1) not being satisfied with it while on earth, and 2) not being able to take it with you when you leave earth. He describes the first as ‘tragic’ and the second as ‘vain’ (i.e., pointless).

He compares the person who chases wealth with the one who simply does an honest day’s work: The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep (Ecc. 5:12, NKJV). The “laborer” is tired, yet satisfied, at the end of his day’s work and is not too concerned about how much he earned in the process. By contrast, the “rich” is obsessed with how much money his work has generated rather than whether it was good, honest work.

This attitude towards work and money is the root cause of corruption, which I discussed in Part 5. When honest labor (whether physical or mental) is seen as less important than making money, then bribery, fraud, and theft are natural consequences. Even legal attempts at making money with minimal effort, such as gambling or buying lottery tickets, are evidence that the love of money is taking root in our hearts.

The vanity or pointlessness of amassing wealth is encapsulated in one verse: As he came from his mother’s womb, naked shall he return, to go as he came; and he shall take nothing from his labor which he may carry away in his hand (Ecc. 5:15, NKJV). The specific situation Solomon has in view here is when someone makes a lot of money and then loses it on a bad venture before he dies. At the end of his life, he doesn’t even have something to give his children.

High-risk investments, whether it be on the stock market or at the casino, reveal a love of money and a desire to make it without putting in the work. The kind of man that Solomon has in view here does not enjoy his work or take pleasure in it: All his days he also eats in darkness, and he has much sorrow and sickness and anger (Ecc. 5:17, NKJV). When reviewing such a life, we may rightly ask, “What’s the point?”

To show that the issue is not wealth per se, Solomon considers a different kind of man — one who enjoys his labor and the wealth that comes from it. Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life, which God gives him; for it is his heritage. As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor — this is the gift of God (Ecc. 5:18–19, NKJV).

The satisfaction and enjoyment that comes from work and consequent wealth is not wrong. Applying this to the Christian life, we do not have to take a vow of poverty to please God. Nor do we get a spiritual gold star or earn a special place in heaven by donating more money to the church than the next person. Such outward shows of “holiness” — whether through poverty or generosity — are hypocritical (Matthew 6:1–4). True Christian giving comes from the heart and is done without fanfare.

If the man who becomes wealthy and then loses it all is to be pitied, what about the one who loves money and doesn’t lose it? Such a person is highly praised and honored in society as the “self-made man.” Solomon goes even further and describes a wealthy man who has a long life and many children — a sure sign that you have made it in life. The health, wealth, and prosperity “preachers” of today would have you believe that these are Christian ideals, too.

But there’s a catch: yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil affliction (Ecc.6:2b). In the next verse, he reveals that his soul is not satisfied with goodness. Revisiting another theme of Ecclesiastes, Solomon declares that a stillborn baby is better off than such a man. It seems that the “power to eat of it” comes from being content, which is not compatible with the love of money.

If you doubt that Ecclesiastes still applies to Christians, Paul repeats these points in his letter to Timothy: Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows (1 Timothy 6:6–10, NKJV).

It is tempting for those who are not wealthy to think that they are better than the greedy rich people, yet Solomon quickly dispels this myth: What does the poor man have, who knows how to walk before the living? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind (Ecc. 6:8b-9, NKJV).

Even if you don’t have any money, you can still obsess about it and love it above all else. This is why prosperity preachers make money out of poor people in developing countries who believe their promises of wealth. This is perhaps even more pitiful than the state of the wealthy man, as you can chase money all your life and still die poor. Again, one must ask: What’s the point?

It seems that Solomon finally reaches a dead-end in his thoughts on amassing wealth as the meaning of life. Among the many things that money cannot buy is the one thing that everyone is searching for: eternal life. For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun? (Ecc. 6:12).

The words of Jesus on this subject cut right to the heart: For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:26, NKJV).

Of all the possible options for the meaning of life, money is perhaps the most pitiful. Yet not one of us can claim to be above temptation in this regard. Let us take Solomon’s lesson to heart and keep eternity in view as we continue to investigate the real meaning of life.