Ecclesiastes 9:12

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Summary

For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

Man

As the fishes

Proverbs 7:22

Habakkuk 1:14

2 Timothy 2:26

The sons

General references

Ezekiel 32:3

Amos 3:5

Bible References

Man

Whoever keeps and observes a royal command will experience neither trouble nor misery;
For a wise heart will know the proper time and [appropriate] procedure.

saying, “If [only] you had known on this day [of salvation], even you, the things which make for peace [and on which peace depends]! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.

For He says,“At the acceptable time (the time of grace) I listened to you,
And I helped you on the day of salvation.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”—

Keep your behavior excellent among the [unsaved] Gentiles [conduct yourself honorably, with graciousness and integrity], so that for whatever reason they may slander you as evildoers, yet by observing your good deeds they may [instead come to] glorify God in the day of visitation [when He looks upon them with mercy].

As the fishes

Suddenly he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter [not knowing the outcome],
Or as one in stocks going to the correction [to be given] to a fool,

Why do You make men like the fish of the sea,
Like reptiles and creeping things that have no ruler [and are helpless against their enemies]?

and that they may come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

The sons

“For the wicked is thrown into a net by his own feet (wickedness),
And he steps on the webbing [of the lattice-covered pit].

Upon the wicked (godless) He will rain coals of fire;
Fire and brimstone and a dreadful scorching wind will be the portion of their cup [of doom].

Surely You set the wicked-minded and immoral on slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.

Therefore [the crushing weight of] his disaster will come suddenly upon him;
Instantly he will be broken, and there will be no healing or remedy [because he has no heart for God].

By his wicked plan an evil man is trapped,
But the righteous man sings and rejoices [for his plan brings good things to him].

Therefore this wickedness [this sin, this injustice, this wrongdoing] will be to you
Like a crack [in a wall] about to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant,

But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own all the things you have prepared?’

And just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the time of [the second coming of] the Son of Man:

“But be on guard, so that your hearts are not weighed down and depressed with the giddiness of debauchery and the nausea of self-indulgence and the worldly worries of life, and then that day [when the Messiah returns] will not come on you suddenly like a trap;

While they are saying, “Peace and safety [all is well and secure!]” then [in a moment unforeseen] destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains on a woman with child, and they will absolutely not escape [for there will be no way to escape the judgment of the Lord].

But these [false teachers], like unreasoning animals, [mere] creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed, reviling things they do not understand, will also perish in their own corruption [in their destroying they will be destroyed],

General references

Thus says the Lord God,

“I will spread out My net over you
With a company of many nations,
And they will bring you up in My net.

Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground when there is no bait in it?
Does a trap spring up from the ground when it has caught nothing at all? [Of course not! So it is that Israel has earned her impending judgment.]