There’s something that I recently noticed in the Bible that is so intriguing. So intriguing that the natural human may find it difficult to accept. It’s Ecclesiastes 7:1 that says the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth. Of course, these two days are unique and unlike other days in the life of a man. They are the only days that you don’t witness in full, that is, on the day of your birth, you didn’t witness all its 24 hours and, certainly, on the day of your death, you won’t live to witness its full hours.
We all know that the day of one’s birth is a day of joy and happiness, that one special soul is born into the world. The day of one’s death is, however, the otherwise. Filled with sadness and emotional down-ness, the ceremony causes an injurious mark on the soul. How is that supposed to be better than the day of one’s birth?
The sad part is that this is not just a philosophy; it’s just the truth. Solomon was not just writing a philosophy; he was writing from a “spiritual philosophy.” The truth is that when we view life as just materialistic, we tend to view the day of one’s birth as better than the day of one’s death. This is normal. We have a preference for happiness to sadness, laughter to mourning. These things are normal.
However, when we view it from a different lens as Solomon did, when we see life as not just materialistic but spiritual, we tend to discover that the day of one’s birth should be the otherwise of happiness. Babies subconsciously cry at birth because life is not just materialistic. Their spirits feel they have come to an uncomfortable world. A world where there are always struggles and limited rest. Scientifically, babies do cry at birth because of environmental shock. They feel an uncomfortable world, having the premonitions of what lies ahead. Moses tells in Psalm 90:9 that life is just like stories in the moonlight, full of good and sadistic adventures, devoid of rest.
Life is good, people with money always say. That’s true. Life is good when we consider it from the materialistic point of view. How can life be good when, while we are enjoying, many others are being oppressed and their oppressors continue to oppress them? Ecc 4:1.
How is the day of one’s death better than the day of one’s birth? It is because it is the day when one becomes free from the “experiences under the sun.” It is the day when the human soul begins to enjoy liberation from the bondage of the body.
However, this experience must not be generalized, because there are certain people to whom it would be said: “It were better if they were never born.” Such people are those living their lives outside God, whose souls shall experience the real death in eternity (absolute and eternal separation from God). Jesus tells us that certain souls would experience the most painful pains ever. Matthew 13:41-42, 49-50 (KJV) “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
For such people, it might be said that the day of their birth is “okay” rather than the day of their death, in contrast to the Scripture. But when the Lord says: “It had been better if they had not been born”, it implies that the day of their death could be worse in that they go into eternal perdition; the day of their birth is far worse.
