Futility of Life – Proverbs 30:15b-16

As of November 24, 2020, over 9,279 fires have burned 4,359,517 acres (1,764,234 ha), more than 4% of the state’s roughly 100 million acres of land, making 2020 the largest wildfire season recorded in California’s modern history (according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection), though roughly equivalent to the pre-1800 levels which averaged around 4.4 million acres yearly and up to 12 million in peak years. (Wikipedia)

Three things are never satisfied; four never say, “Enough”:  Sheol, the barren womb, the land never satisfied with water, and the fire that never says, “Enough.” (Proverbs 30:15b–16, ESV)

A theme of the wise and wisdom is riffing on the divinely imposed futility of life.  The opus magnum on this theme is Ecclesiastes.  One aspect of this futility is referenced in this proverb.

Sheol, death, is never satisfied.  Everyone must pass through death’s doors.  Death is the great equalizer, the ultimate futility.  It doesn’t matter how righteous or unrighteous you are, you will die.  That’s not the way life was meant to be in God’s perfect creation.

Inability to have children leaves a perpetual feeling of emptiness that will not go away.  God’s promise was that the seed of the woman would overcome the serpent’s work and restore the kingdom.  To not be able to participate in that giving of birth is a great futility.

No matter how much you water your lawn, your garden, your crops, or the forests, it will never be enough.  There is no end to agriculture as a means of getting what we need.  And if you don’t water that agriculture enough it will burn and burn and burn.

The wise want us to recognize that there is this futility in life and to deal wisely with it.  Lessons on this from Ecclesiastes include enjoying the good you do experience while you can, be grateful for satisfying work, don’t strive for super-righteousness as a buffer against tragedy, and obey God no matter what.